An easy to read rom com with childhood friends turned enemies, bickering that is so clearly sexual tension, and fun supporting characters.

I would recommend this if you are looking for a good palette cleanser. Like when you used to watch a horror movie and need to watch a cartoon after to feel safe. This book is in that category.

This book was so much fun. Collins was an outspoken writer driven back home due to a horrible man (men, am I right?) She finds her old childhood crush Nate thriving as a real estate agent in her families neighborhood and the HOA president. They collide and argue their way into a fight for HOA president.

This book gave me Hallmark movie vibes and I am not complaining! I liked the old friends turned rivals trope and I enjoyed getting to the bottom of why their friendship ended. I also loved how the ending of this book was handled!

Next Door Nemesis
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4⭐️

Quick synopsis: Collins has recently moved back to her childhood home, and decides to run for the neighborhood’s Homeowner’s Association presidency against her former high school best friend turned enemy, Nathaniel. As the campaign heats up, Collins starts to wonder if she’s unfairly judged Nate.

Thoughts: How have I not read anything from this author before?! This was fun, sweet, with just the right amount of spice (just a few scenes about half way through). Strong side characters and a realistic third act break up can make or break a romance novel and this book checked off both boxes! Also, side note- reminds me to never buy a house that’s in a HOA - those rules are just crazy. But it sure made for a fun story! My only complaint was that Nate’s character wasn’t my favorite and some of his actions would be hard to move forward from; Collin’s seemed to accept and forgive with few questions asked. Still, a great romance with a cast of diverse characters that is really enjoyable. Running to go check out the rest of this author’s backlist!

Troupes: rivals/enemies to lovers, second chance romance, opposites attract

Next-Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin is a perfect enemies to lovers rom/com. I love this author and will read anything she writes! This book is full of humor and banter that makes a great romance book. The girl friendships also make this book great. Collins is a fun female lead. She's not perfect but it makes her more relatable. Nate is the leading male who you love to hate but overall is a great character. I really enjoyed this book and will always be looking for the next one from this author.

I loved this book!
I wasn't very sure about the characters at first but little by little they won me over. Next door nemesis was so fun to read although I had moments where I felt very identified and exposed by this book.

Overall, a very good romance book that I can't wait to recommend!

Oh, you have to love a good HOA, add a hot ex best friend and you have a spicy neighborhood. This story was a fun, relatable charters that will have you cheering at your next HOA meeting. I was not expecting it to be so funny but had me laughing out loud.

Collins Carter is back home and living with her parents, not her proudest moments. She needs to get her life back on track and quickly. Just to add to her misery she runs into her high school nemesis Nathaniel Adams. Not only does he live in next door to her parents but is also HOA president. So conveniently as so as she is back the HOA complaints come in from Nathaniel. So, Collins decides she is going to get him back by running for HOA president. But as the campaign kicks off, things start to change, and her Nathaniel must deal with buried feelings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a copy of this book for my honest review.

I always have enjoyed Alexa Martin and this book was fun. I liked the long history between the two main characters, while I know the conflict of the HOA was needed to set it up, it was the weakest part for me.

Overall a 4.25 stars!!!! The middle was kinda slow but once I got hooked I was HOOKED. Spice is good! Nate was adorable

Thanks to Good Girls PR for the ARC!
Short Synopsis
Two rival candidates for a homeowner's association presidency are about to find out how dirty suburbanites fight in this steamy new romantic comedy from Alexa Martin.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved all the side characters and the part they played in the story. Collins and Nate are so cute! I prefer a dual POV so I was bummed to not get Nate’s thoughts but overall a feel good story!

really enjoyed this book a lot! Alexis did the enemies to lovers trope so well. longer review to come

This was so funny and cute. I'm a sucker for rivals/enemies and these two were so much fun. I adored this story and would love to keep reading more from this author!

I thought I would really love this book but it fell a wee bit flat for me. I felt that the enemies to lovers part happened so fast that I didn't even realise it had happened.

I love a contemporary romance that has a sassy main character and a whole lot of hilarious banter between them and the potential love interest, and Next-Door Nemesis has it in spades! I loved the dynamic between Collins and Nate, their mutual hatred, but then their realization that maybe it's not hatred after all. I laughed out loud repeatedly when I was reading this book, and I even got teary-eyed at the end. This was so cute and sweet, so funny, and just a perfect read. I can't wait to see what Alexa Martin writes next!

I love me a quirky heroine who falls for the guy she’s definitely not interested jn at all not even a little bit and then somehow realize she’s definitely into him but he’s her nemesis and that just sounds messy. This book was laugh out loud and also swoon worthy.

Alexa Martin has left the football field, and it's fantastic! Loved the Playbook series, but the almost stand-alone non-football stories as so much better.

Laugh out loud funny, packed with quirky, over-the-top characters, you'll gloss over the unrealistically quick relationships that develop and just go along for the ride. A former-friends to enemies to lovers with a side of forced proximity and our MC has to move back home after a career disrupting romance. Top that off with satire about HOAs and MLMs, add a couple of solid friends, a pinch of "Easter eggs" for those who have read Martin's other books, and you've got the gist of this one.

I live for an enemies to lovers book, but when the enemies used to be best friends it makes the story that much more fun! The banter between Collins and Nate is amazing and I love how Collins has no filter. This story has great moments with heart and I can’t wait to read more from Alexa,

Alexa Martin has done it again with wit and charm in Next-Door Nemesis. Creating characters that readers can easily connect to, she allows us to peak inside their lives as they face many challenges.

When Collins is forced to return home, life is looking pretty miserable for her - moving back into her childhood home, drinking her mom's hazelnut coffee (only if she can't avoid it) and becoming her dad's gardening assistant. Well that doesn't sound too bad, until she runs into Nate - her childhood best friend for years, until he became her nemesis in high school. And of all things, he fines her for planting a tree!! And that's when things get interesting!!

The humor, the friendships, the hate and the lust, are all there!! You will laugh, you will feel for the characters, and you will fall in love....and you will fall in lust. A must read and definitely deserving of 5 stars!

Collins Carter, the heroine of Alexa Martin’s NEXT-DOOR NEMESIS (Berkley, 368 pp., paperback, $17), has always had a temper, and thanks to that viral video, now everybody knows it. With her Hollywood writing career in ruins, she flees back to her parents’ home in Ohio to find her former-best-friend-turned-nemesis running for president of the H.O.A. How dare Nathaniel Adams still be hot after the way he treated her in high school? Impulsively, Collins announces she’s running against him — but the sparks from their collision ignite more than just her competitive streak.

Martin’s prose is a live wire: There are little shocks of pleasure on every page. It’s incredible how epic this contest feels, even though the stakes are extremely local. Like Jodie Slaughter and Helena Greer, Martin has a knack for layering vast emotional geographies onto cozy physical spaces.

This was a fun read. I enjoy Alexa Martin's writing style, but these characters didn't engage me like some of those in her previous books. I felt the love interest, Nate, went from enemy to friend real quick in an unbelievable way. I also just didn't find him all that interesting. We know basically nothing about him other than he likes khakis...

But I did like the setting and 'conflict'. This is good for a quick, fun read.

Collin’s Carter goes OTT on everything! An over the top attack on her ex’s car sends her career into a spiral and an over the top reaction to her former high school nemesis, Nate Adams, sends her into an over the top campaign to become HOA president. I’m not saying any of this is a bad thing… it all kept me engaged and turning pages to see what else Collins could get herself into.

“I try to put words to the chaos running through my mind at any given moment.
“Tons of bright colors and half-formed sentences interspersed with flashing pictures of food, your butt, and Little Mix songs playing all the time.”
“My butt?”
“You have a fantastic ass.” I pop a piece of funnel cake in my mouth. “It lives rent-free in my mind.”

It took me a while to get on board with Nate. But once I was able to understand what was in his sweater-vest loving mind, I was swooning like the rest of Horizon Creek!

“I’m certain I’m the only person in the entire world who might be developing an HOA kink, but I won’t be shamed for it.”

Next-Door Nemesis was an adorable fun read!
-4 Stars-