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…

Seriously, who doesn't love it when a cheater gets his just desserts and the heroine meets her true love? A quick, fast-paced enemies to lovers book. It's funny, sweet and sassy at the same time. The side characters were interesting. Love the landlady and the cousin. :) They make the book from great to wonderful. The chemistry between the characters were sizzling too. Love this fun romance.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I have to say while I despite the friends to lovers trope I love the whole enemies to lovers trope and that's what at got with Love at first spite. I couldn't put it down. I loved both the hero and the heroine from the beginning that doesn't happen often for me with rom coms.

How adorable!
A workplace romance with heavy grump/sunshine vibes and a very unique revenge plot!
The girl gang vibes were immaculate, and I really enjoyed the side characters, maybe even more than I was supposed to, and yes, that includes a certain pair of pups.
This didn’t drag at all, and I loved the little dash of unrequited that we got to experience.
A solid read.

I loved this book and the slow burn (but not too slow!) that was between Dani and Wyatt. I thoroughly enjoy when authors can give you a full book with great secondary characters (Dani's cousin and her landlord were a great support system) but still keep the romance central. These two made decisions that felt real. It is hard to find books that are this good and this author has definitely been added to my must reads for any future releases!

I really liked the friendships Dani had with her cousin and her landlady Iris. The dogs were super cute too!! However, there were things that fell a little flat for me. There was a too much going on at some points. Major miscommunication happening and it was a little frustrating to me. Overall, this book was entertaining and fast read.

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.

This books was a fun quick read for me! I enjoyed it, though I wish we got a little more depth from the characters! It was an interesting storyline though and something a little different! It fell a little flat for me in some places, but overall, I enjoyed the book!

Dani's shocked to discover her fiance has cheated on her with their real estate agent and she's determined to get revenge. Implausible as it might seem (especially given the real estate market) she buys the empty lot next store to his house, puts up a fence, and builds a spite house meant to block his view of the lake. Oh, and to be rented out as an Air B&B. She persuades Wyatt, an elusive (but not for long) architect at the firm where she works as an interior designer, to draw up the plans after her cousin Mia and her new landlady Iris help her by throwing in the money she needs. This is a rom-com so while the details of the house are interesting, it's really about the relationship that grows between Wyatt and Dani. He's the more interesting character in some ways, in part because he is coping with Ménière's disease. You know how things are going to go with these two- that there are going to be ups and downs- but the details of those issues are unique. Mia and Iris (and her dogs) are terrific. There are some plot holes (especially at the end) but ignore those and it's a fun read with steam. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. And fans of garden gnomes.....

This story revolves around a completely irrational attempt at revenge ... but it was such a fun time!

Interior designer Dani is seeking vengeance on her ex-fiancé after discovering him cheating with their realtor. Deciding to purchase their neighbouring lot to build a home guaranteed to mess with his peace—The Spite House—she's forced to accept help from architect Wyatt Montego, her arrogant coworker.

While this does have an enemies-to-lovers vibe initially, it transitions beyond that quite quickly. And I don't say that as a fault because I absolutely loved the chemistry between Dani and Wyatt. Their glances across the conference table and inability to resist each other during office hours created the best sizzling tension. The building and design process was really fun, too!

Quickly discovering a more vulernable side to Wyatt, I loved the softness underneath his hot-and-cold behaviour towards Dani. With funny shenanigans, great side characters, and representation for Ménière's disease, this was a really great debut.

Title: Love at First Spite
Author: Anna E. Collins
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5

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…

This was a breezy, fun read. I liked Wyatt way more than I liked Dani. She was way too focused on revenge and being petty and spiteful for me to truly like her—and she was very oblivious to all her faults and how hurtful she was to those around her. I’ve never cared for people who try to justify their own bad behavior.

Wyatt was a great character, though, and his struggles with his health issues made him very relatable. I enjoyed the secondary characters, too, and found the setting to add charm to the story (loved the gnomes and the dogs!). This was a quick, fun read.

Anna E. Collins is from the Seattle area. Love at First Spite is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade Publishing/Graydon House in exchange for an honest review.)

I really enjoyed the premise of this, and there were a lot of things that I really liked! It's set in Seattle, which is always fun. I appreciated the disability rep with the hero. I liked the scrappy friend group and the involvement of her elderly roommate in the revenge plot. I enjoyed that spite houses are a real thing that inspired the book. And if it hadn't kind of consumed the whole plot, I'm all about revenge on shitty dudes.

Unfortunately, though, overall this one fell flat for me and put me in a bit of a reading slump. I think it's incredibly difficult to pull off a single POV romance in most cases. There were several moments that felt a little bit like they were left hanging without a resolution, like when Dani is supposed to meet her cousin outside to go home from a work party but then she ends up needing to drive Wyatt home because he's having a vertigo flare and she doesn't communicate to her cousin in any way that's what's happening? I found it hard to relate to how casually and cavalierly Dani accepted money- essentially life savings- from her cousin and her brand new roommate in order to purchase a piece of property for spite. Even though the end concept for the property was good, thinking about prices in Seattle? Yikes. Ultimately, though, I just didn't believe the connection between Wyatt and Dani. The thing that was the most frustrating to me was how childish and petty the communication between Wyatt and Dani was. It wasn't even about miscommunication, which is a big trope in romance and one of my less favourites. It was just passive aggressive and shitty, and I felt zero respect, trust, honesty, or vulnerability between them. I know it will work for some readers, but the combination of tropes and the singular POV made it a less enjoyable read for me.

This book had the hopes of being a cute and fun book, but it just didn't work for me. I'm not sure if it was the main characters or the setting maybe, but it really was just an ok read. I liked the premise, but the writing and characters weren't relatable, and nothing with the story really kept my attention well. Maybe it was my reading mood, maybe it was the book, but it just wasn't the book for me at this time. I wanted to like this book, but really didn't enjoy it. Cute cover art though. Would probably be a 2.5 stars for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Love at First Spite was a fun, fast read--exactly what I needed to break through a reading slump. Dani and Wyatt make a good pair, and Dani's decision to build the spite house to thwart her ex is an entertaining kick-off to this story of revenge, new love, and friendship

Something about hate to love books hurt my heart. In this fast paced story, dumped at the alter Dani decides to enact revenge on her ex by purchasing the lot next door to the home the were going to purchase before he cheated on her with their realtor. The property next door was one the ex had short-sightedly vetoed - and Dani jumps at the chance to buy it so she can build an ugly Air B&N facing his property, complete with a variety of garden gnomes, to piss him off.

She enlists the help of Wyatt, a hot architect at her firm known for being painfully direct and very proper. Paired on a project, she asks for his help with blueprints for her Spite House, and he agrees, pulling in favors and being generally kinder and more real than she'd expected. The chemistry and interest are palpable on the page and healing for Dani, but not enough to derail her petty revenge. The conflict, of course, is that Dani fails to disclose her motive until of course, Wyatt finds out and it may be late to salvage their burgeoning relationship.

The story is quick paced, the writing is good, and supporting characters, like Dani's elderly roommate, are real. I also appreciated that Wyatt had a health issue, similar to Talia Hibbert's male love interests. The opening of the book, with Dani playing paintball with her best friend in her wedding dress, was strong; her drinking and bitterness made this a less compelling read for me.

A review copy of #loveatfirstspite was provided by #netgalley.

It was exactly I didn’t know I needed to read help me get out of my reading slump!!
Well, well, it was indeed worth setting all nighter. I really enjoyed this book. I’m a big time fanatic of enemies to lovers and grumpy-sunshine trope , so I was satisfyingly quenched. I really love the MCs and their banter. Also, it’s quite well and beautifully written, I really love the pace and the word building. In a nutshell, it’s a 5 star read for me.

I was a bit disappointed in this read. I've never read this author's work before this book but when I read the blurb it sounded unique and interesting but once I got into it it felt a little juvenile. I didn't get the whole building a spite house either but that's probably just me. Maybe it's my age! Please don't let my opinions deter you from reading this book--I'm always grateful to NetGalley for introducing me to new authors. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

I want to thank the publishing team and the author for sending me this arc. This book was so heartwarming, funny, sad and loveable. I loved the characters in this book and the revenge is always sweet. The build up in this book going into the romance was so good. The plot was well executed and it held my attention the whole time. Definitely one of my favorite 2022 reads so far.

This was such a cute book! Revenge plots, secret longings, coworkers to friends to more (?), misunderstandings, and Great Danes - I think Anna E. Collins’ story literally has everything, including two main characters that are real and totally relatable. I was so sad when I finished the book because I could have kept reading!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I loved this debut novel. It is a rom com with just the right amount of romance. Dani’s obviously hung up on her ex, Sam, (she’s building a house next door just to get on his nerves, gets an annoying wind chime that he will have to listen to, and many other things.) It is the perfect revenge and I don’t think Dani realizes how much she is doing just to get back at her ex. Dani has help from her landlady and cousin and this threesome has a wonderfully supportive relationship. They help Dani get revenge while also focusing her on moving past Sam.

If you are looking for a quick, funny read, I highly recommend this book. It will bring back revenge memories and learning to move past a broken relationship. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

When Dani learns, that her fiancé had been cheating on her only weeks before her wedding, she seeks revenge. As an interior designer at an architectural firm, she decides to buy the lot next door to her now ex-fiancé with the hope to build a vacation rental and block his lake front view. She needs an architect to draw up the plans, but the only one available to help is her (appearing to be) gruff, high-and-mighty coworker, Wyatt. Problem is, the more time Dani spends getting to know Wyatt, the less worth it her plan for revenge feels.

I LOVED the premise. Yes, it felt a little juvenile to build a spite house, BUT I honestly can’t say I’d be acting all that rational if I’d been in Dani’s shoes. I adore her little girl gang, too. Between her cousin Mia and her new landlady, Iris, they had the perfect mix of traditional and found family vibes.

Even though there was so much that I liked about this book, it just didn’t do it for me. While I really liked Dani and Wyatt at first, once they got together it was too hot and cold for me. Maybe if we had Wyatt’s POV, I wouldn’t have been put off as much. There was also A LOT of miscommunication, which is one of my least favorite tropes.

I think that if I used half stars, I’d give this 3.5⭐️s, but I just couldn’t round up.