I dnf’d at 36%
It felt like someone gave this author a list of tropes and it was her job to hit as many as she could as hard as possible.
forced proximity
workplace romance
rivals to lovers
daddy issues
I felt zero chemistry between our two main characters. And why is the FMC trying to find a workplace hookup…
To top it off the workplace injustice felt shoved down my throat. I’ve worked as a woman in a male dominated stem field. I am very aware it happens and often. What person reading this book hasn’t experienced that. I’m pretty sure anyone who doesn’t think this happens is not picking up a romance book.

🌺An office romance but in an Hawaiian setting, count me in !

He’s the embodiment of privilege—the boss's son with effortless charisma and natural leadership skills. Described as "a ten-year-younger Henry Cavill" (say no more🥵) he commands attention in every scene.

She’s brilliant, dedicated, and perpetually overlooked. Despite her relentless work ethic and sharp mind, her career remains stagnant, trapped beneath the invisible ceiling of corporate politics.👩‍💻

They are work rivals, they hate each other… or at least neither is ready to acknowledge otherwise. 👀

💭Beyond the romance, this book explores characters who tries to break free from others' expectations and pursue their genuine desires.

🔥The emotional and physical tension between Rafe and Trishara builds masterfully, creating a slow-burn connection that feels both inevitable and earned.

💕I really appreciated the references to romance readers throughout the book.

💯Rafe is definetly an eleven : he draws, he bakes, cocky yet capable of vulnerability and grand romantic gestures. His character reminded me of the Ivan from "From Lukov With Love."

🎧The audiobook experience, narrated by the talented Soneela Nankani, elevates the story further. It is single narrated (the book is single POV as well) but the narrator does a great job to personify each character and her voice is very agreeable to listen to.

I'm grateful to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Tropes:
✨Corporate dynamics,
✨Rivals-to-lovers,
✨forced proximity,
✨one bed
✨slow-burn,
✨moderate spice 2/3 🌶️(perfectly integrated into the story, soft dirty talk,sexting, role play)

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads. Contains some spoilers.

I already liked Nisha J.Tuli's other works - so I was really looking forward to her first contemporary work, especially after reading the foreword in which she explains how this was inspired by real life experiences. A lot of what she describes in the workplace as one of the few women in a male dominated field resonates to my own background so I went in with high expectations and anticipation of how she would depict this along with the development of the romance in this challenging setting.

I enjoyed the book.. but something did not elevate it to what I was hoping it would be, and sadly this was actually the romance.

The heroine is someone I could relate to, in terms of experiences of being passed on for promotions in favor of male less accomplished colleagues, treated as less capable, penalised despite being the actual victim and stagnating with no break in sight. The difficulties and nuances of trying to break through the glass ceiling are very realistic and although it never becomes dreary - the book is still a feelgood workplace romance- it is obvious the author has indeed personal knowledge of what this feels like in real life.

But the romance did not really work for me. Although the elements were all there - enemies to reluctant friends/lovers, workplace misunderstanding and pining from both parties for years- I just did not feel the angst, push and pull and tension until they work things out. The MMC was a bit too lukewarm for my liking - having a completely different career preference is not in any way an issue, nor is the choice of career he follows in the end, which it is refreshing to see a man in (I follow many in that category and think the world of their work).. but I never felt his passion about it or the heroine.. it was more like things happened because they ended up in forced proximity and I felt that without this plot twist (that would really not happen in real life) they would have just carried on with their troubled careers and never met in ther middle or actively tried to find ways to escape their constraints. It detracted from the believability of the romance - and for me this is a big factor when it is about real life and not set in a fictional world with mythological creatures.


The audiobook was extremely well done, I have listened to a few of the narrator's works now and this solidifies her as one of my preferred people to listen to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers as well as the author for an ARC and ALC of the book.

This was my first time reading Nisha J. Tuli, and I can't wait to read more from this author! Her debut contemporary romance novel was soooo good,t and I hope that they continue to write more of this genre!

I FEEL SEEN!! I FEEL SO SEEN! I LOVED THIS BOOK

This book hit very, very close to home, which allowed me to develop a strong connection to our FMC Trishara. I am currently an engineering student in the smallest engineering department at my university, with a total of 4 Black students, with me being the only Black female. I love my major, but I chose this career path because I wanted to make my parents proud. They sacrificed so much when they left their home country and came to the States to give me access to better opportunities, and all I want to do is return the favor. But it is HARD to be a woman in engineering. It is even HARDER to be a woman of color in engineering, and I think Nisha did an AMAZING job showcasing some of the difficulties that women in engineering face. I felt so connected to Tris throughout the story. She was so strong, intelligent, and I love her so much.

Nisha really messed up naming the MMC Rafe... because I was visualizing Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey) from Outer Banks the entire book, and I swear I was drooling. He's sweet, smart, hot, and I'm obsessed with him. Enemies-to-lovers is my FAVORITE book trope, especially when they're workplace rivals, which gave me even more of a reason to love this book. I enjoyed the banter between Tris and Rafe, and the tension between them was everything.

The only thing keeping this from being a 5-star read for me is that we only get Tris' point of view. I we were able to have Rafe's POV as well, it would have added a whole other level of perfection! I wanted so badly to get into his head throughout this book!

Overall, this was such an amazing read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I would definitely love to read more from this author!

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for giving me an ALC in exchange for my opinion!

Majority of the characters pissed me off. Which is understandable because A LOT of misogyny and sexist rhetoric was being dished out by the other characters. It's also the really weird approach our FMC had about her not having hooked up with someone after what happened to her in the workplace?? I knew that going in and it's still odd to me even after. However, the HUGEEEE TENSION between the two main characters was SO HOT.

The spice level on this was deliciously delightful as well. The man he is 😮‍💨😮‍💨 I was squealing!!! Giggling!! Kicking my feet. It was INCREDIBLE and HOT.

The main character's growth arc was also really good to see. Love her for that and I appreciate the way she grows as a character. Good on her!!

The narration was also clear, I think the writing with it's short sentences after one another made it really annoying to listen to. But the narrator was perfect for this book!! Everything about the production and narration is wonderful.

This book was so good I couldn’t stop listening to it. I loved all the banter as well as we the mixed emotions. I highly recommend this as a cute low spice romance book.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to listen and review this book!

3 / 5 stars

It started off pretty strong and I enjoyed the concept of the plot and the accompanying commentary, but by the 45% mark it was already losing me.

I swear that at least 20% of the overall word count is our female lead waxing poetic about the various smiles of the male lead, like "Ah! That's his dimpled smile! Ah! That smile makes me feel like im so in over my head im at the bottom of the sea!" etc etc and it was really grating after a while.

It's not a terrible novel at all, but I think it was just lacking in the dialogue (and internal monologue) department with so many cringey lines and sentiments, and although I liked and cared about both the leads individually, I just didn't feel any earned chemistry whatsoever between them.

3.75/5

This was my first Nisha J. Tuli book and it totally delivered! Not Safe for Work was such a fun, fast-paced read with a slow burn that had me hooked. Trishara and Rafe’s chemistry was 🔥—their banter was playful and had me laughing out loud more than once. And that epilogue? So cute!

I really appreciated how the story tackled the challenges women face in male-dominated fields, especially with Tris being a woman of color in STEM. She held her own and didn’t take anyone’s nonsense, which made me love her even more.

That said, the characters felt a little immature at times, and I wish we got more emotional depth, especially from Tris. Rafe was sweet, funny, and had some surprisingly fun hobbies, but I think a dual POV would’ve helped us connect with him more.

Still, this was such a cute read overall. If you’re into witty workplace rom-coms with sass, slow-burn romance, and a strong female lead, definitely give this one a shot!

ALC Review:
As for the ALC, I was obsessed with the narrator’s deep, rich voice, it gave the story so much more dimension. She really brought the characters to life and had me totally hooked the whole way through. Her performance made the audiobook feel incredibly immersive!

Thank you Forever Pub for the eARC and Hachette for the ALC via Netgalley!

This story was a fun, fast-paced read with just the right amount of slow-burn romance to keep me hooked. I especially appreciated how it highlighted the challenges women still face in male-dominated careers, a topic that felt all too real and relevant.

That said, the characters did feel a bit immature at times. For their age, I expected more open, honest communication instead of some of the childish antics. Still, I couldn’t help but enjoy their playful banter, it added a lightness that made the story more entertaining.

Even though the FMC got a little swoony over the MMC pretty quickly, the romance unfolded at a steady pace, which worked well for the slow-burn dynamic. Overall, this was a super cute audiobook that I’d recommend to the right audience, especially those who enjoy witty dialogue, workplace drama, and a bit of sass with their love stories.

✨Thanks to NetGalley, The Author, & Hachette Audio for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review✨

Okay so I was going to DNF this book earlier today but I decided to finish it and thank god I decided to finish it because I am OBSESSED at the beginning I didn’t like the physical tension between them I always prefer emotional connection more than physical but after the 60% mark everything got better I liked the tension between them and the MMC’s jealousy was everything and our FMC I loved her confidence and her energy I loved how she always defended herself and I loved how the MMC also defended her always I love how they came to support each other and love each other and care for each other and how they stopped denying there feelings. knowing what made our FMC deny her feelings made me appreciate her for making some rules and lines that she can’t cross but love can break any rules and cross any lines.
There is a couple of spicy chapters in this book but like not a major part of the book.
4.5⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for the ALC 🫶

I didn't love the initial setup of this book. It's not that I am not into workplace romances and obviously I knew that's what this was going in. However, our FMC Trishara is invited to go on a corporate retreat in Maui with a large group of fellow employees (she is an engineer at a large corporation that is mainly white cis male employees). She hasn't dated in a while due to past relationship trauma (specifically she dated a coworker previously and it didn't end well), but her friends are encouraging her to use the retreat to find someone to hook up with???? So she enters many interactions with coworkers from other offices whom she doesn't know kind of hunting for a hook up??? That just felt like an odd place to be looking for a hookup professionally, and also just with her past trauma. it just didn't make sense to me why she would use this corporate retreat for that reason. Therefore the beginning of this book was kind of annoying to read.

She ends up having to share a hotel room (honeymoon suite...one bed of course) with a co-worker she has animosity towards from her office who also happens to be the son of the company founder. No I would not call it enemies to lovers, that trope just doesn't belong in this setting imo. They're just co-workers who don't get along not mortal enemies. I wish we'd gotten a bit more showing (maybe in flashbacks?) to the competitiveness that fuels their seemingly mutual animosity having worked together for a couple years. We're told a little that they've butted heads on projects in the past, but it would've lended a bit more to the overall romance arc to be shown vs told this. I think it also doesn't help that this is single pov so you really don't know where the MMC is coming from until he opens up more later on.

Despite there being content warnings from the author (thank you!) for misogyny/sexism in the workplace - I just personally do not find reading about things I've experienced like this to be my preference. If I'm reading a romance for escapism I don't always wanna be brought back to corporate BS. That's MY preference. But I did appreciate the heads up going in. If you are sensitive to icky interactions with men in the workplace you might want to skip this one.

Ultimately the romance was pretty cute by the end, but nothing groundbreaking. I did like where both main characters end up professionally/life-wise by the end of the book. The spice was good though!! I felt like there was the perfect amount and it was written well! Also this narrator is very good, I've listened to a few books and that definitely helped the listenability of this book in parts when I was a tad frustrated.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance audio-copy of this book!

Content Warnings:
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism
Minor: Racism

UM HELLOOOOOOO why are we not talking about Nisha Tulis’s writing ?!?! I ate this book up!!!! This workplace romance is one of the best I’ve read. The tension, banter and spice is everything. Like can I be friends with Trishara? Sorry Nisha for sleeping on you!!!!! I need to read everything she writes. This is the perfect steamy romance to read this summer.

Also the narrator did such a good job voicing everyone!!!! Really enjoyed the audiobook. Such a banger!!!!


Thank you read forever for this arc!!!!!

This was a fun read! Definitely recommend audio for this one. The narrator was easy to listen to and brought the characters to life. I’m excited to listen to more of this authors books now since the narrator is the same in some!

What to expect:
• workplace romance
• only one bed
• enemies to lovers
• FMC in STEM

This was fun! I’ve heard a lot of people saying that this felt like a ~classic~ romcom and though I couldn’t tell you exactly what that means, I agree. The hate-to-love, workplace romance in a tropical setting was such a great combination of tropes, and I really enjoyed Tris and Rafe’s story. The comentary on workplace culture and descrimination was compelling and important. The FMC made me a little cranky with how flip-floppy she was expecially at the end, and nothing turns me off faster than anykind of public love confession, but overall this was a good time. And Soneela Nankani is an amazing narrator and always a joy to listen to.

I was soooo stoked to get a chance to listen to this ARC from NetGalley because I had heard so many good things. And it did NOT disappoint one bit.

The PINING!!!! Damn she was not kidding when she said she could kill a slow burn she wasn’t kidding. I was giggling, screaming, dead on the floor! This was my first read by Nisha J. Tuli and I am already sold on adding her entire backlist to my TBR.

I loved the important commentary of corporate, white American culture - the way it has consistently oppressed women, particularly women of color. I loved watching Trishara relearn her ambition after so many people tried to crush it out of her and learning to trust herself.

Also is Rafe a dream or what?? I am obsessed with him. It was so fun and engaging to witness the way that him and Tris started practicing vulnerability, pushing each other (competitively, but also in very spicy ways!!!!!), and developing in the directions they both needed to grow.

I loved this book so much. I could not put it down for anything!

I was fortunate enough to get to listen to the production thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley! Soneela Nankani is wildly talented and brought this story to life beautifully. Her narration was consistent and lovely. Her performance and the production plus Nisha’s excellent story composed an excellent experience. 11/10

✨✨ARC REVIEW✨✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
Spice in chps: 22, 23, 24, & 29

‼️‼️TW|CW‼️‼️
- Revenge porn mentioned
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
- Abuse of power in work place
💕💕Tropes💕💕
- Rivals to Lovers
- Work place romance
- He falls first
- One bed
- Slow burn
- “Fuck it”
✨✨Onto the Review✨✨
Thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book!
The FMC Trishara (Trish) works at WMC Purcell and is their only woman of color, she is getting ready to call it quits after working there for 5 years and getting overlooked time and time again for promotions that she is more than qualified for when she is sent on a work trip to Maui for a leadership retreat.
The MMC Rafe starts out as your regular nepo baby getting everything handed to him in the workplace including being given a promotion that Trish deserves and as a reader I kind of didn’t like him at first in solidarity with Trish. Later in the book you learn that there is more to Rafe and that he doesn’t want everything that his father (a person in corporate at WMC) is pushing him towards and that he would rather be a baker and you feel bad for him and start to love him.
I adored the banter between the characters, beware though this is a slowburn they do not kiss until 60% into the book but it is well earned for both the reader and the characters.
I also enjoyed how Nisha J. Tuli represented a woman in STEM and the issues they might encounter in what is a male dominated field. Nisha writes in a message at the beginning of this book that some of the issues Trish faces in the book is base on some real life experiences the author had which was very sobering to think of.
If you’re looking for a rom-com with a strong willed FMC definitely go pick this book up! “Not Safe to Work” comes out May 20th! #arcreview #romancebooks #womeninstem #stembooks #netgalley

I never thought i would say this, because Nisha J. Tuli is one of my all time favorite authors, but I DNF’d this book. I normally love Nisha’s writing style, but this time it felt stilted and a tad juvenile. Every time I wanted to continue, the next chapter was worse than the previous one. So, I sadly DNF’d at the 20% mark. Hopefully, this is the first and last time I DNF a book from this amazing author.

The narrator was decent when she read female voices, but I also thought her male voice was super nasally. I wish my review was more positive, but sadly, this wasn't the case.

Trishara Malik is a bad*ss! 3.5⭐'s

Such a fun enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance. I was hooked by the beautiful cover and the book description. Who doesn't enjoy a story about a woman of color in STEM overcoming obstacles in a man dominated field while also finding love?

While Trishara started off as a strong character, some of the things she did seemed a little childish, especially when it came to Rafe. She had no issue telling everyone else, including the CEO, when they stepped out of line but for some reason she just couldn't be completely honest with Rafe, that was just frustrating. I do like that she redeemed herself at the end, at least at work.

Rafe lacked depth for me. While he was protective and comforting towards Trishara, it seemed as though he only did it when it was convenient for him. He had trouble standing up to his father, but it was the whole ex situation that was just annoying. Not to give too much away, but the conference room scene after he received a phone call from his ex, disappeared and then came back later to get hot and heavy with Tris kind of gave me the ick. Not to mention how he was still trying to be nice to Hannah after she was a total B toward Tris. He somewhat redeemed himself at the end with the groveling but his character needed some work.

Not Safe for Work is a really solid addition to STEM romances. Trishara (Tris), an engineer constantly passed up for promotion, is one of two employees selected to represent their location at a corporate leadership retreat. The other? Her workplace nemesis, Rafe. But maybe he's not her nemesis after all? It's a fun set up.

Tris is a strong main character. Any scene in which she speaks out against sexism is a highlight. Rafe was perfectly fine but didn't stand out as much.

The audio narration and production were well done. The cover art is beautiful.

3.5- 3.75 rounding up. 🌶🌶

As soon as I saw the cover for this book, I knew I wanted to read it! I loved Nisha's romantasy series, Aretefacts of Ouranos. And it even made a little cameo 😆

I really loved the representation of women especially, WOC in male dominated industries.

This felt like I was watching a summer romcom, and it was just a really easy listen. The audiobook narrator Soneela Nankani (also narrated Aretefacts of Ouranos) did a really great job. This is a single POV, and it was really easy to understand who was talking just by listening.

I did have a hard time fully connecting to Trishara. Some of her actions seemed a little immature in relation to Rafe.However, I will say the way she stood up for herself was bad*ss!

Then, for Rafe, I loved his protectiveness and possessiveness over Trish. But, I really wanted to see him stand up to his father and Hannah. I didn't feel like there was much depth to him even with the baking passion-it felt out of nowhere.

I also felt like their love declaration was really fast. I know they both had some feelings for each other over the years but there was just something missing for me.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and entertaining read!

🌺Forced proximity
🌺Workplace romance
🌺Rivals to lovers
🌺One bed
🌺Chronic pain rep
🌺Women in Stem
🌺Other woman drama

Thank you Hatchette audio and netgalley for the ALC.