I have been recommending this to everyone I know! This was kinda silly and goofy, all things considered, but the way some of the writing (both literal and within the story) was handled was EXQUISITE. Never have I wanted to be a fly on the wall so badly.

"Not in My Book" by Katie Holt is a debut novella which delightfully captures a enemies-to-lovers romance filled with sparks flying between Rosie, a passionate romance writer, and Aiden, a cynical and competitive literary fiction author. Forced to collaborate on a novel by their demanding professor, these rivals-turned-reluctant-partners find their own lives mirroring the steamy plot they're crafting.

What I liked most about this book is the way in which Holt combines humor and vulnerability, making Rosie and Aiden's journey from bitter enemies to undeniable lovers both believable and incredibly entertaining. The witty banter is sharp and engaging, and the characters are wonderfully flawed and relatable. Aiden's transformational journey from grumpy skeptic to a surprisingly tender romantic is a particular highlight.

The audiobook narration by Frankie Corzo is exceptional! Her voice perfectly captures the essence of each character, bringing their personalities to life with vibrant energy and nuanced delivery. Corzo's performance elevates the listening experience, adding many layers of emotion and humor that enhance the auditive impact of the story.

RBmedia | Recorded Books, NetGalley, and the editorial team - thanks for giving me the opportunity to review an audiobook ARC of this publication!

For more reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#NotInMyBook #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

4⭐️ | 2🌶️


My thoughts:

Katie Holt’s rivals-to-lovers tale, Not in My Book, is a charming blend of witty banter, sizzling chemistry, and heartfelt character growth. I was fortunate to receive both the ARC and ALC, allowing me to alternate between them for a more immersive and well-rounded reading experience.

The story centers on Rosie Maxwell, a hopeless romantic, and Aiden Huntington, a broody literary fiction purist. When their incessant bickering in a writing workshop earns them the ultimate punishment—co-authoring a novel—they are forced to confront their differences while navigating their undeniable connection.

The concept is as entertaining as it sounds. Rosie and Aiden’s collaboration gives us a meta-twist: their book within the book becomes a mirror of their evolving relationship. Katie does a fantastic job balancing humor and vulnerability, making their journey from enemies to lovers feel natural and engaging. The dialogue is sharp, the pacing brisk, and the characters delightfully flawed. Aiden’s transformation from grumpy skeptic to reluctant romantic is particularly swoon-worthy.

Now, let’s talk about Frankie Corzo’s narration in the audiobook. Her performance takes the story to another level. She captures Rosie’s optimism, Aiden’s brooding sarcasm, and every ounce of tension between them with impeccable delivery. If you’re considering the ALC, Corzo’s narration is a must-hear, it adds layers of emotion and humor that enhance the experience.

While the story is undeniably entertaining, some might find the repeated inclusion of Rosie and Aiden’s real-life moments in their novel slightly far-fetched. However, this unique approach also adds an interesting layer of vulnerability and creativity to their dynamic, showcasing how their personal and professional lives intertwine in unexpected ways. It’s a small price to pay for a romance that’s equal parts hilarious and heartfelt. If you love rivals-to-lovers with a side of creative chaos, Not in My Book is a must-read (or listen).

Long-time rivals Rosie and Aiden have always been at each other’s throats, but after a particularly heated debate in their writing workshop, their professor has had enough. She gives them an ultimatum: work together on a novel that blends their genres or drop out of her class. However, as they reluctantly collaborate, the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur.

This was such a fun rivals-to-lovers romance! I absolutely loved their bickering and petty fights, though I’ll admit they did push it too far at times. But then again, that’s to be expected with this trope, so I didn’t mind too much.

The romance is a slow burn—sweet, angsty, with a fantastic supporting cast of characters you can’t help but root for. I adored Rosie’s fiery personality, though I did find her stubbornness and occasional childishness frustrating, especially considering she’s in her mid-to-late twenties.

Aiden, on the other hand, felt more nuanced. His past shaped him into someone closed off and skeptical of love, but as the story progressed, he revealed a surprisingly sweet side. That said, his character growth was rocky at times, and I found it a bit annoying when he and Rosie kept reverting to square one the moment things got tough.

The story-in-a-story format was fascinating, but I wish they had stepped out of their comfort zones and actually challenged themselves by writing in an entirely different genre. Instead, much of their novel was a direct recounting of their real-life events, which became redundant and repetitive, dragging the story longer than it needed to be.

Despite these issues, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The author has a gift for making you feel everything the characters are going through—love, hate, anger—it’s all written so vividly. I was surprised to learn this was a debut, as the writing felt polished and confident. I just wish the late third-act breakup had been handled differently, as it left me a little unsatisfied. That said, I’d love to read more from Katie Holt in the future.

*Thank you to NetGalley, RBmedia, and the author for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I really enjoyed this fun romance. I thought it was very comical as well. Frankie Corzo as always does a great job with the audiobook narration. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and alc.

2.5 ⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley & Publisher for an early audio. All opinions are honest & my own.

I wanted to love this so much, it’s got a lot of things I love but something was off. There were some pacing issues, the FMC mildly annoyed me, and I didn’t like the 3rd act break up. I’m totally open to reading some others by this author but this wasn’t the one for me sadly

I believe this is a debut author, so let me first say, Brava! What a debut! This story has everything I love in a romance. Tension, banter, character growth, and it made me fall in love. You know what I mean, there’s nothing like a book that allows you to be inside the character’s head that you experience falling in love alongside them. And also the book is about writers, any character related to the publishing industry is my catnip.

I wan to ad that I loved the hispanic representation in the book. The FMC has a Peruvian mother, I’m from Ecuador a neighboring country to Peru and this book made this Latina very happy.

This was an audiobook for me and I loved the tidbits of their novel in the last part of each chapter.

This book is for you if you like:
⭐️Rivals to lovers
⭐️They aspire to be writters
⭐️NYC in Christmas
⭐️Sprinkles of latin culture

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review this audiobook.

I’m really disappointed in this book. I expected a fun and cute grumpy/sunshine story and while I kinda got that I also got an extreme slow burn with poor narration. Everything felt extremely cliche and worthy of the biggest eye rolls. Also the female narrator? Don’t do any more male voices

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t finish this audiobook. The story just didn’t catch me and the voice of the narrator was… too soothing? If that makes any sense. I couldn’t keep my mind from wandering off while listening. I think I would have enjoyed the story though if I had read it instead of listening to it.

Rosie and Aiden are aspiring writers. She writes romance while he prefers literary fiction. They constantly argue in their writing class. In fact, they are so disruptive that their professor insists they either leave the class or agree to work together to write a novel.

The bickering doesn’t stop but they agree to work on a book together. What results is a novel based upon their own situation. The sexual tension is ramped up and they reveal their lust through their characters. But a betrayal may prevent them from following their fictional characters and ending with a real connection.

There was anticipation that this would rise above many of the romance tales of enemies to lovers. It seems like Holt wanted to showcase the steamy side by using the invented character plot to full effect. Somehow the story of the real characters seemed too superficial and didn’t quite work and the reliance on writing sex scenes was too heavy-handed. Center’s The Rom-Commers covers a similar plot and handles it with more success.

The audio was tricky because of the racy parts but Frankie Corzo does an admirable job of reading the book.

4 Stars
Really enjoyed the plot of the book and the audiobook was great! However, I am not a fan of miscommunication (or no communication at all) which kinda is what happens with the writing contest and his sneaky behaviour... but as a book lover the idea of two enemies writing a romance together was so perfect, Although I haven't yet read beach read, this book seems to be super similar so I think if you liked that one you will also enjoy this one :) Thank you NetGalley for the audio ARC!!!

** spoiler alert ** First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
Not In My Book by Katie Holt was an enemies to lovers story about Rosie and Aiden, two NYU writers who are forced to work together on their final project.

Things I liked about this book:
-getting to know the characters while they reluctantly got to know each other
-the conversations Rosie and Aiden had through their collaborative text document
-the general idea of this book

Things I didn’t like about this book:
-the way Rosie’s southern side was portrayed. I found it to be incredibly cliche and I rolled my eyes at the immediate note about how NYC is so fast compared to her TN town where everything is slow and everyone stops to talk to each other!!! (Babes have you ever been to the south? It’s not all tiny backwoods towns and I’m so tired of hearing it portrayed as such). And then the mention that she’s not able to get the same type of Peruvian products that she had access to at home??? You’re telling me NEW YORK CITY has less selection for IMPORTED PERUVIAN PRODUCTS than your small TN town???? Please be so fucking for real.
-the terrible southern accent the narrator only occasionally remembered to use
-the general way the two main characters interacted. It seemed…incredibly immature and juvenile. I get that they’re college students but their behavior seemed far fetched even for that age range.
-the reasoning behind why Aiden was so rude and terrible to her. Like you don’t have to be venomously mean and cruel to her just because you like her and think you’re not good enough for her??? Wtf???
-the third act breakup. Oh my GOD this was so annoying.
-Rosie leaving NYC and dropping out of NYU because she feels so betrayed by her boyfriend and PROFESSOR?? Like??? You hated this man three months ago, girl GET UP. And you feel so betrayed because he also entered a contest and beat you??? I just couldn’t wrap my head around this


Overall, I really wanted to like this book. I didn’t. I felt like it had really great potential but very poor execution.
2⭐️

This was so good. So good that it had me listening to it at all hours! Like 5 star good! The enemies to lovers aspect was fantastic. I loved the book within a book aspect. The narrator, Frankie Corzo, was excellent. It was also how this book shined a light and showed love for romance as literature. Yes they are real books and romance is a legitimate genre. I also loved the Peruvian and New York aspects. This brought an additional element to the book that worked really well. The third act break up scene or the build up to the third act break up scene was a little weak. Maybe there was not enough emphasis on why the third act break up was as bad as it was? But the make up was fabulous! I hope to read/listen to many, many Katie Holt books in the future. You HAVE to put this on your TBR - right now, like, RIGHT NOW!!

Big thanks to Netgalley, RB Media and Katie Holt for a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. I read mainly as an audiobook and really enjoyed the narrators as well. Definitely would recommend.

A Top Favorite for Me

Audiobook Narration:

Frankie Corzo-She had a great delivery with her inflection and tones. I personally found the default speed very slow and preferred to push the speed to a minimum of 1.50. I would definitely listen to her narrate a book again.

Not in My Book:

Realistically incorporated referencing tropes and present day pop culture. Is this art imitating life or life imitating art? A must read to assess.

I definitely felt Rosie’s desperation around the cost of tuition and needing to make the most of undesirable circumstances. Aiden drew me into him. He is masculine in the way carried himself, yet gave Rosie so much grace.

Throughout the story I was visualizing the RomCom movie of this book. I had my own commentary and squeaks at the undeniable chemistry they had. An instant top favorite for me.

I received a free copy of this book from Katie Holt and RBmedia. I am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions are my own.

this was so fun and funny!!! my very first audio book and i couldn't stop listening! wonder why i would think smth like that tho....

Enjoyed the watching the two characters learn to work together and better understand each other over time before becoming friends and falling in love. My biggest qualm was that they were both supposed to be late 20s and that just seemed too old for you they were acting a lot of times towards the beginning. In the end though it was a cute story and it was an interesting look at the MFA world.

The constant grumpy man being portrayed as an outright awful human being who verbally abuses the fmc is getting so old. The character should develop, not be a completely different person in the second half of the book. It's been a while since I read this and l've forgotten some of the details but I was shocked for the first half of this book about how terrible this man was. Also simple issues like saying she knows him so well, then not a minute later saying she doesn't know him at all? It made no sense.

I liked this book. It was a quick read and a bit of a slow burn. It was also slightly grumpy and sunshine dynamics. I'm not sure how much I loved the female narrator, though, because she did a robotic male voice compared to her animated female voice.

Love the academic rivals to lovers story. The characters are well written and the story line was overall so much fun to read!