This was a nice, soft read. Loved the tension between the heroine and hero, the story arc made sense and the pacing kept me engaged.

With a title as strong as the words written inside, Anna E. Collins has created a compelling, sizzling, and utterly comical novel with Love at First Spite that you do not want to miss out on.

The pettiness, the banter, the actual nemesis to lovers story, I loved this book. It was well constructed and I didn’t feel like it lagged anywhere, and it didn’t leave me disappointed with the ending.

This was such a fun read! Sooo cute and I could not put it down! In many ways, it reminded me of how Emily Henry writes, which is very high praise coming from me! It was sweet, sexy, and too short! I could have read another 50 pages of these characters.

This was a fun read. Once Dani realizes her now ex fiancé was cheating on her she is out for revenge. She buys the lot next to his new house and decides to build an air B&B there. Not only will the house obstruct his view but the yard will be tacky and people will be constantly coming and going. She hires Wyatt the grouchy architect that works at the same firm as her to do the blueprints for her ‘Spite House’. She soon begins to think maybe Wyatt isn’t as grouchy as he seems and she is intrigued. This book was fast paced and a great romcom read. I did struggle with Dani choosing such an elaborate way to get back at her ex fiancé but overall it was a good book with great characters.

BOOK REVIEW- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

My Thoughts: Thank you to @netgalley, @aeccreates, and @graydonhousebooks for a copy of this E-arc in exchange for an honest review! I might have a new favorite trope- aka the revenge/spite aspect really worked for me!! This was such a cute, fun romantic read that kept me turning the pages quickly. I thought it was awesome that the author brought light to Meniere's disease by highlighting it in one of the main characters. I also loved all the supporting characters and thought they brought so much color to the storyline. I would recommend picking this up if you love a good rom com! ✨

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Love at First Spite is all about those forbidden workplace romances. In this, you will meet Dani and Wyatt. In the beginning, things are definitely tough for Dani. She's flying high on rainbows and everything until the day she catches her fiancée cheating on her. It doesn't help that it's with their realtor either.

The day she walks back into their dream house to collect her things, she sees the one thing she never would have imagined. They are living together. So, instead of throwing a tantrum she does the next best thing: plan her freaking revenge. Honestly, they deserve it.

After buying the vacant lot next door to her douche of an ex, she starts building her dream vacation house. All she needs is an architect and she can start creating all kinds of noise to disrupt her new neighbor's lives. Welcome to hell douche canoes.

Enter Wyatt. He was sort of voluntold to help this project. Things do not start off on the right page between them. Then again, I think if I watched someone eat a sandwich with utensils it would kind of annoy me too. Just saying.

Slowly, but surely, they start to like one another. I definitely enjoyed them getting closer to one another because they were so freaking cute. The tension was on fire when it needed to be. The chemistry was obvious to anyone with good eyesight. It just needed to happen.

In the end, drama came and went. The romance thrived and everyone was left happy. I'm so happy that I got the chance to dive into this romcom.

Let’s get spiteful shall we? I love spite. It should really be the 8th deadly sin- why stop at 7? After sloth, spite is the best and it’s always the most entertaining. Love at First Spite by @aeccreates was also an entertaining, spiteful read.

Dani is an interior designer who caught her douche canoe fiancé cheating on her with their realtor. Dani wants to get back at him so she builds a spite house next to his that blocks his view. Seems like a lot of work to get back in an ex. Why can’t she be like the rest of us and just light a bag of human excrement on fire and throw it on his porch? I mean… that gets the point across and is way easier.

Dani employs the help of Wyatt, an architect at her firm- a male architect. With a penis. Since these two main characters have opposing genitalia, it means they start bumping uglies as “friends with benefits” while they build the house. It’s only natural.

Dani is a little frustrating because she never tells Wyatt that this house is a spite build. Which we all know will bite her in the ass- and not in a kinky way. She also lets her horrible ex-fiancé get away with A LOT of shit. Like felony shit. Send that fucker to prison!!

I’d say the first 3/4 of this book was great- funny banter, good friendships, steamy sexy times. But there were several plot points that unraveled for me at the end. This didn’t necessarily ruin the book, but the twists didn’t make a lot of sense in the seemingly real world in which these characters live. Overall, this is a cute, quick read.

Smut- 2.75 stars
Romance- 3.8 stars
Story- 3.98 stars
SPITE!!- 99 stars. Favored by assholes all over the world, including this one.

To me this book had SUCH a fun premise, I adore the idea of being scorned by a past lover and deciding you've had enough. So much enough that you full on buy a plot of land next to him & decide to ruin his life with a big old HOUSE next to him, blocking his view of the gorgeous nearby scenery. I'm sure I'm NOT the only one, who has also considered something as wonderfully perfect, insert the evil laugh here LOL

LOVE AT FIRST SPITE was a quick and light-hearted read that I was able to devour in the best way. I loved how Dani & Wyatt's job roles contributed not only to their personalities and who they are, but gave the story such a unique perspective, full of home renovation and life lessons on building a life after a breakup.

The grumpy/sunshine trope is done so well in this book, I love how Collins combined it with the workplace romance, and some enemies to lovers trope to give us Wyatt and Dani. Add in their vulnerabilities and quirks, and these two were such a fun couple to read about, I found the plotline endearing and different from other books I've read in the romance genre.

Thank you to Graydon House for the copy of the book, and for having me on the blog tour!

Loved this book! The romance was super cute and I found it a pretty fast read. I really enjoyed all the characters and their different backstories. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Wyatt and Dani. This is the perfect workplace romance with a little bit of rivals-to-lovers. This book also has lots of diversity and even chronic illness rep! My only complaint would be it relied a bit too heavily on the third act breakup/miscommunication trope, but other than that it was a lovely read with plenty of tension and romance.

Danielle (Dani) Porter is an interior designer for a house building firm near Seattle. She was engaged to Sam but caught him cheating with their realtor one month before the wedding. He kept the house they bought together but he had reneged on buying the adjacent property she wanted for her dream textile printing studio. It’s been a month now but she’s still seething, even though Sam wants her back. But she’s got another plan…buy that property, build a rental house born of Sam’s nightmares and market it as the Spite House. With her cousin and new landlord as investors, Dani now needs an architect. Enter Wyatt Montego who is the talented but prickly architect at her firm, feared by many in the company. He agrees to do it quid pro if Dani will help him with a project for his grandmother. Wyatt also brings on the contractor and the revenge project takes off! However, neither of them counted on this morphing into something more between the two of them.

They say revenge is best served up cold but this was more cozy. As the project progressed, it became fun and interesting. Dani kept Wyatt in the dark about the true objective of the house so much of it was designed conventionally. He didn’t even know that Sam lived next door and as he and Dani’s feelings began to transition from distant colleagues to romance, she found herself facing a moral dilemma. Frankly, I never thought the project would go this far, let alone that she’d find two people willing to invest in something like this but as the house began to take shape and become a reality, I kept hoping that Dani would lose some of the passion behind it. Wyatt had his own issues, which were slowly revealed, making him a lot more appealing and understandable. I liked that there were good reasons for his cool and distant behavior, that he wasn’t standoffish without basis.

Dani and Wyatt were almost complete opposites, which worked well for them. Their communication issues created unnecessary drama at times (like this story needed more of that!) but they were illustrative of what most couples experience so it felt realistic. I disliked the concept of the Spite House but it served as a method for Dani to exorcise all that Sam baggage. Dani was slow to the realization but she eventually got there. The climactic ending was unexpected but it did provide a resolution that fit well. What I loved most about the story was the relationship between Dani and Wyatt where they were forced to get to know each other without the distraction of lust, though that did surface pretty quickly. They also had to juggle the issues related to them working for the same company and carrying on a secret affair. It all made for a deeper story than I’d expected but still brought the laughs.

I listened to the story and the narrator brought a lightheartedness that made this feel less mean. Her voice for Dani sounded perfect and Wyatt came across exactly as I thought he should. This is my first time listening to her and I was very pleased with her performance. She helped make this a fun listening experience.

Love at First Spite is wonderful workplace lovers story with a side of revenge on the exes. After a messy break up Dani Porter decides to get a little revenge on her cheating ex. She buys the lot next to his house and plans to build a vacation rental that will drive him crazy. The only problem is she needs a little help. She reluctantly decides to work with work enemy Wyatt. These two could not be any different but one they are working closely together sparks start to fly. Love at First Spite is a charming, emotional and fun romance!

This one had some really great things going for it. I liked the main characters, I totally understood the need for revenge that main character had and I liked the romance. The side characters were interesting and well rounded and I love the dogs. There were some pretty funny moments in the book too that I liked. There were a couple things I thought could have been done better though. Dani's need for revenge went too far, and the books focus on it should have shifted earlier. The book also could have had a bit more tension between the main characters and some more steam to make it more interesting. It as a fun light read but not one I would read again.

When I first heard the title for this one I was excited to read it. I thought it was going to be an enemies to lovers book, but the spite was someone else. And I was all for it. They deserved it after all. But after a while, that got a lot less satisfying.

Dani’s ex is vicious. Just as they were getting ready to start their life together, he went and cheated on her with the realtor who helped find a spot for them to build their home together. But Dani gets an idea to help assuage her ego…. Build a spite house in the lot next to her old home. She teams up with the haughty architect from job since he was the only person available to help put together the blueprint. Can they put aside their differences to build the house and maybe more along the way?

Normally I’m not excited for an enemies to lovers book, so when I first saw the title I was like, “ehh ok.” But then when I finally read the synopsis and realized that the spite was for someone else, I decided to give it a go. And I liked it. This is an example of why I should read the synopsis and not just read the title and look at the cover lol

The romance itself was cute, but I wanted more? It was mostly because of Dani. She spent so much time trying to spite her ex, it took away from what she was feeling for Wyatt. It felt like all she was doing was for her ex and Wyatt was just her rebound. And anyone with eyes could see that he wasn’t interested in just that. And seeing Wyatt being broken by this every time it happened, it was hurt the image of the romance to me. When she finally realized what she was doing, it was almost too late and they didn’t really have time to REALLY be together. The spice is a 3. We do see some of what happens, and there’s some erotic language, but it mostly them showing and talking about what they’re doing when there’s some heavy feelings (no matter what kind) involved.

Although she treated the best part of this book bad, (read: she treated Wyatt bad) she treated him right in some ways. He has a chronic/progressive disease and her reaction is to not pity him and treat him normal. Especially after his last relationship. I thought it was an accurate representation of being the love interest to someone with that illness (I’m not a love interest, but one of my uncles had it), and in the dedication, it mentions that her husband has it. Definitely saw some of the things my aunt did to help my uncle when he was alive. The other best part of this book was the elderly lady, Matt’s aunt. She was so sweet and her dogs were even sweeter. She served as the comic relief from when Dani got too into what was going on with her ex.

The narrator was ok. Enough to keep me interested and she did a great job changing her voices to make sure that Wyatt’s, Mia’s, and everyone else’s voices were different. But still, that wasn’t exactly memorable. I tried looking at the other things she’s narrated, but I don’t think I’ll listen to them. None of them caught my eye. But again, I would say this one was just ok. There wasn’t really anything that set it out from other books.

This book was a surprise, but in a good way. Thank you Harlequin Audio and Netgalley for reaching out to me with this one. You knew it was me even before I did! And also, tell Collins to write a story about Mia. She was my favorite character besides Matt’s aunt. She was there in so many ways for Dani (even when she didn’t deserve it) and I was glad Dani had someone to talk in sense to her.

Dani Porter is looking for Revenge, with a capital R, against her ex-fiancé, Sam, after she finds out he was hooking up with their realtor. Dani decides to buy the small plot of land that abuts Sam's house to build a Spite House. Dani teams up with a grumpy architect from her firm, Wyatt, to design the perfect house to block Sam's view while also using the space as an investment property.

As Dani's plan takes shape, she realizes Wyatt has a softer side she enjoys. But as the Spite House begins to come to fruition, Dani realizes she has more to lose than an investment property.

I enjoyed the banter between Dani and Wyatt, the outrageous plots to irritate Sam, and Dani's relationship with Mia. The author portrays a lead character with Ménière's disease which I enjoyed learning more about.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

#LoveatFirstSpite #NetGalley

Love at First Spite is a hilarious and touching look at break ups, friendships, and new love. When the opportunity arises for Dani to get revenge on her ex by building a vacation rental next to his dream home, both blocking his view and potentially bombarding him with loud parties and annoying guests, Dani finds herself unable to resist. With the help of her two best friends, the women find themselves emotionally and financially invested the Spite House's success. But when Dani finds herself falling for her prickly coworker who has agreed to be the architect for the Spite House, her world becomes far more complicated.
Love at First Spite is wacky, charming, hilarious, and a great juicy read full of fun characters and cringe-worthy moments.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title, all opinions and mistakes are my own.

When Dani calls off her wedding after her fiancé, Sam, cheats on her with the realtor that sold them their house, things are not going her way. When she hatches the scheme to build a spite house next door, she’s forced to work with her colleague, Wyatt, because he’s the only architect available on short notice. As Dani and Wyatt start to spend more time together, will revenge still be the best medicine?

I will start by saying that I absolutely flew through this novel. The writing flowed really well, so it was easy to keep turning pages.

But let’s be real - this book was pretty weird. All I could think about was what an awful decision it was to build a house out of spite, when the savings Dani had could have been a down payment on somewhere she was actually going to live? Because spoiler alert, this house is only going to be an Airbnb. So her cousin and very new landlord also invest in this property and go full boar on the spite theme with Dani.

Something no one else would ever point out, but there was a lot of bottled water throughout this novel and that bugged me for some reason? And honestly, don’t even get me started on the ending because what the actual heck was that?

One thing I was a big fan of was the inclusion of Ménière’s disease throughout the novel. I’m always looking for more representation in romance, and chronic illness is one that I’m always glad to see covered!

This was still entertaining enough to finish, and I enjoyed some of this romance, but unfortunately I just couldn’t click with it. I’d still be down to try this author out again, because I vibed with the writing.

Have you ever been engaged and found out that your fiancé is cheating on you with your realtor and now you want to get revenge? Have you ever decided that the best way to get revenge is to buy the little piece of property next to his and build a “spite house” and turn it into an air bnb with all his least favorite things just to be petty and annoy him every day? No? Well, that’s exactly what happens to our main character Dani.  

Dani and Sam have been together for 3 years and are about to get married when she finds out Sam has been cheating with none other than her realtor. She decides to leave him and become the strong independent woman that she’s left behind the last 3 years but this news has left her feeling a little petty and she wants revenge. Not only did Sam cheat on her, he left her off the house HER HOUSE and didn’t buy the piece of land that was supposed to be her studio. It’s time he shows her what it’s like to be on her side of things. In order to get things moving she’s forced to team up with Wyatt Montego, an architect from work, and let’s just say Wyatt isn’t exactly known for his friendly reputation. Dani’s desperate and running out of options so she does what she has to in order to make spite house come together.  

I have to say I LOVED everything about this book. I know it’s early on but this is definitely going to be a favorite read of the year for me I can already tell. It has absolutely everything I look for in a romance. A little cutesy/cheesiness, not a whole lot of smut/spice but still has some and good character chemistry what more can you ask for? I could not put this book down and it definitely was a stay up until 1:30 am to finish it because I just didn’t want to wait until the next day. Dani’s personality was my absolute favorite because I’ve been in her shoes, we love a revenge queen (depending on the situation but this one is justified). Her antics are hilarious and her relationships with her friends and family (Mia) are adorable. Wyatt is your typical romance guy; you love and hate him throughout the book. He’s hot and he’s cold. You understand where he’s coming from but you want to punch him. He’s a jerk at work but he treats Dani completely different. It’s definitely an office/coworker trope but also not at the same time. Either way RUN to go get your copy because it’s super cute and funny and I loved it.

Such a fun adult romance book! Great revenge plot that takes a bit of a dark turn towards the end. Satisfying ending!

If you like a Romcom Slow burn, workplace romance with a bit of revenge then this book is for you!
It is from just the heroine's POV and I'd like to have gotten in the hero's head a bit more.

The friendship between Dani and her cousin Mia was heartwarming and funny! Add in Iris an elderly lesbian aunt of Mia's new boyfriend and Dani's new landlady and Dani's friend circle is complete.

Dani and Wyatt were definitely cute together and I would read another by this author. I just struggle with this POV type.