Nobody writes fat characters like Olivia Dade. This series is such a perfect reflection of that. Each fat lead is different, layered, nuanced. Dade never goes to the fat-trope bucket to pull out "obsessed-with-shoes-because-they-always-fit" or "this-fat-girl-actually-wears-stylish-clothes!" et al.

𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 is a fantastic book in which both leads are fat. It's a part of who they each are, but not the ONLY part and not the main conflict. I cannot tell you how refreshing it is, as a lifelong fat woman, to read a romance whose conflict isn't DO I DESERVE LOVE EVEN THOUGH I'M FAT??

Maria is so strong, feisty, smart, and warm! She is a total badass. And Maria is the perfect sunshine to Peter's grump! I loved Peter and his social awkwardness, his deep feelings, and his beloved silence.

And talk about H-O-T! 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 delivers. When the first line of a book is, 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘮， 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘴. you KNOW it's gunna be steamier than a Swedish sauna (see what I did there?).

𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 has all the good things: found family, queer representation, nuanced fat characters, lovable and flawed leads, super-hot sex scenes, female empowerment, and a truly sweat story with a very Happily Ever After.

I did take off one star from my rating because 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 just does not succeed as a stand-alone book within a series. I have read the first two books and I was still completely overwhelmed and a little lost at parts. There are SO MANY CHARACTERS and most of those characters are actors, so you are also trying to keep track of the characters they play in the fictitious Game of Thrones-esque series.

So start at the first book and definitely read the series in order. If you do that you will likely love 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 as much as I did.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: Rated NC-17 / 5+ sex scenes, harsh language. *MIGHT* include props/bondage.
𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦: past death of parent, mid-childhood adoption, cheating ex
𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦: 3/5 - You will definitely feel some feels.

I love a book with positive body image and characters who love themselves. Maria and Peter are absolutely great in that regard because they are comfortable with themselves and I think that is an incredibly important message in the romance industry. This might be one of the first times I’ve read a romance where the male character isn’t a shredded muscle man who manages to look perfect without going to the gym. It’s awesome and I think it’s something to be applauded.

Unfortunately this book didn’t work out for me completely. I really hated the unexplained time jumps and the characters telling me things instead of showing me. I want to be completely immersed into the story instead of X having an internal monologue about how great Y is when they haven’t interacted in the book for several pages. Personally that’s not my favorite so I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had expected to.

"After All the Feels and Spoiler Alert, Olivia Dade once again delivers a warm and wonderful romantic comedy about two co-stars who once had an incredible one-night stand - and after years of filming on the same remote island, are finally ready to yield to temptation again...

Maria's one-night-stand - the thick-thighed, sexy Viking of a man she left without a word or a note - just reappeared. Apparently, Peter's her surly Gods of the Gates co-star, and they're about to spend the next six years filming on a desolate Irish island together. She still wants him...but he now wants nothing to do with her.

Peter knows this role could finally transform him from a forgettable character actor into a leading man. He also knows a failed relationship with Maria could poison the set, and he won't sabotage his career for a woman who's already walked away from him once. Given time, maybe they can be cooperative colleagues or friends - possibly even best friends - but not lovers again. No matter how much he aches for her.

For years, they don't touch off-camera. But on their last night of filming, their mutual restraint finally shatters, and all their pent-up desire explodes into renewed passion. Too bad they still don't have a future together, since Peter's going back to Hollywood, while Maria's returning to her native Sweden. She thinks she needs more than he can give her, but he's determined to change her mind, and he's spent the last six years waiting. Watching. Wanting.

This shipwrecked Swede doesn’t stand a chance."

Wait, the show got a six season pickup out of the gate? That's how you know this is a romance...

Ship Wrecked returns to the world of the Gods of the Gates cast and crew, this time focusing on the flirty duo of Maria and Peter. After a one-night stand leads to a very awkward casting room chemistry test, Maria and Peter must navigate how to build a working relationship, friendship, and possibly more. But with both actors bringing their own traumas to the table, they must decide whether to fight for or against each other.

I really enjoyed getting back in the world of the Gods of the Gates cast. It's such a cool concept to slowly meet more and more characters as you move through the series. We get to see all our favorite characters from the previous two novels from a new perspective which is very fun. I also liked the behind-the-scenes look that Ship Wrecked took. It provided a interesting view of how the two main characters' relationships with each other and the rest of the cast and crew developed over the years of filming together on their tiny Irish island.

All in all, I have really enjoyed this series. It was such a fun read and I'm excited to see what Dade does next.

I absolutely loved Olivia Dades other two books in this series. However I wasn't able to get into this one as much as the other ones. I did not finish really early on because certain scenes (spice) happened right away and I usually like that to be slowly developed.

I tried to press on though and read a bit further especially when I saw the other characters from the other books in the chats and such. I did like those bits. I wasn't able to get into it at the moment. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now it was a two star rating because I did not finish.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the chance to read and review.

Maria and Peter meet one night at a hotel spa and hook up. Expecting to never see each other again, the end up being cast playing opposites on a big budget fantasy series on a secluded island in Ireland. Both know they can't let their one night stand stand in the way of a prosperous career, and for years it stays platonic, but when the show wraps filming the series finale they decide maybe it's worth finally giving it a shot after all. Can Peter and Maria make a relationship work, with their crazy Hollywood desires? Or will their opposite's attract personalities get in the way of their Happily Ever After?

Wow does this book start of with a bang...quite literally. The steam is present from the very start. I loved how boisterous and strong willed Maria is. When the show runners want her to lose weight for the role, she stands up for herself and risks her chance at fame for her morals, even when Peter is willing to do it. The change in locations through the book was fun and well done. I wished we had seen a little bit more between the six-year gap or maybe made the time change a little smaller. It was done so casually, that if you skimmed it you could miss it.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 11/15

I loved Spoiler Alert, liked All The Feels for the most part, and then was utterly bored by Ship Wrecked. Which is a shame because I was totally on board for the premise! The pacing was all over the place and I didn't love the six year time jump early on. On paper both Peter and Maria sound like they'd be fully developed interesting characters but in practice they both read as very flat and frankly, often pretty uninteresting. Idk if another entry in the series is coming but I don't think I'll be reading if it does. This book wasn't bad enough for a one star rating but it also didn't make me care enough about anything that was going on.

Another all time favorite from Olivia Dade. I adored the elements here showcasing Sweden and their culture.

Peter and Maria were such an amazing pair. I honestly will never get over it.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an eArc.

Olivia Dade is always a yes! from me. The first two books in this series were adorable, romantic, and funny and the third book does not disappoint. Each of Dade's main characters are unapologetically themselves and comfortable with who they are, which is refreshing.

This one has all the great tropes:
One night Stand
Forced Proximity
frenemies to lovers

Ugh, i devoured this book in one night and will be purchasing and rereading it when i need a comfort romance.
4.5 stars.

First, I will say that I liked that this book started with a sex scene. You don't see that very often and it did a great job of grabbing my attention quickly! However, I feel like the book fell flat for me after that. With the time jump and the amount of internal dialogue, I felt like things were rushed yet also dragged on.

Iwas excited to learn that there was a new addition to the Spoiler Alert series! As Ship Wrecked not only features a plus-size female character, but a male one as well, it was difficult for me not to just rate this five stars before even turning to the first page. While I am happy that there are more novels that feature plus-size female characters, it is extremely rare to find a plus-size male, aside from maybe a very slight hint of a tummy. As the series is named after the first novel, I do wish that it was updated to be called Gods of the Gates, the fictional show that most of the main characters work on at one point or another, or something along those lines as I feel this would better match the series rather than just keeping it named after the initial novel. This novel could be read as a standalone, however, there are callbacks to the first two novels, so it would be recommended to read them in order.

This installment tells the story of Maria and Peter, who begin the novel with their one-night stand. Maria left this interaction thinking it was a fun one-night stand while Peter thought it was the opening to something more, so everything is awkward when the two of them are set to film together for the show Gods of the Gates. I do still wish that this series would become a real fantasy show as it sounds like something I would easily watch! As Peter and Maria are love interests in the show, there is some mention of the fandom that ships the two of them to be together in real life. For this, I felt the concept of fandoms was explored a little more in previous novels and was not done to its full potential in this one.

Maria is incredibly unapologetic when it comes to being herself. She is comfortable with her weight, her features, like her body hair, and her personality. She is apprehensive when it comes to relationships due to her past and I loved how this was explored as it made sense for her character and did not feel forced. There is an over ten-year age difference between her and her love interest, Peter, the plus-size Viking. Peter has a complex family dynamic as he lost his mother at a young age and his father does not understand his desire to be an actor. As the two of them work together for six years, the story gives a well-rounded timeline of the two of them having their many ups and downs as enemies, lovers, and co-stars.

Overall, this was not only a fantastic story about Maria and Peter, but it was an excellent insight into Gods of the Gates with the show, the crew, and the cast. There is a lot that goes into making such an elaborate and successful show, so I love that this novel included those details. There are some elements from the first novel, Spoiler Alert, and the second, All the Feels, and their timelines weave together with this one. These were all excellent elements to include, but there were tiny moments where I felt these were “fluff” as they did not add a lot to the tension and relationship-building of Maria and Peter. Since I loved the other stories, I did not mind a lot, but it was definitely something I noticed. It did give a lot of exploration into the characters and their development, so I loved that Dade took the time to really build these characters. While I do not always agree with some of their conversations/decisions at some moments, they do make sense to them. I loved this addition to the series, and I cannot wait to read more from Dade!

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

I have never read a Sophie Dade story I didn't like, except sadly, this one. The magic that is in her other books just wasn't there in Ship Wrecked. I didn't like the characters and I found the story just blah. I will definitely continue reading Olivia Dade books though and I still recommend her as an a favorite author!

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Well this book started off with a bang! Literally.. 😂 the chemistry between Maria(25) and Peter(36) started off great, until a one-night stand left Peter hung and dry. Only to find out that they meet up again as co-stars for a new film where they’re stranded for on a deserted island for 6 years. Once they meet up again after so long, she wants to reconnect with him but he doesn’t want anything to do with her.

I love how sassy Maria is and how passionate Peter is for his career. All the pent up tension between the two is crazy. I love that both characters are big as well and I love that Maria loves her body (so does Peter 😏)

There were times where it kind of felt a little prolonged but overall the story was still pretty good! I can’t wait to read more from this author 🤍

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this ARC!

These cute cartoon covers hide so much underneath them

“When you come back to LA, back to me, will you let me touch you whenever I want, however I want?”

This book was so much more than I was expecting. These characters grow so much over the span of this book, and yes I know it's over a span of 6 years but still. I feel like in most books the characters have no real growth but I loved seeing Peter become more extroverted and create a family around himself. Maria was able to overcome so much to be able to be as open as she is.
This book deserves first place for the best banter of 2022. Her continually calling him a shit-boot and threatening him with a jar all over social media is hilarious. This author is hilarious with her self insert fiction about her own characters.

I suggest you read the first two books to understand all the side characters fully, while this can be read as a standalone it would be fully appreciated with full knowledge of the previous books.

Peter and Maria meet in a sauna, which turns into a sort of anonymous one night stand. After sneaking out the next morning, Maria rushes to a casting call, where she just so happens to run into Peter again. They both get the job, which means they will be starring as lovers in a television show. There's a lot of angst, sexual tension, and slow burn over the course of the rise of their show's success and fame. Once the show comes to an end, will they decide to cross the line out of professionalism into something romantic again?

Although I adored Maria and Peter, I didn't love the format of the book and the way it was laid out. I enjoyed the fan-fiction pieces, but felt they were just kind of unnecessary. I also did not like how much they talked about their weight in such a negative way; they acted as though they are giant freaks of nature just because they are tall and overweight. It was a bit off-putting to me, personally. I just feel like Maria is so confident and some of the dialogue took away from that.

Thank you to Olivia Dade, Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Format - EARC Netgalley

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 🌶 🌶

Series- Spoiler Alert #3

Troupes- Hookup, mutual pining, Friend to lovers, Grumpy sunshine, Forced Proximity

CW- Fat shaming, death of parents, abandonment

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think this is my favorite of this series… All of them so far have had fat MFC and we love to see it but it hits different when both leads are described as fat, and they describe that trait being sexy and attractive.

I love a fluffy MMC so grumpy Peter had my heart from the very beginning. Even when he was a massive dick. And Maria, sweet take no bullshit Maria I want to be her when I grow up. She’s kind and caring while also giving zero f*cks about what anyone else thinks of her or her body. Both of these lovelies have some abandonment issues and this is the main conflict between them right from the start.

Dade delivers the spice early but then builds a slow burn that will drive you nuts before finally getting these two together again. And it’s steamer than the sauna.

This book is a joy to read so many hard topics are addressed without you even realizing it. Fat shaming and mental health, among them. Peter and Maria are my new standard for excellence in flirty banter!

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary hard copy. All opinions provided are my own.

Peter Reedton isn’t a particularly bold hero. As the book notes, he is not waging outright war against his enemies to make himself or the heroine happy.

Instead, the book says, he’s “subtle,” “caring.” And in the end, so romantic. I loved him so much.

Olivia Dade writes her leads in Ship Wrecked beautifully. They feel & seem real—they have charm, eccentricity, insecurity, hurts; they show uncertainty & grace; they are frustrating at times; they are loveable.

He & Maria Ivarsson—both actors on a Game of Thrones-like show—are so emotionally charismatic. I talked about Peter already & Maria is a dynamo—she stands up for herself & for Peter & tries to facilitate connections for him, something he isn’t naturally adept at doing.

The fat rep is sensational, the found family had my heart squeezing, & the ending gives me the gestures & romance my greedy heart wants.

But the book does lose a bit of momentum for me for around 10% of the end, & at the beginning Peter’s personality loses a bit of charm when it delays their relationship in an anticlimactic sort of way .

With that being said I think those things wouldn’t hurt as much with a reread, when I knew what was coming & when things were going to slow down.

In the end this lovely powerful book is really something special & I adore it.

5⭐️ . (I rounded up because since finishing, my heart has grown even fonder.) Out 11/15.


CWs: the show producers are jerks at times who have certain body and/or beauty expectations for the leads—particularly for Maria. Maria was a foster child who was repeatedly uprooted & sent to live with new families. Parental death. Former infidelity & partner abandonment.

ID: a white hand holds up the book in front of one of the Forest giants at Bernheim Forest.

DNF @ 50% - I really enjoyed the first two books of this series, but I felt like it was a carbon copy of the same plot format again and again. it’s got the ali hazelwood syndrome.

the pacing was so off, the characters were the same as always (giant man love interest, tiny blonde female), and the time jump? was it necessary to skip ahead 6 years? probably not.

it definitely had the makings of a good story but the follow through was very weak.

This one was a 3.5 for me, rounded up to 4. I love that it started in the middle of a s*x scene. I mean, dang. Way to begin with a bang! (literally).

At first, I didn't think I was going to like Peter, but he grew on me as the story went on, and both of them were actually softies under the hard exterior.

The main reasons that I didn't LOVE it were all the extra things (script, texts, etc). It was too much and in my opinion really took away from the story. I also thought that sometimes the inner monologues were over the top and too long.

BUT I love the way it ended and I thought the love story was very sweet.

Olivia Dade never fails me. I love that both characters are fat and absolutely obsessed with each other. It was how I love my romances: hot and heart-wrenching.