This book... I admit that I wasn't sure at first, because I was worried the book would primarily be about the drama between brothers. It was not. It was about the depths of the way that our trauma can impact us. It was about depression and really what those deep holes can feel like. It was about community and friendship and self-acceptance. It also had the sweetest, heart-swelling romance amidst all of that. Matthew FOREVER. I recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed an Olivia Date romance, but I also recommend for lovers of Helen Hoang and Talia Hibbert.

I was able to read an ARC of Olivia Dade’s new romance At First Spite, which publishes in February 2024. Dade wrote the super popular trilogy of romances about actors in a Game of Thrones-esque television show that I gushed about in the past. Her latest book is a cozier, quieter read with just as much lust and swooning.

This small town enemies-to-lovers romance is about a self-sacrificing Darcy-esque pediatrician and the woman his younger brother was supposed to marry… before he pressured him to break off the engagement. Unluckily for Dr. Matthew Vine, Athena bought the spite house right next to his home as a wedding present, and now she's stuck living there a few feet away from him. And she's PISSED.

Like all of Dade's books, At First Spite is a joyful, clever, filthy and empathetic read. Athena lives with depression, and it meant a great deal to me as a reader to see her receive the love and support she needs from her hero. Sometimes true romance is when your ex-fiancé’s snobby older brother washes your hair while you’re in a depressive episode.

Athena Greydon didn’t plan on living in the Spite House. She purchased it as a wedding gift for her (now ex) fiancé, with plans to renovate as it’s located right next-door to his house. But it’s not until after she moves in that she realizes her ex’s jerk of a brother, Matthew, lives right next door on the other side. Athena decides to lean into the Spite and make Matthew’s life as difficult as hers. Forced proximity never hurt anyone, right?

Do not let the description fool you, this is no cheesy romcom. Okay sometimes it’s cheesy but I had no idea the path this story would take. We’re digging into some REAL life shit here! You can find the tw at the beginning of the book.

The biggest standout for me was surprisingly REAL look at depression and how that can manifest. The writing felt so raw and authentic it broke my heart a little. Negative self-talk, feeling like a failure, unable to leave the house, too exhausted for basic hygiene, these are all things I can personally vouch for. As the story progressed, it was so eerily similar to how my husband has shown up for me in the past that it moved me to tears. The healing journey also felt very realistic and honest. I didn’t expect that realness from this book but I am so glad I got to.

The story isn’t all tough topics though, there’s wit, humor, and romance throughout! Plus, spice! And not just in the monster erotic books Athena loves to listen to. This is probably one of my favorite romance novels (non-fantasy related, also excluding Emily Henry) that I’ve read. I highly recommend this book and will 100% be reading everything Olivia Dade has written/will write in the future.

At First Spite is out on February 13th, 2024.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley! I am a bit bummed as this one was a bit slow for me and I found it hard to connect to the story... could have just been me but I loved the premise! Great plus size rep and some heavy topics such as depression in which the author approached with grace and lightness.

This book was a bit slow to me and a little hard for me to get into. I’m not sure if it was the writing style or the plot. I didn’t really appreciate the real and raw portrayal of depression. The author did a great job of taking such a heavy topic and also make the story more fun a lighthearted. Also plus size representation is another plus from this book. The book had a good mix of romance and comedy. The spice was also good! The pop culture references were a little much at time. Overall, I did enjoy the book!

I'm really sorry to say that At First Spite is going to be a DNF for me (so I won't post this review to Goodreads or Instagram). Dade is hit or miss for me. When she hits, she hits SO GOOD, so I will always give her new stuff a shot. I liked the set-up and setting of At First Spite: Harlot's Bay, a charming small town where Athena Greydon finds herself living next door to the man who is responsible for her canceled engagement. He had a good reason/has a heart of gold! She just doesn't know it yet!

Positives: smart main characters and snappy dialogue; fat positivity; mental health rep.

Negatives: sort of like with Spoiler Alert, At First Spite feels like the author has a lot of ideas she wants to champion, and is using her characters as the microphone through which to shout them. I'm not opposed to any of those ideas--in fact I support them, and love seeing them represented in popular literature! But by midway through the book, I didn't feel like I was watching a story unfold between two real people so much as like I was watching two paper cut-outs with megaphones behind them be moved around a stage. Lots of didactic speechifying.

Letting this one go and will look forward to trying out Dade's next offering.

Super excited to get an early read from Olivia Dade. I consumed all the Spoiler Alert books voraciously and was thriller to see her writing another series. This time we get Athena Greydon in her vine brother's sandwich. After her life spectacularly falls apart, she starts picking up the pieces in the most unexpected place. Right next door to her ex-fiance and his unbearable brother. This romance shouldn't have worked. I would have continued my petty revenge til death, but Matthew is just the sweetest teddy bear, so I understand why Athena caved. There was one small plot point that seems a bit unrealistic, but I was able to jump past that quickly considering you've gotten well acquainted with the characters by the time it pops up.

Spoiler Warnings:
The book does contain TWs for grief/depression and infant death. As someone with a very close relationship to both of those things, I can confirm they were portrayed devastatingly well. Depression can sometimes be a hastily used plot point, but Dade used it authentically and showed how harsh the brain can be to the body it inhabits. While the infant death does play a large role in shaping the characters, it is a past trauma and not one taken from a parental perspective.

I was really hoping that I would enjoy At First Spite more. I struggled with another one of Dade's books, thinking that it was a me thing and not an author thing, but I just don't vibe with her writing style. Overall though, this wasn't bad!

“‘I’m sorry, sweetheart,’ he murmured once he’d regathered himself. ‘I don’t intend to hurry.’

He didn’t want to rush anything about this. And Athena might sometimes be impatient with herself, but he refused to follow her lead. She deserved all his time and attention, and she’d get both, right now.”
🍓
I do not know how to properly come to words with this book. It was a rom com, certainly with how many times I laughed at Athena’s attempts to spite Matthew, and the groveling scene which had me in tears . But it was so much more than that. This book has been probably one of the most successful books I’ve ever read at showing real, bone weary depression in its truest form. Our poor girl Athena has a lot going on upstairs, and Matthew doesn’t magically wipe it away with his magical sex game. I mean, he has that, but he works so hard to help her help herself. He takes care of her, supports her, and knows her so well that when she’s finally back on her feet, she knows where to go. I cannot encapsulate just how beautiful this book works at showing the heart mending needed to show Athena how worthy she is of love and how Matthew earns every single bit of it.
🐓
Athena is soon to be married to a handsome doctor, Johnny, whose brother, Matthew, for reasons unclear does not like their upcoming nuptials. When Johnny is convinced by his big brother to break it off with Athena, she is left with a home she bought for him as a wedding present, no money, no job, and no husband. Did I mention this house was a historic home built out of spite by warring brothers, and just so happens to be situated between Johnny and Matthew’s homes? Spiteful vengeance ensues, as does the war in Athena’s own mind as she struggles with her depression. It will take the help of a patient, kind, devastatingly handsome man named Matthew, Athena’s own strength, and many of the quirky friends she has made in Harlot’s Bay to help her land in the home she deserves. Not one built out of spite, but one built on healing and well developed trust.
⚓️
This book bordered on perfection, and thank you to Netgalley and Olivia Dade for getting me an ARC! This was incredible and I will not soon forget it! ♾️/⭐️
🥔

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read and review this before it gets released in exchange for my honest review . This was my second book by Olivia dade. I don’t think this author is for me. The storyline was cute and I loved the mental health rep, but it just fell flat for me. In the beginning, I loved the hijinks that the FMC pulled, but after awhile it got a tad old. The MMC was okay but he wasn’t doing anything specific for me. I ended up rating this 3 stars.

Dade has once again written an excellent romance with all of the trappings you look for. While the premise felt a little awkward (falls in love with ex-fiancée's brother), Dade handled it masterfully and the drama surrounding that felt realistic and provided some excellent character development. The dual povs were fun and provided great background info to fuel the 'enemies to lovers' trope. Dade also expertly included a realistic look at significant depression and mental health struggles. The only thing unexpected was the amount of times that monster erotica came up, which could be a turn-off for some readers.

4.75 Stars, if I’m being picky, cause I had a couple valid notes but overall it’s amazing. Dade’s best work ever (not that I’ve read everything she’s written). I am obsessed.

It’s funny, deep, cute, heartbreaking, heart wrenching, therapeutic, entertaining, romantic, and validating. This story contains multitudes. The balance achieved in the “enemies” portion of the book is brilliant. Justifiable wrongs made right, neither and both are the bad guy at times, and the heart and humor incorporated into it all… just… chef’s kiss.

And then the heavy comes in. It’s not a tone switch, it’s an immersion. An illustration of declining mental health done with care but in keeping with the character builds and overall plot. This is where Athena and Matthew steal every last part of the reader’s heart.

But it’s not ALL deep and serious, ‘cause it’s still a romance and Dade still provides plenty of humor. The convos and inner cheekiness is brilliant. So delightful. My only critiques came when the romance started to heat up. I thought one method of verbal enticement crossed a line and weakened a beautiful moment from a previous chapter.

But anyway, no spoilers, good or bad. I’m just gonna predict that this will be a top book of 2024 and demand you give it a read.

CW: grief, clinical depression

At First Spite is a true enemies to lovers romance that deals with realistic issues affecting men and women. Athena has had her heartbroken, she's broke and living in a space near her ex-fiance and his brother who basically shamed her. Her plan is to invoke revenge against the man she blames for her broken engagement, Matthew. Only the community begins to feel like home.

Matthew soon becomes her heroine in disguise. Together, they begin to understand the misunderstandings that have plagued their relationship, and recognize their hearts are bigger than they've each given themselves credit. This slow-burn, chemistry ridden love story is about to deeply imperfect people.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for the complimentary copy.

olivia is an auto buy author for me, but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. it was fun and a nice read but it didn't wow me as much as her previous work has.

but still, a great read and would def recommend for a fun, quickish read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Athena’s life gets pretty complicated really quickly. What happens when your life blows up? You move into a place called the Spite House next door to your ex. Anyone who has had meddling in-laws will sympathize with Athena. This book had me laughing, crying, and smiling. There are some hard topics that could be triggering to some like the death of a child or severe depression. Wading through the painful topics was worth the marshmallow of a man, Matthew. A grumpy, complicated but incredibly sweet man will have you smiling and swooning. I really enjoyed this book so much that it was hard to put it down and not pick it immediately back up. Read this book, you won't regret it.

When Athena and her fiance Johnny split right before the wedding, it is too late for Athena to back out of purchasing the tiny spite house next to Johnny’s and across the alley from his bother Matthew’s house. She decides to stay but life in Harlot’s Bay is not easy. Athena does not have a steady job, her fiance, or familial support, which leads to a serious bout of depression she needs to work through. Matthew rightfully realizes that the split between Johnny and Athena was his fault so he does what he can to quietly make life easier for her, while falling for her himself.

I have been looking forward to this book so I was absolutely delighted to get an early digital copy. I love Olivia’s writing style. This book was the perfect blend of humor and heart. While too serious to be considered a rom-com, I found myself smiling and laughing several times throughout the story. This book had one of the most realistic depictions of depression I’ve read in a romance and I truly appreciate that Athena working through her depression involved medication, therapy, and the support of others instead of love as a magical cure-all. The book was a slow burn, but the steamy scenes were very steamy. As with the heroines of the other Olivia Dade books I’ve read, Athena is very comfortable in her plus sized body and Matthew is obsessed with her curves, as he should be. I am excited to see where this series takes us in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 41%. I really wanted to like this book! Unfortunately, I just couldn't get past the writing style. I thought the writing was clunky at points and hard to follow. I struggled with Athena and Matthew's banter at points....perhaps older readers will follow better? I also found Matthew's character perplexing. It was strange to me that he didn't know what rickrolling, Freddy Krueger, or lawful evil was. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.

Olivia Dade is one of the best romance writers writing now. Her books are funny, sexy, and full of memorable characters. This book is no different.
Athena and Matthew antagonize each other, argue, prickle with disdain and guilt and finally find their way to each other while dealing with heavy emotional burdens. I loved this book every bit as much as they other from Dade and highly recommend it!

This one was just not for me. The writing style was a little clunky and the plot felt forced and improbable. I dislike the miscommunication trope where a simple conversation would resolve the main conflict. However, the depiction of depression and mental health is carefully and authentically done. It was a quick read. It may find its readers amongst Dade's already-established fans and for those wanting a slow-burn romance with some cute moments.

At First Spite" by Olivia Dade is a masterfully crafted rom-com that not only delivers on the promise of delightful characters and a charming storyline but also tackles the complexities of mental health with sensitivity and authenticity. Dade, a must-buy author, once again excels in creating characters that are irresistibly lovable, and the vividly crafted side characters enrich the world she builds within Harlot’s Bay.

The narrative kicks off with Athena Greydon, navigating the aftermath of a broken engagement by moving into the Spite House she recklessly bought for her ex-fiancé. The ensuing complications of living in a ten-foot-wide house, with her ex as a neighbor and the uptight Dr. Matthew Vine living on the other side, set the stage for a rom-com filled with grumpy/sunshine dynamics and enemies-to-lovers tropes.

However, the story takes a poignant turn as it delves into Athena's battle with depression, offering one of the most relatable and realistic depictions of mental health struggles. The author skillfully weaves this heavy theme into the narrative, elevating the story beyond typical romantic tropes. As Matthew becomes a pillar of support for Athena during her depressive episode, the depth and authenticity of their connection shine through, reducing readers to tears.

Dade's ability to balance humor and heartbreak is commendable, creating a story that is not just about romance but also about personal growth and overcoming mental health challenges. The characters' journey feels genuine, and Athena's struggles resonate with authenticity, making her a relatable and empathetic protagonist.

"At First Spite" is more than a rom-com; it's a heartfelt exploration of love, resilience, and the power of understanding and supporting someone through their darkest moments. Olivia Dade's storytelling prowess shines through, making this book a captivating and emotionally resonant read. It's a testament to her ability to create not just stories, but worlds that readers yearn to be a part of.