“My obsession that’s not an obsession has never been more obsessive.”

Enemies/Rivals to Lovers?? Consider me obsessed... This empowering engineering/STEM career focused read was the perfect pick me up after my last book. It has me dreaming of going on vacation desperately. Loved the characters and their growth!!

Pub Date May 20 2025

ARC provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley. Thank you.

review posted to NetGalley & Goodreads

If Nisha writes it, I will read it!!! This book was amazing. It touched on a lot of hot topics within the workplace such as diversity hires, sexism, nepotism, LGBTQ+ and women working in STEM in general. We get to see some amazing newly formed friendships, new relationships, and women making the choice to stand up for themselves no matter what that means for their future working careers. The romance was spot on and I am so here for the hidden passion of our MMC! Give me more!

NOT SAFE FOR WORK offers the fantasy of an "only one bed" island holiday / business retreat with your hot work rival. But its also anchored in the reality of the ongoing struggles of women and marginalized people in STEM fields. Nisha's expert hand and personal experience balanced these two themes to perfection. I loved reading Tris' journey to reclaiming her seat at the table as well as her heart's desire.

The hook of Tris and Rafe as rivals is so delicious, but then layer on the drama of fighting as flirting, he got the promotion she deserved, she’s been burned by a workplace relationship before, and he's dating someone hand-picked by his family. It's always been the wrong time for anything to spark from their attraction. But with time and space away from the office they find moments to be truthful (sometimes very revealing even) with eachother regarding work and their desire.

This might be Nisha's contemporary romance, but there were villains I full on wanted to stab like I was in an epic fantasy. Honestly, there is nothing more villainous than old boy's institutions. It's grossness was made extra horrible knowing how real it is. I urge you to read with patience as Tris navigates this space. It is frustrating when she allows certain micro aggressions from coworkers and yet has no problem telling Rafe off for defending her. Consider the balancing act she's had to maintain to be in her field. How Rafe wasn't a safe person for her due to his connection as the boss' son. It takes work and vulnerability and trust to make this relationship possible.

And yes. Rafe is hot. His signature lean and whisper for your ears only is a direct attact. Supper effective. I did not survive. Tris gets the worship she deserves. Explicitly delectable. Blushworthy spicy spice.

I recommend NOT SAFE FOR WORK - especially right now - for its championing of women in places of power. For celebrating rest and desire and passion. Cus in the end it's not Tris' job to change to fit a misogynistic work place, its their responsibility to do better. And Tris deserves the absolute best.

Thank you Netgalley & Forever / Grand Central Publishing for the advance digital copy to read and review.

Thank you Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review. I really liked the concept of this one and hadn’t read any of Nishas previous works (but heard good things about the romantasy series).

However this did not work for me and fell flat in many parts. I did enjoy the representation of bipoc women in STEM and how we see the toxic, and unfortunately real, dynamic in a male dominated workplace. I was intrigued with Tris and Rafes connection in the beginning, but as I kept reading, I couldn’t understand how we had gotten here. There was too much miscommunication and back and forth between them and became too repetitive. There was hardly any depth between them and didn’t really believe their connection.

Overall, the execution didn’t deliver what I was hoping for.

This was my first novel from Nisha Tuli and I'll definitely be going to read her back list! The writing style was very enjoyable and I liked the storyline. I did think the "enemies" part was a bit overhyped. Rafe and Trishara were workplace rivals at best. However overall, they went from not liking each other (supposedly) to liking each other and it was a perfect palate cleanser read in between heavier content books!

I wanted to love this, but the first half of the book was a bit of a slog unfortunately. I liked the way Tish stood up for herself and the way that part of her story ended, but the dynamic between her and Rafe wasn't great. I think in an enemies to lovers romance there's a very fine line between a playful rivalry and what feels malicious, enhanced when one of them is marginalized and the other holds a significant amount of power. The balance of that dynamic in this one feels off to me, particularly in the first half or so. I also think the book could really have benefited from dual POV. It gets significantly better when they're on the trip, and they grow on me, but the overall messiness of their dynamic (Hannah too) and refusal to communicate even the most basic of things makes it harder to root for them/enjoy the romance.

Oh my god Nisha J Tuli is now an auto buy author for me. I loved her romantasy series Artefacts of Ouranos. Reading Not Safe for Work was just the right amount of yearning, because lets be real Rafe does in fact yearn to be with Trish, that story really sells its self. These people who are rivals and may or may not like each other are forced to be on a work retreat... even better yet they have to share a suite AND there is only one bed.

I love the tropes in this book and the fact that we got it all set in the beautiful Hawaii backdrop, just perfect no notes. Nisha also does a really good job at setting a good pace for the story that makes you yourself yearn for the moment that they do actually get together wink wink. I couldn't have asked for a better book for summer.

I could not put this down! As a female engineer, I related to Tris almost immediately. I loved the way she portrayed Tris’ burnout and feeling stuck in her job. Honestly she was such a badass and loved how she questioned the decision for her being chosen for the retreat. I love how she stood up for Rafe against his dad and her f*ck you email was iconic as hell!

Tris and Rafe had so much tension! I loved them together, they had great banter, but I do wish we saw more of their interactions in the office.

This was such a cute romance, I hope Nisha does more in the future!! I LOVED her writing style.

I was super excited to get to read Nisha J Tuli’s new book since I love her fantasy novels and was super curious about how a contemporary romance would be from her.
I enjoyed this unique look into the engineering world with a fun vacation feeling spin to it. The novel hit the hard topics like sexism and racism in the workplace while also leaving room for a great romance to bloom. I will be honest the fmc was hard for me to like at first but she grew as a character a lot and became a part of both a friend group and relationship I enjoyed reading about. Needless to say I am looking forward to more from Nisha J Tuli’s new book in both the contemporary and fantasy world.

Squealed when she mentioned what was happening in her current read (IYKYK)! There were moments that I loved! The spice was great too. There were just also many moments I was left frustrated that overshadowed their story for me. Especially the constant miscommunication/lack of communication.
And then Trish… for an adult that’s trying to advance at her career, she could be extremely immature. I didn’t understand the pills either. It gave addiction vibes, but also left me wondering if she had an unknown medical condition causing the severe headaches.

Coming May 20, 2025! This delightful little escape is the debut contemporary romance from Nisha J Tuli 💜 The way I devoured this book! The female lead was funny and smart. While the book is a rom-com, it also delves into more serious topics like toxic workplaces and micro-aggressions. Not to spoil anything but there's a letter at the end that is chef's-kiss-perfection!

🌺 Forced Proximity
🌺 Work Place
🌺 One Bed
🌺 Enemies to Lovers
🌺 Slow Burn
🌺 Yearning

Thank you to the author, Forever Publishing, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

I picked this book up solely for the WOC representation though I'm not biracial. I went into this knowing there would be a good deal of smut which I don't enjoy but I'm not judging that because this was my choice. I didn't find Trishara to be very likeable unfortunately, a lot of interactions involving her felt super immature, especially for her age. Some things felt so off like something a teenager would do, not a grown woman on a work trip. Yes, there's angst and banter and a handful of scenes that I enjoyed, but also there's so much that didn't add up especially when I grabbed this book wanting a touch of reality (and I don't think I was wrong in expecting that.

NISHAAAAA 🥵 dipping her toes in the realm of contemporary romance and boy she did not disappoint. I love everything she writes so I’m not surprised but I genuinely loved this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hackett Book Group for the this ARC. The experiences shared in this book really resonated with me, as I’m sure they do with most women who have worked in male dominated fields. It was handled well and wasn’t over done. Not being able to relate to your coworkers while they make no effort to relate to you is a scar for me, so my rating does not reflect how I feel about the quality of this book, it was just very triggering.

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.”