by Olivia Dade
Part of Harlot's Bay
First published 2024
Athena Greydon is living inside a mistake. After her engagement falls apart, she has nowhere to go except the Spite House she already bought as a wedding gift: a ten-foot-wide brick building in Harlot's Bay, constructed generations ago as an architectural insult to the neighbors. The problem is not just the narrow rooms. Her ex's house is attached to hers. And Dr. Matthew Vine the Third, the rigid, judgmental man who talked his younger brother into leaving her, lives four feet away across a small alley. Athena can see directly into his windows. So she decides to use that. She cranks erotic audiobooks at full volume with her windows open. She is living in a Spite House, after all. Petty revenge comes with the deed. What she does not plan for is Matthew showing up to help her move boxes. Or the way he actually listens when she talks. Or the fact that he is, inconveniently, attractive. Hating someone who keeps doing decent things turns out to be hard work. Olivia Dade's rom-com is funny and warm, set in a town with a name that delivers exactly what it promises.
Genres: fiction, adult, comedy, contemporary-romance, romantic-comedy
Vibes: charming, humorous, lighthearted, warm, witty
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating-adjacent, forced-proximity, slow-burn
Setting: Harlot's Bay, Spite House
Period: contemporary
386 pages · Paperback · Avon