I’m not usually a rom com reader, but this one looked good and I’m trying to broaden my horizons and read new to me authors and tropes I don’t usually read. This one was a fun read, I must admit. Anyone who has lived in an HOA and dealt with the association will appreciate this!

I’m not a big fan of enemies to lovers’ stories but I truly enjoyed this one, and I was gearing up for what I felt was going to be a third act breakup, but it didn’t materialize in the way I thought it was going to so, all is good.

I really enjoyed the characters, and the friendships they had. Their childhood friendship that soured, to reconnecting, first as enemies vying for the same position in the association, to lovers. The way the author presented it worked so well, in my opinion.

I’m off to find other books by this author!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced review copy of this title in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This book was a MASTERPIECE! the flow of the story and the chemistry between Nate and Collin’s! AMAZING! Their banter was literally everything to me! I am officially obsessed and want more between them! The fact that they were besties to enemies to lovers is the best thing ever! They ran into each other after so long, and just started right up with the antics between each other only to get under each others skin! FIVE STARS AND ABOVE for this one. Comedy ✅ MMC who fell first with MFC ✅ Spice ✅ Banter between two people who apparently hate each other but are really in love with each other ✅
The book is amazing and I hope everyone gets a chance to read this one 😍 Her parents and best friends were also my favorites I really hope this gets turns into a series, because I am not ready to say goodbye to this small town crowd right here 🩷

I enjoyed reading this book! It was an easy read and I liked the characters and the storyline. It's a good romcom and I also liked the cartoon cover!

Next-Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin is a fun, contemporary romantic comedy that plays with the classic enemies-to-lovers trope, and it does so with plenty of humor and charm. The story revolves around Collins Carter, who, after fleeing her small town for L.A. to chase her dreams, finds herself back at her parents' house and unemployed. The last person she expected—or wanted—to run into was Nathaniel Adams, her old high school nemesis.

Now, Nathaniel is a member of the Homeowners Association (H.O.A.) in Collins' parents' neighborhood, and he quickly becomes a thorn in her side, spouting off about every little rule. The old tension between them resurfaces, leading Collins to hatch a plan: she’ll run for his spot on the H.O.A. and beat him at his own game.

What I loved about Next-Door Nemesis is that it’s one of those books that’s just pure fun. The banter between Collins and Nathaniel was hilarious, and I found myself flipping pages just to see what ridiculous situation they would get into next—forget about the romance! Of course, as expected, the romance eventually blooms, and I was fully invested in their slow-burn relationship, all while enjoying the laughs along the way.

My only small gripe is that the scenario of running for a spot on the H.O.A. without being a homeowner felt a little odd, but honestly, I was willing to let that slide for the sake of the story’s entertainment value. It was a fun ride, and I ended up giving it 4 stars!

I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers of these characters. The school rivalry turned adult rivals turned neighbors added to the tension.

HOAs can be a nightmare, especially when they are run by your high school nemesis. When Collins is forced to move back into her parents house after her career crashes, she is faced with returning to her hometown, a place she swore she'd never return. It only gets worse when she runs into her number one enemy from high school in a coffee shop, and unbearable when she learns her is the head of her parents' neighborhood HOA. To make the madness stop, she decides to run against him for president of the HOA. As most romantic comedies go, enemies cross lines to become lovers, and the fun is watching (or, reading) how it gets there.

I enjoyed this romance. It had comical aspects that allowed to have an extra layer of fun to help balance the tension.

Im not sure why but the 6 times I tried to read this is just wasn't for me. I love the writing style. The story didn't grab me but also I was mid meds adjustment so expresso depressed era

This was an absolute delight to read! It was funny, whitty, passionate and the FMC is so much fun and extra and I loved it!!

I do really wish she had made him grovel more to make up for him him being an idiot and cutting off their friendship.

I enjoyed how the third act break up was done in this book, usually it’s the predictable non communication drama but this way was much more mature and realistic feeling to me.


Overall a very fun read and would highly recommend it to anyone!

NGL I need to be in the mood for a rom-com especially when it’s enemies to lovers / rivals to lovers. And let me tell you today was that day, and Alexa brought so much fun to this story. I’ll definitely be picking up another in the near future.

I almost DNF the book because I could not get into it in the beginning. It was hard for me to read at first but I ended up pushing through and I’m glad I did! I ended up really liking this book. This was my first Alexa Martin book and I will definitely be reading more. I love the lightheartedness and humor, it is definitely a rom-com type of book. I would have loved a dual POV to see more from Nate.

This was so cute!
The banter was top notch. The snark was brilliant. And of course there was a little bit of necessary spice built in.
Collins was such a likeable and relatable character - from her hatred of hugs to her love of quality revenge. It was an engaging and fun read.

Really enjoyed this book, I love the enemy childhood friends who are neighbors concept! Plus it’s so rare we get a guy who’s solid, wears khakis and runs the HOA- loved that! So many laughs in this book, truly enjoyed it:)

Thank you so much to Alexa Martin, Berkley, and Net Galley for this arc!

This was my first Alexa Martin read and I really loved it! There were a few things I would change but overall, it was a fun time and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, romantic comedy!

Thank you Netgalley, Berkley, and PRH Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f contemporary romance
-estranged childhood best friends to lovers
-frenemies to lovers
-shenanigans

This was so much fun on audio. Alexa Martin is such a trusted author for me. An excellent plot line, a fun dynamic and a mix of friends and family. She paints such a great world and entirely too relatable as an adult dealing with HOA drama.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙏𝙬𝙤 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.

📍 Read if you like:
• Rivals to Lovers
• Childhood Best Friends
• Witty Banter
• Funny Romcoms
• Single POV

This was such a fun and sweet little rom-com, which I found myself flying through. It’s been sitting on my NetGalley TBR for months now… so obviously I decided it was time to pick it up.

Collins and Nate were such incredible characters to follow with their witty banter. I loved how they were childhood best friends turned to rivals-to-lovers. While I did think their romance grew too quickly for my liking, it was still fun following the two.

I would’ve loved to get a POV from Nate and not just Collins, I found the HOA aspect to be so interesting. The sexual tension was also phenomenal.

This wasn’t a very serious romcom, I just had a fun time reading it and enjoyed it. It was fun and funny, with such a unique concept.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
This was a great enemies to lovers.

🖤slow burn
🖤friends to enemies to lovers
🖤rom-com

This was my first read by Alexa Martin, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! This was a perfectly executed rom-com that kept me hooked from the first page to the last.

One of the standout features of this book is its humor. I found myself laughing out loud throughout the story. Alexa’s writing style is engaging and vibrant, making it easy to get lost in the world she creates.

The characters are amazing! Collins, with her sassy and stubborn personality. She’s a perfect match for Nate, who is rough around the edges but undeniably charming. Their dynamic is electric & their banter is top-notch.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read & can’t wait to read more books by Alexa!

I’m a sucker for childhood (ex)friends to lovers 😊 I thoroughly enjoyed Collin & Nate trying to one up each other 😂 it was really enjoyable to see their relationship rekindle after the years they’ve spent not being friends. Overall, it was fun and cute read! Definitely recommend reading if you enjoy the following:

tropes:
★ Arch-nemesis
★ Writer FMC
★ Small town
★ He fell first
★ Interracial couple

4.5 Stars

Next-Door Nemesis is entertaining, laugh-out-loud, and heartwarming rival romance that follows Collins who has to return to her home in suburban Ohio and live in her childhood bedroom after her drunken video gets viral that kicks her out of her career and L.A. What she didn’t expect is, coming face-to-face with her high school rival, Nate, who happens to be her neighbor now. Petty arguments and old grudges lead her to stand for the next Home Owners Association (HOA) president against Nate making her face unresolved feelings and issues they both have.

Writing is fabulous. The story is told from Collins’ perspective. Usually I loved dual perspective in romance but here single perspective worked so well. I loved Collins‘ voice and rooted for her from the beginning. It’s easy to feel her pain of betrayal and her love for her family. She is outspoken, bold, and competitive but inside she is filled with self-doubt and insecurity. It hurt to read how her childhood shyness, inability to make friends, and now the betrayal affected her so strongly. Her anxiety is well represented. My heart warmed when she made friends in her hometown and her perspective on her hometown and neighborhood changed the more she spent and worked on her HOA campaign.

I didn’t like Nate from the beginning. That may be because of Collins’ voice and she gives pretty good reasons to not like him but at the same time, I also felt he was being unfair and unreasonable with his notice that sure was a personal and petty attack on Collins that made her retaliate with running for presidentship against him. It was clear from the beginning all the resolved issues that rooted animosity between them were because of him and that made me curious to know why he was being a jerk. When he revealed the reasons, I felt for him but at the same time I think he shouldn’t be a jerk and unreasonable after all these years when Collins came back to town. In fact, he should have tried to make it right and apologize in first place.

One thing I love about him is his love for Collin’s family. He adored her parents and looking at his abandonment issue and not-so-great family, it was amazing how he found family in them. The secondary characters are perfect. I loved every single one of them, especially Collins’ parents and her friends. The family and community love is well balanced with romance.

The only thing I didn’t like was, Collins feeling sorry and apologizing for something that wasn’t her fault as it was her who tried to keep contact when things started to go downhill in high school.

This makes amazing friends-enemies-lovers romance which is even better than just enemies to lovers. I absolutely enjoyed the banter, the pranks they pulled, and the chemistry. It was hot and sexy and I loved how they turned from pulling each other down to getting back to being friends, sharing their hurts and embarrassing moments, resurfacing their old feelings, and falling in love once again.

Climax was different than I expected in many ways. I loved how they handled the sudden turn maturely. I loved how things turned in Collins’ favor in best possible way and how her dream changed at the end. That end gesture was cute.

Overall, Next-Door Nemesis is an entertaining, fun, and addictive rivals-to-lovers romcom with perfect suburban summer vibe.