Scan barcode
A review by the_cover_contessa
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own,
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a great job as a biotech engineer, a roof over her head, and a few good friends. When a hostile takeover occurs and she meets Eli Kilgore, the chemistry is undeniable, but they are off limits to each other given the circumstances of their employment. They try to scrub each other from their systems but they keep getting pulled back into each other's orbits. And, given the reasoning Eli has for overtaking Rue's company, a rift may form between them that is impossible to fix.
I eat up anything Hazelwood writes. Every time she has a new book, it becomes my favorite. And I knew going into this one that it would be a bit different from her previous book. But, as always, she is Queen of STEM and knows just how to write characters that are quirky, relatable, interesting, and endearing with emotional baggage that always comes to the surface to create tension and angst. I could not put this one down. I enjoyed every bit of the character development, plot, and spice! Yes, this one is quite spicy, on a different level than her other STEM books in my opinion. If you're into closed door romance, this one is not for her. Enemies to lovers trop is one of my favorite, along with dual POV which gets me into the heads of both the main characters.
Rue, as with many of Hazelwood's female characters, has some latent childhood trauma that causes her to shirk most relationships. She jumps off the page as grumpy, rather than full of sunshine. But it's her social anxiety that makes her this way. She's also not built like everyone else and tends to be a loner. She doesn't believe she is capable of love, so quick one night stands are her thing. She doesn't expect for Eli to make her feel things she never knew she could. I love how smart she is. She's also very no nonsense. There's nothing shy about her and she doesn't come across as a woman who won't go after what she wants.
Eli: tall, ex-hockey player (YES PLEASE!), science type who is not afraid to go after what he wants, both in the boardroom and in the bedroom. He's a very layered character. I loved that he was explicitly involved in science while still having that knowledge. At first, I was not sure where Hazelwood would take that aspect as I'm used to seeing both her main characters being part of the science world, but his involvement just worked. Wew, when I say this man creates hot tension, I am not joking. His emotional damage comes in the form of loss and being thrown into becoming a parent when he wasn't even sure he could care for himself. He's fascinating in his interactions with his friends and his sister. He's a boy obsessed in this book. There is nothing he wants more than to have Rue as his own, in whatever way she'll give herself to him. Even if he may get hurt in the process. And he's so patient with Rue, letting her open and blossom and giving her just the push she needs to be more than she thinks she can be. He's attentive and very aware of her needs. He really sees her for who she is and never pushes her to be someone she is not giving her the time and space she needs. Was I angry that he withheld things from her, just a bit. But I did understand his reasoning. At the same time, he's almost feral when it comes to what he wants in the bedroom, and this makes him a bit more unexpected for me.
The spice and humor in this book are great. I don't think Hazelwood's spicy scenes have made me squirm before but this one totally did. I was literally sweating while reading some of it. There's a bit of kink in the sexy scenes I totally was not expecting and I have to say I loved that Hazelwood went there. It was unexpected given the nature of and level of spice in her previous works. And there is actual plot here. It's not just sex page after page, it's characters experiencing trauma and loss and how they grow and change to fit new roles that were unexpected. I will say I saw from the beginning the rift that would happen but I was invested on how the book would unfold it and get to where it needed to be. There are a lot of subjects touched on and explored: food insecurity, child neglect, social anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy. Hazelwood explores these with a deft and delicate hand. As with all of Hazelwood's books, my chest felt heavy many times during reading with the anticipation of how things would blow up and be resolved. The tension she creates is up there with what I feel when I read Christina Lauren's books. And it's what keeps me wanting to turn the pages.
I enjoyed how Hazelwood incorporated the politics of business. While she writes very much from a science perspective, we have rarely seen how these politics truly change the world in which the characters live. Initially, I wasn't sure I would like this aspect and how it was integrated into the lives of the characters. It took me longer to become emotionally attached to the people in this book than it has in previous Hazelwood books. Definitely much more of a slow burn when it came to my investment in wanting to see where the story led. But once I saw how that slow burn needed to happen in order for the book to progress, I understood the need to have some emotional distance from the characters at the beginning.
Once again, Hazelwood has given me a book I love. I truly enjoyed how different this was from her previous works while still incorporating the STEM aspect. There's definitely more of a focus on the business world in this book while the science part is more in the background. Hazelwood knocked it out of the park with this book. I just have one request for Hazelwood: please, please, please continue to write in dual POV because it truly brings the stories you write to new heights!
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a great job as a biotech engineer, a roof over her head, and a few good friends. When a hostile takeover occurs and she meets Eli Kilgore, the chemistry is undeniable, but they are off limits to each other given the circumstances of their employment. They try to scrub each other from their systems but they keep getting pulled back into each other's orbits. And, given the reasoning Eli has for overtaking Rue's company, a rift may form between them that is impossible to fix.
I eat up anything Hazelwood writes. Every time she has a new book, it becomes my favorite. And I knew going into this one that it would be a bit different from her previous book. But, as always, she is Queen of STEM and knows just how to write characters that are quirky, relatable, interesting, and endearing with emotional baggage that always comes to the surface to create tension and angst. I could not put this one down. I enjoyed every bit of the character development, plot, and spice! Yes, this one is quite spicy, on a different level than her other STEM books in my opinion. If you're into closed door romance, this one is not for her. Enemies to lovers trop is one of my favorite, along with dual POV which gets me into the heads of both the main characters.
Rue, as with many of Hazelwood's female characters, has some latent childhood trauma that causes her to shirk most relationships. She jumps off the page as grumpy, rather than full of sunshine. But it's her social anxiety that makes her this way. She's also not built like everyone else and tends to be a loner. She doesn't believe she is capable of love, so quick one night stands are her thing. She doesn't expect for Eli to make her feel things she never knew she could. I love how smart she is. She's also very no nonsense. There's nothing shy about her and she doesn't come across as a woman who won't go after what she wants.
Eli: tall, ex-hockey player (YES PLEASE!), science type who is not afraid to go after what he wants, both in the boardroom and in the bedroom. He's a very layered character. I loved that he was explicitly involved in science while still having that knowledge. At first, I was not sure where Hazelwood would take that aspect as I'm used to seeing both her main characters being part of the science world, but his involvement just worked. Wew, when I say this man creates hot tension, I am not joking. His emotional damage comes in the form of loss and being thrown into becoming a parent when he wasn't even sure he could care for himself. He's fascinating in his interactions with his friends and his sister. He's a boy obsessed in this book. There is nothing he wants more than to have Rue as his own, in whatever way she'll give herself to him. Even if he may get hurt in the process. And he's so patient with Rue, letting her open and blossom and giving her just the push she needs to be more than she thinks she can be. He's attentive and very aware of her needs. He really sees her for who she is and never pushes her to be someone she is not giving her the time and space she needs. Was I angry that he withheld things from her, just a bit. But I did understand his reasoning. At the same time, he's almost feral when it comes to what he wants in the bedroom, and this makes him a bit more unexpected for me.
The spice and humor in this book are great. I don't think Hazelwood's spicy scenes have made me squirm before but this one totally did. I was literally sweating while reading some of it. There's a bit of kink in the sexy scenes I totally was not expecting and I have to say I loved that Hazelwood went there. It was unexpected given the nature of and level of spice in her previous works. And there is actual plot here. It's not just sex page after page, it's characters experiencing trauma and loss and how they grow and change to fit new roles that were unexpected. I will say I saw from the beginning the rift that would happen but I was invested on how the book would unfold it and get to where it needed to be. There are a lot of subjects touched on and explored: food insecurity, child neglect, social anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy. Hazelwood explores these with a deft and delicate hand. As with all of Hazelwood's books, my chest felt heavy many times during reading with the anticipation of how things would blow up and be resolved. The tension she creates is up there with what I feel when I read Christina Lauren's books. And it's what keeps me wanting to turn the pages.
I enjoyed how Hazelwood incorporated the politics of business. While she writes very much from a science perspective, we have rarely seen how these politics truly change the world in which the characters live. Initially, I wasn't sure I would like this aspect and how it was integrated into the lives of the characters. It took me longer to become emotionally attached to the people in this book than it has in previous Hazelwood books. Definitely much more of a slow burn when it came to my investment in wanting to see where the story led. But once I saw how that slow burn needed to happen in order for the book to progress, I understood the need to have some emotional distance from the characters at the beginning.
Once again, Hazelwood has given me a book I love. I truly enjoyed how different this was from her previous works while still incorporating the STEM aspect. There's definitely more of a focus on the business world in this book while the science part is more in the background. Hazelwood knocked it out of the park with this book. I just have one request for Hazelwood: please, please, please continue to write in dual POV because it truly brings the stories you write to new heights!