Not in My Book
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Get 3 months for £0.99/mo
Not in My Book
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Frankie Corzo
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By:
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Katie Holt
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
The Hating Game meets Beach Read in this sexy and hilarious enemies-to-lovers romance!
Rosie Maxwell has a plan: move to New York, get her creative writing degree from NYU, become a bestselling romance writer. But that plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her archnemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington, an obnoxious, surly, unreasonably gorgeous literary fiction writer who has no patience for romance – or for Rosie.
Exhausted by Rosie and Aiden’s constant verbal sparring, their professor gives them an ultimatum: leave her class, or cowrite a novel that blends their respective genres.
As Rosie and Aiden collaborate on their (accidentally steamy) novel, they try to put their differences aside. Could their manuscript-in-progress be just the outlet they need to confess their feelings – and explore their mutual attraction?
But a potentially career-changing opportunity soon reignites the flames of their old rivalry. Rosie and Aiden’s 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 . . .
'This is romcom perfection' —Lana Ferguson, bestselling author of The Nanny
'Katie Holt’s deliciously tense workplace rivals novel is not one to miss! Aiden and Rosie brought the HEAT and Holt blended spice, humour, and sweetness onto every page expertly' —Hannah Bonam-Young, USA Today bestselling author of Out on a Limb
'Not in My Book will remind you why you’ve always loved romance novels in the first place. With cozy scenery, sparkling dialogue, and layered characters, I was gasping from the tension Rosie and Aiden built with every word they typed. This book captured my heart from start to finish. It absolutely needs to be on your shelf!' —Clare Gilmore, author of Love Interest
© Katie Holt 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
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Critic reviews
Nice idea a little mushy
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Towards the ending when the spice came in, it became a little bit cringey.
Sweet and funny
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A fresh take on enemies to lovers!
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A book whose main character tries to prove that romance is just as good a genre as any other should be a love letter to romance novels. It should be PROOF that they’re wonderful. But Not In My Book is nothing like that. Quite the opposite.
The whole idea of enemies-to-lovers is that the characters genuinely dislike each other, often even hate each other… to make it believable, they CANNOT be constantly swooning over their nemesis. Sure, they can reluctantly notice the other person’s attractiveness, but they definitely shouldn’t be repeating over and over again how insanely sexy this person is — the same person they supposedly can’t stand. That was the first thing that put me off in this book: there’s zero tension, because we immediately know our Rosie would let herself be chopped up just to lick Aiden’s chest.
The whole story starts with Rosie and Aiden being in the same writing course in New York. They’re so awful to each other that their professor assigns them to co-write a book. And from that point on, the nonsense begins — and please remember while reading this that they’re 27 years old, and writing is supposedly their greatest passion in life, something they’ve suffered for (allegedly).
• Rosie and Aiden just happen to meet by accident and ONLY THEN do they even think about discussing what to write.
• Their professor forces them to go on a date so their characters will have more chemistry.
• Sometimes they don’t even read each other’s chapters — especially Rosie. Sorry, but how exactly are you writing the next chapter then? Do you not realize you should maybe aim for some cause-and-effect continuity?
• Their characters, Max and Hunter, are literally them — 1:1. I could only tell the difference by the names. They act and behave exactly the same. Wow, such amazing writers, Rosie and Aiden.
But that’s not the end of the unpleasant surprises — Rosie and Aiden’s banter is painful, stiff, like the author had an idea for funny dialogue but had no clue how to fit it to her characters. Rosie’s friends are all the same, and I had no idea who was who. The author didn’t bother to give them separate personalities; one girl just has a crush, and that’s it.
The author also blatantly copies scenes from movies: I caught When Harry Met Sally and 10 Things I Hate About You — and she does it so brazenly, as if the characters just came up with it on their own. And Rosie — a supposed romance fan, remember — doesn’t even comment on it. It never occurs to her that she’s seen this before xD
The characters are 27 but act LIKE CHILDREN. Their fight — because of course there has to be a fight, not even a spoiler — is so forced it gave me a toothache. The reaction to the fight is equally overblown, because, you know, DRAMA. Hello??
But my favorite part is Aiden’s father. Villains in fairy tales for toddlers are better written than this guy. Reading his behavior was literally embarrassing. I was ashamed for the author that she even dared to write it — the man literally treats Rosie badly because she’s a waitress, laughs at her for being poor, and — cherry on top — mocks romance novels. Disney Channel would’ve done it better.
Other things that annoyed me: the constant reminder that Rosie has to crane her neck because Aiden is soooo tall. Really, we don’t need to know this on every single page. No one’s going to suspect he suddenly shrank.
To be fair, I did laugh a few times, and the scene where they write the intimacy between their characters was actually fun. Also, I like the cover. That’s it.
To sum up: if you recommended this book to someone to prove that romance novels are great… you’d fail. It’s a weak, boring book, full of plot holes and stiff, forced situations. I don’t recommend it, and honestly, I feel like someone owes me my £8 back 😢
SPOILER below that really pissed me off:
Rosie does everything to stay in New York and attend this writing course — she literally doesn’t see her family, whom she loves, because THIS is her passion, the only thing she wants to do in life. But then she breaks up with a boyfriend she’s been with for like… what, three months? And she throws it all away — the course, the dream she spent so much money on, the thing she supposedly wants more than anything. She just goes back home XD Because if she can’t have a boyfriend, then romance isn’t real, and writing doesn’t matter XD
Absolute nonsense
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