Not in Love

I was counting down the days after I preordered it two weeks ago. Then Tuesday morning, casually starting with my morning with emails - Amazon said that it was available on my Kindle. Immediately ran to grab it and started reading. That was at 7 am. It’s now Wednesday at 2 am and I finished it.

Ali’s stories have a blueprint that I am obsessed with. Friends to lovers. Spicy scenes and a good looking man. The story almost stays the same and I’m not mad. Somehow she makes it their own world. And!!! There’s a mention of someone from her other book. No spoilers.

When Rue met Eli, I had a feeling that they would have amazing chemistry. I wasn’t wrong. Oh boy, some of the scenes made me giggle.

Stop what you’re doing and read this book. You won’t regret it.

***Spoiler - (ish) The scene in Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy is showing so much love for Elizabeth after everything that had happened - that’s Eli and Rue. Heart bursting joy.

I will continue to be an Ali Hazelwood fan and will auto-buy all of her books!

Not in Love, is a wonderful addition to the Hazelverse and it's uniqueness is what allows it to stay with you even when life inevitably pulls you away. Still mostly steeped in the science/STEM world with the primary focus being from the female perspective, this story focused on the people behind the science and their lives beyond the lab with a more focused lens.

Rue and Eli are intellectuals with difficult and painful pasts that make dating and relationships...well hard. Built upon a crazy cosmic connection leading to seemingly unending horniness and frequently eyebrow raising (but in a very good way) sexual encounters, these two grow as people and also handle some pretty appalling, professional, ultimate betrayal-level bullsh*t. Despite the spotlight being more on sex and the people of science having lives outside of their work, and not so much on the people in science dealing with science society issues while also having personal/intimacy baggage, the novel creates wonderful moments of love, friendship and self acceptance beyond the science/academia environment. The science is always present but it takes the role of passenger rather being in the driver's seat. I had moments where I laughed, where I felt a strong loving found family bond and moments where I felt so seen especially when each of the main characters squared off with some deep seeded family trauma and is able to recognizes the lasting impact that injury left but find a way to move forward.

Hazelwood may have stepped a toe beyond her usual formula (in a different way than just genre like with Bride) but in my opinion she still found success. I wanted to keep reading, so I look forward to potential spinoff books giving the amazing groundwork laid for the UT/Harkness/Former Kline gang.

An exceptional summer read and an even better addition to my collection!

When you read 5 books or more a week, you tend to find the same characters over and over, but Ali Hazelwood has created a unique duo in a corporate setting, but she takes it beyond the typical office romance. This is more than a romance, too. Hazelwood takes you into the mindsets of people who are damaged, but just trying to be better. The characters are smart, the prose is smart, the plot has some light mystery, and expects the reader to be smart enough to follow the science and financial shenanigans. However, it is fun to read, too. Hazelwood is good at writing quirky and cute scenes, and though the book deals with sad subjects and seems heavier than other books by her, there is plenty of dog drool and best friend banter to make it fun to read.

Oh...and sweaty times, too. Ali is burning up the pages in this one. She doesn't write a sex scene like a how-to manual. The reader is drawn in to the feelings of it; the desperation to connect is visceral. If you relate to a nerdy girl not looking for love, I highly recommend connecting with Not in Love.

I love reading Ali Hazelwood's books, so I was worried when she said this one was different due to the character's back stories/trauma and focus on adult content. I love Ali's MMCs, the smart, sciency women, small moments that mean so much, internal dialogues, ride or die friends, and even the villain storylines. The "he falls first" trope is seriously one of my favorites and she's a master at it! However, I do not love books that are "spicy" and filled with graphic content, because most follow the formula where the MMC is a Golden Retriever by day and then turns into a foul mouthed, alpha male by night. I don't want to read chapters full of crude language, potential consent issues, and very specific descriptions about their body parts and noises. It makes me cringe way more than swoon, so I was worried about not liking this book.

Although there are a lot of intimate scenes in Not in Love, I didn't find it crude or contradictory to the characters' personalities. They both have a lot of emotional traumas, especially Rue, and physical connection is their common language. It's safer than emotional feelings and both really enjoy it. So, physical intimacy is how they begin to connect emotionally, versus the other way around. But these interactions are full of understanding and trust, so the spicy scenes were also sweet. Eli knew how to care for Rue in the ways she was willing to accept, and consent is never questioned. He's a very gentle, intuitive, caring person and one of my favorite MMCs, aside from Jack in Love, Theoretically.

Definitely a re-read for me!

I love that I am never disappointed in an Ali Hazelwood book. She is predictably one of the best writers of romance with a guaranteed pinch of humor mixed with a generous amount of novelty in the plot. Her female characters are quirky, smart and unknowingly endearing, and Rue lives up to this in spades. Eli, the MMC, is all in, patient, honest and crazy in love her, despite, no because of, her awkwardness, insecurity, and all of her quirks. It makes the reader hopeful that there are real, amazing men out there that might love us through all of our own insecurities and idiosyncrasies.

There are, as advised by the author forward, a lot of very graphic sex scenes in this book, but, importantly, she did make them integral to the plot, which was a woman with a childhood history of emotional and physical insecurity, leading her to tamp down feelings, only allowing herself limited physical gratification, with no chance for emotion or romantic relationships. To me these scenes were not gratuitous and furthered the character development as time went on. Over all a very satisfying read!

How did she do it again?? How did she leave me wanting more??? This was Ali Hazelwood's SPICIEST and darkest novel, and I was 100% here for it.

Rue loves her job as a chemical engineer working on a project that was inspired by the challenges she faced in childhood. However, the company she works for is about to be bought out, leaving hundreds of jobs in jeopardy. The culprit? A company called Harkness, and one of the founders just so happens to be Rue's extremely hot almost-one-night-stand, Eli. Their attraction for each other grows despite the fact that one of Rue's closest friends could lose her company. What could happen next?

THE PLOT Ali has a little author's note at the beginning of the book that tells readers there are some darker themes introduced in Not in Love. Both the main characters struggled with traumatic childhoods, but the beautiful thing is that they're able to help each other grow through it by giving each other a safe space.

Honestly, I was kept guessing till the very end. This was one of those plots that had my brain running in circles wondering how the issues presented would get resolved. In my opinion, this was Hazelwood's strongest plot. In her past books (which I loved), the miscommunication tropes didn't quite work for me. Here, I could connect dots to see why each character feels a certain way. Maybe the dual perspectives helps.

THE CHARACTERS I think Hazelwood did a great job portraying Rue who truly doesn't believe she can ever be in love after the circumstances in her past. She's let them define her, but Eli swoops in with his own share of challenges, and together they get to come out better.

Rue is one of Hazelwood's signature sassy STEMinists that we've come to know and love. She's not afraid to speak her mind and will do anything she can to help those she loves. There's a bit more depth to Rue than some of the other STEMinists, and one of those aspects is that she enjoys being a body because she doesn't want to think of commitment. She wants commitment, but she doesn't think she can ever attain it.

Eli is so patient. He's also a little bossy (but in a hot kind of way that makes me blush). I think he's a great contrast to Rue because he's more outgoing and likes to hang out with a big group of friends. He's the golden retriever to Rue's black cat, and it's such a fun dynamic.

The side characters are all great. I do wish you get to see a little bit more of Hark because I think he's got something he's hiding. I'm very suspicious. Tisha and her sister were great, and I was glad they were part of Rue's "found family". Let us not forget Tiny, whose name does not reflect his furry self (it's a dog).

FINAL THOUGHTS I think this is my second favorite Hazelwood novel. The Love Hypothesis is the OG, so that's hard to beat, but I felt like this novel had more character development than previous ones. I also think the miscommunication trope worked the best here. Maybe I just also like Eli's style wink.

If you're considering picking this one up, just do it. I don't think you'll regret it!

This made for a perfect summer read. I loved the quirky main characters Eli & Rue as well as the STEM best friends. I absolutely devoured this book. Classic Ali Hazelwood dual POV, STEM romance at its best.The banter between Rue and Eli was angsty and spicy from their first interaction and continued to grow as they began a forbidden relationship. This book also contains STEM friendships which were just as powerful as Rue and Eli.Be sure to read the forward in this book as Ali Hazelwood explains that Rue & Eli don't fit her typical book character model.

Forced proximity *Dual POV *Enemies to lovers *STEM relationships *Angst *Childhood trauma *No strings attached *Spice

I don’t know if I should stop reviewing Ali Hazelwood since it’s all getting kind of repetitive - except Bride - but for now, here we are.

📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Standalone

📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book on Kindle. Borrowed from Libby.

📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Contemporary romance

📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Workplace romance, ONS, women in STEM.

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Eli and Rue were meant to just be a hookup, but when their one night stand plans don’t work out they’re supposed to never see each other again. Except when he pulls up to her work the next day, part of a hostile takeover that is set to turn Rue’s world upside down.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Every one of Ali Hazelwood’s contemporary romances have basically a similar storyline. And I get it - she writes that story so well. This time, she added some more spice to it… enough that I wonder how much her loyal readers are going to appreciate that.

It was good. I read it steadily. I highlighted a few things. But I think I like Ali Hazelwood in her paranormal era is more my speed now.

I also didn’t love one aspect of the writing in this one… the dual POV was written in a combination of first and third person, which caught me off guard and impacted my reading overall.

So once again here to say I liked it, didn’t love it… and I’m not psyched about reading more of the same story.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.25/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 3.5/5 🌶🌶🌶

This was very different from Ali’s other STEM romances, but I enjoyed it!

I appreciated that it was more contemporary romance than rom-com, specifically in the way it handled some more difficult and sensitive topics - it felt more real.

That said, Rue and Eli didn’t really hook me in as much as Ali’s past couples have - I loved the “he falls first and HARD” trope though 😍

It was okay. I'm glad I read it because it's an Ali Hazelwood book, but if I hadn't of already bought it, I wouldn't have. I feel no need to own a hard copy of this book (as a book trophy on my shelf and for emergencies, such as when we lose power) like all of her other books and I won't recommend this book to others asking for book recommendations, but it is worth a read of you are a fan of the author...just maybe rent it or borrow it first if you can. I will also say that I listened to most of this as an audiobook, so maybe that's part of the reason, but I usually have a ton of highlights and notes for things said or that happened in the story that I loved (especially with Ali's books), and this one only had 3, I just didn't find it to be super engaging. The things I liked were the sex scenes being more explicit (even if parts of it were a bit ridiculous, in my opinion), I liked how Eli fell in love first, I liked how Rue struggled was on the spectrum (or maybe just struggled socially?) and that Eli accepted that and actually kind of loved her for it, and I liked their friendships (although Hark was a jerk and other than his residual love for Minami and his apparent expertise that he added to Harkness, I didn't understand why they were friends with him. He was mean and seemed selfish). The book had a list of problems the characters had to deal with including: Rue not wanting to commit to Eli, what to do with her brother and the cabin in Indiana, Florence's history with Eli and his friends, Rue's guilt about seeing Eli, Rue's experiment, and the sort of love triangle between Eli's friends. The whole story was a bit disjointed and didn't really flow well together, but was held together by the sometimes seemingly random sex scenes (which were pretty good in my opinion. If you read erotica, you'd find it to be more tame, but if you only read romances or closed door love stories, you might find it to be more than you'd like). It was almost like she had a list of things she wanted to include and then just checked them off as she went, but didn't always have a good reason for what was happening in the story or why. Eli's and Rue's background was also mentioned (mostly when they tried to shock each other with "shockingly" bad stories from their past) and was used to try to explain their present actions, but they didn't always make sense. I also didn't like how Eli was wondering what he would have done if he had gotten married in the past and met Rue after...that thought of his could have been skipped. It just made me think he'd do the same to Rue when/if he found someone else. The last issue I had was that Eli's point of view wasn't written in first person point of view like Rue's. I liked that we had his point of view, but I wish it was written from the SAME point of view as Rue's, because it made the book seem even more disjointed than it already was. Again, I don't feel the need to ever read or listen to this one again, but I am glad I read it!