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Member Reviews

This is my first Olivia Dade book. But it won't be my last! I am glad I read this book - I really enjoyed the body positivity in this. You don't see that very often - and especially not in romance stories. So, that was refreshing. Just a heads up, the story starts on a one night stand - which I had a hard time getting past (I'm much more a slow-burn girl). But then it turns into an enemies to lovers thing and who doesn't love that? Plus the whole thick thigh viking man? yes!!
Thanks NetGalley!

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Ship Wrecked is a wonderfully body-positive, boundary encouraging story centered on the toxicity of Hollywood. Maria and Peter make it big with their breakthrough roles on a Game of Thrones-style epic fantasy series and both find their way through an industry that judges physical image harshly. Their differences are highlighted during press junket visits to their hometowns, which also helps their relationship develop and grow.

My only concern with this book was the pace - I felt a bit lost in the timeline during the read, but afterward was happy to have read a HEA that didn't take place over the course of a week. The timeline was far more realistic for a couple who need to reestablish trust to renew a connection.

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What a fun read! I loved exploring the relationship between Peter and Maria throughout the years. This was my first book by the author and I will definitely check out her other novels. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

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Another stunning installment in this series by Olivia Dade. What I loved about Shipwrecked is that both of the main characters were plus size characters. There’s not enough fat male representation and Peter was such a fantastic character for this role. I absolutely adored his relationship with Maria. Overall, I was a little confused about the placement of the timeline in the beginning, but as their story unfolded, it was easier to see where Peter and Maria’s story fit into the ‘Gods of the Gates’ universe.

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I absolutely loved this book and will be reading anything Olivia Dade writes. I had been wondering if we would see these two characters eventually and I am so glad we did as I loved them and this story!

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Peter feels like the luckiest man on earth after meeting a gorgeous woman in the sauna and spending the night with her-- that is, until he waked up alone in the morning and is devastated. He knows she didn't owe him a goodbye, but her sudden disappearance hits a little too close to home after his fiancee did the exact same thing a couple years ago.
But when he shows up to the biggest audition of his life later that day, there she is. Maria. The most beautiful woman he's ever met-- and his new costar for the next few years.

Ship Wrecked is a chaotic chronicle of Maria and Peter's years filming their show. It follows a few different formats (regular prose; text messages, including the group chat with all the other stars of the show, who basically never film with Maria and Peter; and online tabloid articles). The book spans about seven years, including quite a few time skips. Overall, the form felt very chaotic but in a way that worked.

Peter and Maria are both fat, and the fact that they're cast as leads in a tv show that isn't about them being fat is great-- until their showrunners want them to lose weight if they want to stay on the show. Maria refuses, Peter feels like they can't, and ultimately, I found this plot point poignant and handled very well. Their directors support Maria and Peter and are angry on their behalf, and throughout the whole filming process, create a great buffer between Maria and Peter and the showrunners, who are definitely the villains of this story.

The tension in this book is absolutely next level-- they go from hookup to (briefly) enemies to friends to lovers, with mutual pining the entire time. The tension was incredibly well done, and I found myself incredibly frustrated in the best way. The third act break-up, which is something I'm not always a fan of, was also INCREDIBLY well done-- it felt very real and raw and absolutely broke my heart. Both sides to the argument made perfect sense, even while they both could have done a better job of thinking about the other's position and communicating their own. Where sometimes third act breakups feel like nothing more than a plot device, the one in Ship Wrecked brought to mind all the most devastating breakups and other impasses from my life: while they both messed up, neither was really, fully, in the wrong, and that's what made it my favorite part of the book, and hands-down my favorite third act breakup of all time. The make-up, similarly, involved a lot of introspection and communication, and the payoff was incredible.

Ship Wrecked is a fun, chaotic, romcom with complex characters at the forefront, great sex scenes, tons of fat positivity, and some of the best tension I've ever read.

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I think for me this was my least favorite of the three but that was because Maria and Peter were so separated from the rest of the cast, and that was what I enjoyed most about the other books. Still, it's fun, it's easy, it's got fat people falling in love and fandom, like, whatever, I'm going to like it.

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I really don’t think Olivia Dade’s writing is for me. Not a huge fan of how plus size people are represented and I hopped she learned from the feedback on Spoiler Alert. Nonetheless, interesting storyline!

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4.5 stars
I enjoyed the first two books in this series but I think this one was my favorite! It was a sweet and funny story and I loved the plus-sized representation. The timeline and pacing was a bit confusing in the beginning and the conflict in the end seemed a bit forced but otherwise I really loved this book.

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Wow! Shipwrecked is an incredible
Romance and also one of the spiciest non-erotica books I’ve ever read. I mean there’s hot and then there’s SPICY! It did feel little long at points, but overall and really delightful read. Many thanks to the author and publisher for making it available for review.

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e-arc provided by Netgalley,

I LOVED this which is no surprise since I've loved basically every other Olivia Dade book I've managed to get my hands on. I'm usually not as much into Friends to Lovers but this was so good and I love being in the "Gods Of The Gates" world. All The Feels still remains my fave of this series but this is a close second :)

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I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book, provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The third installment in the Spoiler Alert Universe absolutely did not disappoint. We follow co-stars Maria and Peter navigate as they have a 6-year-long commitment to remotely filming Gods of the Gates with seething sexual and emotional tension. Oh, and they are the only two on their end of the show, so filming is literally the two of them, and a small crew. And did I mention a pact, of sorts, to not have a physical relationship so they won't upend production?

OH! And, yeah, they had a hotter than Hades one night stand the night before their Gods of the Gates auditions. And Maria left while Peter was asleep.

Peter is a stoic leading man, having small jobs on his IMDB list, while Maria is primarily a stage actress from Sweden. Their chemistry is evident enough to have them cast as the new leads of the TV show they both audition for, and away they go! But Peter is still resentful that Maria left him, and she's just shocked to see him again. The remote island location, however, gives them plenty of space and time to get comfortable enough with each other. But they both harbor the need and want to be with each other again. And after filming wraps all bets are off.

As they navigate life after the 6 years of filming, will all of the waiting be worth it? Life in the public eye isn't all it's cracked up to be, and both Peter and Maria have faulty relationships in their past, as well as family issues that have left them scarred, vulnerable people. Their insecurities and pre-conceived notions about the world, relationships and themselves always find a way to come between them. But can Peter and Maria figure out their future before they throw it all away?

The HUGE takeaway for me: Peter and Maria are not thin, beautiful, sculpted people. They are both big, as in fat. LOTS of body positivity here, and real people. There's one plotline where Maria and Peter are told by production to lose weight, and Maria flat-out refuses.. It was very refreshing.

I laughed, I cried. At a few points I had to stop reading because it was too emotional. Maria, being from Sweden, had a lot of banter built up with ABBA. I was reading the scene where Peter meets her parents while i was at work. I was laughing so hard, my co-workers were looking at me funny. I started reading passages aloud, and everyone was laughing. Even tho the previous book in this series is called All The Feels, honestly, this one has all of them, too. I wish I could read this book for the first time again. It was pure joy. It's definitely in my top reads of the year.

Oh, and there's sexy time, so definitely 18+.

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This was my first Olivia Dade book and I cannot wait to read more. I absolutely love when you see representation of a true plus size heroine and for her to be with a plus size man was just icing on the cake. It was so refreshing to see a MMC that loved the FMC so much and pinned for her so long and to see the way he treated her was just beautiful.

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There's no question, Olivia Dade writes fantastically fun, entertainingly quippy, downright sexy romances. Her Spoiler Alert series has been proof of this for two books - and now a third. Like the two previous, Ship Wrecked features an unapologetically fat heroine (and this time, her romantic opposite is fat right along with her, which is so fantastic), tongue-in-cheek fandom jokes, and two people working their way through their own, and shared, issues to figure out a healthy relationship with one another.

Plus all those sexy scenes. And boy are there sexy scenes in this one.

I do wish the conflict between Peter and Maria had been better developed or better paced, as I couldn't entirely figure out what the problem was between them for a long time. A few issues to work out, maybe, could be better at communicating, but...what is actually stopping them from being together? The third act breakup makes more sense, given what we've learned about them as individuals by this time, but there was surprisingly little real, logical, character-driven conflict up til that point. (And to be honest, maybe it's just my own pet peeves and triggers, but Maria's reactions and responses in that third act conflict made me like her much less as a person. Good thing she's a fictional character!)

That being said, Peter is a wonderful character, and he & Maria play well off each other (despite the perhaps excessive number of Sweden jokes...). It's a heartfelt, romantic story between two people who love each other but need to figure their ish out, and ultimately that's exactly what I want out of this series.

Thanks to Avon for the advance review copy!

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Picture this... Maria & Peter have a one night stand and he is completely taken with her except she isn't? She leaves Peter with no word or explanation which breaks him since he thought they had such an amazing night. Only to be reunited the very next day at an audition! Both receive the role and now have to be sweepted to a remote island to film together for years. They decide to only be friends while filming but once filming is done they both have to face temptation.

I absolutely fell in love with both characters. I loved being able to see both characters stories as individuals while trying to know them together. Both have they're own skeletons in their closets they have to face.
Did I mention both characters are plus size!

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Thank you to Avon, NetGalley, and the author for this early review copy. All opinions are my own!

This was exactly what I needed to read. Olivia Dade has a rare, lovely gift for writing romances that feel both achingly real and delightfully escapist. Peter and Maria's journey as individuals and also as a couple was emotional and endearing, bittersweet and beautiful imperfect. Seeing the work they had to do to confront their pasts' impact on their present and future, the pining and waiting they endured while they spent SIX YEARS working together, made for such a satisfying, romantic reading experience.

SHIP WRECKED is out November 15, 2022, and I can't wait for readers to have their hands on it!

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Simply adorable and a stunning end. I loved this one so much. Such a treat, pick it up to feel all the good emotions. Can’t wait to see what is next for this author.

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This is the third book in the series. You do not have to read them all in order, but it would help to make sense of the "Group Chat" sections. If you are part of a fandom, were mad about how Game of Thrones went at the end, or are interested in the performing arts, then you will like this book. While the story could have been fluffy, all of the books in this series are not only a geeky romance (and hot) they also tackle complicated family dynamics and show people overcoming family-inflicted traumas. In other words, the story has some meat to go with the heat. After I finished this book, I went back and re-read the other two in the series. And while Alex and Lauren's book is my favorite, this novel is great and I highly recommend it.

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Olivia does it again! Such a great book! If you enjoyed the first two you will also love this one. She excels at witty banter and these two MC's are full of it! Perfect amount of steam! I just reviewed Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade. #ShipWrecked #NetGalley
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4/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶

Overall, I did enjoy the book, it was entertaining. I loved that both main characters were comfortable with themselves, I am always here for the body positivity.

For a book that hits you with spice in the first paragraph, it had an incredibly slow burn, for me. I also didn’t like that their weight was such a big focus. I appreciate the need for representation, but it felt like that was the whole plot for some parts of the book.

There was a decent amount of humor, that I would consider this a borderline romcom, heavier on the rom than the com. Loved the side characters, they definitely made the book for me.

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