Not Safe for Work by Nisha J. Tuli
Published by Forever on May 20, 2025
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Rival engineers dabble in personal chemistry while at a tropical company retreat in this smart, zippy romcom.

Engineer Trishara Malik once dreamed of being the first woman of color to smash the glass ceiling at WMC Purcell, but after years of dealing with white male privilege and blatant nepotism, she watches her hard-earned promotion go to her nemesis, Rafe Gallagher—the boss’s son. Teetering on the edge of burnout, Tris is stunned when she’s picked to attend WMC's corporate leadership retreat in Hawaii. It’s a chance to revive her stalled career and compete for a coveted spot in an executive training program—plus, three weeks in paradise! The only downside? Rafe is her co-attendee.

Tris plans to avoid Rafe entirely, but when she arrives in Maui, a booking error has them stuck sharing the honeymoon suite. Sure, it’s not all torture. Rafe is a smoldering ten—okay fine, an eleven—but after years of competition, they can barely stand being in the same time zone. As they vie against each other during aptitude tests and team-building exercises, Tris begins to realize Rafe might not be the villain after all. With her dreams at stake, can she learn to trust the man who might have been standing in her corner all along?

Read if you like:

• Workplace romance
• Rivals to lovers
• Forced proximity
• Only one bed
• Fierce FMC

My thoughts:

Oh,  how I wanted to completely love this one. Not Safe for Work had so many things going for it but still ended up right in the middle of the road for me. It was an enjoyable read but it had it’s flaws.

I’ll start with the absolute best thing about this book and that’s Tris. She is a badass in every aspect of her life. She’s smart and capable and takes no shit when it comes to knowing her worth. She is in a male dominated field, not just as a woman but as a woman of color. Seeing her experiences described and knowing they were inspired by the author’s own experiences made her story hit even harder.

With that being said, there was one thing I disliked about Tris and that was her treatment of Rafe. There were times when she was just downright mean to him. Don’t get me wrong, Rafe gave as good as he got and I didn’t like it about him either. Most of the book I felt like they genuinely hated each other and, because of that, I didn’t love them together. Yes, they grew somewhat over the course of the book but they felt quite toxic together. Some of their interactions, especially in a workplace setting, made me cringe. I also would have loved to have seen Rafe’s point-of-view. As it was, Rafe felt a bit one-dimensional and their relationship one-sided. Tris may have been vocal of her dislike of Rafe as a person but she was also vocal in her appreciation of his looks.

As for the spice, I’ll give credit where credit is due; it was extremely hot. The tension between Rafe and Tris was palpable. Some of the early spice scene, when they were still fighting the attraction, were some of the best I’ve read. There two had definite chemistry in the bedroom.

Also, I want to call out how well the workplace aspect was handled. While this takes place at a work retreat in Hawaii, giving it a fun summer vibe, the work part of it still remained vital to the story. Tris was very driven in her career and it showed. However, she faced challenge after challenge and you can tell that she was reaching her breaking point. It’s impossible to overlook what Tris had to face in her career and this is definitely a story that will make you reflect on the imbalances facing women in the workforce.

Overall, Not Safe for Work is a great romance to pick up if you’re looking for the perfect balance of spice and more hard-hitting topics. Nisha J. Tuli did a wonderful job with this one and I look forward to reading more of her work.

TL; DR

Not Safe for Work is the perfect blend of tension, spice, and swoon worthy moments set against a gorgeous Hawaiian backdrop. That’s not to say it doesn’t also address serious topics such as equality and nepotism in the workplace. While I didn’t completely love Rafe and Tris together, the overall story is definitely one that will stick with me and has me eager to read more from Nisha J. Tuli.

If you liked Not Safe For Work, you may also like:

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Save for later!