The long awaited sequel for Spoiler Alert, and it did not disappoint. I’m always a little hesitant to read a book that follows more minor characters from previous books but this one came through, giving us just enough taste of Marcus and April as easter eggs, while also completely delving into Alex and Lauren’s characters. Olivia Dade makes two novels that can be read alone or together just as easily, and both are enjoyable.

ALL THE FEELS follows Gods of The Gates costar Alexander Woodroe after a bar fight, assigned a “minder” in the form of one Miss Lauren Clegg. The two start on uneasy territory but as their time progresses, the two grow closer, as does the tension between them. But between Alex’s impulsive personality (aided by his ADHD), and the walls Lauren has put around herself as a result of her job as an ER therapist and the cruelty she’s received because of her looks, the two have a lot to get through before they can truly come together.

Because I think one of the absolute highlights of this book is its unabashed relationship with fanfiction and the world of online readers, here are just a few popular tropes that occur within this book:
- there was only one bed
- slowburn
- friends to lovers

With that in mind, let’s talk about my favourite parts of the book and that is undeniably the characters. First of all, we get a hint of what Alex is really like in SPOILER ALERT, with Marcus being one of the few people who usually sees him for what he is (though he’s not perfect), but this book just goes so much further. We see Alex’s motivation, his pain, his longing, really just what makes him tick. He’s a beautifully complex, individual, and flawed character and I love that about them. And within the book we truly see him grow, not only in his view of himself but also in his actions. It’s truly refreshing to see within heterosexual romance, with a man so in touch with his feelings and thus overcoming his traumas. Another great facet of his character is the on page representation of ADHD, and how that not only interacts with his daily life in big and small ways, but also how it compounds with other factors for better or for worse.

Despite Alex dwarfing Lauren in size, he does not dwarf her in character development. The two work together in an almost opposites attract style, and just as Lauren is caring for Alex, he does the same for her. She, too, learns and grows not only about herself but also in her actions, as both learn to truly value themselves instead of putting everyone else above them. Lauren has to learn to put herself in a place of value, and the book tracks that arc. Ultimately this story is about growth, and how it brings two people together, at least to me.

And as much as I loved this book, especially in the wrapped up in a bow happy ending, there were definitely still flaws. Unlike SPOILER ALERT, this book just felt like slow going. This is in part because of the slowburn aspect, but it also feels like roughly the first half of the book is just kind of unmemorable. There are some vague benefits in that we see Lauren and Alex getting to know eachother, but at points it just starts to feel like the same point is being made over and over. Then, ultimately, it feels like the ending and the entire romance is rushed, like you waited hundreds of pages to get a summarization of a great romance. It didn’t completely ruin the book, but it made it much harder to get fully into and get through.

I really did like this book, and it was an enjoyable and cute romance. The characters are great and they have fantastic chemistry, although I think the beginning drags on much too long. If you’re into romance or any of the aforementioned tropes, I would absolutely recommend, but if you’re newer to romance I would start with SPOILER ALERT first.

This may be my second book by Olivia Dade and I am cautiously optimistic that I have found a new favorite author. ALL THE FEELs is a sweet story dealing with two very damaged individuals that find something missing in one another. I do feel this doesn't do well as a stand alone so please read the book before it, SPOILER ALERT.

I love the hero in this one - he is so damn adorable. Open to new things - loving the world - and definitely worries about his families and the people who rely on him. Lauren, our heroine, worries way too much about what she looks like. We spend pages knowing how heavy and short and how she is perceived ugly. I did have a bit of an issue with how many times people in her life complained to her about her looks but at the same time, it did give a bit of background into the character's low self esteem. Regardless though, this romance is super steamy, witty, funny, and I love the comradery between the two. Adorable and can't wait for the next one!

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review.

This was super cute! It fell a little short of Spoiler Alert, for me. I’m so confused by the cover though, after such a huge deal was made about how ugly Lauren was and how it was crazy their relationship could work because he’s so much hotter, on the cover she’s cute! Like I am not cute, I’m fat, though I’m not short, I am covered in acne, and I have zero times been called ugly in public, something that supposedly happens ALL THE TIME to Lauren. Is this happening to other ugly people and I’m just lucky? Maybe they just wanted cute cover art, but I was expecting…not how heavily her looks are put down when she looks adorable.

All The Feels is really engaging from the first page. You meet Alex after he’s been in a bar fight and caused a lot of trouble for himself and the TV show production that he’s currently wrapping. His show runner gives Alex the ultimatum: get your sh*t together and behave until the show is over or we’ll sue you and take you to court and basically make you unemployable forever. Alex opts for the behave option (as much as he’s able) and is stuck with Lauren, his minder. Her job is to stick by Alex for the next few months to keep him out of trouble in the public eye.

I love Alex and Lauren. There was only one thing that really bugged me — the continual commentary about how Lauren was heavy and round. I think it was important to note her description in the beginning because it enhanced major plot points and behaviorism from Alex. It is imperative that the audience knows she’s not a beautiful celebrity-type, either. I get that she’s not typically pretty and she’s not thin, but in some references the point was hit home too hard and it prevented me from connecting to the scene because I was uncomfortable for Lauren and Alex.

I didn’t realize that this was a second book in the same universe, and if I did I probably would have read Spoiler Alert first. I don’t typically like to read out of order, even if it’s not necessary to read one before another. In this case it wasn’t necessary. Anything I might have missed from SA didn’t cause me any stress while reading All The Feels.

I don’t know whether *I* am Alex, or if I’m just in love with Alex. He really is a delightful asshole, and I completely identify with that description.
Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars!

After recently reading and really enjoying the first book in this series, Spoiler Alert, I was so excited to get an early e-ARC of All the Feels. Unfortunately, this one was good for me, but not great. I was really excited for Lauren and Alex's story, but it was a veryyyy slow start and I just didn't fully feel the chemistry between them. I'll be honest, the way Alex described Lauren in the beginning was a big turn off for me - it just made me sad - but, I will say the banter was great and I was happy with their HEA.

Also, something I will note, I would definitely make sure you've read Spoiler Alert before reading this. The first 50% of this book overlaps with Marcus and April's story and had I not read it, I think it would have hindered my reading experience!

Rating: 3.5 stars.

TW: domestic abuse and fatphobia.

This book was just so, so, so awesome. If you don't come away from it adoring Alex and wanting to order a Big Harpie Energy T-shirt - did you even read this book? I'll admit I was pre-disposed to love this book. The heroine was different, the hero I adored in Spoiler Alert, and the author is an auto-buy for me. But even by those standards this book did not disappoint.

Olivia Dade just understands how to write heroines who are - I'm not even sure how to say it - not perfect 10s. So much romance - even romance where the heroine is plus size - talk extensively about how beautiful the heroine is and make it clear that despite her physical differences she is still viewed by the hero as the most beautiful woman in the world and that others objectively find her beautiful. Finding a heroine that is described as not physically attractive is basically a unicorn. In fact the only other book that comes to mind is Butterface by Avery Flynn.

I will admit this is a book that definitely has some fantasy fulfilment aspect to it - unattractive woman with an amazing personality and rare depth of kindness about her is the object of affection of a most-beautiful people level gorgeous, famous man. But honestly - the entire thing just WORKS. When you see Lauren from Alex's perspective - you can just see why she is perfect for him. Why he needed someone so kind and warm. Why even her body type is appealing to him.

Alex seems shallow on the surface - and his ADHD is not hidden in any way - but the perception of him being shallow is because of his ADHD. His brain moves faster than his mouth - and people don't stop and take the time to understand him.

I can't recommend this book more - it is a seriously funny and deeply emotional read. I can't help but hope for more books around these people and in this world.

I was truly blessed to receive an ARC of this book (which I have been dying to read since Spoiler Alert came out), but these opinions are all my own.

Love her so I was so excited about this one and coming back to the world that we met in Spoiler Alert! I enjoyed returning to this world with her writing, the development and differences with the characters. If you haven't read this author, you. need to!

Thank you for Netgalley, author, and publisher for this ebook in exchange for a honest review!

I absolutely loved Spoiler Alert and I love returning to the world in All the Feels. Olivia Dade's characters are very charming and I love the humor that she weaves through her books, especially in the interstitial short scenes. Alex and Lauren didn't work as well for me as the couple of her first book did, largely because I know a lot of people with ADHD and Alex's behavior is highly accurate and irritating (I know that's selfish!). I love Lauren, but she is a bit of a mystery and she changes her mind about Alex really fast. I do love how much the characters care for each other. Alex is a jerk but he really cares for Lauren and I love his interactions with her and with the other minor characters, that show the real quality of his personality. Anyway, I love this series, I like this book slightly less than the first one for personal reasons, I can't wait for more from Olivia Dade.

I really wanted to love Lauren & Alex’s story as much as I did Marcus & April, but it just lacked the substance and character development. It was also a bit too slow of my burn, with nothing really happening majorly until the 60% mark. At least give a little tease earlier!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book where you need to have read the first in the series to follow along. I found this a lot choppier than [book:Spoiler Alert|50496918], and both characters really needed to undergo massive mental shifts in how they functioned and how they expressed their emotions. It was a really bumpy road, and even after the ending, my realist brain was strongly advocating for therapy for both MCs. But they both (kind of) got there in the end.

Alex was also a little hard to believe because it was incredibly evident that he was a man written by a woman. Most of the things he said or did felt almost caricaturish, or lines lifted from a TikTok on how the ideal man acts. I don't know if it's a bad thing, but definitely go in with a suspension of belief.

Dade goes out of their way to talk about how unconventional the heroine looks. Broken nose, plus sized body, RBF... But the way people reacted to her was akin to how the villagers reacted to Frankenstein's monster. I cannot imagine people being that cruel so consistently to someone's face, when, by all accounts, people who have spent more than 2 minutes in her company find her perfectly average looking. And this is also disconcerting when you see the cover image of an attractive woman.

But it's a still a fun, slow-burn of a read, and there are plenty of cute moments to make this worth a purchase/check out from your local library.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The chemistry between these isn't really believable. They seem more like good friends not like 'soul mates". Also the sex scenes between them seemed so out of place and not really added anything to the story.

Olivia Dade books always satisfy two things, romance and a bit of Greek history. These are so much fun. My favorite bits are the charts with the cast members, but I fell in love with the characters as well.

2.5 Stars

Lauren Clegg has just called it quits as an ER therapist after completely burning out. While recovering from burn-out she gets hired by her cousin to watch over his client Alexander Woodroe. Alex is a typical Hollywood star: rich, charming, sexy, and impulsive. His recent bar fight was the final straw and his intervention is Lauren. She is tasked with keeping Alex out of trouble and watching him 24/7.

Despite being complete opposites in every way, Lauren and Alex begin to connect and enjoy each other’s company. When Lauren begins to see Alex as more than a troublemaker, her job becomes less black and white.

This book did give me all the feels but not in the way I think it intended to. When I read the description and saw the cover I had to read this book. As a plus-sized woman, seeing a plus-sized woman on the cover gave me all the feels--in a good way. The woman on the cover is gorgeous.

I think I was a lost cause in the beginning after Alex meets and describes her as a “birdwoman.” Not only does he describe her as avian, with a crooked beak, but he goes on and on about it--going through different birds she could be. While he never comments on her size other than calling her round he says her eyes “were her only feature an honest observer could call pretty”..... WHAT?! What makes this worse is that these aren’t just thoughts---he says it...out loud. Not cool.

Alexander struggles with ADHD and the book did a decent job of incorporating those qualities and showing how that affects him. But it went to the extreme with it and had him unfairly immature and narcissistic. He lashes out at the slightest provocation and becomes violent; the book tries to redeem this by spinning it to seem altruistic.

The romance also leaves a lot to be desired. He describes her as round (instead of, say, curvy). And his thoughts on having sex with her are excited due to his imagining that if she’s on top of him….he wouldn’t be able to get up. Sigh.

I did love the quote “your lack of anger does not reliably indicate a lack of wrong done to you.” I love that Alex was trying to help Lauren see that she should stand up for herself. What would’ve made this effective is if Lauren was able to understand, process, and act on it; instead Alex does it for her.

Is this a love story or a story of dysfunction?

I love everything by Olivia Dade, but this one was hard for me to get into. The first half seemed really long with too much concentration on Lauren's appearance and I almost stopped reading, but then the second half was really good so I'm glad I finished!

"I am not a sex worker, and you are not my client. Thus, we cannot, as you so eloquently put it, 'Pretty Woman this shit.'"

5 freaking stars!

My first experience with an Olivia Dade book was Spoiler Alert, the first book in the Spoiler Alert series and I really enjoyed. I didn't think it was possible to top Marcus and April's story, but I was so so wrong. This book made me extremely happy throughout its entirety. I found the female MC Lauren to be extremely relatable, intelligent, and overwhelmingly thoughtful. Alex the male MC was hilariously charming, caring, and maybe a little preemptive to protect those he loves, but I found it endearing. Alex is unapologetically himself throughout the entire book and wears his heart on his sleeve. I have a serious weakness for emotionally available men and men who aren't afraid to cry. *swoon*

Dade has a way of bringing issues to life in a respectful and understandable way. In All the Feels, Dade tackles fat shaming and gives us a glimpse into the mentality of an overweight person (I know all too well). I felt that Lauren represented overweight women in a positive way showing that we all have the same thoughts: be small, don't let anyone notice you, don't stick up for yourself. However, she also shows us just how WRONG that mentality is. Lauren shows a change in her mentality not only due to her relationship with Alex, but within herself as well. Dade also tackles ADHD with Alex. She gives us a perspective of how someone with ADHD may act or think. I am unable to comment further on that without having ADHD myself, but I felt as though I understood more than I did before.

All the Feels was so charming and I couldn't get enough. I absolutely Lauren and Alex as a couple and I loved watching it all unfold. They have so much chemistry and so much depth to their feelings for the other. I want to read this book over and over again.

5 stars without a doubt! I loved Spoiler Alert on such a personal level so when I saw Olivia Dade was doing a sequel I knew I had to have it! Thankfully I got an eARC so I didn’t have to wait as long to read this. Dade tells a story that kept me eagerly turning each page. Lauren, the female protagonists, was a character I could heavily relate to. Alex, bless him and his desire to protect and love Lauren and for being the one to show Lauren that it was ok to value herself and put herself first. This books had so many emotions, a lot of “pegging” 😉, and many powerful lessons to take to heart. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and I absolutely adored this wonderful book.

Olivia Dade's ALL THE FEELS was good, but not great. I hate to say anything negative about a body positive romance, as they are so sorely needed for the genre, but this book wasn't it for me. Echoing other reviewers, I feel the heavy-handed descriptions emphasizing how far from conventionally attractive Lauren is jarred me from the story and made me sad. While I loved the punchy banter and was satisfied by the HEA wrap up, I wish the character of Lauren could have been given a different treatment with fewer reminders of how ~far from the gold standard~ her body is. Bonus points for honest and necessary conversations about mental health, career burnout, and healthy conflict resolution. SPOILER ALERT and ALL THE FEELS missed the mark just a tad for me.

I screamed (internally and sent my sister the fainting Elmo gif) when I was notified that I had access to this ARC and All the Feels did not disappoint. I LOVED Spoiler Alert (I mean romance novel and fanfiction colliding - I injected it straight into my veins). I can confidently say I feel the exact same way about All the Feels. Alex and Wren's slow burn-ish, blissful ignorance of their feelings for each other had me laughing and the abundance of some of my favorite tropes (road trip, only one, and the newest addition, air conditioning that won't shut off) makes All the Feels in absolute delight. I also loved the various interludes whether it was text threads, emails, and my favorite, AO3 FanFics written by Alex and others :), and found it to be a clever transition to the next set of chapters. I will be telling all my friends to read All the Feels (and Spoiler Alert if they haven't already), and am preordering a copy now, because this will definitely be a romance novel I turn back to again and again.

(This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Full disclosure, I actually DNF’d “Spoiler Alert.” I don’t really understand the world of fan fiction so many of the references in the first book were lost on me. Alex was actually one of the few redeeming factors in my humble opinion so when I saw he was getting his own book, I felt inclined to give Olivia Dade another chance…and I’m really glad I did! The banter between Alex and Lauren was great (I legitimately laughed out loud). Aside from the body diversity, I also really appreciated the ADHD representation. As someone with ADHD myself, it was nice to see characterization aside from the stereotypical distraction by shiny objects.

Overall this was a very enjoyable slow burn romance. Alex and Lauren has great chemistry and Olivia Dade writes about difficult topics with honesty and heart.

Holy moly! The description seems so implausible…a conventionally attractive man being really really into a conventionally unattractive woman. I went into this one expecting to be unconvinced. But I was! It makes total sense why these characters are into one another! And it’s so freaking refreshing to have a woman who’s fat and apple shaped (not, like, just hourglass but bigger) depicted as just matter of factly attractive. Because being attractive is not simply based on how closely your body fits any particular beauty norm. Attraction is alchemy, and his attraction to her reads as genuine gold.