Synopsis

When Athena (POV character) Greydon's fiancé ends their engagement, she has no choice but to move into the Spite House she recklessly bought him as a wedding gift. This is a problem, for several reasons: The house, originally built as a brick middle finger to the neighbors, is only ten feet wide. Her ex's home is attached to hers. And Dr. Matthew Vine (POV character) the Freaking Third (aka the uptight, judgmental jerk who convinced his younger brother to leave her) is living on the other side, only a four-foot alley away.

If she has to see Matthew every time she looks out her windows, she might as well have some fun with the situation--by, say, playing erotic audiobooks at top volume with the windows open. A woman living in a Spite House is basically obligated to get petty payback however she can, right?

Unfortunately, loathing Matthew proves more difficult than anticipated. He helps her move. He listens. And he's kind of...hot? Dammit.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads

Review

Boy, do I love me some body positivity! Athena is an absolute rockstar of an FMC who displays perfectly the pit of depression and how it can be experienced by anyone, even people who live a very independent lifestyle and have a keen sense of the world. This was as much a romance as it was a story of discovering one’s worth.

Athena is an absolute HOOT. She has a give’em hell attitude and, despite her struggle with self-worth, is quite aware of what she doesn’t deserve. Like a fiancé who dumped her based on his brother’s input. Her depiction of depression hit home for me, and Dade did an excellent job of showing this disorder in a way that demonstrates how deep one can spiral into their own hateful musings while also refusing to let others tear them down. Athena was such an easy character to identify with, and she fights to become the person she wants to be. Dade nailed both her depression-rep and her plus-sized-rep, executing these depictions in such a genuine manner.

Matthew was a wonderful support system, and I adored his awkward, shy self. For sure, I think he’s got some neuro-spicy happening and that made me root for him even more, because my man doesn’t know how to be social and clearly struggles with group settings and self-expression. He’s loyal and nurturing and wants nothing more than to make his fiends and family happy in every way possible. Which means he puts himself to the wayside most of the time. Do I dislike his treatment of Athena at the beginning? Yes. Did I gag at his insta-lust obsession with her body. 10/10 YES—and the only thing that saved his character was that I did believe he was emotionally invested in Athena by the 40% point of the book. He and Athena were one of the most compatible couples I’ve read in a while. I can see them gray-haired and happy, sidling up to the monster-smut book club with potato chips in hand having role-played a tentacle scene.

Which, by the way, was a hilarious edition to this story. The fact that Athena blasted monster smut out of her window for all to hear, simply to mess with Matthew, was grand.

Critiques

Dual POV: This took me out. I had to put my physical reading on hold and wait months for the audiobook so I could power through a very specific pet peeve of mine. And that pet-peeve is plot repetition. I get it. In a romance, readers really want to know the MMC’s mindset of our FMC. I think Tessa Bailey does a fabulous job of this in the February Afterlight book, Fangirl Down. But Dade did the thing I hate, which is repeat a good chunk of what happened in a previous chapter solely so we can see the same events from the other characters perspective. UGH. This book could have been cut by a quarter just by taking the repetition out and starting each character’s perspective with forward plot movement. Boom. Pet peeve abolished. But that wasn’t the case here, especially in the first 50% of this as the romantic interests were getting to know one another. The audio solved my problem for me, I’m happy to say! Joy Nash reeled me in with her performance, and I do highly recommend the audio narration.

Spice: Yikes! I cringed at almost every scene, but especially the first time Athena and Matthew rolled around in the sheets. It’s clinical. The amount of times Matthew touches Athena’s “vulva”, “vagina”, “vaginal wall” and “clitoris” made me feel more like this was an anatomy lesson for anyone unawares of a woman’s pleasure warehouse. And once this relationship moved to the bedroom, there was plenty of sex happening in these pages. It was rough, and not in the fun way.

Prose: On the one hand, the flowery and inflated prose used in this does fit Athena’s voice. She’s an educated woman who loves to read and has two higher degrees. On the other hand, there were times the prose pulled me out of the story because the imagery used was … weird. And forced. Especially during some of the sex scenes. I found myself grimacing a lot.

Content Note

You can find more content warnings at the Trigger Warning Database

By Title or Author

ARCHIVES

Ready to add even more to your TBR? Check out these recent reviews!