
Member Reviews

Rosie, a passionate aspiring romance writer, finds her New York dreams challenged when forced to co-write with her nemesis, Aiden, a grumpy literary fiction writer. Their rivalry is legendary, fueled by clashing genres and undeniable past sparks. But their professor, tired of their bickering, throws them a lifeline: co-write a novel that bridges the romance and literary fiction gap or be removed from the class.
This is where the magic happens. Rosie and Aiden's forced collaboration becomes a clever "book within a book" device. As they craft their fictional world, their own hidden feelings and vulnerabilities seep into the pages. The result? A hilariously tense dynamic where they trade barbs in class and secretly explore their desires through their fictional characters. This witty back-and-forth creates a delicious tension that keeps you hooked, turning the pages to see if Rosie and Aiden will conquer their rivalry for the sake of their fictional love story, or if their own undeniable chemistry will explode off the page.
Let's just say, the "spicy scenes" definitely live up to the simmering tension, adding a layer of heat that will leave you wanting more 🌶️👀
Speaking of wanting more, upon finishing "Not in My Book," I eagerly scoured the internet for Katie Holt's backlist, only to discover this gem is her debut novel! This is a fantastic start, and I can't wait to see what creative tales Holt cooks up next.
Thank you Netgalley for gifting me an arc in exchange for my honest thoughts 📖❤️

A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

This book was extremely well written and I loved every little thing about it - right up until that third break up. For one, the reason was a bit lame and very predictable. For two, what Aiden said and did during the break up, and him not telling her that he also applied - although it would take away her WHOLE MEANS TO BE ABLE TO STUDY - and then that LAME apology about him not wanting to ruin his reputation - while he is a rich white male writing literary fiction, come on - ??? I would have NEVER taken the man back, and definitely not as quick as she did. And then they get married a year after? Nah. I'm so sad, because I loved this book so much, and then the last few chapters just left me feeling so so angry.

Rosie Maxwell is a hopeless romantic from Tennessee who move to New York to study at NYU in a writing program. Aiden Huntington is in the program as well he is a snobby and rude and hate everything about romance a a genre and he has no problem sharing his harsh opinions about romance when in come to critiquing Rosie’s writing in class. But when their bickering back and forth goes too far the professor forces them to team up to write a novel together or be kicked out of the program.
They have to combined their genres (romance and literary fiction) and make something great together while not killing each other.
The pair make their characters (Max & Hunter) fall in love and they end up falling in love in the process, but they have a hard time communicating their feelings to each other in person so they communicate to each other their characters. I thought this concept was so sweet and so unique.
I absolutely loved his book, I was laughing and crying, I felt all the emotions. This book is enemies to friends to lovers. It has a happily ever after, it has slow burn and it has some 🌶️spice.

This was an easy but predictable read for me. The story focuses on enemies turned lovers who have to collaborate on a romance/ literary work and end up telling their own story as it develops. I would recommend as a light summer or vacation read.
Thanks to Alcove Press via Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book.

This book had everything I wanted and more—I loved this so much!! Definitely one of my favourite reads this year. The banter between the characters, the effortless love-filled encounters, and the plot line was nothing I had seen before yet everything I could have possibly loved in a book. This author did an amazing job!!!!

There is something about this book that just sent me on an emotional roller coaster of feelings! Katie Holt definitely deserves all 5 stars for this , all of the emotions involved with both Rosie’s character and Aiden’s character and their character development from the beginning to end especially with the addition of their own characters that they had written themselves in their story. I personally enjoyed that aspect as well of them having their own writing being portrayed rather than it being a side thought and them just verbalizing it!! I cried I swooned and just felt everything with them!!

I could not put this book down! Enjoyed every page. Thanks to Alcove Press for this ARC. This beautiful novel was full of everything I love about romance: witty banter, enemies-to-lovers drama, slow burn and lots of steam. Fun cast of characters too. Aidan and Rosie meet in a writer's workshop in their graduate program at NYU and soon become enemies who trade insults at each table read. Forced to write a novel together, or be kicked out of their class, they grow to trust each other and slowly their hatred fades and other feelings bloom. Both characters have depth and interesting backgrounds that were well-developed. Their relationship grew through each chapter that they wrote (to each other). They soon realize that their hatred was a mask for romantic feelings and desire, and their relationship slowly but surely grows. I really enjoyed reading through the growth of their relationship and loved the ending too. I'm very impressed by Katie Holt's writing. I went to Amazon after finishing this book to order another one of her books, only to realize this is her debut novel. Not in My Book was sweet, tender and funny.

What happens when two mortal writing enemies are tasked with writing a romance novel together? As fiction blurs their reality, these two find themselves bonding through shared Google docs until the writing can't be separated from reality.
I loved how easy it was to slip into the writing of this and ended up adoring the main character, Rosie, and her passion for the romance genre. The New York, writer-esque setting was everything I love in a book about books and I was genuinely sad when it was over.
Overall this was an incredibly well done steamy, heartfelt enemies to lovers book but laced with so much fun, I loved every minute!

I enjoyed the storyline of this ARC, very enjoyable, classic enemies to Lovers with the twist of the main characters being forced to work together on writing an enemies to Lovers novel in their workshop class. The prude in me says to much spice, reading them write them put it in a whole new uncomfortable spot for me 😳. They didn't last long, could speed read through.
I especially liked the excerpts from the characters book running through the end of each chapter.
Thanks Katie Holt and Net Gallery for the ARC of Not in My Book.

I haven’t felt this good about a book in such a long time! (Not including series continuations that I’ve read recently). Right from the beginning this book pulled me in and it didn’t let me go!
This book gives off “The Hating Game” vibes and I love the rivals-to-lovers storyline that we get between our FMC, Rosie, and our MMC, Aiden. Right off the bat they are at each others throats and the TENSION is so delicious. Their chemistry is screaming off the page and I couldn’t wait for the shoe to drop.
They are forced to work together to write a book that caters to both of their strengths after a particular nasty verbal sparring session in class where they were almost kicked out. Rosie loves romances and Aiden hates them, preferring literary fiction. They have to work together to mesh the two genres into a romance without a HEA.
The banter that comes from their arguements over what to write and how the plot should go brings some interesting moments that somehow find its way into the book they are writing. The author brings an interesting literary device into the story by letting us read the book our couple is working on. TWO BOOKS IN ONE!!
As the sexual storyline starts to build in their book, it builds between them in the most delicious way. Teaming up to write a sex scene brings an especially hot moment between our couple and I didn’t want to put the book down.
I have ZERO complaints about this book and I have found my newest favorite Contemporary couple. This book is, in my opinion, a masterpiece and I recommend this to EVERYONE who wants a cute contemporary romance to read.
Thank you to @netgalley and @alcovepress for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I loved this book! Aiden and Rosie are aspiring writers in the same writing workshop at NYU. She’s a romance writer while he prefers literary fiction. Their constant bickering causes them to have to do the unthinkable, write a novel together by the end of the semester melding their two styles.
To say I was obsessed with them would be an understatement. I loved their transition from rivals to friends to lovers and it felt very real. The fact that this was a book within a book really added something unique to the story that I enjoyed. The spice was good and so was the banter. The ending had me in a chokehold and I couldn’t stop until I knew what happened. Overall, I highly recommend this story it’s a perfect meld of sweet with a bit of spice.

Okay wait… I was not expecting this. I got this book as an ARC and I’m in love. It was so cute and so unexpected. It gave Book Lovers/When Harry Met Sally/The Hating Game vibes and I’m obsessed. A book within a book?! My faaaaavorite. Plus an actual legit enemies to lovers. So many times a book has claimed to be enemies to lovers and they’re “enemies” for 5 pages and then it switches. I want the slow transition and to be felt like I’m actually on this ride with them and that’s what I got with this book. Plus a good slow burn is hard to find. Love love love
Rosie and Aiden both go to NYU, are in the same writing class, and hate each other deeply. They’re forced to work together on a writing project and see if they can get past their mutual hatred for each other. Rosie is a hopeless romantic who writes romances and Aiden hates romance and writes literary fiction. Do opposites attract??
5/5⭐️
4/5 🌶️

The chokehold that this book put on me.. and it never let go.
Rosie and Aiden are enemies. They are constantly competing in class and find fault in one another's assignments. They tear each other down in front of every one, but you can feel that simmering tension RIGHT there beneath the surface.
Rosie writes romance and Aiden knows that it is unrealistic and he can't get on board with anyone who likes that type of thing. Aiden writes lit fic and Rosie thinks that it is all just sad drivel. When their teacher is sick of the fighting, she challenges them to write a story together, a mesh of both genres and maybe they will be able to see eye to eye one day.
What we get is some of the best tension I have ever read. This book is Rosie's POV but we get Aiden's vulnerablity in every chapter he writes. When they are both writing in tandem? It is chefs kiss amazing. The butterflies I got from this story..sigh.
The conflict was a bit odd to me (and it was easy to see this was coming), and I didnt quite understand why some things were done, but I will overlook it because I absolutely adored every other part of this book. 4.5 stars rounded up for the butterflies alone.
Thanks to Alcove Press, Netgalley and Katie Holt for an early copy.

5/5⭐️
Love, love, love.
Let me start by admitting how obsessed I was with this book. I went through it in one go and it had me hooked from start to finish. And to think that this was the author's first literary venture! What an exemplary debut!
This book made me feel a lot, there were many things I related to deeply and that's probably why it had my heart. It was a very warm and gooey delicacy which kept me wanting more.
Overall, a must pick for the summer!
I received an ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you're looking for a sweet romcom with an academic feel and an enemies to lovers trope, look no further! This was a really sweet, funny read with some of the best bickering banter I've read in a long while.

Wow. Rosie and Aiden made this book PERFECT. I was unsure of how well I was going to like this book because the plot is more academic than other books I have read, oh how I was proved wrong and am not looking for more academic lovers books. The enemies to lovers banter throught the book really captivated my attention and kept me wanting to read more. This book was the perfect balance of banter and love. All of these things alone plus the spice made me really enjoy reading it.

In many ways, this was the feel good romcom I needed to kick off my spring/summer!
This book follows aspiring writers, Rosie and Aidan. Although they share a fiction writing workshop, they appear to have little in common. Rosie is a diehard romantic who hopes to support herself as a romcom writer while Aidan is known for his literary fiction. After sparring one too many times in their workshop course, They are challenged by their professor to write a book together. Their own journey is reflected in the book they write, as they find it easier to say things on the page. An enemies-to-lovers trope within an enemies-to-lovers trope, This book is sweet and funny. I enjoyed the characters and found myself rooting for them. The only letdown was that the ending felt a little bit forced to me- I know that the break-up-and-make-up ending is a staple of romcom, but for me personally, it fell a little unrealistic and flat. Overall, however, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others!
4.5 rounded up.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publishers for this advanced copy!

My only negative feedback is that I wish I hadn't read NOT IN MY BOOK so early...since it's not coming out until DECEMBER I will have to be patient before I can really dig into this with my customers and friends!
I loved the book within a book and how Aiden and Rosie were able to communicate and build a stronger relationship through their own story telling! The spice in this one is top tier and the scene where Aiden and Rosie write a love scene together, MY LORD!
As a New Yorker myself I loved all the descriptions of the city throughout the seasons and it was fun to see some of my own favorite haunts pop up:)
Anyone who loved Beach Read or The Roughest Draft will devour this debut from Katie Holt!

In Not in My Book, Rosie and Aiden bicker constantly in their creative writing class and harshly critique each other’s work. Rosie writes romance and Aiden writes literary fiction. Their arguing frustrates their professor so much that to avoid getting kicked out of the class they have to write a story together. How will these two ever get together?
This book had me giggling and kicking my feet, not something I usually do. The banter was chef’s kiss. I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters and found myself really rooting for Rosie and Aiden. Rosie’s family and her friends were great. I’d like to see Logan get his own story.
There were only a couple of things that kept me from giving it five stars. I love dirty talk in the bedroom but Aiden was over the top for me. It was a bit much. Also, the ending was anticlimactic. I guess I expected a little more oomph from two drama-filled people. I guess love really soothes the savage beast.
Overall I enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the DRC for an honest review. All opinions are my own.