This is full of humour and tension but some deeply moving moments as Athena deals with her depression and feelings of inferiority, and Matthew’s grief, and the way they support and comfort each other. All of this is written with such care and the care-taking is impeccable. I loved the growth we see from them both by the end too and just throughly enjoyed seeing these two fall in love with each other.
They have such great chemistry and there is humour threaded through these moments as Athena works to “torment” Matthew while denying her feelings for him.
I can't wait for what's next and more of these characters.

This was my first book by Olivia Dade and it was... a lot! I feel bad only giving it two stars but there was so much going on and a whole lot of cringe. I want to preface this, by saying there is a lot of love for this book, so it obviously just wasn't a good fit for me, and that I need to stop listening to influencers, but that I think many people will find this charming?

The things I liked:
📚The cover! It's gorgeous and drew me right in.
📚The book love, so many characters were book lovers!
📚The body confident plus sized female character, the book didn't talk about her weight at all except in a positive light.
📚 Some hot sex scenes🔥
📚Great mental health representation of depression.
📚 The side characters
📚Older main characters
📚Family

That being said, I had a whole lot of issues with it
♦️It was long and had so much going on, so many themes and issues.
♦️The writing style..the way the characters spoke and thought.
♦️The overload of pop culture references, and the love interests cluelessness about all of them.
♦️Professor Google. I mean I half smiled the first time they called it that, but then it irritated me!
♦️The main characters were both quite unlikeable and immature.
♦️Matthew..again, other reviewers just love him and call him a sweet, thoughtful cinnamon roll, which he was most of the time ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT HE PERSUADED HIS BROTHER THAT ATHENA WASN'T WIFE MATERIAL AND THEN TOOK HER FOR HIMSELF and how quickly that happened...
He wasn't sexy, he was stuffy, uptight, boring and came across as naive. He had weird anxieties and had never heard of Where's Wally/Waldo,(despite being a pediatrician) Freddy Krueger or any memes just to name a few. It was like he was from another era.
He was (view spoiler)

The bath tub scene-I think I was supposed to find this romantic but it made me feel icky. It was so sweet, until it wasn't.
♦️Athena's whiny and entitled worries came across as a bit poor little rich girl except she was in her late thirties.
♦️The monster erotica. Again everyone seems to find this hilarious, but I just found it cringe and weird.

I do admit, that Matthew and Athena were a much better fit than Johnny and Athena, but I just couldn't get past her flirting with her fiancés brother at her engagement party, the brother persuading her fiancé to ditch her, and then them running off into the sunset together.

So this book definitely wasn't for me, but I'm sure I'll get some hate for this opinion, others seem to love it! Give it a go and see which side you stand on, but I will most probably be an outlier here, judging by other early reviews

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Books for allowing me to read this book 🩷

Okay first things first this book was so cute. The MMC is amazing and the amount of time and effort he spent looking after the FMC after everything went wrong in her life was just pure happiness. Yes he may have caused her fiance to break up with her, who also happens to be his brother, but we overlook that part!

I did laugh at some bits such as the spicy audiobook being played rather loudly and the MMC not knowing what to, I just feel like it adds to his personality.

This was honestly exactly what I needed.
Athena our FMC was so relatable and her struggles with her mental health were really well done.
Dr Matthew Vine the Third has a new number one fan in me, I found him so loveable and endearing.
If you are after a sweet enemies to lovers rom com that will have you laughing one minute and pulling at your heart strings the next with references to monster smut and mean girls then you will love this.
My only minor criticism was that I often found the POV switches to be a bit jarring and it would take me a minute to realise the POV had changed.
This was the first book of Olivia’s I’ve read and I’m excited to read more of her books soon!

This was a wonderful read! A realistic look at contemporary romance, mental health and body diversity. Whilst the first third was a bit slow, the rest of the story really had me gripped. I enjoyed the grumpy/sunshine dynamic, the banter and spice! Matthew and Athena really have to work for their HEA, and despite the frustrating third act breakup and inevitable grand gesture, it's so satisfying when they get there.

I always appreciate Olivia Dade's inclusion of curvy characters and for this reason, amongst others, I will always read what she writes! I definitely recommend this one!

I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved watching Athena’s journey and seeing her grow. The second half had spice but not too much so it didn’t take away from the story. Though it’s not all hearts and flowers, it has that but it also addresses some very serious subjects but in a really refreshing way. I think Olivia delivers this well and I can’t wait for her next book to come out

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy on this arc in exchange for an honest review

Parts of this book I absolutely loved and matthew was definitely one of my favourite characters. Full of romance & spice.

The only off putting thing for me was the overuse of the monster audiobooks - i skipped through these parts as they were so cringey

📖🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦📖

📖𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖: At First Spite
✍🏼️𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣: Olivia Dade

(Thank you NetGalley, Publisher, and Olivia Dade for this ARC in exchange for an honest review)

Release date: February, 20th


Tropes:
👩Curvy FMC
🏥Mental Health Rep
👨🏻Her Ex's Brother
😡Enemies to Lovers
💙Forced Proximity

📖 When Athena's engagement ends, she's stuck in the Spite House she bought for her ex as a wedding gift. It's narrow, attached to her ex's, and her nemesis: Dr. Matthew Vine the Third, who lives next door and is her ex's brother. Determined to make the best of it, she decides on petty revenge—like blasting erotic audiobooks. But as she spends time with Matthew, she realizes he's not as bad as she thought. And maybe, just maybe, he's hot. Uh-oh.

✨This one was the first book I've read of Olivia and it was kind of a deception because despite the blurb being so good and had a lot of potential, the execution was poor. Personally, I don't enjoy when after 15 minutes of conversation and one more interaction the MMC is obsessed with her. Then, they're 37 years old adults and she acts like 13 with her revenge. And the worst of all, the kiss moment happened in a moment of vulnerability for her which I didn't enjoy or appreciate. After 50% of the book, I decided to DNF because I was struggling to read after all I'd said before.

🌸 Curious for more details? Join me on Goodreads and Instagram (lovelace.books) to spill all the tea! ☕📖

4🌟
I really enjoyed this book! As it says in the title, it's most definitely enemies to lovers so if you like that trope then this book is ideal for that.

Matthew is painted as one of the most endearing, caring and selfless men ever and he had me falling for him as well (sorry to my bf). It didn't matter what he'd done before because you could see why he had done it and everything else throughout the rest of the book illustrated just how lovely he was and how his childhood had impacted the man he was today.

Meanwhile, Athena is moving to a brand new town and is sandwiched by 2 people she really does not want to see. However, feeling like a complete failure, she can't pull out so she tries to make the best of a bad situation and annoy them as much as she can to cause problems in their life... until everything changes that is.

A story about believing in yourself, the need for friendship but also how important talking to others and things like therapy can be to support when you need it.

Dade delivers once again in this small-town romance where both characters aren't sure what they're looking for until they find each other. Late-30s MCs, plus-size rep and a whole bundle of heavy emotional topics make this book a little more weighty to wade through than your average romance, but the 400 pages flew by as I swam through the turbulent waters of Matthew and Athena's relationship.

The premise is a little more than can be fit into a neat elevator pitch, and as the rest of the book doesn't follow the usual trope formulas this is perhaps unsurprising. Athena is engaged to Johnny. His brother Matthew objects to the match - he thinks Athena is a spoilt, irresponsible rich girl with a flighty job history and no career direction who wants to mooch off her husband-to-be. Eventually he talks Johnny into breaking the engagement, but neither brother realises Athena bought the local Spite House as a joke wedding gift for her ex. Having nowhere else to go, she moves into the 10-ft wide house sandwiched between the two brothers - Matthew in the family home on one side and Johnny in his inherited Grandmother's house on the other. Harlot's Bay welcomes her but it is Matthew whose life is turned upside down when he realises that there is more to Athena than he thought but she still would have been a terrible match for his brother... because she's perfect for him.

I loved how Dade brought the community of the small town to life with a network of interesting and funny friends and co-workers. They brought the story some depth, but it is really the past traumas and emotional turmoil that Athena and Matthew are both navigating and how these are treated that makes this an above-average romance. Check the content warnings at the start of the book if you are reading, but know that the characters are dealing with acute grief, feelings of inadequacy and failure; and depression. I cried multiple times, if that is any indication. My heart did not emerge unscathed, it was squeezed and crushed throughout. The way these two care for each other!!

There were a few moments of cringe - for me, the frequent use of the monster romance audiobooks as a key plot device was a bit off and I didn't enjoy the grovel at the end because of this, but can overlook this because the rest of the book is so wonderful. The man climbs through a window across a three-story drop to check on her well-being, for goodness' sake.

And of course, there's the spice. He's a virgin (possible spoiler but it comes out at the VERY LAST POSSIBLE SECOND) but it's not a huge deal, and the sexy times scenes are explicit, explosive and satisfying.

I'm now a solid fan of anything Dade writes and very much looking forward to the next in this series about Karl the Grumpy Baker.

This gorgeous novel is tender and sad, swoony and yearny and piney - it's such a wonderful wonderful book💖 The main characters are simply good people doing their best to be their best selves. I adored them both and I read and read and read to get to their happily ever after. Matthew is a paediatrician, lonely, overworked and overwhelmed by his sense of responsibility for his younger brother. Athena is his brother's ex-, she's funny and kind and clever, but rudderless. Matthew struggles to do everything and please everyone in a way that's painful to read. He falls fast, and desperately hard for Athena.

It’s the tiny details building on one another that make this book so very very special. You can see how Matthew's anxiety manifests, same with Athena's depression and it’s all done with such tenderness and love. I ached for them both. Olivia fits such a lot in - there’s grief, a mental health rep (that’s ultimately optimistic), sex and body positivity, and caretaking. It's only a little bit steamy, but wow, the steam is everything! The author has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and for the absurd, and the events around the bookclub and Halloween are hilarious. Friends and residents of Harlot's Cove add light and so much humour to this heartbreaking and heartwarming story. I haven’t cried reading in so long.

And... there's more to enjoy - the architecture in Harlots Bay is vividly written - the Spite House is superb and the little terrace houses so close together, where they can chat to their neighbours out their windows, the bookshop, thunderstorms, revenge plots...

If you love Ashley Poston and Sarah Hogle, and especially Georgie, All Along but Kate Clayborn, this is a must-read!

Looking forward to more visits to Harlots Cove and more from Olivia Dade.

Thank you NetGalley, Olivia Dade and Avon Books for the ARC.

I’m a fan of Olivia Dade so I had a feeling I would enjoy this one and I did! The premise is brilliant- clever and timeless (in fact I kept thinking it felt almost like a historical fic at the beginning) - Athena falls in love with one brother who turns out to be charming but feckless and when their engagement ends she is left living in a small town in between her ex and his brooding, disapproving older brother. Serious Austen vibes!

While the romance is great, what really stood out for me was the setting, side characters, and delicate and thoughtful portrayal of depression. Come for the grumpy/sunshine rom com but stay for the smutty monster romance reading book group, the charming small town setting and the murder doll jokes. I can’t wait to read more in this series.

3.75 ⭐️

I finished At First Spite about a week ago and I’ve been sitting on posting my review as I couldn’t decide how I felt about it.

After Athena’s fiancé brakes off their engagement she finds herself living in between him and his brother, Matthew, who might have had something to do with the end of their relationship. Athena decides if she has to live a matter of feet away from Matthew she’s going to torment him, just a little bit. But the more time they spend together makes Athena question if she really does hate Matthew as much as she thought.

I found Athena extremely relatable, the things she was struggling with and how she dealt with them felt very real. Matthew had lived most of his life for his brother and had pretty much made himself believe he wasn’t allowed to be happy.

The way Athena and Matthew cared for each other was so lovely and I really enjoyed all the little things they did for each other to show how much they loved each other.

Overall I did enjoy this book but felt there were a few moments the writing took me out of the story due to being overly descriptive, I also felt like Matthew became a bit too sappy for me towards the end. Both of these are personal preferences though.

Check the trigger warners if you have any as the book does deal with a few difficult subjects.

Another wow from Dade - Athena was such a relatable character and I adored every second of her. Stuck living next door to the man who persuaded her fiancee to not get married would suck anytime, but even more so when it's his brother. I adored this one and I cannot wait for my next.

At First Spite is an excellent contemporary romance, earning a solid five stars from me. This book not only hooks you in with its unique premise but keeps you engaged with its fun storytelling and dynamic characters. The Spite House concept, a tiny ten-foot-wide home that becomes a symbol of Athena's independence, is not only original but completely captivating. I couldn't help but get caught up in the idea of living in such a quirky and special space, imagining the potential for turning a spiteful purchase into a place of self-discovery and new beginnings.

Olivia Dade's writing is full of detailed descriptions that bring the story to life vividly. From the quirky architecture of the Spite House to the emotional rollercoaster rides of the characters, the story is conveyed with care and detail. The settings and scenes are so vividly portrayed that it feels like you're a nosy neighbour of the Spite House, experiencing the tension and chemistry between Athena and Matthew.

The romance between Athena and Matthew is both intricate and charming. Their journey from adversaries to partners is filled with misunderstandings, personal growth, and witty banter. Dade expertly navigates their relationship, ensuring that their love story feels genuine and well-earned. The steamy scenes throughout the book add just the right amount of passion, making their connection even more exciting. These moments are fun, spicy, and meaningful, adding depth to Athena and Matthew's bond and showcasing their emotional and physical chemistry.

What sets Olivia's writing apart is its ability to blend humour with heartfelt moments, creating a story that is both entertaining and emotionally impactful. The exploration of serious themes like grief and depression is handled with care, adding layers to the characters and their journey together.

Overall, At First Spite is Olivia Dade's finest work yet, a perfect mix of fun, heart, and passion. It's a story that hits home, reminding us of the power of second chances and the unexpected paths to love. This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a romance that is as thoughtful as it is exciting.

The cover is perfect, the art style is bang on for the vibe of this story and even includes the strawberry dress.

I received an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

I just love Olivia Dade’s books so much and At First Spite is no exception. The setting is glorious. The characters are wonderful, both the fully-rounded MCs and the supporting cast.

At First Spite is sexy and sensitive, heartbreaking and hilarious. Also: murder dolls. I can’t wait to read more in this series.

Thank you, NetGalley & Little Brown Book Group, for letting me read this as an ARC.

This was everything I liked in my contemporary romance reads. The plot was great, good characters, and a sprinkle of decent spice.

Athena has to live in a house she bought as a surprise wedding gift for her now ex fiance as his brother convinced him to call off the wedding a month before and now not only has she uprooted her whole like but said brother is her next door neighbour with only a small ally separating them.

I loved Matthews stuck in his ways, ocd, grumpy older doctor vs. Athena sunshine, fun, love to learn Outlook. They make a great match and I love ready about 2 people nearer my age.

wow this book was so wonderful and had me all in my feels all throughout!!

i haven’t read a slow burn like this in a while but it was just sooo good! the build up and tension between matthew and athena was just MWAH chef’s kiss 😘

these two were such big nerds and i absolutely loved every second of it. there were so many ridiculously funny lines in this book that i continued to enjoy all throughout. some cringier than others but nothing you can’t look past and still enjoy every second of the romance and slow burn. i loved matthew’s compulsive need to just constantly take care of athena which made the book all the more sweet to read and love. even with the heavier topics involved in this book such as depression, which was handled amazingly, this book didn’t fail to bring delight and humour as you read it. i found athena’s character very relatable and charming. and don’t you just love it when two characters who both deeerve so much better, come together and find exactly what they need in each other 🥺 gosh my heart!!!

a lovely intro to olivia dade’s writing and i will definitely be reading anything written by her that i can get my hands on

thank you to the publishers and net galley for this arc in exchange for an honest review 💖

First of all I love the illustration of the cover. This was my first ever book by Olivia Dade and it was an average experience for me. It is a ex fiancé’s brother romance and I thought I would really enjoy, but I was expecting a little bit more from it. However, this will not be my last read by Olivia as Spoiler Alert is on my tbr.

I've been a fan of Olivia Dade's previous books so was very excited to get my hands on this one, and I loved it! I really enjoyed the concept, the characters and the audiobook scene had me laughing out loud! Such a great read, would highly recommend it!