raynerira21 's review for:

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

3.5

informative lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Rue Siebert is a biotech engineer who’s carved out a life of stability after a childhood of scarcity—she has her friends, her work, and a sense of control. Enter Eli Killgore, the maddeningly attractive face of the company threatening to swallow hers whole, and suddenly Rue’s tidy little life starts feeling like a very complicated science experiment. Their relationship is supposed to be strictly no-strings, but Ali Hazlewood clearly never met a string she didn’t want to tangle.

What really worked for me here were the character backstories. Rue’s history with food insecurity felt raw and honest, and Eli raising his sister added so much depth beyond the usual romance-hero brooding. I also loved the little breadcrumbs Hazlewood dropped for the next book—it’s like she’s running her own long-term study on reader obsession, and spoiler: it’s working.

That said, while I enjoyed the story, I didn’t completely lose myself in it the way I have with some of Hazlewood’s other books. The tension hit, the banter was sharp, and the romance had the right amount of forbidden-sizzle, but it still felt like a 3.75 rather than a full 4+. Basically, very good, but not life-ruining (and sometimes I want life-ruining).