3/5 Stars

Thank you to RBmedia and Penguin for providing me with an arc.

I dnfed this 7% in. I hated both of the characters and they were very annoying to me with their rivalry. It felt forced at times and the insults between the two really put me off from this one. I picked it up 3 times trying to get further into it and it just didn’t work for me sadly. I can see why it does work for a lot but these two were quickly getting on my nerves not in a fun way.

"Not in My Book" by Katie Holt is a delightful read that expertly weaves together themes of self-discovery and romance. The story follows the journey of a young woman who finds herself torn between her passion for literature and the complexities of real-life relationships. The author does a fantastic job of portraying the struggle between fantasy and reality, especially as the protagonist navigates her feelings for a charming yet mysterious love interest.

One of the standout tropes in this book is the "enemies to lovers" dynamic, which adds an exciting tension to the narrative. The witty banter and gradual shift from animosity to affection are beautifully executed, making their romance feel genuine and relatable. Additionally, the "bookish heroine" trope resonates with readers who appreciate a protagonist who is both relatable and aspirational, as she learns to balance her love for books with her desire for real-life connections.

Overall, Katie Holt has crafted a charming story that not only entertains but also encourages readers to embrace their own narratives. "Not in My Book" is a perfect pick for anyone who enjoys a mix of romance, humor, and a dash of literary flair. I highly recommend it to fans of contemporary romance and those who appreciate a good story about finding love in unexpected places.

This was an overall very enjoyable book, even if I did find it to be very predictable.

The bickering between Rosie and Aiden was so good, and some of their tiffs were my favourite parts. The sections where Rosie and Aiden were writing chapters together I also loved, and thought were very well done. I liked getting a little glimpse into Aiden's mind via excerpts from their book.

The supporting characters in this book are also fantastic I loved Rosie's friends and would be really interested in reading a book in the future starring Logan! Rosie's family are also fantastic, with her mum and dad's story being perfect.

Rosie was a lovely character to spend time with, I loved her unashamed love of romance, and drive. <spoiler>Which is part of the reason I was so disappointed when she gave up too easily and headed home. It just didn't feel like something Rosie would have done to me. </spoiler>

Aidens adoration of Rosie was brilliant, and in my eyes, he did become a true romance hero.

I did find the conflict of the book predictable and found that this made it hard to pick up the book in the later stages as I already knew what was happening. Overall though a good solid read for anyone who enjoys rivals to lovers, and a good romance.

I really liked this book, i liked that nothing as it seems from first sight, because our first impresion of Aiden is from Rosies perspective and she is infuriated by him but only because she thinks that he hate’s her and looks down on her for loving her writing category - romance. Loved that this book had it’s ups and downs and in the end we could feel happy with the happy ending because we as readers feel in love with both characters. Thankyou for letting me read this.

Not in my book is everyone’s favourite kind of romance - a romance book about romance books. We follow Rosie, an aspiring romance author, who is forced to write a novel with Aiden, a romance hater and aspiring litfic author, for a creative writing class. They really don’t get along. Until they do.

I thought this book was adorable. Aiden and Rosie have a lot of well written chemistry, they definitely make a good pair. The story is not particularly unique but that doesn’t necessarily make it less enjoyable. I think what deducted a whole star for me was the final conflict, which felt super out of character. I always think it’s a bit annoying when couples don’t simply communicate issues that are very obviously solvable (or don’t even need solving, just a quick mention to make sure everyone’s on the same page), but what really bothered me here was Aiden’s reaction. It felt like all progress was lost and he was truly very unnecessarily mean. It felt out of character for him and the reconciliation felt a bit half hearted to me, simply because Aiden used such hurtful language and brought up insecurities that were a big part of their initial issues with one another, the quick make up and forgotten was a bit too quick.

Overall, highly enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book

This rom-com was sweet, funny and super easy to read. I read this within a few hours and couldn’t tear myself away from it.

Rosie is a strong main character, and for once, an optimistic one too. Her POV was refreshing and the tension between her and Aiden was *chef’s kiss*. The plot itself was engaging and the romance was a perfectly paced and rewarding slow-burn.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book ahead of its publication. I will be recommending it widely as a sweet comfort read, perfect for a cosy night in.

“Sure, love can be messy, and it can hurt, but I think it’s supposed to heal, too.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rosie, an idealistic and passionate Peruvian-American who has grown up without strong ties to her culture, leaves her Tennessee hometown to pursue her dream of making it in New York as a writer. But her plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her arch-nemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington—an obnoxious, surly, and gorgeous literary fiction writer who doesn’t have much patience for the romance genre, or for Rosie. Rosie and Aiden regularly go to verbal battle in workshop until their professor reaches her breaking point. She allows them to stay in her class on one condition: they must co-write a novel that blends their genres. The reluctant writing duo can’t help but put pieces of themselves into their accidentally steamy novel, and as they slowly get to know each other, they try to put their differences aside. Meanwhile, their manuscript-in-progress provides an outlet for them to confess their feelings—and explore their attraction toward each other. When Rosie and Aiden find themselves competing against each other for a potentially career-changing opportunity, the flames of old rivalry reignite, and their once-in-a-lifetime love story is once again at risk of being shelved—unless they can find a way to end the book on their own terms.

Rosie is certainly a romantic and she wants to do her very best to prove there is nothing wrong with that. I adored her tenacity and grit, and the way she worked hard for her dreams was incredibly admirable. The way we see the story through her eyes was so engaging for me. I felt I could hardly stop reading, wanting to know more and see more from her perspective. There’s fire in her that felt so relatable and I think she is an all-round brilliant female lead.
Aiden is an arse, for want of a better term, for a lot of this book. Don’t get me wrong, I like a broody bad boy who grows soft and this is the case in this story. However, I shall not excuse his horrible personality in the beginning. I do think he was very cleverly written because I could understand why he was reacting in such cold ways but I still wanted to hate him. But then, like he did with Rosie, he grew on me until I was utterly rooting for him. I think Holt did a fabulous job writing him.

I was rather intrigued by the premise of this book when I stumbled across it. Enemies to lovers is an absolute favourite trope of mine so I was very excited to dive into this story. The plot was pretty sturdy and had a great flow. I loved the idea of our main characters being forced together and having to really communicate to combine their skills and get through their class successfully. It’s always an interesting dynamic to see unfold and I think it was done very well. The characters weren’t too bad. There was a lot of focus on the leads which was nice, but I wanted there to be further inclusion of friends as I felt they bolstered the storyline. They helped pep up Rosie in particular and I would have loved more of that dynamic in Aiden’s presence. Especially when he was in Rosie’s company more. Romance wise, this was such a slow burn. Now, I love a slow burn but this one felt a bit like a drag for a lot of the story. However, when it started… oh I was hooked. I couldn’t help but be invested in the changing emotions and the glorious tension. And even better was the spice! Something I adored was the fact the spice began with the leads writing it for their story - not doing it themselves. I think it was an absolutely brilliant twist - one I didn’t see coming. And all further spicy scenes were a delight to read too. The ending was absolute perfection for the closing of this story. I had a massive grin on my face and loved every second!

Overall, Not in My Book is a romance that is great to dig your teeth into.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you again to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy of this book. Review will be live on my blog on release day.

I was really excited to receive an ARC of Not in my Book on Netgalley as I knew I would love it and it did not disappoint! This was such a fun, easy read following two rival upcoming authors who end up having to work on a writing project together for their NYU workshop.

I loved that the story was set in New York and followed Rosie and Aiden throughout the seasons as their dynamic changed and their relationship blossomed. I got so invested in their story, I found it hard to put down and needed to know how it ended! This was such a wholesome read with realistic, likeable characters plus who doesn't love a book about books?!

Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
One Bed
He Falls First

I rated this 4.5 stars and think it was a wonderful debut novel by Katie Holt. If you like Book Lovers by Emily Henry or Love Story by Lindsey Kelk, then you will love this!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book has brought me out of my reading slump!

Not in my Book is your classic academic rivals to lovers about a romcom writer and a literary writer constantly fighting. I have seen this book as being described as enemies-to-lovers, but I do not agree entirely. Yes, the characters do not get along, they only dislike the other based on the writing they do and they do not know the other well enough to change their ways, but it is hard to describe a book as enemies-to-lovers when it is in a modern day setting.

The characters felt very relatable, and REAL! Rosie and Aiden didn't just have problems to progress the plot, no, their problems were worked on and they had great growth.

I did think this was a YA novel due to the book's description and cutesy cover, but after reading that both of them are in their mid 20s, maybe a little older, then I wasn't so surprised that there were sex scenes, which I didn't read but as I skimmed them I thought they were written kinda well.

Honestly, I could predict most of this book and the source of tension, and I do wish it was mentioned earlier to make it that much more dramatic, as it only is focused on in the final act, but it still worked for this book.

At the end of the day, I really enjoyed this book. The humour was great! The characters were believable! And I am always done for a book being written inside a book :)

Thank you NetGalley and Transworld for this e-arc in exchange for a free, honest review.

I loved this book so much! The chemistry between Aiden and Rosie was so perfect! I loved the build up, and how slow their relationship developed, it felt very realistic. I loved that he wanted to change for her, and how protective he became of her. I loved how Rosie is so close with herfrie ds and family, and I love how motivated she is when it comes to her writing. I loved how the book Aiden and Rosie were writing was incorperated into the book, and I love how they showed their feelings through their writing!

Another compulsive read from an author who seems to do no wrong. I absolutely devoured this one… You will want to clear your afternoon to read this one straight through, so riveting are the love twists and turns. Recommended

So much better than I was expecting from this debut au5or.
I loved reading Rosie and Aiden writing their book and having a story within a story. Their classroom battles are pure romance enemies to lovers and the tension is clear.
This reminded me of The Hating Game and Beach Read, so is exactly as described and if you liked those two books you’ll enjoy this!

I received this book as an ARC and provide and honest review

Thankyou for the opportunity to read this eARC.

I really wanted to love this book as on paper, it includes all of my most loved tropes - enemies to lovers, academia, forced proximity. Maybe I’ve read too many romance books recently but I did feel like I was reading something I’ve already read before. I wasn’t gripped like I want to be when reading. I liked the main characters to some extent but disliked Aiden for what he did to Rosie - it didn’t sit well with me and perhaps influenced how I felt about the novel? If I’m not head over heels with the MMC then the romance doesn’t quite hit for me.

Perhaps it’d resonate more with another reader which is why I’m rating 3 ⭐️- this means I am happy to recommend even if it wasn't quite for me.

This was a cute and cozy New York romance that gave off Nora Ephron vibes! I loved Rosie's family and friends and getting an insight into her world, struggling to balance work and writing and her family. I felt like Aiden was your typical romance hero and I loved that we got to see him open up.

This book contains excerpts of a book the main characters are writing together, and I have to say I didn't love this. It started off too close to reality, and just became the story told twice, which I think did not demonstrate how excellent Katie Holt is at world building. I don't think Aiden was a particularly fleshed out character and I really wanted more character development and less repetitive book scenes. Rosie's Peruvian heritage felt less realistic and more something thrown in last minute, and I don't think I really understood Ida's motivations enough to suspend my belief that she made a date homework.

I loved the overall vibe of this book and I enjoyed the characters; I would have appreciated more depth because Katie Holt is an exceptional writer!

3.5 stars

This was a fairly strong debut. I was initially concerned that it seemed very similar to things I’d read in the past, but it quickly started to feel creative and unique in many ways, helping it stand apart from some of the titles it could be compared to.

Not In My Book follows Rosie and Aiden, two creative writing students at loggerheads in their workshop class because of their affinities to seemingly opposing genres: romance in Rosie’s case, and literary fiction for Aiden. Their professor eventually gets sick of them throwing insults at each other in the classroom and tasks them with co-writing a novel to better understand the other’s genres, and help them to develop their own writing styles.

The mechanic of reading snippets of Rosie and Aiden’s novel within the book had mixed results for me. When it shone, it was incredibly effective and felt super unique. I enjoyed when it was used as a tease for upcoming moments, seeing them use it as a communication tool, to take digs at each other in the early days and then to slowly open up about their feelings towards one another. There were two scenes in particular where this felt so damn creative. I was hooked, kicking my lil’ feet, doing those silent girly screams, the whole shebang. My rating bumped up a whole extra star for these moments alone.

On the other hand, these snippets of the novel didn’t always knock it out of the park - sometimes they were just *there*, and when we got those unnecessary glimpses it slowed the momentum a little. They were shoehorned in, sometimes seemingly just to demonstrate that the author could write in different styles, and the flowery, sickly sweet tone of some sections was too much for me. I was glad those bits were short at least.

In terms of the characters, I liked the main couple. They weren’t the most well rounded I’ve ever read in a romance, but they weren’t completely flat either. It would’ve been nice to know a bit more about Aiden’s current life outside of Rosie. Even with the book being told from Rosie’s perspective, and Aiden being a bit of a loner, it was still pretty far fetched to believe he was spending every day, including the holidays completely alone in a city where he’d lived his entire life: there wasn’t a single friend or relative that could’ve helped give him some more dimension? We met Rosie’s friends and family and I enjoyed them as side characters but they felt very distant at times too: they could’ve been used better in my opinion.

Together, I believed them as a couple and was glad that they didn’t abruptly lose the sharp edges to their relationship like in most enemies to lovers situations. The third act break up wasn’t a silly inconsequential issue like is sometimes the case, but it was still a little frustrating - I didn’t fully understand why they ended up in that situation in the first place.

Overall I had a decent time with this. It was a fun and creative debut, and I’ll definitely keep an eye out for future releases by Katie Holt.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC of this book for review.

This book exceeded all of my expectations. All. Of. Them.

The writing was beautiful! You really got to see Aiden and Rosie as well thought out characters who didn’t feel like I’d read them before. The premise of the story was so unique and I loved how it worked so well for the plot. I was shocked when I learned this was a debut novel. It doesn’t feel like one as you read it, the story was written so beautifully and felt like a breath of fresh air.

I just loved the main characters so much. Their flaws were written so perfectly but you feel how they love each other which left me swooning. I want an Aiden. I wanted to be Rosie the whole book.

Also loved the fact that it hyped up the romance genre!! Big point scores there.

IM SWOONING. Honestly I was obsessed early on this incredible slow burn rivals to lovers was more the I could have expected. Forced to work together to create a book which led to them communicating through the pages to each other. I cannot get over how much I loved this and when they decided to write scenes together it was so raw and sometimes HOT. An incredible book.

A really well written enemies to lovers book. The characters were wonderfully written and I look forward to this authors next book.

I don't know how to begin this - this book is not only beautiful, but life changing. How is this a debut? Katie Holt, I am utterly blown away. Simply put, this is the kind of romance novel that makes you believe in love again, even if you already believe in it.

This had all of the good tropes.
Close proximity, enemies to lovers, the lot!
I felt Rosie and Aiden were both very romantically suspicious people. Like they had both had bad experiences, therefore this has affected them moving forward.
I loved seeing them both open up to eachother and to slowly fall.