Book Review: Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Published: June 11th 2024 by Sphere
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Genres: Adult // Romance, Contemporary, STEM
Quick Thoughts: Not In Love was alluring, smart and sexy, everything that Ali Hazelwood embodies in her story worlds. I found Rue one of Ali’s toughest characters, yet not tough to warm to—that, I did, quite rapidly. If you’re an OG, STEM-loving romance fan of Ali’s, you will love Not In Love just as much as I did.

This book was self-purchased

I purchased a copy of this book myself. There was no obligation to post/give this book a certain rating. All views are my own. I remain entirely impartial.

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Reader Information: View Content Warnings.

TW: this book contains mentions of family trauma, death, parental issues, frequent references to sex and sexual relationships, including explicit content that isn’t suitable for young readers.

Literary Trope Guide

Women in STEM

Hostile Work Takeover

Enemies-to-Lovers

Secret Love Affair

About This Book:

A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science—from New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through—and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.
Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business—one that plays for keeps.

First Thoughts

As an Ali Hazelwood fan of years now, I am still behind on a few of her books that are still on my TBR shelf but got pushed down by ARCs (and as a mood reader, sometimes I jump into different genres when I’m needing it) so when my book club Prosed (you can join here if you’re not a member yet!) chose Not In Love as April’s pick, I was so excited to finally get another slice of Ali magic.

My Review

Rue, a biotech engineer at Kline, has dreamed of a fulfilling life since she was a child. For stability and security, for the quiet life, and for her close-knit group of friends. Indulging in the occasional (and strictly one-time-only for a person, no repeats) hook-up on an app is something she does to let loose, and that’s how she meets Eli Killgore. But what should have been a steamy hotel night between them, and never to see one another again, is crashed by an appearance by her estranged-brother, with whom she has a rocky (and triggering for her) relationship. Eli turns into a momentary knight and gets her home safely, despite Rue not necessarily needing it, independent as ever, but being glad for his help nevertheless. Their almost hook-up is long forgotten, energy between them still charged and fiery, until Rue and Eli meet again under not so nice circumstances.

Kline, the successful start-up company where Rue works, owned by her friend Florence, is currently going through a hostile takeover by Harkness, the company Eli works at with his business partners. There’s much about it that Rue doesn’t quite understand, and getting answers from Florence and Eli end up with her feeling more confused than before. Florence is adament Harkness are the enemy. Eli makes it clear that Florence has much to lie about. Rue, still drawn to Eli, finds it hard to fully back either of them. She wants to trust her friend, but getting to know Eli cracks them both open, and knowing him, really knowing him, makes her doubt he’s the ruthless shark he’s being made out to be. All she wanted was security for her field of food science, and yet now she is torn between the love affair she’s begun with Eli in secret, and staying true to the connections she forged—but when the truth is a knife, and love is just as sharp for Rue, which direction is the softest to fall?

Overall, Not In Love was alluring, smart and sexy, everything that Ali Hazelwood embodies in her story worlds. I found Rue one of Ali’s toughest characters, yet not tough to warm to—that, I did, quite rapidly. I found her surface frostiness to be the wall she intended it to be, something I understood, something we might all understand, a sort-of “front” when we have past anxieties and trauma that help protect ourselves from getting hurt. Her “distance” as a character felt purposeful to her past, and held up sufficiently to echo how detached she felt from her own body. Eli, too, had past trauma that shaped his character, and I think that the way he cared for Rue and showed her love was really admiring. The spice was spicy in this story, and definitely cast a blush. The friendships in this book were some of my favourite in Ali’s books, too, particularly between Rue and Tisha, and Eli and his workmates. I am very intrigued at the arrival of Problematic Summer Romance happening within this world very soon so that I can revisit these characters. If you’re an OG, STEM-loving romance fan of Ali’s, you will love Not In Love just as much as I did.

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