A light easy read. Two students attend an English class, both have strong opinions of each other, their choice of literature and are very vocal against each other in class.
Their professor decides that they need to co write a novel together; but first they must make a turce to be pleasant to each other.
Through the pages we see how their relationship evolves.

I loooooooved this book!

It was essentially a book within a book and I thought it was a really clever set up for Rosie and Aiden to explore their feelings for each other. Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this definitely delivered.

Bummed about the third act breakup, but swooning over the last chapters so overall it's worth it 😂

First and foremost, thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, guess who has a new book boyfriend? Yep, that’s me. Aiden Huntington is the absolute best and I love him dearly. But let’s get serious for a moment. This book was everything and a little bit more. It had the yearning, the slow burn, the bantering we all love to read, and Katie Holt delivered every single line as if the world was on fire! It’s rivals-to-lovers at its finest! I truly loved it. The pace was amazing and it just kept me enthralled and on the edge of my seat - literally - to know what was going to happen and to see Rosie and Aiden’s story bloom. This book is also a love letter to romance novels out there, which I think is simply brilliant. I loved Rosie, her personality, her flaws, she was just the definition of sunshine, complementing Aidan’s sour-type personality. But what I loved most were the little snippets of Max and Hunter’s story, it was a great and smart way to let us into Aiden’s head. It’s clear that this book was a 5-star read for me!

I really enjoyed this book! it read quickly and the aspect of having two stories intertwine was very enjoyable. The third act breakup felt like it was coming out of nowhere, and i feel like it would be a perfect book if it didn't have the third act breakup. Rosie and Aiden were really fun characters and i enjoyed there story a lot. i would give this book around 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this earc

I really enjoyed this one. I’m a huge fan of book in the book stories and this was perfect for the holiday season.
I liked the setting, how the relationship was built through main characters writing together but at the same time nothing was rushed. I loved that they were saying things to each other through words before they could say it face to face.
New York setting was perfect for this. Especially Christmas New York.

One thing I wasn’t a huge fan of were the smutty scenes. Don’t get me wrong, they were well placed in the story and would have worked very well if it wasn’t for the writing. I don’t think the dirty talk was necessary. It will sound weird, the rest of the book I was flying through and the sex scenes I wanted to get through.

Overall, don’t miss this one when it’s out but be ready

A very solid romance book, but it did feel like the Hating Game fanfic at some points. The main catalyst for their breakup in the third act was a bit weak, with the reconciliation happening a bit too quickly. The intimacy scenes were well written though and there were a handful of great romantic moments I did enjoy.

Thank you so much Netgalley and the author for this ARC ! 💐

This book was so cute, I really enjoyed it ! Enemies to lovers is one of my favourite tropes and I was happy to see that it was done well in this book. The only think that bothered me a bit, was the lack of depth of the characters, reason for why I gave 4 stars instead of 5 stars, I cannot pinpoint exactly what, but something was missing. I still enjoyed the story of course and had fun seeing the story unfold.
I will definitely read other future books from this author ✨

*Not in My Book* by Katie Holt is a refreshing and witty exploration of love, relationships, and self-worth. Through the protagonist's journey, Holt examines the complexities of modern romance with humor and honesty. The narrative is both heartwarming and empowering, with well-drawn characters that feel real and relatable. The dialogue is sharp, and the pacing keeps you engaged from start to finish. Holt’s writing style effortlessly blends lighthearted moments with deeper reflections on what it means to truly value oneself in a relationship. This book is a delightful and thought-provoking read for anyone navigating the ups and downs of love.

Well, this book exemplifies perfectly the enemies to lovers concept.
That burning fire and heat we get that slowly starts to shift as their relationship starts to grow and when the lines beguin to blur and at one moment they don't really know if it's hate, love, passion or even how to name that enormous feeling.
I really enjoyed both characters, and it was really something seeing them evolve and grow. To learn whay they acted that way, and what made them change.
I guess big feelings can do that! Make us question owr life choices and go forward to new and scary things.. like love.
The world building was spot on and I love the author's writing and I also loves the side characters!.

Not in My Book was such a cute read! Definitely a great option for those that enjoyed the Hating Game. I did feel like some of the tropes were overdone, but overall it was so fun to follow along with Rosie and Aiden (plus Max and Hunter).

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! All opinions here are my own.

What a ride this book was. I was so annoyed by Rosie's impulsiveness (probably because it is one of my weaknesses), which only speaks to how well the author wrote her character.

Both MCs are very well written, and their character growth is realistic. I loved all the supporting characters as well.

It is very rare for a book to make me tear up, swoon, and cheer for the characters all at the same time.

Wonderfully written with all the makings of a romance but also self-growth.

I can't wait to read more by Katie Holt.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

this story was unlike anything ive ever read!! my first from this author and will not be my last. wonderful story that tugged at your heart strings. likeable characters and great pacing! would recommend this one!!

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (4 stars)

Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC!

I should start by saying that romance isn't a genre that I usually go for, so, I started this book with not great expectations, but almost immediately I had to reconsider my thoughts. I'm delighted to say that this book is one of the best romances I've read in the last years or so. Without further do let's dig into the pros and the cons!

PROS:

•It's a great choice if you want to read something different from a classic or non-fiction without sacrificing your poor eyes and your money for some ugly piece of writing. +1 point because the conflict between romances and "serious literature" is one of the main themes.

•Finally a proper enemies-to-lovers trope, where the characters actually have a reason to be enemies, not hating each other just because they hate the colour of their shirts.

•Aiden has an ugly past like a lot of other male protagonists that crowd this genre, but at least he doesn't bully her for the entire book, making me want to call the book police...

CONS:

•I'm sorry, but I have to put the sex scenes in the cons. Even though I loved the first one (that co-write smut was really great, especially because I was waiting for one of them to make a mistake), with the others I cringed a bit.

•At the end I felt like the whole point of their break-up was lost and the topic of their argument was a lot different from the start.

What a fun debut!! Kudos to Katie Holt for pouring her heart into this. I loved that we got to see 2 characters struggle with being open and vulnerable but for different reasons. Rosie acknowledging the fact that Aiden is her opposite but gets her like no one else is really true love right there. The bickering and the banter was truly top tier, both funny and believable. I had some issues with the pacing, I felt like some scenes were too long and others should have just been brushed over. It would’ve been nice to see Aiden open up to Josie more, not just hear about it. Still not sure if I believe in love, but I believe in Aiden and Rosie. This is a perfect read if you loved The Hating Game, The Spanish Love Deception, Beach Read, Nora Ephron movies.


ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Rosie moves to NYC to take a creative writing course, but she is constantly criticized by another student, Aiden who is a self professed romance hater.

When the bickering escalates, their professor, and mentor, Ida, suggests they collaborate on a literary fiction/romance book… or she will ask they both to leave her class. They only reason Rosie moved from Tennessee to NYC is to take Ida’s class, so she and Aiden reluctantly agree.

Will their romantic writing spill over into real life? And why does Aiden dislike romance so much? Read this in May 2024, but the Christmas scenes ( on sale December 10th/24) and the springtime in NYC made me want to go back for a visit.

Overall, this book was pretty good but I wanted more and I was expecting more. Firstly, the FMC was this naive girl who only really cared about romance and HEAs. I just wish she had more of a personality than just being a romance writer in a world full of literary fiction. Also while I did like the idea of the main characters writing a book-in-a-book the execution just wasn't great. It just felt like I was reading the book again... also I was a difference between Aiden's voice and Rosie's since they do write in different genres. Authors stop mentioning other authors or any pop culture references in books, it just makes the reader cringe even more. I thought both main characters fell flat and they didn't have anything besides their love for writing (that isn't really a bad thing but it did make me feel distant to the characters). How did none of the students in the class find out the the characters of Max and Hunter were so similar to Rosie and Aiden??? It was so obvious... I also think the book felt a bit too 'tropey'. I wanted it to be a bit more unique especially since the book was about a romance writer.
But on the bright side, I absolutely loved their banter and that was so fun to read it! I also thought the side characters were interesting and brought some humour to the story.

Thank you NetGalley , Alcove Press and Katie Holt for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book and review it! ❤️

I enjoyed this book a lot. I think the enemies to lovers aspect of this book was definitely what intrigued me in the beginning but I came to really enjoy the characters more than anything along the way.

There were definitely points where I worried that the dynamic between Rosie and Aiden were too cruel to bounce back from ultimately I think it went okay. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of a development from cruelty to understanding but ultimately I enjoyed their dynamic enough that it didn’t stop me from enjoying their love story.

I really enjoyed the friends and family side characters we got to meet and I think they did a great job rounding out the story.


On a formatting level, I think it would have helped to have the end of chapter project snippets separated more distinctly. Especially in later chapters when they’re writing in the actual chapters it got a bit difficult to remember they’re separate.

Katie made this book feel just like an Emily Henry read in the best way. Once I started, I finished the book in two days and had to pull myself away. I appreciated getting both characters points of view but in a more non conventional way. The use of the book writing project made learning about the characters fun. And it was always a bit of a project to separate book writing from reality.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I just felt like there was far too much angst and anger in it at times. I did love the parts of the manuscript that we got to see because I felt it showed his point of view but more so disgusting it as the character. The middle got kind of long but overall, it was a good read.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for letting me review an ARC of the audiobook version of this book!

I loved the setting in this book, the New York City in autumn environment was very atmospheric. I also really loved Rosie’s character, I could definitely relate to many aspects of her, like her love of books and homesickness. I liked Aiden as well, once they were together he was really sweet and thoughtful with her - however, his criticism of romance books and Rosie’s writing at the beginning threw me off a bit and felt pretty misogynistic to me.

One aspect I disliked was the hatred between the two characters at first. I understand the whole enemies to lovers trope attempted here, but I find that for me the reason for their hatred wasn’t realistic enough. Being truly enemies as adults just doesn’t happen so I found that a bit hard to believe, but I did enjoy how they came to like each other. I also thought that the spice dragged on quite a bit, but that’s just personal preference.

Overall, I really enjoyed the emotional depth of this book alongside the sweet romance, and would recommend this to any adult romance reader!