Not in My Book

September 1, 2024

Debut author Holt pits two writers against each other in creative writing class. Rosie writes romances, Aiden focuses on literary fiction--and scorns Rosie's work. They clash until their instructor forces them to cowrite a book, but the truce is temporary when a career-changing chance makes them rivals again. Prepub Alert.

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November 1, 2024
Who doesn't love romance? Apparently, Aiden Huntington, the bane of Rosie Maxwell's academic existence. Peruvian American Rosie left Tennessee for New York to fulfil her dream of becoming a successful writer. But every time she submits a piece of her romance-novel-in-progress to the rest of the students in her graduate writing class, Aiden takes special delight in decimating whatever she has written under the guise of "helpful" criticism. To be fair, Rosie is equally dismissive of Aiden's efforts at writing literary fiction. It gets so bad that their professor gives them an ultimatum. Either Rosie and Aiden work together on a book that combines both their literary interests, or they can find another writing class! Holt puts a fun, literary spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope with her engaging debut romance. Not only does Holt artfully gift her heroine Rosie with her own Peruvian heritage, she also makes Rosie a particularly effective, effusive advocate when it comes to championing the delights of romance fiction.

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September 30, 2024
Holt’s uneven debut revolves around the now familiar trope of a literary fiction writer forced to work with a romance writer. Peruvian American Rosie Maxwell has come a long way from her small-town Tennessean roots and is living her dream at NYU’s MFA program in creative writing. She feels closer to becoming a published romance writer every semester. The only fly in the ointment is Aiden Huntington, her workshop partner, former crush, and current academic rival. Aiden snobbishly turns his nose up at the concept of happily ever after, and his and Rosie’s daily verbal sparring keeps upending class. Frustrated, their professor gives them an ultimatum: they must learn to work together by cowriting a genre-blended novel or they’ll both be kicked out of the program. Excerpts from the slow-burning love story they cocreate reveal their changing feelings for each other as, through working together, they learn they have more in common than either expected. This meta element is fun, but the over-the-top enemies-to-lovers antics, and especially Rosie’s heightened emotions, come across as immature. Readers will have better luck with Beach Read by Emily Henry.