This novel has one of the most unique opening scenes that I've ever read! I was immediately hooked. A spite house isn't something I'd heard of, but evidently it is a thing. Anna E. Collins took an intriguing concept and crafted an entertaining novel. Nicely done!
Love at First Spite is a satisfying rom-com featuring a heroine determined to extract revenge against the man she thought she'd marry. When the grumpy, aloof hero joins forces with said determined heroine, sparks unexpectedly fly. I enjoyed catching glimpses of familiar locations on Seattle's east side, and the cast of secondary characters helped keep the novel's pacing where it needs to be. There's plenty of witty banter and chemistry between the characters as well.
I did not love the emotional whiplash regarding the hero and heroine. There are some on again/off again moments that didn't ring true for me. Overall, a sparkling debut that rom-com fans will enjoy.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions shared here are my own.

"Love at First Spite" is a tale of a jilted woman who seeks to take revenge on her ex in the way that would most annoy him-- by taking away the gorgeous view of the home they were supposed to live in together before he cheated on her. But she isn't an architect, so she enlists the help of a (handsome) better-than-you coworker who offers to help her out.

An overall fun read, Dani's main endeavour of building the "Spite House" is funny-- and her interactions with her co-conspirators were a joy to read.

I like the reasoning for why Wyatt has been keeping people at work distant, I don't think enough novels show peoples struggles with chronic diseases and them living through it.


The one thing I felt this book was lacking was an explanation as to why Wyatt offered to help Dani with the home-- I felt that he could have expanded more about his feelings about her and how long he had felt them.

Overall a great read!

As a person who hates conflict, this just made me uncomfy the entire time. Then it really went off the rails during the last act there.

Love at First Spite is a fun 'revenge' romance. Dani calls off her wedding when she learns her would be groom, Sam, has been having an affair. Purchasing the lot next to their dream home, Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind. Enter Wyatt Montego, the handsome and cold architect at Dani's firm. Their first impressions of each other were unfortunate; however, the more time they spend together, sparks fly. The real question remains will Dani get both romance and revenge or will too many secrets jeopardize what might be?

Anna E. Collins’ debut, LOVE AT FIRST SPITE, is a fun, contemporary, grump and sunshine, office romance. Dani, an interior designer, decides that the best revenge on her cheating ex-fiance is to build a spite house next door to his new house, ruining his view. The only wrinkle is that to build a house, she needs an architect. And building a spite house isn’t exactly an easy sell. So she’s shocked when Wyatt, the firm’s standoffish, golden boy architect volunteers.

As the project progresses, the project becomes less about angering her ex and more about spending time with Wyatt. Who maybe isn’t as haughty as she thought.

This book is such a fun read! The slow burn between Dani and Wyatt was heat-filled tension as they try to keep their relationship a secret from their coworkers. And their opposites attract vibe leads to some banter like when Dani teases him for eating his sandwich with a knife and fork during an impromptu picnic.

The conversations with her landlady and cousin, partners in the spite house, were hysterical as their contributions to the spite involved a collection of garden gnomes and LARPers. I loved that they were such a supportive group. And added the exact right amount of quirk. The landlady’s Great Danes were the perfect canine sidekicks.

As someone with a chronic illness that’s unpredictable about what triggers it, I appreciated the parts dealing with Ménière's disease and how illness can have a socially limiting effect.

This fun romcom is perfect for fans of Kate Bromley and Sophie Sullivan.

This is a cute romcom of a book. I adore the main characters and really love the plot. I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen and I wasn’t disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review. I enjoyed this book! Is a nice fun and quick read, I give it 3.5/5 stars, and while I didn’t really connected to the characters, I could see this book one day being a fun rom-con on Netflix one day!

This was an easy summer read with an interesting plot and relatable characters. While I wasn’t completely swept up in the book the story was cute and I would recommend to others

Dani and Wyatt work for the same house building company but don’t share much. Wyatt sees her several times outside work when she is outrageously mourning her break up with her almost-husband. Then Dani gets the idea of buying a lot next to her ex’s house with the help of her landlady and best friend and building a nuisance house, a spite house that will block her ex’s view and provide other nuisance figures such as a yard full of gnomes and obnoxious wind chimes. But they need an architect and Wyatt volunteers. Dani and Wyatt grow closer as the house goes up, neither admitting to the other that they know this is all about Dani’s ex. Eventually the deception pulls them apart. But when her ex blows up the house it actually clears the air between them and helps Dani get over her spite so she can have a real relationship with Wyatt.
The characters are hysterical, especially Dani’s cousin and landlady. The act of building the spite house is outrageous and funny. The tension builds between Dani and Wyatt at work, though it is not very clear what Wyatt see’s in Dani. That part puzzled me. He is so straight laced and superior at work that it is difficult to understand what crazy and fun loving Dani see’s in him. However the action unfolds at a frantic pace and blows the reader over. ‘I would recommend this book to my patrons.

2.5 stars

I’m actually wondering if the trouble of building a spite house just to get back at a cheating fiancé is actually worth it all, but that if apparently, is what floats anyone’s boat, then it’s all par for the course.

It’s after all, what ‘Love at First Spite’ is built on: recently humiliated from having her planned wedding in tatters, Danielle Porter’s elaborate scheme to get back at her cheating ex is one goes out of the way to ensure he will forever remember the wrongs he’d done to her. Except that she’s a bit stuck with the idea she’s just cooked up and has no one good enough to help her with the build but Wyatt Montego, the distant and aloof architect who takes up her offer for a favour. In contrast to Wyatt’s cool-is nature, Dani did come off as a little unhinged and overly-sensitive—probably understandable given her circumstances—as all her energy is funnelled into getting her revenge plan off the ground.

Yet…to what end, really?

Much of Dani’s come-on to Wyatt feels like a serious rebound, while Wyatt himself blows hot-and-cold, more so office politics and gossip get thrown into the works here. Neither seem to be fully vulnerable to each other despite the heat between them—Dani’s spite house idea stays as opaque as Wyatt’s nebulous feelings towards their relationship—and watching them take stilted steps back and forward was at best, awkward and cringe-worthy at times. In other words, Dani and Wyatt do get along, but never get to the stage of becoming a live wire connection given their half-committed approach to each other and their respective reluctance to dig deep past the surface stuff.

But—this is clear even a mile away—the lesson here seems to be that being consumed by revenge eventually leads to it backfiring spectacularly in a way that isn’t unexpected. This however makes Dani a nasty character that’s hard to like, even though she does seem more lost than spiteful towards the end. Along with the intricacies of real estate, building and design coming into play here (which could be dry if these aren’t the areas you move or are interested in), seemed to slow the pace of the storytelling down somewhat, until we get to a climax and conclusion that seem contrived—and is resolved with blackmail just after you’re led to think you’ve finally, finally gone past that stage of subterfuge.

So much as I definitely liked the premise of the story, little bits like characterisation, the obtuse lack of communication and the final plot twist just didn’t add up to something that I loved overall.

I didn't love how...focused.....Dani is about building her spite house, but I get it. I liked Wyatt and I liked the other people Dani chooses to surround herself with. I think a Mia book would have been fun in the future.

I did not like this book. Too much happened. Personally, it seemed like a formulaic romance novel, but there were too many hiccups that Dani and co. had to face. I feel as though this could have been split into three different novels in terms of events that happened. I did, however, enjoy Iris.

This was a fun, light binge read that I will be recommending to others.

One sentence summary: Dani works with friends and a cute coworker to build a "spite house" next-door to her ex-fiancé's home, but the house slowly becomes less about revenge and more about moving on.

As I said, this was a quick read. Chapters were short, characters were endearing, and things moved quickly. I really connected with Anna Collins's writing style. It wasn't so bogged down in description that I kept getting pulled out of the story, but also not so bare-boned that I couldn't follow what was going on (There are exceptions. Characters could have been described better, and I don't think the issues with Dani's parents were adequately explained).

It's a ridiculous concept, but it works. I related to Dani and even admired her determination, even though I could never do what she did. Her flaws are visible without being overstated, and she has true character growth by the end. I'm still not sure why she didn't like Wyatt at first, though - he seemed aloof and socially awkward, but not awful. Sometimes his actions and behaviors aren't justified to the reader - but in real life, you don't know why everybody does every little thing, either. And, normally, I hate the "mis-communication drives all the plot" storyline, but it wasn't overdone here - they learn to communicate better as they go.

I will be keeping an eye out for future books by Anna E. Collins. My thanks to her, Netgalley, and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

Despite the really silly premise of this book (major groan when her friends agreed it would be a good idea to build a spite house…absolutely terrible and nutty idea) I enjoyed this book.

I love romcoms, and this did not upset! The characters are fun and the story is a great companion to any beach day as a beach read. Pacing is steady and fast throughout

Dani is pissed. She found out her boyfriend, Sam, of three years cheated on her with the realter of the house they just bought together… well sort of, it all under his name. To seek her revenge, Dani decides to buy the property next to Sam’s that she wanted to purchase with the house – his loss. With the financial help of a few friends, the Spite House AirBnB comes in to fruition. Finances – check. Now Dani needs an architect, who better than the jerk at office? So, Dani elicits Wyatt’s help, but keeps the reasoning secret… even as feelings begin to surface.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book and it was very well written**. The pacing was good. The secondary characters like Mia and Iris are great – even the Great Danes. One thing I struggled with was the title, Love at First Spite made it seem like Dani had spite towards Wyatt, but I don’t know why she would? He was kind of a jerk at work… but he seemed to be more of a pompous, condescending jerk than anything that Dani should have been spiteful about. Spite towards Sam, yes. But Wyatt, not so much. Another thing, is that I had trouble picturing the characters, I developed my own image. I think Sam and Iris were the best described. Did I just miss what Dani and Mia looked like? Wyatt’s appearance came through on occasion, but you don’t know his actual height until they sleep together. It hints he’s taller than coworkers, but 6’4” is not going to be heads taller than everyone else.

Overall, this was a great, easy read. Likeable characters, real world issues, and entertaining.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC. I think this might be a good book club option.

**The ARC version had a some formatting issues, so at times words were out of order and as a reader you had to fill in the blanks – or look back to find the word that should fit there. I am sure this will be fixed in the final copy.

I love a good revenge story. The premise of this book sounded so promising. However, I feel like the execution felt flat. The story was very readable but there was nothing that really stood out. I was looking for something that had a slight edge like "You Deserve Each Other". But it never appeared for me. I feel like the first half was stronger than the second half. The story started to fall apart for me in the second half. Also, I never figured out why the main characters liked each other past attraction? It is single POV so I guess Wyatt was a bit of a care taker but what did he see in Dani? I guess I will never know.
This was a solid C read for me as nothing was stand out and the story was mostly forgettable.
Note- there were a few remarks about Mia, secondary character, being plus-size/fat and made me bristle just a smidge.
Heat level- low: on page sex, no body parts named.

Danielle is dealing with a cheating ex-fiancée and decides to get revenge by purchasing the plot of land in front of his house to block his gorgeous view with a Spite House. In building the house, she reluctantly enlists the help of her architect coworker Wyatt.

I always enjoy an enemies to lovers and workplace romance themed book. This one was really enthralling. I really enjoyed Dani and Wyatt’s relationship. Their reasons for being so guarded are completely valid and I just enjoyed their growth overall and with each other. Mu favorite part of the book was the insane trio of Dani, Mia, and Iris.

What to do when your fiance cheats on you? Buy the parcel of lakefront property & ruin his view, of course! With a little help from her hot architect coworker & an old & a new friend.

Interior designer Dani Porter is absolutely furious with her lying, cheating ex-fiancé. So when she moves out of the house they purchased together only to be greeted by the realtor he cheated on her with, that is the last straw. Dani hatches a plan to buy a small lot next door to her ex's house (a lot she had asked him to purchase but he refused) and build a vacation rental. An obnoxious, spiteful vacation rental that blocks his views and has a yard full of things that will annoy him.

But she's going to need an architect. The firm she works for has plenty, but she needs somebody who will work with her off the books. Enter Wyatt Montego - cocky, self-assured, hot and he knows it. He's a powerful force in the office but for some reason, he agrees to design Dani's spite house, meeting with her clandestinely in the office and on weekends. And Dani begins to see that he's a lot more than the persona he embodies at work....

An easy, fun read. I finished in less than a day. The story flows quickly, the characters are fun, and who doesn't have an ex they would really like to get some sneaky revenge on?