Not in Love is my first book by the prolific smut-for-science-geeks writer Ali Hazelwood. Traditionally, this would not at all be the sort of book I would gravitate towards for a variety of reasons (age of the protagonists being the main one), but someone on Litsy mentioned that this book was angsty, so I thought I would give it a go. Not angsty, but not the worst book of this type I have read.

Rue Siebert, a hot scientist – biotech engineer to be perfectly accurate – works for a kick-ass female CEO at Kline, a company devoted to food science. Rue doesn’t have time for relationships, so she uses a dating app to find men to have sex with (well, not intercourse, but everything else; she doesn’t enjoy intercourse).

She meets Eli Killgore, also smokin’ hot, for one of these mutually beneficial no-strings hook-ups, but before they can take their instant attraction upstairs, Vincent – Rue’s unstable brother – ambushes Rue in the hotel bar and Eli has to white knight him off the premises. Nothing kills a pre-sex buzz like a sibling. Eli and Rue part ways without even so much as a kiss.

Of course, that’s not the last these two will see of each other. When Rue arrives at work the next day, she finds out that Kline is under the threat of a hostile take-over and who is part of the team trying to do this? Yep – Eli Killgore (and what is with that surname?)

Anyway, Not in Love is relatively plotless (unless you count some buzz words and science jargon as plot). This is really about two people who are falling in love despite all the obstacles in their way (fraternizing with the enemy being top of the list). What saves this book for me is that both Rue and Eli were actually likeable characters and their sexcapades weren’t totally cringe-y.

Would I read another book by this author? Probably not. But if banter, sex, science and two hot people are your poison, you could certainly do a lot worse.