I think I liked this one while reading, but when I look back I’m far less impressed. Not to mention, the second half just grated on my nerves. Let’s jump into it!

After her fiance of three years cheats on her with their realtor, Dani finally snaps. She calls off the wedding and swears off guys altogether – but it really feels like her ex, Sam, got off scott-free. So, together with her cousin and her new landlady, she conspires to buy the lot next door to his house and build a girls retreat – a “spite house”.

As an interior designer, Dani takes the lead on the project, but she needs an architect. The grumpy and off-putting Wyatt volunteers himself, much to Dani’s chagrin – as the time they’ve worked together at their company has not left warm and fuzzy feelings – but once they start working together, sparks seem to be flying in spite of Dani’s no-man rule. If only her revenge wasn’t getting in the way…

I was really digging this romance through the first half, with lots of tension and quips with the “hate” start to their romance, but then they totally lost me through the second half. It started strong, but then I really saw Dani get needy, and Wyatt get truly horrible at communicating. Neither are terribly attractive features, and as a functioning adult, I couldn’t fall into a romance where these two clearly had some growing up still to do. It (spoiler alert) destroyed their good chemistry, and made me disinterested in their success as a couple. As a whole, I quite enjoyed the novel, but the romance does not carry it start to finish.

In fact, the drama of the house build carries the second half. I rooted for Dani in all aspects except her needy romantic self. Mia and Iris were my favorites, because their sass and wisdom make them great supporting characters, but Dani is pretty solid, too. Wyatt, however, was a no from me. I always want the grumpy ones to be Mr. Darcy types, but he falls flat. I just don’t want the chiseled asshole archetype anymore. No soft and squishy insides here.

The “spite house” itself is an interesting concept…but the antics became a little much for me. It overtakes so much of the novel, but I can’t tell if it’s *supposed* to make me uncomfortable or not. It did. It was too much. Too try-hard. Just a build a gorgeous house, block his view, and be done with it all – why do we have to make your ex so mad?? I’m the queen of boundaries, the queen of let it go – this was very much the opposite of establishing a boundary and letting it go.

I can’t decide if I want to recommend this or not. I think I do. I would read Anna Collins again, but this definitely doesn’t top my favorites. I’m curious to see how a second novel pans out.

A copy of Love at First Spite was provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

That’ll about do it. Big “meh” vibes from me as of late. Enjoy the weekend!

3.5 Stars

It’s love at first spite when Danielle Porter sets out to get revenge on her ex, only to find love and support where she least expected it.

When Dani caught her fiancé cheating on her with their realtor, it turned her life upside down. So Dani does what any sane person would do when their life is spiralling out of control: she decides to get revenge on her ex. And not just any revenge. Property revenge. As an interior designer, Dani knows just the right people to help her build a spite house on the empty plot right next to her ex and block his gorgeous view of the ocean. Unfortunately, one of those people is architect Wyatt Montego, a tall, dark, and stoic man known for assuming his ideas and opinions are always right. Dani thought she was done with men when her ex-fiancé cheated on her, but the closer she works with Wyatt, the more Dani starts to think she isn’t done with all men. Dani might have started off building a spite house, but ended up building a future for herself instead.

Love at First Spite was a revengeful, yet cute, opposites attract romance. I honestly can’t recall a recent read that had a more memorable opening scene than this book; Collins immediately pulled me in with her introduction to Dani and I ended up reading Love at First Spite in just two sittings. I was intrigued by both main characters, but for their flaws more than anything else. I personally found their chemistry together and the overall spice level of the book to be a solid three out of five, but it was who they were as people that I found the most interesting.

Dani was a bit insane at times with the lengths she would go to in order to get revenge on her ex. I understand wanting to get revenge when you’re hurting, but Dani really went all out; she not only built a house right next to her ex in order to block his view, but she also decorated the whole place with all the things he hates in mind. Dani was quite obsessed with her ex, and at times it was concerning. But in her obsession, Dani ended up being a realistic character; spite houses are a very real thing and I loved Collins’ fictional portrayal of such a house.

Overall, I ended up loving the characters in this book but I didn’t like Dani as a person. Dani spent a lot of her time with Wyatt lying and deceiving him about the house, and I actually would have been completely fine if this book didn’t have a happily ever after. Wyatt deserved all of Dani, and their relationship started off with her keeping some pretty big secrets from him. Wyatt as a character was enjoyable. He started off as quiet and a bit grumpy, but he was really just misunderstood and I loved him more as Collins pulled back his layers. Collins gave Wyatt his own backstory and problems, and I did like how both Dani and Wyatt’s histories shaped who they were with each other. Both main characters were human and flawed, but I ended up loving Wyatt for his and being wary of Dani for hers.

Love at First Spite was a unique love story, one that showcased two very different ways of dealing with rejection and moving on after a breakup. I loved that Collins wrote a romance around the lesser-known, but still very real, concept of a spite house. The story was fun and had a great plot and dialogue. I very much loved the characters more for how they worked through their past issues rather than their time together, but overall I found Love at First Spite to be an enjoyable read.

This was a mixed bag for me. I did love the beginning where we meet Dani and her cousin Mia as they’re playing paintball on what was supposed to be Dani’s wedding day, the idea of playing paintball in a wedding dress intrigued the hell out of me and I thought it would be hella fun. The girl gang with her cousin and her spunky elderly landlady was amazing, I'm all for a feisty girl gang. I really wasn’t a huge fan of how extreme Dani’s revenge “spite house” scheme became. She got really focused on making her ex’s life miserable, whereas I just wanted her to move on and pay attention to the hot architect that clearly had a crush on her. I'm not exactly all for revenge, but, I did find the concept of the novel intriguing. Speaking of that hot architect, Wyatt, I really wanted to get in his head. This was a single perspective romance with not a lot of steam. I found the overall chemistry between the two MCs rather disappointing. Overall a fast read that I did enjoy more than not but it won’t be one of my favourites this year.

3.5 rounded up

This book was messy but also enjoyable. I think romance books can often be unrealistic because you would never really go out and spend money on a house to get revenge on a cheating ex BUT I also think the chaos of it was what made it fun!

I really enjoyed this rom com! Good characters, set up, plot development, writing, etc. Not a standout in the genre, but still a really fun read.

This was a great enemies to lovers with the added trappings of workplace romance meets HGTV home shows. My biggest complaint is that they stopped being enemies fairly early on and the conflict at the end of the book could have been avoided by some simple communications skills. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in one day and couldn’t put it down until I finished.

Love at First Spite by Anna Collins

QOTD: If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be?

I enjoyed Love at First Spite. I loved that Dani didn’t tolerate her ex finance and his antics. While I may have not gone as far as her in my spite I appreciated her dedication to the cause! 😂 Wyatt was a bit on the grump side at work but it was fun to see how his character panned out with each passing chapter. I think my favorite part of this book was the friendship between Dani, Iris and Mia, gave me Golden Girl feels! ❤️

I’d say Love at First Spite was the perfect balanced romance. Sweet, snippy and a tad bit spicy!

4 ⭐️

Thank you net galley for a arc copy of this book for free for my honest feedback!!

#LoveatFirstSpite #NetGalley #2022readingchallenge #ilovebooks #annacollins #romancebooks #bookreview #4stars

I received an advance copy of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It was fine. Leading up to the first hookup, I'm not sure that I was invested in the chemistry between Dani and Wyatt. Their interactions weren't particularly memorable, and the hot-and-cold act made it hard to believe that sexual tension was developing. Obviously these two were going to end up in the bedroom at some point, but the smolder wasn't there. Hard to fan the flames of passion when the coals are dead cold.

It's a contemporary workplace romance, if that's your cup of tea. It wasn't mine, but I don't think the book is without merit. Just because I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would doesn't mean that will be the case for every reader. Your mileage may vary. Probably a good choice for fans of HGTV, or a good revenge plot.

I love spite in a romance, I was really excited for Love at First Spite when I read the synopsis! But for some reason this one fell flat and missed the mark for me. DNF

The name alone is enough to grab me in! But I loved the book and the love story between the two. Sometimes the story could lag a bit, but I enjoyed it.

Cute romance set in Seattle! I appreciated that the multi generational female friendships received equal time with the love story. The romance rang true.

4 Stars

What I loved about this romcom:

1. Enemies to Lovers (my favorite trope!)
2. Workplace romance
2. Sunshine meets grump.

The banter and how Dani takes revenge had me cheering her on!

Thank you Netgalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for the e-ARC of Love at First Spite in exchange for my honest review!
In Love at First Spite we meet Dani who sets out to get the ultimate revenge on her cheating ex-fiance by purchasing the lot next to the house that he now owns that was supposed to be their house together. Dani is an interior designer and decides to team up with Wyatt, an architect in her firm to create The Spite House. Dani and Wyatt soon find themselves in a more than professional relationship that gets messy as they navigate situations at work and Dani's more than agitated ex.
Love at First Spite had lots of potential for being a cute and fun romance, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I found myself somewhat bored while reading it. There wasn't really anything new or shocking in this one. Dani and Wyatt were also just sort of lack luster characters, I wish I was able to connect with them more.

Love at First Spite is a delightful little story that will surprise you. The characters were charming and the storyline was interesting. Jilted bride-to-be, Dani Porter, decides to get the last laugh by purchasing the empty plot next to her cheating ex-fiancee with the intention of building a "spite house" and ruining his perfect views. She partners up with a standoffish, but totally hot coworker to exact her revenge. The catch is that Wyatt, a respected architect, doesn't know about Dani's true intentions. As Dani and Wyatt get to know each other better Dani realizes people aren't always what they seem. I really enjoyed this story and laughed out loud throughout. Dani's new landlady Iris steals the scene each time she appears. I would love a whole book about her! Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trading Publishing - Graydon House, and author Anna E. Collins for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion. All opinions here are my own and do not reflect any brands I represent.

Chemistry and building a tiny home are two things that bring Dani Porter into a growing relationship with Wyatt Montego. Dani's motives are not pure. In fact, miffed at her cheating ex, she maneuvers a new build right next to his home. Wyatt is an architect and ends up being the best man for the job. How will Dani and Wyatt get along, especially as their attraction proves impossible to resist?

Also, what of Dani's feelings about her ex-fiancé? Will this new build give Dani the closure she needs or will she find herself overrun by confusing feelings, nevermind the complications that come along with a new build? Meanwhile, what about Wyatt? Is he all business as he seems or will Dani be able to push crack the armor that surrounds his heart?

All while the build goes on it becomes all too clear that Dani is more than drawn to Wyatt. This is an easy, entertaining read from beginning to end. I loved the story of revenge being turned into mch more as the enemies to lovers trope is a fun one to read.

Many thanks to Graydon House and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

This was a very cute book and a quick read. Even though I read the synopsis, I wasn't sure what I was getting into with this one, but I had a good time reading it. Wyatt and Dani were definitely a cute duo and I'm a sucker for a workplace romance. Dani's idea for the Spite House was a great one and every little thing she did to take it to the next level to get on her ex's nerves was hilarious. I'm always down for a little petty revenge scheme. Wyatt's explanation for why he was so standoffish, made sense, especially given what he experienced. I think, given their histories but also what they learned about one another, they should've given each other the benefit of the doubt. I'll be honest and say the conflict between then seemed a bit forced. I know emotions tend to run high, especially in romances, but Wyatt assuming Dani didn't want to be with him or was lying to him because of his vertigo when their first real emotional interaction had been centered around that had me puzzled. Like wise, Dani's bullheadedness when dealing with both Wyatt, the build, and her cousin also left me scratching my head a bit. Some of it, I guess I see the purpose of, but on the other hand it seemed thrown in just to add in more conflict. All in all, I enjoyed myself, which is always the goal.

This fun cover pulled me in!
Overall I enjoyed this book and would call it Rom/com or Chic lit, which I almost always enjoy. The characters were interesting and you knew instantly who would be falling in love. Dani is building a Spite House to get back at her former fiancé…along the way things heat up with a co-worker Wyatt, who is helping her on the project…only he doesn’t know it’s a Spite project…. There are a couple conflicts, this being one of them. A couple ups and downs, but can they work it out in the end?
Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy!

The premise of Love at First Spite sounded really good, but unfortunately it was kind of a let down. Wyatt and Dani were not very interesting characters, and Wyatts reasoning for hiding because of his vertigo was not very convincing. While they were definitely enjoyable parts of banter I just was not very invested in the novel or their relationship. Dani was so wrapped up in the spite house and having revenge that it made her more unlikable than expected, and the growth she had happened over like 20 pages, rather than spread throughout the book. Especially when she overreacted about Wyatt making one decision about the spite house. Overall, there were some fun moments, but the plot and development were lacking.

This book had the potential because i love hate to lovers but this one missed the mark. Thank you for letting me read and review this book.

I greatly enjoyed this book. I loved the banter between Dani and Wyatt, and I loved watching them fall in love. Love at First Spite was such a fun book to read.