I have never read a book by Nisha J Tuli but I really enjoyed this. I don’t read a lot of STEM romance so that was a nice change from the regular romance books I’ve read. The rivals to lovers ATE!! It was definitely a slow burn but I felt like it worked for this book. I loved the Hawaii setting and the one bed ??? I SCREAMED!! I feel like readers who love angst would absolutely devour this book!

I am completely biased when it comes to Nisha’s books. I adore her and her stories. This is her first contemporary romance. Workplace romance with a fun and sweet plot and highly relatable situations.

I don't read a lot of romance, but the cover art caught my eye, and since I just got back from Hawaii, where this is set, when I got the chance to pick up a NetGalley copy, I jumped on it! I really enjoyed Tris and her friendship with Molly, the way she bonded quickly with Lan and Danielle, and the insights into life as a female engineer trying to crack that glass ceiling. I thought Rafe's character was wonderfully written, and turns out I find forearms and rolled up sleeves just as sexy as Tris does! I'm also a sucker for There's Only One Bed, and the added bonus of it being the honeymoon suite was just icing on the cake. I couldn't stop reading, and I really enjoyed this. There's some serious spice, which I confess I typically skim. The setting is fun, the characters feel like people you know, and I love the ending!

Fantastic read! I could not put this down. The slow burn, the angst and all the other parts that makes this book a devourable read from start to finish, agh, where you run out of favorable adjectives to describe your feelings about a great HEA……Enjoy 💚

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC! I wanted to like this more, but it felt incredibly repetitive. I appreciated the diversity and loved seeing a woman of color in STEM, plus the ending was satisfying—especially when she finally stood up for herself and called out the shady company behavior. That said, this wasn’t an emotionally deep romance; it was pure lust with little substance. I need some emotional connection with my smut, and this was all heat, no heart. Why did they even like each other beyond being hot?

For five years engineer Trishara Malik put up with mediocre white men being promoted over her, including Rafe Gallagher, the boss's son who becomes the main the target of her ire. She's shocked to be selected for a three week executive program in Hawaii which could finally land her on the promotions track. The downside? She's unfortunately stuck sharing a suite with Rafe.

I enjoyed the spark and banter between Tris and Rafe, though at times it was really unprofessional given the setting. I like the way we slowly learn more about Rafe, what he really wants and the weight of expectations from his exacting father. I really appreciated the authenticity and layering of what it's like for a woman, particularly a woman of colour, working in a very stale pale male environment. Also the horrendous ways men in positions of power get away with abusing women. At times this book did drag a bit, however it was such an enjoyable read. I loved the way Tris came int her power to give zero fucks and cheered at *that email*, a nice touch of revenge fantasy played out.

Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the ARC.

Not Safe for Work is the workplace novel I didn’t know I needed! It is so much more than a romance. Tris is a fierce and feisty main character who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and call out inequities when she sees them. I loved her no nonsense manner and competitive nature. In addition to being a role model for women in STEM, Tris refuses to compromise her wants and needs in romance too. I adored her banter with Rafe, both flirting and arguing, but it was also so refreshing to not see her settle for anything less than she deserves. This story perfectly explores issues in the workplace with steamy romance (rivals to lovers done right). Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

💫Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC of this book!💫

🤍Pub date: May 20, 2025

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up!

This was my first read by Nisha J Tuli and she did not disappoint! Also her first ever contemporary romance and she knocked it out of the park, in my opinion. Definitely would like to check out other works by her now.

Tropes:
🌺 rivals to lovers
🌺 only one bed
🌺 South Asian FMC
🌺 women in STEM
🌺 Hawaii
🌺 workplace romance


First off, loooooved the characters. Tris is a feisty FMC, full of sarcasm and wit, and is a very much take no BS kind of woman. She is so strong in the face of an industry that isn’t the kindest to women. Rafe is your classic rebellious, “not like his father” type. He doesn’t necessarily know what he wants to do, but it’s not following in his fathers footsteps at WMC (the engineering company that he and Tris work for). They both love to annoy the hell out of each other, and their chemistry is fiery from day one.

Not Safe For Work follows Tris and Rafe to a leadership conference in Hawaii where attendees compete in aptitude tests as well as team building activities. With a diverse, well rounded, and realistic cast of side characters, we watch Tris and Rafe amp up the competition. I really enjoyed the banter between characters as well as how Nisha portrayed the challenges Tris faces in a male dominated field. This read was super fun, slower burn, but still spicy 🌶️

I can’t wait to make all my friends read this one! ☺️

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Grand Central Publishing for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first read ever by Nisha J. Tuli and it did not disappoint! I thought Not Safe for Work was a super cute and fast read and it was a slow burn for sure. I love how she brought attention to the issues as a woman being in a male-dominated career/field and unfortunately, is still relevant today.

Trishara Malik is at a crossroads. After leaving her previous job in the environmental engineering sector to join a different company, WMC Purcell, as the first woman of color at the company's Chicago branch, she's deciding to call it quits real soon. After being turned down time and time again for promotions, no recognition on projects or her work ethic, not to mention the blatant nepotism within the company's walls with her boss's son, Rafe, and his cousin, Rory, getting promoted and praised for the bare minimum. However, fate has other plans for her when she and Rafe are selected to go on the company's first-ever leadership retreat, where she will spend a week in paradise networking, getting a tan, and reading her smutty romance novels. She doesn't think she'll run into Rafe in a giant hotel like this, but when a booking error comes up and both have to share the honeymoon suite together, how could she possibly survive a week in paradise when her supposed-to-be nemesis might not be the villain in her story?

First off, I want to say that we NEED more female representation in STEM and medicine. Nisha J. Tuli did a fantastic job at bringing these issues to light, especially when women are in a male-dominated workplace and field such as engineering. It absolutely sucks that women have to work twice as hard to get the same recognition as their male counterparts and may even have to look the other way and pretend to tolerate male co-workers and their potentially inappropriate behavior because their job puts food on the table and pays their bills. The author's note at the beginning of the ARC saying that some of this was based on her own experiences as an engineer is just utterly heartbreaking. No person should ever feel uncomfortable in their place of work. We need to do better.

Let me say this: I LOVE Tris's character. She was headstrong, fought for what she wanted, and wasn't afraid to ask for it either. Her witty comebacks and banter with Rafe had me chuckling. She has a lot of past baggage and is fully aware of the implications that comes with being a woman in a male-dominated career, not to mention a woman of color, no less. She keeps her walls high and isn't afraid to put a guy in his place and I loved that. I love it when a woman makes a guy eat his own words. She justifiably loses her temper a few times in the story and I applaud her for that because if I was her, I would've lost my marbles.

Rafe Gallagher, our MMC, uh...I feel like he needed a lot more depth to his personality aside from the fact that he's hot. He's clearly not stupid if he's an engineer and buddy definitely has to have more brain cells up there. He's really sweet and protective of Tris when sleazy guys at the retreat try to make a move on her and he has hobbies outside of his job. He's a decent human being, so why did I feel like he was so...one-dimensional? I feel like I didn't really get to know him as a MMC aside from his family drama he talks about extensively with Tris. We get bits and pieces here and there about Rafe's hobbies but I feel like a majority of his character arc/development was centered around his family drama and trying to overcome that than developing his relationship with Tris. (Side note: he's also got a filthy mouth on him.)

As for Tris and Rafe together...they are one HOT couple. Like, I can't stop staring at the cover art. I love the dress Tris is wearing, and Rafe holding her high heels?! Adorable. The lust and physical attraction and chemistry were there for sure and their teasing was off the charts. I mentioned this earlier but I thought it was nice that Rafe was trying to protect Tris from the other guys who didn't have the best intentions in mind. The slow burn was a slow burn for real; the spice doesn't hit until the last bit of the book. I don't care whether or not a book is spicy, but just wanted to include that there in case someone wanted to know. The epilogue was also so stinking adorable. I'm glad justice was served and Tris and Rafe both got what they wanted in the end.

Overall, I enjoyed this rom-com debut from Nisha J. Tuli and I look forward to seeing what she has in store for the genre next, if she chooses to do so! I can't wait for this to officially come out in the world and everyone can enjoy what this book has to offer.

3.5 stars

P.S. There is also a VERY subtle reference to Nisha J. Tuli's Artefacts of Ouranos series in the book! I didn't get it at first since I haven't read the series, but I saw a blurb about a specific scene from the series on her Instagram page while I was looking up the tropes to include in my review and everything clicked. If you know, you know, but it won't affect your overall understanding of the book. Tris just really likes romantasy novels.

I freaking loved this!!!!

The way Nisha just knows exactly what kind of MMC
I will absolutely obsess with!! 🫠🫠

The Romance is perfect, banter and tension..chefs kiss!
While also adding some real world topics (especially for us woman) love!!!

There were moments of drama and moments where I was laughing out loud making this book such a good time!!

Highly recommend!!
If you fell in love with Nishas romantasy worlds don’t think this is any different, you’ll fall for this too 🫶

Thank you so much for arc! ✨

Rafe and Thea are workplace rivals. And have been for like, years. And they get sent on a 3 week conference in Hawaii. Thea decides she will make the best of this time, clean out some *ahem* cobwebs, and spend these 3 weeks avoiding Rafe like the plague. The resort is huge. It won’t be that hard right?

I. Devoured. This. I yearned. I pined! I giggled and kicked my feet. I collected those HR violations and ate them up. I gasped. I screamed (and made my dogs look at me with very concerned expressions) Some of the things Rafe says and does I was right along with Thea telling my inner feminist to take a back seat and just shut up.

I love that, from the first page Thea is unapologetically herself. She knows she's hot, she knows she's a badass, and she knows she deserves better than what she's had in the past. There are times when she tries to shrink to fit someone else's ideals, and the next second she's like "you know what? Fuck this I'm going to be all of me" And I'm here for it!

This was such a sweet, fun, awesome book!

Love this author. This is different than her other books, but just as good! I loved Tris and Rafe and their chemistry was amazing!

I had so much fun reading this book. I was immediately hooked in and wanted to keep reading. The characters are flawed yet likable. Trishara and Rafe are at odds in the workplace, and wind up being sent on a three-week retreat in Hawaii with about 104 other people, mostly white men. I really appreciate that the author addresses the whiteness and maleness of engineering in a way that is realistic/factual.

The plot has so many of the things I want in a contemporary romance. Rivals to lovers. Workplace. Angry flirting. One room/one bed. Danger (a bit). A tropical location. All of those things can sound overwhelming and tropey, but it really works.

I desperately wanted to know what exactly was happening when Rafe was on the phone every time, and Nisha didn't give it to us too early -- made us wait for it and speculate just the right amount.

There were endearing side characters which rounded out the cast of characters and provided a wider story.

Nisha J. Tuli did a great job bringing these things together in an enjoyable and believable way.

A book that will transport you to Hawaii and leave you laughing at this enemies to lovers romance. I loved every bit of this story. The tension, the banter, these two had me laughing and turning the page just hoping that they would see the chemistry between the two of them! When they finally give in and have that f’ it moment the spice went from 0-200 real fast!! It’s fun but also covers some very realistic workplace issues many of us deal with everyday. I loved how these topics were covered and the feelings of the characters could really be felt. The competitiveness between Rafe and Trishara was a fun aspect to this enemies to lovers story.

“I want someone who makes me feel a little like I’m...burning in the best kind of way.”

If you think Nish J Tuli is only good at writing romance, you are WRONG!
I (so gratefully) received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and I BINGED it! Thank you Netgalley and Forever Publishing!

Trishara Malik has always been a shining star as she is an amazing Engineer with an outstanding performance record. But working in a male dominated field and being a woman of color has left her light, unjustly, being coming dimmer and dimmer. So imagine her surprise when she is selected to attend a 3 week all expenses paid corporate leadership retreat! The down side? Her arch nemesis in the office was also selected.
Trishara has had, a rivalry with Rafe Gallagher. Him being the boss's son meant he got opportunities without earing them. The last thing Tris wants is to spend 3 weeks with him in Hawaii. But what if he's not who she thought he was?

This book had me engaged the ENTIRE read! I'm very excited to review this book and share with others that this debut rom-com from Nisha J. Tuli is an infinity star read! She not only touches on subjects of sexism, racism, sexual harassments in the work place but she also introduces us to two very real characters. This book is relatable on a lot of levels. I LOVE that Tris is a STEM woman as well, showing the hardships of us women in STEM fields having to "grin and bear it" This book SPOKE to me. I love it so much.
If you have read any of Nisha's other books you know she gives her characters a sense of humor. This book did not stray! The banter and attitude that was written into Tris is so down to earth and relatable, I see myself in this character! It is a bit of a slow burn but the tension built up was much needed and well placed in the story. Its got spice!
If that's what you're looking for! Nisha is a QUEEN at spicy scenes! The care she put into Rafe's puppy, yet villain, nature is something only she could accomplish!
I could not put this book down!
INFINITY STARS!

Absolutely incredible! Not only was it an artful enemies to lovers which I’m an absolute sucker for, the handling of serious topics and intersectional feminism is top notch. Like she says in her authors note, this story is both. It’s a beautiful love story AND a look at the things we cannot continue to allow in the workplace. Will be reading the rest of her work immediately, absolutely no notes.

Overall this was a fun RomCom - starting with enemies to lovers I was here for it. Loved the representation of women in STEM work as it can be challenging to navigate.

Overall the banter and tension had me routing for them but there was too much miscommunication for me (this is starting to be one of my least fav tropes). I’m good with the initial mistaking of interest for hate but once relationships start and it has already been noted that it was a previous issue between the couple I really hate seeing it come back to break them up in the third act.

The spice was great, the friendships were wonderful and overall was fun.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book. The synopsis immediately piqued my interest, and I was eager to begin reading.

The initial chapters were engaging, and I was quickly drawn into the narrative. I was particularly interested in the development of the relationship between Rafe and Trishara. However, I found the chemistry between them to be lacking. Even after reaching the 60% mark, I struggled to perceive any significant progression in their dynamic. While the banter was initially entertaining, its repetitive nature without substantial plot advancement became increasingly frustrating.

Overall, the book offered a decent reading experience. The workplace scenes were particularly compelling, providing valuable insight into the challenges faced by a biracial woman navigating a competitive, foreign environment dominated by white men. This book may appeal to readers who enjoy slow-burn romances and workplace rivalries.

Tuli has done it again! With sharp writing, layered characters, and a romance that sneaks up on you in the best way, this romcom sizzles with wit and chemistry, delivering both heart and fire.

I was so excited for this book because the cover is beautiful and i’m also a poc woman in stem. I think the book did a great job representing that. There were definitely some swoonworthy moments, but there was also a lot of push and pull from the main characters that was kind of frustrating. I do wish that we also got Rafe’s point of view because I needed more pining from him to really believe the romance. I was also not a fan of the other woman drama. Overall, it was a quick and enjoyable read. Thank you Netgalley and Forever Publishing for this e-arc!