I… ugh. Writing this review kind of sucks because I was so looking forward to this book and was so excited by how quickly I got it from the library… and then I didn’t like it.

Ok that’s not totally fair: I did generally like the background story with the tech company and patent drama. But the romance was just meh for me? And the writing style (word choice, for example) didn’t match up with the book or characters.

I do want to say my issue with the book WAS NOT that Ali Hazelwood changed up the tone and decided to have more serious issues at play, nor that she chose to include more spice/write an “erotic romance.” I love that kind of thing! Give me more of it! My issue is that I don’t feel like she executed it well.

For ease, I’m just going to list out all of the issues I can think of that resulted in a 2-star rating (and spoiler tag as necessary):

Why did Hazelwood add in the detail that Florence had a surprisingly deep voice in the scene where she and Rue met?
Was this supposed to be an Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos reference? If so, that’s weird? Because criticism of Holmes using a deeper voice can harm your trans friends who might modulate their voices on the regular. It just felt super out of place and unnecessary. Like people like Florence and Holmes suck not because of their voices but because of the things they did!!
Why on earth were Rue’s chapters in first-person and Eli’s in third-person? It was a really weird style choice that didn’t work for me. It was distracting.
It’s not super clear what about Rue Eli was into except her appearance and tragic backstory. Like he’s gone for her, but why? (Which isn’t to say I didn’t like or understand Rue—because I did!—but there’s a difference between lust and love and I only saw lust here.)
The language felt overly flowery at times. Like why does Eli, a scientist and finance guy, think and talk like Shakespeare?
(Example: he say this to Rue during sex, “My sad, beautiful fortress girl”)
Speaking of that scene!
He manipulates her into saying the relationship is more than sex during sex.
That works for me in a dark romance but not in a contemporary romance.
Ok, so I was really glad to see Hazelwood write a non-virgin FMC. But
our sex-positive FMC refuses to have penetrative sex because it’s never been good for her, and then she is “healed” by the MMC’s magic dick, I guess. It felt like a workaround virginal situation.
If Eli is so sex positive, why does he insist so strongly that sex without penetration isn’t sex?
The sex didn’t sound like good sex. It felt really clinical? If you’re going to write an erotic romance, the sex needs to be… erotic.
Eli’s sexual preferences are hyped up to be a big deal and then
it’s… mild domination?
Ok sure.
The third-act conflict confused me.
I guess I missed where Eli and Rue actually broke up instead of just getting busy dealing with the patent stuff.

All that said, I did waver in whether to rate this 2 or 3 stars. I really liked the banter between Minami and Eli (aside from the dog, Minami was my favorite character).

The Theranos-like background story was alright.

I liked the surrounding characters. I liked that Rue was working on shelf-life preservation. But ultimately I wouldn’t recommend Not in Love to my friends, and that’s the major difference for me.

Temp by Jessa Kane

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3.0

Astray by Poppy Fitzgerald

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A few examples of notes I left in my kindle while reading Astray:

At 21%: “DON’T DRINK ANYTHING HE MAKES YOU JFC GIRL U IN DANGER”

At 29%: “‘delusional’ being the operative word”

At 33%: “OMG”

At 35%: “GIRL”

At 48%: “GIRL WHAT”

At 59%: “WTF ELOISE”

My notes trail off at that point, because the tension ratcheted up significantly and I was white-knuckling my kindle to figure out what happened next. Which is to say: If you want a book that’ll have you screaming, crying, throwing up in the best way? Astray is it. Poppy Fitzgerald flips the conventions of dark romance on their head so well that it turns what would be hot in another book to goddamn terrifying in this one. Incredible.

Also Caleb ❤️

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

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5.0

I don’t know that much needs to be said about how good this book is at this point tbh. But the audiobook with the full-cast? Chef’s kiss. Great experience. Can’t recommend enough.

Death's Obsession by Avina St. Graves

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

One thing about me is I’m going to read a novella at night while tucked up in bed so that I don’t accidentally stay up all night reading a full-length novel. Usually that works out well for me…

Was Death’s Obsession the right novella to pick up at 11:30 at night when I was home alone? Perhaps not. Was it the right one to finish in the light of day the next day? Yes, absolutely.

Anyway, it turns out (if I were not happily married, I mean) I too would want to be stalked and have many of my day-to-day problems solved by the grim reaper. Could be worse. Also he’s a shadow daddy. IYKYK.

After the Shut Up Ring by Cate C. Wells

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4.0

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sarahesterman's reviews 71 reviews

sarahesterman's reviews
71 reviews