Book Review🌴🖇️
Thank you so much m @hachetteaudio @readforeverpub for the gifted audiobook!

Not Safe for Work
by Nisha J. Tuli

About the book 👇🏽

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?

🌴 My thoughts:

I loved it! The audiobook was incredible and I flew
through it!!I really enjoyed both main characters. Each of their stories, their layers, and their story all made up for a good time. The only one room/ one bed really worked for me in this one! It was impossible not to completely swoon and giggle during their back and forth. Although I wished Tris and Rafe were more honest about everything from the get go, it did not deter the experience from being one hell of a good time. Plus, Rafe being a secretly phenomenal and successful baker was the icing on the cake! I would highly recommend giving this one a read! Not Safe for Work is out TUESDAY 5/20/25!

❓What did you read this weekend?

Happy reading 📖 🌴🖇️

I LOVED this book. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be shipped off to Hawaii on a company retreat with your boss’ son that hates you but you not so secretly fawn over?!?

Rafe was a great MMC. The way he comforted Tris throughout the book was adorable. Especially during the storms. I also really loved how both the MMC and FMC support and stand up for each other. I do feel like the other woman drama was a little annoying, but ultimately it did not affect my enjoyment of the story. At times I felt like he entertained the drama for too long, but at the same time, he was telling her to gtfo. 🤷‍♀️

The spice was great and I LOVE when they don’t do anything together until like 70% into the novel. It’s like a treat lol slow-burn physical intimacy is my weakness (I still need a little of the emotional intimacy and pining before then though).

I also wish that we got a little bit more of their life after they reunited back in Chicago and before the epilogue.

The audiobook was phenomenal too. Of course I always want a dual pov/narration novel, but the narrator did a great job with all the characters. I do feel however that if we had Rafe’s POV I would have enjoyed it more!

Nisha can write absolutely any genre but what she does really damn well is torture us with the absolute BEST slow burns to ever grace literature.

And the ANGST? The tension? Did I mention the angst?? The yearning?

RAFE THE MAN YOU ARE 🥵

And TRIS?? 😍 Listen, I too haven’t dated in over a year and the idea of letting someone back in when most men are..yup. Needless to say, this book resonated with me like no other. And Tris may not be the FMC of a fantasy book but she is one hell of a badass!!

Speaking of badass FMC, we get a cameo from the Artefacts of Ouranos series (yup yup) and when I tell you I screamed I was so excited!!

Th audiobook is wonderfully narrated by Soleena Nankani who embodies Tris so perfectly! The same way I'd kill for a Rafe POV, the audio is also single POV so single narrator and I just could've done with a little insights into Rafe's mind because I truly can't get enough of him!

I never read anything by Nisha J. Tuli before, so I went into this book without any expectations of what I would find. Overall, I had a good experience.

What really got me from the beginning was the writing style, it’s exactly the way that I like it. Balanced in the descriptions, flowed smoothly, great pacing, and a good plot for us to follow but still engaging. The writing itself hooked me and made this entire experience enjoyable. I'll definitely be waiting for Nisha’s next romance.

So why the rating?

While I did enjoy the book as a whole, I really struggled to connect with the characters and their relationship. Tris and Rafe were interesting characters, but I didn’t feel that I really knew them, especially him. They both go through a personal journey in this story, and still, I felt that their entire existence was limited to that trip. I didn’t get who they were beyond the immediate plot, which made it hard to connect with them,

Another thing was that, even though it takes some time for them to get romantically involved, I didn't feel that they were actually falling in love. I honestly didn’t feel anything when they interacted, no emotions, nada. It made it difficult to feel invested in their love story because of it.

The audiobook was okay, Soneela Nankan fitted perfectly as Tris, but it didn’t significantly impact my overall experience with this book.

That said, I still believe that this is a great story, and I would definitely recommend it. My rating was based on my connection with the main characters, and there’s a chance that others might feel different. The writing is strong, and I hope it resonates more with others, even if it didn’t fully click for me.

Rating: 3.25 stars

~
Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for providing this eALC. All opinions are my own.

This book was a lot of fun! I’ve never read Nisha J. Tuli’s fantasy books, but I thought she did a great job switching genres!

Trishara Malik is an engineer and woman of color in a workplace full of white male privilege and nepotism. This is all the more clear when the promotion that should’ve been hers goes to the boss’s son, Rafe Gallagher. Despite losing her promotion, she is selected as one of two employees from her branch to attend a corporate leadership event in Hawaii. Unfortunately, Rafe is the other employee chosen to attend. When they end up sharing the honeymoon suite because of a booking mistake, Tris learns that Rafe might not be the villain she thought he was.

Tris was such a strong character, not hesitant to stand up for herself. I really appreciated that Tris’s story led to the discussion of racial and gender discrimination in the corporate environment. I started out hating Rafe because of how his family has treated Tris, but he quickly won me over. The banter between the two of them was so much fun. Not only was the romance great, but the character development was amazing too. I was cheering especially hard for Tris at the end!

The audiobook is narrated by Soneela Nankani. Her voice was a perfect match for Tris’s character, and she voiced the other characters well too. I recommend this audiobook for anyone looking for a smart romance book with a glorious tropical setting!

Thank you to Nisha J. Tuli, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for this e-ALC; all opinions are my own.

Read if you like:
💕 Women in STEM
💕 Workplace romance
💕 Rivals to lovers
💕 Forced proximity

An insta lust slow burn? Sign me up.

When your competition is as hot as Rafe? Who could resist a few stolen glances or a dozen walks around his desk? Obviously not our crushing queen Trishara.

A prodigy in her field, but passed over numerous times because she’s a woman. Trish has plenty of reasons to crash out. When she gets a coveted spot for a company retreat next to Rafe, she soon finds out it was solely for diversity. Using this leverage she gets a first class ticket, a suite and new luggage. The downside? So does her crush/enemy Rafe.

In a twist no one sees coming, Rafe and her have to share the hotel room. More specifically the honeymoon suite. With only one bed.. Will years of tension and frustration play out on the mattress or will they be able to keep an HR approved distance from each other?

I absolutely loved this book! The tension, the back story and learning the depth that each of them possessed outside of the office. The audiobook narration was fantastic as well. Thank you so much Forever publishing and Nisha J. Tuli for the advance readers copy of this book!

I first off want to say I love Nisha's fantasy/romantasy books. This is her first contemporary romance and I think she did well but it left me wanting a bit more. This is a workplace romance where the main characters are rivals. He is the boss's son and she is a BIPOC woman in engineering who has had to fight her way up the corporate ladder while he appears to have been given everything. They end up on a work trip together in Hawaii and have to share a room. There is lots of rivals to lovers, forced proximity tension but I really think we needed both characters POV's to get the best version. We only see things from the FMCs side and there is just something about a man sharing his feelings and yearning that makes it so much better.

I did love the summer vibes and think this is a great beach read. The audiobook narrator was great but again, it would have been so much better with dual narration and the guy's POV.

Not Safe for Work
By: Nisha J. Tuli
3.5 stars

Thank you to Hachette Audio for granting me this ALC! I have heard amazing things about this author in the fantasy realm, so seeing she was releasing a romance book, I was eager to try her out!

While this book started out well, it quickly became apparent to me that the trope “enemies to lovers” was being incorrectly used here. The two main characters work together, she’s a woman of color, he’s the bosses son, and he got a promotion over her despite her being the better leader. There was no real enemies at all. They barely spoke and she just stared at him a lot and thought he was hot. They’re selected to go to Hawaii for a 3 week leadership training event (LOL in what corporate world?!?) and they’re forced to be around each other the entire time along with being booked to share the same suite. There’s underlying tension, a one-bed situation, some mixed signals, and him being a possessive/jealous man over her.

Cut to the work trip & things are heating up. Okay cool! Love that! Except I felt like I was the one on this leadership retreat with all the different seminars and tests rather than getting the romance I was promised. So very slow burn with lots of flirting involved. She also deals with another employee from a different office that is trying to flirt with her and she allows it to keep her feelings for the MMC at bay despite feeling icky around him and how he is constantly touching her. Big ew. Didn’t like that one bit.

More happens. You can guess. The other issue for me was the overall pacing issues. In the middle we had a lot of dragged and drawn out situations happen when I just wanted more evolution from our MMC and their relationship outside of him being “cave-man” like and in lust with one another. One thing that drives me nuts in books is when MMC’s just flip a switch and start dirty talking during sex scenes when it doesn’t fit their personalities AT ALL?! And our FMC constantly talking about her fantasizing about him being a villain/some fantasy reference and having his way with her felt so childish for an adult. Ugh. I digress.

The ending was QUICK. Like the conflict that occurs deserved WAY more than what we got. I needed Rafe to grow a damn backbone because HELL NO! I would have been pissed! The epilogue was cute though and I appreciated the closing of this story. Not terrible, I’m probably the minority.

🌴 Not Safe for Work by Nisha J. Tuli
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
I devoured this spicy rom-com! The title sets the tone right away—fun, flirty, and just the right amount of heat. It follows a woman engineer invited to a corporate retreat in Maui. Sounds great… until she finds out her least favorite coworker (who just happens to be the boss’s son) is going too.
Of course, in true romance fashion, a booking mix-up forces them to share a hotel room. You can guess where this is going—but the ride is the fun part! The chemistry, the banter, the tropical backdrop—it all makes for a fun beach read that delivers exactly what it promises.

✨ Thank you to NetGalley, the author Nisha J. Tuli, and Hachette Audio Forever for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. I’m always so grateful! ✨

🌺 Workplace Romance
🌺 Rivals to Lovers
🌺 Forced Proximity
🌺 One Bed
🌺 Slow Burn
🌺 Women in STEM
🌺 POC FMC

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC and ALC.

I absolutely devoured this! I'm not normally a fan of slow burn but this was 🤌🏻.

3.75⭐ rounded up.

Enjoyed the romance and the spice. The characters were fun. Plot lacked momentum and floundered in the middle a bit, but it had some depth in the struggles the FMC faced with her job.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever Publishing, Hachette Audio and Nisha J. Tuli for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Yes yes yes.

Nisha J. Tuli's slow burn REALLY works here. Work rivals, individually picked to go on a three week work retreat.. add in a beloved hotel based trope, and it's the ultimate forced proximity in a beautiful setting tale!.

The ultimate conflict is the commentary we NEED on the way women in stem (AND any professional environment) are treated by men. Honestly- we NEED to call out the female predecessors that continue to enable this behavior. We should expect more out of our idols and call them to the carpet. When you read- you'll get what I mean.

Soneela Nankani did SO well on narration. I've listened to her many times before and will continue to seek out her narrations.

This audiobook was so good! I finished it in 2 days! These two just got off on the wrong foot and it set them up to be workplace rivals. They are then stuck in a honeymoon suite together, in a sold out hotel for a 3 week work conference in Hawaii. And yes, there is only one bed (cue the squeals of delight!). The MMC seems like an overly confident, nepo baby but, there is so much more to him and she may be the only one who can inspire him. The FMC is feisty and bold and the real star of this book! NSFW had some of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, workplace romance, slowburn, forearms, forced proximity, he falls first, etc. Enjoy!
Thank you so much NetGalley and Hachette Audio/Forever for allowing me to listen to an ARC copy of this book.

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

First of all, I absolutely adore Nisha J Tuli’s writing style - she has the best humor and snark and did not disappoint with this book!! Plus Soneela Nankani was the perfect choice of narrator for this book. Her voice perfectly matched the dry humor/dry wit of the FMC and she was so good at all the different voices for all the different characters.

The tension and snark in this book was top tier! I love a good workplace romance/rivals to lovers but throw in only one bed?? And this book simply could not get any better.

Nisha J Tuli is the queen of slow burns and I found myself anxiously waiting to see if will they or won’t they???? Also loved the little Easter egg from one of her fantasy books!!

I simply cannot wait for this book to release so I can reread and highlight quotes.

The only thing I had difficulty with for this audiobook was that the narrator’s voice dropped in volume when doing Rafe’s voice and I would have to turn the volume up for Rafe and down for Tris

Thank you Hachette Audio for the audio ARC of Not Safe For Work!

I originally requested this Audio ARC because I really liked the cover and description of the book, as well as the fun title! Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me.

I don't have anything against workplace romance books, but I just felt like this one was drawn out and lacked a bit of character depth regarding the male lead. I feel like I don't really know anything about Rafe other than the fact that he's hot and tall, and sometimes that works for male leads, but in this case, it just made for a bit of a weird pairing in my opinion. I also thought that there were a lot of scenes that felt repetitive and maybe that was the point since their whole thing was about the push and pull? I'm not against that, but after the like millionth day of them waking up in Hawaii after almost having a moment and then running away I was like omg like lets see something new please!

I did actually enjoy Trishara's character and her development, but unfortunately I feel like the plot fell flat for me so I couldn't enjoy her character to it's fullest potential. I did really enjoy the STEM representation, and thought that Nisha did a fantastic job portraying how it can feel being a woman of color in a field that's dominated by white men. That part of the book was probably my favorite!

I know that Nisha Tuli has written other books, mainly fantasy and I think something I noticed was that it felt like it was a fantasy author writing a contemporary romance, in the sense that some of the descriptions for how Trishara felt during the book were a little overdramtic and didn't feel authentic to the contemporary romance genre. I'm here for an overdramatic girly, but the style of writing and the actual words used felt more reminiscent of something I would've read in a romantasy, so that sometimes pulled me out of the mindset that I was reading a contemporary romance.

The narration itself was fine for the book, nothing super notable either good or bad. I almost dnf'ed this book but wanted to push through because I was about 80% done.

tropes included in NSFW:
- workplace romance
- rivals to lovers
- forced proximity
- one bed
- STEM rep
- slow burn

3.75 ⭐️ This was really cute! Summery feeling workplace romance with likeable MCs and side characters. It took me a bit to get into it, and even once the relationship started moving, the points where conflict still existed were hard to read. I appreciate how the author tackled writing the hard topics. I do wish there was a bit more relationship development, but overall, it was a good read, with great audiobook narration!

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of the ebook and audiobook 🫶

ALC Review
4.5/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook Not Safe for Work!

Rivals-to-lovers in the workplace, banter, only one bed, a Hawaiian setting, and an incredible narrator… say no more. I knew from the start that I’d be obsessed with this book.

Soneela Nankani was perfect in her performance for this book. She really brought the characters to life and made me feel every emotion Trishara was experiencing. And on that note, Trishara is officially one of my favorite fmcs I read so far this year. She was a badass, but also really vulnerable, and I loved that.
The book itself was amazing. The banter and tension was EVERYTHING, the plot was funny but also emotional, and it brought into conversation some real issues women experience daily, especially if they work in STEM.
Hope people love Not Safe for Work as much as I did!

First, thank you to Hachette Audio and Forever for an ALC of NSFW.
The audio was great. The narrator really made the story come to life.
The story was good, but I felt like it could have been about 50 pages less. The slight OW drama was annoying and was unnecessary IMO.
There were some definite generic romance book moments, but a little too many zings, sparks and kazoos every time the FMC & MMC touched or got near each other.

What I loved about it was the FMC being an engineer. And the exposure of what it’s like working in a male dominated field. Ive done it, and that portion of the story really hit home for me.

All in all, I give the audio 4 stars, the book 3.5, and 🌶️🌶️🌶️ for the spicy scenes.

I was pretty excited to read Nisha's first contemporary romance, because I have enjoyed her fantasy books. I reaaallyy wanted to love this. A badass woman of color in STEM navigating the world of old white men? Burn it all down, girlie.

That said, it fell a bit flat to me. I listened to the whole book and tbh I almost DNF'd (maybe soft?) a couple times. There was just nothing (unless the last few chapters/epilogue) that excited me about this book or the characters. I really liked most of the side characters and the ending was quite satisfying though! I do FULLY understand why so many readers are loving it though! I just wanted more.

🎧 The audiobook? Great. Soneela Nankani was fantastic and I felt every single thing Tris felt. She did a great job narrating Rafe too. So definitely recommend listening!

Read if you like:
-Workplace romance
-Badass women of color
-Nemesis to lovers
-Forced proximity
-Only one bed
-STEM rep (she's an engineer)
-Slow burn
-Old white men being told to F off
-🌶️🌶️🌶️

Overall, this book was fine. I can confidently say that I'll likely never think of these characters again, but I also know some readers will love it. I just found both Tris and Rafe to be immature and I didn't quite feel their connection. Definitely check the CW! Book includes sexism, racism, nonconsensual touching, and more.

Thank you so much to Hachette Audio for the ALC!

This was absolutely amazing. I was given an ARC This to read and man I could not put it down. I literally finished this book in 48 hours. Nisha, wrote an amazing Rom-Com, I honestly can’t wait to read more from her. Pick up this book on May 20. You will not be disappointed.