Review: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. While the world knows him as Aeneas, the star of the biggest show on TV, Gods of the Gates, he's known to fanfiction readers as Book!AeneasWouldNever, an anonymous and popular poster.  Marcus is able to get out his own frustrations with his character through his stories, especially the ones that feature the internet’s favorite couple to ship, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone ever found out about his online persona, he’d be fired. Immediately.

April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she’s hidden her fanfiction and cosplay hobby from her “real life” for years—but not anymore. When she decides to post her latest Lavinia creation on Twitter, her photo goes viral. Trolls and supporters alike are commenting on her plus-size take, but when Marcus, one half of her OTP, sees her pic and asks her out on a date to spite her critics, she realizes life is really stranger than fanfiction.

Even though their first date is a disaster, Marcus quickly realizes that he wants much more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. And when he discovers she’s actually Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to hide from her.

With love and Marcus’s career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?

Review: This was the body positive romance I had been waiting for. This featured all of favourite tropes in there or the tropes I love in a novel anyways. We had characters who were thoughtful and intelligent. Characters who were relatable and lots of lovely consensual hot sex. 

April is a great main character because she is confident about her body and proud of being fat and beautiful but she also has the same kind of hang ups and insecurities that we all have. I loved the fact that she had a separate online persona to her real world persona and I found that very very easy to relate to. She is also confident in herself and her beliefs and it is clear that she doesn't need a partner to validate who she is or where she is in life. She was an intelligent breath of fresh air and I was rooting for her all the way through the novel. 

Marcus is an interesting character because he has that celebrity about him. I have found that I actually really like when we get a little look into celebrity culture in a book and this is really well written because his character isn't just his celebrity lifestyle. We get to hear about his past, his hidden geeky side and his learning disability. All of these things should be normalised and well done to this author for taking massive steps in that direction.. 

Then we have the sex. The sex in this book is wonderful and sexy and hot and I was here for every sexual act on the page. I love the way this writer described her characters right down to the feeling of their skin and the smell of them and that added to the quality fo the build up and the romance before the sex itself. This book also features some convention action and I have realised that I love a convention in a novel. It bring back memories of Book Expo in NYC and it makes me happy so I really enjoyed those scenes in the book almost as much as the sex scenes. 

If you're looking for a romance with a realistic fat heroine and a bit of celebrity gossip then I highly recommend this novel. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Big Bones by Laura Dockrill

The latest teen novel from the sparkling Laura Dockrill, introducing Bluebelle, and her moving, hilarious take on food, body image and how we look after ourselves and others

A heart-warming teen story from the unique voice of Laura Dockrill, about Bluebelle, aka BB, aka Big Bones - a sixteen-year-old girl encouraged to tackle her weight even though she's perfectly happy, thank you, and getting on with her life and in love with food. Then a tragedy in the family forces BB to find a new relationship with her body and herself. Moving, memorable and hilarious. 

Review: Oh my goodness this book was so good I wanted to go right back to the beginning again once I'd finished so that I could read it again!

First of all this book is hilarious. If you haven't read anything by Laura Dockrill before then you won't know what an amazingly funny person she is, but once you're into the first 5 pages of this one, you will soon realise. But this book gave me all the feels. I cried in pats of it, i was nodding along in agreement with BB in parts and I was laughing, loudly, in public, during all the other parts. I love the way Laura Dockrill writes, she just writes how she speaks and she tells it like it is and I love her and her books because of that. 

BB as a character is great. People often say that they wish they had had a book when they were x years old because it would have changed their lives and I don;t think I've really ever found anything like that before, but I wish I had had this book to read when I was 16 so I could know that someone else looked a bit like me and felt a bit like me but was still being a badass fierce member of society and just not giving a damn about what others thought about her. 

This book is also an amazing advocate for body positivity. BB speaks about her body candidly and often. She talks about the words she does and doesn't like being called and why she likes her stretch marks and her rolls and her shape. I loved every moment of that. She does questions things about herself but then she has a frank discussion with herself and gets on with it. 

There is also great coverage for teenagers in that time between GCSEs and sixth form and that identity crisis that it can cause. I think this is such a pivotal time and again I would have loved to hear from someone who was questioning their choices at that age and had the backup to support the choices she wanted to make. 

The structure of this book is like a food diary and this book does come with a health warning because you will definitely be hungry as you are reading this book. Laura Dockrill has amazing skills of description when it comes to anything and her purely descriptive paragraphs are always a joy to read but she has outdone herself in this book. She talks about crumpets and describes them the way I feel about them, with an obvious emotional attachment. There is description of Bakewell tart and shepherds pie and toast and chips and millionaires shortbread. My Favourite 'chapters' are the one on Nutella and the one on croissants 'Truth be told, my ideal boyfriend would be a proper buttery, warm, we-put-together croissant: you could almost imagine the fold of the croissant opening up and closing around you, tucking you in for a great bit puffy hug.'. That says it all really!

At the beginning of Laura Dockrill's novel Darcy Burdock, Darcy states that her novel is for everyone except two of her enemies and young babies and I think that this is true of Big Bones. I think that although it is YA, it is definitely suitable for the younger end of that audience and upwards. You will find truth in this novel and this novel will definitely entertain you. I loved it and I know you will too!

Click the link to order your copy now: UK or US