Trishara Malik is determined to prove herself at a corporate retreat in Hawaii, but her plans are derailed when she’s forced to share a honeymoon suite with her workplace rival, Rafe Gallagher. As they compete for a coveted executive training spot, Tris starts to see a different side of Rafe—one that challenges everything she believed about him. With her career and heart on the line, she must decide if he’s truly her enemy or something much more.
I really wanted to love this one, but it fell flat for me. It leaned too heavily on tropes—the broody hero, the one-bed situation—without bringing anything fresh. Since we only get the FMC’s POV, the MMC’s thoughts and feelings remain a mystery, making it harder to connect with their dynamic.
That said, I have to give major credit to the cover designer and illustrator—the artwork is absolutely stunning! It immediately catches the eye and makes you want to dive into the story. A beautifully designed cover like this definitely adds to the book’s appeal!

Nisha Tuli is a phenomenal writer. I can say that after only reading one of her books that all the rest of them, even if they are more on the fantasy side are going to be top-tier for me. Not only is Not Safe For Work a RomCom. It is a book about what women have to deal with in the workplace. But not only that what a woman of color has to deal with in the workplace. From harassment, being propositioned, to be considered just a secretary even when at a leadership retreat. Nisha has you falling in love with her characters and highlighting the things that women struggle with every day on a daily basis.
This book is a rivals workplace (retreat) romance that take place in Hawaii. It’s funny, it’ll make you think…. And there’s spice that is just right. I loved her diverse cast of characters and their growth. And I really can’t wait to read my next completed series from her backlog! I already know I’m going to be a Nisha stan and a one click buyer from now on!!

this was entertaining but a bit too immature for me personally 😭 between them going into their thirties, being in a work setting/work trip, and lack of actual development (both relationship and personally but i’ll get to that in a sec) i won’t really be thinking about this again. i would recommend for a QUICK read because i finished this in about two solid sittings.

honestly i feel like we never got to know our fmc. she had things that she was hiding from us the reader that never fully get explored? to their potential? which i found odd and it was so so very romance focused that i wanted more of them as individuals tbh. he had more depth/development outside of their relationship!!

Not Safe For Work by Nisha J Tuli. Thank you to @readforeverpub for sending me the ARC.

Tropes:
✨STEM workplace romance
✨enemies-to-lovers
✨forced proximity
✨spicy
✨POC female protagonist
✨chronic migraines/headaches
✨workplace harassment

I really enjoyed reading Not Safe For Work. It’s a laugh out loud spicy, steamy romance story in a STEM corporate, workplace setting.

Trishara Malik is a senior engineer at an environment corporate company in Chicago and she meets Rafe Gallagher who is the tall, dark, hot, handsome bosses son and also her team lead.

Rafe is her competition and arch nemesis enemy in the office and sparks fly when they’re on a leadership workplace retreat together in Maui, Hawaii and end up sharing a hotel suite together.

The characters are adorable and the friendships will make you smile and the chemistry between Tris and Rafe is steamy and sizzling hot.

This book is a corporate workplace POC romance story and pure escapism and I’m dreaming of the beaches and sunshine in Maui, Hawaii.

As a POC woman in STEM I approve💯❤️

This was my first book by the author and sadly I didn’t enjoy it as much. The first 20% of the book I thought Trishara was a little childish. I did enjoy the banter between Tris and Rafe !! And the mouth on Rafe SO HOT… I do wish this book was dual POV and could’ve seen Rafe’s thoughts.

Nisha Tuli has been on my list since I read her Artefacts of Ouranos series. I really like her writing style and looked forward to her contemporary work. Not Safe for Work touches on women in male dominated fields. The characters cover a wide range of races and lifestyles as well as personalities. Tuli’s portrayal of women in STEM fields is very eye-opening and emphasizes the need for equality in the workplace and fair treatment of women.

The story is about a woman named Trishara (Tris) who is under-appreciated in her current role in the company and Rafe, a boss’s son. The two are chosen to go on a retreat for their company. Tris and Rafe have been competitors in the workplace and Tris has kept him at arms length due to past workplace trauma. Once they get to Hawaii they are forced to room together and each discovers that they harbor misconceptions about one another.

This story was a quick read, with some delightful banter and interesting side characters. As a reader I would have liked to have seen more depth to both Tris and Rafe’s characters but that is a personal preference. As with her other works Tuli has a writing style that I enjoy. I would recommend this for people who like contemporary romance, one-bed tropes, workplace romance and chick lit. Thank you Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC.

This book had a choke hold on me and I loved every minute of it. Tris and Rafe, the perfect enemies to lovers, the falling first, the one bed, it was literally everything I needed. I hope Nisha continues to dabble in the rom com aspect because I'd drop everything to just read what she wrote.

I had a fantastic time with Not Safe for Work. I was planning on reading this next month but ended up picking this up on a whim yesterday afternoon andddd then finished it yesterday afternoon lol. This was an easy read in the best way - bingeable, relatable (sometimes unfortunately), and full of tension that keeps you hooked.

Nisha found a great balance of career and romance which can be a tricky thing! I work in a very male dominated field as well and some of Nisha's points really hit home. Strides have been made but there is still a long way to go and I really appreciated that our FMC held her ground and stood up for herself and others.

After reading this author's fantasy books I had a strong feeling that I would really appreciate her writing in a romcom setting and was really not disappointed. Ultimately I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend picking this up for the warm weather season when it releases in May (or anytime of course, but I love reading with the season lol).

❀ Workplace Rivals to Lovers
❀ BIPOC women in STEM
❀ Hawaii Setting (Workplace related)
❀ Tons of yearning - lots of angst
❀ Forced Proximity
❀ Forearms for days (Nisha I feel you girl, I also love forearms)
❀ Vulnerable moments

I never like to give away much in an arc review but I loved so many moments in this book and I will definitely be annotating the heck out of my copy in May!! Thank you so much to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the e-arc! As always, all opinions are my own. :)

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an eARC. I was so excited so read this authors contemporary after her amazing fantasy stories. She didn’t disappoint. Love this workplace enemies to lovers romance. Tris and Rafe have been fighting at work for years but then they are sent to Hawaii for a conference. With only one bed the tension between them heats up even more. Loved their banter and the way Rafe is there for her. Also hits harder topics of being a BIPOC woman in the workplace. Love seeing the strength Tris shows. Also standing up for yourself and what you really want in life. Amazing story I would read again.

Wow I’m obsessed! This was my first Nisha Tuli book, and I’m already adding all her others to my TBR list. Finally, an enemies-to-lovers story where they actually feel like enemies! I loved Trishara’s inner monologue and her toxic work environment and coworkers. I knew as soon as she went on a work-sponsored trip to Hawaii that this was going to be a fun read! I was not prepared for just how much I was going to enjoy every single thing Trishara and Rafe did! The story was easy to read and entertaining, but it also had a great storyline and character growth from both the main characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Grand Publishing for sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.75 stars!

I will be dreaming about the day I go on a business trip to Hawaii and I fall in love

Wow this is such a fantastic book. I loved everything about it and I am so glad I got an early copy of it. It was such a beautiful romance and it made me melt while also have me kicking my feet.

I loved Nisha's Artefacts of Ouranos series and I was excited that she was doing a rom-com! Trishara had me cackling with her comebacks and banter with Rafe. This was a very slow burn that had me going "JUST KISS ALREADY" multiple times. I loved that this book calls out the need for diversity and representation in the corporate world too. The whole work retreat and the games had me in literal tears especially in the games. HER LETTER AT THE END, got a standing ovation from me. The two things that I had an issue with (it's not really an issue it's a personal one) was that 1. I wish we had Rafe's POV because I would have loved how he was feeling and then the miscommunication wouldn't have bothered me at times (again this is a me thing), the 2nd thing that I had an issue with was with her always listening into his conversations with Hannah and then not talking to him about it. She's so headstrong that I wish she would have just TALKED TO HIM about it, along with the amount of times it was mentioned, made me want to throw Rafe's phone into the ocean.

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

This book was okay. I liked the tropes, and I liked the plot, however, it actually seemed to focus on stereotypes on women while overly discussing how harmful things are to women? She’s nosey- eavesdropping on conversations, quick to jump to crazy conclusions- at one point a guy asks what is he out of ten, and she internally thinks how weird it is that’s he’s asking her a pretty common question, and she overly sexualizes the MMC while also talking about how men overly sexualize everything. I just think it puts the big argument in a weird position. The banter was good though!

I really enjoyed this book! It gave me some vintage Ali Hazelwood vibes (a la Love Hypothesis or Love Theoretically). I thought the workplace rivalry was pretty well done and I loved the tropical Hawaiian setting. 4.25/5 stars!

Thank you, Nisha, for another fun and amazing read. I've really enjoyed Nisha's other series and wasn't sure how something more relatable would play out, and it did not disappoint. I did expect something a little more sinister with Andy, but I'm glad it didn't go there.

4.5⭐

Thank you Nisha J. Tuli, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the ARC!

Not Safe For Work is a spicy rom-com about two workplace enemies who find themselves in close proximity on a tropical work trip that challenges their assumptions—and just might make them fall for each other.

This book blew my mind and Nisha J. Tuli outdid herself with her rom-com debut. I love how it is a work-place fluffy rom-com but with a meaning story behind playing out in the background.

The tension and angst between Rafe and Tris was hot and sizzling. Their chemistry was on a whole other level. Their banter and tension was top tier and the slow burn paid off so well.

The author does an amazing job of balancing the humor with some of the stark realities of being not only a woman, but a woman of color in an industry dominated by white men.

Their relationship set against the backdrop of what Trish was enduring at company was done well. Some of these scenes were influenced by the author's past career and the themes of sexism, harassment and male species being literal fucking idiots was explored.

Trishara is a badass. I love how she stood up to herself and didn't take any of the shit thrown at her. She knew what she deserved and she knew they didn't deserve her. Girly knew her worth.

This story is everything I look for in a rom-com -- sizzling chemistry, worry banter, tension, angst and forced proximity.

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
spice: 🌶️🌶️
review:
I really loved this book! It took awhile to get into it for me but once I was in, I was locked in and devoured the rest of the book! For awhile I worried that Rafe was a tad one-dimensional but he really showed to have depth and a whole character arc of his own which I really enjoyed! I loved loved loved Tris!! Her inner strength and outer strength really carried this book! She was everything and her finally getting her happy ending was beautiful! I really liked this book, it was the first i’ve read by Nisha J. Tuli but I will definitely be reading more!!

Nisha is such an amazing writer. I have read all her romantasy and was excited to see how a contemporary romance by her would be. It was amazing. The banter between the characters was great. Everything was azo g and I can't wait for a physical copy to put on my shelf of favorites!!

As a woman with both a day job (finance) and a hobby (storm chasing) that are both heavily male-dominated, it’s always a “yes please” for a FMC like Tris, fighting the good fight to prove herself amidst a sea of men who aren’t always so thrilled to have a woman in their midst. There are so many little details throughout that were all too familiar to me from my own career, but how cathartic that Tris gets to actually say some of the things a lot of us wish we could! I also really liked that Nisha touched on how exhausting it can be to exist in these spaces, even when your career is advancing.

I am also never saying no to using a storm as a plot device 😂

Releasing in May, Not Safe for Work would make a great beach read that combines the lightness of romcom with the more serious underpinning of being a woman, and a woman of color at that, in a corporate environment. Rafe is a protective, broody while secretly sweet MMC who isn’t overly fond of shirts (but IS fond of breaking out dirty talk & forearm magic!), and while the romance is a slow burn, once it gets there, it really sizzles!