It's giving sweet and funny. It's giving small town girl and city boy. It's giving "hurt her and I'll end you".

In all, I loveeeed this book. It provides such a unique story and it was so refreshing to read. I love slow burn, enemies to lovers books and this one did not disappoint one bit.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the arc in exchange for my honest review!!

I was given an advanced copy in exchange for my review. This is my honest opinion I am giving voluntarily. After the third time the MMC was clenching his jaw I would go to the next chapter wondering how much better this would be if it was dual POV but in a round about way you kind of get it. The writing style was phenomenal I truly promise you get hooked off the first line. The banter is absolutely hilarious. The conflict at the end felt a little forced these people are supposed to be in there mid twenties but they broke up over some high school drama type, but nonetheless, you get your HEA. I’ve never read this author before and I was genuinely impressed I couldn’t put it down.

If you love books, and you love romance.... this is your notice to read Not In My Book.

An enemies-to-lovers, book for lovers. A delightful slow-burn that will have you wanting to write your own love story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc. All opinions express are my own.

OMG! This was it! I enjoyed this book so incredibly much. It gave romance && spice. It was absolutely enjoyable on all ends.

I went up and down on my feelings toward this book but ultimately I really enjoyed it!! Not In My Book is kinda like if we got more backstory of January and Gus’s time in college… and they were forced to write a book together instead of their bet from Beach Read. This similarity had me skeptical at first, but I think the dynamic worked well and Rosie and Aiden were solidified as their own characters with their own issues. It was veryyy fun to see snippets from their book and gave an interesting depth and perspective to the story! The end was just a touch too cheesy for my liking but I was thoroughly obsessed with the rest of the book!

Thank you to Net Galley and Alcove Press for the arc!
4 ⭐️

p.s. also didn’t help that there was the unfortunate circumstance where both mmc’s had the same names as mine and my best friends ex 🥴🙃

Are you kidding me with this debut?! This book drew me in immediately, and I couldn’t put it down. I was blown away by Katie Holt's talent and ability to create characters with such depth and CHEMISTRY.

This book is a masterpiece—the story within the story was so well thought out and executed!

I absolutely adored both Rose and Aiden. They are the classic academic enemies, always competing and tearing each other down. Their project? Working together to create a story—whew, it was so good. I loved watching both their real story and their fictional story grow.

This is one of my top reads of the year, and I’ll remember it for a long time!

Thank you, NetGalley and Alcove Press, for this book in exchange for an honest review.

-Enemies to lovers
-Forced proximity
-A story within a story

Spice level:🔥🔥🔥/4

Rosie wants to write romance and Aiden, who writes literary fiction, think romance is stupid. Both are rivals on the NYU MFA program and continue to butt heads on their workshop, until this faculty leader gives them an ultimatum: write a book together or get booted from the class. Will they make it through being forced to work together and whatever sparks may fly?

Set in NYC, this debut romance has rivals to lovers, forced proximity, a grumpy/sunshine dynamic, and it's about writers, so I think it's crowd pleasing on many fronts. There were a few points were things felt overly repetitive and I'm not huge in poor communication as a plot device, but there are so many things that make this an enjoyable read. I liked the setting in the city, particularly during the winter. We have a single character POV, but the excerpts on their co-written novel give us some of Aiden's POV second hand.

Thank you to Alcove Press for an ARC on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This is a debut? I am BLOWN AWAY! Devouring this book in a matter of hours, I could not put it down. As a writer and a lover of romance books, this is one of the most well-written romance books I have had the privilege to read in a LONG TIME. The plot, the formatting, and the overall execution are simply incredible; no notes. Rosie and Aiden are specatularly-crafted characters who will stick with me for a while, the pacing was perfect, and this book is so quotable. I'll definitely be getting a physical copy to annotate. So grateful to have had the opportunity to read this book. Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press!

Classic tropes used in a fun new way. Nothing groundbreaking but I really enjoyed the characters and their banter.

‘I love you. In light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next.’
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Finishing up this week with such a good romance, very thankful I could read it monthssss before it’s out! Thank you @alcovepress and netgalley for the copy! 💖
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‘Not in My Book’ is a romance book that will soothe even the souls of litfic readers. I absolutely loved the plot and the characters, especially the book within a book element of it.
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Rosie and Aiden are academic rivals who are forced to either drop their favourite class or co-write a book. She talks too much and he’s too quiet, but together they’re perfect. I loved how their project turned into a means of telling each other what they didn’t dare say in person and who doesn’t love a man who falls first and falls so hard?!
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This is for the fans of Julie Soto, can’t wait to read more from Katie Holt in the future!

Enemies to lovers. A story within a story. Forced proximity. A steamy romance. This book has it all! If you are a fan of The Hating Game, this book is for you. Rosie and Aiden are in the same writing class at NYU and they are each others harshest critic. After a truly intense workshop, they are forced to write a romance together and things take off. I loved the banter between these two and the romantic moments set in NYC. I also enjoyed the story they were working on together (and I don't always love a story with in a story) because it added to the tension between the main characters. This was a fun read and I devoured it. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

this book was so cute, idk why but i didnt expect myself to like it😭 considering i did NOT like the hating game at all.(dnf) even though i was waiting to be finished with the book, i liked it. the reason i wanted it to end faster is because of my very intimidating tbr list… my fault, but this might not be every ones cup of tea, since i wouldn’t go out of my way to read this. however, the fmc low key made me give this an extra star, i loved her sm. i love when i see myself in fmc’s, exactly what happened here.

2.5 stars.

A cute academia romance! Overall, I think this has a ton of potential, but it's not quite there for me right now.

What I loved:
- Love the book within a book concept. It’s very fun and changes up the pace of the book nicely.
- The academic, writing intensive setting.
- The quips about the different romance tropes are just fun. It’s like little inside jokes for all of us romance novel loving girlies.
- Aiden and Rosie’s relationship and how it develops through the book is overall just very sweet. I really enjoyed both of them individually and together.

What I didn’t love:
- It definitely needs a good round of editing. There were quite a few grammatical issues and repetition of the same scenario, especially at the beginning (ex. explaining her crush on Aiden, how she became friends with Jess, etc.)
- I wish that there was more tension at the beginning. It is meant to be enemies to lovers, and while they do argue a lot, from basically the first chapter Rosie is talking about how hot Aiden is and how she used to have a crush on him. That took a lot of the tension of the relationship away for me.
- There was a lot of explaining and not showing with peoples' characteristics/qualities.
- I do think the pace of the story still feels a bit clunky. Again, I think the story itself is really great, just a bit of a flow issue for me.

The love story in this book left much to be desired. Instead of charming banter, it often veered into disrespectful territory, making it hard to connect with the characters, particularly the male lead, whose behavior was off-putting and difficult to sympathize with. As the narrative progressed, it became increasingly challenging to stay engaged.

Despite my reservations about the romance, the book did offer an enjoyable tour of New York City, with the author skillfully incorporating numerous notable locations that brought back fond memories. While I appreciated the concept, side characters, and setting, my overall enjoyment was overshadowed by the main characters' dynamic. Although it wasn't quite my cup of tea, I still encourage others to give it a try. Many thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not in my Book had my hooked with the enemies to lovers. Truly enjoyed reading the love story journey for Rosie and Aiden especially with the writing of their Untitled Book.

Now all I need is the Hunter and Max story!

I thought the enemies to lovers buildup was amazing in this one but once they became lovers, the story just fell flat. Some details were conflicting and the romance just seemed instant after having “hated” each other for so long. Otherwise, a quick and fun read!

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! A romance novel within a romance novel?! Yes, please! This was so stinking CUTE. I was kicking my feet, blushing, and giggling throughout. I thought this was really well written and I was so entertained by the main characters and their love story. Absolutely beautiful.

We meet two MFA students from NYU at their Creative Writing Class. While one writes romance, the other is a literary fiction writer. From the very beginning we witness a rivalry between them for which the female protagonist, Rosie blames Aiden, the male protagonist.

We star with them in class, hurling insults at each other. Then some things happen and they ended up being forced to write a book together. In writing the books, they became friends, even more than that and finally like any other romance book, we witness the big conflict.

This is where all goes downhill. For a conflict to mean something to a reader, we have to feel for both parties. Sure, for a moment we can be team Rosie or team Aiden, but even after learning both parties reasoning you conclude one party is definitely being an asshole, it becomes less of a romance novel and more of a delusion.

For context, the guy lies about something that is very important to the girl and when she finds out, instead of apologising he gaslights her, doesn’t take responsibility for his action and accuses her of being jealous. Now in the heat of the moment many things are said to hurt the other person and I am not one to hold on to it. But it’s just reason behind his lie was he had daddy issues and the boy needs daddy’s approval. It’s like that Eminem song where he says yes babe i got your sister pregnant but how can you leave now when I need your support when ai down with cheating on you!

No, Aiden doesn’t cheat and honestly up until that point I loved him so much more than I loved the girl. But lying, deceiving for whatever reason is never okay. And if you lied and behaved poorly, what do you next? You show how sorry you are.

What Aiden did and how the conflict resolution went felt like a narcissistic was saying I love you, forgive me but my lie was needed when at any point saying the truth would have been okay, would have been respectful. Because he doesn’t say or show he shouldn’t have lied. That he was sorry for lying, for making a fool of herself in front of her friends.

I am giving it 3 stars in the hope that the last conflict scene and plot would be revised before it goes for printing. And the guy turns out to a decent human being as he was throughout the first and second half of the book. I also hope they show how talented and smart the girl is from the beginning instead of showing it through her writing when Rosie was writing the book with Aiden and it became evident how much better of a writer she is. (I think instead of her being unnecessarily bitchy in the beginning, the same arguments can be written in a smarter way).

If none of this is changed, know that this is. 2 star book for me. But if they make the changes, it would easily turn into a 4/5 star for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this and their dynamic and the slow burn of it all - the only thing that made me want to give up and throw the whole book out the window was the ✨conflict✨ close to the end. I understand why Rosie was upset but her actions seemed SO extreme and dramatic and unreasonable (trying to not spoil), not even pausing to give Aiden a chance to explain his actions and how he’s been feeling. She’s gonna just decide that NOTHING MEANT ANYTHING even though they clearly were in love with each other??? Okay. Kinda messed things up for me but I enjoyed the bulk of it so I’ll still be nice with my rating. (Also ngl, I’m definitely one of those people who gets a little bored once the characters get together and all the will they/won’t they is gone. The spice was still ✨spicy✨ tho.)

What an enjoyable read! I love a bit of rivals to lovers action and this did it so well. Not in my Book follows the story of Rosie and Aiden, university writing rivals forced to work together and write a manuscript to save their degrees. As they write the romance between their main characters, their real life feelings start to blossom, slowly blurring the line between fiction and reality.

I really enjoyed this! Rosie was funny and driven, and I liked her relationship with Aiden as it shifted from animosity to love. The New York setting was really wonderful and I loved all the bookish elements to their relationship. I do think it really would’ve benefited without a third act breakup, or perhaps one that didn’t make Aiden seem like such an unredeemable ass (sorry!) if I was Rosie, I’m not sure I would’ve forgiven how demeaning and condescending he continually was towards her, and no last minute love confession could fix that for me, sadly. That being said, I still really enjoyed the story and the writing style and will happily read more from Katie Holt!