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Not in My Book
The Hating Game meets Book Lovers in this sexy and hilarious rivals-to-lovers romance!
Rosie Maxwell has a move to New York, get her creative writing degree from NYU, become a bestselling romance writer. But that plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her archnemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington, an obnoxious, surly, unreasonably gorgeous literary fiction writer who has no patience for romance – or for Rosie.
Exhausted by Rosie and Aiden’s constant verbal sparring, their professor gives them an leave her class, or cowrite a novel that blends their respective genres.
As Rosie and Aiden collaborate on their (accidentally steamy) novel, they try to put their differences aside. Could their manuscript-in-progress be just the outlet they need to confess their feelings – and explore their mutual attraction?
But a potentially career-changing opportunity soon reignites the flames of their old rivalry. Rosie and Aiden’s 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 . . .
💕Rivals to lovers
💕Grumpy x Sunshine
💕He falls first
💕Forced proximity
💕Slow Burn
💕Small town FMC
💕Big City MMC
Praise for Not in My Book
'The ultimate sexy, slow burn romance' —Hannah Grace, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Icebreaker
'This is an author who understands the power of a happily-ever-after!' —Alicia Thompson, bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers
'An enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn love affair. I laughed and cried and felt a hundred other emotions' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'An absolutely sparkling debut! Not in My Book is an absorbing, hilarious love letter to romance fans everywhere' —Christina Lauren, internationally bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners
'This is romcom perfection' —Lana Ferguson, bestselling author of The Nanny
'Not in My Book is every romance reader’s dream!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Blushing, swooning, and kicking my feet. An incredible meta-layered romance about writing romance, and all the feelings that emerge in between. Not in My Book swells with heart and I could not put it down.' —Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
'Not in My Book will remind you why you’ve always loved romance novels in the first place. This book captured my heart from start to finish. It absolutely needs to be on your shelf!' —Clare Gilmore, author of Love Interest
'The tension was off the charts!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Rosie Maxwell has a move to New York, get her creative writing degree from NYU, become a bestselling romance writer. But that plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her archnemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington, an obnoxious, surly, unreasonably gorgeous literary fiction writer who has no patience for romance – or for Rosie.
Exhausted by Rosie and Aiden’s constant verbal sparring, their professor gives them an leave her class, or cowrite a novel that blends their respective genres.
As Rosie and Aiden collaborate on their (accidentally steamy) novel, they try to put their differences aside. Could their manuscript-in-progress be just the outlet they need to confess their feelings – and explore their mutual attraction?
But a potentially career-changing opportunity soon reignites the flames of their old rivalry. Rosie and Aiden’s 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 . . .
💕Rivals to lovers
💕Grumpy x Sunshine
💕He falls first
💕Forced proximity
💕Slow Burn
💕Small town FMC
💕Big City MMC
Praise for Not in My Book
'The ultimate sexy, slow burn romance' —Hannah Grace, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Icebreaker
'This is an author who understands the power of a happily-ever-after!' —Alicia Thompson, bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers
'An enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn love affair. I laughed and cried and felt a hundred other emotions' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'An absolutely sparkling debut! Not in My Book is an absorbing, hilarious love letter to romance fans everywhere' —Christina Lauren, internationally bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners
'This is romcom perfection' —Lana Ferguson, bestselling author of The Nanny
'Not in My Book is every romance reader’s dream!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Blushing, swooning, and kicking my feet. An incredible meta-layered romance about writing romance, and all the feelings that emerge in between. Not in My Book swells with heart and I could not put it down.' —Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
'Not in My Book will remind you why you’ve always loved romance novels in the first place. This book captured my heart from start to finish. It absolutely needs to be on your shelf!' —Clare Gilmore, author of Love Interest
'The tension was off the charts!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 10, 2024
908 people are currently reading
77090 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,089 reviews
March 4, 2025
➳
3.75/5 stars
"The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."
This book was absolutely adorable, I found myself swooning, obsessing, and completely invested in the characters and their story. However, as much as I loved the buildup, the last part felt a bit off-putting and overly exaggerated. While the grand gesture at the end was beautiful and heartfelt, it still fell short of my expectations, leaving me feeling slightly underwhelmed despite the strong start.
➳ ABOUT THE BOOK —
This book centers on Aiden Huntington, the male main character, and Rosie Maxwell the female lead. They are sworn enemies "emphasis on sworn" academic rivals who secretly harbor feelings for each other, because let’s face it, we all know how enemies-to-lovers stories go. The story kicks off with their endless banter, sharp retorts, and constant clashes, but as the pages turn, their dynamic shifts. Slowly, all of their sarcastic remarks, fights and clashes turned into tender kisses, stolen touches, and heartfelt moments that remind us why this trope is so beloved.
Both of our main leads, Aiden and Rosie, are recent graduates taking a writing workshop where they explore different genres. Aiden, with his love for literary fiction, and Rosie, passionate about romcoms, often clash due to their opposing styles and opinions about each other's work. Their arguments are frequent and fiery, yet their undeniable chemistry is obvious to everyone, except them. Seeing their potential, their professor assigns them the challenge of co-writing a novel that blends their distinct genres. This forces them to spend time together outside of class, and what starts as a rivalry slowly transforms into something unexpectedly beautiful and utterly adorable.
➳ ABOUT THE CHARACTERS —
╰┈➤ AIDEN HUNTINGTON —
Aiden Huntington is everything you’d want in a male character, grumpy yet sweet, annoying yet undeniably cute. But, oh boy, did he have his moments where I wanted to scream at him. What truly got on my nerves was how he argued with Rosie, not like a man in love but as if he was still holding onto all that "sworn enemy" energy. Like, I get it, you’re a literary fiction genius, Aiden, but was it necessary to be so overly critical just because someone writes a different genre? Some of his comebacks? Straight-up brutal. And not in the “fun banter” way, but in the “wow, you’re crossing boundaries” kind of way.
Now, I get that Aiden had a rough childhood. He’s been through so much, and no kid deserves what he went through. I truly sympathize with him for that, and seeing him try to change for Rosie? That was absolutely adorable. It melted my heart, honestly. But still, there were moments when his fragile male ego popped out, and he’d say things that made me roll my eyes so hard they nearly fell out of my head. Did I like Aiden? Definitely. Did I excuse all his behavior as mere “constructive criticism”? Absolutely not. Let’s call it what it is sometimes the man was just being a jerk. But hey, even with all that, he was cute enough to win me over… eventually.
"I know you prefer what's in your book, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In the light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next."
╰┈➤ ROSIE MAXWELL —
Rosie Maxwell is the definition of fiery yet sweet, this girl didn’t just sit back and take Aiden’s nonsense. Nope, she was out there dishing out comebacks like a pro, giving him the competition he didn’t even know he needed. She kept him on his toes, and honestly? Loved that for her. Homegirl wasn’t letting anyone, not even Mr. Literary Fiction Genius, walk all over her.
I have to say, I liked Rosie a lot, maybe even more than Aiden. Sure, there were moments where her behavior felt a little childish, and I may have rolled my eyes once or twice, but hey, we all have our moments, right? What stood out to me was her incredible talent as a writer and her even more amazing personality. Rosie had this beautiful way of seeing the world, always finding the light in situations others might overlook. Some might call it looking at life through rose-tinted glasses, but in her case, it was Rosie-tinted glasses, a line straight from the book that I couldn’t help but find adorable.
Overall, Rosie was such a refreshing and charming female lead. She had her flaws, sure, but they only made her feel more real. She brought so much heart and warmth to the story, and I absolutely adored her for it. If there’s one character I’d want to be friends with in real life, it’s definitely Rosie.
"No one meets the same way and falls in love the same way. Sometimes you know just after an hour with a person. Or it can span decades. The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for"
➳ FINAL THOUGHTS —
Now, you might be wondering, if everything about this book was so adorable and heartwarming, why didn’t I rate it five stars? Well, my biggest issue was the smut. Yes, I know, it’s ironic considering I read dark romance religiously, but somehow, the smut in this book felt super cringy and off-putting. I actually had to skip certain chapters because it annoyed me that much. On top of that, I felt the story was a bit exaggerated at times. This could just be a personal preference, but I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if the characters had better communication and if the book had been slightly shorter. These elements made it hard for me to fully love what could have been an incredible read.
°˖➴"Overall, if you’re in the mood for a book that will have you feeling extra single this winter season, this might just be the perfect pick. It’s the kind of story that wraps you in all the warm, fuzzy feelings and leaves you wondering where your Aiden or Rosie is hiding." 💌
— Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
"The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."
This book was absolutely adorable, I found myself swooning, obsessing, and completely invested in the characters and their story. However, as much as I loved the buildup, the last part felt a bit off-putting and overly exaggerated. While the grand gesture at the end was beautiful and heartfelt, it still fell short of my expectations, leaving me feeling slightly underwhelmed despite the strong start.
➳ ABOUT THE BOOK —
This book centers on Aiden Huntington, the male main character, and Rosie Maxwell the female lead. They are sworn enemies "emphasis on sworn" academic rivals who secretly harbor feelings for each other, because let’s face it, we all know how enemies-to-lovers stories go. The story kicks off with their endless banter, sharp retorts, and constant clashes, but as the pages turn, their dynamic shifts. Slowly, all of their sarcastic remarks, fights and clashes turned into tender kisses, stolen touches, and heartfelt moments that remind us why this trope is so beloved.
Both of our main leads, Aiden and Rosie, are recent graduates taking a writing workshop where they explore different genres. Aiden, with his love for literary fiction, and Rosie, passionate about romcoms, often clash due to their opposing styles and opinions about each other's work. Their arguments are frequent and fiery, yet their undeniable chemistry is obvious to everyone, except them. Seeing their potential, their professor assigns them the challenge of co-writing a novel that blends their distinct genres. This forces them to spend time together outside of class, and what starts as a rivalry slowly transforms into something unexpectedly beautiful and utterly adorable.
➳ ABOUT THE CHARACTERS —
╰┈➤ AIDEN HUNTINGTON —
Aiden Huntington is everything you’d want in a male character, grumpy yet sweet, annoying yet undeniably cute. But, oh boy, did he have his moments where I wanted to scream at him. What truly got on my nerves was how he argued with Rosie, not like a man in love but as if he was still holding onto all that "sworn enemy" energy. Like, I get it, you’re a literary fiction genius, Aiden, but was it necessary to be so overly critical just because someone writes a different genre? Some of his comebacks? Straight-up brutal. And not in the “fun banter” way, but in the “wow, you’re crossing boundaries” kind of way.
Now, I get that Aiden had a rough childhood. He’s been through so much, and no kid deserves what he went through. I truly sympathize with him for that, and seeing him try to change for Rosie? That was absolutely adorable. It melted my heart, honestly. But still, there were moments when his fragile male ego popped out, and he’d say things that made me roll my eyes so hard they nearly fell out of my head. Did I like Aiden? Definitely. Did I excuse all his behavior as mere “constructive criticism”? Absolutely not. Let’s call it what it is sometimes the man was just being a jerk. But hey, even with all that, he was cute enough to win me over… eventually.
"I know you prefer what's in your book, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In the light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next."
╰┈➤ ROSIE MAXWELL —
Rosie Maxwell is the definition of fiery yet sweet, this girl didn’t just sit back and take Aiden’s nonsense. Nope, she was out there dishing out comebacks like a pro, giving him the competition he didn’t even know he needed. She kept him on his toes, and honestly? Loved that for her. Homegirl wasn’t letting anyone, not even Mr. Literary Fiction Genius, walk all over her.
I have to say, I liked Rosie a lot, maybe even more than Aiden. Sure, there were moments where her behavior felt a little childish, and I may have rolled my eyes once or twice, but hey, we all have our moments, right? What stood out to me was her incredible talent as a writer and her even more amazing personality. Rosie had this beautiful way of seeing the world, always finding the light in situations others might overlook. Some might call it looking at life through rose-tinted glasses, but in her case, it was Rosie-tinted glasses, a line straight from the book that I couldn’t help but find adorable.
Overall, Rosie was such a refreshing and charming female lead. She had her flaws, sure, but they only made her feel more real. She brought so much heart and warmth to the story, and I absolutely adored her for it. If there’s one character I’d want to be friends with in real life, it’s definitely Rosie.
"No one meets the same way and falls in love the same way. Sometimes you know just after an hour with a person. Or it can span decades. The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for"
➳ FINAL THOUGHTS —
Now, you might be wondering, if everything about this book was so adorable and heartwarming, why didn’t I rate it five stars? Well, my biggest issue was the smut. Yes, I know, it’s ironic considering I read dark romance religiously, but somehow, the smut in this book felt super cringy and off-putting. I actually had to skip certain chapters because it annoyed me that much. On top of that, I felt the story was a bit exaggerated at times. This could just be a personal preference, but I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if the characters had better communication and if the book had been slightly shorter. These elements made it hard for me to fully love what could have been an incredible read.
°˖➴"Overall, if you’re in the mood for a book that will have you feeling extra single this winter season, this might just be the perfect pick. It’s the kind of story that wraps you in all the warm, fuzzy feelings and leaves you wondering where your Aiden or Rosie is hiding." 💌
— Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
December 8, 2024
4.25!
"The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."
This book is basically about two people doing a workshop where they have to co-write a book, the guy doesn't like romance novels and the girl doesn't love literary fiction novels and they both hate each other but secretly like each other 🤭. So, due to intense bickering and back and forth their mentor gives the guy the romance part of the book and the girl the literary fiction part of the book 👀and it just takes up after that. They write a book and a story about themselves...they warm up to each other and communicate through the characters of their book and it is so goddamn good, I cant even lie.
Katie really amazed me with this one, it wasn't perfect but it was so cute and likeable. Its just the way she wrote it was so easy to read and love. Her writing style felt really good and the pacing of the book was also a plus when it came to this book because it just made the book much more easier to read and honestly there are so many cute scenes that are worth gushing over and the chemistry between the characters is insaneee I loved them.
“I know you prefer what's in your book, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In the light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next."
Aiden, Grumpy, Broody and tall 🤭 (checking all the boxes so far) but I loved the way they would insult each other and would have the exact opposite thoughts going through their minds lol, I also loved how cutie patootie he became after the kissing scene they wrote together 🙂↕️ and when he had to pretend to be her boyfriend when their parents ambushed her for Christmas and their domestic moments were sooo cute like making cookies and hanging out on Christmas also the way he would communicate about himself through his character in the book ahhh it was everythinggg!! Rosie, was a hopeless romantic 🤭, highlighting the importance of HEA!!! and I liked how she struggled writing a tragic ending and how she helped Aiden with romance, she was so understanding at times and I loved how relatable at times she was especially during the third act lol but the way both of the characters changed and developed into better versions of themselves and the way we actually experienced it and saw it was so good!!
"No one meets the same way and falls in love the same way. Sometimes you know just after an hour with a person. Or it can span decades. The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for."
The romance 🧍🏻where do I even start?? easily the best part of this book, it was so well balanced between cuteness and spiciness because they would eb doing cute stuff like looking at each other in secret and like subtle touches and stuff and then they would be cowriting a smut scene together which would lead them to be horny and become bunnies 🤭🤭 yeah it was soo good even the spice was good. I feel like I was so fond of them that it made the third act break up feel okay towards me but hey at least we got cute confessions after that and I was all for it 🙂↕️
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book!! It can also count as a festive (?) book ig.
___
I have heard such good things about this one!! also that it's very cute 🙂↕️ so time to give this one a go!
*Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for giving me an E-Arc of this book!*
"The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."
This book is basically about two people doing a workshop where they have to co-write a book, the guy doesn't like romance novels and the girl doesn't love literary fiction novels and they both hate each other but secretly like each other 🤭. So, due to intense bickering and back and forth their mentor gives the guy the romance part of the book and the girl the literary fiction part of the book 👀and it just takes up after that. They write a book and a story about themselves...they warm up to each other and communicate through the characters of their book and it is so goddamn good, I cant even lie.
Katie really amazed me with this one, it wasn't perfect but it was so cute and likeable. Its just the way she wrote it was so easy to read and love. Her writing style felt really good and the pacing of the book was also a plus when it came to this book because it just made the book much more easier to read and honestly there are so many cute scenes that are worth gushing over and the chemistry between the characters is insaneee I loved them.
“I know you prefer what's in your book, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In the light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next."
Aiden, Grumpy, Broody and tall 🤭 (checking all the boxes so far) but I loved the way they would insult each other and would have the exact opposite thoughts going through their minds lol, I also loved how cutie patootie he became after the kissing scene they wrote together 🙂↕️ and when he had to pretend to be her boyfriend when their parents ambushed her for Christmas and their domestic moments were sooo cute like making cookies and hanging out on Christmas also the way he would communicate about himself through his character in the book ahhh it was everythinggg!! Rosie, was a hopeless romantic 🤭, highlighting the importance of HEA!!! and I liked how she struggled writing a tragic ending and how she helped Aiden with romance, she was so understanding at times and I loved how relatable at times she was especially during the third act lol but the way both of the characters changed and developed into better versions of themselves and the way we actually experienced it and saw it was so good!!
"No one meets the same way and falls in love the same way. Sometimes you know just after an hour with a person. Or it can span decades. The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for."
The romance 🧍🏻where do I even start?? easily the best part of this book, it was so well balanced between cuteness and spiciness because they would eb doing cute stuff like looking at each other in secret and like subtle touches and stuff and then they would be cowriting a smut scene together which would lead them to be horny and become bunnies 🤭🤭 yeah it was soo good even the spice was good. I feel like I was so fond of them that it made the third act break up feel okay towards me but hey at least we got cute confessions after that and I was all for it 🙂↕️
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book!! It can also count as a festive (?) book ig.
___
I have heard such good things about this one!! also that it's very cute 🙂↕️ so time to give this one a go!
*Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for giving me an E-Arc of this book!*
December 15, 2024
dnf @ 61%
I HEAR YOU BESTIES!!!!! I’M FINALLY DNF-ING THIS BOOK 😭 I KNOW I’M IN THE MINORITY AGAIN, BUT I JUST COULDN’T STAND IT ANYMORE. IT FELT WAY TOO CHILDISH AND CRINGEY TO ME 😭
thank you netgalley and rbmedia for providing me with an audiobook arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!!
pre-read 📖:
applied for the audiobook arc yesterday because i’m so tired of listening to the same spotify playlist every day during my commute 😭 this is my first ever audiobook and i’m looking forward to it ~
I HEAR YOU BESTIES!!!!! I’M FINALLY DNF-ING THIS BOOK 😭 I KNOW I’M IN THE MINORITY AGAIN, BUT I JUST COULDN’T STAND IT ANYMORE. IT FELT WAY TOO CHILDISH AND CRINGEY TO ME 😭
thank you netgalley and rbmedia for providing me with an audiobook arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!!
pre-read 📖:
applied for the audiobook arc yesterday because i’m so tired of listening to the same spotify playlist every day during my commute 😭 this is my first ever audiobook and i’m looking forward to it ~
October 10, 2024
ahhh romance is back guys!! this gave me the same feelings as when i first get back to reading in 2021 with romance books <3 the classic enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one bed, he falls first, secret crush, pining, yearning, fmc defending mmc against his family(very specific micro trope that i adore) was all blend so well together!!🥹
now i won’t lie, it wasn’t perfect but i know it’s a debut and she did a great job!! my slight problems were that i found main characters too immature in the beginning. the way they bickered with each other in front of the class was embarrassing tbh😭 and then the fact that they included their kiss and some other personal moments in the book they wrote together and read it in front of the class had me side eyeing🌝 plus the third act😾 but overall i found it super cuuuuute 🥰
other people waiting patiently for aiden and rosie to stop arguing every week so they can read their book to the class;;;;
rosie was carrying her heart on her sleeve and aiden was just a shy and grumpy little potato🤭 even though it was a single pov it was easy to see aiden’s love and yearning for rosie from the chapters he wrote in their book🥹 pookie was so down bad for rosie it had me giggling and twirling my hair🤭
💌”I’m not yours anymore.”
“Fine. If you’re not mine, then know that I’m yours.”
💌”The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."
💌I know you prefer what's in your books, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next.
definitely recommend this for romance lovers<33 and i hope katie will keep writing because i’m already a fan💗
~~~~
omg?? how did i not realize that the author is the owner of my favorite bookstagram account???🥹🥹🥹🥹 i’m more excited now 💗💗
thank you, netgalley. for giving me the arc so i didn’t get the fomo🙏🏻🙏🏻
now i won’t lie, it wasn’t perfect but i know it’s a debut and she did a great job!! my slight problems were that i found main characters too immature in the beginning. the way they bickered with each other in front of the class was embarrassing tbh😭 and then the fact that they included their kiss and some other personal moments in the book they wrote together and read it in front of the class had me side eyeing🌝 plus the third act😾 but overall i found it super cuuuuute 🥰
other people waiting patiently for aiden and rosie to stop arguing every week so they can read their book to the class;;;;
rosie was carrying her heart on her sleeve and aiden was just a shy and grumpy little potato🤭 even though it was a single pov it was easy to see aiden’s love and yearning for rosie from the chapters he wrote in their book🥹 pookie was so down bad for rosie it had me giggling and twirling my hair🤭
💌”I’m not yours anymore.”
“Fine. If you’re not mine, then know that I’m yours.”
💌”The entire time we were together all I could think was you were better than any dream, any piece of fiction I could ever write."
💌I know you prefer what's in your books, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next.
definitely recommend this for romance lovers<33 and i hope katie will keep writing because i’m already a fan💗
~~~~
omg?? how did i not realize that the author is the owner of my favorite bookstagram account???🥹🥹🥹🥹 i’m more excited now 💗💗
thank you, netgalley. for giving me the arc so i didn’t get the fomo🙏🏻🙏🏻
October 6, 2024
˚₊‧꒰ა 4 stars ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
༉‧₊˚. « People say there’s a thin line between love and hate, and you know what? They’re right. » ・₊✧
ahh this was even better than i expected!! i was thrilled to get this arc because i knew i would enjoy reading this seeing the other reviews and i can say that this was so cute 🥹
Rosie Maxwell and Aiden Huntington are rivals in a writing class they both attend. they’re basically insulting each other’s writing whenever they can. rosie writes romance, meanwhile aiden writes literary fiction. she believes in happy ever after’s, he believes in sad, realistic endings.
starting the book, i found it hilarious because they would roast each other 99% of the time, when the whole class is like: “guys 🧍🏻♀️🧍🏻 get a room.”
anyways, since they’re constantly fighting in the class, the professor tells them they have to write a book together in order to stay in her class. they decide that the book won’t be entirely romance or literary fiction. it will include aspects from both genres.
rosie and aiden starts to spend more time together and try to get to know each other, so they can create a better relationship between their fmc and mmc in the book they’re writing. their character’s names are Max and Hunter, inspired by each other’s surnames 😽
i loved the language of the book, the dialogues kept my attention and i didn’t get bored while reading it.
one thing bothering me was the fact that they added all of their interactions into their book without changing it. it looked repetitive and also sounded unrealistic that they would share these experiences with the whole class 💀 the format was interesting though, i liked the idea of including annotations from the book they’re writing together.
rosie and aiden’s banter was fun to read! i was laughing at the scenes where they’re fighting like 5-year-olds. their relationship development made my heart swell, i’m glad that they slowly started to understand each other. towards the end, aiden’s demeanor annoyed me but he made up for it, so i can’t complain 🫶🏻
i loved Jess and Tyler. jess is such a great friend and her energy was amazing! tyler is the guy every girl needs. he doesn’t judge anyone and he doesn’t make abrupt comments. he shows that he cares and checks in whenever something’s wrong. he’s so respectful 😩 however i wish we saw more of their relationship… maybe we’ll get a second book about them? 🥹
overall, this was a very cute book! i loved reading about rosie and aiden’s relationship and i recommend this to anyone who loves books with the “rivals to lovers” trope, it’s really worth it <3
ᯓᡣ𐭩 quotes:
« I had become addicted to that look. It was my biggest vice— figuring out what words I could say to make her mad, to make her focus only on me, to get the look. »
« But what makes romance novels so good is the fact that they’re a complex dive into human emotion. There’s so much more to a romance than just love. »
« I felt like the best version of myself around her and I wanted to chase that feeling. »
« No one meets the same way and falls in love the same way. Sometimes you know just after an hour with a person. Or it can span decades. The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for. »
« ’Oh please, you like it better that way.’ The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, no matter what she said. »
« I don’t think Happily Ever After is an ‘if’ thing. I think it’s ‘when.’ »
« When I am in love, I don’t want to have to wonder if it’s love, you know? I want to know with certainty that there is nothing else I would rather feel. »
« I’m not yours anymore. »
« Fine. If you’re not mine, then know that I’m yours. »
« Know that every single time I fuck up, I’ll come home to you. We’ll work together to make it better because we won’t abandon each other. We’ll make mistakes, we’ll learn lessons, and we’ll be tested. But we’ll come out so much stronger on the other side. »
༉‧₊˚. « I’d always preferred fiction, but now I couldn’t wait for the rest of my new reality. » ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧
Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for providing me this digital arc in exchange for an honest review!
༉‧₊˚. pre-read:
i have high hopes for this arc after reading the reviews ahhh let’s see 🤭
༉‧₊˚. « People say there’s a thin line between love and hate, and you know what? They’re right. » ・₊✧
ahh this was even better than i expected!! i was thrilled to get this arc because i knew i would enjoy reading this seeing the other reviews and i can say that this was so cute 🥹
Rosie Maxwell and Aiden Huntington are rivals in a writing class they both attend. they’re basically insulting each other’s writing whenever they can. rosie writes romance, meanwhile aiden writes literary fiction. she believes in happy ever after’s, he believes in sad, realistic endings.
starting the book, i found it hilarious because they would roast each other 99% of the time, when the whole class is like: “guys 🧍🏻♀️🧍🏻 get a room.”
anyways, since they’re constantly fighting in the class, the professor tells them they have to write a book together in order to stay in her class. they decide that the book won’t be entirely romance or literary fiction. it will include aspects from both genres.
rosie and aiden starts to spend more time together and try to get to know each other, so they can create a better relationship between their fmc and mmc in the book they’re writing. their character’s names are Max and Hunter, inspired by each other’s surnames 😽
i loved the language of the book, the dialogues kept my attention and i didn’t get bored while reading it.
one thing bothering me was the fact that they added all of their interactions into their book without changing it. it looked repetitive and also sounded unrealistic that they would share these experiences with the whole class 💀 the format was interesting though, i liked the idea of including annotations from the book they’re writing together.
rosie and aiden’s banter was fun to read! i was laughing at the scenes where they’re fighting like 5-year-olds. their relationship development made my heart swell, i’m glad that they slowly started to understand each other. towards the end, aiden’s demeanor annoyed me but he made up for it, so i can’t complain 🫶🏻
i loved Jess and Tyler. jess is such a great friend and her energy was amazing! tyler is the guy every girl needs. he doesn’t judge anyone and he doesn’t make abrupt comments. he shows that he cares and checks in whenever something’s wrong. he’s so respectful 😩 however i wish we saw more of their relationship… maybe we’ll get a second book about them? 🥹
overall, this was a very cute book! i loved reading about rosie and aiden’s relationship and i recommend this to anyone who loves books with the “rivals to lovers” trope, it’s really worth it <3
ᯓᡣ𐭩 quotes:
« I had become addicted to that look. It was my biggest vice— figuring out what words I could say to make her mad, to make her focus only on me, to get the look. »
« But what makes romance novels so good is the fact that they’re a complex dive into human emotion. There’s so much more to a romance than just love. »
« I felt like the best version of myself around her and I wanted to chase that feeling. »
« No one meets the same way and falls in love the same way. Sometimes you know just after an hour with a person. Or it can span decades. The only thing every love story really has in common is that it’s worth it. Love is always worth fighting for. »
« ’Oh please, you like it better that way.’ The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, no matter what she said. »
« I don’t think Happily Ever After is an ‘if’ thing. I think it’s ‘when.’ »
« When I am in love, I don’t want to have to wonder if it’s love, you know? I want to know with certainty that there is nothing else I would rather feel. »
« I’m not yours anymore. »
« Fine. If you’re not mine, then know that I’m yours. »
« Know that every single time I fuck up, I’ll come home to you. We’ll work together to make it better because we won’t abandon each other. We’ll make mistakes, we’ll learn lessons, and we’ll be tested. But we’ll come out so much stronger on the other side. »
༉‧₊˚. « I’d always preferred fiction, but now I couldn’t wait for the rest of my new reality. » ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧
Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for providing me this digital arc in exchange for an honest review!
༉‧₊˚. pre-read:
i have high hopes for this arc after reading the reviews ahhh let’s see 🤭
May 8, 2025
I really enjoyed the first 200 pages or so. I liked the writing and the characters. Rosie and Aiden's dynamics was interesting and fun, the slow burn was done well, as well as the combination of their relationship development and the development of the novel they were writing. The side characters were all likable, too.
This was going so well for me that I was certain nothing could ruin it. Well, of course something did.
This was going so well for me that I was certain nothing could ruin it. Well, of course something did.
![Profile Image for Imme [trying to crawl out of hiatus] van Gorp.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1700013408i%2F101358081._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
July 7, 2024
|| 4.0 stars ||
This was a true rivals-to-lovers slow-burn with all the feels and angst!
The story is about two upcoming authors who are both opposites in the type of genre they like to write and spend most of their college workshops hurling insults at each other. They’re genuinely mean and rude towards each other, and do not hold back.
I honestly struggled with this a little bit at first, because aside from her inner monologue acknowledging how handsome he was from the start, I truly could not feel any romantic tension or feelings between them at all. I was afraid their romance was going to fall flat for me. However, I shouldn’t have feared, because once I saw their relationship slowly develop and blossom, I actually appreciated that they started out with so much animosity. They genuinely acted like rivals at first and it was a true slow-burn.
This was not the only reason I appreciated this romance so much though. It was so much more than just that! It was the way I genuinely got so invested in their relationship that I literally felt my heart pang or beat rapidly in my chest whenever something happened between them, good or bad. You know that feeling, when you are so into it that you genuinely have physical reactions to the story? It could be your gut dropping or cramping, or maybe your chest feeling tight, or perhaps even full-blown butterflies in your stomach? Those were the feelings I got whenever one of them said something that really hurt the other person, or if one of them felt deep pain or sadness, but also when they were being insanely gentle and vulnerable and sweet to each other. Their dynamic was so organic and their interactions felt so real to me that I couldn’t help but feel intense emotional (and physical) reactions to all of it!
And I don’t mean all this in a way like everything was constantly angsty or emotional between them, because they actually had a lot of really cute and sweet moments as well. I’m honestly pretty hard to please when it comes to domestic scenes, because I tend to find them a little uneventful or even boring quite easily, so you must really believe me when I tell you these scenes were adorable and felt really authentic. It never felt forced or over-the-top; I genuinely felt like these two were having these gentle or cutesy moments together because they loved each other deeply and were the perfect fit for each other, which simply made it incredibly sweet to read. Especially since all of those moments were so nicely written too!
Moreover, I also really liked the unique premise this book presented where we saw fragments of the book that the two characters were writing together throughout this story. The actual book is written from the heroine’s POV, but these fragments gave us a lot of insight into what the hero was thinking too and it was often incredibly swoon-worthy. I always love seeing the parts in a romance where the hero is pining for the heroine, and these fragments gave us that (albeit second-handedly) in a very refreshing and powerful way!
All in all, I was honestly surprised by how much I ended up loving this book. I have to admit that I thought this book would be kind of silly and perhaps even superficial (I’m not sure why, really), yet it felt much deeper and more emotional than that to me. Whether it was the pretty and easy writing, the pleasant pacing, the well-rounded characters, or the angsty, well-developed, beautiful romance; I loved it all!
**I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
This was a true rivals-to-lovers slow-burn with all the feels and angst!
“There hasn’t been a second where I wasn’t wondering what you were thinking and if it was of me.”
The story is about two upcoming authors who are both opposites in the type of genre they like to write and spend most of their college workshops hurling insults at each other. They’re genuinely mean and rude towards each other, and do not hold back.
I honestly struggled with this a little bit at first, because aside from her inner monologue acknowledging how handsome he was from the start, I truly could not feel any romantic tension or feelings between them at all. I was afraid their romance was going to fall flat for me. However, I shouldn’t have feared, because once I saw their relationship slowly develop and blossom, I actually appreciated that they started out with so much animosity. They genuinely acted like rivals at first and it was a true slow-burn.
“I know you prefer what’s in your books, and I pretend I don’t want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you’re reading and dreaming because you’re who I picture every single time.”
This was not the only reason I appreciated this romance so much though. It was so much more than just that! It was the way I genuinely got so invested in their relationship that I literally felt my heart pang or beat rapidly in my chest whenever something happened between them, good or bad. You know that feeling, when you are so into it that you genuinely have physical reactions to the story? It could be your gut dropping or cramping, or maybe your chest feeling tight, or perhaps even full-blown butterflies in your stomach? Those were the feelings I got whenever one of them said something that really hurt the other person, or if one of them felt deep pain or sadness, but also when they were being insanely gentle and vulnerable and sweet to each other. Their dynamic was so organic and their interactions felt so real to me that I couldn’t help but feel intense emotional (and physical) reactions to all of it!
“I’m not yours anymore.”
“Fine. If you’re not mine, then know that I’m yours.”
And I don’t mean all this in a way like everything was constantly angsty or emotional between them, because they actually had a lot of really cute and sweet moments as well. I’m honestly pretty hard to please when it comes to domestic scenes, because I tend to find them a little uneventful or even boring quite easily, so you must really believe me when I tell you these scenes were adorable and felt really authentic. It never felt forced or over-the-top; I genuinely felt like these two were having these gentle or cutesy moments together because they loved each other deeply and were the perfect fit for each other, which simply made it incredibly sweet to read. Especially since all of those moments were so nicely written too!
“I’ll wait for you, Rosie. I swear it. I’m in it for the long haul. I want all your tomorrows. Every single one you’re willing to give me.”
Moreover, I also really liked the unique premise this book presented where we saw fragments of the book that the two characters were writing together throughout this story. The actual book is written from the heroine’s POV, but these fragments gave us a lot of insight into what the hero was thinking too and it was often incredibly swoon-worthy. I always love seeing the parts in a romance where the hero is pining for the heroine, and these fragments gave us that (albeit second-handedly) in a very refreshing and powerful way!
The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, no matter what she said.
All in all, I was honestly surprised by how much I ended up loving this book. I have to admit that I thought this book would be kind of silly and perhaps even superficial (I’m not sure why, really), yet it felt much deeper and more emotional than that to me. Whether it was the pretty and easy writing, the pleasant pacing, the well-rounded characters, or the angsty, well-developed, beautiful romance; I loved it all!
**I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
October 6, 2024
3.5 ˖⁺‧✮
”I want to be the person you picture when you’re reading and dreaming because you’re who i picture every single time. i love you. in light and dark, in romance and lit fic. in this lifetime and the next.”
“romance within romance” probably the only way i can describe this book without giving any spoilers away. i was so exited when applying for this arc because seeing romance and lit. fiction authors working together can’t be bad, right?
from the beginning, tension and anger between the main characters was far too strong. i can’t believe they actually had any “good” feelings at that moment. however, throughout the book they quickly changed and became the softest, kindest couple.
even though reading the book in a book was kind of awkward… i loved how they expressed their emotions while working together.
i didn’t like the way they were arguing by the end of the book. was it necessary? no. but it did add up to the end.
Thank you Edelweiss, Alcove Press and Crooked Lane Books for giving me an arc.
”I want to be the person you picture when you’re reading and dreaming because you’re who i picture every single time. i love you. in light and dark, in romance and lit fic. in this lifetime and the next.”
“romance within romance” probably the only way i can describe this book without giving any spoilers away. i was so exited when applying for this arc because seeing romance and lit. fiction authors working together can’t be bad, right?
from the beginning, tension and anger between the main characters was far too strong. i can’t believe they actually had any “good” feelings at that moment. however, throughout the book they quickly changed and became the softest, kindest couple.
even though reading the book in a book was kind of awkward… i loved how they expressed their emotions while working together.
i didn’t like the way they were arguing by the end of the book. was it necessary? no. but it did add up to the end.
Thank you Edelweiss, Alcove Press and Crooked Lane Books for giving me an arc.
November 27, 2024
°•*⁀➷・❥・“𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻, 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶, 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓯𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮.”・❥・ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
🌸27/11/2024
~spoiler-free review💫~
Release Date: 10th December, 2024
OMG, did I just read the CUTEST academic rivals-to-lovers book in a while?!🥹 I went into this keeping my expectations low, and viola! It turned out better than I expected!!😍🤌🏻 ngl, I applied for the arc only based on the cover, lol 🤭🩷
✨️Meet the love-hate cast 🎬 ✨️
Rosie Maxwell 🎀~ a hopeless romantic at heart (like me), joins a writing program so she can achieve her dream of being a romance author. She believes in having HEAs. And then she meets the man of her dream, only to turn out he is the complete opposite of hers. (you know like you have a crush on a person, but the moment they open their mouth or you get to know them, you want to forget you had a crush on them?!😆)
Aiden Huntington 💞~ loves making a character die or give sad realistic endings in literary fiction, absolutely hates romance, and doesn't believe in HEAs. But he might or might not love roasting our FMC because he likes her, especially calling her ROSALINDA.
Both of them are rivals in the writing class, always insulting each other with harsh words when they evaluate each other's writing. Their professor Ida, who was so done with them at this point of their constant sparring with words in class, plans to throw them together to write a romance novel, much to Aiden's dismay.😆🤌🏻 They have to go on 'fake dates' in order to get the ✨experience✨ to write the book, and we see all of their conversations in the book they are writing. The whole class is so excited for them because it's free entertainment, especially Rosie's friends- Logan, Jess, and Tyler.🤭
Overall, I loved reading the book, and seeing the gradual growth between them from being rivals to friends and then to lovers.
Read this if you like 💌:
🎀 Academic rivals to lovers
🎀 He falls first
🎀 Forced Proximity
🎀 Secret Crush
🎀 One Bed
🎀 Slow burn
🌶 chps: 17, 24, 26, 27
Thankyou to the Author, Publisher & Netgalley for the lovely ARC in exchange for an honest review!🫶🏻💕
P.S. I'm finally back with a full review here. Sorry for being inactive here with the reviews. Nowadays, I'm posting all the reviews immediately in my bookstgram. But anyways, I'm going to post all my pending reviews before the end of this year. So keep an eye out my besties!🤭💌
❥ 𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 💌:
ˋ°•*⁀➷・❥・𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀・❥・ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
🌸25/11/2024
Gotta say this was one of the cutest books I've read in a while. The slow burn was literally slow burning. RTC in a while. 🤭💓
🌸22/11/2024
In desperate need of an Enemies-to-Lovers story, and this seems like the perfect one to get out of my reading slump caused by Uni 😩 I've been saving this ARC for months, and finally I can get to it now!🥰💗
🌸27/11/2024
~spoiler-free review💫~
Release Date: 10th December, 2024
OMG, did I just read the CUTEST academic rivals-to-lovers book in a while?!🥹 I went into this keeping my expectations low, and viola! It turned out better than I expected!!😍🤌🏻 ngl, I applied for the arc only based on the cover, lol 🤭🩷
✨️Meet the love-hate cast 🎬 ✨️
“I don’t think Happily Ever After is an 'if' thing. I think it's 'when'.”
Rosie Maxwell 🎀~ a hopeless romantic at heart (like me), joins a writing program so she can achieve her dream of being a romance author. She believes in having HEAs. And then she meets the man of her dream, only to turn out he is the complete opposite of hers. (you know like you have a crush on a person, but the moment they open their mouth or you get to know them, you want to forget you had a crush on them?!😆)
“I never have to do anything. But when it comes to you, I find myself wanting to.”
Aiden Huntington 💞~ loves making a character die or give sad realistic endings in literary fiction, absolutely hates romance, and doesn't believe in HEAs. But he might or might not love roasting our FMC because he likes her, especially calling her ROSALINDA.
Both of them are rivals in the writing class, always insulting each other with harsh words when they evaluate each other's writing. Their professor Ida, who was so done with them at this point of their constant sparring with words in class, plans to throw them together to write a romance novel, much to Aiden's dismay.😆🤌🏻 They have to go on 'fake dates' in order to get the ✨experience✨ to write the book, and we see all of their conversations in the book they are writing. The whole class is so excited for them because it's free entertainment, especially Rosie's friends- Logan, Jess, and Tyler.🤭
Overall, I loved reading the book, and seeing the gradual growth between them from being rivals to friends and then to lovers.
Read this if you like 💌:
🎀 Academic rivals to lovers
🎀 He falls first
🎀 Forced Proximity
🎀 Secret Crush
🎀 One Bed
🎀 Slow burn
🌶 chps: 17, 24, 26, 27
Thankyou to the Author, Publisher & Netgalley for the lovely ARC in exchange for an honest review!🫶🏻💕
P.S. I'm finally back with a full review here. Sorry for being inactive here with the reviews. Nowadays, I'm posting all the reviews immediately in my bookstgram. But anyways, I'm going to post all my pending reviews before the end of this year. So keep an eye out my besties!🤭💌
❥ 𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 💌:
“Perfect. So, we’re not writing about each other.”
“I guess not.”
“No reason to read in between the lines then, huh?”
“None at all.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you in the next chapter.”
“I’m not yours anymore.”
“Fine. If you’re not mine, then know that I’m yours.”
“I know you prefer what's in your books, and I pretend I don't want to be like them, but I do. I want to be the person you picture when you're reading and dreaming because you're who I picture every single time. I love you. In light and dark, in romance and litfic. In this lifetime and the next.”
“I felt like the best version of myself around her and I wanted to chase that feeling.”
“When I am in love, I don’t want to have to wonder if it’s love, you know? I want to know with certainty that there is nothing else I would rather feel.”
ˋ°•*⁀➷・❥・𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀・❥・ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
🌸25/11/2024
Gotta say this was one of the cutest books I've read in a while. The slow burn was literally slow burning. RTC in a while. 🤭💓
🌸22/11/2024
In desperate need of an Enemies-to-Lovers story, and this seems like the perfect one to get out of my reading slump caused by Uni 😩 I've been saving this ARC for months, and finally I can get to it now!🥰💗
August 30, 2024
4 stars
the review: no spoilers here <3
a. the plot: the premise was very very relatable (in terms of academic context, not the romance part *sighs*)
the characters, Aiden and Rosie, write different genres. Rosie is a romance girlie (squee) and Aiden, well, let's just put it that he doesn't like romance too much. The professor, tired with their constant bickering in class, puts them as teammates for a group project. and... my Goodreads friends, this is how it started (cues internal screaming)
b. the characters:
okayyy I must admit I have a soft spot for the troupe of academic rivals because not me thinking I can actually have a moment in class and I was invested in rosie's and aiden's budding romance so that was a plus point. And the fact that rosie and aiden were likeable characters, that made the whole book so enjoyable to read! It was worth the hour spent.
" The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, or what she said."
Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for sending over an arc in exchange for honest review.
the review: no spoilers here <3
a. the plot: the premise was very very relatable (in terms of academic context, not the romance part *sighs*)
the characters, Aiden and Rosie, write different genres. Rosie is a romance girlie (squee) and Aiden, well, let's just put it that he doesn't like romance too much. The professor, tired with their constant bickering in class, puts them as teammates for a group project. and... my Goodreads friends, this is how it started (cues internal screaming)
b. the characters:
okayyy I must admit I have a soft spot for the troupe of academic rivals
" The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, or what she said."
Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for sending over an arc in exchange for honest review.
October 14, 2024
After I finished this book, only one sentence popped into my mind: I love it so much! Interestingly, I loved Maxine and Hunter’s parts more than Rosie and Aiden’s, even though they are the same characters!
This book is unique and creative, following standard romance formulas between two stubborn, opposite characters and my favorite tropes—enemies to lovers, forced proximity, opposites attract—adding Southern charm, Peruvian genuineness, and holiday vibes. The settings in New York, which should be considered the most romantic city in the world, seem specifically designed for lovers (romantic park walks, beautiful shops with dreamy Christmas decorations, gorgeous gourmet restaurants, sipping frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity! Yes, this never-sleeping city is even more romantic than Paris!).
I didn’t mind the formula, even though it’s a match made in heaven concoction for me to devour each week to heal my soul! (We need more romances, my friends! Don’t listen to real-life brooding Aidens! They’re cute for our broken hearts, life vests to help keep our heads above the water and not drown in the harsh waves life throws at us!) The execution of the tropes, the blossoming slow-burn romance, the genuine family parts, and the banter in the writing class between Rosie and Aiden are perfect!
The conclusion was also heartwarming! I didn’t expect to enjoy this book so much, but the end of the chapters belonging to Max and Hunter were so close to pure perfection!
Let’s talk about the plot quickly: Rosie, looking at things through rose-tinted glasses, is a passionate, caring, sweet but also straightforward, bold, adventurous young woman in her mid-twenties with Peruvian American heritage. She leaves her life and family in Tennessee to move to New York to pursue her passion to be a romance author. Attending writing classes crosses her path with Aiden Huntington, a green-eyed, tall, broad-shouldered, gorgeous man who hates the idea of romance and becomes her worst critic, turning into her arch-nemesis even though she had a quick crush on him the first time she set her eyes on him.
Their banter turns into volatile arguments in the class, creating more havoc than they expected. As a solution, their instructor forces them to write a book together combining romance and literary fiction, spending more time together to learn to respect their genres and become more civil as team colleagues.
What they didn’t expect was that they would create characters based on themselves and start to write about their feelings, pushing the thin line between hate and adoration. As they get to know each other, the walls they constructed start diminishing, and the lines get blurred as the sparks keep flying. Can they end this book project together as they wish without a tragedy, but most likely with a HEA, and apply it in real life to themselves?
Both of them are afraid of burning. But what if, without risking your heart, you cannot get closer to your soulmate?
Overall: I enjoyed it! Some stubborn attitudes of the characters pissed me off, but I still rounded up 4.5 stars to 5 blazing stars for the sake of Maxine and Hunter!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for sharing this meaningful romance novel’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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This book is unique and creative, following standard romance formulas between two stubborn, opposite characters and my favorite tropes—enemies to lovers, forced proximity, opposites attract—adding Southern charm, Peruvian genuineness, and holiday vibes. The settings in New York, which should be considered the most romantic city in the world, seem specifically designed for lovers (romantic park walks, beautiful shops with dreamy Christmas decorations, gorgeous gourmet restaurants, sipping frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity! Yes, this never-sleeping city is even more romantic than Paris!).
I didn’t mind the formula, even though it’s a match made in heaven concoction for me to devour each week to heal my soul! (We need more romances, my friends! Don’t listen to real-life brooding Aidens! They’re cute for our broken hearts, life vests to help keep our heads above the water and not drown in the harsh waves life throws at us!) The execution of the tropes, the blossoming slow-burn romance, the genuine family parts, and the banter in the writing class between Rosie and Aiden are perfect!
The conclusion was also heartwarming! I didn’t expect to enjoy this book so much, but the end of the chapters belonging to Max and Hunter were so close to pure perfection!
Let’s talk about the plot quickly: Rosie, looking at things through rose-tinted glasses, is a passionate, caring, sweet but also straightforward, bold, adventurous young woman in her mid-twenties with Peruvian American heritage. She leaves her life and family in Tennessee to move to New York to pursue her passion to be a romance author. Attending writing classes crosses her path with Aiden Huntington, a green-eyed, tall, broad-shouldered, gorgeous man who hates the idea of romance and becomes her worst critic, turning into her arch-nemesis even though she had a quick crush on him the first time she set her eyes on him.
Their banter turns into volatile arguments in the class, creating more havoc than they expected. As a solution, their instructor forces them to write a book together combining romance and literary fiction, spending more time together to learn to respect their genres and become more civil as team colleagues.
What they didn’t expect was that they would create characters based on themselves and start to write about their feelings, pushing the thin line between hate and adoration. As they get to know each other, the walls they constructed start diminishing, and the lines get blurred as the sparks keep flying. Can they end this book project together as they wish without a tragedy, but most likely with a HEA, and apply it in real life to themselves?
Both of them are afraid of burning. But what if, without risking your heart, you cannot get closer to your soulmate?
Overall: I enjoyed it! Some stubborn attitudes of the characters pissed me off, but I still rounded up 4.5 stars to 5 blazing stars for the sake of Maxine and Hunter!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for sharing this meaningful romance novel’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
medium.com
December 7, 2024
Two writers go head to head and kiss for kiss, in this steamy rivals-to-lovers book following graduate students, Rosie and Aiden, as they are forced to write a romance together and admit that they may feel emotions other than contempt for each other. This was such a titillating and sincere romance, I loved Rosie and Aiden together! The two showed their love so well and it came out so raw and vicious, their love language is for sure banter and barbs. Beyond that, the plot and writing was very unique, I loved how their relationship bled into the story they wrote and helped them communicate what they were too afraid to say. The connection between them was just so sweet and enigmatic, Aiden was completely gone for Rosie and it was adorable watching him fall all over himself. This debut romance delivered everything and more; from witty banter, chemistry, yearning, tension, and relatable characters. I cannot wait to see what Katie Holt writes next!
~Many thanks to Alcove Press for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
~Many thanks to Alcove Press for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
January 10, 2026
3.5 stars
"But know that every single time I fuck up, I'll come home to you. We'll work together to make it better because we won't abandon each other. We'll make mistakes, we'll learn lessons, and we'll be tested. But we'll come out so much stronger on the other side."
This was a fairly cute read that I got through pretty fast, but it didn't knock my socks off.
Aiden was a great MMC, though I thought he could be overly aggressive at times and it was almost a shock to the system, some of the stuff he would say to Rosie. But his development was pretty great and I loved where his character ended up by the end.
But most of my issues are with Rosie. In the beginning, she came off pretty young to me and that wasn't what I was looking for in this book. As time went on, she seemed better to me and I was cruising through the book, but the end was a big red flag for me. I really didn't enjoy the third act breakup. It felt pretty late in the book, and I think Rosie was being absolutely ridiculous. Not that Aiden didn't have his fuck ups, but her reaction was way overkill imo.
Overall, this was a lukewarm romance that got some additional points because Aiden had some 🤌 moments.
Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
"But know that every single time I fuck up, I'll come home to you. We'll work together to make it better because we won't abandon each other. We'll make mistakes, we'll learn lessons, and we'll be tested. But we'll come out so much stronger on the other side."
This was a fairly cute read that I got through pretty fast, but it didn't knock my socks off.
Aiden was a great MMC, though I thought he could be overly aggressive at times and it was almost a shock to the system, some of the stuff he would say to Rosie. But his development was pretty great and I loved where his character ended up by the end.
But most of my issues are with Rosie. In the beginning, she came off pretty young to me and that wasn't what I was looking for in this book. As time went on, she seemed better to me and I was cruising through the book, but the end was a big red flag for me. I really didn't enjoy the third act breakup. It felt pretty late in the book, and I think Rosie was being absolutely ridiculous. Not that Aiden didn't have his fuck ups, but her reaction was way overkill imo.
Overall, this was a lukewarm romance that got some additional points because Aiden had some 🤌 moments.
Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
December 7, 2024
3,5 ★
“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙, 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙”
Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC!
I was so excited when I got this arc bc the cover looked so cute and the synopsis sounded just like what I needed. This really was a fun read and I have so much to say so get in friends 🚗
“𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙄 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠, 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙛𝙞𝙘. 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩.”
Pro’s:
▸ the phasing was very well. Not too slow, not too fast. It was just perfect to keep my attention. How the book started, when they started working together, how the relationship progressed and everything! I was worried it would go too fast for me, but the phasing was very nice.
▸ The writing was done very well. It fit perfect with the story and the characters. It read as an easy romance that doesn’t take itself too serieus, the kind of book you want to pick up after a long day and not use your head too much.
▸ I liked how he apologized at the end, had me all🤭🤭🤭 I don’t care what anyone says, Aiden is a cutie patootie
▸ The lil pieces of their book at the end were GENIUS, bc they basically told us what Aiden was feeling even if we didn’t get anything from his perspective. Really cool🥹
▸ The twists were good and simple making this, once again, an easy read- what I really liked since that’s what I was looking for.
"𝙄 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮. 𝙄 𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙯𝙯𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩. 𝙄 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝘾𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙄 𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙚, 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙚, 𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬."
Con’s:
▸ Rosie was kinda annoying sometimes yk? Being stubborn when she really just could have done the damn task. She also kept getting mad at Aiden when he become distant when she started about his mom and then she goes like “he is so annoying, he can’t be friendly” blah blah like girl, come on, read between the lines. His mom is clearly a sensitive topic, let it go. She also did something that is not okay after the kissing- I’m talking about the way she acted AFTER all that- and then get mad at HIM, girl YOU STARTED IT. She just wasn’t really self aware and it got on my nerves.
▸ SHE FORGOT HER BOOKS AT HIS HOUSE😭😭😭 that broke my heart😔
▸ I needed the Spanish translation so bad😭 I was so confused cz there would be like 3 dialogues back to back in Spanish and I would just be like “😪 no hablo español”
▸ Their fight at the end was kinda… stupid- the scene where she confronted him- Idk how to explain it, it just didn’t feel right, it didn’t feel like them. I really don’t know how to phrase it. The twist was good tho! I just hoped it would have happened a different way.
“𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙜𝙤. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢, 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚."
I think this is the authors first book and WOW, this is very good for a debut, like, very good. I can’t wait to read more of the authors work 🥹 The book will be out on 10 December 2024!
Smut:
Yes, 4 full scenes and like 2 lil paragraphs. Easy to skip, except the one they wrote, that was a lil tricky 😭
“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙, 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙”
Thank you NetGalley and the author for this ARC!
I was so excited when I got this arc bc the cover looked so cute and the synopsis sounded just like what I needed. This really was a fun read and I have so much to say so get in friends 🚗
“𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙤. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙄 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠, 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙛𝙞𝙘. 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩.”
Pro’s:
▸ the phasing was very well. Not too slow, not too fast. It was just perfect to keep my attention. How the book started, when they started working together, how the relationship progressed and everything! I was worried it would go too fast for me, but the phasing was very nice.
▸ The writing was done very well. It fit perfect with the story and the characters. It read as an easy romance that doesn’t take itself too serieus, the kind of book you want to pick up after a long day and not use your head too much.
▸ I liked how he apologized at the end, had me all🤭🤭🤭 I don’t care what anyone says, Aiden is a cutie patootie
▸ The lil pieces of their book at the end were GENIUS, bc they basically told us what Aiden was feeling even if we didn’t get anything from his perspective. Really cool🥹
▸ The twists were good and simple making this, once again, an easy read- what I really liked since that’s what I was looking for.
"𝙄 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮. 𝙄 𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙯𝙯𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩. 𝙄 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝘾𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙄 𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙩, 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙚, 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙚, 𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬."
Con’s:
▸ Rosie was kinda annoying sometimes yk? Being stubborn when she really just could have done the damn task. She also kept getting mad at Aiden when he become distant when she started about his mom and then she goes like “he is so annoying, he can’t be friendly” blah blah like girl, come on, read between the lines. His mom is clearly a sensitive topic, let it go. She also did something that is not okay after the kissing- I’m talking about the way she acted AFTER all that- and then get mad at HIM, girl YOU STARTED IT. She just wasn’t really self aware and it got on my nerves.
▸ SHE FORGOT HER BOOKS AT HIS HOUSE😭😭😭 that broke my heart😔
▸ I needed the Spanish translation so bad😭 I was so confused cz there would be like 3 dialogues back to back in Spanish and I would just be like “😪 no hablo español”
▸ Their fight at the end was kinda… stupid- the scene where she confronted him- Idk how to explain it, it just didn’t feel right, it didn’t feel like them. I really don’t know how to phrase it. The twist was good tho! I just hoped it would have happened a different way.
“𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄'𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙜𝙤. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢, 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚."
I think this is the authors first book and WOW, this is very good for a debut, like, very good. I can’t wait to read more of the authors work 🥹 The book will be out on 10 December 2024!
Smut:
Yes, 4 full scenes and like 2 lil paragraphs. Easy to skip, except the one they wrote, that was a lil tricky 😭
December 5, 2025
This is one of those books that would have gotten five stars if it weren’t for a few things that bothered me.
Rosie, a romantic at heart, and Aiden, a grumpy literary-fiction writer, attend the same writing workshop. They usually criticize each other’s work mercilessly. After a particularly heated debate in class, they’re punished by having to write a novel together.
The writing was great and I can’t wait to read more from this author. I devoured this book! It didn’t feel like a debut at all: the characters were lovable and realistic, the enemies-to-lovers beautifully executed. The chemistry and tension between Rosie and Aiden? Chef’s kiss. I adored the way they opened up to each other and slowly progressed from enemies to friends and then to lovers. The fact that it wasn’t always smooth and easy made them more relatable, and made me like them (and the book) even more.
What didn’t work for me was that, because the romance they were writing was based on their own, they ended up sharing their most private moments with the whole class. They even included their first kiss in the book and read it out loud for everyone to hear and judge 😭. Rosie also shared that, and other details, with her bestie, and that’s my personal pet peeve. Some things should stay between two people; kiss-and-tell is cringe enough among teenagers, but it’s an absolute no-go for adults.
Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rosie, a romantic at heart, and Aiden, a grumpy literary-fiction writer, attend the same writing workshop. They usually criticize each other’s work mercilessly. After a particularly heated debate in class, they’re punished by having to write a novel together.
The writing was great and I can’t wait to read more from this author. I devoured this book! It didn’t feel like a debut at all: the characters were lovable and realistic, the enemies-to-lovers beautifully executed. The chemistry and tension between Rosie and Aiden? Chef’s kiss. I adored the way they opened up to each other and slowly progressed from enemies to friends and then to lovers. The fact that it wasn’t always smooth and easy made them more relatable, and made me like them (and the book) even more.
What didn’t work for me was that, because the romance they were writing was based on their own, they ended up sharing their most private moments with the whole class. They even included their first kiss in the book and read it out loud for everyone to hear and judge 😭. Rosie also shared that, and other details, with her bestie, and that’s my personal pet peeve. Some things should stay between two people; kiss-and-tell is cringe enough among teenagers, but it’s an absolute no-go for adults.
Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
November 5, 2024
This might be my favorite contemporary romance of the year!!!
I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. It gave me that feeling of giddiness, pure bliss, and unrestrained happiness that only a great romance novel can bring...
I will gladly recommend this book to all of you who are searching for a next romance novel to pick up and fall in love with ... the story, characters, and above anything else escape into a great story.
I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. It gave me that feeling of giddiness, pure bliss, and unrestrained happiness that only a great romance novel can bring...
I will gladly recommend this book to all of you who are searching for a next romance novel to pick up and fall in love with ... the story, characters, and above anything else escape into a great story.
June 1, 2024
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰'𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔."
3.75 ✰
♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ
first & most importantly, thank you diksha for buddy reading this with me!! her review is linked here!
not in my book is a cute romance about two academic rivals, rosie and aiden, who absolutely despise the other. professor Ida, tired of their constant bickering in class and lack of teamwork, decides to put their skills to the test by forcing them to collaborate on a novel. the catch: if they fail to finish the novel, they will be expelled from the class. both rosie and aiden need this class to graduate, so they attempt to put their differences aside, but as they continue writing, they begin to uncover each other’s hidden strengths and vulnerabilities, slowly chipping away at their initial impressions in the process. just as they're about to make progress, their differing opinions on the story's direction threaten to tear them apart – forcing them to confront the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the other person isn't so bad after all.
i really enjoyed reading this book. it was so sweet and funny, and there were so many good quotes. so let’s get into the review shall we?
✏️🗒️🩷🌃🚉
𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 📓
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
✎ rivals to lovers
✎ small town girl, city boy
✎ one bed
✎ “hurt her and i’ll end you”
✎ grumpy x sunshine
𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 📓
rosalinda˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
our fmc is rosalinda, rosie for short! i loved rosie’s character so much. throughout the book she was always ambitious and very adamant on getting what she wanted. she had a relatable personality which i loved as well.
aiden˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
the way i need him is ridiculous. he starts out as a grumpy, seemingly stuck up mmc, but the character development with this one is insane. not to mention, he has a way with words 🤭obviously he does, he’s a writer.
logan, jess, tyler˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
rosie’s friend group) i liked them! they were a solid friend group. they were normally very supportive of rosie.
maria˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
rosie’s roommate) she was so cute and so sweet! i would love to have her as a roommate. the only thing i didn’t like about her was that she was really pushy when it came to rosie and she didn’t seem to care if rosie disagreed or was uncomfortable. this wasn’t an all the time thing though!!
𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕 📓
overall, the plot was good, but i didn't like that there was a new conflict introduced around 90%. i also wish that there was more included in either the last chapter or the epilogue because i wanted to see more of aidenrosie!
𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆 📓
the writing style was good imo, although there were some typos and formatting issues that at times could be distracting. there were a few issues with dialogue and who was speaking that was confusing as well. other than that, i really liked it!
𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 <3
“If you loved someone, you’d stay up late even if you were tired.”
“‘Writing’s in the revisions. Nothing’s set in stone, you know. Your backspace works just as well as the other keys.’”
“‘You two lack chemistry.’
‘That’s not true.’”
“‘I don’t want to be everyone else to you.’”
“The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, no matter what she said.”
𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 📓
i enjoyed this book! it was so cute and just what i needed after the heartache that was heartless. it came out to a 6.8/10 on cawpile and 3.75 stars!! this was a very solid debut novel for katie holt!
and ofc, if you read all of this, ty <33
xoxo
thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. all opinions here are my own!
___________
pre-read
buddy reading this with my soon to be jjk bestie @diksha🤭🤭 so excited for this one
3.75 ✰
♡･ﾟ:*｡.:*･ﾟ
first & most importantly, thank you diksha for buddy reading this with me!! her review is linked here!
not in my book is a cute romance about two academic rivals, rosie and aiden, who absolutely despise the other. professor Ida, tired of their constant bickering in class and lack of teamwork, decides to put their skills to the test by forcing them to collaborate on a novel. the catch: if they fail to finish the novel, they will be expelled from the class. both rosie and aiden need this class to graduate, so they attempt to put their differences aside, but as they continue writing, they begin to uncover each other’s hidden strengths and vulnerabilities, slowly chipping away at their initial impressions in the process. just as they're about to make progress, their differing opinions on the story's direction threaten to tear them apart – forcing them to confront the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the other person isn't so bad after all.
i really enjoyed reading this book. it was so sweet and funny, and there were so many good quotes. so let’s get into the review shall we?
✏️🗒️🩷🌃🚉
𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 📓
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
✎ rivals to lovers
✎ small town girl, city boy
✎ one bed
✎ “hurt her and i’ll end you”
✎ grumpy x sunshine
𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 📓
rosalinda˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
our fmc is rosalinda, rosie for short! i loved rosie’s character so much. throughout the book she was always ambitious and very adamant on getting what she wanted. she had a relatable personality which i loved as well.
aiden˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
the way i need him is ridiculous. he starts out as a grumpy, seemingly stuck up mmc, but the character development with this one is insane. not to mention, he has a way with words 🤭
logan, jess, tyler˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
rosie’s friend group) i liked them! they were a solid friend group. they were normally very supportive of rosie.
maria˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
rosie’s roommate) she was so cute and so sweet! i would love to have her as a roommate. the only thing i didn’t like about her was that she was really pushy when it came to rosie and she didn’t seem to care if rosie disagreed or was uncomfortable. this wasn’t an all the time thing though!!
𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕 📓
overall, the plot was good, but i didn't like that there was a new conflict introduced around 90%. i also wish that there was more included in either the last chapter or the epilogue because i wanted to see more of aidenrosie!
𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆 📓
the writing style was good imo, although there were some typos and formatting issues that at times could be distracting. there were a few issues with dialogue and who was speaking that was confusing as well. other than that, i really liked it!
𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 <3
“If you loved someone, you’d stay up late even if you were tired.”
“‘Writing’s in the revisions. Nothing’s set in stone, you know. Your backspace works just as well as the other keys.’”
“‘You two lack chemistry.’
‘That’s not true.’”
“‘I don’t want to be everyone else to you.’”
“The truth was I liked her no matter what she did, no matter what she said.”
𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 📓
i enjoyed this book! it was so cute and just what i needed after the heartache that was heartless. it came out to a 6.8/10 on cawpile and 3.75 stars!! this was a very solid debut novel for katie holt!
and ofc, if you read all of this, ty <33
xoxo
thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. all opinions here are my own!
___________
pre-read
buddy reading this with my soon to be jjk bestie @diksha🤭🤭 so excited for this one
January 11, 2025
I ate this up.
Now, I didn't love the start, and some things made me extremely angry.
But I loved the writing.
I loved the back-and-forth.
I loved the smut/praise/dirty talk :)
I had fun, and that's all I'm choosing to focus on.
Also, this was Katie's first book! I'm excited about what's next.
--------------
Heard this was good :)
Now, I didn't love the start, and some things made me extremely angry.
But I loved the writing.
I loved the back-and-forth.
I loved the smut/praise/dirty talk :)
I had fun, and that's all I'm choosing to focus on.
Also, this was Katie's first book! I'm excited about what's next.
--------------
Heard this was good :)
October 8, 2024
3.75 stars ❤︎
⤷ one of the cutest books i’ve read in a long time <33
🫶🏼 “I’d always preferred fiction, but now I couldn’t wait for the rest of my reality” 🫶🏼
this bookkk. the best thing about arcs is that I always go in with the lowest expectations ever because they have disappointed me many, many times. but this.. this is the true exception. 💗 this book was SO GOOD. the banter was everything, the way they were living the romance novel they were co-writing?? and lowkey communicated their feelings to eachother through it? so unique and perfect. 💌
📖 plot 📖
aiden and rosie are both authors. attending the same workshop. they get paired up to write a book together as one of their projects. doesn’t sound too bad righttt? wrong. they absolutely despise each other, bicker 24/7, and have very different writing styles. 😃🔫 rosie is a swiftie, a romantic, and believes every story should have a HEA (so basically me!) whereas aiden enjoys literary fiction, hates romance, and always enjoys killing off his main characters or making them have very tragic storylines (literally wtf is wrong with this man idk😭😭)
so when they are forced to work together it’s kind of a disaster. they don’t even enjoy being in the same room together so how is this gonna actually work?💀 they end up naming the characters as their last names (huntington = hunter & maxwell = maxine) and basically their novel ends up being a story of how the writers fall in love. 🥹they describe their feelings for eachother as part of their story and use their real-life interactions for the plot of their book. isn’t that so cool?!!? and they fall in love but no one is shocked there. 🤭🫶🏼
🧸 general thoughts 🧸
I usually dislike the tropes that were in this book (workplace, enemies-to-lovers) but this book had me hooked! 😋I loved their bickering, it was lowkey so funny. for fans of elena armas, I think you’ll love this. it’s a similar type of enemies-to-lovers as spanish love deception, where they don’t reallyyy hate eachother. but I think it was better executed here personally. 🎀
I think the third act breakup was unnecessary and stupid and basically the last 50 pages of the book could’ve been cut out bc there was no reason for them to break up ❤️🩹 but that’s pretty much the only complaint I had, other than that it was very sweet and fun. highly recommend!!
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
⤷ one of the cutest books i’ve read in a long time <33
🫶🏼 “I’d always preferred fiction, but now I couldn’t wait for the rest of my reality” 🫶🏼
this bookkk. the best thing about arcs is that I always go in with the lowest expectations ever because they have disappointed me many, many times. but this.. this is the true exception. 💗 this book was SO GOOD. the banter was everything, the way they were living the romance novel they were co-writing?? and lowkey communicated their feelings to eachother through it? so unique and perfect. 💌
📖 plot 📖
aiden and rosie are both authors. attending the same workshop. they get paired up to write a book together as one of their projects. doesn’t sound too bad righttt? wrong. they absolutely despise each other, bicker 24/7, and have very different writing styles. 😃🔫 rosie is a swiftie, a romantic, and believes every story should have a HEA (so basically me!) whereas aiden enjoys literary fiction, hates romance, and always enjoys killing off his main characters or making them have very tragic storylines (literally wtf is wrong with this man idk😭😭)
so when they are forced to work together it’s kind of a disaster. they don’t even enjoy being in the same room together so how is this gonna actually work?💀 they end up naming the characters as their last names (huntington = hunter & maxwell = maxine) and basically their novel ends up being a story of how the writers fall in love. 🥹they describe their feelings for eachother as part of their story and use their real-life interactions for the plot of their book. isn’t that so cool?!!? and they fall in love but no one is shocked there. 🤭🫶🏼
🧸 general thoughts 🧸
I usually dislike the tropes that were in this book (workplace, enemies-to-lovers) but this book had me hooked! 😋I loved their bickering, it was lowkey so funny. for fans of elena armas, I think you’ll love this. it’s a similar type of enemies-to-lovers as spanish love deception, where they don’t reallyyy hate eachother. but I think it was better executed here personally. 🎀
I think the third act breakup was unnecessary and stupid and basically the last 50 pages of the book could’ve been cut out bc there was no reason for them to break up ❤️🩹 but that’s pretty much the only complaint I had, other than that it was very sweet and fun. highly recommend!!
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
October 9, 2024
3.5 stars
Not in My Book is a strong debut novel by Katie Holt. I enjoyed her writing style, that it was fast paced, and so romance positive. I’m always an enemies to lovers fan and it gave me ‘The Hating Game’ vibes in the best way. There were moments I loved both Rosie and Aiden, and there were moments they frustrated me. I thought for sure it would be a strong 4 star book for me, but honestly I didn’t love the conflict in the end. It was predictable and didn’t make sense to me. The actual ending of the book was good, though. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future because I think she has loads of potential!
Not in My Book is a strong debut novel by Katie Holt. I enjoyed her writing style, that it was fast paced, and so romance positive. I’m always an enemies to lovers fan and it gave me ‘The Hating Game’ vibes in the best way. There were moments I loved both Rosie and Aiden, and there were moments they frustrated me. I thought for sure it would be a strong 4 star book for me, but honestly I didn’t love the conflict in the end. It was predictable and didn’t make sense to me. The actual ending of the book was good, though. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future because I think she has loads of potential!
December 11, 2024
Incredible, 10/10, no notes! Mark the day...I've found my new favorite contemporary enemies to lovers romance, dethroning The Hating Game after three years.
From the first chapter, I knew this was going to be a five star. Rosie and Aiden's banter was EVERYTHING. Their arguments were iconic, and the chemistry was off the charts. I LOVED how their tension grew more and more palpable and being forced to work together finally made their hate switch to love. This type of slow burn is why I love enemies to lovers so much.
Also let's talk about the NYC vibes? Obsessed. Utterly obsessed. The number of times I've stood in that tiny romance section in The Strand is too many to count. And he buys her books there! Screaming crying throwing up. The emphasis on Christmas and winter in NYC was great too.
This entire book felt like such a fun and fresh take on various tropes and the romance genre as a whole. I liked how it was a college romance but also not a college romance (lol). Rosie and Aiden being MFA novelists at NYU and forced to write a book together is an AMAZING premise. There's a sort of twist on the one bed trope as well. And this got steamy and I loved it...like writing a spicy scene together for their book...I'm unwell. Blushing at at 6AM on the airplane. Also the pacing was excellent. Every romance lover needs to read this one!
Thank you so much to Alcove Press for sending me an ARC of Not in My Book. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
From the first chapter, I knew this was going to be a five star. Rosie and Aiden's banter was EVERYTHING. Their arguments were iconic, and the chemistry was off the charts. I LOVED how their tension grew more and more palpable and being forced to work together finally made their hate switch to love. This type of slow burn is why I love enemies to lovers so much.
Also let's talk about the NYC vibes? Obsessed. Utterly obsessed. The number of times I've stood in that tiny romance section in The Strand is too many to count. And he buys her books there! Screaming crying throwing up. The emphasis on Christmas and winter in NYC was great too.
This entire book felt like such a fun and fresh take on various tropes and the romance genre as a whole. I liked how it was a college romance but also not a college romance (lol). Rosie and Aiden being MFA novelists at NYU and forced to write a book together is an AMAZING premise. There's a sort of twist on the one bed trope as well. And this got steamy and I loved it...like writing a spicy scene together for their book...I'm unwell. Blushing at at 6AM on the airplane. Also the pacing was excellent. Every romance lover needs to read this one!
Thank you so much to Alcove Press for sending me an ARC of Not in My Book. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
October 25, 2025
This was a really solid debut, I enjoyed it a lot.
Since it's enemies to lovers, I went into it a bit apprehensive because that’s always tricky to pull off in a romance setting. I do think though that it was well done here. Rosie and Aiden’s banter was fun, and I really liked how they slowly but surely became friends.
I listened to the audiobook and I could’ve finished it in a day had I had the time for it. The pacing was great and made me want to just keep going.
One thing to note about the audiobook was that while I thought the narrator did a fantastic job, parts of the story itself were a bit confusing this way. It contains some elements of a book within the book, and it wasn’t always clear to me when they were writing their story and their characters (Maxine and Hunter) were talking, and when Rosie and Aiden were actually talking to each other. Made more confusing by the fact that they were just writing about themselves with different names. The excerpts also felt quite redundant because it repeated what had already happened in the chapter, only seen from Aiden/Hunter’s POV without much additional thoughts or information. I’d have enjoyed it more if we had just got Aiden’s actual POV and no excerpts from their story.
There were some spicy scenes in here which I didn’t like all that much, but that might just be me. Because at this point, literally every mmc seemingly has to be super dominant when it comes to sex, and it kind of gives me the ick. Like it’s not hot any more, just weird and overdone.
It also felt out of character for Aiden who was this kind of sweet and awkward guy for most of the book, like he was at best a bit gruff, that’s it. Why not let him be this way during sex too? I would find that infinitely more interesting than reading the same kind of spicy scenes over and over again. Miss me with the ‘good girl’ and ‘you can take it’ shit…
But that’s just me, and it’s also not a big part of the book.
What really bothered me was the drama at the end. I’ll be honest, it kind of ruined the story a bit for me. Rosie’s reaction was so dramatic and kind of childish. Like why would you throw everything away because some dude broke your heart?? Girl you’re an adult, act like it. Also, you’ve dated him for like 3 months? Made her look kind of pathetic, not gonna lie..
All in all, I still had a good time with this story though.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
___
I should be working🤸♀️ 🤸♀️ 🤸♀️ 🤸♀️
Since it's enemies to lovers, I went into it a bit apprehensive because that’s always tricky to pull off in a romance setting. I do think though that it was well done here. Rosie and Aiden’s banter was fun, and I really liked how they slowly but surely became friends.
I listened to the audiobook and I could’ve finished it in a day had I had the time for it. The pacing was great and made me want to just keep going.
One thing to note about the audiobook was that while I thought the narrator did a fantastic job, parts of the story itself were a bit confusing this way. It contains some elements of a book within the book, and it wasn’t always clear to me when they were writing their story and their characters (Maxine and Hunter) were talking, and when Rosie and Aiden were actually talking to each other. Made more confusing by the fact that they were just writing about themselves with different names. The excerpts also felt quite redundant because it repeated what had already happened in the chapter, only seen from Aiden/Hunter’s POV without much additional thoughts or information. I’d have enjoyed it more if we had just got Aiden’s actual POV and no excerpts from their story.
There were some spicy scenes in here which I didn’t like all that much, but that might just be me. Because at this point, literally every mmc seemingly has to be super dominant when it comes to sex, and it kind of gives me the ick. Like it’s not hot any more, just weird and overdone.
It also felt out of character for Aiden who was this kind of sweet and awkward guy for most of the book, like he was at best a bit gruff, that’s it. Why not let him be this way during sex too? I would find that infinitely more interesting than reading the same kind of spicy scenes over and over again. Miss me with the ‘good girl’ and ‘you can take it’ shit…
But that’s just me, and it’s also not a big part of the book.
What really bothered me was the drama at the end. I’ll be honest, it kind of ruined the story a bit for me. Rosie’s reaction was so dramatic and kind of childish. Like why would you throw everything away because some dude broke your heart?? Girl you’re an adult, act like it. Also, you’ve dated him for like 3 months? Made her look kind of pathetic, not gonna lie..
All in all, I still had a good time with this story though.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
___
I should be working🤸♀️ 🤸♀️ 🤸♀️ 🤸♀️
November 25, 2024
Is romantic academia a genre? Because it should be. We all love dark academia, so why not cute fluffy academia?
This book really took me by surprise. There are so many well-loved tropes in here that many of us have come to admire (enemies to lovers, a book within a book, grumpy/sunshine, etc) and this author really melded these into a unique story that kept me reading.
Not only do you get the story of the two main characters, you get the story of the book they are writing as well. Speaking of characters, each one in this book really had a unique voice. They felt fleshed-out, like an actual person that exists in the world.
I loved the difference in class and opportunity this book had as well. Overall, I feel that this book has some down-to-earth points on real world issues. I don’t generally love the discussion of modern political and social issues in books, but this author handled these in a matter-of-fact way that was by no means preachy. I feel like many people could take a note from this book when it comes to different perspectives and goals from people of different classes.
It also made me personally happy to see the author and characters defend the romance genre. So many people look down at romance, but it’s loved my so many people. #justiceforromance
I enjoyed this book a lot. It included many of the tropes I enjoy, but was able to put a fresh and original spin on the overall story. Highly recommend to anyone needed a contemporary romance.
Very happy to receive an ARC via Netgalley! Can't wait to check this one out. :)
This book really took me by surprise. There are so many well-loved tropes in here that many of us have come to admire (enemies to lovers, a book within a book, grumpy/sunshine, etc) and this author really melded these into a unique story that kept me reading.
Not only do you get the story of the two main characters, you get the story of the book they are writing as well. Speaking of characters, each one in this book really had a unique voice. They felt fleshed-out, like an actual person that exists in the world.
I loved the difference in class and opportunity this book had as well. Overall, I feel that this book has some down-to-earth points on real world issues. I don’t generally love the discussion of modern political and social issues in books, but this author handled these in a matter-of-fact way that was by no means preachy. I feel like many people could take a note from this book when it comes to different perspectives and goals from people of different classes.
It also made me personally happy to see the author and characters defend the romance genre. So many people look down at romance, but it’s loved my so many people. #justiceforromance
I enjoyed this book a lot. It included many of the tropes I enjoy, but was able to put a fresh and original spin on the overall story. Highly recommend to anyone needed a contemporary romance.
Very happy to receive an ARC via Netgalley! Can't wait to check this one out. :)
March 22, 2025
this was actually so cute and very enjoyable!! i loved rosie and aiden sm <33
💕┆｡𖦹°‧ 𝐩𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 ౨ৎ
this cover is so freaking cute & i've heard amazing things!!
first audiobook of 2025?
💕┆｡𖦹°‧ 𝐩𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 ౨ৎ
this cover is so freaking cute & i've heard amazing things!!
first audiobook of 2025?
October 5, 2025
4,5 Sterne ⭐️
Mein einziger Kritikpunkt liegt im Third Act Break up. Ich bin überzeugt davon, dass die Geschichte darauf hätte verzichten können. Ansonsten würde ich die Geschichte absolut empfehlen. ❤️
Mein einziger Kritikpunkt liegt im Third Act Break up. Ich bin überzeugt davon, dass die Geschichte darauf hätte verzichten können. Ansonsten würde ich die Geschichte absolut empfehlen. ❤️
August 8, 2024
Oh boy.. I really wanted to enjoy this book based on the premise. It had everything I wanted to read about; academic rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burn. Sadly, the 3rd act conflict pretty much ruined it for me. Up to that point, I actually had fun. I liked the banter, the whole process, and the writing was good. Although, I have to admit that I found the FMC annoying from the get go and some of the interactions between the characters felt childish. But that last part... just no. I really wish the story had developed differently.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
June 27, 2024
3.25 stars
hi hello coming out of my vacation bubble to post this cause my % needs to go up.
when i read this had a mix of beach read i knew i had to pick it up immediately and while i did really enjoy this it wasn’t exactly januarygus in my opinion.
rosie and aiden are academic rivals in a writing workshop who are forced to work together on a manuscript combing their two genres, romance and lit fic. i honestly really did love to see the academic rivals part because it felt real, they both were always at each others neck finding something to critique.
i also loved the small bits we got from the manuscript as they’re mostly written in the mmc’s pov and it was very much them writing about their feelings but disguising it as their book characters’ thoughts.
i overall enjoyed it BUT i think i eventually got a little bored around the 60% mark, plus i didn’t really like rosie’s attitude about romances MUST have hea’s to be considered romances it just felt extremely stereotypical. also the mmc’s reasoning for his attitude made sense up until the end where it was kinda used to excuse his behavior….
i still recommend it to anyone looking for writing academic rivals to lovers and a peruvian fmc
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
hi hello coming out of my vacation bubble to post this cause my % needs to go up.
when i read this had a mix of beach read i knew i had to pick it up immediately and while i did really enjoy this it wasn’t exactly januarygus in my opinion.
rosie and aiden are academic rivals in a writing workshop who are forced to work together on a manuscript combing their two genres, romance and lit fic. i honestly really did love to see the academic rivals part because it felt real, they both were always at each others neck finding something to critique.
i also loved the small bits we got from the manuscript as they’re mostly written in the mmc’s pov and it was very much them writing about their feelings but disguising it as their book characters’ thoughts.
i overall enjoyed it BUT i think i eventually got a little bored around the 60% mark, plus i didn’t really like rosie’s attitude about romances MUST have hea’s to be considered romances it just felt extremely stereotypical. also the mmc’s reasoning for his attitude made sense up until the end where it was kinda used to excuse his behavior….
i still recommend it to anyone looking for writing academic rivals to lovers and a peruvian fmc
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Want to read
June 2, 2024a peruvian fmc in a romance book written by a peruvian author and published in the us!?!?! oh i'm 100% tuning in, i've never read about a peruvian-american mc in a romance!! and it's an academic rivals to lovers story!! how will i wait until december?! 😩💞
... i'm peruvian btw, in case you don't know, that's why i'm so excited 😭
... i'm peruvian btw, in case you don't know, that's why i'm so excited 😭
November 10, 2025
Це звичайно не Алі Гейзелвуд, але …
МЕНІ СПОДОБАЛОСЬ!
10/10 для ромкома, шо дав змогу морально відпочити та отримати позитивні емоції.
Плюси:
- письменницький сетинг, який мені дуже цікавий: авторські блоки, різноманіття жанрів, вигорання
- прописані головні персонажі : нам показали їхнє дитинство, стосунки з батьками, травми та характери. Вони сприймаються реально, живими та обʼємними.
- я дійсно відпочила під час читання та отримала купу позитивних емоцій.
- фінал, як мед на мою зранену душу. Саме він добив останній бал у заповітній 10 для цієї книжки.
- підняті важливі проблеми: стосунки з батьками, пошуки себе, абʼюз.
Мінуси:
- перші сто сторінок троп «від ворогів до коханців» у цих персонажів виглядав, наче вони кидалися піском один в одного, як малі діти.
- проблема перекладу: «розкішниця» у сцені 18+ мене добила.
- дуже передбачувана головна проблема, що стає каменем спотикання.
Та я все одно вважаю, це гарним, продуманим, емоційно наповнений ромкомом, який варто прочитати.
МЕНІ СПОДОБАЛОСЬ!
10/10 для ромкома, шо дав змогу морально відпочити та отримати позитивні емоції.
Плюси:
- письменницький сетинг, який мені дуже цікавий: авторські блоки, різноманіття жанрів, вигорання
- прописані головні персонажі : нам показали їхнє дитинство, стосунки з батьками, травми та характери. Вони сприймаються реально, живими та обʼємними.
- я дійсно відпочила під час читання та отримала купу позитивних емоцій.
- фінал, як мед на мою зранену душу. Саме він добив останній бал у заповітній 10 для цієї книжки.
- підняті важливі проблеми: стосунки з батьками, пошуки себе, абʼюз.
Мінуси:
- перші сто сторінок троп «від ворогів до коханців» у цих персонажів виглядав, наче вони кидалися піском один в одного, як малі діти.
- проблема перекладу: «розкішниця» у сцені 18+ мене добила.
- дуже передбачувана головна проблема, що стає каменем спотикання.
Та я все одно вважаю, це гарним, продуманим, емоційно наповнений ромкомом, який варто прочитати.
November 25, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
i was going to be evil because the 3 star option hatessss to see me coming but this was a strong ass debut and i was pleasantly surprised by the writing, pacing, and romantic development.
i WAS having such a good time and was fully immersed until the last half, where the conflict in my opinion was so understandable and forgiven too easily. after that, i couldn’t get behind the way aiden continued to treat rosie because the “enemies to lovers” bit was supposed to be over and he was still treating her like an op…like maybe let’s sit down and reflect? calm down.
overall i DO recommend and i did really have a fun time!! just a few little gripes here and there but i can’t believe this is her first novel ✨
i was going to be evil because the 3 star option hatessss to see me coming but this was a strong ass debut and i was pleasantly surprised by the writing, pacing, and romantic development.
i WAS having such a good time and was fully immersed until the last half, where the conflict in my opinion was so understandable and forgiven too easily. after that, i couldn’t get behind the way aiden continued to treat rosie because the “enemies to lovers” bit was supposed to be over and he was still treating her like an op…like maybe let’s sit down and reflect? calm down.
overall i DO recommend and i did really have a fun time!! just a few little gripes here and there but i can’t believe this is her first novel ✨
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