Thanks to NetGalley & Alcove Press for providing me an e-ARC!

**1.5 stars** With contemporary, steamy romances on the rise, “Not in My Book” by Katie Holt is described to fit this description. This unfortunately fell short on its promise of being a “sexy and hilarious enemies-to-lovers romance” and was a melting pot of the general TikTok/BookTube/Bookstagram beloved troupes.

The story centers on Rosie, an MFA student and romance writer, who finds herself thrust into a writing workshop alongside her literary fiction nemesis, Aiden. Their constant bickering and competitive spirit test the patience of their professor, who issues a drastic ultimatum: co-write a romance novel together or get kicked out of the workshop. Forced into collaboration, Rosie and Aiden discover an unexpected spark as they write their steamy romance.

The writing style leans heavily towards young adult, feeling more suited to Wattpad than a published novel. Contemporary romances tend to have writing that is often over-the-top and very cheesy but this one overdid it. Our characters are in their early to mid 20’s and they act as if they’re still in highschool, even going as far as to bring up references from their time as middle schoolers. There were also many side characters that did not contribute to the storyline and reading their text messages only cluttered the narrative. Additionally, the unrealistic portrayal of life in New York City is jarring. Rosie, a broke NYU graduate student, lives comfortably in a charming NYC apartment on a part-time job. It simply doesn't add up.

At the end of each chapter, we get an excerpt of their collaborative novel which basically is foreshadowing their eventual romance. This repetitive approach forces the reader to essentially experience the same story twice.

Readers who enjoyed Hannah Grace’s “Icebreakers” and “Wildfire” will enjoy this. It doesn’t take a lot of brain power but it did have me cringing because it was so corny. Sadly, this was not my cup of tea.

thank you to netgalley and alcove press for the advance copy of this book!

i was shocked to realize that this was katie holt’s debut novel. it is clear that she is a true lover and enthusiast of the romance genre, as well as all of the intricacies that make a great romance novel. while this book includes several tropes that one can find in countless other romance novels, the author introduces them all in a refreshing way that allows this to be a stand-out in the genre.

our main characters, rosie and aiden, begin as academic rivals in a writing workshop at nyu. while rosie initially admired aiden from afar, their rivalry begins when aiden continuously targets rosie’s writing and judges the romance genre as frivolous. their in-class arguments escalate to the point where their professor gives them an ultimatum: either they jointly write their final manuscript for the workshop, or they will both be kicked out of the class for all of the disruption they have caused to the other students. after a begrudging agreement to work together, their conjoined romance/literary fiction work is born. what initially begins as a distant story of two rival coworkers quickly transforms into a clandestine outlet for rosie and aiden to grapple with their developing feelings for each other as they spend more time together. as they reach the end of the novel they must come to a mutual agreement: will their characters (and themselves) face the tragedy that is emblematic of aiden’s genre, or will they get rosie’s happily-ever-after?

this was such a fun book to read and the author has made a fan out of me. i will be reading her future works, and would recommend this one to any romance lover out there!

Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for providing this ARC

This book is 3.5 stars

This book is a academic rivals to lovers with ofc a lot of banters

Both of the characters are writers with different preferred genres and force to work together

I really like that their actual writing is in the end of most of the chapters and are related

I like the peruvian representation in the FMC

I like their chemistry but yeah there's some parts that puts me off

But overall rec this if you're looking for more academic rivals romance book

I enjoyed the plot of this book so much. Communicating through their writing was a refreshing way for the relationship to grow and develop and sets it a part from other romance novels. There were many great lines by both our FMC and MMC. Overall, a great read and I would recommend to fellow romance lovers!

The world needs more enemies-to-lovers stories. The lesson of looking to find common ground is just ESSENTIAL, VITAL, NECESSARY and I'm channeling all of the let's work together vibes from Rosie and Aiden. Both taking writing classes at NYU, Rosie wants to be a romance writer and earn respect for the genre. Aiden is a literary fiction elitist whose upper west side born and bred aesthetic is a direct contrast to Rosie's pulling herself up by her bootstraps shared apartment with no security working as a waitress to make ends meet vibe. Did you get all that? So when they keep fighting during class, their professor partners them together and tells them to overcome their differences and write something together. Opposites attract, and the steam rises from these pages when the two authors co-write a love scene.... ooooh, baby! MUST read.

3.25 stars

when i read this had a mix of beach read i knew i had to pick it up immediately and while i did really enjoy this it wasn’t exactly januarygus in my opinion.

rosie and aiden are academic rivals in a writing workshop who are forced to work together on a manuscript combing their two genres, romance and lit fic. i honestly really did love to see the academic rivals part because it felt real, they both were always at each others neck finding something to critique.

i also loved the small bits we got from the manuscript as they’re mostly written in the mmc’s pov and it was very much them writing about their feelings but disguising it as their book characters’ thoughts.

i overall enjoyed it BUT i think i eventually got a little bored around the 60% mark, plus i didn’t really like rosie’s attitude about romances MUST have hea’s to be considered romances it just felt extremely stereotypical. also the mmc’s reasoning for his attitude made sense up until the end where it was kinda used to excuse his behavior….

i still recommend it to anyone looking for writing academic rivals to lovers and a peruvian fmc

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t believe what a good read this was and it’s the author’s debut novel. I ATE THIS UP! So so close to a perfect 5. I couldn’t put this down and LOVED the main character Rosie. She was proud of her passion, she was caring and smart, and she took a chance on her future. Also cool that she was Peruvian! I’d recommend to any romcom reader who likes banter, enemies to lovers, and spice. I think this will be the perfect winter read with the setting 🫶 I’ll definitely read Katie Holt’s next book.

Tropes:
* enemies to lovers
* forced proximity
* one bed

Summary:
Rosie is trying to make NYC work to follow her dreams of being a romance writer, but keeps butting heads with her litfit writing classmate and nemesis, Aiden. After an explosive argument in a class meant to kickstart their thesis novel, the professor has an ultimatum: drop the class or co-write the book. Begrudgingly, the two accept and somehow the characters end up extremely similar to them to the point where you can’t tell who is falling in love with who, the characters or Rosie and Aiden.


Other Thoughts:

- The book within a book idea was so cool, the spicy scenes were spicy. The plot stands out to me in sea of romance books I’ve read.

- The parallels between book within a book spicy and the book spicy had me kicking my feet, I loved these elements.

- I thought one of the spicy scenes felt really realistic, especially for someone who hasn’t been able to really be themselves and take what they want. .

- Would be a 5 if I didn’t get lost in the last few chapters of the book within the book and if something about the argument didn’t feel off to me. I understand why it went down the way it did though. I think I wanted more agony first. When parts they’d write in earlier chapters felt off, at least I could believe they were edited. I guess they do edit them but I can’t imagine they’d even want to submit something for school that didn’t make sense.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
🌶️🌶️

I thought this book was completely genius! I love how we get to read some of Rosie and Aiden’s book and that we get a chance to witness them writing together. In all seriousness, the spicy scene they write together just might be the best smut I’ve ever read!

I always appreciate when a romance novel has a strong plot, and while nothing is too serious or high-stakes, I love that this book has realistic pacing and a thoughtfully developed connection between our MMC and FMC.

The banter is top tier. I found myself giggling and laughing out loud multiple times during this read. Overall, I’m highly impressed and would certainly recommend Not In My Book to any romance reader.

Disclaimer: I received this arc with the mindset that I would give an honest review. Thank you so much!!

I felt that the enemies-to-lovers portion of this book was done well and so full circle with the connection to their own book that readers really connect to both the characters and their own book.

Rosie was by far my favorite character in this book! I loved how Katie connected the Peruvian and Tennessean mannerisms. I really connected with Rosie throughout this story and actually felt emotions along with her. I don’t want to give anything away but just know that Rosie is my favorite. Aiden’s character had to grow on me because he frustrated me. However, that was the point to his character after having connected so well with Rosie. That just shows you how amazing Katie did with writing the characters in this book.

The banter between the two was great but really the best thing about this book was the eventual romance. This book had a theme of personal growth and surrounding yourself with people who value and appreciate you and also challenge you.

Overall, this book was a win and I highly recommend that you read this book.

Thank you so much to Katie Holt, Alcove Press, and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS HOLT’S DEBUT! this book was stunning. essentially, rosie and aiden are put to work together on a literary piece that has equal parts of the genres that they respectively write for the workshop that they both attend so there were plenty of enjoyable tropes such as academic rivals to lovers (they express their feelings for each other through their writing), forced proximity, small town fmc x city mmc (it has a nyc back drop), and more!

the setting (especially the incorporation of seasonal change) and storyline were great, but rosie and aiden just elevated the story! they were such lovable characters. rosie was absolutely hilarious, receptive, and had a great resolve to her meanwhile aiden was resilient and perceptive. i felt that the progression of their relationship was realistic to them and the obvious distain that they previously had for each other. i love characters that you would befriend if they were real and that is exactly how they were written.

The premise of this book hooked me right away to request it ! Unfortunately it was a miss for me. The banter was fun, the story was fun, but I just did not feel the relationship between them, and Aiden was such a jerk. The third act breakup was also completely unnecessary and very childish !

I actually enjoyed this book so much! This book was about Rosie Maxwell and Aiden Huntington. They are both in a creative writing progran and Rosie likes writing Romance while Aiden is into literary fiction. They argue during class because of their critiques on each other's works and so their professor asked them to write a manuscript together which I think is so cool. I loved the banter and chemistry between them and it was just such an amazing book. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good rival writers, one bed, slow burn, opposites attract, grumpy x sunshine, and set in new york! This book releases December 10th. 2024. (I know it's a long time from when I'm writing this review but I think the book is worth the wait.

Thank you Netgalley, Alcove press, and Katie Holt for this lovely ARC.

Academic rivals (a romance writer and a literary fiction writer) act childish (yelling, calling each other names) during a writing workshop for their MFA program. Instead of reprimanding them like she should do, the professor forces them to write their novel together. Naturally they fall in love, and obviously one of them has to mess it up.

This had all the potential and none of the pay off. At times I felt like I was reading a YA novel - the character behavior was something I’d expect from a middle schooler not a 26 year old. Other times I felt like I was sitting in a lecture hall being taught the fundamentals of writing a novel. This book felt long winded and over-written in so many places. I am still dumbfounded that this is only 320 pages, how small is the printed font going to be, because I felt like I was reading a 400+ page book.

I wanted a quick, cute, rivals-to-lovers and what I got was a lesson on how to write a romance novel and how not to act in public.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. Honestly loved all of the banter, I am a sucker for good banter and this book’s banter is *chefs kiss*. I didn’t love the conflict and how Aiden handled it, otherwise this was a fun read!

This this debut was a fun and cute read with a lot of potential! There were a few things I liked vs didn’t like. I enjoyed the incorporation of excerpts from the “book” that Rosie and Aiden wrote together. Including those excerpts at the end of the chapters was absolutely genius because it felt like I was reading a book WITHIN a book (while having a look into Aiden’s thoughts too). And the title reveal was insane.

Their book-writing scenes were actually pretty enjoyable and it was interesting seeing the writing process of MFA students who write opposite genres. In general, I appreciate books with characters who are writers. Their banter was hilarious. The pacing of their chemistry and the spice was also amazing. The book had me giggling at times because I loved them together. Aiden was so swoony and for quiet broody guy like him, I was not expecting that satisfying dirty-talk.

The pacing at the beginning was a little weird with abrupt scene changes. But it improved as the book went on. And the third act conflict was extremely really annoying because Rosie was a frustrating character at times with her choices and mindset. The conflict resolution and the ending was satisfying, though. I think I would have loved this even more if it also weren’t for some of the cliche and predictable language that I couldn’t overlook.

The depictions of NYC through all the familiar restaurants, sights and the daily lives of a NYer were so accurate and as an NYC native, it’s something that I surprisingly appreciated. It made sense when I realized the author was a New Yorker because the language she used was pretty spot on. Overall, this was a pretty cute read and a great debut! I would love to read this author’s future works.
3.5/5 rounded up

SO SO GOOD!!! i love katie & have followed her journey on booksta and to see her grow & write this book was beautiful. the start was a bit slow, but it really kicked up and i loved the tension, the banter, EVERYTHING! her writing was definitely a little young and wattpad vibes, but i think it worked well for this sort of romcom style book. the characters were well developed and i loved their chemistry. such a fun book and excited to see more from katie!

Let me tell you about the book first. It’s a book lover's dream. In the book the author mentioned -"The Hating Game meets Beach Read", which is very true.

Rosie and Aiden regularly go to verbal battle in their writing workshop in nyc. It gets to a point where their professor reaches her breaking point and almsot kicked them out of the workshop. She allows them to stay in her class on one condition: they must co-write a novel that blends their genres, romance and literary fiction.

After reading some chapters, i fall in love with the characters. Aiden and Rosie, both were super adorable, almost grumpy and sunshine tropes, where sunshine discovers our grumpy's sunflower side.
And then the blow came! I was almost okay with it, for the sake of story. But then, he didn’t admit to his wrong doing, even covered that up with classic asshole act! Up untill then, i was okay with storyline. The author gave a reason, obviously! But Daddy issues can't be reason enough to hurt someone where it burns and crashes. And "i love you" isn’t solution for every mistake!

Love shouldn’t be something that makes you miserable. The author made a choice with Aiden, and with that my love for him went out the window and so did the story.
But before that, book was a romcom heaven for me. Every dream date, every romance scenes were just there, out of my imagination. But fries in milkshake, i would never, ever sign up for that.

I loved the premise of this one and the way the author incorporated some of the characters’ writing into each of the chapters so we got to read all the stuff they thought about each other but didn’t say. Rosie and Aiden were so cute and the enemies to lovers vibe they had going on built up all the tension I wanted to see between them! the steam was perfect and overall I would definitely recommend :)

📖enemies to lovers
📖writing partners
📖grumpy/sunshine

I have so much gushing to do over this book and don't quite know where to start. The writing was absolutely phenomenal; it felt like the author labored over every single sentence. I was struck by the layered conversations that Rosie and Aiden had about storytelling, writing, and their respective genres (romance and literary fiction). The humor came at JUST the right moments and threaded throughout the entire book was this slow-building, delicious tension that was WORTH. THE. WAIT!

I've also NEVER read anything quite this meta, where the characters are cowriting a novel with fictional versions of themselves on the page, doing and saying things that Rosie and Aiden aren't brave enough to say to each other yet.

The spicy scenes were GIVING, and the romantic moments were so tender. Katie Holt is a new favorite author of mine and I can't wait to scream about this book when it releases!

i loooooooooooved this!! it was so fun and it was so cute and i would definitely read this again and again