A well paced, adorable, heartwarming book that was so fun to read during the holiday season. I did have a slight complaint with the smut scenes, but I overall had a really good time with this one.

I had a lot of expectations for this book but it disappointed me. I enjoyed the beginning. I absolutely loved the concept of using the quotes/snippets from the book the main characters wrote at the end of each chapter. It helped to know more about the relationship between the main character and was a very unique concept.

What I disliked was that I felt the main characters had zero chemistry. The fight at the end seemed unnecessary.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. Following Leigh’s experience at an MFA program and growth as a poet, this book toed the line of sometimes even too bookish for me. Although i skimmed some of the poetry, i ultimately enjoyed the antics and friendships of Leigh and her cohort of fellow students and writers.

I love the plot so much. These characters are so funky in a way, like enemies to lover, forced proximity, secret crush it has everything. I have enjoyed it very much.

Thank you Alcove Press and RB Media for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

This was an absolute delight of a book. I alternated between the audiobook and ebook because I didn’t want to put it down! Frankie Corzo was a perfect choice for the narration!

Rosie and Aidan are in the same writing class as they work on their MFAs. They are constantly in battle during class and their professor gives them an ultimatum to drop the class or write a book together. Rosie and Aidan can’t help spending more time together as they work on their book.

I loved seeing the parts of their book and how their characters developed as their relationship did. I loved the parts where they wrote the book together especially as they developed a style together. They had such great banter and amazing chemistry.

I really hope we get more books from Katie Holt soon!

Not in My Book by Katie Holt is a witty and lighthearted novel that has its own charm. The protagonist is a relatable character, and the quirky dynamics between her and Aiden create an engaging, cute banter and feel-good read. The enemy to lover is actually cute in here (honestly rival is more suitable for them),

It's a good read but not really my favorite.

You want me to fall in love?

"'I'm a feminist --'
'So am I,' he cut me off"

There. You did it. ✨

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"In my made-up world, I was everything my soulmate wanted, and my soulmate was real."
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I was swooning so much at times, it scared me. Disclaimer - I read Not in my Book in one sitting from 2 pm to 1 am, and only stopped to eat, drink, talk to my roommates, and, most importantly, grin at the wall for a few minutes.

⨳⪻⊹⪼⨳ Stars 4 ⭐ ⨳⪻⊹⪼⨳
⨳⪻⊹⪼⨳ Spice 4 🌶️(in terms of quality, not quantity)⨳⪻⊹⪼⨳

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"She eloquently expressed why women read romance and how it showed women taking control in their lives while still being desired instead of wholly objectified. [...] No matter how bad life got in the romance novels, there would be a Happily Ever After that proved nothing was unfixable."
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This book is for everyone out there that loves stupid romance books that make you fall madly in love with a story that does not exist. It is for everyone that loves romance books so much, they want a romance book in a romance book. This is for everyone into Grumpy x Sunshine. This is for everyone into Enemies to Lovers. This is for everyone not wanting the main characters to be in high school. This is for everyone that wants to read about NYC, Christmas, family, friends, and university and wants to kick their feet into the air because even though it is just ink on paper, the feelings are too much to keep still.

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"I don't want to be everyone else to you."
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I love romance books so very much, but sadly, the ending rarely ever leaves me satisfied. Maybe it is because I, too, am a bit of an Aiden and have a passion for literary fiction that makes your heart ache, your eyes burn, and your breathing stop. It might be this weirdly sadistic side of me. But then again, it might be that the first 70% of the book were simply too good, and the ending could not keep up.

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"But you know what they say about la vie en rose - the red flags look just like all the other ones."
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The ending ruined this (for me personally) to be one of my favorite romance books EVER. But this does not make the majority of the book not one of THE best things ever. I still already want to reread the banter, want to dive back into the chemistry, and reread the book in the book.

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"'Are you at a party? Were you reading my chapter at a party?'
'No, of course not,' he said sharply"
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Aiden and Rosie hate each other. But they are forced to write a book together. Romance. And Aiden hates romance. What could go wrong? Luckily for us - a lot ;)

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"'I knew you were thinking of me when we wrote that scene.'
'As if you weren't thinking of me, too.'
'I only think of you, Rosie.'"
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The insults, the banter, the friendships and side stories, the background stories, the university life, the book. The book. The book. The book. I simply loved it when Aiden and Rosie worked on their book together. And I mean TOGETHER. Sentence for sentence. Those scenes made me grin and giggle. They made me FEEL. Did I mention that I loved them? For those scenes alone, it is worth checking out the book.

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"This was why I didn't have a boyfriend, and this was why I didn't go on dates. I freaked out the minute I got asked out and ruined it. Romance was better in my head and in the books."
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And not only did Not in My Book make me feel utterly single, it showed good old feminist spirit (and who does not love to see that).

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"Let's do all the things we wrote about."
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Oh, and, this has some AMAZING spice. The tension was tangible, let me tell you.

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"Don't act like you haven't been the star of every one of my fantasies."
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Thank you so much, Netgalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt for the arc. Check out Not in My Book - it's already out and available!!

Some more quotes beause I apparently could not get enough:

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"I'd always preferred fiction, but now I couldn't wait for the rest of my new reality."
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What a delightful read! Enemies to lovers is not my favorite trope but I found the chemistry and witty banter between the main characters to be so dynamic that I enjoyed this book all the way through! Highly recommended!

I received a copy of this eBook from netgalley for a honest review.

I loved this story about two rivel writers who have to write together to get the grade. Their fights are so much fun and their path to being together is enjoyable. I even enjoyed how they finally made it work. I loved the insights through the excerpts of the story they are working on throughout the book.

Not in My Book is a pure delight. It's spicy and swoony, snowy and sensational. I read it while traveling and it made the process I normally hate much more enjoyable. We love good banter. The kind of banter with cutting remarks that get at the hidden insecurities of each other. And this rivals to romance delivers that and more. Romance genre justice! Not in My Book is full of tension. The line blurs between fiction and reality as we see their characters reflected on the page, their own page. But what I loved, in true rivals to romance style, is that even in their rivalry you can see their respect and admiration even in how annoying they are.

4.25 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC!

Apologies for the late review! I loved this book a lot. It was an enjoyable read and had a lot of banter. The central characters have great chemistry and it was just a fun book to read overall.

I don't know what else to tell you. I love bookish books a lot and 'Not in My Book' did it for me!

This book hit all the right notes! I am shouting from the rooftops to all who are looking for a good read, this is it!

I loved the banter! I loved the book in a book! I loved the enemies/rivals to lives, I loved the fake dating vibes! To sum it up, I absolutely loved this book!

Katie Holt immediately made her way to my instant buy author list and a copy of this was added to my troph—I mean bookshelf.

Not in My Book is pitched as The Hating Game meets Beach Read so I knew I needed to pick it up. I thought this book was adorable and I was laughing out loud the whole time reading. I was very happy to learn that Aiden and Rosie were academic rivals with secret feelings because that makes for great banter and tension. I definitely recommend picking this one up!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for a review!

Not in My Book by Katie Holt was an enjoyable read, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The story follows Rosie Maxwell, a hopeful romance writer, and Aiden Huntington, a cynical literary fiction author, as they are forced to collaborate on a novel that merges their opposing styles. While the premise is intriguing and the tension between the two is entertaining, the execution fell a bit flat for me.

Rosie is a lovable character, full of ambition and charm, but at times her idealism felt one-dimensional. Aiden’s brooding demeanor added some much-needed edge, but his character development didn’t feel fully fleshed out. Their banter was fun initially, but the predictable enemies-to-lovers dynamic lacked the emotional depth I was hoping for.

The New York City setting was vibrant and added a nice backdrop to the story, but the pacing dragged in the middle, and the big "aha" moments in both their writing and relationship felt rushed.

That said, Katie Holt has a knack for witty dialogue and created some genuinely sweet moments between Rosie and Aiden. The book’s exploration of literary ambition and creative conflict was interesting, even if it didn’t completely stick the landing.

Overall, Not in My Book is a decent read for fans of light-hearted contemporary romance, but it might not leave a lasting impression.

Not in My Book by Katie Holt is a charming, bookish romance full of witty banter, quirky characters, and heartfelt moments. Rosie and Aiden’s rivalry over their wildly different bookish opinions is both hilarious and relatable, evolving into a sweet and genuine relationship.

While the pacing can feel uneven and some side characters lack depth, the story still delivers plenty of laughs and swoon-worthy tension. Additionally, the resolution of their relationship feels a bit too tidy, missing the emotional weight that their journey seemed to build toward. Still, if you’re looking for a light and bookish romance, these flaws might not bother you too much!

It’s a love letter to books and the messy, wonderful connections they inspire. If you’re a fan of enemies-to-lovers with a bookish twist, this one’s definitely worth a read! 📚✨

DNF, while I'm sure some people would love this book I just could not fall in love with it, I wasn't excited to be reading it, I hope it does well though!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a fun treat to see the book within a book. We got inside glimpses of who they were and how they felt through the book they wrote together. Aidan and Rosie were the epitome of enemy to lover trope. But when is enemy's to lovers really about hate? This one was well done and I really enjoyed it!

I wanted to love this book so bad but it fell a bit short for me, unfortunately.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character, Rosie. I think that her behavior and interactions with Aiden for most of the first half come across as really immature and juvenile, which may have been the point, but it got to be too much for me at times. Aiden was ok, I didn’t feel a great connection with him and wished we could’ve dug into his background and family a bit more.

I wasn’t a fan of the development of the relationship. The switch from petty rivals, to kind of friends, to lovers, didn’t feel very smooth or make much sense to me, and by the end of the novel when the big confession took place, I found myself wondering how these two could have developed such strong feelings for each other when their social interactions didn’t seem to warrant that kind of emotion just yet.

The third act breakup wasn’t great, and I didn’t love Rosie’s reaction to it, though I do understand her, and I felt the side characters were really flat and one dimensional.

I think name dropping Beach Read in the book description may have been why I didn’t love this book as much as I could have. Beach Read is one of my favorite books of all time and while I tried not to, I definitely found myself comparing aspects of this book to it and I think it fell short in many ways.

I think this was a really solid debut with a great premise, and I did love how descriptive the writing was at times, it definitely made me feel like I was in New York with the characters. Some of the dialogue was also excellent and had me laughing out loud at times. Looking forward to seeing what else Katie Holt puts out in the future! 2.8 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC!

Probably not a super great sign that I read this back in December, maybe a little over a month ago, and the only things I really remember from this book are the frustration and secondhand embarassment I had while reading it. There were times where this book was really fun and tongue in cheek about authors writing about a relationship inspired by their real one, while trying to maintain the facade of "this isn't about us, it's fiction!" and that aspect I really enjoyed! But I struggled with these characters and a lot of scenes made me cringe.

I think this is a good debut for Katie as her voice was strong throughout. I definitely plan on checking out anything else she comes out with despite this particular story not working for me.

“Not in My Book” by Katie Holt was such a fun and quirky read! The story centers around a bookworm who finds herself caught up in a chaotic situation that’s both hilarious and heartfelt. I loved how relatable the main character was—she’s awkward, funny, and just trying to figure life out. The plot was unique, mixing in some romance and mystery, with a good balance of lighthearted moments and emotional depth. It’s a bit predictable at times, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. The writing was engaging, and the characters felt real, making it easy to get invested. Overall, it’s a great, feel-good read that’ll leave you smiling. Would definitely recommend it for fans of rom-coms!