I’m a big fan of Ali Hazelwood but honestly this book is the basically the same as all of her others.

Ugh this book didn’t hit in the way that I was hoping it would. I usually love Ali Hazelwood’s books but I just didn’t vibe with this one in the same way.

I really struggled with the first half of the book. It seemed like the plot was getting subdued by their hookups (which seemed unnecessary at times throughout the entire book) and I was struggling to make it through. The second half of the book got better and the plot started to shine through some more. That’s also when I started to see more of a real connection between the characters. The ending was cute and I enjoyed that part. The lead up the the second half of the story was just such a struggle for me.

I also wish that the story delved a little more into the two main characters pasts. I think that could have really deepened the characters and their relationship. I also just felt like I needed more conversations between the characters and more time of them getting to know each other on a personal level.

This one was okay but definitely not my favorite Ali Hazelwood book.

This is not your typical Ali Hazelwood romcom - actually it's not at all. the author’s note at the beginning lets you know that this will be slightly different from her other books, more serious in subject and tone. Which it was, and it was the part that interested me. The romance, however? Eh

This was completely a *me* problem, because I don’t like friends with benefits tropes, anyway, but I thought Ali Hazelwood would be the exception since I love her other work. However, I found myself skipping through it because it was just sex. Most of it. The first dual POV book we get from her, and the guy’s internal monologue is just how much he wants to fuck her (which, sure, okay, but what else is going on in your head, dude? Nothing original from a man, I guess….)

I don’t know. I just saw no chemistry. It was pure lust. I don’t know why this book needed dual POV, anyway, since they hedge over ~real~ reason Eli’s company is trying to buy out her workplace. We don’t learn anything from his perspective when the reader is also kept in the dark until Rue finds out. But whatever. Not the Ali Hazelwood book for me, but others will love it just fine.

3.75 I have mixed thoughts on this one. I absolutely love this author but this one was a bit of a miss for me. While I loved that the characters had a physical attraction and relationship, I was missing the deeper connection. The tropes involved also weren't my favorite but that is just my personal interest I know others are fine with those tropes. I did enjoy both of the main characters separately and how they interacted together. Overall, it was a quick read but could have been better in pacing.

I firmly believe reading Ali Hazelwood's books is like eating Pringles. Once you pop, you can't stop. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it similar to her other romances? Yes. Is it STEM? Yes. Have I read this all before? Yes. WILL I STILL READ IT? ALSO, YES!!! It's a dose of seratonin, and I think one should fully embrace books that spark joy.

Like all of Hazelwood's books, this was a delightfully fluffy romance based on the enemies to lovers trope. It is similar to her other books in tone and in concept, but that isn't a problem for me. I like the formula of the STEM romance!

Thank you, @berkleypub @berkleyromance, for the opportunity to read and review this one!

I was late to the Ali Hazelwood train and have only read (and loved) The Love Hypothesis so far. When this one came across as an option for a #berkleybuddyread, I jumped at it. I am so glad I did as it was the perfect read for me this week.

I enjoyed the high heat of the spiciness. I liked that the characters both had baggage and childhood traumas that they were coping with. My favorite might have been the blunt honesty/worst secrets sharing that became the main characters thing.

Check this one out if you enjoy enemies to lovers with a lot of spice.

I enjoyed this! I love that there was depth and the characters were complex. I didn’t love the changing POVs because one was first person and the other was third. Other books with dual POVs usually keep it in the same style. I loved the emphasis on communication because that usually ends up bothering me and I’ve always loved how Hazelwood incorporated science but keeps it simple for readers.

The wittiness that Ali Hazelwood tends to fill her books in should be illegal. I accidentally snorted out loud, in public while reading this ☠️ and I’m not mad at it.

We have Rue and Eli, who meet on a hookup app - but their one night goes horribly wrong when her brother shows up. Eli plays the gentleman and gets her home safely. But anything happening afterwards breaks her never more than once rule.

Queue her next day at work, her company finds out it’s being bought - and Eli is one of the members who’s “stealing” the science from her and the team. Enter all the drama that typically exists, but it’s worth it. People you think you can trust, you can’t. A one night thing, that just happens to repeat. A lot.

AND ELI? Eli is literally the best man ever. So patient. Kind. Understanding. Dirty. So swoon worthy in the filthiest of ways. So I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

One thing that kind of took me off guard - Rue’s POV is in first person, but then when we have Eli’s, it’s in third person. The dual perspective books I’ve always read tend to stay in the same POV, so it just threw me off repeatedly.

5⭐️ 4🌶️

HERE LIES FLAVIA, KILLED BY ELI KILLGORE AND ALI HAZELWOOD.

I’m going to write a review because I’ve had two weeks now to sit with my thoughts and I feel I can finally do this without just ferally screaming into the void while on all fours and panting like the animal this book has made me. Ok, starting now.

If you’d like to read a condensed version of this review, let me summarize it for you: this is Ali Hazelwood’s most obsessed men, most “will-float-in-the-air-chasing-your-scent” man, biggest simp man. There, that’s the short review.

The long review entails me screeching that this is the biggest feral animal Ali has ever written and I was clutching my pears and grasping the seat, scratching my nails down my face with every 👏🏻 single 👏🏻 thing that came out this man’s mouth. His very very VERREERY filthy, delicious mouth. I mean, bleach and soap would do nothing to him. Mans was simply gone. ONE SINGLE LOOK at her in a bar and he was so far gone for my girl that really, he would have torn out his own lungs to give to her if she needed.

HE IS SO WHIMPERY AND SUCH A DOM AT THE SAME TIME LIKE HELLOOOOO PLS MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!!! I don’t know how Ali achieved this but JFC is Rue a lucky lucky girl. The minute his point of view started I was bent in half harder than a Motorola flip phone. The changes in pov from 1st to 3rd were the best!! I know I know, it’s not for everyone but how yall were focusing on that when he was spewing filthy things I’ll never know. I’ve never seen butter melt in the sun harder and faster than I melted into a puddle when he was just resisting so hard to tough her tiny facial scar. Everything he did, how he acted with her, the overprotective and feralness that came over him from the very start of the book?! LORD HAVE MERCY I AM TOO WEAK.

Rue was amazing, as all of Ali’s FMCs are. Baby girl knows what she wants and she is not afraid to say or it list it on a dating app. And I think this is what shocked me most of all because Ali miss ma’am WELCOME TO KINK!! Please stay for a long time and tell us more. I know that brain is a freaky place.

I would worship at Ali’s feet for more of these two. As simple as that.

“Rue Siebert. Changing his cellular makeup, one solemn look at a time.”

“I’d never felt more beautiful than when he looked at me. Like I was the final prototype of someone’s entire fantasy life.”

Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong. Not in Love is a bit different from her other romance books but still just as swoony! I absolutely devoured this story.

I enjoyed the book! It wasn't exactly a romantic comedy, but I was pleasantly surprised by how deep and complex the characters were. The story sucked me in and made me feel like I was part of it.

I loved this story so much. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about two people whose sexual connection takes precedence over finding an emotional connection, but that emotional connection is found regardless. I think this is such a realistic thing that happens and it made for a great story.

Not in love, makes you feel like you’re falling in love for the first time as a woman who understands her sexual desires. Their chemistry is jumping out of the page and suffocating me. How does Ali vex me this way?! I love the disclaimer at the beginning because this isn’t the typical romance, however, this is how a lot of romances start in the current modern world. I loved everything about this. I really hope Ali writes about Hark & Maya too (we love an age gap romance). Please don’t hold this late review against me this book came to me at the best and worst time of my life, I was hospitalized this past summer a lot and finally gave birth early to a beautiful baby girl who I hope will someday love and respect herself the way Rue does. Thank you so much Ali Hazelwood, Berkley Publishing, and NetGalley!

Okay - it was cutting it close there, I thought this one would become my new favorite Ali Hazelwood but we're safe another day! The characters were so incredible and their chemistry had me foaming at the mouth. They were both smart and witty, and the romantic chemistry was through the roof. The story overall was engaging and I sit here waiting for the next Ali Hazelwood masterpiece!

HOLY ALI! I LOVEDDDDD THIS! The FMC and MMC were perfect together, the spice was perfection, and I loved the storyline. I swear every book Ali writes gets better and better. Thank you so much for the ARC!

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 👀