Spoiler Alert | ARC Review

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Synopsis

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

One to Watch meets Geekerella meets What I Like About You in this steamy and swoony book about facing your past and moving forward in love. Amongst over things.

I just…Wah….I mean…This book was just what I need to add to my contemporary romance collection. It was funny, insightful, and gave me all the wonderful warm and fuzzies throughout the whole book.

The relationship between April and Marcus is something to be envied. They are cute, they are honest and raw, and they just make my heart so happy! It’s possible they were both a bit too understanding with each other. I’m not sure how realistic both of their amazingly understanding personalities were, but really, do we read these for that much realism? I think I was completely sold on their relationship before they even knew what was happening.

On the topic of characters and relationships, I loved the side characters! They were funny, encouraging, and really brought more life to the story. I wish I could see more of them, especially Alex, in other books, but I’m not sure that will actually happen.

As well, I really appreciated that it taught great lessons on so many issues like fatphobia and fat-shaming, consent, listening and understanding your partner, and gaslighting. Many issues were covered without the author even naming the issue. You could tell what some of the issues were when the characters went through a specific situation, but it might not have been directly identified.

Overall, this was a rom-com for the books that should be read by every fanfiction geek out there. Warning: There are a few explicit sex scenes and lots of language. Perhaps this is to be expected from an adult novel, but I felt like it had a little bit more language than I normally see.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

To check out my other reviews, click here. Or to check out more books by Olivia Dade, go to her GoodReads profile or her website.