Book Review: At First Spite

I have been looking forward to Olivia Dade’s latest novel since reading the premise, if only because the concept of a “spite house” is deeply funny to me. Fortunately, At First Spite delivers on the comedic potential of said premise, while also providing us with a sweet love story between two people who may have met at the wrong time, but quickly turn things around when circumstance brings them back together.

Athena Greydon has been dumped by her fiancé, no thanks to his horrible older brother. But because Athena had already made arrangements to move to his hometown of Harlot’s Bay, she has no choice but to move into the Spite House she bought him…sandwiched right between her ex’s place and that of said horrible older brother. 

To his credit, Matthew Vine feels horrible about what he did, especially when he sees the circumstances under which Athena now lives — even if he still doesn’t regret convincing his brother to end the engagement. Despite her relentless attempts to torture him, however, Athena and Matthew actually do spark up a friendship, one that gradually turns into something more. Something sweet, and slow, and steamy as hell.

Though the set-up is very comedic, that’s not to say that this book doesn’t also veer into the darker, or the more serious. Both Athena and Matthew have demons to face — grief, depression — with no punches pulled, which can make the story feel very serious at times. But the true beauty in a romance novel, I maintain, is not in if the couple gets together (they will) but in how, and in the case of At First Spite, its through friendship, and support, which is truly so beautiful to see. And the monster-fucking audiobooks probably didn’t hurt either.

At First Spite hits shelves on February 13. Special thanks to Avon for an advance copy for review purposes.