AT FIRST SPITE - Olivia Dade

4.5 stars

Emotional, the definition of "adorkable," and that classic Dade blend of gripping-yet-cozy concepts. At First Spite is a must-read!

When Athena Greydon's fiancé ends their engagement, she has no choice but to move into the Spite House she recklessly bought him as a wedding gift. This is a problem, for several reasons: The house, originally built as a brick middle finger to the neighbors, is only ten feet wide. Her ex's home is attached to hers. And Dr. Matthew Vine the Freaking Third (aka the uptight, judgmental jerk who convinced his younger brother to leave her) is living on the other side, only a four-foot alley away.

Oh yeah, things are about to get AWKWARD. (And it's already an awkward setup.)

Athena is now penniless, jobless, and friendless in a town holding both her ex-fiancé and his grumpy older brother. And the older brother is constantly running into her in the wild—making an already bad situation that much worse.

Both Athena and Matthew (that older brother) are in for a wild time of coincidences, conversational traps, and hilarious meet-cutes from hell.

So in way, can you really blame them when things start to cross that line from hate to something else...

Man, I am such a fan of Olivia Dade. This latest novel was an absolute joy to read and if you haven't read anything from her before, At First Spite is a great place to start. Great setting and great grumpy/sunshine hook with some subversions to the tropes that I was NOT expecting.

Athena and Matthew's journey toward love and acceptance gripped me for the entire reading experience. In fact, I read this in literally one evening—I couldn't stop!

Come for the one-of-a-kind housing setup hook, stay for the seriously deep emotional journeys these characters go through in their path to love.

However, a word of caution: there are some topics in this novel that I would consider firm triggers for certain readers. Please check out the warnings list at the beginning of the novel before committing to the read.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.