Summary

Following Spoiler Alert, Olivia Dade returns with another utterly charming romantic comedy about a devil-may-care actor—who actually cares more than anyone knows—and the no-nonsense woman hired to keep him in line.

Alexander Woodroe has it all. Charm. Sex appeal. Wealth. Fame. A starring role as Cupid on TV’s biggest show, God of the Gates. But the showrunners have wrecked his character, he’s dogged by old demons, and his post-show future remains uncertain. When all that reckless emotion explodes into a bar fight, the tabloids and public agree: his star is falling.

Enter Lauren Clegg, the former ER therapist hired to keep him in line. Compared to her previous work, watching over handsome but impulsive Alex shouldn’t be especially difficult. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to keep her professional remove and her heart intact, especially when she discovers the reasons behind his recklessness…not to mention his Cupid fanfiction habit.

When another scandal lands Alex in major hot water and costs Lauren her job, she’ll have to choose between protecting him and offering him what he really wants—her. But he’s determined to keep his improbably short, impossibly stubborn, and extremely endearing minder in his life any way he can. And on a road trip up the California coast together, he intends to show her exactly what a falling star will do to catch the woman he loves: anything at all.

Review

I would die for Alex. Hands down, no questions asked, no hesitation. Die. For. Him. He is the ultimate cinnamon roll but also a preening house cat who thinks its a lion and I just. Guh. So much love. There’s a moment when Lauren compares him to a housecat knocking fragile objections off a table for attention, and it’s just… so good.

Okay, now that I got that out of my system. Ahem. *clears throat* This book is so great. I really loved the first book in this series/world, Spoiler Alert, and I was already excited while reading Spoiler Alert to read more about Alex and his paid minder.

The things Alex says! He has ZERO filter, and I love him for it. Some of the descriptions of Lauren, especially in the beginning, made me a little uncomfortable as a fat woman myself. I tried to think about how much of that was internalized fatphobia, and it was just rather eye opening. I adore Lauren (and her BFF Sionna, though I wish we’d gotten to spend more time with Sionna!) I want to be part of their Crone Squad, and I’m going to need ALL of Lauren’s t-shirts, thanks.

Tropes: forced proximity, road trip, there’s only one bed (to Alex’s eternal delight, LMAO!)
CW: fatphobia, abuse (side character, off page, past)

This is the second book in the Spoiler Alert series. While I think it can be read as a stand-alone, this book seems to take place at the same time as Spoiler Alert, or at least the first part of this one runs concurrently with the latter half of the first book. You’re really going to get the most bang out of this if you read Spoiler Alert first – it does a lot of the work of introducing the TV show Alex and Marcus star in and the world-building.

A digital ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.