#11 [2025/CBR17] Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Ali Hazelwood is an automatic read for me now. I always enjoy reading her books, even when the characters drive me crazy. This is because they are likeable and funny--but in order to make the story work, they can be insanely obtuse when it comes to love. Apparently, I was a little obtuse because I only recently realized that Hazelwood had two new books out.

I picked up Not in Love (2024) first, which centers around Rue. Rue is a little atypical. She only has a couple of friends, including her boss, she lives alone with a lot of plants, and her life is very regimented. Rue is not very interested in a long-term relationship--in fact, she's not even interested in more than one date. But she does have needs, so every once in awhile she finds someone on a dating app to fulfill those needs.

One evening Rue is waiting in the hotel for her latest date when Eli shows up. They've matched online and are immediately attracted to each other in a very intense way--which seems to happen a lot in romance novels, but only rarely in real life. Unfortunately for them both, they are interrupted and both leave unsatisfied. However, the next day, she sees Eli at the most unexpected of places--her work.

Eli and three close friends have a company that buys other tech companies. Eli's company has just bought out the loan for the small biotech company that Rue works for, and everyone at Rue's company is worried about the implications for their jobs and livelihoods. 

Rue is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. She is deeply attracted to Eli, but she now sees him as an enemy from whom she needs to keep her distance. Rue is very close friends with the president of her company, and Rue owes her so much. Every time she spends time with Eli she feels guilty. 

The rest of the book is Rue and Eli getting closer and closer while the drama of the takeover continues. Hazelwood experimented with some light BDSM between Rue and Eli, something I had not seen in her books before. Eventually Rue discovers why Eli's company was so interested in attaining her small biotech firm, and everything starts to make sense.

I thought this book was a fun, engaging read. I liked the characters and were happy they ended up together. The backdrop of the scientific betrayals, patents, and overtaking other companies added to the story and the relationship without dragging down the tempo. Did Rue and Eli feel like real people? Maybe not. Was their relationship too good to be true? Maybe. But that's what romances are for, and it was entertaining.