This was a really enjoyable, nice, easy read for me. Collins, a sassy writer, gets blacklisted from LA for an embarrassing video and is forced to move back to her hometown. She runs into her old best friend (and crush), Nate, who years ago came home from vacation one summer and ignored her completely. He became her nemesis, but now she has to deal with him being her neighbor. These two fight and bicker like an old married couple and it’s really cute to see how this all unwinds. Why did Nate stop talking her one day? How does he really feel? The author, Alexa, did a great job, and I loved how it all came together at the end. 👏

After living in LA, Collins finds herself back at home in Ohio, living with her parents. She soon discovers that her neighbor is none other than Nathaniel Adams, her high school nemesis. When they run into each other old rivalries resume. When Nate serves her with an HOA complaint, it's game on. Collins is now Nate's new running mate for HOA President. They go head to head and play dirty trying to one up each other to gain neighborhood votes in their campaign. It's not long before their hate bubbles over into feelings they haven't felt since before they were enemies.

Next-Door Nemesis is one of the funnest rom-coms I've read in a long time. This friends to enemies to lovers story is full of witty banter, snappy arguing, and sneaky antics that will have you laughing out loud the entire book. I was immediately drawn into this story and didn't want to stop reading. Collins has such a firecracker personality. Even though she's the opposite of Nate, they work so well together. I absolutely loved the addition of Collins' friends Ashleigh and Ruby. They were so much fun! I would love to see a story with Ruby.

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Not so Neighborly    
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5/5)          
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3/5)          
          
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:    
Frenemies to Lovers   
Neighbors  
Suburban Romance   
Biracial Romance   
Single POV   
        
𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬:          
Fantastic read! This was my first Alexa Martin book, and it won’t be the last! Her characters are fascinating! The inner dialogue paired with the over the top actions of the heroine, Collins Carter - chef’s kiss! I got a little worried about 30% that Collins wouldn’t be able to find her way out of the crazy hole she dug, but that girl came back swinging. Her family and girl gang are the cherry on top of an award worthy romance with her childhood friend turned enemy, Nate. I laughed, snorted, cried, and swooned. My only wish was to have an on-page showdown with the true villain of the story.  
   
𝐈 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐌𝐂 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐄𝐀.    
   
Thank you so much to @AlexaMBooks and @good.girls.pr for the ARC!   
 
𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:        
Collins Marie Carter has hit the lowest of rock bottoms. An epic mistake back in LA blew up her life, and she landed back in the suffocating Ohio suburban neighborhood of her childhood. Petty vengeance is her new pastime, and the brunt of her fire is turned towards her one-best friend turned mortal enemy, Nathanial Adams. What began as a quest to rile up Nate, turns into an all out war. Who knows what happens when that passion reveals the truth of their past and the attraction that's always lingered just below the surface?

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
This book hooked me in from the first page - to the last, which says a lot because I’m not normally a one sided point of view person (however I might need to reevaluate that after loving this book)
Loved the banter between Collins and Nate but I didn’t fully believe the enemies plot, could be my hopeless romantic heart but I just felt something from the first interaction! Nate’s other friendships were lovely and a fun touch to the book!
This book gave me every trope I love:
Tons of banter
Enemies to lovers
Close proximity

Thank you for the ARC provided by Good Girls PR/netgalley in exchanged for an honest review

Love love love the tropes in this book… honestly probably my favorite. This was a new author to me and I will def be continuing to read their work. I couldn’t put it down, super engaging and made me laugh

Thank you for the opportunity to read this early 🤭🥰

I love love love this book! Thank you Alexa Martin for providing me the opportunity to read this amazing book as e-arc.
Where should i begin, Collins is so funny and at the same time so bold. I find myself relating to her at the decisions she makes and the way she speaks. She is totally me. I love her.
Nate is so calm and the usual bickerings between him and Collins makes me giggle. They are so funny at the same time, full of chemistry.
Their rom-com is on point. I will be waiting for Alexa Martin to write masterpiece like this more

Alexa Martin does it again with this fun rom-com. HOAs have never been so entertaining as in this one, with excellent characters, banter, and steam. It hits the right balance between charming and funny. In addition to the author's fans, this is one I'll hand to fans of the Class Mom series for its subtle digs at the highs and lows of suburbia.

I just finished this eARC of @alexambooks newest book, Next Door Nemesis, and I LOVE it!!!

Thanks to @berkleyromance @berkleypub , @netgalley and the author for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Yes, I’m behind in posting my review bc this book pubbed on November 14, but, like the FMC Collins, sometimes life doesn’t go the way we planned.

I really enjoyed the friends-to-enemies-to-lovers relationship between Collins and Nate. They had been childhood friends, but in high school, things changed when Nate began to ignore Collins and they became enemies. After high school, she moved away to LA for college then to work as a television writer while he stayed in their suburb and built a life for himself. When Collins is forced to move home after losing her job, she encounters Nate and eventually runs against him to be the HOA president.

I love the banter in the book, the sexual tension, and how Collins and Nate find their way back to one another. Collins’ parents are a delight and I would happily read a book about their own love story, and the friendship triangle we get with Collins, Ruby, and Ashleigh is just delightful. I would love to read Ruby’s story, too!!!

I also gasped when I learned the connection to Alexa’s Playbook series - so subtle and delightful!!

I’m a big fan of Alexa’s books, so go check them out!!!

Book Summary:

Some people are fortunate enough to never have a bad neighbor. Collins Carter is now one of those people. She recently moved back into her family home, only to find her old high school nemesis living next door.

Worse, he's the president of the HOA. Imagine the mayhem Nathaniel can cause as complaint after complaint rises up against Collins. The only way she can deal with it is head-on; she will run for the role of president of the HOA.

My Review:

Oh, I do love it when a book can merge multiple tropes into a fun and delightful read. That is certainly what happened here! Next-Door Nemesis blends enemies-to-lovers with the neighbor-from-hell trope, and it is perfect.

The novel starts off relatable, with Collins having to move back home. It quickly goes off the rails in true quirky/comical romance fashion. In truth, this book had me laughing more often than not. It really was exactly what I needed this week, so thank you (Alexa Martin) for that!

The escalation and HOA shenanigans were hilarious, though maybe those in an HOA would feel different? Either way, this rom-com is well worth the read, I promise!

Highlights:
Contemporary Romance
Chick Lit
Neighbors from Hell
Enemies-to-Lovers

4.75 stars!!

I could not put this down!! It was such a perfect rom-com to read. Seriously, exactly what I needed! It was so cute, so funny, I was cackling the whole time at Collins’s antics towards Nate. The character development in both Nate and Collins was so good!! They were eye scratchingly immature in the beginning (but in such a good way!!!) and then blossomed into mature, stable, adults who could talk out their feelings vs having to spite eachother at every turn. Their banter, their chemistry, their everything was so good!! ❤️‍🔥🤭

There was spice, there was comedy, there was romance, and family. It was so good and all around amazing. I really enjoyed reading and having a close knit family, the Carters, as the main characters because so often I feel like main characters have bad family dynamics so it was a nice surprise to have such a loving, caring, supportive parental role in this on top of everything else.

You definitely should check it out if you love:
🦩 Alexa Martin (duh)
🏡 Close Proximity (they are neighbors)
🦩 Small Town
🏡 Childhood Friends to ENEMIES to lovers (ummmm yes?!)
🦩 Rom Com
🏡 “It’s always been you” 🥹

This was my first book by Alexa Martin, and let me tell you, I’m a huge fan now and will read her backlist 🫡🥰

Out this week is a fun high school nemesis, enemies to lovers romance. Collins having to move back home, ends up running against Nate for HOA president. Full of shenanigans and steam this one is sure to find a place with small town Romance lovers.

🌳🦩Next Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin🦩🌳

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🫑

This cute and sexy little RomCom was exactly what I needed lately to get me out of my slump. I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did but the vibes were just immaculate! Collins was so damn funny and had me cracking up from the very beginning! Her inner monologue was hilarious and so relatable; I swear Alexa Martin just wrote down all of my errant thoughts.

“My grudges are long-lasting for minor offenses. For what he did to me? It could last lifetimes.”

Same girl, same

But my favorite part of the book was the banter and tension between Collins and Nate. I was truly giggling and kicking my feet every time they interacted! And Collins hitting Nate with “I told my mom I think you might be a serial killer.” And “Are you on drugs?” absolutely sent me, she had poor Nate going through it 😂. I loved watching them fight, then share, forgive, and heal, and come together. It was the perfect progression for their story ❤️

Read if you love
🦩Childhood friends to enemies to lovers
🦩Hilarious banter
🦩Stuck in the Suburbs
🦩Neighborhood rivalry

Thank you Alexa Martin and Good Girls Pr for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review

After a nasty breakup with her boyfriend, Collins Carter loses everything. Even her career is over, thanks to him. She leaves Los Angeles and heads back to her hometown in Ohio to live with her parents. When she runs into her former high school boyfriend, Nathaniel Adams, they clash in a big way. It ends up with Collins and her parents receiving a homeowner’s association complaint. Collins is not going to take this without a fight.

Collins decides to run against Nate for HOA president. While he likes everything nice and orderly, she wants to get rid of the HOA rules. It’s a battle to the end for these two, but they can’t put their old feelings aside quite that easily.

This book is pure fun. Who knew a story about a homeowner’s association could be so enjoyable? The cast of characters is crafted to perfection. I fell in love with every one of them, except for Collin’s ex.

The sparks between Nate and Collins heat up every page. They nearly melted my e-reader. I never read anything by this author before, but I really like her writing style and her clever idea for a storyline. She had me laughing and crying through the whole book. I’ll be keeping an eye open for more books by this author.



FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

When her Hollywood dreams come crashing down around her, Collins Carter moves back to her childhood home in Ohio. Waking up to her parents every morning in their suburban neighborhood was not part of her plans for adulthood, but here she is. 

The only thing that could make things worse is running into her childhood best friend-turned-enemy, Nate Adams, but, lo and behold, Nate lives down the street. AND he’s on the neighborhood HOA board. AND he has submitted a claim against the gardening changes made to her parents’ front yard.

Collins interprets this as the opening volley in an all-out war, and her weapon of choice is Nate’s beloved HOA board.

As the saying goes, there’s a fine line between love and hate, and as petty digs and pranks build up between Collins and Nate, that long buried fire between them starts to reach its tipping point.

Due to the heightened emotions—both from Collins’s current life situation and their past—things get pretty over-the-top between the two pretty quickly, and I did cringe reading some of their antics. There’s no denying the chemistry between the two is highly combustible, though, and Alexa Martin delivers some delectable steam.

I enjoyed watching Collins’s friendship grow with her newly-wed neighbor, Ashleigh, and her evolving opinion of her place in the town. And the multiple MLM schemes, neighborhood gossip, and grumbling over HOA bylaws will give wink-wink, nudge-nudge giggles to anyone residing in middle-class suburbia.

For the most part I enjoyed the book while I was reading it, but whenever I put it down to do something else, I didn’t find myself rushing to pick it back up.

I received an advance copy from Berkley and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

**Many thanks to Catherine Barra at Berkley and Alexa Martin for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**

No blue trampoline covers! A 5 minute open garage door limit?!....No more than 15 lbs of PET???

(In that case, apologies to my lovely cat...sounds like we need to bump up the cardio!)

What do all of these bizarre and restrictive rules have in common? They are all ACTUAL HOA rules in REAL neighborhoods. (At least...according to the Internet.) Collins Carter is glad to have moved far away from this sort of goofy gatekeeping...until she finds herself RIGHT back in her parents' neighborhood and subject to all of the rules and regulations that come along with it. An embarrassing viral video and a manipulative hotshot Hollywood ex brought her writing career in LA to a grinding halt, and Collins returns home to find her hometown much as she left it. And there's one particular thorn in her side who makes his annoying (and annoyingly HANDSOME) presence known: she comes face to face with her former best friend Nathaniel Adams.

But Nathaniel hasn't been resting on his laurels...and his aspirations seem just within reach. Already a successful real estate agent in the area, he is about to run for president of the neighborhood's Homeowner's Association (HOA) and feels sure that his involvement and good favor in the community will lead him to a landslide victory. However, Collins is looking to make a name for herself too...and two can play at the public takedown game! With her lawyer sister Ruby's long-distance support and a fast friendship with a zany girl from her high school past to bolster her confidence, Collins launches an all-out battle for HOA president, determined to take Nathaniel down a peg...or several! But with smear campaigns flying and pranks whizzing back and forth, why is Collins suddenly feeling stirrings of feelings from so long ago? Is the fiery contempt of the past slowly morphing into something ELSE fiery... passion? And when all the votes are counted, will winning the HOA STILL be more important than winning a certain someone's heart?

Although I'm far from a romance aficionado, this sort of romance is what I'd call standard fare. There are few surprises to be found, a small cast of characters (thankfully!), and the sort of silliness you'd expect from a premise like this one. Since in general it's hard to take a HOA TOO seriously, there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief you need to have in order to take this journey with Collins. As much as I was rooting for some personal growth in our MC, she seemed young at the start and pretty much stayed in that place throughout the book. As much as I appreciated that she had some pals in her corner, it was a bit strange that the OTT and sort of valley girl, MLM loving neighbor became such quick friends with Collins also...she went from finding her sort of nuts to inviting her over and spilling her darkest secrets to her at chain restaurants over drinks pretty quickly. (Maybe this is what friendships are like for 20 year olds these days...but for me, I found it a little off putting).

Of course, the other piece of this puzzle is Nathaniel. This is enemies to lovers romance, but I'll be honest: these two NEVER really felt like full-blown enemies to me. There was a bit of snarky comments shot back and forth at the beginning, but Collins was acknowledging his hot bod from pretty much the get-go, and once we found out these two had such an intense past and were SUCH good friends...to the point where Collins' mom pretty much couldn't stop fawning over Nathaniel, it didn't feel like these two were so much enemies as Collins had been scorned when Nathaniel basically swapped high school cliques without an explanation.

I mean...it may have seemed world ending in high school I suppose. But a quick conversation between these two could have cleared that up at ANY point in time (and eventually does)...so the 'conflict' seemed a bit weak to me. Nathaniel is really 90% at fault for the entire demise of their relationship, so I didn't really get why Collins was so desperate to forgive him and so wooed by his 'newer' self. I also didn't really jibe with the banter or find it that funny, although again, this may be a sign of being a bit older than the target demo for this particular read. I just felt like the characters read a bit more juvenile than I'd expect and in that way I had a lot less buy in for the inevitable conclusion of this predictable rom-com. (No spoilers, but there may be a TV script penned by Collins that is actually called HOA**holes...with asterisks and all)

Though Martin's twist on the neighbor to you love to hate...and eventually hate to admit you love...felt a bit unique with the HOA angle, when it comes to this neighborhood?

I may have paid my dues...but I still got the eviction notice. 🏠

3.5 stars

A fun enemies to lovers. I loved the Midwestern charm throughout the whole book.

The MCs had a great back story, although the reason for them growing apart when they were younger seemed a bit unlikely.

Their chemistry together was great, a bit spicy but only a few scenes

This was cute, fun, sweet, eventually hot and just a tad emotional. I really enjoyed reading this one, the childish back and forth was fun to read. When these two finally get together, it’s full steam ahead until some blasts from the past show up. Collins has always hated living in her small hometown and that plays into a lot of the story, both past and present. The book takes place entirely in the present but Collins does have memories and conversations about the past. It did get emotional for me when Collins and Nate had their conversation about what happened in high school but it wasn’t for too long or too heavy. The spice was hot but not too descriptive or explicit. I enjoyed the side characters, the friends and parents, and the main characters too.

This was a cute and fun Rom-Com about a second chance - old best friends now enemies - to lovers small town romance.

Collins comes home after a devastating social media situation that leaves her back home from LA in her small town in Ohio and loses her dream job. She finds her old best friend- then turned enemy- Nate bought a house in the same neighborhood and is on the HOA board. This story shares Collins time back home- will she learn to love it? Was her ‘dream’ in LA really the dream?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️.5

Thanks to NetGalley and Good Girls PR for this ARC!

✨Sexy Hallmark!!!✨

[To set the scene: She’s back in her small town; he never left. They’re former best friends, current candidates running for the local HOA president position. It’s raining and she’s just shown up at his house late at night. Gasp! He answers the door shirtless and confused. They are currently enemies.]

“You know I still hate you, right?”
“Yup.” His eyes drop to my chest. My light cotton tee has molded to my breasts and I feel my nipples harden beneath his gaze.
“I hate you too.”
“Good,” I say between heavy breathing.
“Good,” Nate repeats.
And that’s all we say. Because it’s kind of hard to talk with our lips smashed together and our tongues in each other’s mouth.

And lives were changed!!! Who knew sexual tension at an HOA meeting could be so delicious? It was the perfect Hallmark plot with a GREAT third act and some solid sex. Also this is a me thing but the sex is always so much hotter when the hero is a nerd and the heroine is just so surprised he fucks well. Like yes National Treasure is his favorite movie and he is a prominent member of the HOA AND he gives good dick! A multifaceted king!

It’s a pretty basic plot, but Alexa Martin really brought something special to the table. It was funny and cozy and just wanted to keep reading. I loved Collins so much!! Let heroines have tempers!! I was cackling; sometimes vandalism IS the answer. So sorry. And the fact that she befriended that one person who always falls for MLMs made my day.

The only thing I wanted more of was Nate. I’m not sure if I’d go as far as say that I want his POV, but I wanted to know just a bit more about him. A lot of their relationship relied on their past history, so I would’ve liked to see them develop a bit further in the present. It’s more of a “I loved everything we got I just want more” situation.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5 🌶️🌶️*/5

*We got a couple open door scenes. They were pretty explicit but most of the time body parts weren’t mentioned if that makes sense. I think it could’ve been a bit spicier since they put “steamy” in the summary. The first scene was a really good length but the next ones were super short or off page.



Thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

I love discovering new-to-me authors who write romances with a fresh perspective. Next-Door Nemesis is a great example of this. I've seen Alexa Martin novels everywhere in the last few years, but never picked one up. This one caught my eye and I dove in. I love the whole second chance romance trope and the enemies to lovers trope and this fun read mashes these up into a fun story about running for HOA president (I really wasn't sure about this in the beginning, but it was so much fun!) I loved the chemistry, the banter, and the depth of finding what you truly want from life. I will definitely read more of Alexa Martin!