Tired of their constant bickering they get put together for a project, combining romance and literary fiction. As the two write and get to know each other the lines begin to blur.
This book is super unique, I’ve never read a book … within a book but I liked it once I’d gotten use to it. This book is the epitome of enemies to lovers and slow burn!

Not in My Book by Katie Holt is a captivating romance that seamlessly blends themes of self-discovery and love. The story follows a young woman torn between her passion for literature and the complexities of navigating real-world relationships. Holt skillfully explores the tension between fantasy and reality as the protagonist grapples with her feelings for a charming yet enigmatic love interest.

The “enemies to lovers” trope takes center stage, delivering delightful tension through sharp banter and a gradual, heartfelt evolution from animosity to affection. This dynamic is complemented by the protagonist’s “bookish heroine” persona, a relatable and inspiring character who learns to balance her literary dreams with her real-life aspirations.

Katie Holt has created a story that is equal parts entertaining and thought-provoking, encouraging readers to embrace their own journeys. Not in My Book is an excellent choice for fans of contemporary romance, humor, and stories about finding love in the most unexpected places. Highly recommended!

Thank you to the publishers for emailing me an early copy of this book! 😊 I really liked this one and it’s definitely one to put on your TBR if you’re a romance reader!!!
Enemies to lovers… but with the twist of they are assigned to co-write a romance novel together! A *chefs kiss* plot and I devoured this. It was fun to watch these characters fall in love as they bonded over writing. I also loved that each chapter contained little excepts from the novel they were writing. Rosie and Aiden made me want to write my own novel! I loved the banter… I loved their cute “research for the novel” dates… and dang it I want a man to take me to The Strand bookstore and buy me a stack of books he picked out for me! 🥺
This was such a cute book and different from other romances I’ve read! Highly recommend 😊

For a debut novel by Holt, this was fantastic!

This book had all the classic romance elements: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, he falls first, and a secret crush. It truly delivered the full package. You could feel the slow burn and the tension leading up to their developing romance. Both characters were likable, making the whole book incredibly enjoyable. I loved how they discovered each other’s strengths and vulnerabilities in such an unconventional way, which ultimately helped them realize they might not be so bad for each other after all.

The audiobook was decent as well, though I wish it had been more of a duet. Having a male narrator for Aiden would have made it even better and helped me picture him more vividly throughout the story.

Overall, this was a great read—definitely don’t miss it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC and advanced audio!

4.25 🌟 I was addicted to this book and couldn’t put it down! What I loved:

🔥 The slowburn tension
👩‍💻👨‍💻 How they were writing their own love story! AND THAT SCENE THAT THEY WRITE TOGETHER 🥵🌶️
💖 The romance and the vulnerability both characters have with each other - some of the things they say to each other little made me little heart ACHE!
🫶🏻 How Rosie stood up for Aiden to some of the people that have worn him down his whole life
😍 How Aiden listened so intently to everything Rosie said

Something’s I would want to change:
💔 The miscommunication/third act breakup - was it really necessary?!
😡 The way they argued with each other at the end and Rosie was so stubborn!

Honestly, I am so happy with this book and I’ll definitely be picking up a physical copy when it comes out! Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC! Def want to read more from this author.

if softcore romance academia is a thing, it would be this book for me. As a debut this book hits all the right sports with perfect tropes and setting of the book. I just could not put down this book and was fully engrossed in it.

3 stars

This book has a great premise with a book within a book, and I love that. What I didn't love was how childish our characters were. Maybe interact like adults? Also, I didn't like that as soon as the spice started, the romance started lacking. At that point, I was cheering more about the character from the book within the book rather than our own mcs.
Overall, this was good but could have been great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rosie lives for romance. To Rosie, everything can be romantic if you just look for it. Unfortunately, her classmate Aiden does not agree. Aiden writes literary fiction and seems to despise the romance genre — and consequently, Rosie.

When the two get into one of their classic sparring matches during one of their writing workshops, their professor has had enough. Either the two drop her class or they write a novel… together. The two must write a romance, but without the HEA.

As Rosie and Aiden begin to write, they put little pieces of themselves into the novel. The lines begin to blur and soon enough, they can’t decipher what’s real and what’s fiction.

I absolutely devoured this book and I need everyone to read it ASAP. Go pick this up I am BEGGING.

WOW! I’m so incredibly proud of Katie! Fun fact, I read her manuscript of this book a few years back. I am so happy that she got this published!! Congratulations on your debut!!

Katie did an awesome job of bringing these characters to life. I felt every emotion and could picture these characters so vividly. The banter and dialogue flowed so well and the TENSION!!! 🥵🥵 What a stellar debut!

Aiden and Rosie have my heart.

Read if you like:
• academic rivals to lovers
• men in peacoats
• grumpy/sunshine
• forced proximity
• only one bed trope
• banter!!
• a book about co-writing!!

Two writers go head to head and kiss for kiss, in this steamy rivals-to-lovers book following graduate students, Rosie and Aiden, as they are forced to write a romance together and admit that they may feel emotions other than contempt for each other. This was such a titillating and sincere romance, I loved Rosie and Aiden together! The two showed their love so well and I love how it came out so raw and vicious; their love language is for sure banter and barbs. Beyond that, the plot and writing was very unique, I loved how their relationship bled into the story they wrote and helped them communicate what they were too afraid to say. The connection between them was just so sweet and enigmatic, Aiden was completely gone for Rosie and it was adorable watching him fall all over himself. This debut romance delivered everything and more; from witty banter, chemistry, yearning, tension, and relatable characters. I cannot wait to see what Katie Holt writes next!

rosie is a graduate student at NYU, with big dreams of becoming a romance writer. whereas she knows romance is a wonderful genre, though, not everyone seems to agree, especially when it comes to her archenemy and ex-crush, aiden. she thinks there’s nothing worse than having writing workshop with him…until she and aiden are told by their professor that they have to draft a manuscript together, or else they’ll get kicked out of the class. but as rosie works with aiden, she realizes that maybe he’s not so bad, after all…and that maybe her crush never fully went away.

i was shocked to randomly get the netgalley widget for this one day, but after a friend read and loved it, i was convinced to go ahead and download it. i’m so glad i took her advice, because this was so lovely! although i do enjoy romance, it’s more common for them to get four stars from me, so the fact i gave this one five stars says a lot. i just really loved rosie and aiden🥹 they weren’t perfect by any means, but that’s what made them so real. and although i don’t have the same money problems as rosie, her depiction as a poor graduate student really struck a chord with me. she worked so hard to achieve her dreams, and she had family backing her all along the way (though i would’ve loved to see even more of them).

This book Started out really well and had a fun concept. However, for whatever reason I found myself having a hard time finishing the last few Chapters. I think it's because I knew what trope we still had to experience and I knew how it was going to happen that I just fell out of the story. I'm really not quite sure. ' think in addition to that, there was a little too much spice all concentrated into a few chapters for my liking. Once the spice Started it felt like that was all That our characters did. Physicality does not need to mean that romcans are ONLY physical from that point on.

Anyways, in this rivals-to- lovers, our two main characters are faced with a choice - either leave the class because their interactions were so disrespectful and pulled focus OR write a book together, blending romance with lit fic. Unsurprisingly, our characters decide to try to write a book together and even start to use their characters to say things they're too scared to say to one another.

The story has a good premise and I think it'll be of interest to fans of such books. I just think this book and I didn't get our own HEA.

4.25!

"The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."

This book is basically about two people doing a workshop where they have to co-write a book, the guy doesn't like romance novels and the girl doesn't love literary fiction novels and they both hate each other but secretly like each other 🤭. So, due to intense bickering and back and forth their mentor gives the guy the romance part of the book and the girl the literary fiction part of the book 👀and it just takes up after that. They write a book and a story about themselves...they warm up to each other and communicate through the characters of their book and it is so goddamn good, I cant even lie.

Katie really amazed me with this one, it wasn't perfect but it was so cute and likeable. Its just the way she wrote it was so easy to read and love. Her writing style felt really good and the pacing of the book was also a plus when it came to this book because it just made the book much more easier to read and honestly there are so many cute scenes that are worth gushing over and the chemistry between the characters is insaneee I loved them.

“I know you prefer what's in your book, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In the light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next."

Aiden, Grumpy, Broody and tall 🤭 (checking all the boxes so far) but I loved the way they would insult each other and would have the exact opposite thoughts going through their minds lol, I also loved how cutie patootie he became after the kissing scene they wrote together 🙂‍↕️ and when he had to pretend to be her boyfriend when their parents ambushed her for Christmas and their domestic moments were sooo cute like making cookies and hanging out on Christmas also the way he would communicate about himself through his character in the book ahhh it was everythinggg!! Rosie, was a hopeless romantic 🤭, highlighting the importance of HEA!!! and I liked how she struggled writing a tragic ending and how she helped Aiden with romance, she was so understanding at times and I loved how relatable at times she was especially during the third act lol but the way both of the characters changed and developed into better versions of themselves and the way we actually experienced it and saw it was so good!!

"No one meets the same way and falls in love the same way. Sometimes you know just after an hour with a person. Or it can span decades. The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for."

The romance 🧍🏻where do I even start?? easily the best part of this book, it was so well balanced between cuteness and spiciness because they would eb doing cute stuff like looking at each other in secret and like subtle touches and stuff and then they would be cowriting a smut scene together which would lead them to be horny and become bunnies 🤭🤭 yeah it was soo good even the spice was good. I feel like I was so fond of them that it made the third act break up feel okay towards me but hey at least we got cute confessions after that and I was all for it 🙂‍↕️

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book!! It can also count as a festive (?) book ig.

This was a great book. Turned out so much better than I was expecting. You got the grump and you got the "sunshine". They are supposed to co-write a book, one loves romance, the other pretty much hates it. I loved how they had to work together and their banter.
The book was well written and held my interest. It was a bonus that Rosie was from Tennessee and that Johnson City was mentioned , since I live 90 minutes from there in South west VA.
In all this was a cute feel good book. :)

I did not expect to love this one as much as I did! This book is perfect for the lovers of ‘Beach Read’ by Emily Henry (myself included). I adored the idea of a book within a book, and the concept of two writers who are rivals writing said book had me on the edge of my seat. I loved the progression of Aiden and Rosie’s friendship then relationship, it felt so authentic to their characters and had the room for necessary human flaws. I can’t wait to reread this one again once it’s published, and read whatever this author releases next.

I loved Not in My Book. I was invested in the story really quickly, I read it in one sitting. I honestly couldn't put it down.

I love a good romance, and Not in My Book definitely didn't disappoint.
Katie has a very engaging writing style, it just draws you right in.
Rosie and Aiden had fantastic chemistry. They were very likable and memorable characters.

This is the first book I've read from Katie Holt. I'm looking forward to reading more from her.

I highly recommend.

4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much that I ordered a physical copy of it so I could read it again!

Oh how I adored this book, everything about it was wonderful. It’s like reading a book inside of a book, such a great read! I love that the author is a Swiftie, putting Taylor references throughout the book, it made it so fun!

Rosie and Aiden are in the same writing class at NYU, Rosie writes romance and Aiden hates romance. Rosie is a hopeless romantic, Aiden is rude as can be to Rosie. These two bicker during class, causing a disruption. The teacher tells them the only way they can stay in the class, is by writing a book together. Will they be able to write together? Or will the differences between them get in the way?

I love this book and these characters so much, Aiden came off as such a jerk. Deep down he’s a really sweet guy, he’s just been through a lot. Rosie is adorable and so fun, I adored her character. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you Katie Holt and NetGalley for the ARC!

Another FABULOUS debut romance author that I will now be automatically reading for the foreseeable future!! I could not get enough of this enemies to lovers romance between romance loving Rosie and lit fic writer Aiden who are in the same MFA class and find themselves forced to co-write a book together or drop the class they both want to be in.

Set in New York City, this book takes place over the holidays, has SIZZLING tension and chemistry between the main characters and an awkward grumpy hero with a secret cinnamon roll heart. Rosie and Aiden reluctantly find themselves becoming friends the longer they work together on the book and readers will NOT want to miss the part where they take turns writing a love scene.

SPICY, full of emotional depth and PERFECT for fans of authors like Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood. Narrated by Frankie Corzo, the audiobook was also a great listening experience and honestly I just having nothing bad to say about this book. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

OHHHH MYYY LORDDD

This book is now in my top 3 of the year, totally crushing my book bracket, lol! Absolutely adored it. Smashing debut from a fellow Tennessee author. Everything about it was right up my alley—enemies to lovers, NYC setting, Christmas scenes, one bed, SO MUCH TENSION, banter, a dirty talking peacoat-wearing MMC...and as a member of a cowriting duo.. can i just say I LOVED all the little cowriting details!? perfection.

and the SPICE?!?!? holy crap. so good.

Rating: 5⭐️!
Release Date: December 10th, 2024

Rosie and Aiden are rivals in their writing class. She writes romances with happily ever afters, while he writes lit fic with sad, realistic endings. Naturally the two basically want to kill each other. They become such a disturbance to the rest of their class their professor gives them two options, be forced to drop the class, or be co-writers on a book together. The two start to slowly overcome their differences for the sake of their book, but when they start to get to know each other more, they realize the other isn’t as bad as they thought. This is such an amazing contemporary romance with all the banter and feels you could want. Also, debut author alert! I cannot wait to read more from Katie Holt!

More Spoiler-y personal review 😊
Something about this book just spoke to me. I read this so quickly but also managed to absorb it and this is easily in my top romances of the year. Rosie and Aiden’s academic rivalry x enemies to lovers tropes are addictive and keep you wanting more. The characters just have so much undeniably chemistry and from like page 50 i was having “just kiss already!” moments. I rarely give 5 stars out anymore, but man this just did it for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for this E-Galley in exchange for my honest review