Name: syd!'s review of Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins
Item: Love at First Spite
Rating: 3
Author: syd!

Anna E. Collins

Falling in love is the ultimate payback in this delightful, breezy romcom about an interior designer who teams up with an enigmatic architect at her firm to get revenge on her ex the only way she knows how: by building a spite house next door "Filled with sizzling chemistry and delicious revenge, Love at First Spite had me smiling from start to finish. This is one debut you don't want to miss!" --Kate Bromley, author of Talk Bookish to Me They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That's interior designer Dani Porter's justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiancé's house...the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their Realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b) prove that Dani is not someone to be stepped on. Welcome to project Spite House. That plan quickly becomes complicated when Dani is forced to team up with Wyatt Montego, the handsome, haughty architect at her firm, and the only person available to draw up blueprints. Wyatt is terse and stern, the kind of man who eats his sandwich with a knife and fork. But as they spend time together on- and off-site, Dani glimpses something deeper beneath that hard veneer, something surprising, vulnerable, and real. And the closer she gets to her goal, the more she wonders if winning revenge could mean losing something infinitely sweeter...

Love at First Spite

syd!

This was a perfectly predictable romance with a funny ‘spite house’ set-up. But for all the revenge plotting, I wanted less real estate and more drama. 

Amelia Hruby

Pros: solid friendships, believable chemistry, interesting premise

Cons: arson? They're just gonna gloss over the fact that her ex commited arson?

Kate B-L

Pros: solid friendships, believable chemistry, interesting premise

Cons: arson? They're just gonna gloss over the fact that her ex commited arson?

Saskia Charter Harris

Falling in love is the ultimate payback in this delightful romcom about an interior designer who teams up with an enigmatic architect at her firm to get revenge on her ex the only way she knows how: by building a spite house next door They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That’s interior designer Dani Porter’s justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiancé’s house…the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their Realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b) prove that Dani is not someone to be stepped on. Welcome to project Spite House. That plan quickly becomes complicated when Dani is forced to team up with Wyatt Montego, the handsome, haughty architect at her firm, and the only person available to draw up blueprints. Wyatt is terse and stern, the kind of man who eats his sandwich with a knife and fork. But as they spend time together on- and off-site, Dani glimpses something deeper beneath that hard veneer, something surprising, vulnerable, and real. And the closer she gets to her goal, the more she wonders if winning revenge could mean losing something infinitely sweeter… “Love at First Spite had me hooked from the first page! The playful banter, steamy love scenes, and delightful cast of secondary characters made this debut an unputdownable read.” —Alexandria Bellefleur, author of Written in the Stars “Love at First Spite delivers on every level with humor, heat, and heart. Collins has crafted characters I was so delighted to spend time with, and whose love story was full of emotion and sparkling sexual tension.” —Denise Williams, author of How to Fail at Flirting

A Novel

Sven Test

Love at First Spite is an office romantic comedy with a revenge plot, stolen glances and a sizzling tension between an arrogant architecture and an interior designer.

Do I want this? To take on a construction project next to Sam’s house? To mess with his peace, with his view, his smooth sailing into the future? Do I want to build a house just to spite him? A spite house? Hell yes!
In Love at First Spite, we have Danielle, who caught her fiancee cheating on her, and because of it, she decides to buy the lot right next to her ex’s house to build a spite house. Seeing as she’s an interior designer, she has that part down. Now she needs an architect and the one willing to do it is Wyatt, a co-worker who’s always serious and no one really wants to work with.
“He’s kind of like […] like a handsome ogre who is forced to work with the local villagers but ends up scaring them half to death. He’s Shrek, basically. Good luck with that one.”
Dani’s plot for revenge was a recipe for disaster and a complete roller-coaster. Did I have fun reading it all? I absolutely did. The woman is definitely dedicated to her spite house. While I enjoyed her vendetta against her ex, I do think she went way above and beyond to follow through with it. I did love how she realized that continuing with the spite house meant more time spent with Wyatt.
The friendship that blossomed between Wyatt and Dani was so sweet and kind. Wyatt isn’t afraid to admit that he wants Dani, and I love him for it. This man also made me blush sometimes and just grin like a mad woman. Their friendship quickly turned into friends with benefits, but let me tell you, they were only fooling themselves, because you could just tell that even that early on, there was a form of love and care for each other.
He lifts his glass. “To your build.” “To a productive collaboration,” I say. “With…benefits?” Wyatt stills, surveying me above the rim of his glass. A Cheshire grin blooms behind it.
The author introduced a disease that isn’t talked about often, which is Ménière. As someone with a grandma who gets vertigo episodes, my heart went out to Wyatt. It’s the reason for why he doesn’t date; he doesn’t want to limit or be a disturbance. I just wanted to jump into the book and hug the heck out of him, especially because I believe this is where we got the most vulnerable moments out of him for the first time, and it was beautiful to see how open he was about it with Dani.

He’s a fascinating mix of work and play, and I don’t know where one ends and the other begins. But I like it. It helps me meld the two versions of him together into someone real. Gentle and firm. Safe and dangerous.
I cannot leave some side-characters behind, specifically Mia, Dani’s cousin. Mia is such a funny and outspoken character, who’s also very supportive of Dani and all her shenanigans, no matter how crazy they sound. There’s also Iris, Dani’s land-lord, who quickly forms a friendship with Mia and Dani. Both Iris and Mia help Dani embark on her revenge vendetta, and if that doesn’t scream friendship goals, I don’t know what does.

“To schlongs, the only good guy parts.”
I really enjoyed this story a lot! It was funny, romantic, sweet, and vulnerable.

korina

this was a cute fluffy romance. it’s not perfect and wasn’t spectacular but it was fun.

Tegan Bell

CHRONIC ILLNESS REP! Cute, funny, fun- I really enjoyed this. I feel like there was a certain level of depth it lacked, but I had too much fun with this to be scornful. Highly recommend for anyone looking to get out of a book slump, who has a little penchant for romance and revenge.

Alyssa Huffman

lana ✨

Oh this was good. First half was better than the last half but that’s okay

sydney

I really enjoyed this book but it lost me a bit in the middle. It felt as though the characters didn’t fully have motivations for why they were fighting and that all development stopped for a little bit. It got a lot better near the end and I loved the third act break up and reunion it’s just the middle that tripped me up. 

I received an arc through netgalley.

Vedha N

enemies to lovers with a revenge plot against an ex-boyfriend while also having boss-employee?? SIGN ME UP. this book was everything i want in a book and MORE. i loved this book and i felt like i was going through all the emotions when reading it. love. love. love.

Avery Baumel

I’m such a sucker for rom coms. Loved this one too

Anyway another disclaimer that I’m backlogging the past several months’ worth of books and so these reviews are short and supremely unhelpful for a reason

Sophia Lazari

3.5⭐️
super cute and easy read romance. I loved Mia, Dani and Iris's friendship, it was so wholesome. the only thing is that sometimes it was a little too cheesy for my liking and made me cringe. But if you are looking for a easy, fast paced romance, you should try this out.

kelby

3.5 stars

cute cartoon rom coms are the only thing that can hold my attention rn and i refuse to apologize for it lol 

this one was adorable. the banter between the two main characters made it so easy to read i was hooked from page 2

Deborah Kerr

Quick and relatively cute but Dani was kind of boring.

Aubrey Erskine

Love at First Spite was quick, quirky and cute romance read that really questioned just how far is too far when it comes to revenge?

Dani has watched her mother be steamrolled by her farther her entire life, so when her fiancé starts to do the same thing and also cheats she’s long gone. The lot next door to the new house that he owns but she never wanted is open and with the help of her cousin and new landlady the ultimate revenge is enacted; The Spite House.

This book was so much fun to read. We get a bit of that office romance that I love and the side of revenge Dani was also dishing made for an interesting story. Wyatt being the big bad architect that people feared was hilarious compared to the big cinnamon roll he actually was. They definitely had chemistry from the start and the spice was on point. There was a bit of the miscommunication, but considering they start as a fling with a deadline and are navigating hiding and office romance it was believable. Like Dani I was frustrated with Wyatt at times, but in the end he won me over.

My favorite part of the book wasn’t actually the romance though (although it was good and you should pick up this book just for that!) but instead was the camaraderie between Dani, her cousin Mia and her landlady Iris. They were the best supporting characters and Iris truly made every scene she was in and gave the best advice. We love women supporting women and we got a huge helping of that in this book.

I do think the revenge plot was fun but it did get a tad over the top at times. I wanted Dani to focus more on Wyatt and her life more than the house and the silly shenanigans that went with it. I understand why it was drawn out but I truly wanted more Wyatt and Dani spice scenes. It’s something I’m easily able to get over though. This was a unique romance plot and as someone who is currently having a house built it was fun to see the process in the book; It added a little something extra for me. I’ll definitely be recommending this book to my fellow romance lovers.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Love at First Spite is an office romantic comedy with a revenge plot, stolen glances and a sizzling tension between an arrogant architecture and an interior designer.

Do I want this? To take on a construction project next to Sam’s house? To mess with his peace, with his view, his smooth sailing into the future? Do I want to build a house just to spite him? A spite house? Hell yes!

In Love at First Spite, we have Danielle, who caught her fiancee cheating on her, and because of it, she decides to buy the lot right next to her ex’s house to build a spite house. Seeing as she’s an interior designer, she has that part down. Now she needs an architect and the one willing to do it is Wyatt, a co-worker who’s always serious and no one really wants to work with.

“He’s kind of like […] like a handsome ogre who is forced to work with the local villagers but ends up scaring them half to death. He’s Shrek, basically. Good luck with that one.”

Dani’s plot for revenge was a recipe for disaster and a complete roller-coaster. Did I have fun reading it all? I absolutely did. The woman is definitely dedicated to her spite house. While I enjoyed her vendetta against her ex, I do think she went way above and beyond to follow through with it. I did love how she realized that continuing with the spite house meant more time spent with Wyatt.

The friendship that blossomed between Wyatt and Dani was so sweet and kind. Wyatt isn’t afraid to admit that he wants Dani, and I love him for it. This man also made me blush sometimes and just grin like a mad woman. Their friendship quickly turned into friends with benefits, but let me tell you, they were only fooling themselves, because you could just tell that even that early on, there was a form of love and care for each other.

He lifts his glass. “To your build.” “To a productive collaboration,” I say. “With…benefits?” Wyatt stills, surveying me above the rim of his glass. A Cheshire grin blooms behind it.

The author introduced a disease that isn’t talked about often, which is Ménière. As someone with a grandma who gets vertigo episodes, my heart went out to Wyatt. It’s the reason for why he doesn’t date; he doesn’t want to limit or be a disturbance. I just wanted to jump into the book and hug the heck out of him, especially because I believe this is where we got the most vulnerable moments out of him for the first time, and it was beautiful to see how open he was about it with Dani.

He’s a fascinating mix of work and play, and I don’t know where one ends and the other begins. But I like it. It helps me meld the two versions of him together into someone real. Gentle and firm. Safe and dangerous.

I cannot leave some side-characters behind, specifically Mia, Dani’s cousin. Mia is such a funny and outspoken character, who’s also very supportive of Dani and all her shenanigans, no matter how crazy they sound. There’s also Iris, Dani’s land-lord, who quickly forms a friendship with Mia and Dani. Both Iris and Mia help Dani embark on her revenge vendetta, and if that doesn’t scream friendship goals, I don’t know what does.

“To schlongs, the only good guy parts.”

I really enjoyed this story a lot! It was funny, romantic, sweet, and vulnerable.

Heather Harrington

I thought the premise of this sounded hilarious, but I didn't love it as much as I was hoping to. It was a fun ride, and I liked the girl gang vibe Dani had with her cousin Mia and her landlady Iris, but I think Dani's revenge plot was a little too extreme. Dani is so laser-focused on annoying her ex and there's so much time placed on this house, only for it to wrap up in such an underwhelming way. I did like seeing the relationship between her and Wyatt grow, and thought they were cute together, but there was never any part that had me particularly rooting for them. Everything about this, from the plot to the characters, just felt a bit average. If you're into workplace romances and are looking for a quick read, then I still think this would be a good one to pick up. I just don't think it's going to be that memorable for me.

syd! &
Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins

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Love at First Spite by Anna E. Collins