Tropes: enemies to lovers, shared bed, workplace romance

the enemies to lovers thing works here. I could feel the loathing steering between the lines of attraction. and I understood why our fmc (trishara) disliked the mc (rafe). meanwhile, these people were booked into a suite for a work trip... I buy it. so, in sum, I found that the workplace romance and the shared bed tropes worked for this book.

however, I REALLY OFTEN DISLIKE WORKPLACE ROMANCES 🗣️ not because there is anything inherently wrong with it, but because authors often make their characters be really inappropriate at work and I hate that. it's sets feminism back 100 years.

trishara is an absolute queen and it felt very out of character for her to be like that while on the clock. and then, in fact, was so unsubtle that she was concerned people heard them. girly. if you're like that at work, you don't deserve the promotion. you deserve jail time.

overall though, this book still had many cute moments and I would recommend. if you like this, also try Farrah heron.

BK-R
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POV: 1st Person, FMC POV

Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for an honest review!

This wasn’t my cup of tea. I do believe there is a market for it. This is a a grumpy-grumpy romance with an agenda. Pushing a toxic workplace and corporate corruption.

In this book we follow Trishara, who is engrossed in an environment of corporate America as an engineer. She is in an engineer field she doesn’t want to be in but felt like she couldn’t get a job anywhere else.

I felt like Tishara was so hot or cold and whiny. In a book like this, I feel like the author is trying to connect with people through this hardship. I didn’t connect and was very frustrated with the FMC.

When I’m reading, I prefer to not be so entwined with the real world issues where they feel like they are trying to slap you in the face, and if you didn’t live through something similar you are lesser. It was very frustrating.

I would recommend this to people who want a romance that is saturated with real world implications & like the grumpy-grumpy trope
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Spicy Chapters: 22, 23, 24, 25

Had really high hopes for this enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance. I struggled to connect with the chemistry of the couple. I found the concept interesting but I wasn’t sold on the romance. The steamy part was great but that might have been the best part for me. I liked that the protagonist stood up for herself and fought microagressions. There were a lot of good elements, it just didn't hit for me.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the complimentary e-ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Trishara’s promotion was just passed to her boss’s son Rafe and both of them get to go to a corporate retreat for three weeks.

The premise sounds simple- enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one room but the characters’s backgrounds, their ambitions and dreams that what draw me into this book and many other details. I enjoyed how characters opened up and developed.

ARC review for Not Safe For Work by JNisha J Tuli

Thanks to Nisha and NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

Featured tropes: enemies/rivals to lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance, slooooow burn, vacation romance (ish. They're there for work but, well, it's three weeks in Hawaii soooo...), only one bed, STEM rep, workplace competition, he falls first

Trigger warning: pretty tame. Casual alcohol use, reference to past oversight of FMC, in a workplace environment, workplace nepotism, sexual proposition

Review: 3.5/5

Think Ali Hazelwood with a slightly more mature FMC and you've got NSFW.

Things I liked:
- I really enjoyed Rafe as the MMC. We don't get his perspective which bummed me out a little simply because I think I would have really enjoyed reading it. Homeboy knew he liked our FMC, Trishara but recognized she wasn't in a place for it when they first met but it all finally came together for them a few years down the road. Hearing his inner monologue about that would have been fun.
- I mostly liked Trishara (more on the mostly down below). Overall, she was a strong FMC who did what she could to excel in a male-dominated world. And we love to see that. She'd been beaten down several times over and, while on the edge of giving up, seized the opportunity she was given and making something of herself with it. That piece of her character was great. I also loved how quickly she formed female friendships with others at the retreat. So often you get the mean girl, bully-type character but none of that here. It was refreshing to have the opposite presentation.
- The concept of the story was fun. The workplace retreat and the tropical setting were a great backdrop for this story.
- I don't want to dive into spoilers but Trishara's email? Chef's damn kiss. SO good and a wonderful "stick it to the man" kind of moment!

Things I disliked or missed the mark:
- I'll be honest, it took me a bit to get into the story. Like, when I say slow burn, I mean it's like 70% in before you get even a little morsel of them breaking through the barriers. I don't mind a slow burn but even the first few chapters just seemed to move slow. It definitely took me longer to read this than a comparable book typically does.
- While I enjoyed Trishara as a character, she also made me want to scream. She has some trauma and manipulation in her past. I am NOT denying that. It's absolutely present and has undoubtedly shaped her as a person. But not in the best of ways. She had her emotions so locked down tight, she became infuriating. Like, what she dealt with was no joke. Girl should have been in therapy, if anything, just to have someone to talk to or to help her see other angles. She often had such emotional whiplash, it was a wonder Rafe kept chugging forward after all those years. I'm not saying therapy solves everything but for a girl as smart and otherwise intelligent as Trishara, I think it would have really helped her.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. If the first few chapters feel long, I think it worth pushing through. Once I got through the first 25% or so, I flew through the remainder of the book in a few hours.

Honestly such an amazing romance book! So many of the reviews mentioned how spicy this book was, and I don’t like my books *too* spicy and this was just right! So well done and I’d recommend it to any romance lover! Unique setting and great characters.

I love this cover, and it is hands down one of my 2025 favorite covers. I really related to Trishara's unfortunate backstory with being passed over at work, even when you're the most qualified. Unfortunately Rafe didn't quite feel like a LI I would root for Trishara to put her career on the line for.

Nisha J. Tuli this book made me a fan! I loved this book! The forced proximity was done so so well! The one bed situation, just everything about this story! Trishara Malik was such a baddass FMC! Truly I found her to be a great mix of fierce, witty, and vulnerable that I just feel in love with her! I adore her!
I also fell in love with Rafe Gallagher! How he loved and when he loved! Boy oh boy! When the slow burn hit, did it hit!!! Overall it was a fun book, and when the book hit the real world issues like racial and gender inequalities in the workplace I was hooked and what Trishara did in the end made me such a fan! I will never not recommend this book and I am hoping I can meet the author soon to thank her for such a fun book!

Thank you @foreverpub for my copy!

I love a strong FMC, especially in what is typically a male dominated profession. Trishara is smart, fierce, and extremely likable. I also really liked Rafe as the MMC. This was very much a slow burn, but the tension was everything!! I loved their banter— such a good rivals to lovers romance. I also loved the setting of Hawaii, making a great summer romance read. Highly recommended this one!

Read if you enjoy:
✔️Enemies to lovers
✔️Slow burn
✔️Women in STEM
✔️Workplace/work retreat
✔️One bed
✔️Forced proximity

I loved this one so much. This is enemies to lovers in a contemporary setting done right. The tension was so palpable. Everyone could see it but Tris. I’m so glad they communicated like healthy adults and that she told the company off!!

I wanted to love it. But I was bored and almost dnfd it. I found Tris annoying and Rafe just bland. I could care less if they got together at the end.

Well hello Ms Nisha!!! I have known you as a fantasy writer but now this! Whew!

Not Safe for Work is just what it says! This steamy (❤️‍🔥 on our meter) story of workplace enemies to lovers had me hooked and gasping.

Rafe and Tris work at the same engineering firm. The firm that has seen her, as a BIPOC woman, be passed up for promotion after promotion, while he, as the boss’s son, is in a privileged and rewarded position. But as you might expect, there is more to his story, and Tris finds that out when they are both sent to Hawaii for a work retreat.

I loved it and read it in one sitting. And now it’s your turn!!

This was giving vacation romance in the best way! I loved the workplace aspect of it and the storyline was so fun. Tris and Rafe were so good together, but sometimes their animosity was kind of cringy. I loved how the book touched on sexism and racism in the workplace and in more male-centered fields and the ending was quite satisfying. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This workplace, rivals-to-lovers, only one bed / only one suite romance takes our FMC and MMC out of the office and whisks them away to a resort in Hawaii.

Read it for
- Rafe (full stop)
- The slow burn
- The tension and chemistry between Tris and Rafe
- The South Asian-American representation
- The dirty talk
- How Tris reevaluates how she approaches business and what she’s willing to accept

I was able to relate to many of the workplace experiences—except being taken to a business retreat in a tropical locale—but, while reading and reliving those types of encounters through Trishara’s narrative was uncomfortable, it also felt good to see them called out on the page.

My main quibbles with the book involve the situation with Rafe’s ex and the migraine representation.

Soneela Nankani does a fantastic job with the narration of this one. I’ve listened to a handful of audiobooks narrated by her now, and she’s quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators. I liked how she captures Trishara’s personality and enjoyed her voice for Rafe.

I received an advance copy of the ebook from Forever and an advance copy of the audiobook from Hachette Audio. All review opinions are my own.

I devoured Nisha Tuli's Artefacts of Ouranos series and absolutely knew I needed to be one of the first people to read her first contemporary romance! Let me tell you, Not Safe for Work needs to be on your radar!

Trishara Malik (Tris) is a female engineer with big dreams of rising to the top of her profession. Instead, Tris' promotion goes Rafe Gallagher, her sworn nemesis and her boss' son. On the verge of a breakdown, Tris makes a difficult decision to attend her company's corporate leadership retreat in an effort to revive her career in paradise. The only downside to this decision is that Rafe will be her co-attendee and she'll have to do everything in her power to rise above. And if you things can't get worse for Tris, you'd be wrong. Tris and Rafe show up in Maui and due to a booking error they're sharing the honeymoon suite.

Oh. My. Goodness. This book is filled with tension and a rather spicy, but slow-burn (no complaints on that front) enemies to lovers story that I simply could not put down. I loved that Tris was confident and bold. It's too often that women are painted as meek and insecure and I wish more authors would lean into making their characters like Tris. I also love a workplace romance and this book had the perfect twist by taking it out of the office and placing it in an external workplace setting.

Thank you so much to Forever for my e-ARC!

I love when I can find a new-to-me author. Several months ago, one of my trusted book friends made sure to tell me to check out Nisha J. Tuli. The Canadian author is known for her fantasy books but Not Safe for Work is her first contemporary romance. Seemed like a good enough reason for me to check it out! While I enjoyed my time reading this book, it left me wanting more.

Here’s the book’s description:

Engineer Trishara Malik once dreamed of being the first woman of color to smash the glass ceiling at WMC Purcell, but after years of dealing with white male privilege and blatant nepotism, she watches her hard-earned promotion go to her nemesis, Rafe Gallagher—the boss’s son. Teetering on the edge of burnout, Tris is stunned when she’s picked to attend WMC's corporate leadership retreat in Hawaii. It’s a chance to revive her stalled career and compete for a coveted spot in an executive training program—plus, three weeks in paradise! The only downside? Rafe is her co-attendee.

Tris plans to avoid Rafe entirely, but when she arrives in Maui, a booking error has them stuck sharing the honeymoon suite. Sure, it’s not all torture. Rafe is a smoldering ten—okay fine, an eleven—but after years of competition, they can barely stand being in the same time zone. As they vie against each other during aptitude tests and team-building exercises, Tris begins to realize Rafe might not be the villain after all. With her dreams at stake, can she learn to trust the man who might have been standing in her corner all along?

One thing you need to know about me is I don’t love the enemies-to-lovers trope. Jane Austen did it perfectly and most others don’t work for me. The trope in this book, surprise, did not work for me. There was absolutely no good reason for Tris and Rafe to hate each other. None. So it just came across as petty and was not fun to read.

I do love a good forced proximity trope, though, and this one delivered. I mean, hello, there was only one bed! Being forced to share the hotel room (oh, pardon me, the honeymoon suite) allowed for a few really sweet scenes between Tris and Rafe (and, yes, steamy scenes, too!). They were able to connect and actually get to know each other without having to be out in public with their colleagues in the resort.

The characters in this book were…fine. A lot of reviews have said Tris is a strong, badass woman. And she is…sort of. She stands up for herself, which I absolutely applauded. She’s in an industry where, as a woman, she’s constantly having to work harder. And a woman of colour? Oof, she’s gotta hustle. But she also doesn’t really believe in herself and was letting a past experience prevent her from getting unstuck from a job she clearly hates. (The past experience was hellish and I’m not trying to downplay it or suggest that she should have magically moved on - there was stuff to work through, for sure.) She also often acted extremely immaturely and it just didn’t seem to suit who she was supposed to be as a character.

Not Safe for Work is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity romp of a romance set on an island paradise. Nisha J. Tuli has written a romance that many readers may enjoy - I just wasn’t really one of them. I still might try another of her contemporary stories if she tries her hand at one again.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

A quick, fun read. Good banter and whitty main characters. I enjoyed the overall premise and the epilogue was a fun addition. Thanks for the ARC Book Huddle!

Not Safe for Work is the perfect summer read!

This book was addicting and impossible to put down. I finished it on a weekend getaway and it was the perfect length! The author did an amazing job showing how women of color and women in general are treated in a male dominated industry.

The chemistry between the two main characters was insane and I kept yelling at them to just get together already lol!! This is a delicious slow burn so be prepared for the build up. But the banter between Tris and Rafe will have you laughing out loud and enjoying the ride.

I think Nisha J. Tuli did an amazing job on her debut rom-com and look forward to reading whatever she has in store for us next!

Trishara is a female engineer who is feeling burned out by work, feeling like things might be coming to an end at her job, and they offer her the chance to attend a corporate leadership retreat in Hawaii. The downside, she has to go with her boss's son, Rafe. She does not like Rafe at all. Of course, there is a hotel mix-up up and these two have to share a room for three weeks.

I would have liked a POV from Rafe to understand their "rivalry" better. Only hearing Trishara's side made me get annoyed with her more easily when she was their rivalry. Several moments of miscommunication could have been easily solved. There was great banter and steamy moments. You can never go wrong with a one-bed romantic comedy, though!

Thank you for this e-arc!

What an absolutely awesome read - from start to finish the MCs had me cackling and kicking my feet, their chemistry was spot on and the spice was spicayyy once it hit! I found there was a really great balance between the romance and plot, and I really appreciated how Nisha showed Tris navigating the obstacles and gate keeping that comes with being a woman in a male dominated field. Chapter 28 had me doing a mental fist pump. Will definitely be doing a reread of this book!