Which was, again, why this whole plan—what he’d heard of it, anyway—was ridiculous. If his best friend’s urgings and his own self-interest couldn’t keep him out of trouble, how could one improbably short, round woman accomplish the task?

All the Feels (From ARC, quotes may have changed in publication copy)

Thank you, NetGalley and Avon, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.

Oh wow, did I love this book. I loved Spoiler Alert, but All the Feels quite literally gave me all of the feels in a completely different way.

Alex’s image is in desperate need of an overhaul. Sure, he’s charming, wealthy, a talented actor, and sexy as hell, but he also has a bit of a reckless and impulsive side that keeps getting him into trouble. Finally, after Alex gets into a bar fight while filming the final season of Gods of the Gates, the showrunners have decided they’ve had enough. In comes Lauren, a former ER therapist in need of a break, who is hired to keep him in check.

But it doesn’t prove an easy job, between his Cupid fanfiction habit and her growing feelings for him. When another scandal puts Alex in even bigger trouble and costs Lauren her job, they need to find another reason to spend time together and decide whether all of the trouble is worth it.

I don’t think I can fully express how much I loved this book. As I said, I loved Spoiler Alert, and I loved All the Feels for a lot of the same reasons—the positive fandom representation, the nerdy references, so many references to fanfiction, the boundary setting—but this book hit me in a way that Spoiler Alert didn’t.

I’ve struggled with ADHD for my entire life. I was diagnosed very young, much like Alex. I’ve never read a book before where the main character explicitly has ADHD, so seeing that part of me reflected in a book was so wholly affirming. I identified a lot with Alex’s struggles, from the executive dysfunction issues to the hyper-sensitivity. And I especially identified with the way he hyper-focused on fanfic writing as a way to cope with things, seeing as that is exactly what I did last year when the pandemic started. That, in addition to his “delightful asshole” tendencies and total stern brunch daddy vibes, made me fall in love with him.

Alex aside, there were so many other things to love about this book: the forced proximity, the reverse grumpy sunshine, the plus-size rep, a road trip, AND an only one-bed trope (which is my second favorite trope, and apparently Alex’s too). It also scratched that slow-burn itch. After this and Spoiler Alert, I am definitely putting Olivia Dade on my list of must-buy authors and will definitely be reading her back catalog.