Review on 'Not In Love' by Ali Hazelwood🔬

Amazon Link: https://amzn.eu/d/3OaTc3u

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Format Read: Paperback Pages: 379 Publication Date: 11th June 2024

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alihazelwood/ Author Website: https://alihazelwood.com/

Content Warnings:

Fallout from food insecurity, past child neglect and grief, explicit sexual scenes

Review:

Whenever a new Ali Hazelwood book comes out I try to get it as soon as possible and this was once again spotted in my local Works, where I had to buy it immediately to add to my Hazelwood collection at home. 😊 I can’t wait for what the next book she releases has in store for me.

It follows the story of Rue and Eli. Rue is working on fighting food insecurity with her microbial-coating patent whilst Eli works at Harkness and tries to get revenge to right a wrong of his past. The only tricky part is, that the biotech company Rue works at is the company that Eli is after. They end up meeting the night before the big news is announced, through a hookup app that lists ALL of their sexual preferences. (I mean the warning at the start of the book does suggest it is more of an erotic romance than a rom-com, so it’s kinda expected. No?). Anyway, her brother ruins her chances when they meet and, just when they think they are never going to see each other again - bam! - there he is the next day “taking” over her company.

The blurb gave me a very different idea of what I was going to read in this book. This gives me a confusing mix of emotions from anger to happiness. A lot of blurbs are vague as they don’t want to tell you everything that happens in the book, but then some of them are so vague as they talk around what happens in the book that it paints a totally different picture in my mind. The information about Eli and Rue was fine as that helped give a bit of context when going into the novel, but the information about their relationship? Completely different from what I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book and their relationship as they learnt about each other’s quirky habits, but I think my brain made the blurb more mysterious and angsty than it needed to be. Like yes, they have a “secret relationship” kept hidden from her boss but not from her friends, his friends, or his sister and that was only because she didn’t want her boss to call her a traitor.😂

I think it has got to the point, that I should never just assume that Ali Hazelwood’s books are just romances set in a STEM world because they are a lot more than that. She gives me character growth as well as the truth about the environment that women struggle to get into so much, even in this modern era. And of course, there is always a person that is seen as the enemy, because they do something morally or legally wrong. In this case, it was the stealing of other people’s hard work. (That’s as much as I can say. I think I have already spoiled a lot of it. Whoops! 🤭) So basically, what I’m saying is, is that it was my fault I fell into the trap and lost sight of the fact that there was obviously going to be a dodgy person that everyone would deem the villain. But rightfully so!!

It was dual POV which is a first for her novels. Ever since, her first book the books have been written in first person POV with only the female character. In ‘Not in love’ however, we had both Eli and Rue’s perspectives. The only thing that got on my nerves a bit, was the fact that her POV was in first person and then his POV was in third person. I have started getting used to the third person now in romance novels and have nothing wrong with it but it was annoying to switch between first and third at the beginning of the novel. Though in the end, I feel like you get used to it, so I didn’t really have a problem then.

I feel like it got resolved quite quickly as well, and I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing. Her brother was chasing after her for the other half of the inheritance and then Eli just spoke to his lawyer and got it all fixed. I think if her brother was ready to break her door down then the lawyer might not be of any use, but then again I’m not completely sure. The other one was to save Rue’s patent, which ended up with Eli giving her boss a contract with the continued CEO position and 5% in the company, which he never wanted to do, but he did it for her anyway. (Let's just say his business partner/friend wasn't too happy with him). I suppose the boss was left with this as her only option though. So, I suppose after actually thinking it through whilst typing, they were the best scenario and they do make sort of sense. Much better than a miscommunication trope for 1/3 of the novel, I guess.

Though they deemed to struggle with an emotional relationship due to their childhoods they did end up learning that they were right for each other. It sounds cliché but they were definitely meant to be together.

Once again Ali Hazelwood has graced us with a female in STEM and a man willing to do anything for her. This is going to sound weird, but it was even better that she wasn’t a “strong” woman in the sense of the sass that is always expected in books but she was strong in knowing her own mind and choosing whatever she believed to be right. To me, it felt like a breakout from the stereotypes, but then again everyone has a different opinion.

I recommend you read this book. And then every other book that Ali Hazelwood has ever written because there is just something about them that makes you feel whole.

Until the next chapter,

#BellesBookBabble