Not Safe For Work was a smart, funny, and full of longing and spice. It has all my favorite components of a strong romantic comedy. Rivals to lovers in a forced proximity situation, a fierce, confident female lead and a male lead who adores her but is also a fully developed character in his own right.

This book takes on sexism, racism, and nepotism in the workplace, and the realities of being a woman, especially a BIPOC woman, in a male-dominated field. Every conflict in this book feels grounded in reality, while you also still get to enjoy two very hot people falling in love.

This is my summer beach read recommendation! I want a Rafe of my own and I want to be a Tris.

4.5 ⭐️ /5
2.5 🌶️/5

We get:
STEM work enemies (to lovers)
Slow burn
Butterflies and tummy tingles
Single POV
Workplace / vacation romance
Women of color representation

Rafe is the hot nepo baby and Tris is a woman in STEM trying to make it in the male dominated “boys club” field. Look, I work HR so admittedly
workplace romances always have me cringing, but this book is good enough to have me peeking out behind my fingers covering my eyes.

I love how Rafe and Tris slow burn through each others hard outer layers, and find out who they really are instead of who life forced them to be. This book gives passion and tummy tingles and reminds you to be brave enough to believe in yourself.

Not Safe For Work is a bold and engaging romance that balances humor and emotional depth. The prose is sharp, witty, and full of clever observations, which makes it an easy and captivating read. Tuli's writing style stands out for its smooth, conversational tone that keeps the pages turning without feeling rushed. The chemistry between the characters is electric, and the dialogue is snappy and authentic, which adds to the overall charm. The story itself is both heartwarming and steamy, with moments of tension that keep things exciting. The balance of lightheartedness with deeper themes makes it an enjoyable and refreshing read, perfect for fans of romance with a dash of workplace drama.

Not Safe for Work by Nisha J Tuli
Contemporary diverse romance.
Trishara Malik works for WMC Purcell. As an engineer, she thought she was on the fast track to smash the glass ceiling as a woman of color. Instead she is passed over in favor of the boss’s son, Rafe Gallagher over and over. On the verge of leaving, Tris is stunned to learn she is scheduled to attend the corporate leadership retreat in Hawaii. She’s not happy that Rafe will also be attending but it’s an opportunity she can’t turn down. A booking error has Tris and Rafe staying together in the same suite and working together on projects as they grow the antagonistic attitude into attraction and lust.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook copy and an audiobook narrated by Soneela Nankani who did a great job on the full unabridged story. I heard anger and lust in the performance and so many other emotions as the story continued.
The audiobook is a wonderful alternative to try.

Smart, stem related and romantic as Tris finds out that Rafe has in her corner all along. Sigh.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Hachette Audio.

This was an absolute joy to read! It’s funny and relatable and spicy and I couldn’t put it down. My background is in engineering and I really felt this one!

Tris and Rafe have this delicious tension between them. They are workplace rivals and frankly Tris is exhausted…they end up at a company retreat and accidentally have to share a room. Let the games begin!

The banter between them was so funny - I found myself laughing out loud several times. Rafe is brooding at times (and the owner’s son) but underneath is actually very sweet. He definitely shows up for Tris when it matters.

Tris is smart and witty and I loved her as the FMC. We see her deal with micro aggressions and being passed over for a promotion - the author does an excellent job weaving some of these bigger topics into her story.

✨What To Expect:
💖Romantic Comedy
🌴Tropical Getaway
🧡Work Place Romance
❤️‍🔥Rivals To Lovers
🌺Forced Proximity
🛏️One Bed…And One Pillow
⚛️Women in STEM
🧠Migraine Rep

This was a solid beach-vibes romcom. I did like the main characters, but I wasn’t particularly “wow’d” by them. Their banter was great, but sometimes they both crossed that line a bit into mean.

I was hooked in the beginning, but the pace was a little slow to me somewhere in the middle. I definitely could have lived without the ex-girlfriend drama.

By the end, I was rooting for the main characters.

NSFW is a delightful summer read! If you like a slow burn, a workplace rivals to lovers arc, and romances that take place on a vacation - PICK THIS UP!

Our FMC Trishara is a certified baddie. She is brilliant, funny, driven, hot AF and has been put through the wringer as a brown woman in STEM. When she is chosen to attend a leadership retreat in Hawaii, she is forced to share the honeymoon suite with her work nemesis Rafe.

Rafe is charismatic, stupid beautiful, and the son of the company’s senior VP. His most redeeming quality is that he’s obsessed with our girl Trish. Frankly, that’s enough for me.

Despite their history of petty office pranks and heated arguments made solely for the sake of disagreeing, Trish and Rafe seize the opportunity that Hawaii provides them to allow their walls to come down. Specifically, Rafe goes to bat for Trish constantly: comforting her when she’s anxious, protecting her from grimy coworkers and management, and reminding her how amazing she is when she forgets herself. In return, Trish sees Rafe for the full person he is and encourages him to step outside the corporate box his family has tried to trap him in.

This book is a true slow burn with the perfect mix of sweetness, spice, and humor. We also dip our toes into the serious challenges of being a woman of color in a white male dominated space. Definitely recommend this one!

What a fantastic debut! Funny and sexy while also really nailing what it feels like to be a woman of color in a primary male industry and the icky feeling of knowing you are being used as a diversity quota. Also a super hot romance. Rafe’s forearms oh my!!!

I really enjoyed this fun book that was a lighthearted romcom but also a story of women in STEM and the way they're treated and marginalized in the workplace.

Tris and Rafe are rival engineers. He's the bosses son, and was given a promotion that should have gone to Tris. The two are selected to go to Hawaii for three weeks for a leadership conference. Spending that much time with Rafe is Tris's idea of a nightmare, especially when they're accidentally booked to the honeymoon suite at the resort. As the days go on, the two of them come to terms with their true feelings for each other, as well as their own dreams and hopes for the future.

There was so much I liked about this book. Tris and Rafe had great chemistry and I loved their banter and bickering. It was a very slow-burn romance, which built up the angst and desire between the two of them. Once they finally acknowledged their feelings, it was so fun to see them together. The way Rafe treated her and spoke to her was swoony, especially when he defended her against some of the other men at their company retreat. There was a little bit of other woman drama in the form of Rafe's ex-girlfriend, who aggravated me so much. I wanted to shake Rafe and tell him he needed to set that woman straight once and for all! But I loved how both main characters showed growth over the course of the book and figured out what they wanted from life. And watching Tris stand up for herself against the men in her company had me cheering!

I definitely think this book is perfect for romcom lovers, especially if you enjoy rivals to lovers, forced proximity, women in STEM and men who are obsessed with their women!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever publishing for the e-arc of this book!

3.5/5 stars - Thank you to Forever Pub for the gifted ebook. Trishara was a strong, fun, and smart character to follow. I loved how she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself when it came to sexism and racial microaggressions at work. The majority of the book is set in Hawaii and sets the perfect vibe for summer!

But I wish I had learned more about Rafe, the MMC! He had a lot of potential, but his character was a little one-dimensional. Their rivalry also seemed very one-sided. Overall, this was a cute read, and I would recommend it if you enjoy:

-Brown women in STEM rep
-Chronic migraine rep
-Workplace romance
-Slow burns
-Rivals to lovers
-Forced proximity

I swear to god, there's crack in this book!!! This was my first time reading Nisha J Tuli, but I know for certain it won't be my last.

Tris and Rafe are SO HOT!!! There's just something about forced proximity, specifically when both parties can't stand each other. The banter was fire, the sexual chemistry was off the charts, and the commentary about women in STEM workplaces was poignant. I loved this book from start to finish and I think it's a must-read for any romcom lover.

If there's something I'm going to do, it's going to be read anything Nisha J. Tuli writes! In this book we book we get a deliciously hot slow burn with tons of social commentary about racism and sexism. This book is perfection & yet another reason why reading (and romance as a genre!) is political & important. I was giggling and curling my toes through this one for sure.

4.5 ⭐️

This was so fun! Forced proximity, one-sided enemies to lovers, one bed, are all some of my favorite tropes and they were all very well done. The women in tech representation was done to perfection. This was my first book by Nisha and I hope she does more contemporary romance

Not Safe for Work and an amazing transition into contemporary romance for Nisha J Tuli. I loved her fantasy series and this book lived up to her previous writing.

Not Safe for Work follows Trishara as she navigates toxic male work culture while trying to avoid an enemy she can't stop thinking about in all the best ways.

Nisha's writing was fantastic and really gave a breath of fresh air to what could have been a run of the mill romance. I love that her FMC was a typical brown girl without being too overtop. Both leads were very relatable. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Nisha.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance arc for an honest review!

This book follows Trishara Malik and Rafe Gallagher. This is a workplace enemies to lovers romance, with a grump sunshine. Other tropes that are included are the single room, then to single bed trope.

I really enjoyed the banter throughout this book. I really felt the chemistry between the two characters and I love the he falls first type romances. I also appreciated there wasn't really a third act break up which is always my pet peeve.

Overall a really fun read that I finished in a day and. half.

Not Safe for Work is a delightful romance escape! The perfect summer read. Tris and Rafe are engaged in a lot of not appropriate for work behavior. I love their rivalry and tension. Tris deals with a lot of sexism and microaggressions in the workplace. This is an important them that adds to the story. I also loved the theme of finding your place and pursuing a career that makes you happy. I found the 3 week in Hawaii training program a little unbelievable. Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for this eARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.5/5
Book: Not Safe for Work by Nisha J. Tuli
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: May 20, 2025

I had such a great time with this one! Not Safe for Work delivers all the best tropes—enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one bed (!!)—but what really stood out to me was how refreshing it felt to see a smart, capable South Asian woman at the center of it all. Trishara Malik is sharp, ambitious, and so easy to root for. She has been passed over for a promotion (to the boss’s son, no less), totally burnt out from the grind, but still shows up swinging—with heart, sharp comebacks, and serious hustle.

Set against the lush backdrop of a company retreat in Maui, the tension between Trishara and Rafe is perfectly paced, layered with snark, slow-burn chemistry, and real emotional stakes. I loved that the story not only explored romance but also tackled workplace inequality and burnout in a way that felt relevant and honest. Plus, Rafe’s character arc was a pleasant surprise—he is not just the typical office golden boy, and I appreciated how their dynamic shifted as Tris began to let her guard down.
This book had heart, humor, heat, and representation—and I will always show up for that. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves a romance with substance, sharp banter, and strong, emotionally intelligent leads.

P.S. Snapped this at my very real team-building event. Felt appropriate since the book also dives into workplace chaos—minus (thankfully) some of the drama.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @readforeverpub for sending me this lovely advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

#NotSafeforWork #NetGalley

**𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒃𝒚 𝑵𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑱. 𝑻𝒖𝒍𝒊

Release Date: May 20, 2025

4.5⭐️4🌶

Trishara Malik has been an engineer at WMC for the last 5 years, and has been passed over for a promotion that should have been hers 3 times.

Rafe Gallagher, the boss’s son, has been her rival almost from day one at WMC. They seem to constantly disagree on project details, and he's taken to stealing her stapler regularly while she unplugs his computer monitors.

Trishara has had just about enough of WMC when she's offered a three week Corporate retreat in Hawaii. The only catch is that she has to spend those three weeks with her least favorite coworker Rafe, who just so happens to look like a younger Henry Cavill. She had planned to spend as much time on her own as possible while at the retreat, but things to NOT go as planned where Rafe is concerned.

I love the banter between these too. Plus, I'm also a woman in engineering, so a lot of these scenes make complete sense to me. The descriptions of Hawaii are also a fun and blissful read.

Themes/Tropes:
🍁Enemies to lovers
🍁Workplace Romance
🍁Forced Proximity
🍁Slow Burn
🍁Vacation in Paradise

TW:
✨Sexist coworkers
✨Misogyny
✨Inappropriate workplace comments
✨Explicit Sex Scenes

#books #reader #bookstagrammer #arcreader #arcreview #arcreviews #advancedreadercopy #fantasy #darkfantasy #romantasy #readerofinstagram #newreleasebook #notsafeforwork #nishajtuli #romcom #romanticcomedy #contemporaryromance #workplaceromance #slowburn #vacationinparadise

Are you a fan of…

🏝️Only one bed
🏝️Women in STEM
🏝️Ketchup & mayo
🏝️Banter and pranks as flirting
🏝️The Hating Game vibes
🏝️Secret drawings & secret baking
🏝️Hawaiian setting
🏝️Wedding crashing
🏝️Spicy, but sloooow burn romance
🏝️An MMC who's a dirty talker and texter

If so…

Not Safe For Work is Nisha J. Tuli's first contemporary romance. I am a BIG fan of her Artefacts of Ouranos series, so I was very excited to read her very first contemporary romance.

Not Safe For Work was the perfect read for me because it has some of my favorite tropes and microtropes, all wrapped up in one book. The banter, the pining, the fact Rafe turns into his inner caveman around Trishara... SO GOOD. It's also the perfect time of year for a tropical setting. This should be everyone's beach read this summer.

If you've ever felt undervalued in the workplace, especially if you're a woman, and even more so, a woman of color, you're really going to love this book. Trishara was based on Nisha's real experience as a woman of color in STEM and it really adds to the relatability of the character.

Rafe is the MMC we all hope a strong FMC like Trishara gets; one who is secretly obsessed with her and sees her for who she is. He definitely deserves a spot on Book Boyfriend Island™️. There was so much yearning, tension and build up, but it leads to a BIG payoff.

Overall, I absolutely loved it and am looking forward to more from her, both contemporary and fantasy. I also loved the nod to AoO for those of us who've read the series. This is going to be in a top favorites wrap-up post at the end of the year, I just know it.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central) Publishing. I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

As an HR professional, I often struggle with workplace romances. But this one was fun!!

Being a woman in a male dominated field can be difficult to navigate. I appreciated how the misogyny was represented and dealt with in the book (but wish it wasn’t the reality woman are faced with)