Not In My Book — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Katie Holt
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: Alcove Press
Pages: 320

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Rosie, an idealistic and passionate Peruvian-American who has grown up without strong ties to her culture, leaves her Tennessee hometown to pursue her dream of making it in New York as a writer. But her plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her arch-nemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington—an obnoxious, surly, and gorgeous literary fiction writer who doesn’t have much patience for the romance genre, or for Rosie.

Rosie and Aiden regularly go to verbal battle in workshop until their professor reaches her breaking point. She allows them to stay in her class on one condition: they must co-write a novel that blends their genres.

The reluctant writing duo can’t help but put pieces of themselves into their accidentally steamy novel, and as they slowly get to know each other, they try to put their differences aside. Meanwhile, their manuscript-in-progress provides an outlet for them to confess their feelings—and explore their attraction toward each other.

When Rosie and Aiden find themselves competing against each other for a potentially career-changing opportunity, the flames of old rivalry reignite, and their once-in-a-lifetime love story is once again at risk of being shelved—unless they can find a way to end the book on their own terms.

First Impressions

I saw this book on Netgalley and the title and cover immediately caught my eye. When I read the summary I knew immediately this book would be right up my ally. I love the color and how you can immediately tell it’s enemies to lovers.

What I thought

This book was so fun! It felt a little long at the end but I did really enjoy it.

Rosalinda is in her MFA program at NYU for writing. He nemesis Aiden is in the same class as her. When one day their bickering becomes too much, their professor, Ida, forces them to write a book together for the class. Rosie is a romance novel writer and lover where Aiden hates romance. Now they have to figure out how to write a romance without a Happily Ever After.

Aiden and Rosie’s banter is great. It was fun to see how their banter was interwoven into their novel. Each chapter ended with a snippet of their fictional novel which I loved. I also liked how they didn’t pretend that their characters weren’t them. I also loved learning more about Peruvian culture. Rosie is half Peruvian, as is the author, and her culture plays a lot into the story which was interesting.

The other neat part of the writing was the insight into how to write a novel. I liked how Rosie talked about romance novel tropes and different parts she felt needed to be included in their novel. It was also fun hearing them critique each others works.

The one thing I didn’t love towards the end was it felt very Nora Ephron cheesy rom-com inspired. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a cheesy rom-com, but this felt like she was quoting a 90’s movie that I had already seen. I also got a little annoyed with Rosie at the end.

The entire book centers on Rosie being a romantic and seeing the world through rose colored glasses, but towards the end of the book it comes off more immature and annoying than it did at the beginning. I don’t know why, but it just started to grate on a nerve.