This was cute!

LOVE INTEREST is a hate to love workplace romance that's smart and sexy and overall, an enjoyable, escapist read. It also deftly handles conversations about complicated family relationships and parental loss, and builds well-rounded characters that you want to root for -- individually and together.

Read for:

- asking for your preferred brand of laundry detergent (as a love language)
- Target and Taylor Swift mentions
- trying to find your place in the workplace and in your career
- tall dark and handsome LIs with scratchy voices
- fashion, on a Budget
- hidden tattoos
- affectionate nicknames at first meeting
- MCs with admittedly opposite-of-causal personalities ('cause, same)
- ...you wear GLASSES???
- "Don't go around thinking you aren't remarkable."
- work family with inside jokes and its own language
- love as a slow build
- trusting the sound of your own voice
- "Home is something you build."

Enjoyed this and can't wait to see what else Clare Gilmore writes!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. LOVE INTEREST is out now!

ARC provided by netgalley

this book was so cute and fun. the pacing was a little off and some of the conflicts felt a little forced, but i really enjoyed the two characters both together and separate.

Super sweet romance from a debut author. Believable dialogue. Not a lot of unneccseary filler that can bore me to tears.

I enjoyed reading Love Interest, it was a very easy and cute read, I actually finished it in a day.
The characters are quite funny, and as a magazine lover and whose dream once was to work for a media empire, I found the setting and the backstory quite fascinating, most of the secondary characters were very endearing and funny, like Miriam & Don & Fari. As for Casey & Alex, I really enjoyed their little quirks and Claire the author, really had me swooning for Alex, I never knew some traits he had I find actually hot and need in my future man!
As for the story, I enjoyed the twists and turns and everything that happened, and how it was all intertwined. A character I particularly hated was Tracy, they did her wrong, but I get why her character needed to exist.
The ending was nice, and not predictable in the sense I thought it would be.
Solid 4/5, would recommend to friends.

Note: Thanks NetGalley & the publishers for the free ARC in exchange of an unbiased review

I love a good forced proximity romance and this one was no exception! It was so cute and I loved the workplace romance with a sprinkling of other tropes.

Haven’t read a workplace romance this good since The Hating Game. Enemies to Lovers. Casey gets the job Alex was sure would be her making and he’s so smug about it, especially being the boss’s son. The chemistry between these two is off the charts and I couldn’t put it down.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: October 10, 2023

I…was so surprised by how much I loved this? It sounded great but I wasn’t prepared for how invested in these characters I became. This is well written—smart, witty, and well-paced. When so many romances can be surrealistic or idealistic, this has the feel of that while still being realistic. I’m a harsh critic of books set in NYC and this does it well for a character who has only lived there a few years. While the work drama was predictable, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this and how much I appreciated that everyone behaved like fully formed humans instead of frustratingly immature children masking as adults. A fab debut and Gilmore will be on my to-read list going forward!

Title: Love Interest
Author: Clare Gilmore
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary Romance
Tropes: enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance, he fell first
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Casey and Alex are forced into proximity, they soon realize falling for each other is just as much of a risk and as it is a reward.

This book was absolutely amazing. I loved every single minute of it. I can’t even begin to believe that this is Clare Gilmore’s debut novel because it is that good. Set in NYC at a publishing company, the story unfolded in the most perfect way.

Casey is such a wonderful character. So many times when I read contemporary romances, I had a hard time liking the FMC because they come off as brash or mean when really they are just meant to be strong. Casey is so relatable, a numbers girl with artsy parents, who is simply trying to figure out who she is and what she wants in the world. Her character development throughout the story was like a breath of fresh air. She didn’t need to change anything about herself, she simply had to embrace who she already was.

Alex has now been added to my very long list of book boyfriends and I’m not mad about it at all. The chaos to Casey’s control, Alex brings out the best parts of Casey, parts she didn’t know existed. I love the way they communicated throughout the entire book, open and honest and like actual adults. Plus, he fell first. And harder. What’s not to love?

The banter, the small moments, the grand gestures my heart was completely wrapped up in this book from beginning to end. Do yourself a favor and read this one. You won’t regret it.

A very happy thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

What a debut! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I loved this book. Genuine chemistry. Enemies to lovers but only enemies for just the right amount of time. Witty banter. Character development and growth. The SWEETEST quotes.
Mature communication. Quirky secondary characters. It had all the best romance things! It also had a cast of secondary characters that I fell in love with too. I smiled through so much of this book. I can't wait to read whatever Clare Gilmore writes next. I can't recommend this book enough!

Read if you like:
• workplace romance
• witty banter swoon worthy quotes
• he falls first

Simba 🥹🥹 He calls her SIMBA. I am currently writing this review through muddled tears, not because it was a sad ending, but because I am a giant sap and this was so CUTE. It’s not even really an enemies to lovers— more of a misunderstood enemies to friends to lovers. And they are so perfect for each other, and Alex is now my new favorite book boyfriend. I love a good workplace romance. Also this is the second book in a row I’ve read where One Direction is mentioned and now I just feel targeted. It’s like they know I’m keep a tally of books that specifically mention Harry Styles, and are like “technically this doesn’t”.

Quick summary, Casey applied for a job within her own company, and got passed over for an executive’s son. Which like Boo Nepotism. But turns out the son and father are estranged, and he didn’t even know the son was applying. Also, Alex is illegitimate. Turns out though that Alex really is perfect for the job, and Casey begins to see that. The two grow close, especially after they are paired together for a YouTube segment in another branch of the company. As the two hang out, bond over their common ground (*cough* dead moms), and just genuinely enjoy each other’s time, they slowly fall in love. But their “relationship” has an expiration date, as Casey is up for a transfer to London soon and Alex never really keeps his feet on the ground and is always moving around. Will the two be able to find a home in each other, or will they be done once Casey is off to London?

Thank you NetGalley, Clare Gilmore, and St. Martin’s for the early copy!

Thank you, netgalley, Clare Gilmore, and Saint Martins Press for the ARC. I love a good workplace romance! Alex was such a good MMC. You could see how much he liked Casey from the first time they met. I also enjoyed how Casey warmed up to Alex, how against her better judgment, he wormed his way into her heart. There was a lot of personal growth for both MCs, which I really liked. Their growth made them better people and their relationship stronger. Definitely check out Love Interest if you enjoy dislike to lovers and workplace romance tropes.

Promising Debut. This was one of those debut novels where yes, the author tries to do too much at times (including the perfectly valid complaint among some lower star ranked reviews of perhaps trying *too hard* to shove in every possible non-straight-white-male demographic), and yes, the lead character can be annoying at times (expecting to get a Project Manager role with zero actual qualifications, then mad at the dude who had the qualifications who go it), and yet... there is still quite a bit of promise here, as these are issues that an author can learn from and do better with in their next book... or not, and instead steer into the skid and do even more of them, perhaps playing for a different segment of the market tan I represent.

Overall it really was a fun, somewhat inventive at times, workplace romance- one perhaps more suited for Zoomer sensibilities than Boomer, but one that is solid enough for truly most anyone to enjoy. Very much recommended.

This romantic comedy was a perfect palette cleanser for all of the dark and spooky reads I’ve been binging because of the time of the year. This story follows a woman in finance, Casey, and a Korean business man, Alex, in a publishing company that is struggling to stay relevant. Casey and Alex went up for the same job and Alex won out.

They meet and have instant chemistry but Casey tries to hate him. They end up bonding over YouTube videos and become friends with benefits, then more. The ups and downs in this book were refreshing and felt so genuine.

I loved Casey’s character: her personality, her quirks, the descriptions given of her. She felt very real to me and I can see her being a real life friend to someone. Definitely recommend this book and might even read it again.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Story 4⭐️

Really lovely romance.

This was a really cute and endearing office romance. I loved Alex and Casey’s relationship. From the moment they met you could feel their connection and it was beautiful to see their relationship blossom.

The only reason I deducted a star is because a lot of the time was spent on the business side, which makes sense being an office romance but to me personally it was a little boring. So many chapters were spent at the office and with the internal turmoil that it took me out of the story a bit.

Overall, it is definitely great for a debut novel. I enjoyed it and definitely recommend.

Thank you to St. Martin Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC if this book in exchange of an honest opinion.

Unfortunately a DNF for me at 34%. I really tried to keep pushing through, but I couldn’t connect with this book at all. Too much interaction with side characters and work place info for me.

The characters/story have potential, I just think there’s quite a bit of tweaking to be done for success!

Thanks to NetGalley and SMP for the arc in exchange for my review.

This is a really cute book! I needed a light and fun read and it absolutely fit the bill. I forget how much I love a good office workplace romance (probably bc I am soooo not an office worker) until I read one. Alex is the best! As an enneagram 7 I totally related to those parts of his personality and I just wanted to wrap him up and help him realize he deserves all the love. Casey was fun too. I hated how she thought finance wasn’t a worthy job but loved her growth on it through the story. Personally I feel like this could have been a little shorter in length but it was still a solid read!

Casey is hoping to move up from her finance job at a major media company but loses out to handsome and connected Alex. Alex has a last name that opens doors. As Casey deals with working with Alex on a new project, her grudge against him for getting the job she wanted becomes weaker and weaker — Casey discovers there is more to his story and to him.

This was a fun novel. Casey is surrounded by a solid group of supporting characters in the form of roommates, co-coworkers, and parents that provide comic relief, insight and story depth. The romance is obvious from the get-go to the reader but as we follow Casey’s first person narrative you really are there with her as she over analyzes scenarios and processes her self doubt. Overall I really enjoyed this novel — pretty much reading it in a day. The very beginning is a bit of a New York City dump of places, cliches, lingo, etc. which was slightly distracting but after that initial purge of place setting, the novel zips by. 4 stars.

Review based on a digital Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley. Thank you!

Very sweet office romance but I would have liked a touch more of conflict and tension between the MC's. Great banter. The palate cleanser that I needed during October reads.


Thank you Netgally and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you loved The Hating Game, you'll absolutely adore the Love Interest!

This enemies to lovers workplace romcom is a great debut by Clare Gilmore! Get ready for a Manhattan-style romcom with Casey, the finance expert, and Alex, the enigmatic and annoyingly handsome son of the chairman of the company, find themselves as unlikely partners on a project. Their rivalry turns into something more magnetic and steamy, but office secrets and intrigue could change everything. Fast-paced, fun, and filled with sizzling chemistry!

When Casey is passed up for a promotion that is instead given to the board chairman’s son, she is convinced it is pure nepotism and he does not deserve the job at all. But when they are forced to work together on a project, they get to know each other and find themselves drawn to each other. But major company secrets as well as their own personal lives might keep them apart despite their growing feelings.

I thought this was a fun workplace rivals to lovers story, and while I enjoyed it, it definitely made me feel old at times with all of the Gen Z/pop culture references. Aside from the pop culture, there was so much to love about this story - but in particular Alex. I loved him so much. I thought the characters in this one were very well developed. Casey is the most driven and I loved seeing her crush it at work. More importantly, I loved seeing Alex support her work ethic. I thought they had the sweetest connection and it felt so real. Overall, this was a super cute read and gave me all the feels.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the gifted copy.