I am going to have to start looking more closely at romances before I either request them as an ARC or check them out of the library. These days, it seems like wide-open-door romances are ubiquitous, and instead of just giving in and getting used to it, I find myself hating it more in each book I find it in. It used to be that the cover gave you an inkling of how open a door was going to be, but that no longer seems to be the case. That said, and ignoring the many sex scenes I skipped past, this is a decent enemies-to-lovers story about two grad students in a writing program who are forced to work on a writing project together. One of my favorite tropes + a book world setting seems like a recipe for success, and overall I enjoyed Rosie and Aiden's love journey, but I found them both somewhat irritating with all of their communication issues and they way they constantly jumped to conclusions. Also, a small nitpick, but I really wish romance writers would quit with the heroine who has never had an orgasm until she finally finds Mr. Right. Frankie Corzo did a good job with the narration, but I wish I had had this to read instead of listen to due to all the open door scenes. Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia | Recorded Books for a digital audiobook review copy.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced listener copy. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really really enjoyed this book and did not want it to end! It felt like reading an Emily Henry book the way the enemies to lovers trope played out between two rival writing in grad school together.

I really enjoyed Rosie and Aiden's characters and how they were forced to work together so they would stop criticizing each other so much during class. I thought their romance was beautifully written and Aiden's support of Rosie was so sweet. The spice was definitely in this book and was very well written.

I loved that there were experts from the book that Aiden and Rosie were writing throughout the book. It definitely added another dimension to the story.

This book is mainly told from Rosie's POV with Aiden's POV coming in through the book they are writing. I do wish we got more of Aiden's side of the story throughout the book and I wanted more backstory for him as well since we only got hints of his family life.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the performance by Frankie Corzo was well done.

“No matter how bad life got in the romance novels, there would be a Happily Ever After that proved nothing was unfixable.”

Rosie and Aiden are in the same writing class, but all they do is insult each other’s work.
So the teacher gives them two options, leave the class or write a book together. The issue is that Rosie loves to write romance books with HEA and Aiden writes sad literary fiction. They agree to write a romance with a sad ending.

Even if we only have Rosie’s POV, we get some things from Aiden’s part through the chapters that he writes. They comunicate through the book what they are afraid to say in real life.

It is interesting to see how a book could be co-written. In this case they were a bit too much inspired by real life and some chapters included the exact scene that happened before, only changing the names.

I love that her family is supportive of her writing and proud of her but I would have liked to know more about Aiden.

What I did not like is the break up part. Aiden did not need to lie and Rosie should not have left New York.

I liked the writing and have many paragraphs highlighted. These are my favorites:

“what makes romance novels so good is the fact that they’re a complex dive into human emotion. There’s so much more to a romance than just love.”

“The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for. I mean, that’s why there’s all the songs and poems and movies about it. It has to be something spectacular if everyone’s chasing it.”

I also listened to the audiobook and Frankie Corzo did a good job transmitting Rosie’s emotions. It would have been great if at least the parts of their book from the end of each chapter would have been narrated by a man.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and the audiobook from RBmedia. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

narration i feel a bit iffy on. on one hand, i was completely immersed from the get-go and her emotions/inflections were solid, but the southern accent was flaky for rosie. i didn’t care for aiden’s voice (personal preference) but these are minor gripes

i WAS having such a good time and was fully immersed until the last half, where the conflict in my opinion was so understandable and forgiven too easily. after that, i couldn’t get behind the way aiden continued to treat rosie because the “enemies to lovers” bit was supposed to be over and he was still treating her like an op…like maybe let’s sit down and reflect? calm down.

Not in My Book
by Katie Holt
Narrated by Frankie Corzo

I received an ARC of this audiobook through Netgalley.

Narration: Great! I actually thought there were dual narrators. I’m seriously impressed!

This book is an enemies-to-lovers romance. It centers around Aidan and Rosie - two students working towards an MFA, both aspiring authors. The romance, friends, professor, and hangout spots are all believable.

But, I genuinely hated the bedroom talk. The sex scenes were equally hot & sexy and cringe-worthy & icky.

Those sex scenes tainted the love story for me.

I do have 2 favorite non-spoiler quotes
“Love can be messy and it can hurt, but i think it’s supposed to heal too”

“Love wouldn’t seem worth it without the risk of losing it”

I don’t like condescending bedroom talk. I know some people do, but I’m just not one of them.

If you can look past that - then you’ll enjoy this book. If not, I say it’s okay to skip this one. I will say that if you want to you can fast forward past the sex scenes and lose nothing of the story.

I received an advanced listening copy of the audiobook. This is my own review.

Rosie and Aiden have that classic The Hating Game love/hate rivalry thing set in a graduate program. Their antagonism gets so bad in a class, they’re forced to work together. She loves romance, he’s a litfic guy, and they have to work together to write a book for class.

What follows is a very cute, bantering/bickering romance. Aiden is my favorite kind of jerky MMC, and Rosie is a ball of sunshine coated in chocolate. The book follows them through a year in a course in their MFA in creative writing. It’s on the longish side for a contemporary romance but it doesn’t drag and the pace keeps up. The third act breakup threw me off a little, which I can’t really explain without spoilers. But for the sake of the plot, it worked.

Anyway, I enjoyed this one and definitely recommend for fans of rivals to lovers! If you like books like The Hating Game or The Love Hypothesis, you’ll probably enjoy this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and RB Media for the ALC!

I had the opportunity to read this book and listen to the audio and I'm so happy I got to jump back into Rosie and Aiden's world. The audiobook narration was really well done.

I loooooooved this book so much!

It was essentially a book within a book and I thought it was a really clever set up for Rosie and Aiden to explore their feelings for each other. Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this definitely delivered.

The last chapters were truly some of my favorite I've read and I would 100% read this again and again.

What I liked
> writing. I know that an author is effective on the first person's pov when I feel what the fmc is feeling
> little snippets of the mmc's pov is an extra impact on the overall reading experience.
> true rivals to lovers
> made me cry
> author writes very well (again, I reiterate)

What I was like- ehhhh?

> spanish with no subs ; I mean, context clues are a given, and I get it, I'm Filipino, so I understand a bit, but I wish the long dialogues had some nonverbatim translations or something.

What I didn't like
> the miscommunications earlier on is kinda annoying
> peacoat... like the amount of times peacoat was mentioned jisas i cant
> the last 10%'s miscommunication could have been solved by one therapy session and PROPER communication.

Phew. This is the longest review I have ever written and that's just bullet points 😭😭

Thank you, Katie Holt, Netgalley, and RB Media for the advanced audiobook copy. I had so much fun listening to this book!!

Fed up with their constant verbal sparring during classes, Rosie and Aiden's professor gives them an ultimatum: they can stay in her class, but they must co-write a novel blending their genres.

This was such a roller coaster for me, but I had a fun time overall. I liked both characters a lot, even though they had their moments getting on my nerves, but that made them feel that much realer in a way, so it's not much of a complaint on my part. There also were such incredible side characters, and I found myself wanting even more of them. The main characters do have great chemistry, I liked their banter and the way the relationship built up. The story itself was so fun to get through, and I really liked following along the process of them writing their book and getting glimpses of it through it all. The third act conflict did bother me, even though I saw it coming from miles away; I also think it came so late in the book and got blown so out of proportion when it didn't need to be. I sure had my ups and downs with this one, but I would truly, genuinely recommend it.

I listened to the audiobook for this one and it was just incredible! The narrator did an amazing job giving each character their own voice and switching between them so effortlessly, and she brought out their emotions so beautifully.

Many thanks to RBmedia & NetGalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

Not in My Book is a fun and witty romcom in the vein of The Hating Game and Ten Things I Hate About You.

Whilst the enemies to lovers trope is well represented in recent books (a fact that this book pulled fun at), this was done so well, with Rosie and Max’s initial tension feeling authentic and justified. The eventual complication felt similarly justified, and the story flowed at a cracking pace.

The writing was engaging and Max and Rosie’s banter, wit, and eventual mutual respect was so enjoyable. I loved the extended cast of characters, the story within a story (and mixed perspectives) and the atmospheric depiction of New York through Rosie’s eyes.

The audio production was excellent, and really brought out the emotional experience of the main characters. Given the structure of the book, and the main couple’s, the narrator did an impressive job and discriminating the different character voices- k had no trouble following along.

Thank you RBmedia for a copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this read!! I didn't know what to expect from the start of the book, but quickly really started enjoyed how Rosie and Aidens story was in parallel with their books storyline and how the book they were writing was helping to see eachother more than just the "romance girl and litfic guy"
i think only thing i might have enjoyed was to see more Aiden's people because I assume that 20smth guy must have some friends around him, but he just had writing and strained family relationship on his side that was really shown during this story

4.6/5

Rosie:
It felt that at times she was ignorant about her wrong doings or she just couldn't get a hint. Which annoyed me; like at the begging when she made the comment about people who deserve a HEA usually gets it. She just called him names not understanding "maybe I hit a nerve", which of course meant something personal. That got me annoyed. Also when after she kissed him and just ran off, and told him to forget. I understand she was having an internal battle because of her ex, but her getting mad because he was acting cold towards her was too much, Anyone would get mad when you're in this back and fourth with another person and when you finally kiss they run away, and say never mind. It'll make you question things. It felt like she was unaware of social cues. Made me *cringe* listening to that.

the voice:
I enjoyed the way Frankie tried to really captivate the emotions of the character. But I felt like she was missing that 'feeling'. This book had a lot of that. There's a lot of raw emotion, stronger emotions, angst, desperation almost through out the book. Especially then tension between the MCs, even more sore since it's an enemies-to-lovers. I wished to hear the genuine emotion coming out of her, it felt like she was just narrating the book. Not really acting it out.

I also wished to hear from a male's voice. Not just a woman making her voice deeper. There were times when the MCs was bickering where I wished to hear the yelling, frustration, the hidden emotion behind their arguing. To truly get the feeling of what the MCs are going through. I felt like some scenes, especially the sex scenes when it was just needed. I ended up trying to create my own voice in my head.

the ending:
When it came to the confrontation of Rosie not getting the fellowship, and Aiden getting it. I wished we got to see Rosie snap more at Aiden about how the fellowship was important for her because of the money and tuition. We know she expressed that to him already, but I wanted to see her "crash out". That she wasn't only upset that he didn't share this with her, but that she now had to deal with her scrambling to find money to pay it off. Thus potentially her having to go back home.

I felt like that situation was pushed aside and only directed how Aiden didn't tell her he applied. Same at the end was they were 'making up'. I wished she really expressed how the reason she was back at home in the first place was because she didn't get the fellowship. I thought that was brushed over twice and I didn't like that. I wanted Rosie to have a chance to really share her worry, since that was big part of her applying in the first place.

This was a cute and easy read. The “a romance within a romance” aspect was pretty interesting. I really liked all the side character honestly. The friendships were great. The main characters Rosie and Aiden are academic rivals. Battle between romance writing and literary fiction. Which will be superior!!?? The enemies part of the enemies to lovers was a bit much in the beginning. And their overall chemistry was somewhat of a rollercoaster for me. Sometimes it seemed like things were really vibing and there was some good chemistry between them, but a some of the time the chemistry just wasn’t there. But overall it was a good read and I had a good time listening to this!
Review is up on Goodreads!!

A clever romance about classroom rivals forced to co-write an assignment together after publicly criticizing each other to the point of disruption. I love how Rosie and Aiden bled into the characters of their story, using it to reveal vulnerable pieces of themselves they wanted the other see in real life. Simultaneously writing the spicy scene together was HOT. The plot and character development, real and fictional, was excellent. And the whole cast was a blast! A cunning debut from Katie Holt. Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

The audio narration was actually very good. Frankie did a fantastic job representing the characters and accents in the story. However, I can't help but feel that this story would have benefited tremendously with the addition of a male voice. I think it would have helped with the pace and tension that was felt on page, especially during the alternating chapters in the assignment and classroom confrontations. Still very impressed overall.

I looooooved this book.
1. I love how the whole story was within a story. It’s hard to explain but it was done really well.
2. As someone who writes, I could relate to parts of the book.
3. I thought their dynamic was realistic.
4. The romance and spice wasn’t overdone. It was cute and well balanced.

I give this 5 stars. There is only one thing that annoyed me but it’s my own issue lol I can’t staaaaand irrational people. Like the very last 7% had a scene that really pissed me off. And I’m very happy that it didn’t happen in the beginning bc I would have never continued. But overall, I really liked this book.

The story is about two writing students who are at odds with each other all the time. One day they got into such a tussle that the professor gave them a way to fix it. Then things change from there.
A nice enjoyable romance.

This book is a romcom masterpiece and an absolute treat for enemies-to-lovers fans. Rosie, chasing her dream of becoming a romance writer, finally lands a spot in her idol’s writing course—only to discover her nemesis, the infuriatingly brooding (and annoyingly perfect) Aiden Huntington, is also there. Cue the snarky critiques and fiery arguments. But when their instructor forces them to co-write a romance without a happily ever after, their sharp words start sparking something else entirely.

The narrator absolutely *nailed* the tension, delivering every biting remark and sizzling moment with perfect timing. From the hilarious banter to the emotional punches, the narration pulls you right into the story. The chemistry between Rosie and Aiden is electric, the "book within a book" concept is genius, and the humor had me laughing out loud. Five stars aren’t enough for this clever, heart-melting gem!

🌶🌶
4/5 ⭐ story
4.25/5 ⭐ narration

I am truly grateful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this awesome read.
This audiobook has one narrator.
The narrator did a great job. She really made each character have their own personality.

The story

This is the romance I have been searching for!

Rosie is the girl who loves anything romance.
Aiden is the complete opposite; he thinks that romance novels are unrealistic.
When both clash and cause a disruptive class, they are forced to put their arguing aside and work together.

There was so much to like in this book. At the beginning of every chapter, there are excerpts from the story they are working on.
There is funny banter
One bed trope
And a breif fake dating

I loved their story! This was such a good read!

Such a great debut and I can't wait to see what else Katie writes in the future!

This book has the perfect pitch of, "what if we got to read January and Gus from Beach Read in their college writing classes?". The banter is amazing and sharp and the enemies to lovers feels grounded and not over the top here.

I loved the meta-commentary here on the romance genre and also addressing some of the stigma romance readers and writers receive. So much of the writing here was so romantic and gooey and put a big smile on my face.

My two criticisms of this book are that I feel like there was some convenient writing going on at how Aiden and Rosie would run into each other...in New York City...multiple times. I love a chance encounter or two, but truly they were just popping up into each other's lives all the time. And two, the conflict at the end wasn't my favorite (then again what conflict is). I just feel like the crime wasn't that bad and the response to it was maybe more intense than I expected.

Overall though, I thought this was so cute and sharp and I'm so happy it exists!!

this debut novel was truly amazing! I honestly didn't know it was a debut. When I finished this book it gave me the same feelings as when I finished my favorite book of all time, Beach Read. The audio was AMAZING! She was a new to me narrator and she was just so good.

I absolutely loved this audiobook! Rosie and Aiden’s love-hate dynamic got me hooked, every scene with them was full of snark, tension, and chemistry. Rosie is such a relatable and lovable main character with her big dreams and fiery personality, while Aiden’s brooding, no-nonsense attitude made their banter even better. Watching their relationship go from rivals to something more was so satisfying, especially with the added twist of them co-writing a steamy novel together.

The story has the perfect mix of humor, romance, and heartfelt moments. I couldn’t stop listening, especially with how the narrator brought all the emotions and personalities to life. It definitely gave me major The Hating Game and Beach Read vibes but with its own fresh, unique twist. If you love enemies-to-lovers stories with lots of witty banter and a dash of slow-burn spice, you have to check this one out!