Not in My Book

'Not in My Book' by Katie Holt is a love story between two NYU students who are both pursuing careers as writers. Rosie, who is passionate and lofty, comes from a tight-knit family in Tennessee. Rosie leaves home to pursue her dream of becoming a romance writer in New York after leaving a toxic relationship. Aiden Huntington is tall, gorgeous, but obnoxious and distant. Aiden holds many secrets. He dreams of becoming a fictional writer and is quite talented.

What makes Aiden and Rosie enemies? Aiden believes that love and romance belong to fairytales. His patience with Rosie's romance writing is short. In their Writing Workshop class, Aiden and Rosie frequently battle each other. Every step of the way, Aiden criticizes Rosie's writing. Rosie has had enough of Aiden's cruel insults after a semester of them. Their professor reaches her breaking point with these two students. Their professor calls Rosie and Aiden into her office and tells them that she is kicking them out of class. It is only after pleading with the professor that she agrees to let them stay. Using both of their genres, they must co-write a novel.

The two decide to alternate chapters, with Rosie beginning with the first. It doesn't take long for Rosie and Aiden to find themselves becoming characters. It is soon impossible to ignore physical attraction. Despite her desire to hate Aiden, Rosie is deeply attracted to him, and she wants to know the real Aiden more than ever. The same is true for Aiden as well. It allows them to express just how they feel about one another as they write their novel together.

In spite of her belief in true love, Rosie has experienced a toxic relationship in the past, leading to hurt and reservations. It's not the case for Aiden. A messy divorce between his parents when he was quite young taught him that love was not real. It will take time and patience for these hurts to heal.

As all of this is going on, Rosie is also writing something for a highly prestigious scholarship opportunity. Rosie's life and ability to get through school would be changed if she received this award. She asked Aiden if he planned to apply. How would their relationship change if they both applied. Does the competition threaten to separate them?

This book is filled with so many layers.

It gets pretty steamy in the novel. It contains X-rated content.

It would ruin the book if I shared too much more.

It is important for me to state that I am not a reader of romance novels. The author does a great job weaving together all of the events, characters, backgrounds, etc. to make the story flow smoothly. This book keeps you guessing what will happen, which is always wonderful. The worst kind of storyline is one that is predictable. This is the author's first novel. I would say she did a fantastic job!