Not in My Book is the fantastic debut from Katie Holt. If you love enemies to lovers and
books within books you are not going to want to miss out on this one, it was so good.

Not in My Book is Rosie and Aiden’s story; they’re NYU grad students who end up in the same writing workshop, much to Rosie’s chagrin. Aiden may be both handsome and talented but he has no patience for Rosie’s beloved romance or indeed it seems her! Exhausted by their constant verbal sparring, their professor tasks them with cowriting a novel, or else leave her class. They need to try and put their differences aside, and figure out what that mutual attraction means. But when a potentially career/ changing opportunity reignites their old rivalry they’ll need to figure out how to salvage their very own HEA.

I genuinely really enjoyed this novel, all the more so when Rosie and Aiden began cowriting their novel. I loved the book within it a book, it worked so perfectly in parallel to Rosie and Aiden’s own story. We were able to see them explore their feelings through Max and Hunter when they still felt unable to do so with one another. Given it’s a single POV novel this worked especially well as we could learn even more about what Aiden was feeling through his chapters.

As an enemies to lovers this one worked so well. Without giving anything away it’s the perfect I hate you, and yet it’s always been you type of novel. Rosie and Aiden are so very different and yet work so well to balance each other out, but it sure took them time to get there! The slow burn enemies to friends to lovers was brilliant, with the chemistry there and tension building throughout.

I really felt for both MCs, the more we learn about them the more it makes sense as to why they are the way they are. I also loved the wider cast of characters, particularly Rosie’s family and her friendship group.

This was such an enjoyable read and I can’t wait to see what Holt writes next.

3,5/5
Not in my book by Katie Holt is about Rosie, a romance writer and Aiden, who writes literary fiction and doesn’t believe in happy endings. They are in the same workshop and verbally fight with each other, which leads to their professor assigning them to cowrite a book that blends their genres.

It was really nice seeing them going from rivals to friends to lovers. I liked how they started to open up to one another through the characters they were writing for their novel. The tension and banter were great and I really enjoyed reading the scene where Rosie protected him and helped him out! It was nice to see how both cared for each other more and more through the book. I wasn’t a fan of the drama at the end though.

Reading the book they were writing was really interesting too and I liked how they wrote some chapters together!

Thank you to Katie Holt, NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

absolutely loved this from start to finish! Such a great debut novel romance read, will definitely be picking this up again to read

I admit: I wasn’t sure I was going to like this to begin with, because the sniping and arguments in class between Rosie and Aiden? Severe second-hand embarrassment. That, and their tutor’s solution to it, seemed a little far-fetched but it did set up some excellent character development, a romance chock-full of chemistry, and a lot of fun playing with the “book within a book” idea. The concept of seeing Aiden’s point of view via “fictional” extracts was very clever, and I loved the way their relationship built through their writing (including a very hot real-time joint writing session!) before it truly progressed in person. The eventual conflict felt very signposted to me, but there was still interest in how it played out - overall this feels like a very accomplished debut and I’m definitely here for whatever the author comes up with next.

Unfortunately, I found the book too childish and cringey to enjoy :/ the enemies to lovers was just being judgey and prejudice. It was impossible to like Aidan as a hero since all he does is shit on the validity of the romance genre… to the romance writer heroine and the romance reader reading the book. We get enough schtick in real life from men, saying romance isn’t real literature and doesn’t count as reading. I don’t want it in my romance books please and thank you.

This debut novel is so charming. It has a neat set up with a parallel story for Aidan and Rosie, who are at grad school studying creative writing and who have been getting up each other’s noses since the start of their course. After too much antagonism their tutor forces them to write a book together – a-romance/not-a-romance. That’s when the sparks fly and they create characters Maxine and Hunter. Of course, the lines blur and it becomes harder and harder to know if they are in their real lives or in the story they are writing together. It’s funny and a bit silly and so lovely. Rosie is stitched up, impulsive and at times deluded. Aidan is closed off and inordinately patient with her.

It’s classic enemies to lovers, with secrets, and miscommunication which is unravelled through their joint novel. It’s also a heartfelt tribute to New York City and I enjoyed looking up the settings to see what places were real and which weren’t.

I do have a few quibbles but as it’s Katie’s first book I won’t dwell on them, I’m just excited for her next move. So enjoy this for what it is - a light romance about romance.

Thank you NetGalley and Katie Holt for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

I thought this was sooo cute.

I really loved the book within a book element, and how it was used to progress the storyline forward. Although god help me, multiple times I wanted to scream at Aiden and Rosie. The love they had for each other was SO obvious, they were literally writing it!!

I really like the group of friends too and seeing Rosie’s family, I thought they were great additions to the story. In particular, I loved Rosie’s friendship with Jess, it reminded me a lot of a friendship I have so that was nice and funny to see.

Overall, I really loved this. I wasn’t a massive fun of the epilogue, although it was a time jump, it felt so sudden! But that didn’t really impact my enjoyment of the story, it was just a tad annoying.

Thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Penguin for this e-arc

This book and overall story just wasn't for me.

It was too simple, too predictable. I obviously don't read these types of books for plot twists, but I do read a lot of romance, and this just felt so unoriginal.

I didn't really like Rosie as a character, and didn't enjoy being in her head this much. It made no sense to me for her to be that dense, when all she craved was romance.

The book within a book aspect sounded good in theory, but I didn't fully like the execution. It actually made the characters seem even more dense and dumb, because it was so incredibly obvious they were writing about each other and it infuriated me to no end that they didn't see it. It made the whole story feel completely dragged out, which was kind of impressive, considering the low page count.

This is also a slow burn, and by the time it got to some spice, I was almost ready to give up and DNF. The first sex scene was just meh, and I didn't like that Rosie felt so self conscious and made a big deal out of never having an orgasm with a partner before, then just magically and easily coming twice. I did like Aiden's dirty talk though.

I am also a big fan of any sort of multicultural aspects in romance books, but I didn't like that none of the Spanish phrases were translated. My understanding of the language is basic, and I don't like feeling like I might be missing out on something, although I'm pretty sure I wasn't here.

The break up happened way too late in the story, and was actually a little idiotic. Aiden tricked her? LOL. This genuinely made me dislike Rosie even more.

I think this story would work much better as a movie, because as a book, it left me extremely disappointed.

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.

This book is such a fun read, especially if you took some creative writing classes yourself! It follows two writing students who can't stand each other - Rosie's all about romance novels, while Aiden's a literary snob. After their rivalry gets out of hand in critique, they are forced to choose: write a book together or drop the class. Neither of them can drop the class, and literary hijinks ensue.

Tropes-wise, this book has Enemies-to-Lovers/Slow Burn/Rivals/Forced Proximity/Grumpy x Sunshine. Spice-wise, I would rate this a 3/5 🌶️.

The back and forth between the characters was believable and funny. I would have been kicked out of class for fighting like they do, but it felt real. It was cute to have the two characters write a romance together while falling in love, and while it can get a little repetitive it is still an excellent concept (the scene where they write a spicy chapter together, oh my goodness!). I love that it was set in NYC. I am only a tourist to NYC but this book made me want to visit again. You will like this book if you like reading about writers, a slow burn, and enemies-to-lovers. If you love watching two people who are "definitely not falling in love" fall in love, this is the book for you.

I have to mention that this didn't feel like a debut novel, but it is, and it is great! I am looking forward to what Katie Holt has coming out next.

Thank you to Transworld and NetGalley for providing a review copy!

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