I wasn't super into this one, it just didn't hold my attention. I do want to persist and read more of Ali Hazelwoods work though

Ali Hazelwood does it again with a beautifully crafted STEM romance that will keep you enthralled with its imperfect characters.

This book introduces a cast of characters that start off intriguing, especially Rue who brings a relatable depth to the story. While she is well-developed and engaging, the male lead unfortunately feels a bit off-putting, making it hard to fully invest in their relationship. As the story goes on we see small change in the characters but not enough.

The plot itself lacks the tension and excitement one might expect, resulting in a story that falls somewhat flat. The romance, a key element in this erotic fiction, lacks the spark that could elevate it. The chemistry between the characters doesn’t quite ignite, leaving the emotional connection feeling muted.

That said, if you enjoy character-driven narratives and can overlook some shortcomings in the male lead and the plot, there’s still value in exploring the female protagonist’s journey. It’s certainly a niche read, not for everyone, but it has its moments.

This was a dnf for me as I was definitely not the target audience for this book. I appreciate greatly the content warning at the beginning of the book and thank the author greatly for that for that I have given the book 3 stars.

It’s been a while since I’ve read an Ali Hazelwood book (almost two years to be exact) so I went into this one without any real expectations! I’ve heard lots of people say that this book is a bit different to most of her others and that it’s much spicier, and while I can’t confirm this since I haven’t really read her other books (though it was quite spicy😅) I must say that I found it quite enjoyable and do see myself reading more of her books in the future!

The only other Ali book I’ve read is The Love Hypothesis, and one thing I remember about that book which was also present in this one is all the science-y language that’s used! While I didn’t understand all of it and definitely had to google a couple things, overall I really enjoyed it. I found that this style of writing gives the book a much different vibe… it makes it feel so much more sophisticated than just a regular romance if that makes sense? And I feel like I’ve come out of it having learned something, which is not a common occurrence for a romance book😅

As for the characters, I really liked both Rue and Eli. Their relationship isn’t something I think I would usually reach for when I’m choosing a romance book, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I definitely think part of it was because of my mood - I’ve been reading so much fantasy lately so it’s been great to switch it up with something so different. I definitely had trouble trying to justify their actions at times considering the whole… situation (if you’ve read this book you’ll understand what I mean😂) but I liked the way it all wrapped up in the end and somehow managed to leave us with a satisfying ending. I’m a big fan of Ali’s name choices for her characters by the way… though I do really want to watch the hunger games now🫣

Overall I definitely think I would recommend this book if you’re someone who enjoys a good spicy romance!

Ali Hazlewood’s best work! Once I started reading this I couldn’t stop. I loved the tone and the dual pov. I became so invested in the characters and their relationship. Such a fun, spicy read!

the yearning...
the set up and plot progression is just so good. i had so many questions as i was reading and it was all answered. this book is the epitome of ‘no one’s perfect but they’re perfect for each other’

i also love that the two mcs actually communicate with each other because i really don’t like the miscommunication trope. the is was supported by the dual pov, at first i had to get used to the different pov but after a while it was easier to pinpoint whose pov the chapter was in because of that.

eli is so in love with rue and i’m all for it, made me squeal, giggle and kick my feet but it also devastated me at the same time.

overall this book cemented in the fact that i really like ali hazelwood’s writing. her stories might be a bit formulaic but if it works why change it and it’s also why all her books does so well.

themes: yearning, workplace relationships, vulnerability

My second Ali Hazelwood but first in her STEM themed books. Two things I understood before going into this Not In Love:
1. STEM romances are Hazelwood’s jam, or bread and butter, or staple (food metaphor puns are totally intended)
2. Not in Love explored darker themes than her usual stories - thank you author’s note at the beginning of the book

With that in mind I jumped into what was promised to be an erotic love story. Now truth be told, I’m not what you’d call a huge erotica fan. I’ve read a lot of romances and while I don’t mind a bit of steam, and have written love scenes in my own works, I have a limit. I don’t actually know what it is, but I get to a point in a book where I’ve had enough.

Maybe my meter is broken or something because I never reached that point with this book. Or maybe I’ve had a sufficient enough break from smutty romances that it didn’t bother me. I probably should pick a different genre for my next read so as not to test the boundaries…

While the blurb didn’t exactly portray what was in the book, I liked the characters. I liked their broken personalities borne from difficult pasts (very Colleen Hoover-esk…). I liked the revenge plot - and how it matured from a hostile take over into a compromise. I even liked that 10cc’s song of the same name got stuck in a constant loop in my head. Though our two protagonists were far less resistive to the idea of being with someone than the character in that song was, which, if you really listen to the lyrics, you know it’s just the basis of a no-strings romance and he totally doth protest too much.

Anywho back to Rue and Eli who were pretty solid. Everyone else was a little underdeveloped. And I expected way more hostility in a corporate take over, but all of that unfortunately happened behind the scenes. In fact, the book barely spent any time at the workplace at all. Hostile or otherwise. Everything outside of the romance and the patent storylines came across as filler. Like ‘something’ had to be happening other than the sex and the business stuff, but it wasn’t fleshed out enough and again, the resolution, like the company take over, happened off the page.

Still, I enjoyed it, solid 3.5-4 stars (I’m not a scientist and I don’t have to give exact figures 😂) but I’ll definitely be looking into Hazelwood’s other works when I’m in the mood for another romance.

Many thanks to Ali Hazelwood, Hachette Australia and New Zealand, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

cute, nerdy, fast paced but also freaky, .. must I say anymore? I <3 alis work so far, I'm super excited to get my hands on her future books

Thank you, Hachette Australia & New Zealand, Ali Hazlewood, and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to receive or read this arc! "Not in Love was one of my top anticipated reads of the year. I was ecstatic when I got the email!

My initial impression was that this felt very much like a typical Ali Hazlewood book. But much more mature. (Arguably one of the more spicier books from her, that's for sure.) I was expecting the usual banter and quirks. And the occasional awkward but sweet interactions. "Not in Love" definitely had those, but the story touches on more serious subjects alongside what I expect from academia in a work setting. Which was unexpected, but I was happy for something new. As someone who had an eating issue growing up, I could relate to Rue. I'm glad topics like these gets mentioned.

Overall, I did like the story, but unfortunately, in terms of the romance, it fell flat for me. While the spice was definitely great, there was a lot more interesting depth behind the characters. At times, I was confused about whether or not Eli was in love or in lust with Rue, and vice versa. In fact, the spice scenes kind of made the relationship feel one-dimensional to me at times' know there were stories told between the characters in between these sessions to give it more background and details. And I did like the deliveries and how Rue's interaction pans out as a character. Don't get me wrong, the spice can stay, but I just wanted more romance-ing between the fmc and mc.

I can't wait to read Ali's next book :)

Ali Hazelwood never lets me down! She's one of my auto-buy authors and this book was absolutely amazing, as expected.

This is definitely her spiciest book yet (not complaining...) and the dual POV was different, but it still had the same loveable characters, humour and angsty tension that I've come to expect from her books. Absolutely loved it, already went and bought a physical copy as soon as it came out ♥

I can not praise this book enough!! this one was my favourite ali hazelwood book yet and also happened to be the spiciest one yet of her books!! loved every minute

I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick and easy read and I loved the characters and found their storyline interesting and struggled putting the book down.

Thank you to @thebookishtype_hau and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

I felt like this book had so much potential and it just fell flat for me.

I called the plot twist within the first 100 pages of the book, and was excited for it despite how early I had picked up on it, but there really wasn’t any drama to it. Eli seemed to just resolve all of Rue’s problems rather conveniently for her.

It appears that Rue doesn’t really do any growing at all, everything gets handed to her on a silver platter by Eli and any conflict she seems to avoid unless it’s the whole “enemies to lovers” conflict with Eli at the beginning.

I felt that once the enemies turned lovers and the tension faded away there really wasn’t much left for me to enjoy as the main conflict really wasn’t that much of a conflict, nor was it all that dramatic despite how high the stakes were.

I feel that this book was let down by its focus on the sex scenes and the increased level of spice. It felt like those “booktok” books which are just porn with a bit of plot shoe horned in that I despise so much.

I’ve come to love how Hazelwood blends together an easy to read and enjoy plot with maybe like one or two sex scenes so you get the perfect amount of plot appropriate sex as well as the main conflict and plot.

But this book was such a detour in the wrong direction for me. The sex scenes were almost distracting and unnecessary. Of course they were well written as always, but if you were to remove the sex scenes completely, the book would be half the length and a whole lot less interesting which is generally how I judge a “good story” from a “bad story”.

I don’t mind Hazelwood delving deeper into the world of smut and spice, I actually didn’t expect to like Bride which was her first attempt but I loved it so much! I feel like if she focuses on balancing a good story that can stand on its own with the spice then she’ll be absolutely unstoppable!

Points to her for giving us another unique male lead that is not just Adam Driver/Kylo Ren but looks different.

Although I did want to rip my eyes out when she once again mentioned how “big” the male lead was. Can we get an average sized dick for once please?

I also have a critique of Rue being classed as “plus size” the art depictions and descriptions of her weren’t consistent and were confusing, making it hard for me to believe that she actually was plus size. I don’t need to see plus size representation in all media I consume, however as a plus size person, I want to see it done right if the creator chooses to depict and represent someone living their life as a plus size person.

I’ll always pick up whatever Hazelwood writes, but this one was, sadly a bit of a let down.

It’s a loooooot my erotic than her other novels (which she does make a point of saying at the start) but I loved the whole underlying story line. She always highlights women in stem really well and in a unique/raw way. It’s refreshing to read

So if you love a bit of smut, you’ll love this. If you don’t, try it for the storyline - this is what made it for me (I don’t love a book that’s all smut hahaha).

Ali Hazelwood does it again!

For me, this is another Ali masterpiece. I really feel like she did it again. This is a heartfelt story about someone who struggles to connect with people. Ali's writing helped me really feel what Rue goes through in these situations. Ali did a magnificent job of considering deeper topics such as parental death and childhood hunger, and how these traumas can impact someone later in life. I think Ali looked into these traumas in a really loving and caring way. I could gush about this book for hours but it would involve a lot of hand waving and just sighs.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Australia & New Zealand, Sphere and Ali Hazelwood for this early release copy in exchange for my honest review, but let's be real. I am going to buy a copy of this book because it will stand alone as the only book so far that I want to read again.

This book had it all - spice, angst, yearning, workplace drama, witty banter and some serious childhood trauma.

I really liked how Rue and Eli’s relationship developed. They had so much depth to their personality and the side characters were equally well-developed.

Also, as a Food Technologist , I really enjoyed the Food Engineering representation. I found it a bit different from Ali’s other books but really liked the overall plot. This might be her spiciest book so far🥵

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a spicy forbidden workplace romance where he falls first.

Thank you so much Ali Hazelwood, Hachette Australia and Netgalley for this arc copy🫶

Not in Love brought all of Ali Hazelwood’s typical wit, strong characterisation, stem themed romance but with a fresh and grittier story than usual.

I really enjoyed the development of Rue and Eli’s relationship, which was tentative but passionate. It would have been great to see a bit more of their relationship development out of the bedroom, but I loved Eli’s protective and grounded regard for Rue. Hazelwood took time to establish the history of both characters, which provided rich insights into their insecurities and motivations. Watching Rue learn to trust and find her own authentic relationships was both satisfying and compelling.

The cast of side characters were equally well established, and I loved the earnestness and loyal steadfastness of both Eli and Rue’s friends. The commercial/academic setting and complications were interesting and built tension in a way that perfectly balanced against the romance.

Thank you Hachette Australia & New Zealand and NetGalley for a copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
Oh boy! This was easily Ali Hazlewood’s steamiest book so far and I’m 100% here for it! The one thing I’m always guaranteed in her books is a hero who is hands down completely into the heroine and this book did not disappoint!

Our heroine is a scientist working at a start up and our hero is the front man of the hostile takeover of said start up…. Which would be fine (well not really) if they hadn’t planned on hooking up the night before. The two can’t stay away from each other even knowing that they should.

Ugh these two main characters were just so great! They had depth and emotion and were far from perfect yet they complemented each other so well. I literally lay on my couch and read this in one sitting!

What a spicy little number, and if Ms Ali Hazelwoods name was not on it I never would have guessed she was the author.
I found the story entertaining and read the book pretty quickly. Rue was an interesting character. I still felt at the end like I didn’t know her. Her and Eli together worked for me. He accepted her as she was and that was great. I do feel like I needed more interactions with them out of the bedroom as I was still struggling to see the big attraction she had for Eli.
As usual though AH has written a story that I’m sure people will love. She has an ease to her writing which makes it so easy to read. Another winner.