Title: Not Safe For Work
Author: Nisha J. Tuli
Pub. Date: May 20th 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Audiobook (ALC) 10hrs/44 minutes
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Pages: 352
GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLE | LIBROFM | AMAZON
☆☆ALC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆
A STEM Contemporary Romance with a woman of color as the lead? Yes please. Tris is an Engineer who has been working at WMC Purcell for years without career growth or much acknowledgment. That changes when she gets invited to a work retreat in Hawaii where she will have the opportunity to compete for a highly coveted spot in an executive training program. This comes as a surprise, Tris knows the company she works for is saturated with white male privilege and nepotism. The invitation is suspicious but who would turn down 3 weeks in Hawaii and the possibility of winning this competition? Our girl was OUT on the first plane to the island but first, she made sure to negotiate the terms and conditions.
Rafe is the boss’s son and Tris’s biggest work rival, he also was given the other spot in WMC Purcell’s competition in Hawaii. Their first big test is when they’re met with a hotel mix-up that introduces the one bed trope. A true gentleman, Rafe leaves all the heat for the team building exercises where things do get heated between the two. We definitely get more of Rafe’s backstory and family life than we do with Tris. He may be a nepo baby orrrrr he might actually have some depth to him. Keeping it spoiler free but I LOVED Rafe and just how into Tris he is while still maintaining a competitive energy!
Audiobook narrator Soneela Nankani brought the fun, competitive energy, and banter you’d want in an enemies to lovers rom-com. Fast paced and atmospheric with island vibes to set the mood, this was an easy read. Our female MC loves the skin she’s in and I just loved seeing her get excited over the outfits she was packing. Tris is a force and Rafe, well he is the King to her Queen! We saw some chronic pain representation (mild but still on the page) and the ugly side to working in a mostly white male led field. While misogyny did rear its ugly head a few times, our girl Tris wasn’t having it! This journey was about self-worth and knowing when you’re blocking your own blessings. I think we can all relate to this, it was cool seeing Tris come into this realization while as a bonus also having the support of our male MC. The only thing I was missing from this story was a little backstory on her family life, we get mentions but it’s not as deep as it gets with Rafe’s story. It didn’t take away from the story’s enjoyment, if Island getaways + bad a** female MC’s breaking past glass ceilings checks off your boxes then this one won’t disappoint!
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