I wasn't sure what to expect when I read this. I knew, thanks to the author's note at the beginning, that it was going to be different from the other Ali Hazelwood book, and while I wasn't setting my expectations low, I just wanted to go in with a completely open mind.

I am honestly, blown away by this book. I loved the tonal shift that Ali made to a more somber and serious tone while still retaining her signature voice. Getting both POVs was amazing (I personally didn't mind the change from third to first person) and I'm humbly asking that for all future books we can get a glimpse into the head of our male lead because while I loved Rue, Eli captured my entire heart. I melted at their incredibly open, honest, and vulnerable conversations. I'm so impressed that while this book almost has a melancholy mood I was still so happy while reading it. This one has to be one of my top books this year - it was so good.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the e-arc. All opinions are my own!

Compared to Ali’s other books this one’s slightly different - less rom com and more an intense and messy erotic romance. There’s the same women in STEM but the science is in the background, with a forbidden workplace affair at the focus with big discussions of grief, food insecurity, and child neglect. It’s incredibly spicy, probably her most yet including Bride, and featured a dual POV so we get to see Eli absolutely feral over Rue.

What I liked: good smut, toying with kinks, “tell me something about you no one else knows,” a man coming to a woman’s aid without expectations, a woman who doesn’t make herself over or compromise herself for anyone

What I disliked; yet again another villain in friendly disguise - it’s over used and she keeps doing it, a lack of romantic development despite lots of sexy scenes, and Rue herself as a character left a lot to be desired for me. I feel like we barely knew her.

That being said, I couldn’t put it down, needed to know how it finished and overall enjoyed it.

Vibes:
Forbidden romance
Enemies to lovers
Workplace romance
Women in stem
He falls first/harder
Hockey
Caretaking
Dual POV

This is definitely one of Ali Hazelwood's steamiest books (possibly the steamiest) and I LOVED it. Nothing is going to top my love for Bride, but Rue and Eli had such a compelling story. One night stand to forced proximity to "let's just do this once" to "okay we have to keep doing this" was such a fun dynamic. This is also the darkest romance we've seen from Ali. I thought the Rue and Eli's experiences growing up in low income households and experiencing food insecurity were done really well and had lasting impacts on their adulthood.

If you’re a fan of Ali Hazelwood but would like more spice, then Not in Love is the book for you! She doesn’t shy away from anything in her latest book, leaving the door wide open. Personally, I don’t care what level of spice there is, as long as the emotional connection is there, too.

I’ve read everything Hazelwood has published, and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read. However, I have a lot of thoughts about this one. Good thoughts and mixed thoughts. So forgive me if this review is kind of all over the place.

As with all her books, the characters are great. Even the side characters. Although there is one side character in Not in Love that I didn’t feel like I understood, and she plays an important part in the mess that brings our two leads together. I especially loved Tisha, Rue’s best friend, and Eli’s friends—specifically Hark who needs his own book!

I instantly connected with Rue. It’s never stated that she’s neurodivergent, but I identified with her social anxiety, the fact that she’s shy and people think she’s just a snob, that she struggles with small talk. I also liked that she’s comfortable with her sexuality. It’s always refreshing for female characters to be portrayed that way, however sometimes it felt incongruous with her personality.

I like the fact that Hazelwood always makes her male leads the one who realizes their feeling first, and I liked Eli, but I did get a bit of an insta-love feeling from him. It seemed fast without much emotional build-up. But, this is a very sex-forward novel. Hazelwood even includes a message at the front of the book to the reader stating this is more erotica than her usual books, which are already quite spicy. She states that Rue and Eli want to connect, but only know how to do that physically at first. So I tried to keep that in mind as I read, but I still felt like I needed a little more time from this couple outside the bedroom to convince me.

Not in Love is more the business side of STEM, less academic than Hazelwood’s other novels, which I don't think I liked as much. I wanted more time with Rue’s process as a biotech engineer, less of the administrative side.

As the complications built towards the climax of the book, I kept expecting a miscommunication or secret that would temporarily separate our leads. But thankfully that didn’t happen to any large degree. It was refreshing!

Even with all my mixed emotions, I loved the last few chapters of Not in Love. I thought Hazelwood did a fabulous job wrapping up the story, hitting all the right notes, and making me finally believe in this couple.

Ali Hazelwood refuses to be pinned down! She’s proving she can do it all in romance: fantasy, young adult, and new adult. I’m anxious to see what she’ll do next!

Read if you like:
🥵 Spicccccyyyy Reads
😠 Nemesis to Lovers
🧬 Forbidden Romances
🔬 STEMINISTS
😬 Socially Awkward FMC’s

Oh my goodness! This was everything I needed and more and whoa the male narrator for the audiobooks growl had me melting 🫠

Rue is afraid of commitment and doesn’t think that penetrative sex is for her, but oh how she will learn through her forbidden, sexy, and undeniable attraction to Eli.

I love how Eli is such a king in that he makes sure he makes it about Rue when they are together and shows her that when you break down walls and spend more than one night together, how great a relationship can be, and how the sex will be life changing as well 😉

I really loved the messiness and realness with both Rue and Eli’s characters and how childhood poverty and unreliable parents can still impact adults because of how just important those formative years are to being able to form healthy relationships with food, friends, and romantically.

Also, the way that the he falls first was done was sooo swoon worthy and I loved the little lines that Eli says regarding Rue and omg the way he was in control was sooooo enjoyable!

Thank you so so so much to Berkley for my ARC and to PRHA for my gifted audiobook!

Not in Love brings Ali Hazelwood's trademark STEMinist genre into the business world. The character development unfolds beautifully, and there's no doubt that the main characters have chemistry. It was exciting to see the author push past the same archetypes and dynamics into something new with more dimension to her characters. The novel is a quick and satisfying read that successfully takes on heavier issues than your run-of-the-mill romance novel.
That being said, it is frustrating to see the author support women of color in the sciences only from the sidelines. Once again, the best friends are clearly described as POC, and the main couple is left either racially ambiguous or presented as white.
There are sex scenes featuring orgasm denial and light bondage, but it's not nearly as intense as the author's content warning makes it out to be.

While most fans of rom coms will enjoy this one. It was not for me. Mainly due in part to the secret affair between Rue and Eli. It just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Stunning intimacy, thoughtful backstories, and an invisible string connecting our main characters made this book a resounding win for me.

Hazelwood hit her stride instantly, this is so fun and tense right from the start!

Rue, a BioTech engineer working in Food Science, meets and then re-meets Eli, their meet-cute destroyed when they end up on opposing sides of a hostile takeover. But their chemistry is undeniable, so what if they give in once? 

This book is very different in tone from her others, less RomCom and more contemporary romance. A lot more backstory given to both the main characters along with Eli’s POV. Eli is down bad from the start, but Rue doesn’t trust love, and this tension through his eyes is delicious. There was never a doubt in my mind that Rue and Eli were meant to be. If you love a man obsessed and the FMC resisting love this is going to be a treat for you. Also love learning every time I read her books, this time it was about patent law!

Hands down Hazelwood’s hottest read! Once again Hazelwood proves her chops at writing intimacy. Both physical and emotional. She uses boundaries and desires to show vulnerability for both characters in a way that feels shockingly real. Taking what could feel too realistic or hyper-awkward she makes it comfortable, using it to add tension and heat to her scenes. As Rue fights her desire for Eli, these scenes grow more tender and fraught for them both. This elevates it to something beyond just hot smut. Bow to your s*x scene queen.

Rue’s chapters are in 1st person and Eli’s are in 3rd person, which I think is a great nod to their mindsets. Eli is ready to be an open book with Rue, going from a crush into ‘ready for no end date in sight’. But Rue holds fast to the belief that she’s not capable of love. We have to be in her head fully to know her the way Eli wants to. I loved all the ways they connected, physically and with the sharing of secret shameful stories they couldn’t tell anyone else. Their connection is deep from their first meeting. You will pine over them.

Did I mention I loved it? 🧪💘

Not in Love is probably the hottest book Ms. Hazelwood has ever written.

What you can expect from the story:

Two person POV

Smart, strong FMC

Dominant, Clark Kent-type MMC

Steamy Chemistry

Possible corporate espionage?

A little mystery

A whole lot of sexy times

Not in Love has the signature Ali Hazelwood snark and STEMinist heroines. The book is well written and the storyline held my interest. But I had a hard time relating to Rue. I felt she wasn’t as approachable or as emotive as previous FMCs. It felt like Eli was the star of the book and Rue a supporting character, for which I was glad for the dual points-of-view.

This book is definitely NOT suitable for work because the alone time scenes with Rue and Eli kept me blushing fiercely and the expletive-heavy dialogue had me laughing out loud, very loudly.

Not in Love is a solid read and I’m looking forward to the next Ali Hazelwood book.

After reading Bride by this author I wanted to give her other books a fair shake. I tried The Love Hypothesis at one point, but put it down and never picked it back up until recently!

The book is told from two point-of-views and they come from Rue and Eli. They are dealing with their pasts and have a hard time letting someone in. They both go through a lot of growth and it was nice to see how it all played out, especially when they brought out more from one another. One big thing being love.

I will say that the development between them was good, but I wanted more from it. I am just not a fan of the physical first and relationship later. This is just a personal preference. It was also spicier than I would have liked, but again my preference. I did still liked them together and the game they played about sharing stories.

Overall, this was good. I would say that the romance is more a subplot and the focus is more on the characters and their personal growth which I didn’t mind. It was nice!

I was excited for this one because I have really liked all of this author’s books so far. Overall this wasn’t my favorite of her books, but it still had a lot of things in it that I did like. Honestly, for the first time I feel like finding out what was going on with Rue’s mentor was almost more the reason I kept going than the romance, which is unusual for me. Usually that aspect of the story is secondary as I’m really enjoying the romance.

I think because of some of that, it made it a little slower read for me, but then with all that has been going on in my life lately there are possibly other reasons it was slow for me that had nothing to do with the story.

As always, Hazelwood creates characters that may have some issues with intimacy. For example, when Rue met up with her hook-up dates, she took penetration off the list of acts they might engage in. However with Eli, things seemed different and she was able to try some new things and learned maybe her past experiences had more to do with the people as opposed to whether she would enjoy the acts or not. But I also don’t feel like it was set up that all of a sudden the right person made everything perfect in that way either. It had more to do with how Eli handled things and made sure she was enjoying what they did.

Eli’s character was charming and persistent, kind of like a puppy dog at times. In fact his dog and Rue’s attitude toward it was interesting. His POV when we got it was third person, whereas Rue’s was first person. We didn’t quite get the whole back story on Rue’s boss and why Eli and his friends were out to get her company from her, but it was obvious something bad had happened. And after we met his friends in the story, it was also obvious to me that it really must have been something that had been done to them, they were too nice/good of people to just be out for petty revenge.

As I mentioned it was needing to know just what their reasons were that kept me going in the story. Finding it out, and seeing how she reacted when confronted, well it was interesting, and also made Rue’s decision make a lot of sense for me. So while I did enjoy this story, and am glad I read it, it isn’t my favorite by the author, although there were parts that did stick out for me that I enjoyed. And one of the bedroom scenes was really, really hot. Which with how she kind of discussed the hook up with him at the beginning I wasn’t sure if I would be able to feel that way about those scenes in this book. But in the end, it was good!

As much as I've loved all of Ali Hazelwood’s books, her latest contemporary romance, Not in Love, impressed me. It’s her first with a dual perspective narration (first person from Rue; third person following Eli), and it also feels like her most mature and serious book to date.

Rue Siebert is unlike any of this author’s previous heroines. She’s not outgoing or fun or quirky. Rue is socially awkward, straight-forward, and claims to have no sense of humor. I could relate to her shyness and social ineptness, to a degree. (She’s far less of a people pleaser, though!) Similarly, Eli steps out of the bounds of previous Ali Hazelwood heroes: He’s confident, sociable, and easy-going (until his temper strikes). He’s an interesting contrast to Rue, and yet they’re also the perfect balance for each other.

Not in Love is very much about the world of biofuel and food technology, a subject I’ve only read about in one other romance (Kiss Me, Mi Amor by Alana Quintana Albertson). It’s totally STEM, based in the world of tech start-ups, and talks about finance and law quite a bit. This book will take some concentration and at least some enjoyment of the business world, but it’s not overdone. Trust me, even if you know nothing about any of those topics, it’s all spelled out easily enough here. Rue herself barely understands what’s happening, so readers can join her in a bit of confusion.

This book also dives into some tougher backstories. Early on, Rue and Eli begin bonding over their sharing of their worst stories, anecdotes from their personal lives that bring them shame. Rue once stole money from her best friend’s parents; Eli’s last words to his mother were horrible. Both have family traumas that they’re working through. Rue’s background, in particular, is hard: She was food insecure throughout her childhood, and it’s what led her to her passion for engineering improved food stability through her lab work.

Beyond their harsher confessions, Rue and Eli also bond in their physical connection. Rue is emotionally closed off, so real intimacy won’t come until much later. But the two do develop a strong sexual bond and eventually get into some kinkier activities. It’s more than I usually see in romances, but done so well here. It helps further their trust and emotional connection, even when everything else around them seems like an uphill battle.

One of my favorite things about Rue and Eli’s relationship is the sense of understanding and security Rue feels with him. As a shy person myself, I completely understand what it’s like to feel awkward with most people… and how magical it can be to instantly connect with someone who makes you feel normal and truly seen. That’s how it was when I first met my husband, and it’s something that Rue expresses several times throughout Not in Love. It made me love their relationship that much more.

Not in Love is different from Ali Hazelwood’s other books: Darker, more serious, steamier. But it also has her core elements: People in STEM, an important backdrop of workplace drama, and characters who are easy to like (at least, once you get to know them better!). I loved this one and can see how her writing and storytelling are evolving. This may appeal to different subsets of her readers, but for me, it’s among her best ones yet.

I love everything Ali Hazelwood puts out, and I’ve been super excited to see her branching out into different genres lately; Fantasy romance with Bride, erotic romance with Not in Love, and an anticipated college/sports romance Whet in 2025. With that said, I would like to provide the forward from Ali at the beginning of Not in Love:

Not in Love is, tonally, a little different from the works I’ve published in the past. Rue and Eli have dealt with – and still deal with – the fallout from issues such as grief, food insecurity, and child neglect. They are eager to make a connection but are not sure how to go about it except through a physical relationship. The result is, I think, less of a rom-com and more of an erotic romance.

Not an issue, my queen. Let’s get to the review.

What I liked about the book:
1. Along the lines of her forward, this is truly a different side of Ali. We still got the typical quick wit and cool girl snark that we love from her writing, but we got a lot more of a heavy tone. Both of our MCs come from less than happy backgrounds and Ali leaned into these experiences.

Rue and her younger brother came from a single parent upbringing that could only be described as inconsistent. There were times her mom had a job or support and they had enough food, and then there were times they would go days without food. Not only did this spur her working towards scientific food preservations methods in her career, but it continues to affect her in small and large ways throughout the story. From not wanting to be rushed to eat, to simply not eating enough at times, to not being able to have more than a one-night stand with someone because of the feeling that the tables were always going to turn any minute, Rue was an emotion-evoking character for sure. I especially loved that she came off cold, but she was really just super insecure and nervous. Me and my RBF can totally relate to that! Here is a good quote that sums it up:

If people perceived me as aloof and detached, then they would want to keep their distance. And if they kept their distance, then they wouldn’t notice how nervous and blundering and inadequate I was.

Eli had a slightly different life, wrapped in adversity/conflicts with his parents (more his father), and then the burden of taking on his sister who was ~14 years his junior when he was 25 and his parents died. At that age, he was not secure financially and often resented everyone, including his sister for the situation. An incredibly raw admission, but real and believable all the same.

2. I loved the way our MCs were able to connect: through telling each other increasingly worse stories about themselves, revealing some of the worst parts of themselves they hadn’t always told others, and seeing if the other backed away from it being too much. Hint: It never was!

This is such a vulnerable position to put themselves in, but it worked for them given they both had a lot of stories and were able to listen to the other person without judgment because of their mutually devastating backgrounds. While it killed the romance lover in me that they resisted getting together for so long, this is one of my favorite ways I’ve seen two characters connect and I want to see more of this in other stories! For two people coming from unhealthy places, this was a very healthy step towards their long awaited HEA.

3. I loved the side characters.

Tisha and her sister Nyota were hilarious, especially when they bickered like the sisters they were; they were definitely the comedic relief in this book. They also both had Rue’s back when needed, making them very loveable side characters.

Minami was one of the four heads of the acquiring company, and really the brains behind a lot of the science stuff. She was the epitome of a woman who straightens another woman’s crown and I LOVED HER! Even with what happened to her in her past (won’t be spoiling what though!), she definitely didn’t want to pass that experience forward onto another woman in science. True Queen move.

Hark is one of the four heads of the acquiring company, and arguably the head head if that makes sense. I loved how he was a bit of a hard character to like. Under everything, you can tell he is a good dude, but given his personal life being in shambles, his professional life is his baby. I couldn’t blame him for the thoughts he had, but I definitely want to see the grump fall in love! With Eli’s younger sister, Maya, already having a long-term crush on the man, I’m hoping to the GODS that Ali gives us a second story in this series involving an age-gap romance between these two. Don’t think I didn’t notice him asking about her and some of the looks he had when her name was brought up! I see you Hazelwood!

Sul was another one of the 4 heads of the acquiring company, and was also the husband of Minami. He kinda took a back seat in this book, but his support of Minami at all times was lovely.

4. As mentioned previously, we still got Ali’s trademark “cool girl snark”. I reserve the “cool girl snark” descriptor for the authors who write snarky characters and effortlessly sarcastic humor, similar speaking to how I imagine the really cool alt girls in school I was too intimidated to talk to spoke like. These are your Lorelai Gilmores, Stevie Budds, April Ludgates, and at least 2 of the Derry Girls. Ali is one of the authors in my illustrious “cool girl snark” club and I’m happy she has kept her place there with this title.

What I wasn’t a fan of:
1. With the forward talking of this being more of an erotic romance and the kinks being mentioned between the MCs, I guess I was just expecting a bit more in that department. There was nothing in the intimate times that really stood out to me, which is not typical of a Hazelwood book. Usually, I am lusting after the MMCs hardcore and am jealous of the FMCs. I can see why Hazelwood would say this was more erotic given the number of encounters, I just felt the encounters were not as sizzling as others I’ve read in her other books. DO NOT GET ME WRONG, this book was still swoony as hell, but not “erotic” in my own opinion.

2. I’m not sure if this was the case for her other books, but Rue’s chapters were written in first person while Eli’s were in third person. The inconsistency was not my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Ali Hazelwood for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts above are honest and my own.

Ali Hazelwood is coming at us hard with Not in Love. We consistently say that we enjoy her books, but we want something a little new from her. We sure got that with Bride, and now with Not in Love she's tweaking her formula (that's a STEMMy thing to say, right?). So sure, this is kind of the same thing we've read from Hazelwood before, but it's also a little bit different. For example, it's dual POV (her first?!); the MMC is a finance bro, not a scientist; the FMC is tall (!); and they both have interests outside of their jobs. Also, this is a sex book. Like, fully 30-40% of this book is sex, and up until 25% of the book no one bangs anyone. (As Laine says, hopefully you can extrapolate about the back 3/4 of the book.)

What's the setup? Rue and Eli meet after connecting on a hookup app. Although they don't immediately move into the one night stand, the attraction is there. The next day, they run into each other under very different circumstances: Eli's investment group hopes to acquire the tech startup where Rue works. Since Rue is besties with the founder and CEO, this means she and Eli are now mortal enemies. And we don't bang our enemies... do we? (Obviously we do, it's called "enemies to lovers" for a reason.)

Did we love this book? Well, kinda. We both inhaled it in one afternoon. Let's just say that Ali Hazelwood isn't leaving our TBR list anytime soon.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

I'm not really sure that this book should get a rating from me. It's not that I didn't enjoy reading it, but that I don't think Ali Hazelwood is the best author to tackle these characters. Rue and Eli aren't the idealistic MCs we typically see in trad published contemporaries; they're flawed, selfish, more comfortable with physical than emotional connection, and aren't necessarily looking to change any of that. It's a departure from her previous books and I'm not sure it quite landed with me.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for my copy to review.

🧪 Book Review 🧪

Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood
🧪
How is it possible that I love every new book Ali comes out with more than the last one? This is her spiciest book so far, and the first dual POV, and I devoured it! Rue is so relatable. She’s quirky, shy, and socially anxious, but feels things very deeply. Eli is incredibly sweet, utterly filthy, and completely obsessed with her. He falls first, and falls harder. He used to be a hockey player and is an ex-scientist with baggage, but all that only makes him more sensitive and caring. Their chemistry was explosive and uncontrollable, which led to some truly excellent spice. At the same time, they were tender and vulnerable with each other, and seeing their relationship grow into something real was super sweet. I adored everything about this book and want to reread it immediately.
🧪
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
🧪
Read if you like:
▫️women in STEM
▫️work romance
▫️enemies to lovers
▫️forbidden love
▫️“one night stand” never doing this again
▫️dual POV
🧪
Thank you to Berkley, Penguin Random House, NetGalley, and Ali Hazelwood for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this one, my favorite Hazelwood book yet. Despite the insta-love (which I typically don't like) I totally felt the chemistry between Eli and Rue and totally rooted for them. I liked them sharing about their past family lives and challenges with each other in an organic way. I think that's why it didn't feel like insta-love as much - because they did end up sharing so much about themselves with one another. I appreciated the discussion of food insecurity in this book as well, I haven't seen it addressed much in books and think it's something that should be talked about more. I loved the strong women in STEM representation as usual and while it was less science in this one it still covered a lot of issues that come up in the scientific world. And the steam was off the charts in this one! Definitely a spicy one! The only part I didn't love was the very ending. Like the epilogue. I don't think I really needed it, would've been happy with it ending right before the epilogue. The audiobook was fantasic, the narrators really brought the characters to life for me!

𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 🎭: romance
𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝙋𝙖𝙘𝙚 🏃🏼‍♀️: pretty fast
𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 🖤: edging & banter

I'm really loving this style of writing for Ali. I enjoyed this book a lot more than her previous STEM romances and I think she's really found a good rhythm with plot and romance.

I came for the plot but stayed for the spice. Holy banter. Some hints at more ✨taboo✨ themes in there 😉. The story definitely took a back seat at times but it worked for me.

The duet narration was great. I listened at 2x for the majority of the book. I do wish some of the side characters were duet narrated (Callie narrated some of the male side characters where it would have benefited from Jason narrating). Very enjoyable.

Ali Hazelwood brings the heat in this new spin on an enemies-to-lovers romance with a touch of the forbidden that will have you flipping pages and not wanting to put this story with the perfect blend of sweetness and spice down.

Biotech engineer Rue loves her job and has been working meticulously on a project that is very close to her heart. But when her company is being taken over by mysterious new partners, one being Rue’s previously dashing and handsome romantic connection, Eli, everything suddenly becomes more complicated. Lines are crossed and boundaries are drawn, but her pull to Eli remains the same—undeniably and unfortunately magnetic.

I literally read this book in two sittings! It was so easy to fall into this new story with chemistry-filled tension, angst, and tons of adorable romantic sparks. I loved the amount of depth Hazelwood brought to this love story. The romance was at the heart of Rue and Eli’s tale, and through that connection, they were able to grow and take control of the direction of their lives. It was very sweet to see unfold, and my heart was with them—through all the ups and downs. I am also such a sucker for the found family trope, and this has a touch of that as well.

This one is more on the steamier end of Hazelwood’s books but helped add to their overall journey, and *whew* I was here for it!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Thanks to Berkely via NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Not in Love is now my fave adult, contemporary, non-paranormal Ali Hazelwood book (Bride remains my all time fave!). The tone of the book is a bit darker than Ali's previous STEM books, and the MCs have dealt with/are dealing with some heavier issues. As someone who grew up lower-income, I could really appreciate the care Ali put into writing about these issues, including food insecurity, and the long-lasting impact it has on a person, even when life is a lot better.
I liked how we left the university setting in this book, and moved into a more corporate setting, though linkages with university research and culture is still present. It helps, I think, to foster a better understanding of what academics can experience when wanting to have ownership of their work. As to the cutthroat nature of said ownership.... it sadly wouldn't surprise me if that happens in real life.

Rue and Eli's sexual chemistry is off the charts from the beginning, but whether it can be something more isn't as certain given Rue's reticence to be in a relationship, as well as the potential conflicts of interest given their work situation. But as they spend more time together, Rue learns to trust Eli, but more critically, to trust herself.

I really enjoyed the whole story beyond Rue and Eli's relationship.

The spice is definitely spicy in this book; moreso than Ali's previous books, so readers should be aware of that. Definitely read the author's note at the beginning before starting.