4.5 stars. Not Safe for Work is a contemporary workplace romance about Tishara and Rafe who appear to be enemies at work but things change at a leadership retreat. Tishara always said she hated Rafe especially since he's the boss's son who is clearly favored for promotions, etc. They are both chosen for a leadership retreat and are accidentally booked in the same suite. Over the course of 3 weeks, they spend more and more time together forcing them to face their true feelings.

I really loved this book! I've enjoyed the Trial is the Sun King series so I assumed I would enjoy a contemporary romance by the author as well. I think it acurately portrayed how women and BIPOC can be treated in the workplace. The tension between the MCs was great and I loved his protectiveness of her. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Forever - Grand City Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Not Safe for Work by Nisha J. Tuli is a masterpiece rivals to lovers workplace romance filled with bickering and banter and swoon!

I absolutely loved this book. It is my first read by this author and will not be my last. I loved this story for the romance but another thing I loved about this book was Trishara. As a woman that works in the STEM field, I cannot emphasis enough how realistic and harsh that workplace is. As a woman, you always have to work harder and better and with a smile on your face and it is so hard when you're smarter, harder working and a man takes your place anyways dealing with white privilege, nepotism and that is exactly what Trishara faces and seeing her have to grin and bare it, I felt a connection to her and we meet her nemesis Rafe, on the surface the hate is mutual and they bicker and banter and argue but we can see as readers how much he admires her and has feelings for her so when they are stuck together in Hawaii, well that just makes it all better. I loved seeing how he acknowledges her and validates her and thinks the world of her while having a secret of his own and how they make it work. Their chemistry? off the charts. I love them as a couple so much and seeing how things end felt perfect, justified and so romantic. I cannot emphasis enough how people need to read it! ITS SO GOOD!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for the advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this book and finished it in just a few hours. The pining, the yearning, the ONLY ONE BED was the perfect recipe for an easy to read romance. The characters both grew as people throughout the book and I love it when women take ZERO shit like Tris.

I am a fan of Nisha and have read her other books. I loved this one as much as her romantasy novels. She’s becoming a must read for me.

I have heard great things about Nisha J. Tulli and her romantasy books. Not being that much of a romantasy reader myself, I jumped of this chance to read her first contemporary romance to see why people love her books.
When it comes to the writing itself, I enjoyed it. However, being in the brain of the FMC was exhausting. She struggled a lot with her feelings, and lashed out a couple of times bc she was suspicious about everything coming out of the MMC's mouth. I also found the reason for the MMC <spoiler>answering calls from his ex</spoiler> flimsy at best. Boundaries, do you know her?
I wish I had loved this more. It wasn't bad, but I felt so drained from the FMC's pov of the story, that it took over the good things.
Loved the corporate girlie rep, and the difficulties women face in that world, especially woman of color.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Forever for the ARC of this book! This one was an absolute blast and I read it basically in one sitting. I was immediately drawn into the story and the main character was super likeable. The book follows Tris, who is an engineer in a male dominated field. When she is given the opportunity to go on a company sponsored work retreat in Hawaii, she is initially frustrated because she has been passed over for multiple promotions. She decides to make the most of the experience anyways and finds herself immediately in the orbit of Rafe, her coworker and work nemesis. This book was a super fun enemies to lovers story line and I loved reading about Rafe and Tris finding their way to each other. This was the perfect rom com with just the right amount of depth. I will definitely look for more romances from her in the future. An easy five star read! Loved it!

There is so much to love about this book!! Tris and Rafe are rivals at work, but are forced to go to a tropical company leadership training together…. But their assistant accidentally only books one room. Plus there’s tons of competitions throughout this leadership training to earn a coveted spot in the company… que the chaos. I loved the beach vibe and the fancy hotel suite vibe!

I think anyone who’s ever been wronged at work will EAT THIS UP. Let’s just say there’s a little email at the end in which grievances are aired…. And it’s epic!

🏝️ workplace
🏝️ rivals to lovers
🏝️ woman in STEM x boss’s son
🏝️ forced proximity
🏝️ only one bed

There were so many funny parts that left me with a smirk!
➡️ “I know it’s childish, but I mouth the words I hate you as I exit the bar and return to my room.”
➡️ “Squeezing my hands, I force myself to look into the sun’s blinding light. Maybe if I fry my retinas, Rafe won’t be such a distraction.”

There were also swoony parts that left me with heart eyes!
😍 “I want someone who makes me feel a little like I’m...burning in the best kind of way.”
😍 “Ships sink. Tornadoes spin. Volcanoes erupt. No one has ever kissed me like this.”

This is a cute and fun work place romance. The characters are ok, but the banter is good and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

DNF at 48%

This book is the reason I loathe contemporary romance but I saw some people saying such good things I decided to give it a go. I should have just stuck to my preconceived notions.

Tris is the worst character I have ever read about. She thinks so highly of herself and believes she deserves the things she said she’s worked for but I see no evidence to support it. All I see is her hating those around her, thinking she is better than them but acting less than them.
Yes, she is in a male dominated field and yes, they are highly misogynistic but her reactions to her situation makes her seem like a whiny baby.

Throw in her feelings for Rafe and she is just acting like a damn child. I see that he is poking at her and that he enjoys it but she just comes off as hostile. Then when she wants to be nice and he responds in kind she gets angry and suspicious of him.

They had a nice moment up until that 48% mark and then her attitude ruins it again. I had to stop for peace of mind. I’ll skip to the end to see how it all plays out but I won’t keep reading this.

Not Safe for Work was a low stakes good time. While I didn't find myself overly invested in the characters, I DID find myself giggling and wondering what's coming next. The humor and semi "forbidden" romance kept me going in this book. If you are looking for an easy, comfortable rom com, this may be the book for you!

OMG! This was everything!!!

I loved the banter, the enemies to lovers work place set up. It was so dang good. This is how I want tropes I love written. I feel like we got a story told where tropes were highlighted perfectly without feeling like it was written to hit certain tropes.

Rafe and Trish are everything.

Not Safe For Work by Nisha J. Tuli is the story of Trishara and Rafe, co-workers and office rivals who are constantly competing with each other for recognition and promotion. They are both chosen to go to Hawaii for a corporate retreat and end up having to share a suite together. Sparks fly and competition becomes fierce during the retreat to be the best, but at what cost?

This is the first book by Nisha J. Tuli that I have read and I cannot wait to read more from her. I devoured this book, every barb, every spark, and every touch. Enemies to lovers is a fabulous trope and this one is crafted masterfully. The spice is top-notch and by the end I wanted so much more of their story. The difficulties Trishara faces at work is a true description of what women, and especially women of color, face on a daily basis and it is phenomenal to have a character that doesn’t shrug it off or roll over and take it. Bravo! Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I know some people won’t take this in a positive way though I mean for it to be so, but this book reminded me a lot of The Spanish Love Deception. A very broody man that the fmc views as her rival at work. However there’s been something simmering between them for years. So when they sent on a three week work trip to Hawaii together and have to share a room, things finally progress.

I really liked the fmc and appreciated the focus on being woman, particularly a woman of color, in a male dominated workplace. I was going back and forth on how much I liked the mmc and the romance portion though. Loved some moments but didn’t love some others. I think it would have been helpful for a few chapters from the mmc point of view so I could understand him a bit more. It felt like some things were brushed over and not addressed as much as I would have liked them to have been.

💻 workplace
🤭 rivals to lovers
🫶🏻 woman in STEM
🛏️ only one bed
❤️‍🔥 slow burn

single POV
4/5 stars ⭐️
2/5 spice level 🌶️

3 ⭐️

Trishara Malik wanted to break barriers at her company, but instead, her promotion went to Rafe—the boss’s son and her longtime rival. Burned out and frustrated, she’s surprised to be chosen for a leadership retreat in Hawaii, where she’ll compete for a career-boosting opportunity. The catch? Rafe’s going too. Worse, a booking mix-up forces them to share a honeymoon suite. While sparks fly and tensions rise, Tris starts to wonder if Rafe isn’t the enemy she thought he was—and maybe, just maybe, he’s been on her side all along.

This wasn’t my favorite enemies to lovers but overall it was enjoyable. I found the characters to be annoying and immature. Like just communicate already.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Tris and Rafe have been denying their chemistry for years in this enemies to lovers workplace romance. Tris is smart and determined, and her hot rival Rafe is the boss's son. A work trip to Maui leads to them sharing the honeymoon suite due to a booking error. Tris was going to avoid Rafe for the duration of the trip but with that no longer possible they start to break past the walls they have built and find they never really hated each other at all. This was a SLOW BURN. The characters had great chemistry, but some lack of communication was frustrating.

A fun summer read!

Publish Date: May 20th

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a hard review to write because honestly I wish I dnfed this book. The plot and pacing was not it and it felt like just a random dump of plot points. The topic itself regarding workplace sexism and racism was very important and I liked that but the rest of the book was not it unfortunately

First off, a HUGE thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Nisha Tuli for inviting me to read an early copy of this book. I am a HUGE Nisha Tuli fan, so getting to read her first contemporary romance was such a treat.

This book had everything that we love from Nisha’s fantasy novels. It was a rivals to lovers story but instead of being set in a mythical kingdom, she took us to the island of Hawaii and gave us a workplace drama with TONS of tension! From the beginning you know that Rafe & Tris love to hate each other and Nisha builds that tension for ⅔ of the book. As their hatred for each other softens, their banter turns more and more flirty and I was her for all of it!

While the romance between Rafe & Tris is the heart of the story, Nisha is also giving us a story about gender/racial discrimination in the workplace. I know she reflected on her own experiences in writing this, and I am extremely grateful that she used her platform as an author to shine a litght on this. The struggles that Tris went through in this book are real, and they are still happening to countless women in male dominated work environments.

This story flowed so well. The banter between our main characters was perfect as always. I loved that she took something like a work retreat and made it fun and flirty. The tropical setting of Maui was the perfect backdrop for Rafe and Tris to fall in love. It was just such a fantastic contemporary romance debut and I’m so glad I was able to read it.

Again, thank you to everyone for the opportunity to read this book. It was such a wonderful story and I truly loved it.

1.5 ⭐️ DNF at 30% - I’m very sad about this one! I went into reading with such high hopes as I’ve loved Nisha J. Tuli’s fantasy books and the synopsis sounded like something I would really enjoy. Unfortunately the story and characters fell flat for me. A few aspects of the plot were cute and had potential, especially the workplace romance, forced proximity, etc., but it was like every trope was being thrown at the reader in the first 15% of the book. Sadly it wasn’t engaging enough to keep me reading past 30%. I also struggled to connect with the FMC early on, which is such an important element to me in my reading. Her actions were very juvenile and unprofessional when it came to her business interactions, which was something I couldn’t get past.

While ‘Not Safe For Work’ just wasn’t for me, I appreciate the opportunity for an advanced reader copy. I extend my gratitude to Forever publishing and I look forward to future releases.

I can tell that Nisha J. Tuli is a good writer, but I don't know if she's a good plotter yet. Besides the FMC excelling in her high-powered, male-dominated field of engineering, so much of this romance was unoriginal and clichéd. Tris goes to a corporate retreat and gets stuck in a one-bedroom hotel room with her crush and nemesis, Rafe, son of the head of her firm, for three weeks. There are no other rooms available for three weeks? This retreat is three weeks? He absolutely can't room with a coworker or cousin or even his father, who are all in attendance? Make it make sense! Are there no other hotels in the area? In what world would HR be okay with this? Also, Tris HATES Rafe for a not-very-good-reason, but she clearly loves his body and can't stop looking at him and having indecent thoughts about him. I hated this lusty behavior so much. If I want ogling, I'll read the MMC POV of a terrible romance where all he does is sexualize the FMC. I'm supposed to respect Tris, but how can I do that when she's obsessed with Rafe's looks? Listen, he's got redeeming qualities, but Nisha J. Tuli making him a sweet Instagram baker with millions of followers who somehow don't know who he really is absolutely hackneyed. I can't suspend my disbelief about this. I can't believe this busy man is a baker, that people like his posts based on my knowledge of what people like on Instagram, that he doesn't like making a lot of money at all, that he wouldn't let his ex-fiancee who he's known his whole life know about this hobby, but somehow he told Tris and is comfortable with internet strangers seeing his face, and that he would livestream his life without warning the people in his life. It's all madness. I didn't think this baking career, which is supposed to illustrate his tenderness as a man, made sense or was cute at all. The circumstances in this book were so contrived that I really wanted to DNF. The chemistry between Tris and Rafe wasn't even that great...I just held on to see how the author would end this book. It must feel like I hated this book but in fact I just disliked it. I hope the next concept is better and she doesn't just rely on ALL the tropes in romance books. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC!

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to Nisha J. Tuli, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I had no idea this was Nisha’s rom-com debut omgg, this was so much fun! It’s been a while since I’ve read a rivals-to-lovers story, and this reminded me exactly why I love the trope so much.

Rafe and Tris had brilliant banter and undeniable chemistry. I think when two characters can really go toe-to-toe, matching each other’s energy, it adds a wonderful depth, especially when you get crumbs that they’ve been paying attention to one another all along. That moment of realisation is always a bit magical, especially in characters povs, and Tris and Rafe were no exception to that in the moments they shared.

I really appreciated that the author wasn’t afraid to explore what so many women face in male-dominated environments. As a woman of colour myself, it really resonated — we’re often expected to work twice as hard just to be seen, constantly overlooked for opportunities, and regularly subjected to misogynistic comments and micro-aggressions. It’s a vicious cycle that chips away at your confidence and sense of belonging, and honestly, it’s not talked about nearly enough.

It’s so important when authors choose to highlight these experiences in their work. It not only validates the reality many of us live through, but also encourages much-needed conversations. Tris was no exception to that, she was constantly overlooked and ignored by her male peers, and Nisha done a fantastic job portraying that in her writing. Also, I loved Tris’s resignation letter, it was very inspiring haha! 😂

This was a fantastic rom-com debut, and if Nisha writes more in this genre, I’ll definitely be reading them!

Tropes

🏝️Rivals to lovers
🧁Set in Hawaii
🏝️Women in stem
🧁Only one bed
🏝️Workplace romance

"Not Safe for Work" takes us into the male dominated world of engineering through a burned out woman of color in the field.

As we meet Trishara she's resigned to being passed over for another opportunity and weighing her options. She's also weighing her hatred/fascination with her workplace nemesis, Rafe.

Then in a twist she and Rafe end up at the same management retreat, in the same room, and preconcieved notions start to change.

Nisha J. Tuli creates an empowering world as Tris re-discovers her worth and her boundaries. Some of the scenarios are a little melodramatic-- but it is a rom-com-- so that's expected.

In Rafe we see a man at a crossroads-- can Tris empower him to fight for himself too?

It's a fun read with some deeper messages. I enjoyed it!