Ship Wrecked follows Maria and Peter, between who sparks fly the moment they meet. After one of the hottest and most memorable one night stands together, Maria leaves in the morning without saying goodbye, thinking she’ll never see Peter again anyway…only to meet him when he’s cast as her co-star for God of the Gates. The co-star she’ll be spending the next years filming with…on a remote island. Disgruntled, Peter wants nothing to do with Maria when the cameras aren’t rolling—but there’s only so many people you can talk to when you’re stuck on an island with a handful of people. As feelings of rejection turn to friendship to camaraderie and eventually to more, Peter and Maria will have to decide what’s more important: putting their career or their chance at a happily ever after first.
Leave it to Olivia Dade to start a book mid-hooking up and still deliver one of the most excruciating slow burns to readers everywhere. Talk about pent-up feelings, oh my.
Like the first two installments of the Spoiler Alert series, Ship Wrecked will make people with a love for fandoms grin like the Cheshire cat. Dade excels in writing character-driven stories and this was no different. Both Maria and Peter have quite a lot to work through on their own before they can reconcile their feelings for each other with who they are and what they are aiming for in life. Peter was so relatable with his desire to shine in the industry but struggling with actually connecting with people off-camera. I love me a socially inept character (because, well, it’s relatable) and it’s riveting to follow Peter become more comfortable in his own skin and learn to let others in. Maria, meanwhile, has her own struggles to overcome yet her rambunctious family and her own confidence and enthusiasm for life really make her chapters such a pleasure to read.
Their romance, of course, is an absolutely emotional rollercoaster. From pointed digs at the other in the beginning (Peter definitely knows how to hold a grudge) to begrudging respect for each other’s ambitions and talent to eventual moments that make your heart melt, their chemistry is undeniable. Following the characters as they try to avoid temptation only for them to eventually give in and deliver all the steam is going to be kryptonite for fans of the slow burn trope. What I also loved about them was that they are both fat (and look at that gorgeous cover again for a sec, please) and while they’re aware of the industry’s bias, it never interferes with their relationship. We need more representation like this, please.
Fans of the first two books will also love the cameos and laugh out loud at the shenanigans the Gods of the Gates cast gets up to since we follow Maria and Peter for years and get to kind of piece together where the other characters (and storylines) are while Maria and Peter are of course the focus. While I’m sad to see this series go, I think that readers will love this electric farewell to their beloved characters.
Filled with banter and tons of pining, Dade’s Ship Wrecked delivers an intense will-they-won’t-they type of love that is years in the making. Led by two protagonists as stubborn as they are ambitious, this emotional romance will fill readers with hope for their own happily ever after.
Ship Wrecked is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of November 15th 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
