Absolutely loved every minute of this, I love the idea of the Spite House and it was full of great humour, characters and I loved that as well as the humour it touched on mental health and does it with care and sensitivity. I love this and it’s a definite reread for me and looking forward to more bu Olivia Dade

I will be honest I wasn't sure about the premise when I discovered our female lead's love interest is her ex's brother, it wasn't sitting right with me for a bit, however I did enjoy the book and really loved the characters Olivia had created. Athena and Matthew have a lot of great chemistry and I really liked the small town vibes.

Headlines:
Trope ick
MH rep
Character depth

There is lots I liked about this book and then things like context, trope and timings that I struggled with in this new series starter from Olivia Dade. My heart pretty much sank when I started reading this and realised we were going to have a kind of love triangle involving two brothers. It's more complex than that with engagements, break-ups and houses but still it was somewhat icky to me from the off.

What saved this book and kept me reading were the individual characterisations of Athena and Matthew (even though I struggled with them together). I really liked both characters and the depth with which they were crafted. The depression representation was very good but do not talk to me about the timing of the connection in relation to this depression...

The friendship between Matthew and Athena was worth the read but I didn't like much about their sexual connection. I couldn't stand the other brother and the debacle of the houses was meant to be quirky but seemed so unlikely to me.

So as you can see, such a mixed bag but I will give the next one a go.

Thank you to netgalley for this eARC.

When our MC, Athena thinks life can't get any worse, while moving into the spite house she impulsively purchased for her ex-fiancé, she finds out her new neighbour is none other than her ex's brother, who just happens to be the reason why they split! Athena decides to be a pain in his ass, signing him up for cold callers, playing steamy audiobooks at high volumes etc but all the while Athena thinks maybe he isn't the bad guy she first thought he was.

this is a small town, steamy romance which touches on mental health. The romance is beautiful and special and so soft and everything. Matthew and Athena are perfect for each other.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this copy in return for my honest review.

What a beautiful book! One of my favourites this year so far. Loved the acts of service, I binged this in a day!!

Would thoroughly recommend to pick up!

This is, somehow, my first book by Olivia Dade and I don’t know how I managed that, but I absolutely loved this. It had chemistry, it had humour, it had both lovable main characters AND side characters, the whole package really!

The depression representation was unexpected but welcome. I thought it was super accurate, especially things like punishing herself as ‘penance’ and having unkind thoughts that are really hard to tell are unkind at the time and feel like honesty that people around you aren’t giving you. The love interest handled this so well, he was so lovely and soft and sweet. I’m not into men, but if I was, I’d want a Matthew (who does remind me a lot of my own partner, though).

There were also big things mentioned that were treated like they were no big deal, and I really appreciated that. For example, Athena saying that she doesn’t want children and Matthew not losing his virginity until his thirties. When these things are brought up, there’s normally a lot of discussion on it/it’s made into a theme of the book and, although I don’t have an issue with that and appreciate that as well, I loved that it was just there. There was also zero fatphobia towards Athena, that I could see, which I really loved too.

I can’t wait to read more from this author

Thank you, Netgalley and publishes, for the eArc!

Book #22 of 2024
At First Spite by Olivia Dade

I recieced this as an arc from #netgalley

I've read 2 of 3 of her Spoiler Alart series but knew I loved her writing already.

I especially resonated with parts of Athena with her being in her late 30s. It was so nice reading about a character who was "older" than the normal 20 somethings. It was also great to see mental health tackled in such a big way as well.

This book follows Athena and the Vine brothers as engagements fall apart and lives are uprooted to new towns, meeting new friends and getting on with life.

I don’t think I’ve loved a book more. The depiction of depression was done so well.
Athena thought she was going to have the best year with being engaged and moving into a cute little house in a cute little village. Until her fiancés older brother meddles in and she finds her self single, in a town where she doesn’t know anyone and a very old house. Matthew regret what he did and wants to help Athena but along the way feelings are about to get mixed up in their mess.

This was such a good book and I just adored every second off it.

Athena ends up living next door to the brother of her ex-fiancé, who is the reason for their breakup and Athena’s world being turned upside down.

This book is heartfelt, about learning to trust people and yourself. Athena learns that growing up doesn’t mean total independence, it means recognising our need for interdependence.
Matthew, the love interest, was really interesting - awkward, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Very much a tortured hero. The depth of emotion in this book was incredible, it is sad and difficult to read at times but the beauty of romance books is the guarantee of a happy ending.

I recommend this book, although it is definitely one for which you should read the content warnings beforehand as it deals with very tough topics in a lot of detail.

I absolutely loved this book. It's different to what I usually read in that It's an Adult Fiction Rom Com and I read mostly Young Adult Fantasy. The main character Athena is strong willed, smart, funny, loyal, hard working and just a really good person in general. She's always ready to through herself into her next challenge and never gives up. I love the dynamic between her and Dr. Matthew Vine the Freaking Third and how he looks out for her whether secretly or with her knowledge. The relationships she has with the other people in the small town are really special and you can tell them all love her and she loves them. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next one!

At First Spite by Olivia Dade is a masterclass in the enemies to lovers trope, showing exactly how a relationship can so easily change, that the line between love and hate is so incredibly fine, so easily crossed.

If you're looking for your next 5 star read, I can almost guarantee you, it will be this one.

No one writes relationships like Olivia Dade. An tale of two stubborn individuals who learn to be stronger together. It's absolutely hilarious, utterly heartwrenching, and so beautiful I read it with tears in my eyes for the whole second half.

This book broke me, and the built me back up. It's such an honest and wonderful depiction of love, and all it takes to love yourself as well as someone else.

At First Spite is a enemies to lovers book about Athena who buys a house as a wedding gift for her fiancée. He then breaks up with her, which leaves her with this house she now has to live in. The house is right across the street from her ex-fiancee and his brother.

Sadly, I couldn't give this book more than 2 stars. I loved the idea of the Spite House and the book cover is gorgeous. The book was just too long and too dragged out. I couldn't get on board with the romance between Athena and Matthew. It was strange that Matthew wanted Johnny to break off the engagement because Athena wasn't 'wifey material' but then he suddenly cared about her, and she was okay with it. I also didn't like the random monster smut. It wasn't for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off I love the plus size representation in this book, we don't get represented in books often so I really appreciated that.
This was a super sweet, quick and easy read that I flew through in just over an hour, I couldn't put it down and I didn't want too. I loved it

Received as an ARC in return for my honest review.

🏠 Ex-fiancés brother
🏠 Forced proximity
🏠 Forbidden/taboo
🏠 Enemies to friends to lovers
🏠 Mental health representation

The relationship between these two is just beautiful, I was swooning from start to finish. I’m so glad they got there happily ever after despite the hurdles and self deprecation along the way.

I hadn’t read a book by Olivia before this one and honestly I loved it, I will be reading loads more in the future is this is anything to go by. I also own the Afterlight special edition of this book which is just beautiful 🥰

I love a representation book, and one that brings depression to the forefront… LOVE. Matthew was a dream, the FMC was lovely. This book took a bit to get in to but it gave me the small town vibes I love

This book had a delightful heroine, a gorgeous small-town setting and I thought the depression rep was super well-done, and really refreshing to see a character's depressive episode portrayed so realistically and unflinchingly in a romance novel. Unfortunately, the romance arc between Athena and Matthew fell a little flat for me - it started out really promisingly, but as the story went on I just didn't feel his decisions were that realistic, and it took me out of the story slightly. Nevertheless, I'm excited to read more Harlot's Bay novels in the future!

Olivia Dade has such a way with words that every time I read one of her books, my heart just fills with joy. At First Spite is no different.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year but unfortunately it fell a bit flat. It wasn’t bad per se - I actually really enjoyed parts of it, but I just had trouble getting invested and found it very very slow at times.

Having said that, I absolutely loved Matthew and the way he care for Athena, especially when during her lowest moments, when her depression got really bad. It was heartwarming the way he put her first and cared for her, without second thought.

Overall, not my favourite of Olivia’s book but still enjoyable!

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to the Piatkus and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

There was a true romance to this. I found the author's depiction of depressive symptoms to be quite insightful.
It started off a little slowly. However, I felt like the second half really redeemed it. The main character's size plus body confidence, discussions about mental health, and small town vibes were all really appealing to me. I’m excited to read the next instalment of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Little, Brown Book Group Uk, Piakus for the opportunity to read this amazing book in exchange of an honest review.