4.5 stars!!! Thank you, NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt, for this ARC!
This book was so cute I loved the relationship between the two main characters I thought they were so cute and adorable and just really great characters overall!! When I realized that this book was the authors first book I was a little hesitant but IM SO GLAD I READ THIS ITS SO GOOD!!! I loved the plot in this book them writing a book together was probably the cutest thing ever. I do want to say that them writing a book in a book i did have to get use to just cause i was a little confused at some points just trying to remember what was written in the chapter before!!! Also this book was so much spicier then i would have thought it was by the cover, I don't read much spice but this was pretty easy to just skim the spicy parts. Im really excited to see what else Katie writes this book was amazing!!


Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this. All thoughts are my own

4.5⭐️ Thank you, NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt, for this ARC!

Initial thoughts: I absolutely love a book set in NYC, especially one with a timeline separated by the seasons. Pacing the story over a whole year makes it feel like we get more time with the characters, even if the book isn’t longer than one set over a week. It just adds depth and a sense of real-life progression. I also adore books about book lovers or anyone in the book world—very You’ve Got Mail vibes.

I truly cannot believe this is Katie Holt’s debut novel. She writes about books like someone who has been a lifelong lover of them. While I don’t want to assume everything Rosie said and experienced reflects Katie’s own thoughts, it gives the book a personal touch knowing that both Katie and Rosie are Peruvian-American.

Aiden gave major Gus vibes in the best way possible, but I’d argue he took the rivals-to-lovers trope even more intensely than Gus did. It was sweet to see Aiden’s layers peeled back throughout each chapter and season. He is a character many people can resonate with, dealing with grief and loss and figuring out how to live in the aftermath.

The side characters were also fantastic. Logan was hilarious, and the sweet relationship between Jess and Tyler was top-notch. Alexa added her own charm and humor to the mix.

One aspect I didn’t love was the conflict at the end of the book—it felt predictable and was handled in a very immature way. I know they are still in their 20s, but I can’t imagine such a fallout from a conflict like that.

All in all, this is a wonderful romance novel written by a romance lover for romance lovers! Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt for the advanced reader copy of Not in My Book. This novel is a delightful, five-star read that will charm fans of rivals-to-lovers romances and those who enjoyed The Hating Game. Rosie, a passionate Peruvian American, heads to New York with dreams of literary glory but finds her ambitions tangled up with her archnemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington. Aiden, with his surly demeanor and disdain for the romance genre, is the perfect foil to Rosie’s idealistic romance aspirations, leading to a delightful blend of tension and chemistry.

The premise of Rosie and Aiden being forced to cowrite a novel that merges their opposing genres is as fresh as it is engaging. Their steamy, reluctant collaboration turns into a captivating exploration of their simmering attraction and deep-seated feelings. The chemistry between the leads is electric, and their journey from fierce rivals to lovers is both heartwarming and entertaining. If you're a fan of witty banter, sizzling chemistry, and the classic rivals-to-lovers trope, Not in My Book is a must-read that delivers on all fronts.

I enjoyed this book and the all the characters. It was a little too steamy for my taste but i did love the ending. Thank you so much for the ARC of this book.

a 🔥 enemies to lovers with two opposites-attract leads who have to work on a book manuscript together

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s something you don’t want to see in your book? I’ll say cheating & mustaches 🤣.

Rosie is a romance novel lover & Aiden is a romance denouncer & when they’re paired together for a class assignment (bc their acrimony is too much for the class dynamic!), things do not go smoothly at first.

I wasn’t initially sure what to make of Katie Holt’s Not in My Book. The leads’ enemies to lovers relationship is intense & hair-trigger, for one thing, & that tumult rises between them at the beginning of the book & at the end, in the 3rd act break-up.

But this contemporary ended up really winning me over, & I loved the moments of vulnerability & steam between Rosalinda & Aiden, how they engage with each other’s families, & the friendship that ends up being so important to them both.

This isn’t a flawless romance for me but it is a romance with a lot of heart & I was definitely rooting for the leads to stop fighting so HARD already & channel that passion into something more productive for all of us 🤣.

4.25 ⭐️. Out 12/10.

(FYI: If epistolary elements are your jam, you might like the bits of Rosie & Aiden’s “fiction” that are sprinkled in the book. Sometimes I did, & sometimes I didn’t 😆.)

CWs: emotionally manipulative, toxic dad; previous death of mom; reference to dad cheating.

[ID: Jess is wearing an aqua & gray striped dress & sits on a porch near pink & purple flowers while holding the ebook.]

A roller-coaster of emotions. I laughed a lot and was surprised to find tears in my eyes a time or two. I caught on right away to Adrian’s shy feelings. I guessed most of the plot twists and hidden reveals sprinkled throughout associated with him but they made them no less enjoyable. I highly recommend this book.

I thank NetGalley and Katie Holt for a copy of the ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

# Not in My Book
# 7/26/2024 ~ 7/26/2024
# 5.0 / 5.0

A sweet and entertaining Academic Rivals story


"Not in My Book" by Katie Holt is a slow burn, Academic Rivals story about two authors in New York.

I went into „Not in My Book“ with little to no expectations and was surprised with a sweet and entertaining Academic Rivals story.

Oh dear! Cat and mouse is not at all a term for how Rosie and Aiden bicker and tear apart their literary works.

Rosie is a very direct person who can dish it out mercilessly with her sharp tongue.
She loves romance novels and her biggest dream is to be a romance author herself. That's why she moved from Tennessee to New York to study and realize her dream.

Aiden comes from a wealthy background and is in many ways the complete opposite of Rosie. His genre is literal fiction with sad endings and seems to have no love for romance novels.
My heart had no chance of not loving Aiden after I got to know him properly. He is just so thoughtful and so sweet.

I really liked the structure of the story. In order not to be thrown out of the university course, the two squabblers have to write a story together.

My little highlight were the text excerpts we got at the end/beginning of each chapter. The special thing about them is that Rosie and Adam communicate through them, telling us things that they could never say. We also get a little insight into Adam's thoughts, because "Not in my Book" is written from Rosie's point of view.

I give "Not in My Book" 4 out of 5 stars.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Oh, this book was GOOD! Want a dose of enemies to lovers? Check out NOT IN MY BOOK by Katie Holt

This book was full of slow burn goodness, with a heaping dash of angst and all the feels!

You can really feel the connection grow between Rosie and Aiden - I loved the brilliant supporting characters, the quick pace and the delicious spice.

READ FOR:
Enemies to lovers
Spicy romance
Opposites attract

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC! Opinions are my own

I loved this and will now be waiting with bated breath for Katie Holt’s next work. Enemies to lovers fandom is getting fed with this tension-filled treat.

Loved this bookish romance. Rosie and Aiden bicker and banter while cowriting a novel and it makes for a hilarious read. It does get a little spicy during the winter months but what better way to keep warm. I enjoyed this cute romance and the unique characters.

Rosie has always LOVED love. Her mom's love of romance novels rubbed off on her at an early age, and she became determined to write her own. Now attending NYU, Rosie wants nothing more than to wow peers in her writing seminar. Unfortunately for her, Aidan might be the biggest romance hater.. and that immediately makes him her enemy. But with their feud getting out of control and their options being 1) drop the class, or 2) write together, can Rosie and Aidan find common ground? Or will they be each other's downfall?

I absolutely LOVED this book! Holt does a wonderful job of writing Rosie and Aidan's relationship; not at one point did I find it crazy unbelievable. The spice is hot, I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers, and a romance book about a romance author just kinda scratched an itch in my brain that I didn't know needed scratching. I can't wait for the release date, and it may be partially due to a scene involving writing that I feel a need to share with literally all of my friends.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC!
Projected publish date: Dec. 9th, 2024

Katie Holt needs to write more books - stat. I'll read every single one of them.

Rosie loves romance. Aiden loves literary fiction. I think you can see where this is going. Rosie is an aspiring author who moved from Tennessee to NYC to pursue her dream. Aiden is a grumpy NYC native who loves literary fiction and hates all things romance. When their fighting in their writing workshop lands them in trouble they are forced to work on a book together. But they slowly start writing themselves into the story...and find themselves exploring their feelings for each other through the characters.

What I liked: I loved these characters, I love their forced proximity and I especially love the setting. I really enjoyed them having to write together and how that allowed their relationship to grow. I loved watching Aiden grow and open up. No spoilers, but I thought the ending was perfect.

What I didn't like: I could have read this book forever. Give me more from this author!

Love this book and will be thinking about it for weeks!

Amazing rivals-to-lovers book. Slow burn and just the right amount of suspense and build-up to make me turn to the next page asap. I was really excited to read this based on the description, and I was NOT disappointed. This was a perfect romance book for me. Throughout this I was actually so afraid it would not work out between them!

This is a must-read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am just sitting here with tears rolling down my face. This book was just, amazing. I relate to this book so hard, especially the FMC Rosie. Rosie is a diehard romantic, she just wants the love that she reads about in romance novels. When she meets Aiden, she doesn’t think that he can be her happily ever after. Following their journey of being forced to write a romance novel together was funny, wholesome, it was sweet, it was tense, it was sad, but it was raw. If there is a type of love out there that a long for, it’s this one.

Easiest 6 star read of the year for me. I will read anything Katie Holt publishes.

Thank you NetGalley for this amazing opportunity to ARC read this title.

This an awesome rivals-to-lovers romance! The angst is chefs kiss. Opposite truly do attract. I love the diversity in the characters. I highly recommend.

I loved this book! I thought the concept was fun and it was entertaining to read the whole way through. The characters had clear and defined backstories that added to the story. I loved their interactions, it was especially intriguing to read the scenes where they were simultaneously writing scenes in the book. The tension of the words unsaid in real life but written in the page were powerful.

My only notes would be that, the scenes they put in the book were sometimes word for word what was happening in real life, making the reader read the exact same thing twice. I would have liked to have seen a more creative interpretation of real life written as their parts of their book so there was less repetition. Also; I know the whole point of the story is their enemies dynamic, but it was a little much at the beginning. She seemed a little childish at times but once you got past the intro it wasn’t as much of an issue for me.

Honestly didn't like this book very much. It was okay but I didn't really feel connected to the characters. I started rushing through it in a way so I could just get done. The writing fell flat to me and there were parts I found cringy. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher!!

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *
I absolutely ate this book up! I love a good bookish romance, and this hit just that spot.

The way Rosie and Aiden's relationship unfolded while they peeled back each other's layers was fantastic and the wit was fantastic. While the premise was a little similar to Beach Read, I feel like the characters were still different enough for it to still feel unique.

My only complaint about this book is that some of the dramatics towards the end were a bit over the top but still really enjoyed it overall!

HOW I WISH THIS WAS MY FAVOURITE ROMANCE READ OF THE YEAR!!!

This one made me laugh out loud; blush; cry towards the end and I just love everything about the book EXCEPT when it comes to the cringey intimate scenes and the dialogues there!

I am telling you every single thing is PERFECT but (ugh!) I feel the intimate scenes & dialogues seem so out of place. It’s the ONLY downer for me.

These two writer characters are fierce competitors when it comes to writing in class. And yes, they are not so subtle about it. It becomes a big issue when it comes to the class environment and they are made to write a steamy romance together. For Rosie, it would be like nothing new as she has been a romance writer her entire life. But for Aiden, the rueful literary fiction writer, it would be a big challenge other than not being able to talk civil with his “enemy” Rosie.

Yes, that’s my blurb of the book 👍🏻

I would say the lead characters and the side characters seem very realistic. They are charming in their own ways and unique. None of the characters turned out to be similar which I really appreciate.

The banter between the characters (not just between the romance main characters but also amongst the family members and best friends) are so enjoyable!

The first half will surely give you the exact taste of enemies while the second half will give you the enemies-to-lovers. Nah, it doesn’t jump like that but you will not know exactly they turned into lovers. Yes, it’s that spontaneous which I really adore about the writing.

Rosie has issues and Aiden has too. But I feel I would have appreciated the book more towards the end if Aiden’s issues were addressed again.

But you will totally enjoy this fun emotional romance once you start reading it.

I just couldn’t put it down!

Thank you, Alcove Press and author, for the advance reading copy.

This was such a great enemies to lovers for the bookish set. Rosie and Aiden are rivals in the same MFA program in New York. Their in class arguments have escalated to the point that their professor is forced to take action in the way only a professor in a room-com can. Forced to collaborate on a novel, Rosie and Aiden begin to write a story that just might be their own- if they can get past their professional and personal insecurities.

This was a fun and feisty read and would be great for those who loved The Hating Game and The Spanish Love Deception. The one caveat being that you must love a classic romance formula. If you can accept and enjoy tried and true hopes you’ll have a blast with this debut.