This book was so much fun! Next-Door Nemesis is a fresh and funny suburban romcom with amazing characters and an entertaining plot! I ate this one up and now want to read a lot more from the author!

I really enjoyed this sweet romantic book! This was such a great read on my way to the beach, and I highly recommend as a summery romance.

Thank you Berkley for my copy of Next Door Nemesis! All thoughts are my own.

I have been a huge fan of Alexa Martin’s, personally and as an author, for a long time. And i am so excited to add Next Door Nemesis to my favorites list! It's a second chance, friends to rivals to lovers Rom Com that explores what it means to return to where you grew up and what home means.

Synopsis:

“After years of hustling, Collins Carter has finally made it...back to her parents' house. Between tending to the compost with her newly retired dad and running into her high school nemesis at the only decent coffee shop in town, Collins realizes this subdivision from hell she swore she'd never return to is her rock bottom.Then the homeowner's association complaint arrived.Nathaniel Adams always dreamed of a nice, quiet life in his suburban hometown. Or at least that's what he thought until Collins moved back and sent his quaint, organized life into a tailspin. He thought Collins was infuriating ten years ago, but when she announces she's running against him for HOA president, all bets are off.From secret board meetings to vicious smear campaigns whispered over backyard fences, Collins and Nate sink to levels their sleepy suburb has never seen before. But as hate turns into lust, these two enemies are forced to reckon with the feelings they've ignored for years. If only there were bylaws for real life.” —StoryGraph

What I Liked:

The Message of Home—Something I’ve struggled with a lot is what is means to find home. For me, Home has always been my childhood house. But now that it’s gone, I think Home has a different definition and one I’m really grateful to have found. I related to Collins a lot and i’m so glad I read this book.

The Characters—Obsessed with them. Side characters too!

The Humor—Alexa knows how to make me laugh off the page and she really slayed the humor in this book.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

Relationship developed a * little * fast for my taste—I love you Alexa. I LOVE YOU. I just wanted like oneeee more discussion before they figured their ish out.

Character Authenticity: 5/5 Spice Rating: 2/5 Overall Rating: 5/5

Content Warnings:

N/A

Did not finish after 9%. For whatever reason, this book did not capture me at all. I was so bored and didn't care.

I hate getting advanced reader copies that I can't make myself read... but I also refuse to read them just because. Reading for fun and recreation shouldn't feel like a chore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an e-ARC of Next-Door Nemesis, scheduled for release this November.

With her reputation in tatters, Collins Carter flees Los Angeles for the comfort of her childhood home. No one -- no one relevant, at least -- knows her in Ohio so she'll have the privacy she needs to lick her wounds and figure out her next move. What she hadn't anticipated is the presence of Nathaniel Adams, high school best friend turned persona non grata, to pour salt on them while she does it. She's determined to ignore him but when he oversteps his authority as HOA VP to issue gardening violations to her parents because of her presence, all bets are off. To get back at him, she decides to hit him where it hurts and run for the President of the HOA vacancy. As the two battle it out for supremacy, sparks start to fly in more ways than one. Can they move on from past hurts and start anew?

I am a big fan of The Playbook Series so I was excited to snag a copy of the author's newest release. From the LOL moments as Carter and Nate battle it out to the message that not everyone is what they seem like on the surface, there's plenty to enjoy here. However, I thought the last quarter of the book was on the weaker side. I kept waiting for the conflict to materialize and when it finally did, it was resolved in a few pages. <spoiler>Second, the way it was resolved didn't strike me as very plausible for someone this early in her career. On a final note, it felt like the competition for HOA President was dropped completely.

As someone who has read everything Alexa Martin has written, she has really hit her stride with Next-Door Nemesis. I love a low-stakes conflict like an HOA board election. Throw in an enemies-to-lovers trope and a group of wonderful girlfriends and it's really great. I can't wait to read what she writes next.

Breezy, funny and charming. Loved the FMC’s campaign for the hearts and minds of her suburban paradise.

I adored this!!! I'm a huge lover of romcoms and this one did not disappoint me. The chemistry was fantastic and I loved the characters. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Alexa Martin ever, and for the most part, it really worked for me! Some rom-coms that are billed as such tend to neglect one half of that equation for the benefit of the other, but the antics that Nate and Collins got up to in competition with each other were pretty hilarious, especially when they both refused to back down initially from their escalating rivalry over who'd end up being elected HOA president. I also loved Collins' relationship with her parents, and the built-in history that revolved around her being high-school friends with Nate. The only thing that proved a bit of a sticking point was her initial judgment of Ashleigh, which I think was intended to be more humorous on the part of the author but almost came across as mean at times. That said, once Collins realized Ashleigh had a lot of endearing traits that could complement her own habits and the two became fast friends, their dynamic grew on me, especially when Collins' other BFF Ruby showed up for them to form a tight-knit trio. Overall, though, a fun second-chance, enemies-to-lovers story!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

such a cute romcom!!!!!!!

the plot of this book was just so fascinating and interesting to me and i loved how the HOA election was brought into the story to enhance the rivalry between collins and nate.

i loved these characters and it pained me hearing about nate's past. the conversion about why he stopped being collins friend hurt me so much.

i think this book did amazing job at shedding light on flaws of the entertainment industry, especially for writers, and how much of a power imbalance there is for women, and in collins case, being a woman of color.

overall this was a cute easy read and i’m in awe of alexa martin's ability to write such a fun romcom!

thank you netgalley for providing me with this arc

‘Next-Door Nemesis’ by Alexa Martin was an absolute delight, literally the PERFECT rom-com. I already want to go back and read it again. Highly recommend!

Okay. Dare I say that this is Alexa’s funniest novel to date? She has always made me laugh out loud but this time around, I was doing it often. And loudly. Alexa can truly break our hearts with one book and then make us cackle with the next.

I was rooting for Collins and Nate’s love (even when I shouldn’t have been). I was rooting for the friendships. I was rooting for it all. Loved this book so much!

Neighborhood drama gets taken to the next level in Next-Door Nemesis!

Alexa Martin's latest book is set in suburban Ohio-- if you think the setting sounds boring you haven't seen what this neighborhood is up to! After fleeing LA following a viral breakdown, Collins Carter finds herself jobless and moving back in with her parents. She's only here until she can get back on her feet. When she runs into her ex-best friend from high school things turn personal. Suddenly, she finds herself embroiled in a battle for HOA president, alongside her best friends, new and old.

NDN is full of humor and heart with Easter eggs to her other books-- perfect for fans of Alexa Martin!

4.5 ⭐️

This witty funny romcom follows Collins Carter, an aspiring author, who recently moved back home to her hometown in Ohio. After a falling out with her life in LA she is living back in her childhood home. She soon realizes her neighbor is her former childhood best friends, now arch nemesis, Nate Adams. Collins makes it her mission to take him down by running against him in the HOA election. The banter between our 2 main characters had me giggling so much! Also, Collins parents are literal goals. They’re just too stinking cute. She also has best friend goals!

This was my first Alexa Martin book and I genuinely enjoyed it so much! I love her writing style and sense of humor. This book had me chuckling constantly. I love a good childhood best friends to lovers as well as enemies to lovers and both tropes were done so well in this book!

A big book ick (that this book DID NOT HAVE 👌🏼) of mine is a unnecessary third act breakup due to some stupid misunderstanding. The ending of this book for me did not fit that at all. It came from such a place of love and respect that instantly made me gain so much respect for the MMC.

Thank you so much Alexa Martin, NetGalley, and Berkley for an ARC of this book! I throughly enjoyed it!

<b> Thank you to Alexa Martin, Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC to review. </b>

Collins finds herself back home in her childhood room trying to pick up the pieces (or ignore them) after her ex-boyfriend steals her script and has her blacklisted from Hollywood. Her plan to hide from the world and spend some quality R&R with her parents stopped when her childhood best friend turned nemesis delivers an HOA violation letter to her - remove the tree she and her father just planted for her mom, pay a never-ending fine, or Collins can move away. Stunned by Nate's audacity she decides, this time she's not going to let him trample all over her instead she's going to steal the HOA president election from him. Enlisting a new and an old friend, patriotic flamingo lawn ornaments, an inflatable US President, and other HOA-violating tactics Collins discovers the meaning of "keep your friends close....". Things to love about Next-Door Nemesis: former best friends - enemies - lovers trope, an MMC with a sexy dad - bod and an FMC with a cute but average bod, biracial couple, Mama Kimberly! and BFF Ruby, and lots of fun turns of phrases and quippy comments.

At a solid 4/5 Stars and 3/5 Spice Next-Door Nemesis is a fun read that reminds us to find grace and forgiveness in our own lives because it's always worthwhile to revisit the past and that we rarely know everything about the people we love most.

I wasn't sure what happened between these two in the past but you could just feel the tension radiating through the book as soon as they saw each other again. It was crackling and the banter was just spot on.
Collins is home from LA, after a spectacularly bad breakup and break down. Nate is living in her parents development, and wouldn't you know it, is the president of the HOA. He sees that Collins is back from her glamorous LA writing gig and can't wait to jab her about leaving in the first place. It's clear that he wants her gone, but the reason is something we don't know until much later and when we do learn about it, it broke my heart.
Nate is used to being left and he may or may not have a complex about that, but one thing is clear, he has some deep rooted feelings for Collins Even though the book is from her POV, we can still see the longing and yearning for what they once had evident in his actions.
When the two of them finally got together, it was explosive. I had been waiting on the edge of my seat for the point when they would finally give in. Collins and Nate both let their guard down and I was here for it, all of it, but the question is, will she leave again to pursue her dream or are her dreams right here in Ohio?
Being from Ohio I loved the Buckeyes references and the state that shall never be named. 4.5 Stars
Thank you to Berkley, Alexa Martin and Netgalley for an early copy.

I loved Better Than Fiction, so when I had to DNF this one halfway through, I was really disappointed. While I do think that romance readers will find bits of this to latch onto and love, the motivations behind them becoming nemeses weren't convincing enough to carry me through to their eventual relationship.

Such a great read! I loved the concept of the novel, the homeowners association, it’s original and so funny. So many well written characters. I would definitely recommend this book to someone interested in everything romance and spice.

It was very cute!! I loved how entertaining and witty the characters were. I so loved and adored them. Their constant push and pull made it so angsty. I simply loved it

The HOA election concept was original and I really liked the character of Nate. All along he just seemed like a nice guy who needed to fit into a community and create a family for himself.

I like the enemies to lovers trope but the banter in the first part of the book was often teetering on the razor’s edge from fun, clever and witty to mean spirited.
I also thought some of the Midwestern digs and cuts on Ohioans were a bit stereotypical and cliched. If Collins was from NYC or LA originally maybe these would have played differently, but since she was born and raised in Ohio, they felt overdone and often came off as insulting.

I liked the second part of the book much better than the first. After Nate and Collins talked and understood why he changed after a summer away in high school, Next-Door Nemesis was more enjoyable to read.

Alexa Martin excels at writing friendships and the new friend MLM magnet Ashleigh and her childhood friend man-hating divorce lawyer Ruby are excellent examples. I am hoping Ruby shows up in her own book as her emotional growth story arc would be interesting as she moves toward her own HEA. Perhaps one of her beleaguered assistants will ignite a spark.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.