Spoiler Alert

LOVED this. I'm not generally a fan of contemporary romance, but I adored the setting, loved to learn more about fanfic communities, loved that the main topic of the show was the Aeneid, of all things, and absolutely loved the characters. Couldn't put it down and was giggling late into the night at various points -- excellent humor interspersed with strong messages about setting boundaries with people who hurt you and finding ways to love yourself. Absolutely loved the voluptuous heroine, and the descriptions of her luscious body. Also loved that it didn't shy away from real ways to deal with shame -- takes on fat-shaming, dyslexia. There's a whole lot of inclusive love going on in here, and I am into it. Can't wait for the next book in show more the series! show less

April Whittier is done hiding herself. She's changing jobs for a position where her co-workers won't judge her for her active participation in the Gods of the Gates fandom, where she both writes fanfics and is preparing to cosplay at the upcoming con. She's also done with people who fat shame her. So she's prepared for some of the trolls who will come out of the woodwork when she posts a picture of herself on Twitter in her newest costume. What she isn't prepared for is Marcus Caster-Rupp, one of the stars of Gods of the Gates, to come to her defense AND ask her on a date. Marcus is completely happy to go on a date with fan to shut up the trolls, especially with a beautiful woman. But when he discovers that April is also the same person show more behind the online handle who betas the fix-it fics he writes for Gods of the Gates (a big contravention of his contract if any of the showrunners ever found out) and who is already one of his favourite people on the planet, he knows things are going to be complicated.

This book is SO good. A truly body positive romance that doesn't shy away from describing the details of April's body while also making it clear that she is beautiful and that Marcus recognizes her beauty (inside and out). It's also a really well done dive into the ins and outs of fan culture and the fanfic writing communities that can rise up around books and shows. I was particularly delighted by the excerpts from fanfics from the fictional community Dade has created as well as the bits of scripts from some of the films Marcus did earlier in his career as they frequently made me crack up. While the big conflict of the book is pretty clearly outlined from the beginning, the book is an excellent read throughout. I look forward to reading further books in this series and also other works from Dade. Highly recommended, particularly for anyone who has ever dipped their toe into the realm fanfiction. show less

April and Marcus are both very careful to keep their fandom separate from their professional lives. April wants to avoid negative comments from colleagues about her Gods of the Gates fanfiction and from fandom friends about her weight. Marcus, a Gods of the Gates actor who uses fanfiction to express his criticisms of the show, wants to avoid violating his contract. So when Marcus sees a cosplay photo of April online, he doesn’t recognise his friend Unapologetic Lavinia Stan -- he just sees a gorgeous woman getting nasty comments, and to show he doesn’t condone the trolls’ behaviour, he publicly invites her to dinner.

I was hooked. As a romance, this story didn’t always focus on the things I most wanted it to (which I suspected show more might happen -- sometimes the romance genre and I just have different priorities). But I understood why it made the narrative choices it did, and liked how the characters resolved their mistakes. And I really liked it as a story about fanfiction and the way we tell stories in response to other stories.

April and Marcus are writing fanfiction about Gods of the Gates, a TV adaptation of a book series based on The Aeneid... which was influenced by Homer’s The Odyssey. There are also some pointed similarities between Gods of the Gates and Game of Thrones which were obvious to me even though I’ve never seen Game of Thrones. (Possibly there are more I missed.)

I was delighted that the excerpts from the characters’ fanfiction included their AO3 tags, that was great (and I would have liked more of it).

Book!AeneasWouldNever: I just have the feeling the heart of his story will be destroyed too. A man questioning his relationship to the values he’s been taught by his parents and making his way in the world. Finding his own moral code. Falling in love and learning to value both himself and that love more than his past and the duties imposed on him by others.
Unapologetic Lavina Stan: That’s a lovely way to put it.
Book!AeneasWouldNever: And in the final season, the showrunners will lay all that to waste. It’s going to hurt, Ulsie. The way it plays out will hurt me, and it’ll hurt you too. I’m so sorry.
Book!AeneasWouldNever: I mean, that’s what I guess will happen.
Book!AeneasWouldNever: But the Lavineas relationship is always there on the page, if not on the television screen. And I’m always here too, on your computer screen. Anytime you need me.

Accurate portrayal of fandom conversations FTW! show less

Fieldnotes:
San Francisco, Contemporary (p. 2020) - BeforeTimes

1 Cultural Phenomenon Fantasy TV Show Based on the Aeneid (Which Is Not At All Referencing Game of Thrones, Not Even A Little Bit)

1 Vapid Muscle-Bound Public Persona Hiding Secret Depths of Intelligence and Kindness
1 Plus-Sized Geologist in a Gorgeous Cosplay Picture
Countless Internet Trolls
1 Unexpected Sort-of Publicity Stunt Date

2 Secret FanFic Writing Identities with Potential to Ruin Careers
1 Ship to Rule Them All
1 Amazing Date to the Science Museum, including Earthquake Simulator!

Several Excerpts from Marcus' Ridiculously Bad Movies
Many Hilarious FanFiction Tags
Loud Shouty Spectating of the Bake-Off

2 Families who Suck (in Unfortunately Believable Ways)
1 Found Family of show more Cast Members
1 Sequel Bait Couple (Effective)
Dyslexia

The Short Version:
A fun romcom that also had a fair amount of depth. The premise is major wish fulfillment, fanfic style - a devoted fan ends up asked out on a date by the star of her favorite show. But neither of our protagonists are cookie cutter - April is fat in a fandom (like many) and a society that uses "fat" as a shorthand for lazy, greedy, etc. Marcus is treated like a dopey Labrador - a role he has played up for his own reasons, but which is demeaning nonetheless - he's also in his 40s, has his own angsty issues to deal with and has to choose between lying to the woman he is falling for and blowing up his career.

There is a lot of really fun, flirty banter and their tension is great. Plus we break up POV sections with amusing excerpts from Marcus' terrible movies, excerpts from fanfiction (including descriptive tags) and chats between the two leads' fanfic noms-de-plume. I liked the format and it really felt like hanging around enthusiastic fandom people - something I've missed. show less

The fangirl in me loves this. The reader in me loves this. I simply love this!

The fanfiction excerpts are so spot on! The tags made me CACKLE! And the script excerpts are awful in the way that they're supposed to be.

I love how much of a gentleman Marcus is. He truly tries to be a good person and boyfriend, and he does understand certain social issues. I also love that he learns and grows throughout the book.

April is perfection. She's so funny and confident and I admire her. I love that she does her best to not let anyone keep her down.

This book is so funny, and romantic, and does provide some second hand embarrassment at times. Its like a good fanfic, only I didn't know the characters when I started reading.

Oh man, I'm for sure show more going to need to read more of Dade in the future! show less

This gives one of the most realistic portrayals of an actor I've ever read, and that's a huge part of what makes it work so well. I fell in love with April more quickly and more thoroughly than Marcus, which is saying something. Dade has clearly written the story to show that fat ≠ unlovable, and I'm totally okay with that. There's lots of representation here of many kinds (folksingers!?) and mostly positive. Fanships at large will probably enjoy the hell out of this, along with nearly anyone who's ever attended a con, posted or read fics, cosplayers, actors, film crews, fight masters and choreographers, etc. Very sweet, but also providing some useful scripts for people setting boundaries and asking for what they want. Plus I really show more loved the fics and the horrible plots/writing/titles of movies.

And I know I'm not the only one thinking what a fun movie it would make except for the very high probability that the actor hired to pay April would only be fat by Hollywood standards.

Library copy show less

I've been dipping my toe back into the M/F contemporary romance pool lately for some reason, after several years of reading primarily queer romance. Olivia Dade is a fairly new-to-me author (I've only read her story in the [b:He's Come Undone: A Romance Anthology|51831578|He's Come Undone A Romance Anthology|Emma Barry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582818691l/51831578._SY75_.jpg|76324549]) and I was impressed by Spoiler Alert's quirky, competent heroine, smooth character arcs and sly sense of humor.

April is passionate about her job as a geologist, and she's tired of hiding or apologizing for the other aspects of her personality. She's fat, she writes fan-fiction about two characters from a show more fantasy television show (not dissimilar to "Game of Thrones" in that the show has gone beyond the book canon and the fans are not happy with its recent direction), and she's ready to show herself to the world by cosplaying her favorite character at an upcoming convention. Unbeknownst to her, she's in a "You've Got Mail/Shop Around the Corner" thing going with Marcus, who is dating her as the handsome but somewhat dim lead actor from her favorite show, while trying not to let her realize that he is also her beta reader on the fanfic site.

Both Marcus and April have parents who were hypercritical of them - Marcus for his (long undiagnosed) dyslexia and April for her weight. Dade shows how their relationship slowly helps them overcome those early hurts and determine their own value while also making them wary of trusting each other with their real selves. The geologist rock analogies are a tad heavy-handed but on target. The book's climactic scene is appropriately swoon-worthy, and their happy ending well-deserved.

I'm not at all familiar with the fan fiction world, so a lot of the references were wasted on me, but I enjoyed the excerpts that April and Marcus wrote. The other"interstitial" chapters highlighting the poorly conceived scripts from Marcus' previous movies and TV shows were hilarious (especially how the common theme is that the female characters exist only to die and give the hero his character arc) and helped illuminate the plot.

There's a little bit too much of information about Marcus' co-star Alex and the woman assigned to keep him from misbehaving; they're obviously the subject of the next book in the series (with a great deal of pegging apparently) but I found them to be distracting sequel bait. Other than that, however, I really enjoyed this book. If this is what contemporary romance looks like in the 2020s I may have missed out by avoiding it for so long.

N.B. I'm not going to comment on the fat representation because it is not something I have personal experience with, but I think readers will appreciate the fact that April is portrayed as a fat, healthy woman whom Marcus finds incredibly attractive.

ARC received by Net Galley in exchange for honest review. show less