Not in Love (Not in Love #1) by Ali Hazelwood

Not in Love is a sizzling, slow-burn workplace romance with emotional layers, corporate tension, and two broken people trying to figure out how to be whole—together.

Other Books I have Read by the same Author –

The Love Hypothesis

Love on the Brain

Cruel Winter with You

Bride

Synopsis

A forbidden, secret affair proves that 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 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.

Review

Not in Love is a steamy STEM workplace romance with a twist of corporate intrigue and a whole lot of emotional unlearning.

The story follows Rue Siebert, a food tech engineer at Kline. She’s socially anxious, emotionally guarded, and doesn’t let many people in—aside from her childhood best friend Tisha, and Florence, the CEO of Kline who championed her project when no one else would. Rue doesn’t date, doesn’t do attachments, and only goes out with guys for one-night stands—until she meets Eli Killgore.

A chance (and failed) hookup leads to unexpected conversation, connection, and chemistry. But the next day, Rue’s world flips when Eli walks into Kline’s general meeting… as one of the Harkness partners—people trying to acquire Kline due to a massive unpaid loan Florence took out years ago. Talk about conflict of interest.

From here, we get a delicious slow burn laced with mutual pining, forbidden attraction, and secret rendezvous. Rue and Eli shouldn’t get involved—her loyalty lies with Florence, and their professional dynamic is pure chaos—but the heart (and other body parts) want what they want.

This book is steamier than Hazelwood’s previous works, with more explicit scenes and a strong push-pull dynamic between Rue’s no-dating rules and Eli’s relentless charm. Still, Hazelwood’s signature effortless writing and instant “I’m into this” vibe is fully intact.

While the plot isn’t shocking (you’ll probably guess Florence is hiding something a mile away), it’s the characters that make it tick. I loved how Rue and Eli shared pieces of their past through a story exchange they do every time they meet. It made their bond feel real—rooted in mutual respect, not just sexual chemistry.

Rue is blunt, guarded, and deeply loyal. Her emotional unavailability makes her seem cold, but under that, she’s kind and caring. Her past—particularly her food insecurity and trauma—explains why her current project is so close to her heart. I wanted nothing but good things for her.

Eli is a cinnamon roll in a business suit. He’s attentive, warm, and surprisingly unbitter despite a rough childhood and raising his sister alone from a young age. He reads Rue like a book, respects her boundaries and slowly earns her trust and affection. Their chemistry is fire and connection feels earned.

The romance leans heavily physical early on, which slightly overshadowed the emotional build-up for me and yet I found myself rooting more for the relationship than the individual characters, especially since Rue doesn’t really open up to Tisha or anyone else about how she feels about Eli. Eli cooking, those adorable dog scenes, and their “worst story” exchanges—those were some of my favorite moments.

The climax is predictable, but the fallout and the way both characters deal with it added some grit. I did wish we got more insight into Rue’s emotional shift—how she realized she was in love. The proposal at the end, though was lovely.

Overall, Not in Love is a sizzling, slow-burn workplace romance with emotional layers, corporate tension, and two broken people trying to figure out how to be whole—together. It’s steamier than Hazelwood’s usual fare but still full of heart.

What to expect –

STEM Romance
Forbidden Workplace Romance
Secret relationship
Grumpy x Sunshine
Corporate drama & betrayal
Steamy, Push and Pull Romance

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Have you re-read this before reading Snow and Haymitch story?
Who is your favorite character in this series?

Just in case you missed,,,

• Not in Love (Not in Love #1) by Ali Hazelwood
• July 2025 Wrap Up
• Reread Review : The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins

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