I was given access to an advance reading copy (ARC) so this review will be spoiler free as I want everyone to have the opportunity to read and enjoy this wonderful story.

“To the person I was and the one I became. It’s never too late if you want it enough.”

There is something so wonderful about a perfectly timed and worded dedication. I could already tell from the first page from this dedication alone, that this book was one that many individuals, no matter the gender identity, would be able relate to. The dedication sets the tone for the novel in that is correctly reflects that just because you start in one direction, it doesn’t mean you’ll end there and that time is only a limiting factor if you make it so.

This is the first non-fantasy novel I’ve read by Tuli and I was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed myself all the way through. So let’s get into the review:

5 out of 5 stars; zero notes.

The novel sets up a relatable, clearly imaginable premise: smart, hard working, woman of color working in a white-male dominated world; what could be or go wrong? This strong, empowered woman, Trishara, has been through it all: microaggressions, sexism, racism and the age old tale of being overlooked, passed over, ignored for nearly everything for the sake of a less qualified man. But despite these serious barriers, Trishara has only finally reached the point of “burn out” after five long years and a truly heinous experience at a previous workplace; this vastly impressive but also accurate as many people are known to reassess their choices at the five year mark especially in high demand, competition driven fields. The character of Trishara is significantly relatable in this early stage of the novel largely because I myself can relate to the experience of starting a career, one you thought you wanted for the right reasons, only to learn after countless years riddled with disappointment and self-doubt that you stop and realize “What the hell am I doing?” and “Do I want this anymore?”. This is where we find Tris, considering her life choices and what her future may hold while also continuing to witness the blatant oppressive and unfair practices of a job she at one point thought she might love.

Cue fate’s intervention! It is practically at the exact moment she is ready to throw in the towel, like in real life, fate intervenes and provides her an opportunity to either reassess her situation and stick it out or be reaffirmed in her feelings and move on to greener pastures. What better place to do that than a corporate three-week long “retreat” in Hawaii?

Tris’s adventure begins when she is invited to Hawaii for a “leadership retreat” whose sole purpose is to identify the employees best suited to rise of the ranks and move into highly coveted positions. It becomes abundantly clear that despite her talent, success and credentials, she is only invited to be the diversity representation being both a woman and person of color. Despite being massively offended, and rightly so, Tris sees this opportunity as a way for her to determine if there is any future in this career and take full advantage of the corporate amenities to the fullest at the same time. Naturally, in any good rom com, high jinx ensues in the form of the one-bed, enemies to lovers, forced proximity tropes that we love sooooo much! Tris is forced to share a hotel room with the one individual she has spent five years channeling all of her disappointment and frustrations into, Rafe Gallagher…the bosses’ son and clear representation to Tris of all that is wrong with the company she works for: sexism and nepotism. Is Rafe handsome, yes; is he confident and quippy, yes; is there sexual/enemies to lovers tension that could be cut with a knife, heck yes and I am here for it! Tris and Rafe are pushy, competitive and so drawn to each other you can’t help rooting for the slow burn to hurry up! And once it does, you won’t be able to stop the stupid smile that will grace your face as you continue.

What I enjoyed most about this novel is that Tuli continues to demonstrate her strength and skill in writing humorous, strong, yet deeply flawed but complex, deep characters. Tris and Rafe are no exception. On the surface, both characters have a small bit of immaturity when it comes to the needless competition and “hate” toward one another but beyond that, both characters feel deeply toward each other, demonstrate passion and joy in their desires even if they are not accepted by surrounding characters, and recognize how wrong impressions and judgements can rob a person of valuable time and happiness. Walls come crumbling down as soon as both characters are forced to confront their insecurities, self-doubt and past choices. Tris realizes that she has been protecting herself through the erection of impenetrable walls around her heart which has prevented her from seeing Rafe for who he truly is and Rafe and respected those walls by leaning into the villain she saw him to be.

I found both characters really sweet, funny and realistic in the best sense. Both characters, although we only get Tris’s perspective, have self-doubts about themselves and what they truly want from life because of the resistance and choices of those around them. Tris closes herself off from love because of a bad experience thereby missing Rafe and Rafe continues to force himself into a career he doesn’t want because of negative judgements from those he holds dear. Tris builds Rafe to be this terrible, arrogant, villain in her mind purely as a defense mechanism because she has reason to doubt her ability to trust her heart or others. Only once they are forced to be together in close quarters, does she have a massive epiphany that she made Rafe the villain in her story because it was easier than addressing her own fear and insecurities. I found this part of the story line to be the most interesting and engaging because I am certain everyone has experience with making decisions based on fear that have significant repercussions.

Additionally, Tuli does an exceptional job describing and capturing a significant root to sexism in the workplace: women’s complacency to just accept the situation as it is; because of fear, lack of support, or exhaustion. Tris’s time in Hawaii reveals that all the women within her field and company have resigned themselves to be reduced to their physical features and ability to “give” whatever is asked of them regardless of the degrading nature of it. One particular character goes as far to encourage Tris to just “grin and bear it” as a way to get to the success she seeks even if it destroys her soul in the process. Another justifies a moment of sexual harassment by stating that Tris “is pretty for an Indian girl” which indicates that her attractiveness warrants harassment or even worse that it’s unbelievable anyone would find Tris attractive enough to even harass her in the first place! I found this subplot of the novel to be incredibly important and poignant; sexism can be attributed to bad behavior on both sides of the genders. Women are quick to drag each other down because the men in the world are constantly defining women as weak, incapable and only good for their looks or what they can do for them directly; naturally as a survival tactic it can make sense for women to fall victim to the same bad behavior to other women. Tris decides to break the cycle unlike the women around her and risks everything to break away from the complacency and resignation and stand up for herself and future women. I found myself rooting for her and so proud of a fictional woman who in my mind represents what needs to be done: women not letting this bad behavior continue to exist by drawing much needed attention to the male culprits.

Before I go, it should also be known that the sex/spiciness is on point! It is consensual, passionate, and it becomes very obvious from the first scene that both of these characters harbor unrequited love for the other and that makes the romance and intimacy even more beautiful to witness.

I strongly recommend this book because despite some of the heavy themes related to the unfair treatment of women in the workplace, the overall vibe of the book is light, sexy, passionate and empowering. I can’t wait for this novel to be released so I can recommend this to everyone I know.

This was the first book I’ve read by Nisha and I’m excited to read her other work! I loved this book and everything the FMC stood for. Watching Rafe and Trishara’s relationship bloom was beautiful, the tension could literally be cut through with a knife and I loved every second of it.

I honestly can’t think of one thing I didn’t enjoy while reading. Nisha navigated all of the topics in this book perfectly, I almost felt like I was going through all of these experiences right alongside Trishara, feeling her frustrations just as strongly. I definitely recommend this book to anyone, but especially women of color navigating a predominately male workplace!

Trishara Malik is feeling burned out. Between a blatantly misogynistic boss and a disgustingly handsome rival, who happens to be the boss’s son, Trishara is ready to throw in the towel. Until her name is thrown in the running for a promising leadership training course, taking her to Hawaii with none other than Rafe Gallagher. What starts as an easy vacation away from work dissolves to endless team building exercises, clashing opinions, and heated hearts..

This book was a stunning and hysterical romcom, workplace rivals-to-lovers, with tons of tension and longing. I appreciated the slow burn, the build up and banter between our main characters, Trishara and Rafe, and the explosive chemistry when our characters come together. Trishara’s character is extremely relatable for those who are also women in STEM. Walking the fine line of saving face for the sake of job security and calling out the double standards is a relevant conflict and I loved that the FMC stays true to herself and what she values. Rafe, like many other millennials, is caught between pleasing his family and pleasing himself. I found myself falling more and more for Rafe as he stopped hiding his talents and embraced his gift of creativity. I was rooting for this couple the entire book and fell in love with the black cat/golden retriever dynamic.

Tropes: One Bed/ Workplace Romance/ Rivals to Lovers/ BIPOC Rep/ Forced Proximity

Thank you so much to Netgalley & Forever Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read early! I absolutely ATE UP THIS BOOK! Okay, Nisha J Tuli has been on my TBR for the longest with Trial of the Sun Queen. Not Safe for Work being her rom-com debut?! Absolutely amazing. It’s an enemies to lovers, so much tension/angst, grumpy sunshine. I loved everything about it. From the beginning, I was hooked. We follow Trishara who is Indian and is an engineer at a predominately white male company. Trishara is hand picked with the boss’s son, Rafe to attend a three week retreat in Hawaii for work where they will compete for a spot in NYC to work for a year to keep broadening their opportunities at the company. Upon arriving in Hawaii, Rafe and Trish are thrown together in different exercises constantly butting heads. Rafe becomes brooding and scaring off any male who looks at Trishara in any way.

Also, can we talk about the cover of the book? GORGEOUS! I cannot wait to get my hands on it come release day.

Thank you NetGalley, Forever, and the author for the ARC! Some of my favorite authors have been posting about this book and I’ll definitely be checking out the author’s fantasy books.

This was a quick, steamy read that hit some of my favorite tropes… Workplace rivals to lovers! Forced proximity! Only one bed!

I appreciated that it did not shy away from the very real difficulties that women face in the workplace, particularly BIPOC women in STEM and other male-dominated fields. I loved that Tris was a strong, capable FMC who stood up for herself, though occasionally I did want to shake some sense into her when she went hot/cold with Rafe. The whole relationship did feel a little too insta-love for my taste (do you really love someone after 3 weeks?) but the built-up tension was so delicious that I didn’t care too much.

Also…the twist of what Rafe actually wanted to do with his life was so delightfully unexpected! Made me want some dessert real bad (and also maybe a trip to Hawaii?)

Banter, yearning, misunderstanding, forced proximity, and only one bed are a few things I enjoyed about this book. The characters were likable and I was rooting for the couple by the end.

‘Rival engineers dabble in personal chemistry while at a tropical company retreat in this smart, zippy romcom.’

Not Safe for Work couldn’t have been a more appropriate title. Shave 15 years off the FMC & MMC and then dump them onto a set more reminiscent of Bayside High, this story would have been much more feasible.
As a grown man and a grown woman, these 2 were tragically off-putting. I winced, shuddered and rolled my eyes so many times, I knew my face was starting to pay the price. I was gonna be Stonecringe....

Enemies to Lovers, close proximity. Tashara and Rafe are accidentally stuffed together in a hotel suite in Hawaii for a company retreat. They hate each other, of course. The theatrics begin.
FMC is a neurotic chihuahua. Runs hot and cold & goes back and forth in a constant & steady rhythm, like Grandma Agnes in a rocking chair. A constant push and pull with her. Nitpicking. Nagging. Whining. Trying to keep up with her contradicting thoughts & actions was an occupation all by itself. Her banter & behavior was shamefully sophomoric. And Rafe wasn’t any better.
They fight each other until they don't. Then they get naked. Finally. And wherever they want. They say things to each other that are meant to make you go all weak & gooey, but unfortunately, it all just comes off like grated cheese.

Tashara’s goals for advancement in the past 5 years have all been for naught. Not b/c she’s not qualified, but because she’s a woman. And all the men in this book are sexist assholes & creeps who discount, belittle & grope women at their convenience. All except Rafe of course, who works for the same company, but actually just wants to go live for his followers, baking cupcakes (against his father’s wishes & better judgement).

3 weeks in & voila, they’re in love. FMC finally quits her job and goes out with a bang, blackmailing the company for a large comp. Rafe opens a bakery. And yay, everyone’s happy. Cue curtains.

Sorry. I didn’t buy any of this. May be a simple case of the wrong audience though...

Thank you NetGalley and Forever GCP for this in exchange for an honest review. I am always grateful.

Pub: 5.20.25.

Love. Love. Love. An amazing workplace romance with the best leads. Not Safe for Work has an engaging romantic storyline while also dealing with the very real shortcomings of the corporate world. 10/10 would recommend.

This was such a fun workplace enemies to lovers, but also hit a lot of points on the challenges that women, women of Color, and queer individuals face in the workplace. How they’re passed over for promotions and raises, and how it’s always white men who are always on top. It was nice to see how the MC Tris navigated all of that while still having a workplace romance with the bosses son! Sometimes you just have to follow your heart, have the confidence to say no more, and stand up for what you believe in with an amazing man supporting you along the way. We love a supportive king!

i wasn't a fan of the writing and how fast the romance part of the story was, they're supposed to be rivals and can't stand each other but the mc immediately highlights how hot rafe is. also there was lot of "stomach churning" going on as a reaction to their interactions, it felt a bit repetitive. i liked the author's note, how she represented the sad reality of a woman working in a male dominated field.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for a copy of this book for review purposes.

Not Safe for Work was a fun, breezy read that only took me half a day to finish. It features a biracial FMC in STEM and a classic workplace rivals to lovers storyline. I haven't read anything from this author, but I thought that the writing was well paced and consistent throughout.

Let's start off with the positives: I think this painted a relatively realistic picture of what it's like for women in a male-dominated field and I found some of it painful (but not in a bad way) to read through. I also love the side characters and that they weren't shoved to the side by the end.

However, where this fell a little flat for me was the weird non-love triangle that was happening. It felt like there needed to be something to give some angst to their relationship (and I was glad it wasn't about race), but it was frustrating as a reader. There wasn't a "real" third act breakup, so that saved it.

3.5, rounded up to 4 stars

Highly enjoyable! Some of my favorite aspects about this book include the diverse characters, the tropical setting, and the twists in the plot! I didn’t expect some of the reveals / plotting and loved the surprises. Tris and Rafe are well-developed characters with real, grounded, believable layers.

I read this book in <24 hours and expect it to be a hit as a summer beach read, especially with the gorgeous cover art.

This was such a fun romance full of tropes I enjoy. The work colleagues and "we hate each other but we've never really hated each other" vibe were reminiscent of Sally Thorne's The Hating Game. A substantial build up of tension that I was not bored during (Hallelujah) and a hefty dose of jealousy kept me reading without wanting to put it down. Medium to fast paced and an interesting plot aside from th romance. I was rooting for these characters' HEA. Truly enjoyed the heck out of this.

"And it's then I know that this one - this smile is only and forever just for me."

This book had me feral from start to finish. It is a smart and sexy rom-com with so much depth and the best combination of tropes (rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity, a man who would 1000% throw hands for his girl, etc.) Tris and Rafe, two workplace rivals with years of pent-up tension, are both chosen to attend their companies corporate retreat in Maui - and after a booking mishap, they get stuck in the honeymoon suite. and yes, there’s only one bed—someone call me an ambulance. Tris is so painfully relatable, her hopes and ambitions constantly crushed under the weight of a white-male-dominated field. Meanwhile, Rafe is a walking contradiction—grumpy, protective, secretly soft, and saying things that should be illegal. Their slow-burn chemistry is intoxicating, and their banter feels like second nature, blurring the line between rivalry and something much deeper. The humor is seamlessly woven into the story, balancing out the heavier themes of ambition and workplace inequality.

The slow-burn was so agonizingly perfect, but the moment things finally explode? Life-changing. The writing is so vivid it felt like I was watching a movie (or maybe an emotional hostage situation). Between the humor, the tension, and the filthy chemistry, this book owns me now.

I flew through this book. The cover, title, and description drew me in, but the story kept me reading.

I don't typically read fantasy, so this was the first Nisha J. Tuli book I've read, and I thought it was a fun contemporary romance debut. Single POV stories do tend to be some of my favorites, so I loved that about this book and I really enjoyed the way the workplace romance trope was done here. I also liked the pacing of this book. The descriptions were just enough for me to picture the beauty of Maui and understand the many situations Trishara found herself in, but not lengthy or overly descriptive.

There were brief moments when characters' behavior felt unrealistic or just slightly off, but I'm always willing to suspend my disbelief for the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC!

3.5 stars. There was so much to love, but the immaturity of their quips and fights really brought this down for me. I was kind of mortified at how they would lash out and then the next day be totally normal. Couldn’t get over that. I think those moments could have been hard hitting AND funny (more on the side of The Hating Game), but instead they were deep cuts and all I could think about was how toxic their fights would continue to be. Other than that it was very cute.

I am so happy Nisha has decided to dive into the world on contemporary romance. This book has the perfect mix of banter and enemies to lovers, ugh Rafe and Tris spice is impeccable, this workplace romance has it all. I seriously cried with her and fell in love with her as the book went on, this has the perfect amount of steamyness and spice to create the perfect workplace romance. I also enjoyed how she was so vulnerable with us and used real life stories from her life. I hope that we see more of her in this genre.

Not Safe for Work was entertaining and so fun to read! Enemy coworkers, forced proximity, and workplace romance tropes fit together so well and I could not put it down! I loved Tris' character and her inner dialogue, I felt like I related to her as a biracial women in a predominantly male field, and shared many of the same thoughts and experiences. Rafe's hidden passion was a pleasant surprise that made me like him a lot more! Together, their story was so sweet and full of self-discovery. Overall, I loved Tuli's first romance and I hope she continues to write more in this genre!

Super excited to have received this ARC! liked this easy read and I think it was a super solid first foray into romance for Nisha Tuli! I loved the female power/FTPatriarchy messaging but I found myself wanting more depth in that space--it feels so relevant and important in our current political climate. I also feel like Rafe's character needed a bit more to him, not sure exactly what he was missing but I found myself wanting more backstory and personality. I did love that his secret thing was being a baker haha. The epilogue was short and left me wanting more but it was nice to see their HEA!

I really enjoyed this book! It was much more light hearted than Nisha's fantasy genre books (which are also great). I noticed she did include a couple Easter eggs from her other novels, which I was pretty excited about. The main character in this book was at a point in her life where she has stopped putting weight on what others think of her professionally and it was super empowering and freeing. The "be yourself" vibes were strong in this book and I loved that. Always a good reminder!