Rating: 4.5 stars / Spice: 3/5 peppers

This was such a sweet and tender romance between two characters who I fell so deeply in love with! Charlie and Mateo are PhD students - both adorable nerds - who embark on a three-week research trip at sea. The banter and forced proximity (and secret pining) ensure their journey is deliciously filled with tension. But it's also a beautiful journey towards healing, and I found their gentleness towards each other to be so touching.

What to expect:
- MCs in STEM
- Academic Rivals
- Forced Proximity
- One Bed
- Black Cat x Golden Retriever
- No 3rd Act Breakup
- Chronic Pain/Illness Rep
- Mental Health/Therapy Rep

This book wasn’t just a story well written, it was a story that I learned a lot from. I was snuggled up in my sofa, forgetting time and responsibilities. I read it so fast I felt completely enraptured. Perfect in every way, this author is someone I will definitely want to read more from. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me butterflies and happiness.

4.25 stars ⭐️ As a STEM girlie, I am always going to pick up a book where either MC is a scientist! Deep In Love was full of banter and yearning. I really loved Charlie and the setting. I’m a sucker for forced proximity and I definitely recommend this read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Nicole Cubba for the ARC. All opinions are my own 🫶🏼

This love story would 10/10 make Ali Hazelwood proud, a STEM romance that all takes place underwater??

4.5⭐️ 🌶️ level: making out, open door scenes, explicit descriptions

Favorite quote: “I could spend the next forty years as a scientist, but you will always be my greatest discovery. My most important find. My purpose.”

Tropes: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one bed, slow burn

(Light spoiler)summary:

This story follows Charlie and Mateo, two graduate students who are sent on a deep sea exploration trip by their advisor.

These two could not hate eachother more different yet their banter would suggest otherwise. Bring forced to share a room only draws them closer and allows them to see the evolving partnership in front of them.

Will they choose one another or will another scientist be able to charm Charlie into his bed??

It wasn’t the most well written book over, and at times it felt kind of shallow but I flew through it in a couple of days and I really liked Mateo. I felt like we didn’t really get to know much about Charlie other than her accident and her struggles and I wished we’d gotten more of her personality separated from those two things.

I think the book overall just needed more. By the end, I just felt like I got a shortened version of the whole thing and a little more time and development could’ve made this better. Overall, a cute story with lovable leads though!

4.5⭐️

🪼Academics Rivals (her) to Lovers
🍫Black Cat x Golden Retriever
🪼STEM MCs (PhD students)
🍫He Falls First and Hard
🪼Forced Proximity
🍫Anxiety and Chronic Pain Rep

This was such a fun read and it was really cute. I love (one sided, her) rivals to lovers! Especially if the MMC is so down bad, simps get me every time! And that was Mateo 🫠. He is obsessed with Charlie!!! He is a sunshine boy, which is a fun change from a usually grumpy and brooding MMC. I really enjoy a good reverse grumpy/sunshine or black cat/golden retriever trope. I liked that even though there was very good reason for Charlie being a little thunder cloud, she also says she’s always had sharp edges and wasn’t particularly soft, I felt that and really appreciated how she could still be warm and sweet when she was comfortable because that was 100% relatable. While reading, I laughed and swooned but also teared up and my heart hurt for Charlie and her insecurities. But the attentive, gentle, and understanding way Mateo was with her was so damn charming! He is enchanted, impressed and completely mesmerized by everything about her. His yearning and pining was top-notch but his patience was not infinite and the jealousy was so good. The slow burn physically and emotionally (for Charlie) was so worth it and I couldn’t get enough of these two.

There is so much more I could gush about with this book but I can’t give it all away!! Oh, wait!!! I loved that Mateo was a CPAP king, and they still coddled and it wasn’t always perfect. If you love banter, yearning, forced proximity, jealousy, angry love confessions, sweet and spicy time, and a unwittingly Pavloved situation 🤣: this book is for you!

This story was amazing!!! Banter, yearning, mental health rep, and STEM made for a 5-star read. Mateo is dreaming, and Charlie is authentic.

I'm a sucker for one-bed and forced proximity tropes. Nicole did an amazing job of setting the scene, plus the spice was "chef's kiss".

Deep in Love was a heartfelt story that captures the complexities of relationships, resilience, and self-discovery. From the very beginning, I was drawn into the raw honesty of Mariela and James. This was my first time reading Cubba’s work, and I was captivated by her capacity to balance passion with vulnerability. Mariela is a character I immediately related with, she was so strong and yet deeply scarred by her past. Her approach to relationships felt very real. James proved to be both patient and tender, put in the work to earn Mariela’s trust. I found their chemistry to be deeply moving. The emotional tension kept me invested. I’m excited to read more of her novels in the future.

As a fan of STEM romances, I really enjoyed this book. The story was original and even though STEM romances have been on a rise for a while now, it didn't remind me of any popular ones but had a character of its own. I absolutely loved the way the romance progressed, even though I'm not a big fan of the miscommunication card.The chocolates left on her desk, watching TikToks together at night, all hose little touches and lingering gazes were enough to swoon me.

I really appreciated the mental health representation throughout the story. Charlie’s struggles and insecurities were handled with care, and her journey toward self-acceptance was touching to read. The way Mateo supported her and saw her beyond her own doubts was beautifully written. For the fans of spice, it was well written and nicely integrated into the story, not only phusical but also emotional. The side characters were also great, and my favourite was, who Amy was the best friend we all wish we had. I can only hope we get to see more of her and the others in a future installment.

That being said, there were a few things that didn’t work as well for me. At times, both Charlie and Mateo came across as a little immature for PhD students, which occasionally pulled me out of the story. And while I loved the ocean research expedition setting, I was left wishing we had seen more of the marine biology aspect of their work. Afterall, this is a STEM romance, and I felt like the plot lacked a bit on the academic background.

Overall, this was a sweet, emotional, hopeful, and spicy romance that I didn’t want to put down. Charlie’s growth and Mateo’s unwavering devotion made for a beautiful love story that was equal parts heartwarming and passionate. I also really enjoyed the little twist at the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own!

Deep in Love by Nicole Cubba is a sweet romance about PhD students Charlie and Mateo. If you like academic rivals, forced proximity, women in STEM, and steamy romance then this book is for you!

I really enjoyed this book but I do think it missed the mark in certain areas. Based on the description I was expecting vibes like The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood but I think this book was actually lacking a bit in the STEM/academic rivals plot points. While both characters got to nerd out in a couple scenes I think the book would have been more interesting with more of the marine biology info!

I also think the romance/emotional connection was rushed a bit to include more smut and I would’ve preferred it the other way around. I did really enjoy Charlie’s character development throughout the book and her journey working through her trauma. I loved how supportive Mateo was and also all their boat friends.

I definitely enjoy forced proximity and the one bed trope and that was used nicely in this story. I also enjoyed how much Mateo yearned for Charlie but was anyone else a little creeped out by him tracking her period? That took it just a hair too far for me lol.

Overall, this was a quick and fun romance read. 3.5⭐️ for me. Thank you NetGalley and Victory editing for the ARC 📚

2.5 stars ⭐️ While I did not feel like this was for me, Deep in Love was a soft and sweet read, with some beautiful quotes on love and pain. I would recommend if you are looking for a high spice, low stakes, fast burn romcom with a truly down bad MMC.

I was very excited for this one! I am a sucker for academic rivals and women in STEM, but I personally felt the tropes were not utilized to their full potential. The romance developed too quickly imo and I just wanted more development, maturity, and communication between everyone.

Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for this ARC and the opportunity to give my candid feedback.

There were several things I really enjoyed about this book, but execution-wise it missed the mark for me.

It felt like we were moving through a list of tropes - there were so many throughout the book and some of them felt forced/out of place. The miscommunication was also SO strong; sometimes I wanted to shake both of them by the shoulders and ask them how they could each seriously be still wondering if the other person was into them after such clear signals.

I loved the STEM setting/elements throughout the book and thought it was such a unique way to showcase a romance. I just wish the MMC and FMC communicated better and that we got fewer (but stronger!) tropes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this eARC!

I really liked the premise of this book! I am equally afraid of and in awe of the ocean, so I like reading about it and the creepy things that live in it from the safety of my own bed! It was a cute story overall, and I really liked how Charlie and Mateo's relationship developed.

I thought the characters had more potential than the book gave them space for - Charlie has a lot of trauma from her accident, which deeply affects how she views herself, but I feel like this could have been explored further. Indeed, I also feel like a lot of the scenes where Charlie and Mateo are emotionally communicating end too quickly in a spicy scene - I felt like a bit less spice and a bit more emotional exploration would have probably bumped my rating up an entire star.

The other problem I had with this story was I found both MCs a bit too immature in the way they communicate - but only sometimes. Charlie starts off with a deep dislike for Mateo, but the only reason I could actually find was because he spilled wine on her dress the first time he met her. Mateo, on the other hand, misunderstood Charlie's interactions with a fellow boatmate and rather than asking her about it, basically ghosted her for a few days. This made for good angst, but it was hard for me to reconcile how childish they were being, especially because once they do communicate, they're quite good at it.

All in all, I enjoyed this read! I would definitely recommend if you're into STEM and are looking for a cute, summery, fun read!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

This was my summer holiday read and a sweet little romance, even if it lacked a little substance. Whether you love or hate the third act conflict in romance, it's undeniable that it adds a layer of drama for your characters to work through or over. In this book, I really didn't feel that there was much for them to fight through - although they struggled through their day-to-day issues of self-esteem and miscommunication.
As is becoming a theme in romance books for me these days, I was thrilled for them that it all worked out. I did, however, also get the ick. Never in my life do I want to hear someone say "What would Darwin do" to get through life, he really isn't the first historical figure that jumps to mind for me when I think 'inspirational'.
But then again, what a joy to get to read about so many women in STEM these days - love that he'd read all her academic papers!

Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

🦑🪼⚓️🐳🐠🐡🐬⛴️🦈

I really enjoyed this book. As someone who LOVES STEM romance novels, this was a real win for me! I also think that this book would be perfect for lovers of Ali Hazelwood!

Let’s start with the things that I really liked.

- One bed? Love it every time, I eat it up!! Love that they built a really cute routine of watching tiktoks together every night, I thought that was sweet.
- Adored the yearning, he loved her for so long!! I also liked that the yearning made it feel like them “falling in love” in 3 weeks didn’t actually feel that way at all.
- The mental health representation I felt was really important. How we saw what Charlie had to go through and how she dealt with it and also how Mateo helped her, I thought it was really beautiful.
- The spicy scenes? Some of the best I’ve read, really loved them! 🌶️
- The supporting characters? Loved them!!!! Amy and Oliver and Jett and Sofia, I really hope that this turns into a series and we can see more of them!! I particularly loved Amy as a best friend, she was phenomenal!

Now onto things that I didn’t like.

- I thought that both main characters felt really childish and immature at points. Mateo is all about being there for Charlie and then as soon as she can’t verbalise her thoughts and feelings he’s running out of the room?
- Mateo tracking her period did give me very weird vibes.
- I wish we’d seen more of the marine biology side of the story. I feel like we didn’t see nearly enough of the ins and outs.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Nicole Cubba!

🥰🌊🥹🌶️🐳⚓️🦑🪼

4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Posted review to Goodreads 31/08/2025 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7874722543)
Will post to Amazon 16/09/2025

“It's hard to live your life by absolutes. The
world is complicated-messy and ever-changing. But she is my one absolute; my heart begins and ends with her”

If you are looking for pure and true yearning this is the book for you Mateo is the modern day Mr Darcy when it comes to his 10/10 yearning for Charlie.
This book is exactly what I needed a spicy easy to read along with romance.
I’m so glad I picked this up and watched a brilliant love story form between these two

✨ARC REVIEW✨
Deep In Love
Nicole Cubba
September 16, 2025

Tropes
♡ Dual POV
♡ Academic Rivals to Lovers
♡ Only One Bed
♡ Forced Proximity
♡ Black Cat x Golden Retriever
♡ He Fell First

Genres / Moods
♡ fiction
♡ romance

Rating: 5/5⭐
Spice: 4/5🌶️
3 Emojis: 🍫 🐡 🔬

Book Details
♡ August 27, 2025 - August 28, 2025
♡ eBook
♡ 256 pages
♡ 36 chapters + epilogue
♡ NetGalley

Review:
I loved this so much. I didn't want to put it down. It was sweet, emotional, but also so hopeful and light (and hot). The FMC is confident in her work, but due to an accident, she is self-conscious about her appearance and relationships. The MMC was instantly attracted to her, with her mind and her beauty. He truly sees her. As their relationship evolved (hehe IYKYK), they continue to reassure, empower, and are a safe place for each other.

Summary:
Charlie and Mateo are both Ph.D. students studying the ocean. Charlie sees Mateo as her rival and someone she has to prove herself against. They are offered the opportunity to be the experts on a 3 week research expedition for an influencer wanting to capture the deep ocean.

They end up having to share a cabin and a bed. Their close quarters have them talking about themselves, and eventually their feelings. They start a relationship, but Charlie is anxious about her body and her rules to keep her safe. Charlie has to work through her insecurities and how to accept that she can be loved for who she is.

3.75/5

Overall I really enjoyed this. I love a good STEM romance. This was such a cute and fun read.

I really liked Mateo. I love me some good pining, and our boy had been pining for years. It was so great to see his POV and how he actually felt about Charlie. He was so sweet with her, and really seemed to get how to handle her insecurities. I loved how patient and loving he was with her.

Charlie had some good character growth. Her backstory and how she saw herself was so sad. I love how Mateo was able to help her see herself beyond her insecurities. Her gaining her confidence was great to see. She also gave the r most beautiful love confession.

My only complaint was that at times things felt a little juvenile for them to be PhD students. They were a little less mature than I would think sometimes.

I loved the little twist at the end. I was wondering if there were some matchmaking shenanigans going on.

Also, I’m hoping we get a second book about the best friends. I would definitely read it!

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

im really loving the breadth of new type of subjects we are including in our rom-cams as of late. its really heartening to see. and this one fits into that perfectly. and you have to appreciate authors stepping out of the what was once norm kind of characters or their "types". there is of course a place for all of them, we love the classics. but i think this kind of expansion of interest and characters is really something special to see.
for this book we meet Charlie. she is a young woman who lives by Mr Darwin's words as her life motto. she then cant believe her luck when she gets offered the chance for her PhD to go on a research trip on a sea vessel. there is on chink in this rather brilliant opportunity though and that is the rather not so brilliant certain person(her nemesis) who is also going on said trip. ugh Mateo. shes worked so hard to protect herself, to keep her walls high to stop any hurt possibly entering. but Mateo is practically swimming over them and it feels scarier than thinking whats at the depth of the oceans.
what a gal to do with her academic enemy and being trapped with him,sharing quarters for weeks? because she is soon discovering more than just science based ones. but also ones in the man sleeping close by.
i really enjoyed this book. the science based marine world was really fun to have included. watching the relationship develop between Charlie and Mateo made me smile.seeing Charlie learning to trust was just the thing we needed to see for her. because this woman has been through it and deserves to be seen for what she is. deserves some kindness and care and to be showed how brilliant she is. and she certainly hasn't always had this. this part of the book added so much heart tugging moments. it endeared me to Charlie so much and i was rooting for her all the more.
this book was just gorgeous. i came away from it feeling so lucky i got to read it. its full of charm and smiles and a few tingly toe moments.
it also features a few side characters id love to see more of. soooooo yes please for more!
the ending was so spot on and i literally ended the book smiling.
what a great time i had with this book.

Such a cute read! I love anything Nicole Cubba writes & this one did not disappoint. The STEM references, the banter between Charlie & Mateo, & Charlie handling her anxiety/insecurities… ahh *chefs kiss*

Review will also be posted to GoodReads today, 08/28 & Amazon on 09/16