Rating 4.5/5
I DEVOUREDDD this book! such a cute and sweet romance about two rival writers who are forced to work and co-write a book together. The tension, the banter, and the lead up to their relationship was so beautiful! I also loved the different chapter of fall, winter, spring, and summer and i found it really nice that way the story progressed as the seasons changed. The author's description of New York during these seasons was beautiful, and I wanted to be there myself!!. I really recommend this book to those who love a good enemies to lovers and a bit of academia rivals!!!
thank you for allowing me to read this book :)
OUT DECEMBER 10TH!!!!

This book feels like the kind of book to get you out of a reading slump. I laughed, I cried and I didn’t want it to end. It had everything you could want in a romance, rivals-to-lovers, one bed, forced proximity etc.
I’m glad that when Aiden and Rosie were rivals, they were genuine rivals. They were horrible to each other, and yes there was initial attraction from Rosie’s side, but that was swiftly cut out when they actually spoke to each other, there was no pull of sexual tension. Just pure dislike for each other, at least this is how it was portrayed from Rosie’s POV, which was the only POV of the entire book. We did however get snippets of Aiden’s POV in the novel (written by the characters) extracts at the end of the chapter’s, which made me confused at first but then got me in my feels the further in to their story.
Their story was very wholesome, their relationship really developed before it blossomed and as the reader, I felt like I was right their with them. I’m not personally a fan of a third act breakup, I find them frustrating and unnecessary, however I think it fit into the character’s story well. I shouted at them to get their shit together multiple times, especially when ONE thing supposedly cancelled out everything else that had been experienced before it happened and then miscommunication raises it’s annoy head, leading to the breakup. But it made the makeup feel even greater here and it was beautiful. It made me very teary and if I wasn’t in public when I read it, I probably would’ve sobbed.
Aiden was swoon worthy and when he came to NYE wearing red, I almost squealed!
Overall it’s a lovely, cosy romance and I adored it.
Thank you Alcove Press, Netgalley and Katie Holt for letting me read this amazing ARC.

Rosie is following her dreams of becoming a romance writer by moving to New York City and going to school. After meeting Aiden in one of her writing classes, she can't figure out why he is constantly picking apart her writing. A back and forth verbal battle ensues until the professor puts a stop to it by making them either quit the class or write a novel together. Forced together to stay in the class, th

Thoughts 💭
This one had me hooked! I wasn't sure at the start if I was going to enjoy this one because Rosie and Aiden really put the enemies in enemies to lovers with some of their comments and actions toward each other. They were MEAN! But, I was so engrossed in this story that I could not put it down. The romantic tension was palpable, and I didn't mind the slow burn at all because of it. Any couple with that much chemistry are sure to combust. Both Aiden and Rosie had depth and amazing backstories! There were adorable friends and family members who made the story that much better. Aiden was a bit of a tragic hero, which made me like him that much more. And all around enjoyable, unputdownable read for romance lovers.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Perfect for fans of Beach Read but make it during winter! I honestly loved this so much. I’ found myself smiling, laughing and swooning over this book countless times. It’s the perfect length, it’s angsty, cute, funny. It has all the tropes I loved : enemies to rivals to friends to lovers, reluctant allies, one bed trope, forced proximity, fake dating… And it’s not dumped into the book randomly it’s well done and well written. Definitely definitely recommend!

Obsessed. I freaking loved this book. The banter was fantastic, I loved the characters and the SPICE 🌶️! I love realistic spice and man did this show up! The story was a funny, sweet romcom. If you like Emily Henry and Christina Lauren, this is your next go to author!

I cannot believe this is her debut novel. She is very talented and I flew through this book. I will look forward to more of her books in the future.

Now to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the book: “Well, at least my book won’t be a coaster for some deadbeat forty-year-old who thinks Matt Rife is some sort of God” 🤣

Thank you for allowing me to read this early in exchange for an honest review!

Not in My Book by Katie Holt was such a fun ride! The banter? On point. The characters? Messy in the best way. It’s giving relatable drama, slow-burn tension, and all the juicy moments that make you wanna scream, “Just admit you like each other already!” The balance between humor and heartfelt moments hit just right.

Some parts dragged a tiny bit, but overall, this story had me in my feels and laughing out loud. If you’re into romance with snarky vibes and characters you wanna root for, this is a must-read.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was just fine for me - I saw some friends really love it so I was excited, but it left me wanting more. I didn't find either character particularly endearing or relatable, and the tension/reason for conflict seemed obvious, and it felt like it was defending the romance genre too hard. I read this a few weeks ago and I can't remember either character's name. There wasn't anything BAD about it, but it also didn't blow me away at all.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt for providing me with an ARC of Not in My Book in exchange for an honest review.

What a debut! From reading Not in My Book you would have no idea this was Holt's first published novel, everything was just so lovingly crafted and felt so well-developed. Rosie and Aiden were incredible characters who felt so real - they were multi-dimensional, flawed, and kept bickering even after they stopped being enemies/rivals (which I love!).

I don't want to spoil too much, but Holt offered a unique aspect to this story by including excerpts, as well as writing scenes, of Rosie and Aiden's manuscript submissions. I adored the way you could gain subtext from their writings and the way they would use their chapters to communicate things to each other they were too afraid to say face to face.

Not in My Book by Katie Holt releases 10 December 2024 and I strongly implore you to check it out!

from the beginning, tension and anger between the main characters was far too strong. i can’t believe they actually had any “good” feelings at that moment. however, throughout the book they quickly changed and became the softest, kindest couple.

even though reading the book in a book was kind of awkward… i loved how they expressed their emotions while working together.

Not in My Book was a super fun, flirty, and steamy romance read! The story follows Rosie and Aiden, both of whom are the other's literary nemesis in the creative writing program at NYU. Rosie is a romantic at heart and writes strictly romances; while Aiden writes "sad boy" literary fiction. These two and their contrasting genres have made for a very distracting class, so their teacher/mentor comes up with a plan to teach them to respect one another's writing skills: make them write a literary romance piece together, romantic but without the HEA. Thus comes the tension-filled pairing of Rosie and Aiden.

The sexually tense build-up in this novel is supreme - I loved every minute of that! This is the perfect enemies to friends to lovers trope that I have been longing for. Rosie and Aiden have just enough in common as they don't and it works so well - they aren't exactly opposites attract, nor are they exactly grumpy-sunshine, but just enough to be the sweet and sour blend of two real people who genuinely are attracted to one another and want to be together. The sex scenes are incredibly steamy and HOT HOT HOT, the tender moments are soft and sweet, but interweaves between is fun banter and realistic folly.

The cast of side characters is vast, and perhaps not all are completely necessary to the story, but they aren't a total distraction either. If the author had wanted, she could have set a story up for a follow-up novel featuring Tyler and Jess, instead of having them get together during this novel.

Not in My Book is such a lovely debut! A true rivals to lovers romance with so much great banter. I also thought the formatting was really fresh and interesting by having them write their true feelings into the book they were writing together and including those passages for the reader. A really fun read!

This was really cute! I really liked how Aiden and Rosie went from rivals to lovers. I’m a big fan of good banter and it was done pretty well in this one. And I’m in love with the cover.
I would definitely recommend this one. It was fast paced, fun and light.

Not In My Book by Katie Holt had such a cute concept that I was sure I’d love it—especially since I have an MFA in creative writing myself, and the nostalgia factor was strong. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

What really worked for me was the workshop setting. It was such a fun way to explore the characters’ inner worlds through the stories they were writing, and those moments added a nice layer to the plot. The spicy scenes were also well written and kept things engaging.

However, Rosie was a tough protagonist to root for. Nearly every conversation she had revolved around Aiden, to the point that it became repetitive and dragged down the pacing. It felt like her world revolved entirely around him, which made her character feel a bit one-dimensional.

The third act didn’t help either—it was predictable, but not in a satisfying way. Rosie’s reaction to the situation felt more like a middle schooler’s meltdown than something you’d expect from a 26-year-old grad student, and it really threw off the tone of the story.

If you’re into light and easy romances and enjoy stories about the writing process, this might be worth picking up. But overall, the characters, chemistry, and pacing missed the mark for me.

I thought it was an excellent debut for Katie Holt, I follow her on Instagram and I love seeing her love for books, for the genre that we are so passionate about, emerging in a magnetic love story, an Enemies to lovers where the banter was a thousand per cent, perfection, the chemistry was amazing and that kept me in the book the whole way.
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Aiden was the perfect introverted grumpy that no one understands but is an excellent writer and student. While Rosie is the romantic dreamer with a very close-knit and super extroverted family, but what is great and fun about her is stubborn and it bothers me to see such powerful and strong characters fall into waiting for the other character.
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Spoiler alert: she didn't even make an effort, she was very rude to him, she always had a preformed idea of ​​him and she spent her time judging him even after asking a thousand questions and getting him to open up little be little.
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What I'm saying is...don't give me a strong, powerful character who knows what they want but when it comes down to it, recognizing where they did go wrong and fighting for their love, they simply stay on their pedestal, letting the Golden Retriever character (a very beautiful golden retriever and grumpy character) , the tortured hero with a sad past who is learning to love and forces himself to be better and learn of every error be dragged to their feet… because in my head that story does not have a happy ending no matter how many epilogues it has. Is no way that relationship works well when a simple “Im sorry too” from her, and a happy ending in a contemporary romance or a romcom are so important, because it’s shows the possibility that romance reader want and hope for
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I’m sorry, I really get carried away with that…but Rosie would understand, she’s a romance reader and talk really well about of the genre. I'm going to give it 3.5 stars because from the middle of the book until the end Rosie started to annoy me. And for me the characters are so important. I really think that Rosie is going to attract an be loved to others readers and I'm sure that many will become fans of her.
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I loved seeing New York from Rosie eyes, the story of her friends and her family is so well captured, as a Latin woman I know how important representation is and it is in a few books that it is so well captured like in this one.
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I'm going to mark four stars on my rating because I think it's incredible work from Katie and I'm dying to see what else she's going to write.
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Thanks to Katie Holt and Alcove Press for give me a copy of this beautiful in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion.

Loved this book! All the banter and well rounded characters were just swoon worthy. Easily a five star read for me and I look forward to the Kaite's next book!

Katie Holt’s Not in My Book is a sparkling debut that blends humor, heart, and heat in an irresistible enemies-to-lovers romance. Rosie, a passionate romance writer, and Aiden, a brooding literary fiction author, are forced to collaborate on a novel that reflects their clashing perspectives—and growing attraction.

With snappy banter, swoony chemistry, and deeply relatable characters, Holt captures the creative highs and emotional challenges of chasing dreams while navigating love. Rosie’s journey as a Peruvian American writer adds depth, while the romance delivers all the sparks and feels.

Perfect for fans of The Hating Game and Beach Read, this story is as witty as it is heartfelt. A 4.5 star read!

Thank you NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt for the opportunity to read this e-ARC!

The slow burn, enemies-to-lovers trope really had me hooked! I read this in less than 24 hours. I liked the concept that the two main characters were also co-writing a novel that used their real-life for inspiration. Especially fun scenes to read were the two characters switching back and forth in the writing of their novel.

Formatting was a little wonky on my kindle, but overall, this was a really great weekend read. 10/10 recommend if you're in the mood for a romance book.

I enjoyed this book and it was exactly what I wanted from a romance novel. I thought the pacing of this book was well done and really enjoyed the plot of them writing a book together but writing themselves into the characters. The third act break up scene with their fight did feel a bit out of place in how it occurred but I understand it was need d for the gesture of their HEA in their novel. I do wish there was Spanish translations in the book so hopefully that’s included when it’s fully published. Overall though I enjoyed the plot of the story and thought Rosie and Aiden’s chemistry and tension was well written.

When Rosie and Aiden have disrupted their class once again their professor tasks them to work on a project together or be kicked out. As they cowrite this book together their story and characters start to mimic real life. Battling over the writing of the book turns into something more. The cowriting of the sex scene was fire. I really enjoyed this grumpy vs sunshine read. Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove press for this free advanced copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily

Rosie and Aiden are grad students at NYU studying creative writing - Rosie writes romance, and Aiden writes literary fiction. I'm their workshop class, all they do is criticize and bicker. According to Aiden, romance is a cop-out, fluffy, unrealistic, too happy. Literary fiction, says Rosie, is sad and boring. Their professor forces them to work together on a co-writing project (it's that or lose their spot in class...), and they'd rather do just about anything. As the two work together, they learn a lot about each other. Rosie reveals she's hoping for a fellowship because she really needs the money and misses her family. Aiden opens up about his troubles childhood and relationship with his father. As their characters begin to fall in love, the lines begin to blur. Will both stories have a happily ever after?

💭 What a debut!! I loved this one. The build up to their relationship and the tension was perfect. They made me sad, frustrated, and I absolutely cheered for them to figure it out. I loved that they developed a friendship and mutual respect despite their clear differences. The dates they went on as "research" were sweet, and the little moments, touches, gestures had me at the edge of my seat waiting for one of them to go all in. This was perfectly tense slow burn, and the balance of sweet and spice was just right. This was interspersed with excerpts from the novel Aiden and Rosie were co-authoring, which was genius and added to my understanding of them both. This was like a love letter to romance novels, proving they can be deeply emotional while also being happy, funny, and optimistic.