I ate this story up with a spoon. I need it immediately optioned for a movie so I can have it playing on repeat. I have obnoxiously recommended it to everyone I've met and I do not anticipate myself stopping anytime soon. This is a fun, fast work place rivals to lovers like The Hating Game on a work retreat.

Thank you so much to Nisha J Tuli and Forever Publishing for this immensely cute and spicy break from my current fantasy reads. I received this title as an ARC but I attest that my opinions are left honestly and voluntarily.

I am obsessed with Nisha's Artefacts of Ouranos series and was shocked to receive this ARC after I got the ARC for Tale of the Heart Queen! Not Safe for Work was a fun easy romance read comparatively. I actually read it on my way to Hawaii which was so fun! I loved Rafe and Tris! It was sweet to see Tris vulnerability and how Rafe was always aware of her needs. I would recommend this to anyone who's looking for a fun, easy beach read!

“I want someone who makes me feel a little like I’m…burning in the best kind of way.”

A fun romp on a tropical island…what more could you ask for?

What I liked:

Such a fun rivals to lovers. The banter between Trishara and Rafe was so good.

We love a woman in STEM novel. I know absolutely nothing about engineering, but I enjoyed reading a little about Trishara’s job.

Very steamy. Rafe is *chef’s kiss* and the chemistry was there.

What didn’t work for me:

There were a few little things that I didn’t love, but nothing too wild.

SOOO SOO GOOD! I loved the tension and slow burn. I kept yelling at them to kiss already after every jab and smirk. I flew through this so quickly because the banter was off the charts and the heat was hot! This is a top tier rivals to friends(ish) to lovers story. This is my first Nisha J. Tuli book but definitely not my last! I am so excited to read more of her books. Also interconnected series?? Give Molly a HEA too!

eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Nisha and I enjoyed it! It is the perfect quick beach romcom. It dealt with serious matters in regards to diversity and racism in the workplace well. The romance was cute and fluffy, I loved all the tropes, especially the “one-bed trope”. Overall I would recommend!

I received an ARC of Not Safe for Work on NetGalley. I’ve read many of Nisha’s work in the fantasy realm so I wanted to dive into this one too! I enjoyed it. It was steamy- only one bed! The toxic work environment was heavily detailed in this book and clearly was stemmed from some real world experience (unfortunately). Overall an interesting, great read!

✅ Trishara (Tris) Malik & Rafe Gallagher, both engineers at a family run business. Rafe is son and nephew to two of the six people who lead the firm (nepo baby)
✅ both sent to a three week leadership retreat in Hawaii
✅ enemies (one sided, from her) to lovers. She hates him for being a nepo baby but she’s also v attracted to him bc hotness - “looks just like Henry Cavill if he was ten years younger”
✅ this book is genuinely very funny.
✅ forced proximity
🌶️: such a delicious slow burn

Trish is an engineer who dreamed of smashing the glass ceiling and truly making a difference in the world. After years of dealing with sexism, racism and nepotism this dream has been basically beaten out of her as she watches her less qualified male counterparts get promotion after promotion while she is left stagnant, She is then stunned when she is one of two chosen to represent the company at a retreat. The other chosen is her rival and boss's son Rafe. She plans to avoid him but instead they get stuck together in the same room. Tris begins to discover that Rafe might not have been her villain this whole time and that there is a lot more to him then meets the eye.

I loved this book, the banter, the tension and the relationship growth were all so good. I loved both Trish and Rafe's characters they felt realistic and you were routing for them. I love a good rivals to lovers and this definitely delivered, the competitiveness between them added to the tension. I thought Nisha did a great job of putting into words how it can feel to a woman in the STEM field at times and I loved seeing Trish struggle with it but ultimately stick to what she believes in and try to build her career into something she truly wants instead of settling for good enough. I also really enjoyed her showing that Trish has a chronic illness without making it her entire personality. I cannot wait for this book to come out so I have people to talk about it with.

This was my first Nisha J. Tuli book, and it did not disappoint!! As a woman in STEM in corporate America, so much of this was disturbingly spot on. I found Tris's defeat and complacency with her career and company were so relatable, and I loved watching her break through it. It was refreshing to read a rom-com where I was crushing on the FMC over the MMC. No complaints. Can't wait to visit the author's fantasy books! Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC

I really enjoyed this modern STEM romance!

The plot was familiar, but I eat this stuff up. I was rooting for Tris the entire time, and I was very curious about how the story was going to end. I was satisfied.

I felt like this story was a good length, and had decent pacing. I feel like if it was any longer it, there was potential for it to have dragged.

I didn't care for the third act breakup, and I think that is where my rating lost a star. If we didn't have that very short breakup, I would have absolutely given this a 5/5.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this one!

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for this early copy!

Rival engineers dabble in personal chemistry while at a tropical company retreat in this smart, zippy romcom.

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?

Forced Proximity? Only one bed? Work rivals to lovers? All of those things are like cat nip to me. However, this book didn't quite do it for me. I was a little unclear about why the rivalry started in the first place. and why it should sustain. We spend all of our time with Trishara and her perspective, but she proved to be an unreliable narrator. I wish we could spend some time with Rafe to learn about his perspective and give us a fuller view. I would also have taken the perspectives of some of the other people who were at the retreat. That said, things wrapped up nicely and the spicy scenes were good.

I am rating this 2.75 stars.

After reading Trial of the Sun Queen, I was a bit skeptical going into this one because of the genre switch, but I am here to say that Nisha J. Tuli can indeed write a killer romcom. This book follows Trish, a woman in a male dominated company, who is one of the few selected for an opportunity for an internship program. The reward is a business trip to Hawaii- but there’s a catch; she must go with her workplace rival, Rafe. Although this book is marketed as enemies to lovers, I found that I never felt that strong hatred that makes up most enemies to lovers situations. I do think this situation is on the unique side though, because the author jumps right into the main plot almost immediately. The character development and interactions were written beautifully, and I did feel a strong connection to the characters. As a woman, the struggles that Trish faces are relatable, and I think it’s important for women to know they are not alone.

Features-
- Workplace romance
- Enemies to lovers
- Romcom
- One bed
- Women in STEM
- Slow burn
- Touch her and die

Workplace Romance is not my favorite trope but when I heard Nisha J. Tuli was releasing one I knew she was going to be the one to change my mind. Tris and Rafe's chemistry pops off the page. I was giggling, kicking my feet, twirling my hair over their banter. Tris is just mean enough to Rafe and I like that in an FMC. The Burn is slow, the spice is spicing, the work trip one bed trope is one bed trope-ing. I have loved Nisha's fantasy novels (that I've read so far) and her first foray into the rom-com space does not disappoint!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am grateful when romance books address topics of the world like sexism. Trishara Malik is a relatable main character. I like how she is proud of herself and stands up for herself too. Rafe Gallagher supports her too. He was kind of a bland love interest though.

Thank you Forever Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for the free eARC of this book!

Nisha Tuli is a new to me author, and I have heard wonderful things about her romantasy works so I was excited to drive into her debut contemporary romance! Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, I chose to DNF at 70%.

TROPES
Enemies to lovers
One bed
Workplace romance
Chronic pain rep

SYNOPSIS: Trishara Malik, an ambitious engineer overlooked for a well-earned promotion due to nepotism, reluctantly attends a leadership retreat in Hawaii—only to find herself stuck sharing a honeymoon suite with her rival, Rafe Gallagher. As they compete for a coveted executive training spot, Tris starts to see Rafe in a new light, forcing her to question whether he's truly her enemy or an unexpected ally in her career ambitions.

REVIEW: What I enjoyed about this book was the very accurate representation of Women in STEM and their experiences. Watching Tris being passed up for promotions, being talked over, and others taking credit for her ideas among the many other subtle digs of misogyny felt extremely real and ones I have also experienced as a scientist. I also enjoyed the diversity throughout this book. Our main character is southeast asian, and we have a supporting cast of characters of different races and sexualities. Our main character deals with chronic headaches which I appreciate including representation for! I also love a slow burn and this book hit that mark.

However, what was not compelling for me was the relationship between Tris and Rafe. I find contemporary enemies-to-lovers romances very hit or miss for me because I need the reason for them to be enemies to be extremely transparent and also warrant the level of hatred. This book didn’t hit either of those marks. I also felt Tris was very hot and cold with Rafe which made me struggle to understand why he would be interested in her and appalled by her treatment of him. Besides lust, I did not feel any sort of emotionally connection between them. Similarly, Tris made some choices that were confusing. For example, she was slightly uncomfortable with the interactions from another guy, Rafe steps in, she gets mad he steps in and then goes out with the other guy knowing she doesn’t want to? Rafe and our cast of supporting characters also feels extremely flat. I acknowledge I did not finish this book but I would hope by 70% we would have some information about our main character to be rooting for their relationship.

In conclusion this book does a very good job portraying the experiences of women in STEM and being diverse in its representation (always appreciated!!). If you love an angsty, lust-filled relationship this book might work for you!

Definitely a great debut contemporary romance!! I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

The plot of this is something that’s such a classic. I will devour any sort of vacation temporary time away. This one was work related, but had just the same amount of excitement and tension with it.

I went into this completely blind so I did not know anything about this, however I am very happy of how it turned out.

I really enjoyed the spice and tension in this. With it being a sort of forbidden romance due to the characters and their situations, it added that much more to their chemistry. And their chemistry was already off the walls, even when they disliked each other. Or when she hated him.

I liked the friendship the FMC had with her friend. It was hilarious to read about.

The workplace sexism/misogyny in this was so annoying, but felt completely realistic. Since she is a woman, a woman of color more specifically working in a man dominated, it shows her struggles and experiences that she goes through due to the horrible men she works with. I liked how it all ended in the end.

One thing I did not like was the “other woman” storyline. It’s not something I really enjoy in a book, even when it’s not exactly other woman, but no spoilers. That’s just the tiny part I did not like about this.

However, it was very fun and I really enjoyed it, so I’m still giving it five stars. It made me cry and giggle, so I’m really glad to have gotten this during the Read Now! Will definitely preorder and recommend to my friends. 🩷

Loved the vacation thing, that’s always a big favorite theme in books for me. I think our MC’s went from loathing eachother to being in love WAY too quick. Like overnight.. Otherwise, really cute romance!

Love Nisha’s story so much! Had a fantastic time reading this book & love the characters, the storyline and the chemistry between the two characters was wonderful! Tackling misogyny and issues that are exist in toxic environment - and finding your worth! A fav of this year and defintely a reread!

I loved this so much! Rivals to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this was done so well. My only wish was that it was longer!! It was such a slow burn I just wanted more time with them happy.

"Not Safe for Work" by Nisha J. Tuli is a fun, steamy workplace romance that I couldn’t put down. Trishara, a biracial woman in STEM, and Rafe, the CEO’s son, are forced to share a room at a company retreat, leading to some seriously sizzling tension. The banter between the characters was top-notch, and while the slow-burn romance had me begging for more, Tuli’s steamy scenes didn’t disappoint.

I loved the BIPOC representation in STEM and how the book tackled real-world issues with humor. The pacing was perfect—no lulls—and I laughed out loud multiple times. The only downside was the overly idealistic ending, but overall, it’s a spicy, lighthearted read that I’d highly recommend for a fun, romance filled escape!