Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade ~ 413 pages ~ published November 15, 2022 by Avon
Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
His shipwrecked Swede doesn’t stand a chance.
What I Thought:
*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC!*
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!
Are you interested in learning more about this book/series? Check out the links below!
Are you a fan of the Spoiler Alert series? Have you read my review of the second book in the series, All the Feels?
Do you enjoy reading plus-size romance? What are some other friends to lovers romances that you enjoy? Let’s chat down in the comments!
Love and happy reading,
Whitney
Whit Reads Lit 