In this delightful, breezy romcom, interior designer Dani decides to get revenge on her cheating ex the only way she knows how: by building a spite house next door.
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…
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Hot off the heels of watching The Hating Game, I was looking for something similar, but a little different. Love at First Spite was just the thing. This book features my favorite tropes (enemies to lovers and grump/ball of sunshine love interests). Dani Porter is an ambitious interior designer. Just as her dream home was in her grasp, she finds out that her fiancée is cheating on her with the realtor! Dani's once perfect dream home is tainted by her ex-fiancée and her "replacement". The audacity! After speedrunning through the stages of grief, Dani comes up with the pettiest revenge plot: buy the vacant lot next to her ex and build an ugly home to obstruct the view. Dani is sure the construction would make her ex miserable. While I like Dani as the main female lead, I thought her fixation on causing misery was a bit much. Her original intention was to buy the lot and build an ugly house to block the beautiful view (one of the best features of the previous house). Personally, if my fiancée was cheating on me, I'd want nothing to do with him. Not to mention how constructing an ugly home would look on her CV. However, I did appreciate how nuanced her emotions were. While she comes off as angry and petty, she was devastated and heartbroken by her fiancée's betrayal. But I also think her character needed this heartache to grow as a person. To set her revenge plot in motion, Dani needs an architect. Enter Wyatt Montego, perfectionist architect, and all-around office grump. The pair of them do an exchange of sorts. Dani will offer her interior design expertise to Wyatt's grandmother, and Wyatt will help design Dani's revenge house (though he was unaware that it was a revenge house). While spending time together, Dani starts to realize how her "spite house" was becoming a barrier to moving on with her life. The romance was definitely a slow burn to romance, which makes sense. I would have liked more background on Wyatt and the side characters (Mia, Dani's cousin, and Iris, Dani's new landlord). Overall, the author did a good job with the characters and plotline. There were times when I became frustrated with Dani and the progression of the story, but I got my HEA in the end.
4 stars
About the Author
Photo Credit: Lori Burkman
Anna E. Collins is a Seattle-area author who writes stories about the lives and loves of women. Once upon a time, she was a teacher, and she has a master’s degree in educational psychology. LOVE AT FIRST SPITE is her first novel.
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