Next-Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin – rivals-to-lovers romcom with a perfect suburban summer vibe.

Next-Door Nemesis is an enetrtaining, fun, and addictive rivals-to-lovers romcom with a perfect suburban summer vibe.

Synopsis

Two rival candidates for a homeowner’s association presidency are about to find out how dirty suburbanites fight in this steamy new romantic comedy from Alexa Martin.

After years of hustling, Collins Carter has finally made it…back to her parents’ house. Between tending to the compost with her newly retired dad and running into her high school nemesis at the only decent coffee shop in town, Collins realizes this subdivision from hell she swore she’d never return to is her rock bottom.

Then the homeowner’s association complaint arrived.

Nathaniel Adams always dreamed of a nice, quiet life in his suburban hometown. Or at least that’s what he thought until Collins moved back and sent his quaint, organized life into a tailspin. He thought Collins was infuriating ten years ago, but when she announces she’s running against him for HOA president, all bets are off.

From secret board meetings to vicious smear campaigns whispered over backyard fences, Collins and Nate sink to levels their sleepy suburb has never seen before. But as hate turns into lust, these two enemies are forced to reckon with the feelings they’ve ignored for years. If only there were bylaws for real life.

Review

Next-Door Nemesis is entertaining, laugh-out-loud, and heartwarming rival romance that follows Collins who has to return to her home in suburban Ohio and live in her childhood bedroom after her drunken video gets viral that kicks her out of her career and L.A. What she didn’t expect is, coming face-to-face with her high school rival, Nate, who happens to be her neighbor now. Petty arguments and old grudges lead her to stand for the next Home Owners Association (HOA) president against Nate making her face unresolved feelings and issues they both have.

Writing is fabulous. I have other books by the author and now I’m kicking myself for not reading them sooner. The story is told from Collins’ perspective. Usually I loved dual perspective in romance but here single perspective worked so well.

I loved Collins‘ voice and rooted for her from the beginning. It’s easy to feel her pain of betrayal and her love for her family. She is outspoken, bold, and competitive but inside she is filled with self-doubt and insecurity. It hurt to read how her childhood shyness, inability to make friends, and now the betrayal affected her so strongly. Her anxiety is well represented.

I cheered for her standing against Nate and coming up with fun ideas to shake him up a little and it was even more amusing to see her pranks and tricks working. My heart warmed when she made friends in her hometown and her perspective on her hometown and neighborhood changed the more she spent and worked on her HOA campaign.

I didn’t like Nate from the beginning. That may be because of Collins’ voice and she gives pretty good reasons to not like him but at the same time, I also felt he was being unfair and unreasonable with his notice that sure was a personal and petty attack on Collins that made her retaliate with running for presidentship against him.

It was clear from the beginning all the resolved issues that rooted animosity between them were because of him and that made me curious to know why he was being a jerk. When he revealed the reasons, I felt for him but at the same time I think he shouldn’t be a jerk and unreasonable after all these years when Collins came back to town. In fact, he should have tried to make it right and apologize in first place.

One thing I love about him is his love for Collin’s family. He adored her parents and looking at his abandonment issue and not-so-great family, it was amazing how he found family in them. The secondary characters are perfect. I loved every single one of them, especially Collins’ parents and her friends. The family and community love is well balanced with romance.

The only thing I didn’t like was, Collins feeling sorry and apologizing for something that wasn’t her fault as it was her who tried to keep contact when things started to go downhill in high school.

This makes amazing friends-enemies-lovers romance which is even better than just enemies to lovers. I absolutely enjoyed the banter, the pranks they pulled, and the chemistry. It was hot and sexy and I loved how they turned from pulling each other down to getting back to being friends, sharing their hurts and embarrassing moments, resurfacing their old feelings, and falling in love once again.

Climax was different than I expected in many ways. I loved how they handled the sudden turn maturely. I loved how things turned in Collins’ favor in best possible way and how her dream changed at the end. That end gesture was cute.

Overall, Next-Door Nemesis is an enetrtaining, fun, and addictive rivals-to-lovers romcom with perfect suburban summer vibe.

You might like Next-Door Nemesis if you enjoy,

Friends-enemies-lovers romance
Rivals to lovers
Interracial ronance
Small town romance
Anxiety representation
Childhood friends
HOA drama
Steamy romcom
Found family vibe

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Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

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Just in case you missed,,,,

• Mehar’s World of Colours by Arti Sonthalia – Middle Grade Fiction for art lovers
• Mr. Hook Up by Marni Mann – enjoyable, steamy, workplace romance
• Addicted to You (Addicted #1) by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

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