Great start, waaaaay to long middle, decent end. I was excited for this book and mostly enjoyed it, minus the excessive slow burn and the overly obvious feminist themes.

3.5 stars. I don't think this was my absolute favorite new romance novel, but even if some of the humor didn't quite land for me (the running gag about pickled herrings got a bit old) I really liked that both of the main characters were fat and confident in themselves, they had pretty good chemistry, and I enjoyed the bits of the behind the scenes stuff about the filming of their show a lot and this was a nice conclusion of the series.

body-positive fun romance that had me swooning. fun trope and gorgeous cover well that's the Olivia Date standard she always delivers a great romantic swoonfest.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC of Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade.

Epic Slow BURN to the point its tortuous! The pet names, the banter, and the adorable group chats was just what my heart needed.

I really enjoyed this title! The conversation around body positivity and being true to yourself was couched in a unique situation. I also enjoyed reading about characters not from the US!

I loved All The Feels by Olivia Dade so much. That book was so beautiful and stole my heart. I was so excited to read Ship Wrecked but unfortunately this one fell flat for me. I couldn’t connect with the main characters love interest. I just found myself not caring about their story. So unfortunately I dnfd 40% in. I’m really sad this one didn’t work for me. I will still be picking up more books by this author in the future!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

The first sentence of this book made me think of "What Happened To Hello, How Are you?" a catchphrase spoken by Real Housewives of Atlanta star Sheree. We open basically mid-thrust on a one night stand between Maria and Peter. They naturally assume they'll never see one another again.

Surprise, surprise! They meet the next morning at a chemistry test for a TV series where they will play opposite one another. Get ready for the slow burn of SIX SEASONS of a TV series where they refuse to acknowledge any feelings for one another.

Maria and Peter have wonderful chemistry and Maria is an amazing, strong main character that stands up for herself and others. We cover A LOT of time in this book, but I think Olivia Dade does a good job of delving into how past experiences shape our current hangups in relationships and the way we perceive how our lives should turn out.

This book was written for you if:
1) You have an AO3 account
2) You like a quick, slow burn (if that makes an ounce of sense)
3) You like to read main characters that refuse to conform to expectations

After Maria’s one-night stand, Peter, ends up being her costar on a remote island, the two agree to be just friends for the six years of filming. Now, they have a second chance when the show is cancelled.

I enjoyed this series - and this book did not disappoint. It’s a sense its a slow burn minus the fact it starts with a one night stand. Both main characters are fat, but it’s not a focus of the book.

This masterpiece has everything you need in a good romance: Edge-of-your-seat tension? Banter? Just an overall great setup for a story? Safe to say, this book emotionally "Wreaked" me! Very excited to read more of Olivia Dade's writing, as this was the first book of her's which I've had the chance to read.

This is yet another amazing book by Olivia Dade! I loved having both MCs this time be fat, not just one. And while their size was brought up on occasion, it was not a focus, which made it even better.

I loved the wild ride of this story. It starts off with some big action right away (WINK WINK), and then there are quite a few ups and downs throughout. Their story is, in a way, a slow burn BUT because the lovely Ms. Dade opted to basically skip ahead multiple years at one point, the reader does not have to slog through the lull. To me, that was perfect. I love the pining, but also don't want to read too much of it.

As always, the author provides wonderful dialogue, humor, spice, and all the feels (SEE WHAT I DID THERE!). Peter and Maria were so wonderful and I loved getting to know them and watch them get their HEA. If this were to be the last book in the series, it definitely would be a high note. This book can be read as a standalone, but I did really enjoy the side characters met in the previous stories. I highly recommend reading them all!

I love Olivia Dade, and this book was no exception. Also that cover art is some of my all time favorite!!! This book also featured one of my favorite tropes- the classic one-night-stand becomes your coworker/boss, etc. Olivia Dade is quickly becoming an auto-read author.

I have been progressively less interested in this series and I think maybe the author is stretching out a good idea a little far.

This book has two main leads and very few very minor characters. That means the main leads really have to hold their own and they just... don't. They also spend a great deal of the book not talking to each other which... yeah.

I read 36% of the book before I stopped and in that time I never grew to like either lead. Maria's body positivity is nice, but her personality sort of stops there. Peter is too reserved and standoffish for me to get a sense of his personality. The fact that they are the only main characters made it really hard for me to stay interested.

The main focus of the book is sex. Much more so than the previous books, even. It starts with a sex scene, then continues with each of the leads hopelessly sexually attracted to each other and determined not to show it. Then there is a for-the-TV-show sex scene that has them trying not to show how into it they are. Not my jam.

There are also a ton of time skips. It's not really clear in the audiobook that it's even happening, and then suddenly one of the characters will think "It had been 5 years" and you're like what? Five years? Where did they go?

I can't bring myself to read any farther because I'm not enjoying it. If this series continues, I'll pass.

This book was such an adorable read! having romances with plus size main characters makes me so happy! I loved every page and highly recommend giving this a read!

I generally liked this book, but I felt like the group texting segments weren't written well. They didn't read like people of the characters' age. In addition, the story didn't quite mesh with the rest of the series, because you'd have to assume some of these things would have been relevant to characters of the previous books.

4.25 Stars

Ship Wrecked is an interesting entry into the verse, offering a glimpse over seasons at life on a set where the only two cast members working on the set are parties who knew each other intimately before formally meeting each other.

What follows is a slow burn romance with a lot of growth and so much depth not only for these characters but their relationship as well. Something that really threw me is that I didn’t instantly fall in love with these characters like I have in Spoiler Alert and All the Feels.

I loved Maria so much and my appreciation for her grew as we learned more about her. She never put on any airs or minced words, embracing who she was and clearly stating her expectations for every scenario. The moments when she stands up to the creators, telling them exactly where they can stick their misogynistic beauty ideals, are wonderful.

Peter’s growth is more noticeable, as we get to see the source of his hang-ups and insecurities. It’s partly why it took me longer to warm up to his character.

Peter’s a jerk once he realizes who Maria is in the aftermath of being ghosted in the morning after a one-night stand. What’s worse or rather makes it worse is the things he says to try to get under her skin. It’s the pretentious celebrity persona that April from Spoiler Alert was afraid Marcus would be bogged down with.

I get the hurt feelings, but the words were tough. Maria has more grace, forgiving him and trying to make their filming experience on that Northern Ireland Island a lot less antagonistic.

Though I will say, I appreciate that by his own admission he was a complete dick and sees Maria’s attempts at extending an olive branch. There are moments when we see the sweet, thoughtful Peter shine through. The first time he goes to dinner with the crew is a fitting example. The way Maria still tries to help him connect with the crew is so tooth-achingly sweet.

Overall, I appreciate that the book seemingly spans over seasons and years moving along with Maria and Peter’s time as Cassia and Cyprian on the show. It gives readers time to see how they grow together and work through many past hurts to find themselves in a good place together.

And best of all, it’s dealt with in a healthy way!

I absolutely love that the intimacy coordinator comes into play towards the end of Maria and Peter’s time on Gods at the Gates. A nice peek into the intricacies of what goes into love scenes on screens, normalizing the need for them on sets in a fun way.

The fact that we get to see the first two books’ events intertwined into Ship Wrecked is fun and adds more depth to the world. I can’t wait to see how this universe expands further in the future and get more glimpses of these couples.

I love Olivia Dade. Her books have amazing representation and are full of both laughs and steam. While this one had all of those trademarks, it just didn't work as well as her others for me. We meet Maria and Peter in the midst of their one night stand. Peter wakes up to find Maria gone and is both hurt and disappointed that she ghosted him. To say he is not thrilled to find out that Maria will star against him in their upcoming roles on a hit TV show is understating it. He is less than thrilled about it and makes this known to Maria from day one.

Ship Wrecked is enemies to lovers with forced proximity. These two spend years filming on a remote island. What I didn't love was the timing of the book. There are literal months and years skipped here and so the buildup to their coming together is sort of lost for me. There was way too much about filming and their co stars and so the tension and angst just didn't hit it for me. I just felt like Dade missed something here that she usually does not in her writing.

With all that said, even a rough Dade book is a good book. I was happy to see characters from previous books and liked how she overlapped certain parts of the series. While this wasn't my favorite, I'm glad I was able to read more within this world.

While I'm new to this crazy cast and their journey, it doesn't hurt the story or your appreciation for all things crazy.

While Mac and Whiskers takes some faith to understand, it's only because I had no idea their telepathic connection. (Snickers so hard) Aside from the feline human bond (because this story isn't about Mac and Whiskers), this Hollywood on location novel is a slow burn for all the die hard romantics. One night stand-turned enemies-turned friends and years, YEARS of lust and tension. Yes, you too will be long past ready for the rpf to come true!

Sweet, fun, and full of flawed real people, Ship Wrecked is a good time. And may the chaos award (or Cupid) go to Alex for all that he does.

I really enjoyed Maria and Peter’s story!

The fact that both characters were plus sized was refreshing, and having one character so willing to fight for her body and what she believed in is what I’d like to see more of in romance books.

Per usual, I loved Olivia Sade’s writing style and the spice was perfection. Already looking forward to the next installment!

Maria, a Swedish actor considering a jump to LA, and Peter, a longtime LA resident whose been following his dreams of becoming a leading man in Hollywood for years, meet in a sauna and sparks fly. They spend a night together before Maria leaves without a trace. The two meet again soon after at an audition for a blockbuster show, Gods of the Gates, where they are cast opposite one another as the only two actors filming a slow-burn romance on an isolated island. While chemistry still sparks between them, Peter is adamant that he won't risk his career by having a relationship with a coworker. Over the following years, the two become best friends. When filming wraps up, the two have to decide - is a future together possible for them?

I really adored this one! I loved the body positivity and the way that fatness was approached. I was absolutely obsessed with Maria and loved her standards for how she deserves to be treated in a relationship. This was really lovely and left me feeling more confident in my own skin. I especially loved that this was a romance between two fat characters who found each other physically irresistible. It's hard to find a romance novel with both characters being fat! The only thing I struggled with is that, while this is a third in a series, it was marketed as a standalone. There was a lot of discussion of other characters and events with minimal description that I imagine would have meant more to me if I had read the earlier books. The pacing was also kind of confusing, with time jumps that could be difficult to follow.

All in all, I enjoyed this one immensely! I will definitely be going back and reading the earlier books in the series.

Thanks so much to Olivia Dade and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC through NetGalley. Ship Wrecked is available now!

*DNF*
I really want to like this author and her writing but we just do not mesh well. And that makes me very sad because I want to read book with big rep in them because I feel seen in them. But the writing style from this one is different from the previous book I've read from her and the povs where messing with my tiny brain. I may try and pick this novel up again the future.