2.5 Stars

In the third installment of the Spoiler Alert series, we follow Maria and Peter. The novel begins with a steamy one night encounter that ends in Peter being left alone yet again. He’s feeling bitter, but decides to push it away in order to nail his audition. He lands the part, but his romantic interest on the TV show is the woman who walked out on him only a few hours prior. For the next six years, they must learn to live with one another in close quarters. When the show wraps, the two decide to give their relationship another chance.

I did not read the first two books in this series, so there were a lot of side characters that were introduced and fleshed out earlier in the series. I was still able to follow the storyline since Peter and Maria were new characters, but I was extremely confused in scenes where the entire cast was texting or hanging out and I didn’t understand their inside jokes or relationships to one another. I don’t recommend reading this series out of order.

I didn’t want the confusion with the rest of the cast to affect my review since that was an oversight on my part, but I still didn’t enjoy the moments of this book that were just Peter and Maria. I think the first half of the novel was strong, when they were filming the show and their relationship was back and forth. After the show wraps, they start dating immediately which was not what the book blurb led me to believe going into the novel. The second half felt more like a character study since a lot of the turmoil were the characters figuring themselves out internally rather than things happening between them physically. I didn’t really feel that connected to the characters by this point, so it was honestly boring for me to read and it took me forever to finish this book.

Overall, I don’t think this book was bad, it just isn’t what I look for in a romance. If you enjoy character heavy plots and internal struggles, then this is more for you. I wanted more drama, more moments between the two that weren’t just sex, and maybe a little explanation for the other characters so people just discovering this series (like me) can enjoy that aspect a little more. Meeting 5+ characters all at once through a text chain wasn’t the right way to tackle that.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this arc In exchange for my honest review.

This book definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. I loved the first two in the world built by Olivia Dade but this one just fell flat to me.

I didn’t feel that community presence as much as the first two. Also found it hard to connect with the two main characters. I really had to force myself to read this because their relationship lacked so much chemistry.

I love every book I have read by Olivia Dade. This book is no exception - I enjoyed it so much I read it twice before I reviewed it. The tension, the setting, the love the characters have for each other is AMAZING. And it's so nice to see characters (and scenes!) from other books make appearances. I highly recommend Olivia Dade to anyone who wants a good, plus-size romance.

I loved this book soo much that after reading it, I went and got this authors whole catalog to catch up on reading all her stories.
Fun and memorable characters and great storyline that has me vested on reading more from her.

Work and the holidays have kept me busy this year, but not too busy to finish reading Ship Wrecked.
While my review is a bit late to the party, this was an enjoyable read for me. Having not read the first two in the series, I found it wasn't needed to follow along. I did find myself getting a bit bored mid way through but I enjoyed the steamy sex scenes.

I loved loved loved this story!!

The mutual pining that goes on throughout their time together on the show was so well done. I loved the text messages between the cast, they added so much humor and fun.

Maria is such a strong FMC but still show’s vulnerability and I absolutely loved that so much. And Peter.. I love him. These two both felt so real.

I love seeing strong plus sized characters who love their bodies and don’t feel like they need to change in order to please others.

I will say that Maria has been my favorite out of the three female protagonists of this series, buuut this is not my favorite one. I understand that they cared for and loved each other throughout the years but it felt too long for me and I also understand the conflict they had but it didn't feel high stake for me, I felt like it could've got resolved with a good extended conversation. Other than I enjoyed their banter, Maria was smart and strong, and I admired her "I do whatever I want" attitude. Steamy scenes, yes please and thank you, Dade did not disappoint and had plenty to spare. I'm planning on buying more from her because I really like her style and characters.

I adored every bit of this! Peter and Maria are amazing together, and the attraction between them is red hot. Loved how defensive Maria got of Peter and how undeniable their chemistry was. Spice was great and this was an all around really entertaining, romantic read with wonderful characters and a sweet hea. *I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Olivia!!! This story! The slow burn! The literal opening line! Obviously this book is hard to put down and Peter and Maria are just…!!!! Ship Wrecked is a great addition to the series and I love to watch the development of some of the other love stories (*cough* Alex and Lauren *cough*) as Peter and Marie’s becomes unavoidable!
Unfortunately I did find the story a bit unbalanced and felt your typical romance formula was forced more so in this story than some of Dade’s others. All the tension and the spicy stuff was at the beginning and while I like a strong opening, I was begging for something blush worthy to happen at the end. Also, the third act break-up was so dumb. Both of them were being ridiculous so of course they were going to figure it out. Plus the awkwardness of some chapters being separated by days or years and never really addressed made the whole thing feel discombobulated.

Also, I really want Peter to go to therapy - not because trauma is holding him back from being in a healthy, loving, and self-sustaining relationship with Maria but because I think he thinks the success of their relationship is enough to prove to himself and everyone else that he is fine. Spoiler alert: it is not. I want him to find peace with his dad and let that allow him to be happy in all parts of his life! Ugh, I just want Peter to be the best Peter!

Thank you to NetGalley and Olivia Dade for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! #hcponstrike

Of the three in this series I enjoyed this one most. The female mc is a strong character. I liked that her happiness was more important than any job and she made that clear up front. I like the character chats within the story, the references to the incidents from the other books and the characters are enjoyable.

What I didn't care for was the story jumping years from one chapter to the next bringing the story to present day. While this made sense with where the story needed to go, it felt abrupt. The author uses heavy language in the book, which I didn't care for. Overall though the author knows how to write a good story.

The author includes character chats You do not need to read the first two to understand this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

(11/15/2022) 5 stars. Ms. Olivia Dade can never go wrong. Ship Wrecked is a wonderful addition to the Spoiler Alert universe. The romance: as spicy as ever. The characters: perfectly human with great things about them and faults. Perfectly flawed. It's interesting because I am more of a fantasy romance type of gal but I cannot ever get enough of Olivia Dade and her contemporary romance. They always bring the much needed light mixed in with dark. Always teaching a lesson while providing the beautiful escape that we all need nowadays.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon allowing me to review this book. I really like the romantic relationship in this book and the cute side characters that would come in for great banter. I do wish that the romance would have hold out longer and been more of a slow burn in the book versus having time breaks. I would have liked to seen it progress and get it the breaking point it did. Otherwise I enjoyed reading it! 4 ⭐️

While this has been my least favorite book in this series so far, it was still so enjoyable. That said, I would have liked more of the in between instead of the jumps from past to present. I liked this love story, but just needed to see more of the development. It's hard not to love Maria and Peter and want the best for them, even if they don't communicate well at all.

If you liked the first 2 books, definitely keep going with this one. 3.5 stars.

This was a good contemporary romance book! I'm always happy with plus size rep in romance novels. I would definitely recommend to those who think it sounds interesting!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

The book was a bit of a clunky start for me, but after a bit I adored it. Love the fat rep and solid messaging along with it. I'm intrigued to read some of the other entries in the series for sure, and love the friendship development.

I have a lot of mixed emotions about Ship Wrecked, the latest in the Spoiler Alert series by Olivia Dade. While there was a lot of good there, this book also had a few big flaws that kept me from rating it more than three stars.

I think Olivia Dade did better with this one than with book two in the series, which was a bust for me, but I still varied wildly in my feelings about this story from chapter to chapter. I loved the sex scenes in the beginning but then... poof. The book seemed to grind to a halt and then there was endless chapters and even a huge time skip where not too much happened. I got tired of the drawn-out storyline and the constant references to pickled herring and the same catch phrases repeated over and over. The pining and the nitty gritty of filming was mildly interesting, but the middle of the book felt very long for me. Then, of course, things started to pick up again (yay!) but then the conflict at the end of the story sort of killed my buzz. In short: I think this author has some pacing issues.

I really enjoyed how the female MC refused to conform to expectations of her (re:shaving, losing weight) and was super firm in her stance and extremely confident. It was fabulous to read. I enjoyed the way these two really adored each other, which is why the conflict that kept them apart just felt so flimsy and unsatisfying.

I'm not mad at this story, I just felt like it was overly long and not as good as the first in the series. However, I still think readers in general will enjoy it, despite its flaws.

I had a hard time getting into this one. While I enjoy the plus size rep, the focus on the character’s body size and the consistent reference to it made me feel some sort of way.

As a plus size person, I feel like there is a line between rep (which we want) and too much focus on a person’s body, and this felt at times like the latter.

The story was cute, but the focus on the character’s body was a bit much for me.

I am a big fan of the Spoiler Alert series, so I was very excited when I found out that a third book was being released! Avon was kind enough to provide me with a digital ARC, as well as a physical one!

Ship Wrecked was such a fun book! I loved that we got to explore a different part of the world in this book. We spent a lot of time with Maria and Peter on that wind-swept Irish island. Being the Anglophile that I am, I absolutely loved the setting. Then, getting to learn more about Sweden through Maria’s birth culture was fantastic as well. I honestly don’t know much about Swedish culture, so the little tidbits that we learned really sparked my interest!

Speaking of Maria and Peter, I love them so much. I loved that Maria was so unapologetically herself. She was big, loud and proud of it. Seeing such positive plus-size representation in a romance novel was so refreshing. I loved that she wasn’t ashamed of her body, and in fact embraced it. Peter was a giant, cuddly teddy bear with a prickly exterior, and we love that about him here. Seeing their prolonged pining for one another was bittersweet and a fantastic slow burn.

Something that I was not expecting from this book, and I was so thrilled to see, was the adoption representation. Adoption is not a subject that is often seen in a romance novel. And, this was done so well. Here is a quote from the novel about adoption that is so true:

“[Her adoptive parents] meant to declare in every conceivable way, both to her and to the authorities: this placement was forever. They were forever. Her new family would never leave her, would always want and love her, would always choose her.”

I got teary reading this part of the novel. It perfectly captures how I feel about my daughter. It was such a wonderful experience reading this in a novel. I hope that other adoptive parents, and adoptees, read this and feel the same.

All in all, this was a lovely book and I definitely recommend it, along with the other two books in this series!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave Ship Wrecked 4 Stars!

Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade was a fun book, but ultimately was missing that spark for me. This was a case of a one-night stand gone wrong between two actors who are about to start working together... for six years... on a remote island. I liked the premise a lot and the storyline took us on some funny ups and downs for both Peter and Maria as they tried to fight their attraction to each other. A fun and sexy book but ultimately a but lackluster for me. I honestly don't love celebrity romances that much usually so that could be the problem. Some of the lines made me cringe a bit which is why I think I didn't love this one as much as I thought I would. Not sure if I will pick up Dade's next book.

Upon reading the synopsis this seemed like a book that I would love. Add that to the fact that I have previously read and enjoyed this author’s previous work, and you’d think that this would have been perfect for me. Unfortunately, several things about this one fell flat for me.

My main issue with this book was the pacing, and how it felt a bit all over the place. The quarter of the book sees the main characters go from having a one night stand, to becoming reluctant coworkers, to acquaintances. Then there is a six year jump where we are told that throughout those six years Maria and Peter have grown close and that they have a great relationship. After they get together we don’t get to see the chemistry building and relationship growing. There are also other, smaller time jumps through the book. Each time we were told how their relationship had evolved, but we never get to see it happen.

I also had an issue with character reactions. Maria was a kind of a hypocrite, and she definitely realized it, which I am glad for. She expected Peter to shift his dreams, and outgrow his trauma in order to make her happy. Meanwhile she was happy to continue his dream while her past trauma and fear of being alone was her main motivator near the end. And then, suddenly Peter is cured of his problems because of what? The power of love? Idk? The whole third act conflict felt forced.

I do have to say though that I loved the representation and generally enjoyed the character’s personalities. I generally enjoyed the dialogue, although this too at times felt forced.

Overall, I liked it. It was fine but could have been better.