This is a delightful and sexy romance that will captivate readers who adore lighthearted, humorous, and hopeful stories about enemies-to-lovers relationships, meta romance, and the thrill of finding love in the unlikeliest of places.

This was my first Katy Holt book and I was so pleasantly surprised! It was pitched as a story that Beach Read lovers (ME!) would enjoy, and I absolutely did. Like January and Gus, Rosie and Aiden are academic rivals (she's the sunshine, writing HEAs, and he's the rain cloud, writing sad and 'realistic" endings). It's as if we go the pre-Beach Read story of January and Gus while they were still in college!

I'm all about an enemies to lovers academic plot line, and this absolutely scratched that itch. The banter, the chemistry, the tension, all 10/10. I will absolutely be reading more of Katie Holt's books in the future!

Whew, what a fun book! Rosie and Aiden are MFA graduate students at NYU. Rosie is a romance writer while Aiden writes literary fiction. The two are at odds, with Aiden relentlessly critiquing Rosie's work. When Ida, the professor in charge of their writing group has had enough, the two have to team up to write a book, a love story no less, in order to get back in her good graces and avoid failing the class.

Things I liked: Rosie's Peruvian heritage and cultural representation, especially the nuances of being multiethnic; Rosie's family and friends; the spice; Aiden's backstory; the homesickness while also falling in love with a new home.

Things I didn't like: I thought Ida's assignment (the whole premise for the story) was... kind of inappropriate and unbelievable, but we suspend disbelief; I wasn't sure that Aiden really ever fully took accountability for his earlier cruelty to Rosie regarding the romance genre; I wish we had gotten a more fleshed out discussion of WHY romance is so denigrated. This book is compared to Beach Read, but Beach Read hits that nail right on the head.

Overall, a very enjoyable book, but it could have been a home run with some adjustments. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a steamy, heartfelt rivals-to-lovers tale about graduate students Rosie and Aiden, forced to collaborate on a romance story while confronting their undeniable chemistry. Their banter and barbs are both sharp and endearing, making their love language a delightful mix of raw emotion and fiery wit. Watching their relationship unfold—especially as it bled into the story they wrote together—was captivating, allowing them to communicate feelings they couldn’t admit out loud.

Aiden’s devotion to Rosie was particularly sweet, as his vulnerability and awkwardness made their dynamic even more compelling. Katie Holt’s debut shines with witty banter, sizzling chemistry, and a fresh take on romantic storytelling.

While the third-act breakup felt unnecessary and dragged down the final chapters, the rest of the book delivered in every way: tension, yearning, and relatable characters. Overall, this was a fun, unique romance, and I’m eagerly anticipating what Holt writes next! Highly recommend!

Thoroughly enjoyed this one though perhaps I just enjoy reading about writing. Chemistry was great though perhaps the conflict got a bit much.

An enemies-to-lovers trope that blends humor, heart, and sizzling chemistry. The setting of the story is a competitive writing workshop in New York, and is a delightful mix of wit, passion, and self-discovery.

Rosie, a passionate Peruvian-American writer with big dreams, embarks on a journey of personal and professional growth when she finds herself in a classroom with Aiden Huntington—a brooding, stubborn, and undeniably handsome literary writer. Their fiery banter and undeniable tension set the stage for a compelling dynamic, and the forced co-writing project they undertake makes for the perfect opportunity for the slow-burn romance that blooms between them.

As they navigate their differences and find common ground, their evolving partnership reveals layers of vulnerability and understanding. The banter between them is sharp and funny, making their gradual transition from enemies to lovers both entertaining and emotionally satisfying.

The air of competition adds another layer of tension, as both Rosie and Aiden vie for the same career-changing opportunity. The story is charming as we watch these two headstrong individuals find love amid their rivalry. With sharp humor, emotional depth, and a captivating love story, this is certainly a memorable and satisfying read.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

The story of two “enemies” being forced to write a romance novel together and all the drama that it entails! I love that there was cultural representation, a grumpy MMC, and of course it was fun to see how these two authors navigated writing their novel together.

I absolutely inhaled this, and read it in one day. It was corny in all the right ways.

f Beach Read and The Hating Game had a baby, you would get Not in My Book. At times these similarities almost felt too similar. But at the end of the day, these are some of my comfort books and I really enjoyed it.

The concept was fun ... two authors (one romance, one lit fic) had to write together in order to stay in their class. As they write over the google doc ... there are some VERY good moments. One scene in particular is living rent free in my head right now. It was that good.

I read this book in one sitting and truly enjoyed every piece of it. Got all the feels. What a great debut for Katie Holt!
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This book was adorable! Aiden and Rosie are enemies turned into lovers and who doesn’t love that kind of friction and build up! A perfect winter read to warm you up. I enjoyed the banter between the two characters. I felt the end was a tad over the top which knocked down my rating but all in all a nice romance read.

Rivals to lovers only work when it's written well and this was written SO WELL! and it's academic rivals to lovers??? Absolutely obsessed. And it's a book within a book? META. This idea was so good and executed so well.

This is the story about a girl and a guy who are in a creative writing class and despise each other for heinous reasons, but really they are secretly in love with each other and the only way to show it is by acting like a couple of assholes in class. Their professor gets tired of their antics and forces them to write a romance together bc this bish knows they totes need to bone. And nothing makes two enemies give into their urges like writing a romance book together. The two hatebirds go on to write their own enemies to lovers book which is completely autobiographical, but they both are too daft to realize that the other is just writing from their own point of view. Oy!! But alas, life imitates art and art imitates life and then the characters and the authors are all screwing each other and everyone is winning.

If you liked The Hating Game, then you will like this one, because it has many features of that book (tall brooding hero, short spunky heroine, everyone outwardly despises each other, while secretly pining for the other). Like in the Hating Game, I found the heroine to be a tad immature and whiny and the hero could be a cocksucker at times, but overall, this was an entertaining romance. It certainly isn’t going to make any “best of” lists, but it doesn’t need to be the best. Sometimes you just want to escape into another couple’s journey from hatred to HEA…and mission accomplished with this one.

Smut- 2.23 stars
Romance- 4.25 stars
Story- 4.11 stars
Tiny heroines, Tall heros- neg 1.59 stars (I’m tired of height discrepancies. Give me a 5’9 heroine for once).

We love a rivals to lovers moment. I really enjoyed the chemistry throughout the book between Rosie and Aiden. They both felt believable and real. I loved the twist of them having to write a book together and have that forced proximity.
Just calling out moly spoilers here. Initially, with the third act break up, I thought it would be very hard for Aiden to redeem himself. For both what he did with the grant and with what he continued to say about romance. He did a pretty nice job of bringing himself back, however.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read and loved their chemistry.

A Cute bookish rom com about two rival MFA majors who can't stand each other. Forced to write a novel together for a grade what could possibly go wrong. I'm a sucker for an enemies to lovers romance. I loved the banter between these two.

Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher, and author for a copy of this book!

All opinions are my own and freely given.

I really loved Rosie and the way her character was written. I think so many of us who read fall in love with books the way she falls in love with writing romance novels, all at once.

Aiden was a book boyfriend, that’s for sure. I really enjoyed his character until the third act breakup. To me, Rosie deserved more of an explanation and he once again dissed her whole career. It just didn’t sit right with me.

She has traditions, he has none. She loves her family, he hates his dad. She loves love, he does not. They were so opposite and enemies that the love scenes felt more real.

I also cannot stop laughing at how unserious the brick, Ronny Jr was and also … how unsafe it was to have that! But this is fiction!

Loved this meta take on romance books! I thought writing their own love story through the characters in the romance book they are writing together was such a fun way to get their feelings. Frankie Corzo is such a great narrator. He ability to embody both male and female characters is amazing. I also love that she brought life to the Peruvian accents for Rosie and her family. I love a good enemies to lovers and at one point I was worried that some of their sharp words were going to be hard to come back from, but I think the redemption arc was well done.

Cute. A book within a book. The “sex scene” chapter was 🥵🥵🥵. This was a fun rom-com and I would definitely read more from this author.

OMG I did not expect this book to be this fun at all!!
I already knew when I requested in on netgalley (thank you, thank you, thank you for this arc) that it had all of my favorite tropes: academic rivals to lovers, forced proximity, only one bed (and a little bit of spice)... and a bookish girl as a MC!!! (I love you Rosie, and you too, Aiden, no worries), but I didn't expect to love it this much.
It was such a fun romcom, adorable, perfect for any book girlie <3 I'll surely buy a phisical copy now because I want to have my book trophy on my shelves.

Wanted a cute, rivals-to-lovers story but instead was disappointed. I thought this was a YA book because it definitely felt like that.

I had high hopes, but none of the payoff.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Alcove Press for sending me this book to review.

Really wanted to love this book as the premise was very promising but it just didnt work out for me. It was really slow and and I couldn't force myself to love the characters. DMF @18%

5 out of 5 Stars

WOW. I really, really enjoyed this one. The two main characters have such good tension and banter in the beginning and all throughout the book. I think that the enemies to lovers plot developed really well. It was a believable progression of the relationship. I did enjoy the way the love story unfolded. The story within a story aspect of the novel was extremely appealing to me. I enjoyed the side characters that were woven throughout as well. I thought that backstories were interwoven well and the way the two characters got to know each other was very clever and made sense for the story. I found myself getting caught up in the story and didn't want to stop reading. I thought this was a great debut novel and look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Closed door modifications: 17, 24, 26