Well this was… different. This is a two-in-one story. Like an actual two-in-one. You have the actual story line and you have a story within the story that the two characters are writing in class.

Okay so… first half of the book, a bit disappointing. I do love a good enemies to lovers trope. But there was too much bickering in this part of the story, for my personal liking. Second half of the book? Good lord! Wow! Wasn't expecting that after the first half. But the end got disappointing again. I really wanted to like this one more… cause it sounded so exciting.

Still fits the romance tropes yet somehow doesn't fall into full cliché territory. Heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time with main characters that you come to genuinely care for. Rosie and Aiden are interesting, but at times feel one dimensional. A comfortable read that will make for a nice holiday gift for the Romance fan in your life.

3.5

cute, cozy, and kinda meta. Not In My Book is a romance novel within a romance novel. which was a concept that Katie Holt quickly had me HOOKED on.

there is so much to love about this book:

- fmc Rosie is so easy to root for. I loved how the author made it a point that Rosie was uncompromising in her high standards for love, despite past relationship trauma. I think that added a very relatable layer to her character. plus, we love to see Peruvian rep!

-mmc Aiden is 100% a romance hero (despite his many claims that he isn't)

- NYC setting is done SO beautifully. it felt so realistic and authentic to city life, plus I LOVED the holiday vibes brought into the book

- I could not get enough of the scenes where Aiden and Rosie wrote together. they are truly at their peak chemistry levels when they're working together. I would 100% read their book

- there was a good level of spice to it. it doesn't overshadow the plot, but it makes the slowburn worth it

- all the side characters added something special to the story.

this was so close to a 4 - 4.5 star read

where things kind of fall apart for me is the source of tension in the books. the force driving Aiden and Rosie to hate eachother is their differences in genre. Aiden is a litfic sadboy and Rosie is a romantic in all things. Aiden is constantly going after Rosie for her genre, which is written off as 'he was mean so she'd notice him' + some unresolved childhood trauma. but there was a point where their fights just felt really mean on Aiden's part, and it veered into unforgivable territory. the third act conflict specifically needs much more character develop on both Rosie and Aiden's end. I needed to see much more self-reflection from Aiden, and then a TON of groveling. and I just wish Rosie was less forgiving in the sense that she was setting boundaries in the way she is allowing others to treat her, especially considering her past relationship trauma. but the apology at the end... yeah Aiden worked for it.

for a debut novel, this is absolutely killer. would definitely recommend giving it a shot!

I found this book super cute! It's a rivals to lovers between Rosie and Aiden (who hate each other like... a lot) but they’re forced to work together on a book and obviously things start to change as they spend more time together. I really liked Aiden but Rosie irritated me at times, I liked seeing them as a couple mainly bc of all the banter at the beginning but I found that drama at the end completely unnecessary. I also thought the book seemed quite YA sometimes even though the characters were like 26yo. Anyway, it was a quick read and again, super cute. Regardless of its flaws, it's a book worth reading :)

“𝙾𝚑 𝙶𝚘𝚍! 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛.”
“𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚝’𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝.”
“𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑.”
“𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕. 𝙴𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢—”
“𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝚆𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙸 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.”

Book: Not In My Book
Author:
Page Count:
Release Date: 10th December 2024
Format: eARC

💛💛💛💛.5 / 5

🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5

»»————-✼————-««

Review:
First and foremost I am ridiculously in love with this book! It became my entire personality for a good 3 weeks and sometimes I find myself playing scenes on repeat in my brain at night.

I adore both Rosie and Aiden, their constant bickering and need to one up each other highlights their passion for their craft and puts the Enemies in Enemies to Lovers. I love how they both come from completely different backgrounds and social classes, but have struggled and faced individual trauma making them who they are.

I love how we learn about the Peruvian culture from Rosie and the struggles her family faced as immigrants. How she left her relationship with her ex who always told her she couldn’t and how she’s trying to prove to herself that she can. It was refreshing reading about someone returning to education, even though 26 is still young, returning to education after such a long break it daunting and it was so encouraging and invigorating to read about someone else on a similar journey!

While on paper Aiden has the perfect life we learn his trauma is a lot deeper and heartbreaking than I could’ve guessed. It breaks my heart knowing his dad probably never told him how proud of him he was and all I want to do is give him a big hug while watching Christmas movies on the couch in the dark🤭 I adored learning about him and his past and I revelled in his need to argue with Rosie so much it drove others insane!

This was a fantastic debut from an incredible new author and I cannot wait to see what Katie writes next; I already know I’m gunna eat it up and make it my entire personality again!

Rosie, a Peruvian American, leaves her Tennessee hometown to pursue her writing career by enrolling in NYU's writing program. She's gorgeous, strong willed and loves everything romance which makes Aiden enemy number one. He may be beautiful, but he hates romance and seemingly Rosie, preferring the literary fiction genre.

The two spend writing workshop going toe-to-toe, every class which leads the professor to her breaking point. The two must co-author a novel blending writing styles and genres or, drop the class.

Reluctantly Rosie and Aiden team up and call a truce. It doesn't take long for each to notice how they can channel emotions and feelings into the chapters they are writing.

I absolutely loved and adored this novel, a book within a book? Genius!

Not in my Book is slow burn, enemies to lovers’ story full of angst, banter, laugh out loud moments and swoon worthy romance. Rosie and Aiden expressing themselves via the chapters/characters was such a neat experience that had me rushing through the novel. I couldn't get enough.

Winter/Christmas in NYC is on my bucket list, to me it screams peak romance, so the setting was perfect for me!

I seriously just loved everything.

Thank you Netgalley and Alcove Press for this gifted ARC!

I love this book so much without giving too much spoilers. All I can say is That I love Maxine and Hunter Park, it was unique and creative. I will be looking into books from this author.

I think there will be many who enjoy this book. I found that having the couple write the story together and having it be so directly aligned with their own story that it took away any suspense for me. I love enemies to lovers for the tension, but this didn’t have any because they told each other what they felt too clearly in the manuscript. It just didn’t work for me.

WOW! For a debut novel, this one really sparked in my books. I loved it!! I think the rivals to lovers was well done, they fall in love realistically, the boy messes up of course, and the girl runs away of course, and they get together in the end perfectly tied together. I was actually really impressed by how many times I laughed or smiled or giggled at this book. It's so hard to find a true academic rival to lovers and yet here it is as a DEBUT book. I can't wait to see what Katie Holt comes out with next! For now I'm gonna go rave about this one on social media!

• Thank you to NetGalley, author Katie Holt, and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read this book early •

I have many mixed feelings about this book.

First, I would like to note that the premise of the story had me! I was so excited to read this as it had somethings I enjoy in romcoms, like academic rivals to lovers as well as writers cowriting a book.

The book started out great, laying down the foundation of why our MC's are rivals and hinting at some tension and chemistry between Aiden and Rosie. However, at around 12%, our FMC Rosie started to annoy me as she was really acting very childish. But her saving grace in my eye was that she knew that she was being a pain. As the story progresses though, she starts to become a little less annoying, but I still found myself routing for the MMC, Aiden, more.

Things I liked in this book:
- it truly conveys rivals
- the relationship evolution from rivals to friends to lovers was very well done and believable
- the way New York was described during the different seasons
- how they write their true feelings in their book
- first person POV but the MMC's POV is included in the form of a chapter he has written

Things I did not like in this book:
- the number of grammar and spelling mistakes
- Rosie making being a romance writer her whole personality
- the book being waaay longer than it should have been
- OMG!! the bedroom/sexy talk was really painful to read! I hated it and the MC's at the same time.
It's like they were two different people!
- also, I was not that into the third act breakup; it felt forced, like we had to have it

HOWEVER!
With all that being said, I did want to finish the book, I didn't feel forced to pick it up. All in all, the book did pass the time.

Read this book if you want a light-hearted, fun romcom with nice banter and a well-done rivals to lovers trope.

I loved this book. 4.5 stars rounding up to 5! The beginning starts off very strong with grad school rivals Rosie and Aiden outwardly despising each other and being assigned to write their book together or get kicked out of class. The middle continues to hold my interest with the characters not being able to communicate to each other except in their writing. It is very sweet and fun to read. It falls apart a little at the end and why I take off a half star. The ending didn’t have a good flow as the rest of the book, but I understand the need for conflict and resolution with only so much of the book left.

Read this if you like:
*rivals to lovers
*NYC
*grad school characters
*both MCs are writers
*forced proxitmity
*slow burn
*grumpy/sunshine.

Thank you NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Katie Holt for an advanced digital copy of this book.

I recognized Katie's name from Bookstagram when I saw this on @netgalley and knew I had to request it. She loves romance, as I obviously do, and she always has these great recommendations on her page so I was excited to see what a romance straight from her brain would be like.

Rosie is living her dream of attending NYU in NYC and being a writing masters student. Sure, the cost of living is quite a bit more than her Tennessee hometown, but she's working to help finance her education. In one of her writing workshops, she always gets flack from Aiden because he hates romance as a genre. He's a lit fic guy, so of course. If it isn't sad, it isn't for him. The two are constantly at war when discussing each other's work. So much so that their professor assigns them a very special project to work on together. No way can they do this when they write such different things. The project forces them to get to know one another better and well, there's a thin line between love and hate. Very thin.

This had me hanging on every word. I couldn't stop reading and grabbed at my kindle every chance I got. I really liked the characters and the way everything was structured. Highly recommend!

Read it if you like:
✅ Enemies to lovers
✅ Forced proximity
✅ Only one bed
✅ Angst
✅ Banter
✅ Grumpy sunshine

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was cute. I love a book within a book plotline, it's always an interesting play and so fun to see how it's executed.

I will admit the beginning felt more like a high school romance than grad students. They were wildly immature and it was hard to wrap my head around them being in their late twenties.

As the book went on, it got better.

I personally liked the insight into their book and Hunter and Maxine more than Rosie and Aiden story, despite its intention of being a parallel.
I also wish we had gotten into things a little more, like Aiden and his dad, or their book, or how Aiden moved on after the later development. I feel like quite a few things were left unanswered, but I almost always want more info about the characters I get invested in.

I would rate this book a 3.5.
I would recommend it to others because it is a cute book, but it's not my favorite.

Thank you, NetGalley, Katie Holt, and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read and review Not in My Book!

Not in My Book by Katie Holt is a fun take on the classic enemies-to-lovers trope. Rosie and Aiden are academic rivals forced to collaborate on a manuscript blending romance and literary fiction. The rivalry felt authentic, with the characters constantly at each other's throats in a way that was entertaining and true to life.

The concept was intriguing, though I initially struggled with Rosie’s repetitive inner dialogue, which made it hard to feel any genuine romantic tension at first. As the story progressed, however, their relationship grew naturally, and you could really sense the chemistry between them. While I found Rosie’s character frustrating at times—stubborn and not very self-aware—I appreciated her determination and belief in herself, which added depth to her motivation as a writer.

The book was easy to dive into with straightforward writing and a mostly fast-paced narrative. While it slowed a bit in the middle, it ultimately remained an enjoyable, light read. Though it’s not a groundbreaking romance, the banter between the characters and the feel-good ending made it a cute and entertaining story overall.

This was such a fun read. I didn’t love the final argument between them. Some of that dialogue didn’t make sense to me. And I hate when someone is trying to explain themselves and the angry person cuts them off. Otherwise I devoured this book.

4.5⭐️

"Not in My Book" is a heart-warming standalone romance and also Katie Holt's debut novel.

The reasons why I loved this book are many, starting with Katie Holt's impeccable and mature writing style, It is almost hard to believe that it is the author's first novel.

"Not in My Book" is a true slow burn. Rosie and Aiden's relationship develops slowly and gradually, page after page, making it impossible not to become passionate about their story.

Rosie and Aiden seem incompatible. She is a force of nature—a positive, sunny girl who firmly believes in happy endings. In contrast, he is detached, cold, and lonely, finding Rosie's positivity almost irritating. At the beginning of the book, they consider themselves rivals, constantly poking and insulting each other. However, as they are forced to spend more time together, they begin to discover that they have a lot in common.

I found their interactions beautiful (the winter chapters were my favorites), so much so that I got butterflies in my stomach and in the end Rosie and Aiden also managed to make me emotional.

I acknowledge that there were times when they both made me angry (damned the miscommunication trope), but it's impossible not to fall in love with two characters who open up to each other through the pages of the book they're writing together.

I would have preferred a dual POV to better understand Aiden's feelings, but the author did an excellent job of capturing them through the text excerpts Aiden writes and sends to Rosie.

To sum up, 'Not in My Book' is a fantastic romance that deeply affected me emotionally, and for that reason, I am certain I will always have a beautiful memory of it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, no doubt about it. Finished it in two days. Really liked the banter between them and also liked the fact that they didn't start jumping on each other from the get go. Having said that I do feel that the behavior of our hero was many of the time really rude, borderline disrespectful even. At the last I do feel she forgave him way sooner I my liking. These are just some personal preferences.

I absolutely loved this book! I found Maxine and Hunter’s story more engaging than Rosie and Aiden’s, even though they’re the same characters.

The book offers a refreshing take on classic romance tropes—opposites attract, enemies to lovers—while adding Southern charm, Peruvian authenticity, and holiday magic. Set in New York, it perfectly captures the city’s romantic essence.

The familiar romance formula worked well for me, providing a comforting escape. The slow-burn romance, family moments, and witty banter between Rosie and Aiden were highlights.

The ending was heartwarming, and although some character stubbornness was frustrating, Maxine and Hunter’s chapters were nearly perfect. Overall, it’s a 4.5-star read for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the digital review copy.

Katie Holt’s ‘Not In My Book’ is a stunning debut that I absolutely adored!

The story follows aspiring authors Rosie and Aiden, who find themselves sharing the same post-graduate writing course. Rosie is an optimistic romance writer, driven by a love for happily-ever-afters, while Aiden is a serious, grumpy literary author who dismisses the romance genre entirely. When they're forced to co-write a novel that blends their opposing styles, these rivals slowly begin to explore their undeniable attraction.

What makes this book truly stand out is the “book within a book” aspect, which adds a unique and refreshing twist to the classic enemies-to-lovers trope. Rosie and Aiden’s initial animosity makes for an incredibly slow burn, but I found myself savoring every moment as their relationship unfolded—first through the characters in their novel, then in real life. The chemistry between Rosie and Aiden is electric, filled not only with sharp banter and palpable tension but also with tender, intimate moments that gave me all the feels. I giggled, teared up, and smiled my way through this read.

Katie Holt’s writing is compelling and deeply emotional. From the very first page, I was drawn in by her ability to balance angst with lighter moments, making the story feel rich and well-rounded. Her characters, both main and supporting, are well-developed and layered, with each interaction adding depth and meaning to the narrative.

This debut exceeded my expectations in every way. I went in expecting something light and fluffy, but instead, I was treated to a story that was deeper and more emotional than I anticipated. For anyone who loves a well-written, emotionally rich romance, Not In My Book is an absolute must-read.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Cute rivals to lovers novel!

An easy romance novel to read with an interesting POC as a fmc and a kind of forced proximity trope.
I really enjoyed the university backdrop and the rivals to lovers side of the book. Maybe the bickering was a bit much, but it didn't run the book for me.