Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood

My review

2/5 stars

I have enjoyed several of Ali Hazelwood's books over the past couple of years, but sadly I found myself somewhat disappointed with this particular offering.

I struggled to connect to the content as well as I have done with her previous stories. I felt like it was overshadowed by the sex scenes. I am no prude, and I enjoy a bit of spice in my books as well as the next person, but this book seemed to make the sex scenes the main focus of the story, which was really off-putting.

They dominated a book with an otherwise intriguing plotline and charming characters. The underlying story showed an interesting side of the scientific world that I would have liked to have spent more time with. Rue was also an endearingly vulnerable character and I liked reading about her, but I didn't get to know her or Eli well enough to totally buy into their romance.

In addition, the sex scenes themselves weren't to my taste and ejected me out of what could have been a really romantic and engaging story.  

Book blurb

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.

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You can buy the book here now. It was published by Sphere.

For more on the author, you can head over to her website, follow her on Instagram, or check out her Goodreads page.