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A review by garbage_mcsmutly
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
🌶️ 5/5
Well, I always really like Ali Hazelwood's stories, and this was no exception! As she says in the authors note, this is "less of a rom-com and more of an erotic romance," which is a bit of a diversion from her usual fare, but she still did an excellent job. This was an interesting story.
Our FMC Rue is traumatized by her childhood, and has social anxiety, so she's... prickly. It takes her basically the whole book to warm up to the idea of love. And when she warms up to it, she's suddenly all in. But growth isn't linear in real life either so... s'all good. This being Ali Hazelwood, Rue is obviously also an accomplished scientist. She's very good at her job and it does kind of make up most of her life, aside from her two friends.
MMC Eli is totally gone for Rue from the start. One of his friends straight up calls him a simp and he doesn't deny it 🤣 I loved how he just loved everything about her, even if at times it was a little like.... really bro? can she do NO wrong??? He's also got trauma to address, although he's a lot further on that journey than she is. I gotta say I'm not normally sympathetic to finance bros but Ali did a good job of explaining in a few words how his company is not the typical vulture investor firm. And he was ultimately quite likable.
The plot of corporate intrigue was interesting, and accessible, and took up the right amount of the book IMHO.
Although not so much a rom-com, there was still plenty of joking and humor in the story. I laughed at multiple points. We deal with some pretty heavy subject matter at a couple points, but it is well balanced with the lighter stuff.
🎧 This was duet style narration, which I always love! Both narrators' voices (Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke) felt right for the characters, and the acting was well done. And the spicy scenes were *chef's kiss*.
🌶️ There was lots of spice, and shades of kink (light restraints, o control) incorporated into a lot of the spicy scenes. The scenes were 🥵🔥
Well, I always really like Ali Hazelwood's stories, and this was no exception! As she says in the authors note, this is "less of a rom-com and more of an erotic romance," which is a bit of a diversion from her usual fare, but she still did an excellent job. This was an interesting story.
Our FMC Rue is traumatized by her childhood, and has social anxiety, so she's... prickly. It takes her basically the whole book to warm up to the idea of love. And when she warms up to it, she's suddenly all in. But growth isn't linear in real life either so... s'all good. This being Ali Hazelwood, Rue is obviously also an accomplished scientist. She's very good at her job and it does kind of make up most of her life, aside from her two friends.
MMC Eli is totally gone for Rue from the start. One of his friends straight up calls him a simp and he doesn't deny it 🤣 I loved how he just loved everything about her, even if at times it was a little like.... really bro? can she do NO wrong??? He's also got trauma to address, although he's a lot further on that journey than she is. I gotta say I'm not normally sympathetic to finance bros but Ali did a good job of explaining in a few words how his company is not the typical vulture investor firm. And he was ultimately quite likable.
The plot of corporate intrigue was interesting, and accessible, and took up the right amount of the book IMHO.
Although not so much a rom-com, there was still plenty of joking and humor in the story. I laughed at multiple points. We deal with some pretty heavy subject matter at a couple points, but it is well balanced with the lighter stuff.
🎧 This was duet style narration, which I always love! Both narrators' voices (Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke) felt right for the characters, and the acting was well done. And the spicy scenes were *chef's kiss*.
🌶️ There was lots of spice, and shades of kink (light restraints, o control) incorporated into a lot of the spicy scenes. The scenes were 🥵🔥
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse and Toxic relationship
Minor: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Child abuse mainly in the form of neglect and food insecurity in the FMC's past. Nothing violent.