Not In Love
by Ali Hazelwood
About the Author
Published on June 11, 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought at Indigo on release day
Summary from Goodreads:
A forbidden, secret affair proves all's fair in love and science.
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 affairs is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is a risky business - one that plays for keeps.
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Review
As a fan of Ali Hazelwood's previous novels, Not In Love was a surprising letdown, missing the mark on its promising premise of a forbidden romance amidst corporate intrigue. The book's primary issue lies with its characters, Rue and Eli, whose relationship lacked the depth and authenticity necessary to make their connection believable.
Despite their intriguing backgrounds - Rue as a biotech engineer and Eli as one of the founders of Harkness (and frontman of a hostile takeover) - their interactions felt, at best, mechanical and were as flat as a petri dish. They resembled automatons going through scripted motions, lacking the spark and passion of two people genuinely drawn to each other. Attempts to explain their behaviours and flesh out their characters through their pasts were half-hearted, leaving them one-dimensional and hard to connect with.
The romantic and intimate scenes, which should have injected some heat and emotion at that point, were further disappointingly bland.The lack of chemistry and emotional connection made these moments feel more like obligatory filler rather than an integral core part of the story itself.
Furthermore, the external conflict, featuring Rue's supposed friend Florence and the corporate "villains" (a.k.a. founders of Harkness), felt contrived and, in my opinion, added little to the narrative. The business drama, which should have added tension and raised stakes, instead felt flat and unengaging.
Eli's character spent a majority of his time either lusting after Rue or reminiscing about past relationships, which ultimately made his come across as shallow and lacking personal depth. On the other hand, Rue oscillated between being clueless about anything outside the field of science, cold and unfeeling, or avoiding her past. Their bonding over shared "horrible deeds" felt forced and unconvincing.
Can we also talk about those sex scenes? Detached from any genuine emotion, was not only unenjoyable to read but felt like a chore I needed to get over with. Usually, I can overlook less engaging intimate scenes if the romance or comedic aspect of the story makes up for it, but without those elements, there was nothing for me to revel in. The side characters were at times equally unlikeable as the MCs, making it hard to care about their roles in the story. Even the science and academia setting, a highlight in Hazelwood's previous works, was missing with a corporate takeover overshadowing any scientific elements.
Overall, Not In Love struggled to capture my attention and maintain my interest. The lack of character development, emotional depth, and engaging conflict made it a generally tough read. It left me disappointed and discontent with everything from the characters to the storyline, a stark contrast to Hazelwood's earlier works. Ali Hazelwood's previous works set high expectations and, unfortunately, this one did not meet them.
Rating
★
About the Author
Ali Hazelwood is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her three feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).
