This was my third Ali Hazelwood book, so I thought I knew the spice level to expect: “Love Theoretically” and “The Love Hypothesis” definitely had some steam, but it was well within the boundaries I expect in my romance. (I’m not a prude, but if I’m reading for plot and character, I’m happy with just a hint of sex on the page.)
Boy howdy, was “Not in Love” delivering heat at a completely different level! And yet it continued to be a book very much about complex, multi-faceted characters against a backdrop of industrial and academic intrigue, with the sex skillfully woven into the story.
Rue Siebert is a researcher at a biotech firm who grew up poor and continues to suffer psychological wounds from a childhood of hunger and instability. She’s also drawn to intense casual hookups, facilitated by an app that preserves her anonymity, and has set a rule of never returning to a partner after a fling.
Eli Kilgore has a biotech background himself, and is working for a small investment firm that purchases biotech companies. He and Rue meet on the app, but their hookup at a hotel bar is interrupted by Rue’s brother and the resurfacing of some family drama. Eli is drawn to Rue, but Rue makes it clear that there are no do-overs in her world, and they part thinking their paths will never cross again.
Until they do, in the board room at Rue’s workplace, where Eli appears as part of a takeover bid. Eli and Rue begin a complex dance of attraction and repulsion as the troubling history between Eli and her company’s founder comes to light, and their physical relationship grows more intense.
The characters were complex and interesting, with strong back stories and clear motivations that often put them at cross purposes. And their negotiations — sexual, emotional, professional — made for fascinating, often quite tense reading.
There’s a short sequel, Problematic Summer Romance, focused on Eli’s sister and his business partner, that I also enjoyed, but not quite as much as I enjoyed “Not in Love.”
