This was definitely a giggle and kick my feet kinda book. The spice was there but wasn’t over the top. The pacing was actual perfection. So often do I find myself reflecting on books being slow in spots but this one was perfect. The plot moved along at a perfect pace and I never felt bored or like I was missing out on something. The workplace rivals to lovers with forced proximity was handled great. Third act breakup was a little frustrating but when are they not? I can not believe this is a debut novel the writing was extremely impressive and I can’t wait to read more by Katie.

4.5⭐️s

4.5⭐I ADORED this book! I loved the element of the two enemy authors who end up having to write a book together for one of their classes. The excerpts at the end of the chapters were refreshing and different than other romance books as well. It was captivating and then later on as they started writing the book together, I was dying for more. The character development of Aiden was endearing and his backstory was quite heartbreaking. I will read any book that is set in New York City, especially if it's during Christmas time. It's making me itch for Christmas and binge watching Dash & Lily. Also: the spice was SPICING. I will forever read anything by Katie Holt after finishing this book because I ate this UP.

Side note: Katie, I am now dying for fresh alfajores, catch me swinging by the South American bakery today.

This book follows Rosie and Aiden as they have to write a book together. Rosie loves romance and believes in HEAs in real life, Aiden writes litfic and doesn't believe in romance.

They put themselves in the book and during their writing, they can say anything they want to each other. Even the feelings they can't express in real life.

What I loved about this book is the little chapters of Aiden's perspective. I didn't mind that it wasn't dual perspective, but the small insights were really fun.

As a romance lover myself, I didn't think that Rosie was really wrong in setting the high standards. I think that is something I also subconsciously do.

4.25 stars

Um, I also want to go to school at NYU, spar with my attractive classmate over litfic vs. romance, and proceed to write a litfic romance with said attractive classmate! Like where can I apply?

Rosie and Aiden are so cool. I like everything about them—their imperfections, the beauty of their characters, but most of all their love for writing. The concept of this book is so fun, with Rosie and Aiden channeling their life into the novel they’re writing together, and how we get to experience their relationship through Max and Hunter. It’s super entertaining, though sometimes it led to feeling a bit disconnected from Rosie and Aiden because they were exclusively actively communicating through these fictional characters in their lives.

The mouth on this man!!! Damn… Aiden is one for the book-boyfriend shelf. He treats Rosie to everything and is such a sweetheart (when he’s not blatantly mean lol). Throughout the book, it’s honestly mostly him who fucks up which was frustrating a lot of the time because I was just screaming at him to get a grip. But, alas, he comes to his senses and GROVELS. As he should because Rosie is a queen, and we stan.

If you like any sort of romance, you will like this guaranteed. If you like books about books, you will like this guaranteed… Just go read it. This is that feel-good, emotional, cozy romance you’ve been wanting.

I am typically a fantasy or dark romance type of girl but I actually really enjoyed this book. It definitely gave me The Hating Games vibes with the banter, and enemies to lovers. I felt like the story was really quite beautiful in its own way and I loved seeing the snippets of their book at the end of every chapter, it told us more about what lies between the lines of this story, the final name of their book was brilliant. As a lover of romance this spoke to my soul in a lot of ways, and I found myself also getting very defensive because who does love to argue with their book?¿ I did not enjoy the third act fight, it really threw me for a loop and gave me a major ick from Aiden that I just couldn’t recover from and that felt like a major let down. Also felt upset about Idas betrayal, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive as easily but I’m petty.
I had a good time reading this and would recommend this for fluffy romance readers who enjoy reading laid back slow burn, romance that’s got some good banter.
Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC, this was a solid read.

I loved this book! I was screaming, I was giggling, I was tossing my phone, it was such a great time! But somewhere around the 75% it started falling short for me but I can’t put my finger on what it was. Still 4.25 stars from me! Thanks for the read!

Rivals to lovers slow burn! The angst in this book is so good. So many great quotes and emotional depth.

This was such a good rival to lover book. From the very beginning I was hooked with the story line of them being writers. This was a very slow burn for me but it fits in with the story of their rivalry. Rosie was such a sunshine character with that Hispanic fire that I loved being Hispanic myself. Aiden’s character was written well with them “hating” each other but the hate wasn’t really at her. The book does have a 3rd act breakup which I don’t mind at all. I loved how they said their feelings in their book instead of out loud. And the spicy scenes A++!! I love how we get only her pov so you get his confidence about being in love more impactful. Over all I loved the book.

Tropes: rival to lovers, slow burn, grumpy/sunshine

Love this modern day love story! A closed promixity story of two rivals who must work together, learn to get along, or fail a class. Very interesting read and keeps you interested until the very end!

Classmates and rivals, Rosie and Aiden are engaging and interesting as the leads in this slow burn, forced-proximity story. Their initial meeting didn’t go well and they insult each other and fight continuously in class until their professor assigns them a joint project. Their story unfolds over the course of a semester and is written in a realistic way with misunderstandings, miscommunications, and plenty of sweet moments. I enjoyed the story development and the writing style. Reading a book about writing a book was an interesting way to move the story along and create the tension between the two characters. Rosie was surrounded by a great friend group and her family and they played their support role well.
Overall, a well-written, easy to read, moderately spicy book.

This book was absolutely adorable! The irresistibly cute cover and the intriguing and original storyline drew me in when I spotted it on NetGalley.

This was a delightful rivals-to-lovers story. The perfect slow burn with just the right amount of angst kept me hooked. From the start, Rosie and Aiden were at each others’s throats, brimming with anger and tension. But as the story unfolded, their relationship transformed into a wonderfully heartwarming romance.

I’m keeping this short as I don’t want to spoil anything but you should definitely add this to your tbr!!!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I love a rivals to lovers, I loved how aiden and rosie went back and forth with each other, but each barb just showed how much passion each character secretly had for one another.

It wasn’t dual POV and I loved how each excerpt from their book, showed the audience what aiden was feeling and what was going through his mind.

“If you are not mine, then know I’m yours. The minute I saw you, you had me hooked, and I never wanted you to let go. The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write.”

the one thing that stopped this from being a 5 star for me was that 3rd act breakup. I kinda guessed early on that he and also applied for the fellowship, which was fine he was in his right to do that, but I felt like their fight put them back sooo many chapters. the things they said, the knee jerk reactions didn’t really highlight the development they had made as a couple or as individuals. I definitely feel like they could have resolved it in the same way it was written in their book and all would have been well. aside from some grammatical errors and what happened 90% in I loved it. I ate it up in one night. I do wish the epilogue was a bit longer… I found myself wanting to know more in the end.

thank you NetGalley and the publishers for sending me this copy!

“Thin line between love and hate, Rosie. Thin line."

“The only thing every love story really has in common is that it's worth it. Love is always worth fighting for. I mean, that's why there's all the songs and poems and movies about it. It has to be something spectacular if everyone's chasing it."

“When I am in love, I don't want to have to wonder if it's love, you know? I want to know with certainty that there is nothing else I would rather feel."

Perfection. Absolutely perfection!!! This book was exactly the cozy, spicy, tension driven and forced proximity rivals to lovers story to spice up your cold winter Christmas vibes !!! Did I read it in the summer? Yes, I did. Do I care? Not really because now I know I need to get a copy of this when the season comes and reread it. It is the perfect book for fans of The Hating Game and also the Spanish Love Deception but make it college rivals. They are both writers. She writes romance and he writes literary fiction. They are at each other’s throats. But their supervisor threatens to push them out of the class unless they work together at a book like Christina Lauren. Full of Taylor’s version references and well known romcom books as well as movies, their story is the epitome of grumpy sunshine, forced proximity, tension filled romance story that will have you addicted from the very first pages !!! I read this book in one sitting because it is THAT good!!! While Rosie was the amazing fmc we all love and adore of Peruvian origin opinionated and kind and “optimistic to a fault” and in love with love, Aiden was … goodness me, he was far from perfect but he was oh so good!! And the mouth on that man … damn but it made me feel things!! Butterflies would be a way to describe them but it was so much more than that !!! I am impressed by how much I enjoyed reading their story!! The spicy scenes were spicing. The fun scenes were funny. The romantic scenes made me feel giddy and happy and excited !!! Loved it loved it loved it !!!! Can’t wait for it to be out !!

"No, Rosie. You don't have to lower your expectations. You deserve more than your highest one. Any guy you're with should be falling over himself to make you happy."

"Love wouldn't seem worth it without the risk of losing it."

"Such a good girl, Rosie, even now. Taking me like this," he bit out. "Always a good girl for me, isn't that right?"

I went into this with extremely high hopes after seeing that it was supposedly perfect for Emily Henry lovers, but alas, I am left disappointed.

My issue with this book is the character development, or lack thereof. This starts with our MMC, who is supposedly a masters student, acting like a high school bully. It felt so strange, immature and unnatural for someone of his age and level to be acting like he did. While this was off putting, I still gave it a chance. This, however, did not last long as the progression from enemies to lovers was so quick I was sure I missed it. There was absolutely no slow development, which was needed given how childish and terrible he acted.

“People say there’s a thin line between love and hate, and you know what? They’re right”

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to ARC read this!

Our two main characters are Rosie and Aiden, both very strong minded individuals who really love to provoke the other.
They are currently both taking a writing workshop and are always arguing and being disruptive until their professor has had enough. She gives them two options, drop the class or put aside their differences and write a novel together. That doesn’t seem too hard in theory I mean they ARE taking a writing workshop but when one loves romance and the other despises it entirely you know it’s probably going to crash and burn.. or is it?

This book was so interesting! I really loved the whole idea behind it. I loved the way the author jumps from real time to snippets of their book.

If you love enemies to lovers then this book is for you!

I cannot believe that this is a debut book for Katie, I look forward to reading more of her books in the future!

I got the ARC through NetGalley and am so happy I applied for and got it!
This was an amazing read and I will for sure get the physical copy once it's released in December!

Now to the Review part:

Rosie and Aiden were the perfect example of Opposites attract. They were opposite enough, but with enough similarities and some shared interests that it made it believable. The biggest interest and love for something both share is writing, and their rivalry was very fun to read. I really enjoyed watching both characters slowly work out their differences, and become vulnerable in front of each other. It really made it possible for both to grow, of course there were some minor and a big hiccup, but no development is linear, especially if both have lived through something that holds them back.

I found the pacing was very well done, they didn't get to the finish line too quickly, but it also didn't drag out too much in the romance department.

The spice was amazing, I did NOT expect that mouth on Aiden, I was just as surprised as Rosie, because - hot damn! but also SO sweet! He's not only a great talker, but also knows how to do acts of service, listen and is protective. He's a dark academia dream!

'Not a single day has passed since we met that I haven't thought about you. And not a single hour passes where I don't miss you.'

Rosie is a the embodiment of, reader girly girl, who's smart, creative, supportive, a good friend and ambitious but also knows how to accept help. I really like to see that, instead of FMC's who painfully try to do everything on their own. I'd love to be her friend. What I also really enjoyed was that Rosie too has great lines, gushing about Aiden and also compliments him. The way she talked to him, I want to see more of in romances.

'You were worth every bit of the wait, Aiden.'

SPOILERS!!!!!!! (Potentially but be warned!!!!):

I really related to Rosie, myself being a romantic, and in my case learning how to write stories (maybe someday it will get somewhere) and being a dreamer. Funnily enough, I also really related to some of Rosie's experiences growing up. I'm not Peruvian nor mixed, but my parents are immigrants and my mum also had a GIANT collection of Harlequinn romance novels (which were also the first romance novels I've read when I was decidedly too young for those) and learned German by re-reading her favorite books in German to get better at it. My Grandma and because of that my mum and I, was a big fan of Telenovelas - Mexican and South American Telenovelas were the HIT in Poland in the 90's and 2000's - now my mum and I binge watch Korean Dramas, I'm an avid romance reader as is my mum and we love HEA's. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree haha. Also the busy, long, full of family and loads and loads of cooking and food for Christmas - highly relatable! Loved to see this.

Overall I really enjoyed it, I had a fun time. The romance was sweet, not too rushed. Their joint book writing project was fun. The spice was hot and good to read. I loved the setting and that we mostly got the cold months, it added extra cosy vibes - love that. I loved to be able to relate to certain things I didn't expect, it's just so nice to go 'Oh I knew that growing up too, I can relate etc.'. The book. gave me an overall very warm feeling and I was rooting for the Main leads love!

I totally devoured this book! I couldn't put it down—I loved the witty banter, the grumpy-sunshine dynamic, and the rivals-to-lovers trope. The plot and side characters were amazing too.

The story is about two opposites who are both aspiring writers in the same class. Rosie, a Peruvian girl from Tennessee, moves to New York to chase her dream of writing romance novels, which she absolutely loves. On the other hand, Aiden, a New York native, wants to be a literary fiction writer, influenced by his tough childhood and complicated family. From the moment they meet, Rosie and Aiden are rivals, clashing in workshops until they get an ultimatum: save their semester by co-writing a novel. As they work together, they use the novel to share their thoughts and slowly get to know each other.

The writing is super fun, and the character development is fantastic. Even the side characters are entertaining and lovable. This book was definitely a great find.

Thanks to NetGalley, Alcove Press and Katie Holt for a chance to read this book for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.

The story follows Rosie, a passionate Peruvian American who leaves her small Tennessee hometown to chase her dream of becoming a successful writer in New York City. Then she crosses paths with Aiden Huntington, her current archnemesis, in a creative writing class. Aiden, a surly fiction writer, has little respect for the romance genre that Rosie cherishes. They quickly become the focal point of their writing workshop due to their insult-ridden sparring during class. Their constant bickering disrupts the class to the point where their professor gives them an ultimatum to either work together, or they will be kicked out of the class. They agree to work together, reluctantly. They start to infuse pieces of themselves into the manuscript, and they begin to confess their feelings and explore the attraction that has long simmered beneath the surface of their rivalry. As soon as their relationship begins, they again find themselves competing for a career-defining opportunity, reigniting their rivalry and smothering the flame of their new relationship.

This book examines how your parent's relationship impacts your future outlook for romantic relationships. Aiden is deeply wounded by the tumultuous and violent relationship between his parents, whereas Rosie's parents have been in love with each other from day one. Rosie is a hopeless romantic and believes in true love, which gets under Aiden's skin. I do love a good enemies-to-lovers trope. Their fiery and explosive banter makes for some undeniable steamy romance. The book was fun, and Rosie had to peel back every layer to get to Aiden's heart. So okay, he's like a handsome Shrek and not green. The rivalry serves as a challenge to make them better writers and force some self-discovery. If you are looking for a passionate opposites attract Rom-Com, this is it.

I received an ARC ebook for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Alcove Press.

I read this book on a flight to India and even the mere memory of the stunt I pulled (of reading such a steamy book on a flight) has my cheeks flaming. 🤭
This story about two “rivals” who seem to hate each other’s guts and are made to write a romance story together after their supervisor gets fed up of their snippy behaviour is a great read - for when you’re not in a public place like a plane 🫣

But in my defence, I didn’t know the romance was going to be so spicy, and by the time I realized it, I was too invested in the story. So I hid the screen - like we used to hide our papers in exams - and finished the whole book 😂

The premise itself was great and I loved how Rosie and Aiden ribbed each other. But I sometimes didn’t like how they took it too far. I felt like Rosie was being unnecessarily irritating and Aiden crossed several lines with his rudeness. And yet… It works!

So if you’re looking for a steamy romance, this is one that you can definitely pick up.
Only - and I’ll say this over and over again - make sure to keep your surroundings in mind 😂

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher.

Of course, is this only my personal opinion of the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

The cover of „Not in my book“ caught my eye first. Then, I read the synopsis and was hooked. I love me a good enemies to lovers and academic rivals? Also, books as a central theme?! Ehhmm yes – give me that!

I read this romance book almost in one go (your girl needs to sleep), and I enjoyed my time. I loved that we got snippets from the book that they needed to write together. The banter was good and made me laugh sometimes. Yesss, some of the stuff wasn’t surprising, but it was executed well.
I also want to give a shoutout to a specific writing scene, which was veryy hot and maybe I learned a bit about myself there.

I could see myself reading this book again and it will go onto my „romance I recommend“ mental shelf.

Conclusion
I really enjoyed this one!!