I think this is my favorite by Hazelwood so far. The storyline for the main protagonists was a great one. I didn't even see some of the things coming.

The emphasis on communication and support touched both in the romance and the scientific sides of the story. I appreciate when authors bring that across the main and sub plots.

4.25 ⭐️

While this one was very different from Ali’s others books (wayyy more spice and a little less banter and cutesy romance), I still loved it!! She really knows how to write an amazing MMC and amazing side characters that you fall in love with immediately 😍 I didn’t connect with the FMC nearly as much as her others, but I was still understanding of the things she went through that shaped who she was as a person. Eli, on the other hand, was just a perfect character and I love how down bad he was for Rue 🤭❤️ and literally everything else about him, I couldn’t get enough! The ending was also really cute and I enjoyed the overall plot of the book. Ali Hazelwood just writes amazing books, period.

Rue and Eli start out as frenemies as the company Rue works for is about to get new funders.I found this idea of the story an interesting one, as these characters are attracted to each other from the beginning, before the details and motivations of one side are revealed

As for the romance, I really liked how this one started, at least when I figured out the voices in the narrative. But somewhere along the way I became less interested in these characters that had intrigued me at the start. Eli seemed like a good guy, but some of his thinking turned me off, especially the amount of time he brings up his ex. Especially when his thoughts at meeting Rue were so very strong and significant. IDK, your mileage may vary as they say.

It should be noted that Not in Love is billed as more of an erotic romance rather than a rom-com. There is physical attraction and quite a bit of sex happening, but it didn't always hit the mark for this reader. I did find myself skimming some of these scenes, especially since I was really looking for how these characters felt about each other. I did like Rue -- she was quirky and socially awkward outside of her group and yet had a sense of humor that was sarcastic and funny. I did love the way Eli and Rue meet via the app.

Overall, I did like the characters although I wished for a more well defined arc of their growth, which was sort of muddled here and sometimes slowed things down too much for me. I had mixed feelings about Eli and I wasn't sure that I really liked him or not. There is also a good cast of secondary characters on both sides of the story. There are some hits and some misses for me in Not in Love which is why I am rating this 3 stars.

Not my favorite Ali Hazelwood book but the ending was so sweet my overall impression was more positive.

I was really excited going into this book because I always love Hazelwood's books and I had been on a binge of Suits and White Collar, and corporate espionage-esque content felt like it would fit in well with that vibe.

I enjoyed the chemistry between Rue and Eli, though I found the first half of the book a bit hard to get through, partially because of my own headspace at the time but it also felt a bit tedious at times.

The last 30-ish% were much more exciting to me, as their emotional connection kicked up, walls started coming down, and all the reveals about the company situation started to come out. The ending was so insanely sweet and had me bawling!

Overall, I still really enjoyed Not in Love and continue to be an Ali Hazelwood fan. I'd be interested to see a companion book about Hark since it feels like there's soooo much possibility with his story 👀

Like all of Ali Hazelwood's other books, the characters are smart, the romance is sizzling, and the story is engaging. She hasn't let me down yet. I can't wait to read more by her.

This lands near the bottom of my Ali Hazelwood ranking. I felt like there wasn’t a real emotional connection between Rue and Eli and that the romance was way too focused on physical chemistry. I don’t buy into the fact that they’re in love just because they have explosive sex. However, this was still a fun read.

Goodness! There was spice and a well though out story - all the elements that make a book an excellent read. I have loved this author since I stumbled upon her book, The Love Hypothesis. She totally creates the most fun and interesting characters that are so realistic and relatable! Totally recommend this read and the audiobook as well.

Oh Ali Hazelwood, how I love thee! Or rather, your writing!

Not in Love is a return to Hazelwood's STEM romances and I adored it! Here we have two broken people who find in each other a way to heal themselves. This isn't a story about needing someone to fix you, it's about finding someone who gives you the strength to fix yourself.

This was such a great read, the steamy bits were perfect, and everything about this story was top notch!

Ali Hazelwood seriously never misses. The characters are adorable and tender and so so well crafted that they feel like real people I know. The romance had me rooting for them to get together from page one and each flip of the page just built on that initial chemistry for some incredible payoff at the end.

It’s not my favorite Ali Hazelwood book, BUT it was still a fun read. It still has the Ali Hazelwood signature - witty humor and an adorable meet cute. She did preface the book by saying it’s more of an erotic book than rom com so she did give the readers a fair warning. Whether this book is up to the reader’s taste would highly depend on individual preferences for the smut levels, but in my books, it was awesome.

This was my first Ali Hazelwood book and I did really enjoy it. This was spicy romance that had more than just spice to it. I have mostly gotten away from romance books these days because they are super heavy on the spicy and the darkness and super light on the plot. This book however had a good blend of both spice and plot. I enjoyed the story and the witty banter between Rue and Eli. Pretty much all the characters were very likeable and well flushed out. I also enjoyed that the female character was still a strong character and yet was vulnerable enough to allow a man to help her through the difficulties she faced with someone she thought was her friend. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: E-book

3.75🌟 - it was good!

This has probably been my least favorite Ali Hazelwood book to date 🙈. There were some good parts of this one, but it was a little too insta-love for me compared to her other books! This one had a different feel to her other books, so I’m interested to see what’s next for her!

WOW

Ali delivered such a fun extremely steamy contemporary.

I adored everything about this one. I'm obsessed with Rue and Eli

I eat up everything Ali writes, but this one especially felt unique to her others because of the role reversal in terms of personalities. I think many women will read this and feel seen the way I did. Those of us who feel like we're too much, too difficult, for others to love.

Ali Hazelwood is incredibly popular with library patrons. She has written another one that will be a big hit. Her strength is in writing complex and sometimes unlikable heroes/heroines. This one will be a hit with women who have been told they are "difficult".

Whatever Ali Hazelwood puts into her books needs to be studied. It has to be illegal. How is every book a banger?

Didn't looooove some of the way poverty was discussed but over all,. I ate it up.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Books [Berkley] for an e-book of "Not in Love" by Ali Hazelwood in exchange for an honest review. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romcoms, spice, and modern references. While this book didn't necessarily hit for me due to personal preferences, I can understand how this is other's cup of tea. It is smut filled, list crazed, includes obsessed men, intimacy, and did I mention STEAM?? I would also consider this book to have the "insta-love" trope.

I’ve only read a few Ali Hazelwood, but I do find her stories very hard to put down. They are so much fun and I absolutely loved the relationship between Rue and Eli. There is a lot of growth over the course of the novel. I would love a short story of Minami just to see how she is as a mother! You could tell right away that there was something off about Florence and I was waiting for the shoe to drop.

I loved this non-traditional romance Ali has highlighted. While it did have her trademark settings and writing style, we got to see a different type of relationship and one where roles were reversed.

DNF but I feel justified to give a fair review. This felt so redundant and honestly, there were too many words that had me cringing. So many of the words in here feel juvenile.