Ali Hazelwood is always an automatic purchase for me. Not In Love is another hit! Women in STEM is always a favorite as a protagonist trope from Ali, and her characters are really awesome!

This is the latest in Hazelwoods STEM-centric novels. In Not in Love, Rue is an engineer working at a biotech lab. Her pet project is a coating to prolong the life of produce. She is awkward and avoids relationships, relegating intimacy to one night stands through a hook up app. Eli was her latest date, which due to unforeseen circumstances ends in a connection and no sex. Shortly after, Rue's employing labs funding loan is bought by Eli and his business partners. Her hook up and potential more quickly becomes enemy number one.

The focus of the book is the romance. It's front and center from the very beginning. Readers get glimpses into Rue's history and follow the story to discover Eli's past and his company's true motives. I adored the development of the story. Eli and Rue have plenty of heat. I learned as much from the characters through their interactions both casual and romantic. There is plenty of spice so if you like the heat, it's there. The scenes also have a lot of intimacy. While the plot with the biotech company is a bit predictable, I didn't think it dampened my enjoyment of the book. I also really liked the side characters and would love to see some of them get their own story. Compared to Hazlewood's other novels, I felt that this took a more direct romantic approach and development. The story was all about Eli and Rue from the beginning. While there is a story outside of their romance, it isn't the priority. I would also avoid calling Not in Love a rom-com. It's more of a pure romantic drama. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and look forward to adding it to my library.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥🔥
 
Quick Breakdown:
 
Workplace Adversaries
Black Cat x Golden Retriever
Bed First, Feelings Later
He Falls First
STEM Setting
Dual POV
Open Door – Explicit Detail

Thank you @berkleyromance for the gifted eARC & finished copy & @prhaudio for the gifted ALC #berkleypartner
 
Rue & Eli first meet after matching on a *winky face* hook up app, but their attempt goes askew after Rue’s estranged brother sets her on edge. Sparks fly & chemistry is palpable as he escorts her home for safety. She even considers breaking her one & done rule. The next day at work, she couldn’t be more shocked to find out he’s one of the partners from Harkness, the group that just is attempting to take over the biotech firm her mentor started.

Ali Hazelwood had a brand of romance & I am here for it. STEM romances, obsessed heroes, slightly oblivious heroines you can’t help but love. I loved Rue’s character arc & the slow burn realization that Eli was not who she thought he was.
 
The spice was ON POINT. I love a dominating hero as much as I love it when a strong-willed FMC inevitably realizes she enjoys relinquishing control. Pair all that with a hero who is fluffing GONE for the heroine. Rue’s & Eli’s relationship was heavily related to their sexual chemistry which may or may not be people’s cup of tea. Although here it fits the story, IMO, since Rue is very anti-commitment & Eli is such a simp for her. He’ll take anything he can get while he attempts to wear her down & show her how good it could be. There is a level of underlying trust & vulnerability needed with the amount of spice this one brings & for me, it laid the foundation for their relationship feeling like it could last.
 
I struggled a bit to get into the story & part of me is concerned it was from reading via audio. I am usually a HUGE Callie Dalton fan & Idk if she was trying to properly portray Rue’s personality or not, but her performance felt a bit robotic. It ended up taking me over a week to finish this, & while I definitely didn’t hate it, I didn’t end up my favorite either.

Rue has a successful career at a food science start up as a biotech engineer. But that career feels threatened when Eli Kilgore and his business partners arrive to take over the company. There’s an instant and undeniable chemistry between Rue and Eli, and as much as they want to fight it, they ultimately give in to the attraction and begin a secret, no-strings-attached affair. Even though they both claim this relationship is short-term, the heart wants what it wants.

Any fan of Ali’s signature women in STEM romances will definitely love this book. There are a few things that set this book apart from her previous work. First, there is the dual POV. I loved getting Eli’s perspective and knowing what was going on in his head. Then, this book is also far steamier than her earlier books. Do not recommend listening to this audiobook in public haha. Aside from these differences, there are a lot of the signature Ali Hazlewood touches that any fan will know and love: strong, smart female characters, incredible chemistry and banter, and a story that you fly through and can’t put down. This is another Ali win!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Not the best Ali Hazelwood book but this one definitely bring a whole lot of emotions compared to the author's previous works

Thank you to PRH Audio & Berkeley Romance for the review copy!

Ali Hazelwood is the author that made me a romance reader, and I just love her brand of romantic tension. Not in Love was a little steamier and a little more melancholy than her past books have felt. I loved how she portrayed the complicated sibling dynamics created by living through childhood trauma. <spoiler> I really appreciated that she didn't have Rue's relationship with her brother solved neatly at the end of the book, while still creating an ending for that plotline. </spoiler>

🎧 LOVED the duet narration. Both narrators fit their characters so well. My one complaint was that they both spoke SO SLOWLY? I’m usually a 1.5-1.75x listener, but I had this book cranked up to 2x just to sound normal.

This is my first read by the author and it wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting a rom com and while this is a romance, it is a little weightier and a lot steamier than I expected. It was missing the com. Not totally bad, but threw me for a loop.

Pluses - the spice level is off the charts. There are many spicy scenes and they might make you blush if reading in public. Rue is a strong woman that knows what she wants. She’s had unconventional relationships and unconventional sex. Forbidden romance. I think this trope is growing on me.

Minuses - I am a fan of the comedic moments to break up a romance. But my biggest minus was I thought this one worked so hard (smile) at the spice, I know it is labeled an erotica romance, that the couple was lacking in those tender moments that along with sex, make up the relationship. Maybe that is just a preference of mine, but that usually sells me on the couple.

Overall, it took me a little while to connect to the romance, but I did end up liking and rooting for them to get their act together.

Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke narrated the story and did a good job with all that steam. I thought Callie sounded a little young compared to Jason’s voice, but I adapted quickly and listened to this one in just over a day. This might be my first time listening to a spicy romance and I might be won over.

I’ll have to check out her other more romcomy books, but I’ll definitely pick up her next one.

While I still did like this book, I didn’t rate it as high as some of the other Ali Hazelwood books I’ve read. I think that after reading Bride and being SO surprised by it, anything in her academic/science range will be hard to live up to it. I will say that I loved the way Eli talked about his feelings for Rue. Him saying that he “forgets to look at other things” when Rue is around was so heartwarming and I love those littler tender moments between book couples. The backstory and plot twists that we find out towards the end of the book make the book so messy and drama filled but not really in a way I enjoyed. Overall I gave it a 3/5 because I enjoyed the love story but I felt like the drama was almost too messy to tie up nicely in the end.

Rue is smart, and her academic skills far outweigh her social ones. She has exactly two friends; Tisha and her boss, Florence. She doesn’t do romantic relationships, only hook ups that she meets online. All that seems to change when she meets Eli. He “saves” her and they don’t even hook up and then she thinks she will never see him again. Not only does she see him again, but he shows up with the group that is trying to take over the company she works for. While things get complicated fast, Rue has to explore her own feelings and figure out that not everyone is trustworthy.

I love Hazelwood’s books. I enjoy the smart, quirky female leads. This one was different in that it was far more sexual than any of her previous books. She does give you a heads up in the pages before you start it. It’s is definitely 🌶️!

Rue thought she had her life figured out. She was making progress on an important patent at work, she had supportive friendships at work, her sex life was adequate. But when her latest planned hook up turns out to be the very same person involved in a financial takeover of the lab she works for, things get complicated. As her blind faith in her friends is tested and her relationship with Eli starts to mean more, Rue realizes she’s not in love: not in love with being kept in the dark, not in love with everyone keeping secrets, and not in love with the path she once thought was right for her.

Right off the bat, it’s clear that Rue and Eli’s romance was not going to be your typical enemies-to-lovers story. For one, Rue is far from the main female characters I’m used to reading, especially from the big publishers. While Hazelwood doesn’t put a label on Rue in any way in terms of her sexuality, Rue could easily identify as a demiromantic, making her quite different from Hazelwood’s usual female main characters. This sort of sex-positive, romance-averse character type is definitely more common among male characters, so it was wholly refreshing to see Rue be unapologetically herself - no matter how hard Eli tried throughout the book.

I thought Hazelwood gave this story a good balance between what was happening between Rue and Eli as well as what was happening in the larger plot. A lot of changes happened to Rue during the course of this story, most of them the uncomfortable kind of change. But Hazelwood crafted a character who needed more than a page or two to rebound, giving us one of her most realistic FMCs yet. Eli, likewise, couldn’t just cruise in the background to his happily ever after. I loved that Hazelwood gave both main characters dilemmas involving both romantic and platonic love; while, fundamentally, both Eli and Rue had to make some similar decisions, each character was affected in entirely different ways.

The overall plot wasn’t anything super unique: office rivals-to-lovers, with Hazelwood’s typical women-in-STEM spin. But where Not in Love shines is Rue’s diverse sexual and romantic preferences and Eli’s beautiful ability to meet every single one of Rue’s needs. Not in Love gave us a wonderful FMC with diverse romantic and sexual preferences, and a MMC who was more than capable of meeting her needs.

Not In Love is my favorite book by Ali Hazelwood! I love how she was absolutely fearless in exploring the sexual relationship between two hurt people Rue and Eli. Their connection to each other grows through sexual intimacy but it blooms through trust and loyalty.

This book was so sexy yet intimate. I loved seeing the relationship between Eli and Rue evolve into love as they grow closer. Rue opens up to Eli in a way that she doesn't with anyone else and it changes something inside of her incrementally.

Trust and betrayal are big themes in this book, and Rue struggles with these. Eli becomes both hero and victim to her struggle, and I loved how he restored her faith.

Overall, Not In Love is a wonderful, intense, emotional and sexy read and I hope that Ali Hazelwood writes more of her books with such bravery and sexiness.

Personal compatibility: 4.5 ⭐️
for it's written purpose: 5 ⭐️

Overall: 4.75 ⭐️

okayyyyy Ali, I see you with the angst and the sexual tension 😮‍💨

This was definitely the most "adult" book so far from Ali & aside from Check and Mate, the one with the most character depth

When I say I devoured this, you don't understand— I picked this book up and didn't set it back down unless it was for a necessary bodily function (sleep is NOT necessary!!)

Eli and Rue were an entirely new take on Hazelwood's usual smarty-pants love interests. I loved that Rue was a taller girl, a bigger girl, a girl who is awkward and intense and intimidating— because girls like that rarely get their story told and I'm so happy that she did

Not In Love does speak to a lot of more intense topics (please read the CWs 🫶🏻) but it added to the realism and the dynamic

I remain faithful in my covenant to read anything Ali writes 🫡

Ali Hazelwood has done it again! While not her typical books, Not in Love, is still true to everything Ali Hazelwood. Humor, steam, gut wrenching truths. I loved Rue. She knows what matters and is willing to take a risk.. maybe two. When she and Eli do the no-strings-attached romance, you know it is going to be good.

If you like steam and laughing then crying, pick this up

This was a spicy enemies-to-lovers book. The plot was intriguing and the characters were complex, but I felt the emotional connection between Rue and Eli was lacking. I feel like the banter and chemistry that I love in romances was missing in this one, and I really didn't care if the MC's got together. Also, I don't mind a little bit of spice, but I felt like there was way too many sex scenes. I did love that the Eli fell in love first.

Read if you enjoy:
Enemies to Lovers
He Falls First
Insta- lust

Peak Hazelwood! Truly this woman writes men that I want to cry because they aren't real. The plot, the characters, the TENSION!! Seriously, read this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’m actually kind of shocked how much I loved this one. It’s almost as if Ali Hazelwood took soooo many unrelated topics and found a way to link them all together flawlessly??

The romance was so unique and was a breath of fresh air compared to all of the other run of the mill romance books. I definitely plan to read more from this author and would recommend this read.

Quite different that Ali’s other stem romances, but just as good! If you are looking for the light hearted, rom com vibes, this ain’t it, but it’s so emotional and real and raw! I loved this book!

I’m in constant awe of Ali’s ability to write such wide variety of romance novels. I loved her YA novel, I loved her paranormal romance (Bride) and I loved this spiiiiicy beauty (Not In Love). I don’t care what she writes I will consume every word every time.
In Not In Love we see the characters we have come to love, a woman in STEM and all the witty banter you can think of but this one the spice is spicing.

I usually don’t listen to this type of romance book and usually choose to eyeball read but Callie Dalton & Jason Clarke managed to help me get in both characters head more.

This is not like any of the romance we’ve gotten from Ali in the past. The romance is very much the center of the story and there’s a bit of plot in the background. It is insta lovey and there’s not a whole lot of build up in the romance, it’s just kind of happening from moment one. If that’s not your jam then maybe you skip this one. If that doesn’t bother you then it’s definitely worth the read or listen.

Read if:
Stem Setting
Office Romance
Dual POV
Insta lust

A forbidden romance between a scientist and the man on the team trying to take over her company. Rue doesn't want relationships, she's just looking for a one night/good time. After meeting Eli, she finds out the man she was meant to hook up with is one of the people trying to take over her company. What ensues is a forbidden romance they must keep secret.

It pains me to write this, but this book was not good. In that I mean there is way to much science talk of things I don't understand, a lackluster romance between the main characters, and I hate to say it but the worst of all: this book was boring. And I am really sad about this because I loved Hazelwood's last few books! Bride and Love Theoretically were so good and this book was pretty bad; it took me several days to read and I had to force myself to finish it.

The authors note at the beginning said this book was more like erotica than her usual and imo she did not lean in hard enough to the erotica aspects of the book. It might have been better! But what we got to me read like a jumbled mess and while I always saw the attraction between Rue and Eli, I never really felt the love between them.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley. This did not affect my opinion when reading this book or writing my review

❤️‍🔥Rue and Eli are meant to be casual thing, but circumstances coupled with an intense attraction makes that difficult.❤️‍🔥

Wow. Where to begin. I’m a big fan of everything Ali’s written (aren’t we all?) but THIS ONE... I think it’s my new favorite.

Rue’s a bit more reserved than Ali’s other main characters. A bit socially awkward, though I wouldn’t describe her as quirky.

There’s an 📝author’s note at the start with an intro to the book plus some trigger warnings. Rue has a complicated history with food (and the scarcity of it) and Eli’s past has been far from easy.

So many aspects of this book hooked up. The slow reveal of what happened in Rue and Eli’s pasts. The suspicious past connection between Eli’s company and Rue’s boss. The tension and relationship building between Rue and Eli.

Truly the book got better and better. The end blew me away. I was highlighting like a mad woman.

The Hunger Games references (We were already thinking about it with a FMC named Rue, right?) made my millennial heart soar.

The spice🔥... it’s probably the spiciest we’ve seen from Ali yet. (My only critique of the book is that there is maybe too much spice so do with that what you will.)

I think you will all really, really love this one.

P.S. There’s another not-a-couple-but-there-is-potential in this book. I’d love a book on them. Just putting that out there.