Not In My Book by Katie Holt, Audiobook Review: Fire & spice
Not In My Book is Katie Holt’s hot and spicy debut enemies-to-lovers romance novel. I review the unabridged audiobook narrated by Frankie Corzo.
Publication: RB Media Recorded Books, December 2024
Format: Unabridged Audiobook, 10 Hours, 30 Minutes
Audio Narrator: Frankie Corzo
Genre: Romance, Drama
Not In My Book Publisher Synopsis
The Hating Game meets Beach Read in this sexy and hilarious enemies-to-lovers romance from a debut Peruvian-Tennessean voice.
Rosie Maxwell has a plan: move to New York, get her creative writing degree from NYU, become a bestselling romance writer. But that plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her archnemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington, an obnoxious, surly, unreasonably gorgeous literary fiction writer who has no patience for romance – or for Rosie.
Exhausted by Rosie and Aiden’s constant verbal sparring, their professor gives them an ultimatum: leave her class, or cowrite a novel that blends their respective genres.
As Rosie and Aiden collaborate on their (accidentally steamy) novel, they try to put their differences aside. Could their manuscript-in-progress be just the outlet they need to confess their feelings – and explore their mutual attraction?
But a potentially career-changing opportunity soon reignites the flames of their old rivalry. Rosie and Aiden’s once-in-a-lifetime love story is once again at risk of being shelved – unless they can find a way to end the book on their own terms . . . truths that may or may not still be buried there.
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My Review
Not In My Book. This multi-meaning title could not be more perfect for a romance novel whose cast is largely comprised of fiction writers. I am certainly not too proud to say it hooked this book lover, but can assure you the value to be found in this romcom is far more than skin deep.
Debut author Katie Holt has translated her passion for this genre, New York, Tennessee and her culture to the page through her female lead Rosie. Pleasingly, she also invests more time in developing an authentically layered backstory for her male antagonist Aiden than many that employ the enemies-to-lovers trope.
While Not In My Book‘s foreground storyline is trope-cute, its foundations have substance. With meta and epistolary elements, alternating narrative perspectives, and a quirky posse of friends whose group chats provide well-timed light relief, this fiction ticked so many boxes for this reader.
But, if you prefer closed-door romance, then Not In My Book is not for you — pardon the pun. I am not an expert in that ‘spicy scale’ romance book tubers seem to use, but this novel is up there — it is more like door-ripped-off-its hinges (to paraphrase a comment made by one of this book’s characters). While I was not enamoured with every bit of dialogue in this regard, I appreciate that is highly subjective.
Audio narration
Frankie Corzo’s voice is very pleasant to listen to, and her considerable experience as a voice performer shone in her pacing and inflection. I felt she distinguished between the male and female voices well without over-stretching. The switch to small epistolary elements, which often almost mirrored the foreground character’s narrative, were always going to be tricky in the audio format and did on occasion cause momentary confusion. But overall, I found Corzo’s performance of Not In My Book highly enjoyable and compelling listening. I will be adding her to my list of great audiobook narrators.
It is clear why Katie Holt’s debut novel Not In My Book is LibraryReads’ top pick of the December 2024 releases and an IndieNext Pick. With its release she has announced herself as a new talent to watch in the romcom genre.
My Rating
Story 4 / 5 ; Writing 4 / 5 ; Audio Narration 4 / 5
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* My receiving a pre-publication audiobook copy of Not In My Book from the publisher for review purposes did not impact the expression of my honest opinions above.