Another magnificent story! Omg I loved it!!! This was such a fun and bingeable book! I have really loved all of her books so far and I am so excited this one hit the mark too! So many spicy scenes and a really engrossing story! Loved all the characters and the pacing was perfect!!! I hope everyone loves this book when it comes out, I had so much fun reading it!!!!

Not my fav of Ali’s. Spicy, kind of boring at times, but a quick read. It felt like the book went on and on and on. More science, less sex, please.

This was different than Ali’s other books (as she prefaces with). While I only gave it three stars, I know people out there will love this one! Can’t wait for Ali’s next book.

Thanks NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC!

A major no from me. Let it be clearly stated that I enjoy a steamy book, I am not shy when it comes to the books I read and the amount of steam they sometimes had. Heck, I don’t even mind when they’re not super connected before they entangle themselves together. So that isn’t my issue here at all. It started off okay. I liked the idea of the workplace rivals sort of situation, it’s worked before so why not do it again. Where this book starts and where it ends feels like two completely different books, I’m still a bit perplexed by it. I got on board with the two MCs and how they came together, but for the entire book they lacked any sort of chemistry or connection. And since it’s “so not normal” for both of them to have these bigger feelings I expected the chemistry to be off the charts. Maybe part of the problem is I just didn’t click with the fmc. At first I liked that she was different, but then I thought about it and she’s really not all that different than Hazelwood’s other fmcs. Her backstory intrigued me but the more I read from her pov the less I liked her. I even tried switching to the audio to see if I would like it better and I somehow liked it worse. I think the female narration made her even harder to like. But that could just be me. I have a lot more thoughts but don’t want to be too spoilery so I’ll wrap it up here.

There were little pieces of the story I liked but overall it’s a big no from me and I am not sure I will be continuing with Ali’s books moving forward after back to back misses.

Other AH books:
The Love Hypothesis ★★★★☆
Love on the Brain ★★★☆☆
Love Theoretically ★★★★☆
Check & Mate (my fav) ★★★★.5
Bride ★★★☆☆

I have conflicting feelings on this one. I will say for sure that I really did enjoy it, but it has left me conflicted.
We have our bones of a typical Ali Hazelwood story of course, which we all have come to know and love, but this story has an a lot more sex in it that her usual stories, which is also not a negative. I liked the Rue and Eli as individuals. I liked the characterization put into Rue and her backstory, and how her and Eli interacted when they were alone and not having sex. I thought it was nice to have the dual POV this time, and I liked that Eli's was not first person (which is definitely a preference of mine, as I much prefer 3rd person narration in general). I wish, though, that we got to know better why Eli was the way he was sooner. Rue was way better fleshed out and had reasons to act the way she did moreso than Eli in my opinion, and I think Eli would have benefitted a little more by having his backstory explained sooner. I think with all the exposition and given circumstances of Rue's job and tidbits dropped here and there you can piece together her insecurities better, but I was just waiting for Eli to drop a huge trauma bomb the whole time as to why he was damaged, and when you got to know his personal issues, it was a little underwhelming.
Something that I did not like about this and thought to be odd was the amount of times referenced by Eli that he was feeling like a teenager in reference to sex, like saying he couldn't remember feeling anything so good while fucking someone, not even as a teenager, things like that. Thought that was an odd way of describing feelings of pleasure and just made me kind of get the ick.

I think that stem plot of this was much easier to follow and understand what was going on compared to some of the past stories and I really enjoyed the cast of side characters, and our villain actually being a villain.

Overall, I liked the foray into something a little bit darker and graphic to be trad pub from Ali Hazelwood and not as cherubic in her characters and storyline, and I think that this was a fun and sexy read.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own,
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a great job as a biotech engineer, a roof over her head, and a few good friends. When a hostile takeover occurs and she meets Eli Kilgore, the chemistry is undeniable, but they are off limits to each other given the circumstances of their employment. They try to scrub each other from their systems but they keep getting pulled back into each other's orbits. And, given the reasoning Eli has for overtaking Rue's company, a rift may form between them that is impossible to fix.
I eat up anything Hazelwood writes. Every time she has a new book, it becomes my favorite. And I knew going into this one that it would be a bit different from her previous book. But, as always, she is Queen of STEM and knows just how to write characters that are quirky, relatable, interesting, and endearing with emotional baggage that always comes to the surface to create tension and angst. I could not put this one down. I enjoyed every bit of the character development, plot, and spice! Yes, this one is quite spicy, on a different level than her other STEM books in my opinion. If you're into closed door romance, this one is not for her. Enemies to lovers trop is one of my favorite, along with dual POV which gets me into the heads of both the main characters.
Rue, as with many of Hazelwood's female characters, has some latent childhood trauma that causes her to shirk most relationships. She jumps off the page as grumpy, rather than full of sunshine. But it's her social anxiety that makes her this way. She's also not built like everyone else and tends to be a loner. She doesn't believe she is capable of love, so quick one night stands are her thing. She doesn't expect for Eli to make her feel things she never knew she could. I love how smart she is. She's also very no nonsense. There's nothing shy about her and she doesn't come across as a woman who won't go after what she wants.
Eli: tall, ex-hockey player (YES PLEASE!), science type who is not afraid to go after what he wants, both in the boardroom and in the bedroom. He's a very layered character. I loved that he was explicitly involved in science while still having that knowledge. At first, I was not sure where Hazelwood would take that aspect as I'm used to seeing both her main characters being part of the science world, but his involvement just worked. Wew, when I say this man creates hot tension, I am not joking. His emotional damage comes in the form of loss and being thrown into becoming a parent when he wasn't even sure he could care for himself. He's fascinating in his interactions with his friends and his sister. He's a boy obsessed in this book. There is nothing he wants more than to have Rue as his own, in whatever way she'll give herself to him. Even if he may get hurt in the process. And he's so patient with Rue, letting her open and blossom and giving her just the push she needs to be more than she thinks she can be. He's attentive and very aware of her needs. He really sees her for who she is and never pushes her to be someone she is not giving her the time and space she needs. Was I angry that he withheld things from her, just a bit. But I did understand his reasoning. At the same time, he's almost feral when it comes to what he wants in the bedroom, and this makes him a bit more unexpected for me.
The spice and humor in this book are great. I don't think Hazelwood's spicy scenes have made me squirm before but this one totally did. I was literally sweating while reading some of it. There's a bit of kink in the sexy scenes I totally was not expecting and I have to say I loved that Hazelwood went there. It was unexpected given the nature of and level of spice in her previous works. And there is actual plot here. It's not just sex page after page, it's characters experiencing trauma and loss and how they grow and change to fit new roles that were unexpected. I will say I saw from the beginning the rift that would happen but I was invested on how the book would unfold it and get to where it needed to be. There are a lot of subjects touched on and explored: food insecurity, child neglect, social anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy. Hazelwood explores these with a deft and delicate hand. As with all of Hazelwood's books, my chest felt heavy many times during reading with the anticipation of how things would blow up and be resolved. The tension she creates is up there with what I feel when I read Christina Lauren's books. And it's what keeps me wanting to turn the pages.
I enjoyed how Hazelwood incorporated the politics of business. While she writes very much from a science perspective, we have rarely seen how these politics truly change the world in which the characters live. Initially, I wasn't sure I would like this aspect and how it was integrated into the lives of the characters. It took me longer to become emotionally attached to the people in this book than it has in previous Hazelwood books. Definitely much more of a slow burn when it came to my investment in wanting to see where the story led. But once I saw how that slow burn needed to happen in order for the book to progress, I understood the need to have some emotional distance from the characters at the beginning.
Once again, Hazelwood has given me a book I love. I truly enjoyed how different this was from her previous works while still incorporating the STEM aspect. There's definitely more of a focus on the business world in this book while the science part is more in the background. Hazelwood knocked it out of the park with this book. I just have one request for Hazelwood: please, please, please continue to write in dual POV because it truly brings the stories you write to new heights!

Different in tone from her other books. I prefer some plot with my spice. I felt like this was just filler between sec scenes.

I finished this book so quickly. One of my favorite things about the Stem-inist novels is having really intellectual characters, at least in an academic setting. Rue and Eli are both complicated characters with complicated pasts, both in different ways. Unlike some of the other novels in this series, there are a lot more mentions of triggers. (The author has a great note about it at the beginning of the novel). Rue has a lot of things she tries to hide and run away from, except for her work. She has been through a lot, and is still going through a lot, and finds comfort in only meeting up with people once. Eli was meant to be a one-night stand, but when he shows up at her work, with his colleagues, it turns things upside down. They both have strong feelings for each other, even after only one night that didn't go the way they played. The writing of this book is really well done and I found the 'friend' characters really supportive for both Rue and Eli. Overall, a definitely darker story than the others, with a lot more betrayal by the others characters. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the eARC!
I was nervous going into this one even though I'm already a huge Ali Hazelwood fan. I knew going in that this one was going to be tonally different from her other titles and the fact that this book is much heavier with the spice (I'm very indifferent when it comes to spice in books but if it ends up being too much and not a lot of other plot for me to focus one, I'll quickly lose interest)but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the fmc, Rue, and the way her social anxiety & her childhood trauma was dealt with (also, she was actually tall!). As for Eli, it did take me a good while to warm up to him. Sometimes i found his chapters annoying but necessary as you got more insight for the science/career plot of the book. I could've lived without knowing his lustful thoughts on Rue (look I get it dude, but like it was excessive) but towards the end, he did win me over. I did struglle with the first half of the book because it was so heavy on the spice but then once the career subplot started to come together and the feels started happening (lol, I'm trying so hard not to spoil, forgive me!). This book did deal with heavier topics that I thought were done pretty well and there was a bit of Ali's humor present in this but not as much as I would've liked. I wouldn't say this is one of my favorites but I did end up really liking it more than I thought I would.

Ali Hazelwood had me unexpectedly in tears over this biotech engineer finding her spicy/happy romance, which is not a reaction I've had when enjoying her books before. I literally did not move from my chair until I finished devouring this one.

Rue Siebert is a biotech engineer who openly tells her hookup app matches that there are no repeats in her world; they have one time with her. She is socially awkward with so many walls up after a childhood of poverty and neglect. One of her matches, Eli Killgore, unexpectedly shows up at her workplace with his business partners as they look to take over her firm. They're each torn between crazy chemistry and loyalty to their own friends and colleagues.

I loved both of these characters, their ethics and resilience after each going through so much in their lives. I loved that they bonded over exchanging stories from their past that they were ashamed of, and that it only made them fall for each other harder. If any of you experienced poverty or food insecurity as a child, this story will hit all your feelings.

Thank you so much to Berkley and Netgalley for this ARC!

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ali Hazelwood is back with a forbidden romance set in the cutthroat world of biotech startups. Heroine Rue Siebert is a successful engineer facing a (supposedly) hostile takeover led by the infuriatingly attractive Eli Killgore. Their professional rivalry ignites a secret, passionate affair, fueled by undeniable chemistry but complicated by loyalty and deadlines.

I had such mixed feelings about this book. I didn’t love it, but I also couldn’t put it down. One of the things that I have always appreciated about Ali Hazelwood is that her writing typically feels quite natural, especially when it comes to dialogue. I can’t explain why, but her latest work felt a bit forced to me. (This is more of a commentary on the romance genre as a whole, but I think that popular demand for smut has pushed a lot of strong contemporary romance authors into cringe territory and I hate it.) The plot and characters were great. I love Rue’s quirky personality and the openness between her and Eli. I enjoyed the book, just not quite as much as her others.

Hazelwood is back to her roots with this book. This is a steamy (although not quite as steamy as "Bride." We're back in Hazelwood's comfort zone: writing in a STEM setting. While the competition between colleagues is a fun element that brought a lot of tension between our lovers, this didn't feel like writing growth or experimentation like the previous novel. It felt like she went back to writing what she's familiar with.

Overall, this is a perfectly fine yet forgettable STEM romance from Hazelwood—which are starting to blur together.

I was so excited to read this book and it definitely lived up to my expectations! Rue and Eli meet on an app for casual hookups but after their date is interrupted, Rue never expects to see him again. The next day, she learns that the engineering company where she works is undergoing a hostile takeover by none other than Eli’s finance company. Rue and Eli are torn between loyalty and their intense attraction.

This book had everything I love about Ali Hazelwood’s STEM romances, but this is definitely Ali Hazelwood’s spiciest book yet! It took me a little bit longer to connect with Rue, but after hearing her backstory, I definitely understood her better. Eli was so sweet and I loved how patient he was with Rue. I would love to get a story about Eli’s sister (and Hark). I definitely recommend this if you like Ali’s other books.

Tropes:
▫️Workplace romance
▫️Enemies-to-lovers
▫️Friends with benefits
▫️Forbidden love
▫️Women in STEM

Thank you to Ali Hazelwood, Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Not In Love, a bit more than Love Theoretically but not as much as Love on the Brain. I appreciated the dual points of view, although some of Eli's thoughts were a bit cringey. Both main characters were well fleshed out, had lives and relationships outside of each other (which is always a plus) and had great chemistry. Honestly, the chemistry between them had me blushing and fanning myself at times. This one was a lot spicier than Hazelwood's previous titles, and I'd say her writing of intimate scenes has vastly improved. When it comes to M/F romances, I love when the male main character falls first, and the way Eli's feelings for Rue were written is masterful, and so I'm still thinking about them days after having finished it. I will be recommending this book to patrons at my branch, and really anyone looking for a romance rec. We've already ordered multiple copies. Thank you for granting my request for this ARC.

Thank you to the wonderful people at Berkley for letting me read the ARC of Not In Love.

So I was really excited to pick up Not In Love because I not only enjoy Ms.Hazelwood's quirky humor but I love how she brings a mix of STEM and awkward human beings into spotlight because everyone deserves to be a main character of their lives. The excitement I felt when I first realized this is her first dual POV was no joke, However it hurts my being that this is by far my least favorite full length book to the day from her(yup I'd place her novellas on top of this one) it also has the least STEM factor to it focussing a lot on corporate/finance which was fine but one might get lost in the corporate/finance jargon while trying to understand the conflict

While I admit that lust to love/ let us get it out of the system doesn't always work for me, I thought the beginning of the story was promising. A one night stand gone wrong or right(?) when the hero had to become her knight in the shining armor than her amour (see what I did there?) but things get even awkward when Eli the supposed knight shows up at Rue's work place with a possibility of him becoming her boss. While there is a potential for forbidden romance, I felt like it was wasted, I didn't know half the time what their intentions were towards each other. It is quite lust driven and the intimacy part lacked any emotional depth to me personally, it was just an intense immediate attraction that cannot be satiated for either of them.They turn to be each other allies because they can appreciate each other even with their flaws

I get that the FMC is supposed to be reserved, closed off, emotionally unavailable human but every time there needs to be a communication as one would expect, Rue chooses sex instead because it is too much of an emotion to put into words for her.After a few times it felt redundant and that didn't make me root for Eli or Rue because I felt like MMC had nothing to add to the story rather than being Rue's comfort cushion whenever she needed a backing? His POV is the most underutilized and easily forgettable. There is also secondary plot happening on the side but I was equally confused with it and how it played out, the conflict that arises is something you could see from afar but I honestly didn't feel the friction from any side because Rue and Eli were technically not co-workers nor will their situationship is going to cause any damage to their respective careers. There is also a tiny incident with Rue's brother and I honestly don't even know what to gather from it? it seems like Rue gets to mess up and be tragic about it and Eli would understand and support, I really had hard time understanding both Eli and Rue's characterizations other than the fact they might not be acceptable per society norms but are perfect for each other.

This honestly felt like its written in haste, the writing was very different from her previous books. Overall I really struggled but I am sure many people will enjoy it, sadly it isn't for me.

Rating- 2.5

Whew, this one is steamy!

Rue is a no-strings attached kind of girl with one rule with men - no repeats. When her night with Eli is interrupted by family drama, she is intrigued enough by Eli to give him her number. The next day she sees him - as his company is acquiring hers. There is a lot of drama that unfolds but I really loved the draw between the two characters - and whew, did I mention this one is steamy?!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I love a man pathetically (I say as affectionately as possible) down bad and obsessed with his girl, and Eli... now that is a pathetically down bad man obsessed with his girl!!

Eli and Rue had such an interesting dynamic that I could not help but devour. Their no strings attached forbidden affair was so juicy and HOT that I was itching just to have them in the same scene together bc their tension and chemistry begged for release. like talk about palpable tension!!! This is definitely Ms. Ali's hottest and sexiest book and it had me blushing!!

I loved Rue and Eli's frank discussions about sex, their past trauma, and their vulnerabilities surrounding their family. And their forbidden affair just added to the stakes of the story. I love romances that start out physical and detached and turn into something real and meaningful and Ali Hazelwood did such a great job incorporating those inner thoughts.

The surprise mmc pov (third person) MADE this book. I don't know if it would have worked as well as it did if it hadn't included Eli's pov, and I loved that it was in third person too. We're supposed to be in rue's head but with Eli, it's more about his intentions, and that was so important to me as the reader! No strings attached could be considered cold and uncomfy if we're only in one person's head, so while we all know Ali's men are always obsessed, it was nice to have that further validated through his pov, and it honestly made me love him more.

Really loved this book and I'm excited for what Ali Hazelwood will feed us next.

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. it comes out 6/11!

Rue Siebert is comfortable with her life, friends, and job and she doesn’t want to make any changes. In marches Eli Killgore, who is also happy with the status quo, and is on that path towards revenge. Neither of them expect their workplace attraction to turn into a workplace romance. Especially when Eli is attempting to take over the company of her close friend and boss. But their undeniable attraction to each other, and the forbidden element of their relationship, keep them turning back towards each other. This witty contemporary STEMinist romance is perfect for fans of Helen Hoang.

Not in Love is Hazelwood’s best and spiciest work to date. The novel follows Rue and Eli on opposite sides of a hostile takeover fighting their intense attraction to each other. Honestly, Not in Love will definitely be making my favourite books of 2024.

Rue and Eli’s chemistry is fire hot. Their attraction to each other was immediate and the subsequent angst was delicious. Rue and Eli’s personalities and social tendencies complimented each other with Eli being the more outgoing of the two.

Not in Love is a he falls first forbidden romance and I loved every second of it. Eli became obsessed with Rue in all the best ways.

Not in Love is Hazelwood’s least STEM focused novel in that while Rue works in STEM, her job, though the catalyst of the novel, takes a backseat to Rue and Eli’s developing feelings/relationship more so than her previous novels.

Not in Love also touched on themes of food insecurity and difficult family dynamics that didn’t feel shoehorned into the novel. Instead, Hazelwood offered a nuanced look at food insecurity and its aftereffects.

Overall, Not in Love is Hazelwood’s spiciest novel yet but it’s also her best. The characters’ chemistry and angst both fire and so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Oh my! First of all, Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for allowing me early access to one of my most anticipated books of the year!

I am a huge fan of Ali Hazelwood. She can literally do no wrong and she did it again with Not in Love.

Like A lot of her other books this one is set in STEM. Not in Love however, is a bit steamier than we are used to. And by a bit I was like OMG!

We have forbidden romance, close proximity, he falls first, let’s get it out of our system, and a lot of Angst but still funny. Ali adds in some serious subjects in this book and did a great job.

Rue and Eli meet on a dating app but nothing ends up happening and they are left thinking they will never see each other again. However, Eli’s company is buying out a loan for Rue’s company and they become a little bit of enemies. However, they can’t seem to escape each other and they figure they just need to get it out of their system.

I loved getting to know Eli’s character through his POV. We didn’t really get to see dual POVs in some of her other books.

Rue was also great! I loved her loyalty and honesty. I loved her sense of humor (though she wasn’t born with one). It broke my heart that Rue thinks she’s not good enough and that stories just don’t have happy endings.

I love how they both had difficult backstories and find comfort in one another. A question for a question and tell me a story. There is so much intimacy between these two.

Def recommend!

I'm officially an Ali stan, I guess.

I thoroughly enjoyed Not in Love! Our heroine, Rue, and our hero, Eli, have an undeniable attraction but plenty of baggage forcing them to pause amidst some incredibly... spicy... happenings HAHA. We're onto our SECOND tall girly, and I'm into this trend of MCs not being absolutely aloof to everything coming out of the love interest's mouth. I also loved the overall cast of characters, much like I did with BRIDE. That being said, it's not a full five for me because of the conflict and twist - which I predicted and also felt was entirely AVOIDABLLEEEE.