I wish I could give this a 3.5 star. I enjoyed parts of this book a lot. I thought Rue and Eli had compelling back stories that made them work well together as a couple. I also liked the tension of the corporate merger and being on opposing sides. I also felt like because of the complex back stories that the dual POV worked well and I hope Ali does more of this in the future. I felt that the book did take a very long time to get going. The exposition dragged at points but at about the 20% mark the book picked up and was quite enjoyable

Ali Hazelwood is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She creates such unique characters, and Eli and Rue are perfect examples. They are believable and relatable, both doing it all to make their mark in the STEM world.

Initially, Eli didn't seem like the ideal match for the sweet and endearing Rue, and I was a little worried about them getting together. However, as the story unfolded, I found myself growing more "in like" of him. I didn't fall for him as Rue was my favorite character in the book!

There's definitely more depth to this story than first meets the eye. There is even a little intrigue and suspense woven into this story.

Rue's initial reluctance towards Eli, followed by her attraction, gave us the push-and-pull throughout the book. In this story, Ali Hazelwood amps up the STEAM and tones down the STEM!
This book was a bit different from her previous releases, but I loved it just as much.

This book started out really strong for me. I liked the premise of how the 2 characters met as well as the introductions to their personal and work circumstances. I felt fairly invested in the first half and I was enjoying how it was finally outside of the academia world. This was definitely a steamy book and the last half it felt like it was all smut and little to no plot or emotional development. I was over it by the 5th sex scene so much that I finally gave up at 80%. The last half read more like a smutty kindle unlimited romance and that was not what I was looking for in a romance.

I absolutely loved this book! I love how Ali H has been completely shaking it up lately from her normal writing. This was super refreshing from the typical rom-coms we usually get. I thought it was very unique, especially the food insecurity Rue experienced. I love how that was portrayed, personally. I can always feel so comfortable with AH's writing and this was no different.

I'm so disappointed to say that this is my least favorite Ali Hazelwood book so far. I found it hard to connect with Rue as our FMC, and while Eli sounds like a dream when you write out his traits on paper, I wasn't feeling very connected to him either. Typically, Ms. Hazelwood does a great job balancing the physical and the emotional/mental connection between our main characters, but this book felt completely overshadowed by the physical. Maybe this felt disappointing because I didn't feel much chemistry between them to justify it. I also just didn't care much about the main plot - legal/science drama is so not my thing.

Of course I will continue to read every book Ali Hazelwood puts out (and she is churning them out). but hopefully the next one grabs me more!

Shout out NetGalley for the eARC.

Not necessarily a big fan of this work by Hazelwood. I have enjoyed her other works that I’ve read so compared to those this just wasn’t doing it for me. I feel her other books are so much better in terms of the characters, the story and how the elements/plot connects. This just seemed like a steam fest with forced slow burn romance

"There was something all-encompassing about his presence, something physical and visceral and simmering that had a near chemical effect on me.”

‘I’ll never be easy to be around, Eli.’
“He knew that. He loved that. He wanted nothing more than to learn every inch of her, his complicated, mercurial dream girl.”
‘I can imagine worse fates.’

As an @alihazelwood stan, I’ve loved all of her stories and forays into various genres. Not In Love is no exception, but it’s also a departure from her typical romcom. There is great banter, lots of chemistry, and plenty of women in STEM representation, but Not In Love is also much heavier and more melancholy than her previous books.

The atmosphere of this book is darker, and the subjects of food insecurity, neglect, and emotional trauma/unavailability lay heavy on my heart. I felt for Rue, Vincent, Eli, and Maya, and found myself having to take occasional breaks from this story. It taxed me more emotionally than Ali’s other stories, so definitely heed the author’s note and trigger warnings on this one (thank you, Ali for including those!)

The steam in this one is also darker and more pervasive, and Ali also gives a good explanation for that in her author’s note. For me, it was intense, but I understood why it was written that way.

With all of that being said, I adored Tisha and Minami!! They offered humor, loyalty, and much-needed levity to this story. Everyone needs friends like them in their corner, and I was so glad Rue and Eli had them. I also loved Tiny (give me a dog in a book, and they will always get a mention!), Hark, and Sul.

Most of all? I loved how accepting Rue and Eli were of each other, and how they grew in trust and love together. Their journey had its ups and downs, but they really did fit each other, and I loved how they didn’t compromise themselves for anyone.

I listened to this one and really appreciated the dual narration and perspectives of Rue and Eli, brought to life by @callie_dalton and @jasonclarkereads . They did an incredible job!

An emotionally deep, dual POV, friends with benefits that turns into so much more. This had great emotional depth, childhood trauma, food insecurity and neurodiversity rep. I loved that this was such a complex love story that wasn't an easy HEA. Likely my new fav by this very favorite author and great on audio. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

Not In Love is the newest contemporary adult romance from Ali Hazelwood and the tone is somewhat different from her others. Rue and Eli meet and find they have a strong attraction to one another, but Rue doesn’t do repeats so they leave it at that. However, they soon find themselves thrust into each other’s presence as well as on opposite sides of a messy business take over. The attraction doesn’t fade and they are drawn to each other for other reasons as well.

I’ll be honest, I had a really hard time connecting with these characters for the majority of the book. Rue is detached from the other world and Eli comes across as a guy who is out to sabotage everything Rue and her friends have worked for. It’s hard to root for a couple when there’s no reason to want them together. It’s Ali Hazelwood, though, and I’ve loved all of her books, so I pressed on and I did love how it all came together. The last 25% or so of the book shed light on what was actually going on and explained the motives of both characters in much more detail. To some degree I understand why Hazelwood left this until end for Rue to discover but it would have helped me as a reader to be more engaged with the characters, especially Eli, if I’d had more of that information earlier in the story. Then I could have been rooting for him even when Rue wasnt.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, but it won’t be on my re-read shelf as most of Hazelwood’s other books are.

Where do I even start? I thought this book would be great because Ali Hazelwood is great at rom-coms (not so much fantasy, but that’s another story). Maybe I was under the wrong impression, but this book is NOT a rom-com. She has a disclaimer at the beginning saying this book is not a rom-com, so at least I had the warning going in.
The MFC has 0 emotional bandwidth. She had a traumatic childhood and, as a result, has little to no emotional availability. In reality, she barely has emotions. At all. She is robotic until after 50% of the way through and even then only has emotions like 3 times.
Eli, the MMC, is obsessed with her. So obsessed with her, (SPOILER) he finishes in 30 seconds or less. One pump and done kind of guy. He admits that she makes him feel like a teenager all over again, but it seems a little exaggerated.
Rue and Eli together are awkward. Stunted. There’s no real conversations between them. They share these “stories” that Rue believes makes her The worst person ever. They share these stories and it’s goes nowhere. There’s no conversation around them. Nothing to get to know each other better. It’s just this random information and then BAM, they’re banging. After 50% of the way in, it’s just sex every chapter. So, if that’s what you want, you’ll get it. This book is just them wanting to have sex with each other and then having sex with each other. They apparently fall in love, but I’m not sure it’s love. It’s more like lust. I can’t see it being love when they know all of 5 things about each other and spend the rest of their time getting down and dirty. Since this isn’t a rom-com, don’t expect any banter. You won’t find it. Also, the climax of the story is less than impressive. I blinked and it was over. I didn’t realize it was the grand finale for a hot second, that’s how insignificant it was. Basically, there’s a whole subplot going on that’s the idea around the book but the actual story is Rue and Eli wanting to have sex and having sex. Everything else is added in filler story to hit a certain word count.

Ali Hazelwood (The Love Hypothesis, Love Theoretically) turns up the heat in Not in Love, a sizzling contemporary romance featuring a biotech engineer and the man trying to take over the company she loves.
After a tough childhood and years of study, Rue Siebert finally has the job of her dreams working for her mentor Florence Kline and an almost-filed patent for a revolutionary produce coating. When Rue learns that a private equity firm has bought Kline's debt, she's ready to fight. Except one of the firm's partners looks just like the man she almost hooked up with the weekend before and they are unfortunately, disastrously still drawn to each other.
Rue and Eli initially agree to the sort of sex-only relationship that never works in romance novels. It's a delight to watch them break their rules as they fall together, despite all the reasons they shouldn't.
"...[H]e wanted to spend the rest of his life cataloging the ways she shouldn't have been right for him, and she still managed to be perfect." [93%]
This push-pull drives the plot, but is anchored by well-developed backstories and friendships for both characters. Not in Love is full of Hazelwood's trademark humor and nerdy science references, but higher in heat than her first several novels. This blend proves irresistible, making for a fast-paced story of forbidden love and professional betrayal that Hazelwood miraculously brings to a hope-restoring conclusion. This is sure to be a win for those looking for some spice with their STEM.

I’ve loved or at least passably enjoyed all of Ali Hazewood’s other books, but this one just wasn’t it. I’m iffy on the one-night stand/hookup to more trope anyway, unless the chemistry and stakes are there, and they just weren’t.

ali just created my new personality: complicated, mercurial dream girl

this book is different from ali’s others, there’s an air of tragedy — in fact, tragedy is kind of a big theme in this book. are some people destined for a tragic ending? that’s the question our two main characters return to.

there’s unrequited (sort of) love. there’s pining. and there’s working through some deep sh*t. and there’s also a lot of spice.

oh! and it’s dual-pov! we finally get an ali man POV *but* it’s third person (so well done). this is the first book I’ve read that switches between 1st and 3rd POV. rue is in 1st; eli is in 3rd. the switch was very jarring at first but once I got used to it, I enjoyed it. it felt fresh. honestly, this whole book did. it was gritty, and i loved that. I only wish we got *more* of these characters’ back stories; I think they could have fleshed out a touch extra.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ali Hazelwood is an auto-buy author for me and she likely will be forevermore ♾️ Not In Love is full of the banter and swoony moments that Ali is known for but it’s also got a lot of angst and emotion.

What to expect 👀
- Dual POV
- One Night Stand (kinda…its just a kiss)
- Workplace romance (Corporate takeover)
- Secret relationship
- He falls first and hard af
- SPICY

My Thoughts 💭
- Eli was such a love! I enjoyed his character a lot and he was the perfect mix of strong, tender, and funny.
- The plot was interesting, another STEM romance but this time we get the corporate aspect. If you too have been victimized by corporate America over the past year this may drum up some emotions lol
- I liked Rue at first and felt for her butttt toward the end I was over it. I totally get she had a difficult past and isn’t good in social situations but I felt like she just came off whinyyy. I know this was supposed to be angsty (angst in a book is already not my fave) but I didn’t get that gut punch…I just got annoyed 🙈

Overall, this was t my favorite book of hers but there were some great moments!

4.5 Stars

“If I’m not careful – if I don’t pace this just right, she’s going to run. I need to take it slowly.”

There’s no question that Ali Hazelwood is one of our favourite Authors. Her beautifully written stories always consume us from the moment we turn the first page until we reach the last. Her characters are intensely lovable for their quirks, their humour yet they also all have that ‘something different’ that makes us fall in love with every single one of them. We want to know them; we want to be their friend and we want to protect them. We fall in love with them page by page. Not In Love gave us everything we expected from this Author. Everything we look for in her stories and everything we needed to fall in book love. Without question Eli Killgore is one of the most soulful and beautiful characters we’ve come across in a while and as for Rue Siebert, well she just unapologetically honest and uniquely beautiful.

‘There was something all-encompassing about his presence, something physical and visceral and simmering that had a near chemical effect on me.’

Rue and Eli’s journey is one of the more melancholy stories we’ve read by Ali Hazelwood. It had an atmosphere which felt very heavy at times with less humour interspersed compared to what we’re used to. We hasten to add that whilst still labelled a romcom it felt anything but on many occasions such was the effect of the subject matter. Yet, there was quick witted banter to be found, in amongst the more heartbreaking and morosely poignant moments. As we mentioned, we fell in love with Eli and Rue, we fell in love with their journey, we loved their friends and once again we fell in love with yet another story from Ali Hazelwood. Now we’re hoping for a Conor Harkness book with a certain someone’s little sister perhaps?

“I’ll never be easy to be around, Eli.”
‘He knew that. He loved that. He wanted nothing more than to learn every inch of her, his complicated, mercurial dream girl.’
“I can imagine worse fates.”

This wasn't my favorite Ali Hazelwood novel. I found Rue to be likable and it was interesting how her experience with food insecurity informed her research. She and Eli definitely had sexual chemistry, but there was something about Eli that didn't work for me and I'm not sure exactly what it was. In the end, I just couldn't see them together.

Rue Sieber, PhD biotech engineer in food sciences, works for a startup where she has the goal of improving the food supply. Rue has been mentored by her company CEO, Florence Kline, who founded the company. Rue is the very definition of an introvert coming from a difficult childhood; she has no game when it comes to relationships or dealing with people on a personal level. Rue has one-time hook-ups with men and hard rules about no repeats. When her workplace is assailed by a group in a hostile takeover bid, Rue’s way of life is threatened especially since the money man of the group, Eli Kilgore, was nearly one of Rue’s prior evening App generated “dates.”

With Kline in their sights, Eli and his business partners have an agenda for taking over the company that relating to Florence and some bad blood history. Once Eli meets Rue and begins to surreptitiously court her in a way that Rue is very uncomfortable with, his attitude begins to change. Eli and Rue have a lot in common with hard childhoods, single minded career focus, and previously eschewed committed relationships. Rue’s awkwardness when it comes to other people makes her very wary of Eli, not to mention the whole issue of his being an enemy of her beloved boss.

Once they embark on their secret affair, each must come to terms with their intense relationship, and where it might go. Rue feels deep emotions for Eli that are foreign to her while he has been so focused on his company’s goal that nothing else has mattered much for years. They are both on shaky ground with the potential for a lot of heartache personally and professionally.

I am of two minds on this story. Ms. Hazelwood’s writing is witty, intelligent, and generally always a fun time usually focusing on STEM themes. I like the characters for the most part as well as the plot for this romance; however, it veers seriously into the realm of erotica and kink with several pages given over to their sex life. I think that steamy level detracts from the overall story especially with some descriptive language that I find reductive to women; perhaps, how well this story is received depends on the target audience. I would say this is my least favorite of this author's stories.

3.25 stars

Me being a woman in stem who is in the early process of getting her masters degree, reading Ali’s books tend to give me anxiety. All of the talk about stealing someone’s research or ideas in this book and the hardship of being a woman in stem stressed me so freakin bad! As much as I love reading her books, they could be too much for my overthinking mental state.

Now to the romance part of the story. I enjoyed this book. It’s just that I think the physical connection between them overshadowed the emotional one. Also, I’m not a fan of the insta-lust friends with benefits storyline. I agree that sometimes it work, but for the majority of time it doesn’t. I liked Rue so much. And as much as the side plot gave me anxiety, I enjoyed it as well. This wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t a personal favourite.

Huge Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing this copy.

I always jump at a chance to read Ali Hazelwood's books. I fell in love with her writing and super swoon-worthy love stories starting with The Love Hypothesis, and I've enjoyed every book she's written. This is as swoon-worthy as her other romances, though it wasn't my favorite. I think it's because it took me a minute to like Rue. Eli, I loved from the start. And I actually think this is one of her steamiest stories, and Eli's bedroom talk was hot!!

The story delves into some heavier topics, but there are humorous and light-hearted moments as well. These and the romantic scenes balance out the more serious topics well. And the writing, like all of Hazelwood's books, is fantastic. She has such an engaging style, and her stories always have such strong character development and growth.

If you've read other books by Hazelwood, you'll love this one. It's fun and entertaining, the characters are layered and interesting, and the romance is steamy and swoon-worthy.

I really enjoyed this one. The plot with the boss was super interesting. The friendships were great and I enjoyed watching Rue and Eli come to terms with their feelings.