Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for giving me a digital review copy of “At First Spite” by Olivia Dade in exchange for an honest review.

When Athena Graydon buys the townhouse adjoining the one owned by her pediatrician fiance Dr. Johnny Vine, she imagines it’ll be a fantastic wedding gift. Unfortunately, her would-be brother-in-law convinces Johnny to break the engagement. So instead of a wedding and fabulous Hawaiian honeymoon, Athena is left alone with no job and a piece of real estate she can’t afford, in a town far from her family and friends.

To make matters even worse, her now ex-fiance’s brother, Dr. Mathew Vine (pediatrician and severely parentalized father figure to Johnny) lives on the other side of Athena’s awkward new home. And boy, does she hate him for the role he played in ending her engagement. What follows is a march from enemies-to-lovers for Athena and Mathew, with a hefty dose of “whaaaat?” thrown in.

The beauty of a good romance is when the developing relationship forces genuine character growth for both parties involved, as it does in “At First Spite.” Athena is a complex woman. She can’t seem to stay in a job, despite extensive schooling and kind (wealthy) parents who support her without reservation. The broken engagement and real estate fiasco physically remove her from that comfortable sphere and force her to keep trying without the safety net.

Mathew is also not your standard romance hero. Sure, he’s tall and good-looking and awesome at his job, but his extreme cinnamon-roll characteristics have thrown his life far out of whack that it’s threatening him both emotionally AND financially. His feelings regarding Athena (both his romantic interest and his guilt over how his interference has affected her) force him to do some work too.

Some aspects of the story are incredibly realistic: Athena is thrown into a legit depression by everything that’s happened and it truly takes a toll on her. Athena stops leaving the house, neglects her personal hygiene, and basically goes numb. There’s nothing melodramatic about this episode; she’s not just really sad. It’s as gross, grueling, saddening, and frustrating as depression can be. And Mathew’s efforts to help pull her out of it are pretty realistic too. He doesn’t try to fix her, as much as give her the tools she needs to help herself. It’s awesome.

But then, other aspects of the plot are a bit much. Early on, Athena takes a job in a local bakery, where the owner/head baker really, REALLY enjoys listening to audiobooks. His stories of choice are monster erotica. Not only doesn’t Athena feel sexually harassed (a reasonable response, honestly), she enjoys it. Unironically. Ok, sure. Later, as a way of exacting revenge on Mathew from breaking up her wedding, Athena plays the monster erotica loudly through her open windows, and the neighbors also seem to enjoy it. Then Athena becomes involved in a book club and all the members ALSO want to read the monster erotica. Every flipping citizen in this town is overly interested in stories about Sasquatch threesomes. No one, not a single person, says, “Hey, you know, this mythological shagging thing really isn’t my cup of tea. Maybe we could just read the latest bestseller instead?” It’s mind-boggling. It feels like a joke taken too far.

In general, it’s a good story and if you can suspend your disbelief regarding the monster stuff, it’s a fun, quick read. Recommended for anybody who gets a giggle out of the popular monster erotica sub-genre and folks who want to see real emotional growth from the main characters.

Olivia Dade writes another excellent book with characters you can't help but love and root for. I loved this romance story between two flawed but deeply emotional characters. Dade writes them with sensitivity and heart. Highly recommend.

This book was beyond lovely. I am already an Olivia Dade fan, but I think this is my favorite book from her by far. She took a plot set up that seemed like that it could be a bit contrived and made it truly realistic and entertaining. The romance is very spicy and very well written. The emotional conflicts make a lot of sense and don't feel contrived at all. This facet is an Olivia Dade standard, but the main female character is a fat woman who doesn't hate her body and that is always amazing to read on the page.

I can highly recommend this book if you're into romance with a lot of humor and fun.

At First Spite is funny, heartfelt, and beautifully written. It deals with difficult topics but gives them the care they deserve.

This is by far the best depression representation I have read in a romance book. It is a difficult topic to mix with romance because people who are depressed often withdraw from relationships and romance is about building relationships but wow does Olivia Dade pull it off! I loved how Matthew took care of Athena when she needed it and didn't think any less of her. However, I loved even more that Olivia Dade made it clear that care did not just go one way and that Athena had the capacity to be a true partner.

I will say this is not one to read when you are looking for a light escapism. While it has incredibly funny moments (I won't spoil it but let's just say murder dolls are involved) it also deals with heavy topics and may be hard for some people to read. However, if you are a fan of romance this is a great way to learn about some heavy topics with references to monster smut liberally thrown in. Also, this book may have the best grovel I've ever read and I've read a lot.

I don't think this book will be everyone's favorite but I think it will make up for it by making a lot of people who need it feel incredibly seen. I encourage everyone to read this book but if you find it's not for you please be thoughtful in your reviews and remember not every book is meant to appeal to every person.

Harlot's Bay is everything I want in a fictional small town. It has fun lore, interesting town traditions, and is a supportive community. If it existed, I would need to quit my job and move there immediately. I am so incredibly excited to read more of this series and more by Olivia Dade!

I recently finished a captivating book that left a profound impact on me. The narrative's focus on doing the right things, even if spurred by an unexpected beginning, resonated deeply. The character development and plot twists were brilliantly executed, turning what might have seemed like an inauspicious start into the most rewarding journey.

The author skillfully weaves a tale that captivates from beginning to end. The emphasis on meaningful choices and their consequences adds a layer of depth that lingers in the mind. While initially hesitant, I found myself fully immersed in the characters' journeys, each with its own surprises and life lessons.

As the final pages turned, a sense of sadness washed over me, not because of a lackluster conclusion but because the journey had concluded. This book is undeniably a must-read, offering not just a story, but a reflection on the importance of embracing the right path, even when it starts for unconventional reasons. Highly recommended for those seeking a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant read.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

Is anyone surprised I rated this 5 stars? Probably not.

Dade is masterful in her art—a plus-size romance by her never lets me down. She has a skill with writing fat women that are vulnerable and confident. I never enter her books with a fear that I’m going to be triggered (which is of course highly individualized) and she truly writes fat FMCs with an expertise that few authors have achieved. She is truly a paragon of plus-size romance.

This book is no exception. It takes enemies-to-lovers to a new spicy level and I am HERE FOR IT.

If you like:
-small town romance
-forced proximity
-enemies-to-lovers
-ex’s older brother

Then you NEED to pick this book up!

This is a new to me author. I was immediately drawn in by the enemies to lovers and plus size FMC!

Picture this: at your engagement party you overhear (and by that I mean flat out eavesdrop on) your fiancés older brother talking him out of marrying you! One month before the wedding, your fiancé’s brother gets his way… your fiancé leaves you. He takes the honeymoon, and you get his intended wedding present Spite House.

With no job, no fiancé, no belongings… with only your pride, you move right in to Spite House solo. On move in day- you run into non other than your nemesis, your ex-fiancés older brother.
You learn that Spite House lies right between both brothers property lines.

Let the revenge begin!

Athena was so relatable. The Depression representation was so accurate. To the point of I want to give the author a hug… she clearly knows what depression feels like herself.

I absolutely adored the banter between Athena and Matthew. Pranks, Monster Smut nod, Murder Dolls!

Ex’s brother
Enemies to lovers
Plus Size FMC
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn
V MMC

** A disclaimer for the Romance Only fans, this is not 1st person POV.

I enjoyed this book. We met Athena and Johnny at their engagement party. Matthew, Johnny's brother, does not approve of the marriage. The first time Matthew and Athena meet, sparks ignite. I could commiserate with Athena in so many ways. Matthew was at first unlikable but he is just messed up like the rest of us. Kudos to the author for writing flawed people well.

I couldn’t finish this one. Seemed to drag on and on. I didn’t find it believable that the main character had endeared herself to the town so quickly. I appreciated the sensitive & realistic depiction of depression , but again, found the hero to be unbelievable in his overly supportive response - you lost me at the bathtub scene. Sorry, I really wanted to love it

What do you do when your fiancé dumps you after you quit your job and bought him the Spite House of his dreams? Athena Greyson moves to into the spite house in Harlot Bay, finds a job and starts rebuilding her life. The problem is, the spite house is very very close to her ex’s brother’s house. The brother, Dr Matthew Vine the f*cking Third, who frequently objected to the engagement and encouraged Johnny to break-up with Athena. The houses are not only very close, the windows face each other, and Athena doesn’t have the budget for curtains. Athena vows to torment him, and he faceplants into love with her.

I enjoyed At First Spite so much. While there are shenanigans and humor, Athena has a significant depressive episode on page, and Matthew has to address the childhood trauma that has driven him to enable Johnny’s self-centered world view. There’s an emotional weight. Athena and Matthew have to learn to love themselves as they are before they can have any kind of healthy relationship. Athena isn’t successful in the way that our society tells us we need to be – professionally. She punishes herself and feels unworthy of love and respect despite being smart, emotionally intelligent, curious and generally competent at whatever job she has at the moment. Her ex-fiancé, by contrast, is professionally successful, a pediatrician, but emotionally immature and thoughtless. Matthew’s growth arc is probably the trickiest. We aren’t truly concerned with Johnny’s emotional growth except as it relates to Matthew’s coddling of Johnny harms people, and that’s where Matthew needs to learn, grow, and repair. It’s a tricky redemption arc.

Matthew helped explode Athena’s life by convincing Johnny to break up with her. Athena explodes Matthew’s life by forcing his to face the consequences of his actions, and then by existing near him. The best parts of Matthew are the ways that he is brave for Athena and extends himself for her. In the culture we live in, most people would say that Matthew is the successful grown-up. Olivia Dade makes it clear that Matthew has a lot of growing up to do before he deserves the bounty that is Athena Greyson.

The fictional Harlot’s Bay, Maryland is lovely and I can’t wait to spend more time there. From the grumpy baker who listens to monster erotica, the bookseller with the emotional support chicken (Roberta Downy Jr.), and Matthew’s long suffering business partner, the community of characters is rich and interesting.

By the way, if you pre-order this book, you get a lovely, not safe for the average bookstore shelf, alternative bookjacket illustrated by Leni Kaufman.

CW: on page depression, on page anxiety, on page self-loathing, neglectful parents in past, death of an infant remembered.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Avon and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

This book had so much good stuff going for it--the careful way Matthew takes care of Athena during her depressive episode, the hilarity of the prank war--but it felt like so much that other parts (Matthew's development, whatever was going on with Johnny, the underuse of the Spite House conceit) got neglected. In the hands of a writer less talented than Dade, it would have made the book unsuccessful; with Dade's skill, it just left me wishing that things had been more fully developed.

This is only the 2nd book by Dade that I've read. While I like that she's attempting to add add some positive body image to her work, and features plus-size ladies, I am really not into some of the verbiage she uses to romantacize fat women. Before anyone gasps and clutches pearls, I *am* a fat woman. I was a size 14 by the time I was ten years old, an 18-20 through most of high school, all the way up to a 24 in college (although if you know anything about the sizing of women's clothing and how they change...that doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot).
ANYWAY.
The two phrases that really squicked me out were: "a bonbon of a woman, gorgeously round and delicious", near the beginning of the book. "charmingly dimpled thighs", near 32% of the book was the other. Bleh.

Athena also goes through dealing with a bout of depression, during which Matthew immediately (who at this point is still more frenemy) starts using pet names (sweetheart and love, specifically IIRC). Also a major ick for me. It felt a bit too familiar given that he was trying to help a woman who had stopped helping herself. The bathtub scene was...a lot and felt off putting to me as well. Then, suddenly, a week after being on meds, she's masturbating for him in a window and ready to go???

So, over all the book wasn't awful. It was even funny at times. Dade is a decent writer, which earns her a couple of stars. Athena and Matthew were rather likable, and I did resonate a bit with Athena. However, she loses stars for not seeming to know the difference between how a University Library and Public Library work, and also the HHB should have been the HSHB (Historical Society of Harlot's Bay). Being Historic Harlot's Bay really irked me for some reason. I also started getting annoyed with the pop culture stuff and Matthew evidently having been living under a rock since he was 8 to play "Dad" to Johnny. Nothing about that whole situation really added up either.

Athena's life is falling apart: the man she was supposed to marry called off the engagement, but Athena had already bought a house (as a wedding gift) and quit her job as a teacher. Unfortunately, this means she has to move into the teeny-tiny Spite House. Even more unfortunately, the house is right next door to her ex-fiancée. But the real disaster is that she finds out the man who convinced Johnny to end the engagement, his brother Matthew Vine the THIRD, lives next-door too.

Athena vows to make his life hell, but that becomes a challenge when she figures out she actually kinda-sorta likes him. Especially since he seems to be working behind the scenes to help her find work.

At Frist Spite was touching, laugh-out-loud funny, and charming. There were a few things that were odd about the plot, but overall, I really enjoyed this one and I'm excited to see more from Harlot's Bay.

DNF at 2/3 despite my love for Olivia Dades Spoiler Alert triology. This felt like a first manuscript, like a bunch of plot points or ideas with nothing to string them together. Let’s talk about my main issues:
- the characters - our two mcs were so flat and boring. The FMC is basically a new age manic pixie dream girl but with meme references being the thing that sets her apart from other girls. The MMC is just… mean? But not. Matthew specifically bothered me because I couldn’t forgive him. I kept waiting for another shoe to drop that made up for his actions, perhaps Johnny cheated on Athena so Matthew made things up to end the engagement? No. Maybe Matthew was in love with her the whole time and said all of that about her to get in the middle? Also no. Those things he said about Athena he truly believed, he stepped on their relationship because he was an unhappy person and we just forgave him?

- the icks - Mainly Matthew promising not to take advantage of her in the bath and then almost immediately doing so by kissing her.

- their relationship - which skipped right over enemies/friends and straight into strangers with crushes on each other. Except the audience doesn’t know why because they’ve really only interacted twice.

I'm a long time fan of Olivia Dade and I enjoyed At First Spite. When Athena ends up living in Harlet's Bay's infamous Spite House nestled between her ex-fiancé and his brother responsible for breaking off their engagement, Athena ends up on a mission to exact her revenge against Matthew for judging her unfairly and upending her life. Matthew's spent almost his entire life caring for his little brother, so he sees it as his responsibility to encourage his brother to call of his unwise engagement to Athena. However, it doesn't take Matthew long to see that there's much more to Athena, and he makes it his mission to help her find her footing and a community in Harlet's Bay. Written with Dade's usual humor, charm, and nods to geekdom, this book solidifies her place as one of my instabuy authors. However, there are also themes of depression and loss, though respectfully written, that some readers may need to approach with caution.

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

It is very rare that I give a five star review, but At First Spite truly deserves all of those stars. I have read (and enjoyed) all of Olivia Dade's books but this one was different, more relatable, more magical. The reader truly bonds with Athena and roots for her from the very start. It may be listed as a rom-com but there is a depth to this book that you don't find in most that live in that category. On the surface it was a wonderful romance between Athena and Matthew, but at it's core it's a book about loving yourself and healing.

At First Spite was a deeply emotional and superbly lovely romance. I hadn't known what a spite house was before reading this book, and I loved the way this skinny little eff-you house took on a supporting role in Athena and Matthew's story. Olivia Dade is a master of combining laughs, feels, and steam, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Definitely use care if depictions of depression are difficult for you, but Dade handled this with the utmost care. Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Tropes: Fiancé’s brother, miscommunication. Forced proximity. Grumpy sunshine.

Athena is the woman with many dreams but who can’t seem to ever get anything right.

Matthew is the successful man who has spent his life never putting himself first.

So of course since this is a Dade book we are going to watch them fall in love.

I also must add that the term “arachnorgasm” should become a household term. As the resident Karl of my neighborhood.

I must mention some things for the sake of sharing them with the world. Inside this book can be found:

Mentions of gargoyle schlong
Bookish clubs
Emotional support chickens
And “Sure Jan”

At first, I really was debating if I enjoyed this book. It was the first Dade story for me that looked like a flop, but when I got past the oddball meme moments the whole story as a whole was definetely worth the read.

Reading back-to-back cutie little romcoms has taken me out at the KNEES. If anyone wants to get rich quick, invest in tissues and I’ll fund your future.

I will admit, I was hesitant about this one because the idea of being involved with siblings is an absolute no to me, like gag-worthy. HOWEVER. I kept seeing cute snippets and decided to give it a go, and I’m so glad I did. Matthew is so genuine and loving and selfless (to a fault) and Athena is just what he needs, just as he is perfectly matched for her.

The absolute raw depths of a depressive episode being met with tenderness and compassion and earnestness made me weepy. Watching Athena’s slow ascent from the hole she’d fallen into was both realistic and heartwarming. Matthew’s being the voice in her head was ✨chefs kiss✨

There’s a line from Matthew about her not needing perfection or infallibility from him, and I think that’s so important. We do not need our partners to be flawless, because we are not flawless. But we do need them to be real with us, even if that realness is “you can’t live like this, please let me help”.

This was so much more heartwarming than I expected, especially given the ✨ahem✨ literature choices of all parties and the siblings thing. Johnny was notably absent for a good chunk of the book, which made it less icky.

Also, “the universe [can] get bent” is my new motto.