This was a cute and sweetly written book, I adored getting to read this book. The story was beautiful and fun, I enjoyed getting a chance to read this

Thank you to Alcove Press, Netgalley and author Katie Holt for providing me an ARC in exchange of an honest review!


I love the tropes in this book which were rivals to lovers, fake dating. They started off STRONG with their dislike towards each other. I love Rosie so much. She represents the struggle of a girl living far away from home to chase her dream. Aiden was okay for me. He was a bit harsh (?) during the 3rd act breakup. I wish we get to read his pov. It would've been better and understand their rivalry and his thoughts about her as he's falling with love with Rosie. The pacing was good however I felt a lil bored😭

This book was amazing! A new favorite! Loved the tension/slow burn, the eventual spice, and how well their writing blended into their own story! I was so invested in the characters and the enemies to lovers arc, plus the sweet holiday moments and vibrant NYC setting. My only complaint is the typical “third-act breakup.”

My Rating: 4⭐
Spice: 2🌶️

The ultimate bookworm romance!! What a great debut novel for Katie Holt! A rival-to-lovers based on Rosie, a romance writer, and Aiden, a litfic writer who hates romance, forced to collaborate on a book to avoid being kicked out of their grad school creative writing course after too much fighting.

This book had me swooning, giggling, and obsessed with the book-in-a-book concept we see! It was a fast paced read with a wintery New York city backdrop.

I loved the insight into the Peruvian culture with Rosie and her family. and found it refreshing to be introduced to a culture in such a well laid out way. Her love for her family and their support was unmatched and I loved every second we saw of them.

The dialogue between Aiden and Rosie (and their book characters Hunter and Max) was hilarious, though some people probably found some moments unecessarily mean, but as their relationship developed, so did the mean comments into witty banter.

The steamy scenes both in the book and in the book-in-a-book were really well written and had me completely sucked in. And how can we not mention that cover?! SO CUTE.

4 stars

the review: no spoilers here <3
a. the plot: the premise was very very relatable (in terms of academic context, not the romance part *sighs*

the characters, Aiden and Rosie, write different genres. Rosie is a romance girlie (squee) and Aiden, well, let's just put it that he doesn't like romance too much. The professor, tired with their constant bickering in class, puts them as teammates for a group project. and... my goodreads friends, this is how it started (cues internal screaming)

b. characters
okayyy I must admit I have a soft spot for the troupe of academic rivals because not me thinking I can actually have a moment in class and I was invested in rosie's and aiden's budding romance so that was a plus point. And the fact that rosie and aiden were likeable characters, that made the whole book so enjoyable to read! It was worth the hour spent.

" The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, or what she said."

Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for sending over an arc in exchange for honest review.

Rivals-to-lovers. Slow-burn. — I didn’t really get attached to the characters. I think I would’ve preferred if it talked more about Aiden and his troubled past with his father and how he was coping with that but this was more about Rosie and her love for love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Pub Date: December 10, 2024

A sweet slow-burn, enemies to lovers story. I genuinely enjoyed seeing how Maxine and Hunter tested the waters through text, as someone who also is better at expressing myself through writing it was very relatable.

AHHHH I LOVED THIS. FINALLY SOMETHING THAT SPOKE TO ME !!

Thank you so much NetGallery & Alcove Press for this ARC!! I LOVED IT!!

Okay first of all - VERY much giving The Hating Game vibes. I was thinking that the whole time but then when I finished and read the description to discover it was inspired by that book, it alllll made sense. A true enemies to lovers & forced proximity romance and i ate it all up. Plus the author is a swiftie!!!!! So that obviously won me over.

As for the plot - Rosie & Aiden are both aspiring authors of differing genres. They’re in a NYU writing workshop together and for some reason unbeknownst to both of them - they hate each other. Their distaste for each other begins to disrupt the class so they’re threatened to be kicked out, unless they write a book together moving both of their genres - romance & lit fiction. Obviously - though out their writing journey they become closer and even become friends. You see the characters from their book are clearly a mirror image of themselves and they basically communicate to each other through the book. The enemies to lovers pipeline really sets in and they have their first kiss & start dating. Then, of course, the twist happens which rips them apart - Aiden got a scholarship position that Rosie had wanted and he didn’t tell her he applied. They fight - they’re back to enemies - Aiden finishes the book and basically expresses all his feelings & apology in the book & they get their HEA. DUH!

I will never fault a romance for being predictable bc they’re supposed to be!! They’re supposed to follow their trope & get together & have a big twist and break up then get their HEA!! I eat it up every time! And this didn’t stray from that. I loved the duality of reading their story but ALSO reading their novel - I thought that was so creative and i’d never seen that before!

I loved the characters she grew attached to both and was genuinely rooting for them the whole way
I loved the romanticism of NEW YORK - but i’m biased and love new york. Everything she felt and said about New York is exactly how I feel.
I loved the banter ugh. I truly believe if a romance had good banter then it automatically is good. I found myself laughing out loud at work reading this literally.

I have nothing but good things to say!!
I loved it and would absolutely purchase & reread

This is such a good debut book and Im very excited to see what Katie Holt does next

The story doesn't quite reach its full potential. The pacing feels uneven, with some sections dragging, particularly as their relationship builds. While the characters are likable enough, their personalities can sometimes feel one-dimensional, making it hard to fully invest in their journey. The "accidentally steamy" novel-within-the-novel is a nice touch, but it doesn't always feel as pivotal to their romance as it could.

Despite its flaws, this debut has a lot of heart and humor, and readers who love a good enemies-to-lovers trope with a splash of creativity will likely enjoy the ride, even if it doesn't fully break new ground.

I thought this was such a cute story, I loved the banter between Rosie and Aiden as well as the general plot of the book. However it lost me in the second half when it started to get a little boring, there was just a lot of story building and not a lot of actual progression in their relationship. I also think the ending conflict kind of ruined Aiden’s character for me.

DNF @ 10%. This book is very intriguing to me, but I think I personally will have a better time with it in audiobook format. I look forward to trying it again at a later date.

Despite the very unrealistic setting for this one (it's a romance, okay? just go with it) I really enjoyed this book. Great banter, spicy chemistry, everything you want in an academic enemies to lovers!

Rosie and Aiden end up in a class together but they find it hard to get long. Their professor has had enough of their fighting and has decided to make they work together on a project. While working together their relationship starts to heals.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. I seriously loved this book so much.. all the Taylor swift references were amazing!! Ugh i couldn’t get enough it was so cute. We love a good slow burn!! I loved the characters so much!! 😍😍😍

Excellent banter and fun, romantic characters. Their love story was believable and filled with heart.

I thought this was a cute book and you can feel all the emotions in this book. I fall in love with characters. I highly recommend this book.

I wasn’t expecting this novel to be so heart warming and cute! I’m a good fan of well told rivals to lovers stories, and this novel has managed to accomplish the trope perfectly! I loved the characters, the pacing of the story, the setting… it had me giggling and kicking my feet in the air! Thanks so much for the arc! Will definitely be buying it once it’s out!

I absolutely LOVED Not in My Book by Katie Holt. It was a slow burn, enemies to lovers story and it was riveting. The dialogue between Rosie and Aiden was fun and intelligent. I liked the third wall aspect of them writing a novel inside a novel, and seeing their creative processes while they did it.

There was mild spice, but it wasn’t full out smut.

Highly recommend!

This was great. I liked both the premise and the characters. Romance is an easy sell at my library, so looking forward to purchasing this and sharing with readers.

This was my first Katie holt book and I really enjoyed it! Although some aspects of the plot were a little far fetched I could quickly overlook this because of how much I enjoyed immersing myself in this fantasy world! I found this book very cute and reading it was a total rollercoaster of emotions. This is definitely a book I can see myself re reading in the future, very much a feel good book! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good spicy romance!