This was a delightful read about two writers moving from absolute loathing to well, you can imagine. After pushing through a stilted feeling first few chapters, I was drawn into the characters and their story. I loved all the literary and classic movie references throughout the book, and the pacing was on point. It was a steamier read than I personally prefer, but that’s my own taste.

The audiobook narrator was *perfection* and wonderful in managing dual POV changes in the narration.

Thank you RB Media for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

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

Rosie is a romance writer who believes in HEA, Aiden is a fiction writer who believes in “realistic” endings. They are constantly at each other’s throats during their writing workshops, so much so that the professor decides to dismiss them from her class. Rosie can’t afford to fall behind in her MFA and pleads to the professor to let her stay in the class, the professor proposes Rosie and Aiden work together to write a novel blending their writing styles, if they agree they can stay in her class. Can these rivals work together??

This was such a cute read. I loved this book more than I thought I would. This book is perfect for anyone whose love language is picking on their partner 😍 I loved the back and forth banter and teasing.

They collaborate on a 🌶️ scene for their book and it was 🥵
10/10, no notes!

BIPOC FMC
Forced Proximity
Rivals to Lovers
Grumpy Sunshine
He Falls First
Secret Crush
Swiftie
Takes place over the holidays

This book has it all!!

Thank you to Katie Holt and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Rosie and Aiden are in a writer workshop together. They're both attracted to each other and then Aiden says some dumb shit because of past trauma. Then they both just dive into a hate/hate relationship. They disrupt class. They act worse than toddlers. The teacher makes them write a book together. Just when you think we are getting somewhere, we aren't. They're both the worst sort of person honestly. I know that this is all to show Aiden's growth and whatever, but I still sort of hated him in the end. Rosie wasn't all that much more mature, honestly. I'm glad it was a HEA, but to be honest I was starting to think it wasn't going to happen. I feel like I know how the back half was supposed to make me feel but it just missed it for me.

Aiden loves Pride and Prejudice so that saved him, in my opinion.

Overall, I'm not sorry that I read it but it isn't likely to go on my reread list. Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this story. Frankie Corzo did a really good job narrating this one.

A solid 3.5 stars. I think with a little more editing this one would have been a solid 4 stars. It has a lot of potential, but some elements were weak enough to detract from the overall reading experience. I thought the romance book within a romance book was a cute idea, but at times it was confusing as to when it was the book and when it was not (let me also say that I listened to this on audio and I'm guessing the print version uses different fonts to help with that). I liked the characters of Rosie and Aidan for the most part, but at times Rosie's character arc was a bit weak and her actions veered too much from what the reader was led to believe her character was like (particularly in the last quarter of the book). This one was very slow to start, but it picked up halfway through. I liked the plot more in the second half (until the end when it was just meh). Some of the steamy parts were a bit cringy while others were much more well written. Overall, this was a mixed bag, but I would by willing to try more by Holt in the future.

This was, dare I say it, the perfect romance novel.

I loved everything about this book. I could not finish the book fast enough. It kept me intrigued from start to finish. I loved the MFC personality and the fact that she wasn't white! (Coming from a white girl, it's so refreshing to see diversity in main characters) Our MMC is just the right amount of moody.

The book's premise was smart. Two authors taking a course together, like different genres, are made to write a book together. The excerpts from their book at the end of the chapters were a nice touch.

The spice scenes were great, her insecurities were so realistic. I also really enjoyed her friend group and her dynamics with her family. There were zero unlikable characters in this book.

I was given early access to the Audiobook from NetGalley and I really liked the narrator. I think she did an excellent job adding the country twang, the latina accent, and the male voices.

*Okay, so I just read the author's little about me blurb on Google, and she definitely put a lot of her own life into this book. It's such a good debut novel. I can't wait to see what else she releases in the future.

A classic enemies to lovers story:

Rosie and Aiden are academic rivals in a writing workshop who are forced to work together on a manuscript combing their two genres, romance and lit fic. When the characters they are writing start to represent themselves more and more, they use the writing to better understand each other and find deeper feelings for each other.

I overall like this book, but there were some spots that it felt a little repetitive and slower. Their banter fell a little flat for me, which is what I really love in a romance book. I liked the use of their manuscript as a conversation between each other for the things they couldn't say in person. I listened to the audiobook, which was well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for the ALC for review.

This is the definition of enemies to lovers, slow burn romance! The tension between the characters was palpable and they definitely sat in the 'will they won't they' phase for a long time, but it made the payoff worth it.

Not in My Book📖
By Katie Holt✨

Review🫶🏻

I believe this had a lot of potential but ultimately fell flat. It was also my favorite trope, enemies to lovers, therefore I was pretty disappointed. I usually enjoy cheesy romance, but this was just too much for me. Every single page was a cliché. I'm not sure if it was my mood or what, but I didn't love it. I did like the writing style and the slow burn, though!

Enemies to lovers🥰
Book about books📚
Spicy🥵
Academics📓
Slow burn🔥

3 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Audio review:
I would always prefer to have two narrators so having only one is a disappointed. I did like the female voice I just wish there was a male as well. She was very clear and I liked her bubbly tone.

- academic rivals
- opposite attracts
- hopeless romantic FMC

Rosie writes romance novels and listens to Taylor Swift on loop. Aiden is a literary fiction writer who doesn't believe in happy endings. They're about to write a book together—what could go wrong?

A cute read. Aiden is a little bit of an idiot but it's okay. Both MMCs have tempers, and that makes them bicker like kids and leads to a lot of misunderstandings, but we got our happy ever after, didn't we? 💕

Not In My Book ❤️‍🔥 Katie Holt
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶️🌶️
My Thoughts: If you love romance, a good enemies to friends to lovers, both of them love books, forced proximity, and a friend group that makes you wish you were part of it, I highly recommend! This was so so cute and I loved getting a writer’s perspective. It can be hard being that creative and some inspirations can be taken from real life experiences. I loved that they couldn’t communicate at first because it made the hidden truths in their shared writing assignment to be more meaningful. I would have been mortified if my classmates had to witness all that sexual tension too 🤣 Aiden was everything Rosie needed and more. After her poor excuse for a man, ex boyfriend Simon downplayed the type of love a girl like Rosie deserves, Aiden came in and brought more than sparks. He brought the fireworks! I loved this book so much, and it just makes the hopeless romantic in me more hopeful. ROMANCE READERS AND WRITERS NEED TO READ THIS ASAP ❤️‍🔥

From the very first chapter, I was absolutely hooked! Two classmates who can’t stand each other and constantly bicker in class being forced to write a book together? Sign me up.

I loved watching the story unfold between Rosie and Aiden as they poured their emotions into their fictional characters, Max and Hunter. It was such a clever and heartfelt way to show their evolving dynamic, and honestly, I was here for every single moment of it. Their banter had me giggling, their sweet moments had me smiling, and I just couldn’t get enough.

While the plot didn’t throw any wildly unexpected twists my way, it didn’t need to. The story was so delightfully satisfying and well-paced that I didn’t mind knowing where it was headed. And that ending! Perfection. I genuinely couldn’t have asked for a better way to wrap up this charming journey.

A huge thank you to Atria Books and RB Media for the ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This book was such a joy to read!

Where do I even start? This book was so funny.

Rosie and Aiden are MFA students at NYU and they loathe each other. Rosie, a hopeless romantic at heart, wants to be a Romance novelist; Aiden, one of the most talented writers in their class, specializes in LitFic.

After causing a scene during their writing workshop, their professor gives them an ultimatum: write their novel for the final together, or drop the class. With very little hope of getting into another workshop, Rosie and Aiden agree to write a love story with no HEA together.

The tension in this story is devastating; Rosie and Aiden have the best chemistry, even when they’re tearing each other to shreds. I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did, but it brought me to tears. And of course, the spice - when the pair finally break through the tension, oh man, it’s so good. I loved this and I really look forward to reading more from Katie.

This was honestly such an incredible read! I could not stop reading this. If you loved Beach Read then this is up your ally. There’s similar elements with Beach Read and this book but both are incredible in their own way.

I really loved this and will definitely read more by this author.

This book was such a joy to experience and I was enthralled from start to finish. This was also so beautifully written.

If you love NYC you'll also enjoy this book!

Thank you NetGalley, RBmedia, Recorded Books and Katie Holt for giving me an advanced listener’s copy of this book. The narrator did a wonderful job and I enjoyed the audiobook so much!

Not in my book tells the story of Rosie and Aiden, someone could define them as some sort of academic rivals but in college (post-graduate), trying to write their books. She is a romance writer while he's a literary fiction one and they always fight, so their professor assigned them to write a book together that is going to be a romance without the happily ever after (which is a weird thing by the way, both the decision of the teachear and the assignment per se).
The book was overall okay, but I have some complaints to make: first of all the FMC was really annoying especially when they had to work together and she wanted him to write the smuts scenes (that is literally part of her genre only). Also being a reader that mostly read both literary fiction and romance I feel like i have a lot to say in terms of how the literary fiction genre is generalizes and talked down of, a big part of the plot was the underestimation od the romance genre but it was just judging the other genre represented. The ending felt off as well, since the MMC acted a bit out of character and even if it was really realistic, i feel like then the two main characters shouldn't have an happy ending like they are supposed to in a romance book. For this reason i didn't really like it and i couldn't wait to be done with the story.
However i think is really important to highlight the good parts of this book: first of the relationship between the two main characters was really enjoyable even if at times a bit too cheesy for my likings. I really loved both of their back stories and how they felt real after getting to know each personality. The narration was one of the best that i heard of the year and it made me always interested in what was next.

Thank you Netgalley and Rb media for this arc!!!

As a person who also has autism and adhd, I found this book so extremely relatable. I appreciate that it wasn’t announced every five seconds that the FMC was autistic and that we were shown her struggles, not just told. Especially the scene when they had sex and Rosie gets very in her head. The overthinking can make things so overwhelming and the way Aiden helped assure her that he was there with her was written beautifully. There were so many other nuances that if you don’t live with it every day you may not notice but I really appreciated seeing that in Rosie. It made me feel seen and that it’s okay.

So, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I actually appreciate how realistic Rosie’s character felt with her stubborn/pettiness—especially at the end. She was very real and all of her emotions felt so believable, like I would do the exact same if put into her situation.

However, some of the dialogue felt unrealistic and forced. I don’t think I liked all of the excerpts from their manuscript throughout the book because it was basically just a rehashing of what literally just happened between the two of them, or a peek into what was about to happen, just reworded. So I kept getting confused. The only time things played out differently was right before the epilogue.

I got to listen to this as an audiobook, and I loved the narrator as she was playing Rosie. But I feel like this book could’ve benefited from a dual narration because I feel like her performance as Aiden did not match. I feel like he deserved a much deeper voice than she was able to give him.

All that being said, I did love this book. There were just enough clichés thrown around to make it funny and relatable, and I loved all the 10 Things I Hate About You references. Overall, I’m a fan. It was really well done.

Where has Katie Holt been? She's definitely one to follow. With one book she has made it to my never skip list for new releases.

Not in Book is an enemies to lovers slow-burn about two MFA grad students(Rosie and Aiden) going to NYU who naturally have to write a love story without the HEA for their class.

This was fast paced, had good secondary characters and a believable plot. I thought the characters were well thought out, the banter was great and while I've read similar stories(who hasn't) this one was so well done. This is definitely a book I would re-read because of how much I liked it.

My only complaint about this was that I received this book an audiobook and I wasn't a fan of Aiden's voice(aka just a deeper tone for the narrator but that's so many books, I can't really legitimately complain about it.)

This review was posted on GoodReads on 11/26

I loved this book so much. The writing style (a story within a story) immediately pulled me into the plot. The narrator did an amazing job connecting me to Rosie. Katie Holt was able to explore the Romance genre through her characters. I found the relationships outside of the romance endearing and heart warming. The romance itself was swoon worthy, yet realistic. This was a true, slow burn enemies to lovers.

4-Star: A Festive Treat for Book Lovers

Not in My Book by Katie Holt is an absolute delight for fans of enemies-to-lovers rom-coms, especially those who love stories steeped in the literary world. Rosie, a spirited romance writer, and Aiden, a self-assured literary fiction writer with very strong opinions about romance novels, clash in a way that is both entertaining and endearing. Their fiery exchanges and undeniable chemistry are the backbone of this charming story.

When the two are forced to collaborate on a class assignment, sparks fly in more ways than one. Their journey from adversaries to something much more is packed with witty banter, heartfelt moments, and just the right amount of spice to keep things sizzling. The holiday themes sprinkled throughout the story make it the perfect cozy read for December, with its scheduled release date aligning perfectly with the festive vibes.

The audiobook narration deserves special mention—it enhances the tension and humor, making every interaction between Rosie and Aiden pop. The narrators brought their personalities to life, keeping me fully engaged from start to finish.

If you’re looking for a heartwarming, spicy, and festive read that celebrates the literary process with a side of romance, Not in My Book is a must-read!

What do you get when two enemy writers are forced to write a book together? In ‘Not in my Book’, Aiden and Rosie are both passionate about writing. But when Aiden constantly critiques Rosie much harsher than the other writers in their class, they throw their toys out of the cot in front of everyone. Now, if they want to stay in the program, they have to work together and write a book that encapsulates both writing styles. Can they get over their differences?

This was a sweet romance that, for the most part, is paced really well. I liked the banter between Aiden and Rosie, and felt the awkwardness as they began to write these romance scenes together. The dates were super cute and made me want to be in their world.
When they began to write the first spicy scene together, it was a bit awkward. Things moved from 0-100 very quickly and then went back like it hadn’t happened. There wasn't much internal dialogue discussing what had happened.
The narration was done well. It was easily understandable at 2x speed. My only critique is that I think there needed to be more chapters in Aiden’s perspective, and I wish there was a male narrator. When there was quick dialogue between the two of them, sometimes the deepness of Aiden’s voice didn’t come through, and things got muddled.

There wasn’t anything too unique about this book. It was a typical romance that followed a very typical structure. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would have been nice to read a romance that bent the rules a bit.
This is a great, quick read that I think anyone can pick up and find enjoyment. It is a relaxing read that is easy to follow along with, and I gave this a 3.5 star rating.

Thank you to Netgalley and RBmedia for the Advanced Listener’s Copy (ALC) of this book. All opinions are my own.