To be totally honest, this has been my least favorite Ali Hazelwood so far. I love her books for this quirky characters and the way she balances humor with intimacy in a way that feels relatable but also just unrealistic enough to be a great time.

In this one, I just didn’t feel like the characters had much depth to them. I understood their motives, but honestly just didn’t care enough to be invested in their relationship. There was too much sex, too little love, in my opinion.

I know romance is subjective and everyone looks for different things, so I’m just accepting that this one wasn’t my style.

Ali Hazelwood continues to deliver brain meltingly adorable romances. I don’t know where these strokes of genius come from by my god I hope she is favoured by the deities for eons to come. Wow this book was such a fast and phenomenal read.

This book is different from Ali's previous titles, because both characters had some ISSUES, but I liked how Rue wasn't one of Ali's typical mfc, the quirky weird stem girl.

For the record the smut and spice didn't bother me.

If it weren't for the fact that no Ali Hazelwood book will ever be able to top how much I love and adore The Love Hypothesis, this probably would have been my new favorite of her books. This is probably the book that diverts from Ali's usual formula the most because this isn't a rom com with the typical quirky protagonist and brooding love interest. Instead, we have two people with a lot of baggage trying to learn how to let their connection go beyond simply physical attraction. Even though as a demisexual I couldn't exactly relate to their lust and willingness to fuck like bunnies before really getting to know one another, due to the powers of Ali Hazelwood, it didn't manage to put me off the way that it might have in another book.

While Ali Hazelwood men are always top-tier, I especially loved Eli and his dynamic with Rue so much. The man was so incredibly down bad for her, he was so patient and understanding of her struggles and her walls, and seeing them both try to work past their hang-ups to admit their feelings for one another was so tender and precious.

Based on the mid-ratings this book is getting it seems I'm somewhat in the minority on this one, but I think that this is one of Ali's best books to date. As much as I love her quirky STEMinist stories, I think that the depth and slightly more serious tone that she took with this book made it feel more mature and developed than some of her other work. While I'd hesitate to say this shows never-before-seen range to her writing, I do think it shows that she has the potential to start stepping further and further outside of her normal niche of writing the same book in different fonts and exploring other ways of writing love stories.

Nonetheless, this book is yet another example of the fact that I enjoy practically anything and everything that Ali Hazelwood writes, and even if she does go back to writing the same book she's written a dozen times before, I will still gladly put my money directly into her well-deserving hand.

Ali hazelwood book will always be a fun and easy palette cleanser. This one is probably my least favorite of what she’s written. It definitely irks me that the female POV was in first and the male was in third. His inner dialogue made me cringe in a bad way. I still enjoyed the book. It was quirky and an easy read.

Wow, I read this directly after reading Bride and let me say-- I love the darker turns. Main characters were more complex and the plot, while I have very little understanding of the world of buy outs, captured me and built tensions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Both of Ali Hazelwood’s novels this year have been different tonally than her previous work and I have thoroughly enjoyed this change! And the use of dual POV in this book was chef’s kiss.

I loved that this included an author’s note that specified that this was more of an erotic romance and that it is easier for Rue and Eli to form a physical connection than a romantic one. There is a moment in the book where we learn that they both come and essentially belong to the same place. And yet their present selves are vastly different from each other. That moment really sinks in the idea that their pasts have influenced how they move and connect with the world.

I loved Rue so much and I know that she gets characterized as cold, but I do think she is on the spectrum and wish that had been explored. I saw a lot of myself and the way I think in her, so a lot of times during conversations with Eli, I knew exactly what she would say or do. And the reasons behind it.

Eli’s POV really worked for me! We got to be in his head and understand the level to which he gets and sees Rue. And I think for their story, being in his POV was an absolute must.

And I just loved the way that their relationship progressed, given Rue’s past with food insecurity, she feels like she needs to be in control and Eli helps her feel safe and can give up some of the control she has learned to live by. While I agree that this is her spiciest book yet I think it was incredibly intimate in non-sexual ways as well.

Okay, I know nothing in terms of "Reylo" but I know a bit about feeling not worthy (in life, relationships, kinda everything) and I loved the shift in the characters portrayed in this book.
I don't like to read reviews about books till after I read them and even then, I try to avoid them. So I was surprised to see that some people struggled with the romance in this book. But all that says to me is that they wanted a low stakes, cookie cutter rom-com and this is definitely not that. Maybe having a past with complicated relationships made me appreciate and understand Hazelwood's angle with this one all the more.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing this advance reader's copy for an honest review.

Oh. My. God.

Some people asked for something a little different in her STEM romances and she said ok fine and blessed us with Rue and Eli. This book has pulled me from the depths of my eternally tragic reading slump.

Their story felt more vulnerable and I loved reading how they navigated their relationship and their past - I thought it was beautiful.

*This is DEFINITELY NOT a book for readers who prefer closed door romance

This was very different from Ali Hazelwood's other books. I loved how the MFC wasn't portrayed as awkward and timid but confident and sure of herself. This also was a slow and fluffy rom com. Don't get me wrong, I love my rom coms. This just had a faster pace and was just different than the rest of her books. I guess less YA and more adult. It has more grit.

Eli and Rue didn't seem to have much chemistry for me other than thrown into their sex scenes. Also, let's talk about being theorem into things? I feel like we were just kind of thrown into the storyline without being told what's going on at first.

Rue has her dream job and is living a great life despite a traumatic childhood. She has one night stands and prefers it that way so she can prevent heartbreak so dating apps with for her. That is until she meets Eli. She has what she thinks will be a one Night stand until she realizes Eli and his buddies partners want to take over her company. Eli falls hard.

I'll keep it spoiler free, but I just couldn't seem to deal with the manipulation and lack of chemistry even with the sex scenes.

I.adore Ali Hazelwood, but just not this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers

I adooooooored this book. I know it's not for everyone, but truly I think it's my favorite romance of the year.

I loved their chemistry and not only sexually but also intellectually and emotionally. They both gave each other the space to be their own people and accepted their flaws.

And I found the plot to be Ali's best yet with a lot of gray morality it wasn't so obvious who the bad guy was here. And Rue is my favorite Ali heroine by farrrr and Eli is my second favorite dude after Adam.

How fun how fun how fun!

If Ali Hazelwood writes it, I'm going to read it. That being said, this was an interesting read for me - it was the first of her books that I feel like I enjoyed conditionally. Conditionally, as in if I hadn't been in the mood I was in while I read this for the first time, I am not sure I would have enjoyed it as much. What I did really enjoy was having dual POV - I hope some of her future books have it too. Rue and Eli's physical chemistry was off the charts! Eli was a man obsessed - and I ate it up. I think the core of my knocking a star off my review is that while Eli and Rue had a lot of chemistry - I'm a little iffy on whether they would last much past the end of this book.

Ali Hazelwood’s spiciest novel to date, Not in Love breaks away from the STEMinist series Hazelwood has established for herself and moves closer to the erotica genre, featuring explicit sex scenes and NSFW content. While narrator Rue is still a women in STEM and the male love interest is still an abnormally tall, grumpy yet misunderstood, Adonis of a man, Hazelwood strays father from the feminist undertone prevalent in her previous novels to focus more on the relationship between Rue and Eli. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, I do prefer Hazelwood’s lighter romances and the steamy yet sweet relationships that come from workplace rivalry and college misunderstandings rather than frantic hookups and ruthless business strategies. However, for fans who prefer the spicy to the sweet scenes, Not in Love is the perfect page turner, and will attract fans of Lana Ferguson, Helen Hoang, Ana Huang, and Katee Robert.

classic Ali can do NO wrong. I am gonna eat her books up every single time. and I stand by that!!!! this was such a fun read and I'm grateful I was able tor read it early!! the writing style was different than her previous books, but still great nonetheless!

thank you Berkley!

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!