Are you happy, Rafe?” He smiles and touches his forehead to mine.
“Of course I am, Tris.” Then he winks.
“𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗲𝗻.”

Trishara Malik, an engineer, is feeling defeated after she's repeatedly passed over for promotions while the boss’s son, Rafe Gallagher, gets ahead. So he became her very hot, delectable nemesis. 🤭 They both get selected for a leadership retreat in Hawaii and find out that they are stuck together in the same room (with one bed! 🫣) for 3 WHOLE WEEKS! What's the solution? Avoid each other, of course! But, how long can that really last?

Omg! Tris was so obsessed with Rafe! Like she wanted to hate him so bad, but was sidetracked by everything about him! The tension, pining, and obsession had me giggling and kicking my feet! Their banter was quick witted, their competitiveness was hilarious. The way they would be vulnerable with each other was everything. I really enjoyed seeing another side of Rafe that Tris didn't know. He is definitely the protective/growly cinnamon roll. He's equally obsessed with her, I'm sure of it! 🥰

While this is a romance, it definitely shines light on the sexism and racism that women face in the workplace. I thought Tris’ experience and struggles at work were incredibly well written. The defeat she felt and questioning if her hard work is ever truly going to pay off is so relatable (unfortunately) to many women in any workplace. I thought the author did a great job expressing that. I did love the way Tris continued to stand up for herself. This was such a good time, and I can't wait to read more contemporary romance from Nisha! 😁

Thank you to @netgalley & @readforeverpub for the eARC.

Comes out May 20th!

I hope Nisha writes more contemporary romance because this was a great one! Biased slightly by being in STEM myself, I loved the progression of the romance balanced with work. um hello there's only one bed!!! I also loved the nods to her fantasy books, they were such a fun touch!

This was my first ever Nisha J. Tuli, and I would easily read more! I see her fantasy novels EVERYWHERE, so once I saw this one and my best friend told me it was a must read I requested it! I was definitely in (and still am) in a bit of a reading slump at the moment, so I think if I was not I would have enjoyed this a bit more.

Overall I thought this was fun and cute, and I fully plan to add it to my shelf so I can reread! I love a women in STEM romance, and find them so fun to read. I know its not everyones jam, but it is mine. I feel like this reminded me of Ali Hazelwood romances because of the nod to STEM. I did feel like the FMC was a bit immature for my liking, and there was not much development (or did I miss it, idk?).

Again, I feel like my reading slump caused me to not enjoy this as much as I would have if I was not in one, but with that being said, I do plan to reread this later on!!

I really enjoyed this book. Workplace romance isn't for me, especially when there's a power dynamic involved. I liked that this was more between peers/ adversaries and that, spoiler, they didn't have a true third-act breakup. I also loved the nods to Tuli's other books.

This was a spicy good time!! From the beginning you could feel the brimming tensions between Tris and Rafe. As the book went on I was beggggging for them to just kiss! I loved the sort-of clown burn of their story.

While I had a grand ole time reading this, I do wish there was a bit more depth to characters like Rafe. I liked him, but I just feel like some of it was too surface level for me to really latch onto.

Overall a really fun summer-y romance!

4.5/5 stars!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!!!

Yall. I’ve never read anything by Ms. Nisha J. Tuli, but when i tell you she ate this up and left no crumbs whatsoever. Wow. Now this is how you do Rivals to Lovers and the one bed trope??? You know what, yeah, hell yeah.

I genuinely really enjoyed this book. I loved the FMC, and even really loved Rafe. I also loved Trisharas name, like it legit was so satisfying to read for some reason. I loved how realistic this was as well– because the way Trishara was treated was basically how most POC and Black people are treated in the corporate office space.

The romance in this too? UGHHHHHH YESSSSSS 10/10.

The only quip i had about this book was that Rafe seemed to do a very random 180 out of no where, and his previous character traits seemed like they just disappeared to me? Idk it was kinda random but still made sense in a way? I’m not sure but just you’ll know what i mean once you get to like 80%.

Overall though wow. I’m SO glad I requested this ARC!!! This was such an amazing read and truly enjoyed it.

Forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and work romance? Yes please. This was a fun and steamy read that I really enjoyed.

2.5 ⭐️
I haven’t read any of Nisha J. Tuli’s fantasy books, but I’ve seen many positive reviews that when I spotted this stunning cover and found out it was her first contemporary romance, I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately, my first experience with this author didn’t go well.

The FMC is an engineer who faces injustice at her workplace. The promotion she deserves goes to her boss’s son—her enemy—and she also receives inappropriate propositions from one of the company’s executives.

I appreciated that the author touched on important issues like women in STEM and workplace sexism, especially for women of color, because these topics are still relevant.

However, I struggled to connect with Trishara because of her behavior. She acted quite immaturely. Rafe was polite and kind to her, but she constantly criticized him and dismissed his suggestions. Meanwhile, she kept thinking about how sexy he was, eavesdropping on his private conversations, and discussing them with her friend.

This book also reminded me of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne and felt predictable to me. Maybe if I’d read it five years ago, I would have enjoyed it more.

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓slow burn
✓forced proximity
✓enemies to lovers
✓woman in STEM
✓only one bed
✓workplace romance

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

THIS WAS SO GOOD!! I ate this book immediately from the first chapter and it was so hard to put it down. I’m absolutely obsessed with Trishara and Rafe. 😍

This was the perfect enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one bed and slow burn all rolled into this book. The tension was tensioning and I could not get enough of their banter. I couldn’t stop laughing and smiling as I read it.

Absolutely loved how the author showed how things can be for women in the workplace. Please look up trigger warnings as this deals with sexual harassment, misogyny and micro aggressions. I was applauding Tris at the end. She definitely burned that place down. I also appreciated the representation of having chronic migraines and anxiety.

The one thing that really made me take off a star was Rafe and Hannah. I was soooo annoyed that he couldn’t just be like bish please, GO AWAY. And I was not a fan of how he showed his love to Trishara in the last chapter before the epilogue. After not talking for 3 days? Nope nope nope. But I forgave him because the man that he is. 🤌🏽

Some favorite moments: the room situation, the storm, being wedding crashers, when they sneak away during training, Trishara standing up for herself.

An absolutely delightful book overall though. Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

A solid start for this being Nisha's first contemporary romance! As someone who's read her completed romantasy series Trial of the Sun Queen, I was intrigued to see how this change in genre would be. While I do feel the characters fell flat at times, the story was full of cheesy moments throughout the book and I found myself not wanting to put it down, especially towards the ends. I really enjoyed the last half of the book over the first half. Also the ending of this book was perfect, it was sweet and to-the-point which made such an impactful punch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing this eARC! This is Nisha’s first contemporary novel and SHE DID NOT MISS THE ASSIGNMENT 👏👏👏

This book was amazing. Hilarious and swoony and so utterly atmospheric. I love when a romance story takes us to a beachy setting! Something about the ocean and romance are just the perfect pairing. Add in some forced proximity and I’m completely sold.

Tris and Rafe had so much chemistry it was practically burning the metaphorical pages of my ebook. Nisha nailed the true rivals vibes with these two- you could absolutely believe how much Tris hated (or thought she hated 😏) Rafe. I love the workplace dynamic and really enjoyed the work convention setting- it was fun getting to meet so many characters! Lan and Gabrielle were my absolute faves 🩵🩵

This story was not just romantic, either. Nisha did such a wonderfully heartbreaking job of showing how it is to be not only a woman in the workplace, but a woman of color. And not just the workplace, but an environment that is typically dominated by white men. The way that people treated Tris was abhorrent and this sort of thing happens all. The. Time. It’s sick and infuriating and absolutely unacceptable. As much as it’s hard to read moments like these, they’re so incredibly important because it mirrors the real world reality for BIPOC women and female-presenting people everywhere. That being said, Tris is an incredible character to look up to. She’s strong and takes zero shit from anyone. I LOVED the ending. Queen behavior 👑

Anyway, I can’t sing this book’s praises loud enough. Please do yourself a favor and pick it up when Not Safe For Work releases this May!

Nisha’s debut romcom is an 11/10! I am the biggest fan of everything that Nisha writes, and this was no exception. Not Safe for Work was an absolute joy to read. It had everything you could wish for in a romcom.

This book had vibes reminiscent of Kate and Anthony from Bridgerton but made into a workplace rivalry romcom. And I was LIVING for it. There was so much tension and so many moments that made me laugh aloud. It’s absolutely no surprise to me that I adored this book.

I admire Trishara so much. She was so funny! I loved her monologues and her inner battle against her attraction to Rafe. She was an incredible character, and I was rooting for her from the beginning to the end. She had so much strength and resilience. I loved watching her stand up for herself and speak out against everyone that tried to push her down.

And Rafe!! Nisha KNOWS how to write a MMC. He was full of witty comebacks and was the perfect counterpart to Tris. And on behalf of everyone, thank you for the rolled up shirt sleeves. Even though he’s fictional, he certainly could pull that off. 😮‍💨

The biggest thank you to Forever Pub and Nisha for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved every second of it! And for those who are looking to pick up their next romcom, let me suggest this one! Readers of Nisha’s fantasy series may find a little easter egg! 🤭

This just didn’t really work for me. I wanted to love it because women in stem rep and chronic headache rep but it overall fell flat. The bipoc women in corporate stem representation was done really well and the ending for that plot line was exceptionally gratifying! The chronic headache representation was underwhelming. As someone with chronic pain/headaches, I wanted more from it and the conversation between the fmc and mmc around medication made me angry at the mmc. Speaking of the mmc, Rafe gave me whiplash so many times throughout the book and I think this book would have been better as dual pov so I could have understood what was going on in his brain. I liked Trishara (the fmc) but I liked her friends more. The relationship between trishara and rafe also didn’t not have much depth. It was very much you’re hot/you’re hot.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ || 🌶️🌶️

Tropes:
🌺Enemies to lovers
🍷One bed
🌺Forced proximity
🍷Workplace romance
🌺Woman in STEM

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The banter between Rafe and Tris was just *chef’s kiss* I found myself rooting for them throughout the whole book. The third act breakup was pretty predictable and I felt like the story was kind of rushed at the end. I would definitely read another book by this author!

This was my intro to Nisha J. Tuli (though I've been wanting to read Trial of the Sun Queen for a while) and I love her oh my god. I finished Sunrise on the Reaping about a week ago and it put me in a slump and this was the perfect book to free me from it. I loved the concept (especially since it reminded me of Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood which I loved and wanted more of) and it was executed perfectly! I hate workplace romances because I find them to be repetitive and sometimes embarrassing for the main characters, but thankfully this book was free of all of my workplace romance icks.

The characters:
I loved Tris and how she actually felt like a well rounded fmc and not a caricature of a corporate girl boss. She's multilayered and also really funny (like actually made me laugh, and not just like a Funny Girl) I think the representation of a woman of color facing workplace discrimination is an extremely important story to tell, especially while DEI is being taken away across the country. This book effectively makes the point that even with DEI initiatives, the playing field is NOT level for people of color, and especially for women of color in male dominated fields.

I also really liked Rafe, even though I immediately judged him by his name (I hate Rafe from outer banks and couldn't tell if this was going to be a fanfic-esque moment) but he was actually great and I loved how many small details were slowly revealed about him while him and Tris were getting to know each other. Like he's a baking influencer that also has a corporate job (this reminded me of the finance bro on TikTok that does cake reviews I love him) and he's been sketching her in her office??? omg. At first I wasn't sure he would be a real yearner but he was a little obsessed once he started opening himself up to vulnerability. On that note, I will say that I wish there was little bit more detail about his complicated family relationships, especially with his dad, but there was definitely enough context that it didn't feel like a forgotten plot.

Their relationship was so cute too. I typically hate the enemies/workplace rivals to lovers dynamic because is it really that serious?? You hate this man for what? Being bad at excel? This was definitely not the vibe they had. It was much more rivalry, not because it was necessary but out of a love for the game (the game is called being a hater) and as a petty bitch I loved this. It was flirty but not cringey, and the dialogue felt realistic. I loved the slow burn (which was done WELL. not just ugh I hate/am indifferent to you then we fall in love in the last 25% of the book). Need to know if Nisha J. Tuli was an ao3 warrior. But the slow opening up to each other and willingness to be vulnerable between two people that are terrified of vulnerability was so amazing to read and I was kicking my feet and giggling every time they ordered room service and just talked.

Another detail I really appreciated was the female friendships. I love seeing a fmc love other women and support them and there were at least three close female friendships in this book (and not very many main characters). I also loved the moment that Tris realizes the woman she's been idolizing is complicit in the system that tried to make her fail, and the second she succeeded she allowed it to continue to make other women fail. This was a really important detail for me at least.

Lastly, this book was addictive and fast paced and I read it in about 6 hours, which is all I really want from a romcom. It's not easy to have that addictive factor because I can't think of any one thing that creates it, but Nisha J. Tuli was able to capture it in this book. Also I really want to read a 2000s style bodice ripper-esque villain romance from Nisha J. Tuli now.

5 ⭐️ 3 🌶️
Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Rivals to Lovers, Coworkers, One Bed/Room

I wanted to call this a workplace romance, and it is. But it also takes place at a tropical retreat so you kind of get vacation vibes too. I could actually very clearly picture the locations in this book and that doesn’t always happen for me.

Living in Tris’s head was so fun and I loved her banter with Rafe. Some of the situations they get into are hilarious. The side characters are interesting (OMG Whistle Mouth lol).

I have to say the sexism in the workplace felt very realistic. So much so that it freaking pissed me off for a while. And the thing about the “ khakis” was spot on.

Nisha’s books have been on my TBR for a while and I haven’t gotten to them yet (I’m sorry, my TBR is way too long). This cover just drew me in and I had to request an ARC.

Ambitious engineer Trishara Malik is forced to share a honeymoon suite in Hawaii with her infuriating rival, Rafe Gallagher, during a high-stakes corporate retreat. As the competition heats up, Tris begins to question her assumptions about Rafe and discovers that love might be the most unexpected twist of all.

I’ve read Nisha’s Artefacts of Ouranos series, so I was excited to see her dipping into contemporary romance. This kind of reminded me of a mix between The Unhoneymooners and The Hating Game. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. I had mixed feelings about Trishara. I understood why she behaved the way she did, but at times, she came across as too immature for her age. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between her and Rafe. They seemed to have this weird insta-lust without any real emotional connection. Both were hot and cold and their immaturity brought out the worst in each other to the point where I didn’t particularly like either of them. The story is told entirely from Trishara’s perspective. While Trishara’s emotions were clear, some of the feelings were repeated a bit too often. I think the book could’ve benefited from Rafe’s POV to better understand his behavior, thoughts, and backstory as he was definitely underdeveloped. The pacing was also inconsistent which made it hard for me to stay fully engaged. I wasn’t a big fan of the ending either. It felt like too much was happening at once which made it hard to focus. Overall, this one just wasn’t for me.

*Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

As a woman in STEM, thank you Nisha for writing this book. So many of the microaggressions in this book have happened to me, though thankfully not the lecherous ones. I really identified with Tishara throughout - she's so hungry for recognition and a promotion, while also refusing to put up with any misogynistic bullshit. But moreover I loved how much she grew when she stopped competing with Rafe and started listening instead. While an enemies or rivals to lovers story is built on miscommunications, I liked how Molly and Lan were quick to point out what a down bad caveman Rafe was for her. And the Artefacts of Ouranos Easter egg on the plane? Loooooved it.

I hope that Nisha J Tuli keeps writing some romances in addition to her fantasy books because she's really dang great at it. This story was dynamic and kept me interested in every plot point, just a standing ovation.

Not Safe for Work is a contemporary workplace romance that features an enemies to lovers plot line, plus forced proximity, and only one bed tropes.

Honestly, I feel like this book just wasn’t for me—I didn’t especially connect to the main characters because it felt like they were too perfect and attractive. However, I’d recommend it to fans of The Hating Game, another enemies to lovers workplace romance. Not Safe for Work also had some similar elements to Ali Hazelwood’s novels, but I feel like her characters are a little more quirky and relatable.

A welcome diversion from the romantasy genre, Ms. Tuli’s first contemporary romance has hints of Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Bailey, and Ana Huang.

This is a single POV, and it follows the standard romance beats, allowing the reader to easily fill in the gaps left by not sharing the MMC’s POV.

We’re treated to a workplace enemies-to-lovers, while a sensitive treatment of the struggles women and minorities face in STEM and in corporate politics. It’s eye-opening and at times difficult to swallow.

4 stars because some of the characters choices and responses are annoying, and the story is highly choreographed to make a point. It’s still an enjoyable read.