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!

Oh, I really enjoyed this enemy to lovers romance. It was really fun and would recommend. It’s a solid four stars.

Not in My Book by Katie Holt was a spectacular read and truly such a wonderful debut novel! What to expect: academic rivals-to-lovers story, small-town FMC meets big-city MMC, forced proximity, and great banter that kept me hooked. One thing that really stood out to me was how the characters expressed their feelings through their writing. As someone who sometimes struggles to say the right words out loud, I really connected with that—if you give me a pen, I’ll write my heart out too! I adored the cute Christmas in NYC scenes and I loved reading a story involving a Peruvian-American FMC. The cultural details made me so happy—alfajores, lomo saltado, Inca Kola… it felt like a warm hug. I am looking forward to reading more by Holt in the future!

first time reading a book by this author and so glad i did! this book was so heartwarming and adorable. the only negative i have is i feel it could have been shorter

I had difficulties with the characters in this book acting like children and not like adults. They were both annoying and unlikeable. I didn't want them to fall in love or for anything good to happen to either of them. I wanted them to go to therapy and learn conflict-resolution skills.

I wanted to love this book so much but it just kind of fell flat for me. I love slow burn and tension and banter but something was missing here. I can also be picky when it comes to romance because it’s my favorite genre/I’ve read so many.

Rosie and Aiden couldn't be more different. She is sunshine and rainbows. He is kind of a gray cloud. She writes romances with happily ever afters. He writes literary fiction where happily ever afters don't exist. When you mix these two together, sparks fly. These sparks just happen to be flying in a Masters degree writing class. Oops! When Rosie and Aiden can't seem to stop fighting the professor gives them an ultimatum....either drop the call (past the drop deadline) or figure out how to work together by writing their book (a class assignment) together. Rosie can barely afford the classes she is in now, so she definitely can't afford to retake a class. Aiden can't bare the idea of failing and proving his father right. Can these two opposites find some common ground to avoid personal disaster?

This book was so fun. I loved the banter between the two characters. I also really. really enjoyed the switch in writing style throughout the book to include excerpts from the book they are writing together. It melded into real life seamlessly. The tension they had in the classroom switched to a different kind of tension when they began writing together. They learned how to communicate with each other. They learned to see the world through the other's point of view. It isn't always sunny, nor is it always cloudy. Also, they way they helped each other through difficult situations, while still acting like they hated each other showed what their hearts were truly made of. Such a sweet book!

This book was a joy to read, although it seemed familiar in some way. The characters were likeable, and you could definitely find yourself rooting for their successes. The storyline was believable and true to real life, while being humorous and light-hearted. This book was written with a lot of thought as to how the characters would be perceived and rightfully so as they came across as realistic, yet with an air of fiction as well. I hope that this author continues to write in this manner and look forward to future titles of theirs.

This was such a fun read for me!! Romance is just the BEST and this 1000% lived up to being a love letter to the genre, itself. I was ALL IN for the Rosie & Aiden banter. Even when I sometimes wanted to crawl under a bridge like a troll with secondhand embarrassment from the way they bickered during their writing workshop discussions 😅 It was still just the best romance I could hope to end my year on. Thank you to Katie for also shouting out my local coffee shop, Honeybee, in the book! Was super fun and cute note being that the story mostly takes place in NYC (a place I haven't personally been yet!) Please go read this cutie book, y'all! Loved it so much 💕

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it