No Barriers to Love: The Romances of Olivia Dade Contributor: JeriAnn Geller November 25, 20255 min read Share Tweet Share Pin Years before U.S. Olympic Rugby star Ilona Maher went viral for her uplifting message of body positivity, there was romance novelist Olivia Dade, whose rich, resonant, sexy, and occasionally hilarious romances championed big, beautiful lovers of every size and shape. “Fat isn’t a pejorative,” she says, “it’s merely a descriptor of a certain body type,” and Dade isn’t afraid to use the word. Self-acceptance is a given in Dade’s universe, which makes the feelings of inclusion and the growth required to grow into love so much more satisfying. “Everyone deserves to find love, even people who aren’t conventionally beautiful,” Dade says. “But I’m also not interested in dealing with difficulties about self-image.” Her heroines range from the muscular and the athletic (Maria in Ship Wrecked and Tess in 40-Love), the voluptuously curvy (April in Spoiler Alert and Athena in At First Spite), the non-curvy (Molly in Second Chance Romance), and the short and pear-shaped (Lauren in All the Feels). “Fat people have a diversity of body types, just like thinner people,” says Dade. And all of them are beautiful exactly as they are. Dade also champions big men, which can be even more difficult to find in romance than curvy women. Karl in Second Chance Romance and Peter in Ship Wrecked are both big, muscular and burly. But their size is immaterial; Dade’s stories are about the fears, longings, and obstacles that we all face in life and in love. Her newest novel, Second Chance Romance , returns readers to the delightful town of Harlot’s Bay, Maryland, founded by runaway women and populated by Strumpet Square, Ladywright College, and the Nasty Wenches Book Club, previously visited in At First Spite. Dade was raised in Maryland and once worked at Colonial Williamsburg and Harlot’s Bay is the delightful brainchild of her past experience. It all came together in a town with the delightful motto: “In bitches we trust.” The male love interest in Second Chance Romance is the perpetually grumpy, artistically talented baker Karl, best friend of Matthew, hero of At First Spite. Fans might recall that it was Karl who attempted to co-write monster erotica with his buddy to woo back Matthew’s love, Athena Graydon. Despite his brief flirtation with prose, Karl is cantankerous and taciturn — except when he’s whispering profanity at full volume — all of which hides a center gooier than one of his jelly donuts. Twenty years ago, Karl blew his chance to connect with Molly, his high school crush and the only person ever to stand up for him. Now she’s back, and Karl has a plan … or at least something that sort of resembles a plan to win her at last. Lest you think this is a grumpy/sunshine pairing, it’s more like cantankerous/spicy. Molly takes no crap from anyone and has a pedantic streak a mile wide, which only makes Karl admire her more. She’s also the sultry voice of the monster romance audiobooks that Karl has taken to playing aloud in his bakery every morning. In spite of their long separation, when a newspaper article accidentally exaggerates rumors of Karl’s demise, Molly flies home for what she’s sure is the funeral only to be confronted by the man himself. He’s surly; she’s prickly, but they finally figure out why they didn’t connect years ago. Molly proposes: if Karl goes with her to their upcoming high school reunion, she will let him spend the time leading up to the event earning back her trust. If Karl and Molly lean a bit neurodivergent, it wasn’t deliberate, “Larger-than-life personalities are fun to write,” says Dade. These characters are lovingly and sensitively drawn as they stumble their way toward their happily ever after, growing as individuals and as a couple in the Dade tradition. “What changes within them as they overcome their internal barriers is what allows them to be together,” Dade says. Second Chance Romance has its share of hijinks — gargoyle-loving librarians, snoopy community members, a geriatric journalist with a hearing problem — and culminates in a middle-aged prom decorated with a frighteningly literal Under the Sea theme. In spite of the inclusion of angler fish and other frightful bottom dwellers, Dade isn’t really a horror fan, which is why her other new book in 2025 is a surprise: Zomromcom. Dade’s first foray into the supernatural was inspired by the movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and a desire to “have fun writing the book I wanted to write.” The pleasure of creating without a pressing deadline birthed a new series, and readers can look forward to World’s Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seeks Demon, due in August, 2026. Tags: JeriAnn Geller JeriAnn is a writer, editor and dabbler in arty stuff. A fourth-generation journalist (on her father’s side) and millionteenth-generation mother (on her mother’s side) she has written, edited, photographed and illustrated for newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, videos and books. Known for her persnicketyness about grammar, she occasionally leaves in an error to delight people of similar inclination. 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