Ali Hazelwood has this knack for writing strong, quirky intelligent women and tough shelled men with marshmallow-y insides, and this is no different.

I was a little disappointed in the formulaic plot, but I enjoyed the characters and the way the this big conflict moves along!

i don't think anybody is surprised when i say i was definitely NOT not in love with this book.

thank you to berkley romance for the eARC via netgalley in exchange for me honest review<3

ali hazelwood really did something with this book, it was different than her other books and i liked it a lot! i'm so used to her books including a bunch of science-stuff that i'm not smart enough to understand but this one definitely scaled it down (which i didn't mind but also was kind of missing it). this book is literally about rue, who works as a biotech engineer, so still science-y!! also, the writing! when i started the book it felt worlds different than her usual writing style but as the book progressed it started feeling more natural and what i was used to.

i actually really liked this books writing style and the overall maturity not in love brought to the table. obviously, this book is literally a "with benefits" book so it has spice (and oh is it HOT) so that alone is fit for a more mature audience, but the writing felt so much more mature than her other books. i feel like the love hypothesis was very much the ao3 reylo fic adaptation that it started out as (which is not a bad thing btw- they are just obviously two very different things and don't get me wrong, i loved it just as much!) and then her writing got progressively more and more mature and led up to this point. i love her other writing, and i also love this new style all the same! additionally, the heavier topics covered in this book also add to the maturity and ali did a great job with handling those more sensitive topics.

i feel like this book is exactly what it claimed to be. i went into this book with sort of low expectations and they were definitely surpassed!! i signed up for a forbidden "with benefits" romance and got that exactly so i'm happy!

more on rue and eli- they are SO HOTT!!! i love how transparent and honest they are with each other from the get go and it creates the foundation for a really good relationship! they both are clear with what they want from each other and know what to expect. what they don't expect is that they SHOULD be enemies because eli is planning to take over the company rue works for. this really set the plot in place for me and it created even MORE tension between them which made it hotter.

obviously there is a lot of spice given the "with benefits" part of this book, but it also gets pretty vulnerable because of rue and eli's honesty towards each other during sex and regular conversation. they have this thing where they tell each other stories from their life that they don't really share with anybody else and it gets DEEP. i loved the duality of their sexual vs. emotional relationship and i think ali balanced that really well.

overall- i liked it! the biggest thing that stood out was the tension between eli and rue. their relationship was so different and interesting but i loved it so much and really did enjoy the story. this book has a lot of spice, thats either a warning or selling point depending on who you are. if you have read ali hazelwood's other books, you might notice this one feels different- less science, more spice, heavier topics, different writing style. really great read!

four stars from me!

Rue was an interesting character for me. I won’t lie, at first, I really wasn’t feeling her as a character. She comes off cold, not super friendly, and does something I’m usually too afraid to do— set boundaries and not feel bad about sticking to them. Her anxieties and past trauma greatly impact the person she is, and I loved seeing her growth as the story progressed.

Eli is the ultimate definition of a man down bad. He’s literally incapable of doing anything in his life except think about Rue. And the fact that we get his POV and actually get to read about him obsessing over how much he wants to be with Rue and cook her food and kiss her until they both stop breathing??? Literal perfection.

The rumors are true, this is Ali’s spiciest book yet. I personally don’t think that the spice overshadows the plot because the chemistry between Rue and Eli is so clearly there. It felt 100% believable that they would be incapable of keeping their hands off each other. But hey, I’m a door-wide-open kind of romance reader so I ate up every second of it

Ali Hazelwood does it again, to no one’s surprise! Although this is my least favorite of her Steminist novels, I do think it far outpaces other contemporary romances with its banter and wit. I hope to see Hazelwood expand from her comfort zone to explore new plots and circumstances.

This was a lot heavier than I expected from Ali Hazelwood. I needed a bit to think about what I wanted to say in the review. I think what stuck out to me was how predatory academia can be to graduate students. So while I was rooting for Eli to get his just desserts, I wasn't as invested in their relationship. Now, what I mean by this is that I'm happy Eli and Rue got together in the end and they showed up for each other without having to change. I was more interested in the external conflict that brought them together. I do think it was an interesting choice to also play with just having a physical relationship as a means to exert energy but feelings were off limits until they weren't. Overall, an interesting read and surprising departure from what I'm used to reading from Ali Hazelwood.

This was a perfect example of needing to give a book some time before throwing in the towel. I didn’t think I would like this book the first 50 or so pages, mostly because I found the Harkness group characters to be insufferable and annoying. While I did end up liking them more by the end, especially Minami, I still found that friend group to be odd and not well-developed. The really liked Rue and Eli, even though their habit of telling each other stories was weird to me. The sex scenes were hot and I bought Eli and Rue’s chemistry. Not my favorite Ali Hazelwood book but I like that she wrote an erotic story as opposed to a Rom-Com.

Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong. I did not immediately love this one as quickly as the other characters in her books but by the end I was just as invested.

This was a different kind of book than what I’m used to from her. I still loved it though and I can’t wait to add it to my collection of Ali Hazelwood comfort reads.

4.5

Ok y'all - i love me some Ali Hazelwood! she did not disappoint with the endless humor, witty dialogue, deeply personal themes, and swoony men. it took me a little bit to understand Rue, but i ended up seeing a lot of myself in her. Eli was wonderful, and his endless empathy and patience for Rue made me love him more. thank you to Berkley romance for the arc, and thank you to Ali for writing yet another tender romance! it was a side of her writing we haven't quite had yet.

This is a huge change of pace from Ali Hazelwood's other romance books, but it does surpass them with its more serious commentary: https://screenrant.com/ali-hazelwood-not-in-love-surpass-other-romance-books/

Okay I was not expecting this!! Everything I've read by Ali I've loved and this is no different in that sense but it's not your typical STEM romcom -- it's grittier and it's spicier MY GOODNESS. I can only hope there are a bunch of Elis out there. Rue is lovable to the reader because we know she's shy and awkward, but incredibly loyal, smart and funny with some trust issues while she comes off as aloof, distant, disinterested etc. I like that she seems like this unattainable woman, and she kind of is considering her one and done rule, but craves Eli more and more with each interaction. Eli is OBSESSED from the start, hands down, no questions about it and I am here for it. He's a bit of a dom for sure and their dynamic professionally and personally is entertaining if frustrating at times -- for them too. It's a very open door romance so if that's not your thing you probably won't enjoy this, but if it is then you'll enjoy that there's a good balance of smut and plot. We have workplace drama, friend drama, romance drama, alllll the drama (: no but seriously, there's a lot going on at the company Rue works for including a certain hostile takeover by Eli's company and secrets on all sides. There's a lot of emotional vulnerability, personal growth and lessons to be learned and I just loved it. There are also so many great side characters; I'd read books about each of Eli's friends, plus his sister, and Rue's bestie, and I think it's pretty special when an author makes you care for all of the characters like that. If you like Ali's books, this one's a bit different but I think you'll still love it and if you haven't tried any yet but like spicy romance then check this one out!

STEM girly
forbidden romance
workplace romance
enemies to lovers
he falls first & harder
sooo much spice

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Berkley & NetGalley for the digital arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this enemies to lovers, forbidden love romance. Rue is a brilliant, socially awkward scientist who prefers one night stands over relationships. She works at a company called Kline headed by her friend Florence.
She meets a guy named Eli after she matches with him on an app but never hooks up with him. The next day she’s supposed to give a tour to a finance guy who turns out to be Eli.
I enjoyed reading the development of their relationship, they’re torn between their feelings and their corporate responsibilities.
5 stars.

From the publisher:
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through - and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood 🩵

Welp I have mixed feeling about this. There was nothing I loved about it but also there was nothing I hated about it. I was annoyed by the characters at times. This book is definitely different from anything Ali has written before. Yes, it have the woman in STEM element and some of the Ali quirk, but I would almost hesitate to call this a romance if I were to have only read the first bit of the book. The romantic piece didn’t really come in until the last few chapters, at least for me.

Rue is a biotech engineer whose company is being bought out. Eli is part of the company resulting in them being around each other and realizing there’s physical attraction there. It quickly turns in to a secret, no strings attached relationship.

Listen, I don’t mind a lot of smut in my books. I prefer to have some, but not at the cost of the romance. I felt like the entire relationship between them was physical. Any thoughts that one of them had about the other was related to how hot or attractive they thought they were. Any time where something relatively romantic was thought, it immediately followed by something referring to the physical attraction. I needed to see some emotional aspects to their relationship and that didn’t come in until the last bit of the book. It kinda felt like Ali was making up for the lack of it at the end.

While it was interesting to see Ali write a dual POV (Rue in first, Eli in third) I prefer her writing to be single POV. Yes, I liked Eli but I think the tension / yearning / pining that I love from Ali’s books was lost in this one.

Some other things in the book bothered me by being mentioned but not gone in to more detail like the conflict with Rue’s brother, Eli’s past, and whether Rue is neurodivergent. All were hinted at but not truly addressed.

Sad that I was disappointed by this one cause I love Ali. Hopefully I’ll enjoy her next release more.

🔬 woman in STEM
🤭 strangers with benefits
🩷 he falls first
🌤️ grumpy (her) / sunshine (him)
💻 workplace
🤫 secret relationship

dual POV
3.5/5 stars ⭐️
3/5 spice level 🌶️

Okay this book cemented my love of Ali Hazelwood and firmed up her role as an auto buy author for me. This book was so good in my opinion! And yet so different than her other work!
I loved the dual POV, she listened to us and I want to give her a big smooch for it. This book was also grittier and darker than her other fun STEM Rom Coms but I actually loved it? She touched on deeper themes so well and also wove in her signature wit and warmth. Also HELLO THE SPICE! Wow wow wow. This book was hot and sensual. I loved how she explored these characters through their sexual relationship. Ultimately, I read this book in one flight and I was blown away by how much I enjoyed it.

2 ⭐️ I’m 100% NOT in love with this book 💔

WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ STEM romance
✨ dating app meetup
✨ she’s a scientist
✨ he’s in private equity
✨ forbidden romance
✨ enemies with benefits
✨ insta love
✨ he falls first
✨ 3/5 spice
✨ angst
✨ complicated family dynamics
✨ found family
✨ HEA
✨ dual pov

My Thoughts:

Listen, I’m sad to say this, but overall, I didn’t like it. I'll get to those reasons in a second, but first . . .

Here's what I liked:

The fact Eli and Rue were fresh Ali Hazelwood characters. For most of her STEM romances, it feels as if the MC is a version of Adam Driver, but Eli was definitely his own, and Rue was so complicated and beautiful in her own way.

Both Eli and Rue were flawed and had complicated pasts, they worked through some of their issues on page. To go off this, I loved how Eli and Rue shared honest, horrible, and shameful stories about themselves to one another without receiving any judgment.

Rue's dry and direct responses to Eli were entertaining and had me constantly going "OOOOOOOO BURN".

I liked Tish. Tish was super supportive of Rue, and I'm all for showing healthy female friendships. Plus, she had a lot of funny one liners and I appreciated that.


What I didn't liked:

Why was Rue's POV in first person and Eli's POV in third person???? THIS DROVE ME NUTS! And what was the reason?? It definitely didn't add to the story. And honestly, it was really hard for me to get into Eli's chapters coming from Rue's - and I've heard this from multiple people.

There were also a lot of inner thoughts happening instead of dialogue. The inner thoughts also got incredibly repetitive, to the point that I had to skim them because they were not offering the reader anything new or of value. Also, I really wish there had been more conversation throughout the book, especially between Rue and Eli.

I really didn't get why Rue and Eli were into each other. It's a very insta-lust focused story, but the line where it goes from lust to love wasn't made clear. It just sort of happened, and didn't really feel convincing to me. Plus, they're mostly focused on the physical for the first 75%, which didn't give me much time to connect with their deeper romantic connection.

From the minute Eli meets Rue, he is smitten. I mean he is OBSESSED and in not a charming way. "Eli felt like this was what he'd been put on this earth for - get Rue off, right here, in this very moment." I think I rolled my eyes so hard they almost fell out of my head when I first read this. It's just so . . . ugh . . . I just think it's ridiculous. If I'm reading a sci-fi or fantasy romance where there's some sort of mate bond or something, I can get on board with that level of obsession. But a contemporary romance with a finance guy who? Get out of here. There's no way any normal guy would ever think this. And before y'all come for me, I know Ali has written obsessed men before. In fact, I've LOVED that. But their levels of obsession matched the progression of their relationships whereas Eli is basically obsessed from the start when it's purely lust, which makes him seem unhinged.

To further that point, Eli is a young, viral man who has hooked up with plenty of women, and it’s also alluded to that he’s VERY good in bed. But the first time he and Rue have penetrative sex, he is soooo overcome with lust and infatuation that when he only has his TIP inside her, he, and I quote, “twisted with pleasure as he made unrestrained noises and came inside me. And came, and came, and came.” The man puts one inch of his d*ck insider her and comes?! WHAT?! Am I supposed to get all gooey inside and think it’s romantic she makes him come so fast? Not only is it unbelievable that a grown man who is sexually active comes with just the tip inside, but it’s so not sexy. THEN, it later says, “he’d just had the most intense orgasm of his life.” 🫣 Sir, have you had sex at all before this? I’m embarrassed for him.

This was at 60% of the book and by this point, I was just so over it. I didn’t want to finish but decided to because I had hoped something could save this story. And while the actual plot was interesting and angsty, the romance was never believable and totally ruined my experience of the entire thing.

I did not like Eli's friend group. It was introduced in such a messy way that it took me a hot second to figure out who was who and their relationships to one another. I didn't like the way they spoke to one another or about women/the women Eli used to date. They were so crude that it made me feel icky and uncomfortable. And for a while, I thought maybe we weren't supposed to like them, but turns out I was wrong.

The direction of the Harness/Kline/Florence plot was so obvious. Not sure if it was supposed to be a big reveal or shock, but I knew by 25% the reality of what was going on, so that entire plot wasn't interesting. And unfortunately, since I didn't love the romance, either this book has nothing for me.


Overall, I really didn't like this story, but I didn't HATE it. So I'd maybe recommend fans of Ali Hazelwood check it out if the blurb sounds interesting to them.

“I forget to look at other things, when you’re around.”

This is drastically different than anything Ali has written so far with one small connection: we still have women in STEM. But beyond that, this book is wildly different. And I absolutely DEVOURED it.

The tension between Rue and Eli was something I could feel in my body as I read this story. I loved the conflicts over who to trust, where your loyalty belongs, and whether or not to follow your heart or your brain that wrapped around every page, pulling me deeper and deeper into their love affair.

There are bad guys and good guys, people you root for and ones you’ll love to hate, and Ali also makes sure to bring the heat more than in any of her previous books.

With vendettas driving parts of the story, it’s fun for readers to watch as feelings begin to infiltrate the original plans, veering everyone off course.

I love Ali’s stories for the chemistry she manages to build between her main characters, but also because of the potentially realistic hardships many in academia/STEM tend to face, bringing awareness to situations most of us would never think twice about.

I know I’ve heard some mixed reviews on this one, but I personally loved it. I read it as an eBook and was completely captivated by both Rue and Eli in their separate lives as well as when they’re thrown together. Also, the title is a perfect representation of their desire to fight their feelings every step of the way.

Read this if you like:
- Workplace romance
- Rivals to lovers
- Sworn off love
- Women in STEM
- Forbidden romance
- Character vulnerability
- past trauma
- neurodivergence

3.5 Rounded up.

I LOVE Ali Hazelwood's books. They are always about women in stem and they are spicy and I love the plots, banter, etc. This time I liked the plot and the main characters but surprisingly there was too much spice for me! I thought it took it out of the storyline a little bit which I enjoyed. I'm not usually one to be turned off by too much steam but in this case I was really enjoying the scenes outside of the bedroom that the bedroom scenes were a little too much for me. I had heard that this book was different than most of her books so I tried to not let it bother me. One thing was the MMC's kink didn't seem to fit his personality outside the bedroom. But overall, this was a quick read and I enjoyed the storyline and banter.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood is another one of her wonderful standalone romance novels. We meet Rue Siebert, our heroine, who is happy in her job, as a successful biotech engineer at Kline; well-known in the field of food science. Rue has two best friends, her childhood friend, Trish (they work closely together); and her loyal boss, Florence. Rue had a rough childhood, and is determined to keep her heart closed, not comfortable in any kind of relationship, only allowing some one-night stands. She is content in her life, until she learns that a hostile takeover threatens her calm and confident world.

Eli Kilgore, our hero, is part of the Harkness group doing the hostile takeover. Eli and his business partners plan to takeover Kline, for various past reasons. To his shock, he sees Rue, whom he met the night before, during a wild sexy evening. Despite Rue ignoring him, Eli finds himself drawn to her, as he can’t stop thinking about the night before. Eli goes out of his way to visit or interview Rue, as their feelings for each other escalates, with the chemistry between them becomes sizzling.

They do begin a secret no-strings attached affair, with Rue making sure that Florence doesn’t find out. Rue will learn from Eli, what happened 10 years ago with Florence, and why they are determined to fix what she did to them. She has every intention to team up with her boss Florence, only to learn more about the past truths, and the lies of her boss.

Eli was perfect for Rue, helping her through her emotional past, revealing little pieces of herself which she hid away for years. Rue could not resist her feelings for Eli, who was hot, charming and very sexy. They made a great couple, very steamy together. I will say that this book had so much sex, it was very different then previous Hazelwood stories. I did like Trish, Rue’s best friend, who was totally loyal to her and a terrific bff. Rue will learn that though she thought she was close to Florence, she will discover secrets that could cause Rue to lose her job.

As we get closer to the end, with the hostile takeover, it will be Eli, who will do everything he can to protect Rue; as he knows he has fallen in love with her. Rue is entangled in a secret affair, that though she too has fallen for Eli, it does challenge the foundations of her past. Can she find a way to act on her feelings and desires?

Not in Love is wonderful love story, very steamy, as well as emotional. I really like the end and epilogue, which was great. Though, I do say there were too many sex scenes. Not in Love was very well written by Ali Hazelwood.

I love Ali Hazelwood so naturally this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! The spice was next level but balanced well with the plot. I loved how quickly Eli fell for Rue; insta-love is tricky to pull off sometimes, but it was perfectly executed here. Rue herself was extremely relatable to me, especially how socially awkward she was! I also appreciated the chemistry, communication and vulnerability between the main characters. 4.5⭐️

Loved this!! It took me a little bit longer to get into this one but I was completely invested by the second half. This book is different than what we’ve seen from Ali Hazelwood before but I really enjoyed it. I loved that Eli and Rue weren’t your typical rom com couple. I loved watching them fall in love. 4 stars!

I haven’t read that many Ali Hazelwood books (this was my third), and I feel like I’ve been doing a disservice to myself because of that. I loved this book!! It was sooooo spicy!!! and y’all know I love spice!!!❤️🌶️

Loved the chemistry and relationship between Rue and Eli—and I love how obsessed with her he is!!! We love a down bad man!!

Spice for this was 4/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️. These two kept it reeeeeeal spicy throughout the entire book.

(Thank you, Berkley and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)