I love me a good bookish romance. These characters are swoon worthy and I loved their chemistry. I think the audio version was so well done and the narrator did a fantastic job. I will be recommending this one to my friends.

I received an ARC of the audiobook from NetGalley and I as excited to dive into this enemies-to-lovers romance. While this book had a decent start, it ultimately did not work for me. It was a little confusing with the book-within-a-book as the two leads essentially had phone/messaging sex while co-writing a sex scene with their fictional-but-based-on-themselves lovers. I also just don’t like the nickname “baby,” so that’s a personal dig on the book. This book was just ok- unfortunately promise that just didn’t deliver.

I’ve been following Katie on socials before she even got published, and I have to say, I’m so proud of how far she’s come! It's incredible to see her journey, and this book is such a solid reflection of her hard work.

Now, onto the book lol I was absolutely hooked. Aiden and Rosie’s enemies to lovers dynamic had me grinning the entire time. The banter? So fun and witty. I was living for all their playful jabs and moments of tension. It was the kind of chemistry that kept me turning pages, even when I should’ve been doing other things. There were some moments at the end that felt a little over the top, but honestly, it didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed the book. I was still totally invested in their journey, and seeing them work through their issues was so satisfying.

As for the spicy scenes, they were okay! Definitely added to the steaminess of the story. I did find myself skimming through some of them, just because they felt a little much for my taste, but that's personal preference. It didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book overall!

Katie really nailed it with this one, and I can't wait to see what she writes next <3

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for the audiobook ARC!

I was going through a rough patch in my personal life and was not in the mood to read for a while. When things started to get better, I started to read again, and this was the first book I finished. This book is a good example of the enemies to lovers trope, and it definitely helped improve my mood. I enjoyed the writing style.

'Not in My Book' is het debuut van Katie Holt en biedt een frisse kijk op het enemies-to-lovers genre. Het verhaal volgt Rosie, een idealistische Peruviaans-Amerikaanse die haar droom najaagt om schrijfster te worden in New York City. Haar pad kruist dat van Aiden Huntington, een literaire fictieschrijver die weinig opheeft met het romantische genre en Rosie zelf. Hun voortdurende botsingen in de schrijversklas leiden ertoe dat ze door hun professor worden verplicht samen een roman te schrijven die hun genres combineert. ​

De chemie tussen Rosie en Aiden is onmiskenbaar. Hun dynamiek evolueert van vijandigheid naar een complexe relatie vol passie en kwetsbaarheid. De dialogen zijn scherp en levendig, wat bijdraagt aan de geloofwaardigheid van hun groeiende band. De manier waarop hun gezamenlijke schrijfproject fungeert als een spiegel voor hun persoonlijke gevoelens is bijzonder intrigerend en voegt diepgang toe aan het verhaal. ​

De setting van New York tijdens de wintermaanden wordt sfeervol beschreven, wat een extra laag toevoegt aan de romantiek. Het is duidelijk dat Holt een liefde voor het romantische genre heeft, wat door de hele roman heen voelbaar is. Hoewel sommige wendingen voorspelbaar kunnen zijn, maken de authentieke emoties en de levendige personages dit ruimschoots goed.

Al met al is 'Not in My Book' een meeslepende en hartverwarmende roman die de lezer meeneemt op een emotionele reis vol liefde, zelfontdekking en de kracht van verhalen.

This was SO CUTE. I loved the relationship between Rosie and Aiden. So many times I found myself giggling at the banter, and I loved the dynamic between the friend group. I'm a sucker for a book about books, and this didn't disappoint.

It had 5-star potential, but I did feel that it dragged on a bit in the end. I also found some of the ~spicier~ scenes cringeworthy which ruined it a bit for me. The other issue I had was specific to the audiobook version - I kept getting confused when it switched between the book, and the book they were writing within the book. It would have been better with a.second narrator so that these parts were clearly differentiated.

Overall though, a super cute read if you love romance, and books about books.

This is a “new to me” author and I really enjoyed the writing style and enemies to lovers trope! Even though it wasn’t advertised as a Christmas book, it does revolve around the holidays towards the middle of the book which made it feel extra cozy to me. I absolutely adore books about books, and this one hit all the top notes as two aspiring authors forced to work together on a novel. So so fun and I loved the Peruvian background of the FMC. I will be back to read more by this author as this was so enjoyable!

This was such a fun read. My friend told me to request the audio and I am so glad she did. I will definitely be reading more from this author going forward.

Not In My Book might split the crowd and there were moments where I wondered if it was too predictable. You see the jeopardy coming chapters before it happens. However, I also felt that that was intentional and I went with it. Katie Holt plays with all sorts of romance tropes and it's really obvious that she is a romance reader as well as an author in the construction of this story. The premise, of two rival authors taking the same college forced to co-write a novel merging their preferred genres, is compelling. Rosie and Aiden bond through doing the thing that they love. It passed the giggle test. You invest in the romance and you want to shake them when they can't break patterns of communication.

If you like (not really) enemies to lovers and love of romance, it's definitely worth your time.

I was thrilled to receive an audiobook ARC of this book through NetGalley. All opinions shared are completely my own.

This felt like the perfect plot for a Hallmark movie—it was so much fun and had me smiling and giggling the whole way through!

Two academic rivals are tasked to work together to write a book for their class but they’re secretly writing about how they feel for each other. They basically communicate through their characters.

“Perfect. So we’re not writing about each other.”
“I guess not”
“No reason to read in between the lines huh?”
“None at all”

I felt protective of Rosie and her love of romance books. It really resonated with me, even though I'm not a writer, how hard she constantly tried to prove that writing and reading romance is not a waste of time. It’s really hard to explain to others why reading romance is exciting and valid. I feel like many of us readers have a hard time defending our reading choices and being taken seriously.

“I know you prefer what’s in your books, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you’re reading and dreaming because you are who I picture every time”

The steamy scene they co-wrote while on the phone? 🥵 The tension was palpableeee

This book does include the miscommunication trope at the end, but I didn’t mind it. It helped move the story forward, and I was kind of expecting it after they mentioned a writing competition early on.

I also loved how Aiden wrote the last chapters of their book and basically ended it in a confession, even though he was supposed to avoid a happy ending.

Rating:
⭐️ 4 stars
🌶️ 2 spice

Tropes:
📖 academic rivals to lovers
📖 hopeless romantic x literary snob
📖 slow burn
📖 forced proximity
📖 mutual pining

This book is the perfect mix of Beach Read and The Spanish Love Deception. If you’re just getting into romance, this would be an amazing pick. I know I started with books like these and fell in love with the genre as I discovered new authors.

Congrats to Katie on her debut novel. I can’t wait to read more of her work in the future.

Thank you to RBmedia for an Audiobook ARC. Not in My Book comes out on December 10, so add this to your TBR and don’t miss out on this wonderful story.

Sadly, I’m DNFing this one at 27%. It’s just not for me. I was hoping for some good rivals-to-lovers banter, but it came across as immature high school bickering rather than college. The pacing also felt slow.

Dual POV, just one narrator, however she was great!

Two school rivals argue one too many times during their writing class, making a scene. They have to write a book together and blend their opposite genres to prove they can get along, otherwise their professor is dropping them from the course.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!

I had the opportunity to listen to this book on audio and I'm so glad I did. This book had one of my favourite elements which is essentially a book about books/the writing process/ and the publishing world. I will read any book about books and this one had a very strong start.
This grumpy-sunshine novel follows Rosie and Aiden, classmates and rivals-turned-forced co-authors as they embark on writing a novel together as a consequence given to them by one of their writer's workshop mentors. The reader gets to watch Rosie and Aiden's relationship grow, their romance bloom, and their banter fly. I am very sorry to say that though this book had an incredibly strong first three-quarters, the last quarter of the story fell a bit flat for me. This book was on its way to being a 5 star for me but unfortunately due to the unrealistic and rushed ending it ended up being 4 stars for me. Still a good read though!
I loved the audio of this book. The pace and narration were great, and I felt that the voices matched the characters. Overall, I enjoyed my audio experience!
Many thanks to the publisher and the author who provided me with an early listener's copy of this book via Netgalley.
4 Stars!

Rosie, a passionate Peruvian-American romance writer, butts heads with Aiden, her ex-crush, enemy, and literary fiction writing classmate. Apparently this is like The Hating Game x Beach Read which I can see. The enemies to lovers rivalry was no joke but the banter and tension were there! (Kind of like a ‘I hate you but I want to kiss you’ way) I loved seeing the two get paired up to write together and go on “dates” as “inspo”and their growth together. There are fears, vulnerability, family, complex relationships, and some spice too.

Thanks NetGalley and Recorded Books for the arc!

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the ARC of this audiobook for my honest review

I immediately made my friend buy this book. I really enjoyed it. I did struggle a bit with the third act like scenes cause they’re so frustrating most of the time. But I just loved the characters and the plot and most of all that they were writing about THEMSELVES. so cute. I recommend.

Not In My Book by Katie Holt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed this romcom so much! Rosie and Aiden’s banter was everything. The book in a book theme was a nice touch. Not to mention, my favorite childhood movie was mentioned.

The narrator was amazing as well!

Loved this enemies to lovers romance. I liked the tension between our main characters. Forced proximity for the win.
Something about romance loving romance characters always gets me.

The beginning of this book was phenomenal but the ending was not as memorable as I wish it would have been. I love academic rival tropes and did find myself enjoying the banter. I hope to see more of Katie Holt!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author Katie Holt for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After months of verbal sparring, romance writer Rosie and literary fiction writer Aiden are forced into an unlikely partnership by their professor who gives them an ultimatum, forcing them into an unlikely partnership when she tells them must co-write a novel blending their two genres. Rosie and Aiden begin to open up to each other in ways they never expected. This sweet and funny debut novel is an entertaining, heartfelt read filled with witty banter and a fiery female main character!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Spoiler: I swear this was one of my god-tier romances last year.

If you loved Beach Read as much as I did, you absolutely need to pick this book up. Two academic rivals, writers, forced to work together? Yes, please, I was sat. It was fantastic.

As you can imagine, they loathed not only each other, but each other's writing genre. He hated romance and she hated literary fiction. So, of course, after some intense bickering during the class, their teachers found herself having to force them to work together in order to really understand and start respecting different genres. After a rough start, they obviously started writing about each other and every new chapter was DELICIOUS. The banter, the semi-confessions done in the name of the story throughout their characters, I ate it up.

The book in itself was very well paced and so easy to read, it was an absolute delight. I had so much fun seeing the journey the protagonists took from hate to finally admitting their love. The chemistry between them was also top-tier. The romance felt very well balanced between cute, swoon-worthy moments and spiciness. Did I mention the yearning? I don't care if I did it already, I have to do it again, because it was amazing.

I'll end with a quote that remained engraved in my brain, and that made me swoon (it still does, who am I kidding?):
"The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."

Not in My Book is the debut novel of Katie Holt, a lovely new voice in romance writing. Rosie Maxwell has left her southern home to study for her MFA in creative writing at NYU. She is also out to prove that her chosen genre, romance, has the same merit as any other writing category. Unfortunately, fellow student Aiden Huntington seems to make it a personal goal to degrade her work. In fact, the bitter back and forth between the two has their professor, normally very easygoing Ida, at her wit’s ends. As such, she has given them an ultimatum that to stay in her class; they must work together to produce their book rather than the individual work originally assigned.

As the two must put aside their animosity in order to accomplish the task and keep from failing the class, they open themselves to learning what makes each other tick. As they uncover each other’s stories, they create a lovely new story of their own! This is such a fun book. But while it will make the reader smile, the plot line also touches on tender subjects. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!