Cash Box called it a "classy pop single" that tells "a sultry tale of masked love."[2]Record World said it "has the feel of a classic Chicago ballad."[3] In 2019, Billboard said about the song, "While the lyrical content — an ode to extramarital affairs — hasn’t particularly benefitted from the passing years, “No Tell Lover” is still a beautifully penned number from Chicago’s transition into soft-rock nobility."[4]
After "No Tell Lover", Chicago failed to chart a single in the U.S. top 50 for nearly four years, finally breaking their slump with the 1982 No. 1 hit, "Hard to Say I'm Sorry".[4]