When I started this book and got to about 30% in I was unsure if I was going to finish this book or not. Then I hit 50% and I just could not put it down! This became such a fun romance to read. Casey and Alex really grew on me and their story was just too good. A lovely enemies to lovers romance. Excellent debut novel from Clare Gilmore! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely LOVED this book! The main characters, Casey and Alex, made me so happy and I just fell in love with them. I also thoroughly enjoyed several of the “side” characters and wouldn’t mind a spin off with some of them! (Cough -Miriam and Brijesh -cough)! I loved the banter and friendship shown in the book just as much as the love story. I highly suggest adding this book to your TBR for the October 10, 2023 publication day!

Full of hilariously funny moments and witty banter (I’m looking at you Disney references!), I loved everything about this story! With themes of friendship, self discovery, love, and acceptance, the writing is beautiful, engaging, entertaining, heartfelt, and a little spicy. It is everything you want from a great rom-com. I’m amazed that this is her first published novel, and just know that there will be more great ones to follow. I am here for them all! Thank you so much to Clare Gilmore, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc.

“Love Interest” by Clare Gilmore
Despise, Tolerate, Romance, Love
Yes I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this story. The book description was barely a teaser as there is so much more to happen within the covers of this story. I was captivated by the positive impact the characters had upon one another; the positive changes were a treat to view. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I dd. Happy Reading ! !
Note: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I received an ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley.

I love enemy to lovers and work place romances so when I saw this had both, I knew I had to request a copy; I wasn’t disappointed. I loved Alex. I loved his willingness to be open and vulnerable and have the girl be the one slower to trust instead. This had the perfect blend of witty banter and depth. Highly recommend this debut rom-com.

⭐️ ARC Review ⭐️

Love Interest
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Single POV featuring Casey, a finance analyst, and Alex, a new project manager who got a job Casey was hoping for. They start as workplace enemies, with Casey blaming nepotism for Alex’s career success, but become friends and eventually more.

I liked this book but did find that it seemed to drag a lot. While it was filled with fun little sidebars and references, it’s the type of thing that will feel dated when fads change. That said, while I didn’t really relate to the characters (which made it hard for me to lose myself in the story) I get the feeling that they ARE very relatable and well-written, and I’m just not the target demographic.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and the writing style. I’ll definitely look for more from this author in the future!

Thank you to @netgalley , @stmartinspress, and @momentofclarety for a chance to read this cute and fun office rom-com

📖 I received a gifted e-book copy in exchange for an honest review ✍🏻

Read dates: 09/06/2023- 09/10/2023
Goodreads review: 09/10/2023
Instagram review: 09/10/2023
Blog review: 10/10/2023

The perfect workplace rom com! I swooned so many times during this, Alex was an amazing MMC and I couldn't get enough of him. Read through this in one sitting and it have me giggling and kicking my feet in the air lol

Put down Casey Maitland as one of the best and most memorable romcom heroines - she is endlessly relatable, takes us on an emotionally compelling personal journey, and I love her relationship with her family and friends. She completely stole the show for me, and with such excellent characterization, I am excited to see what else Clare writes in the future. I will be reading it for sure!

Ps, I love Casey's outfit on the cover.

Thank you to NetGalley, Clare, and SMP for the eARC in exchange for my review.

This was a great workplace romance with great friends to lovers and forced proximity tropes that felt fresh and new. I loved the main characters, Alex and Casey. Casey is a numbers girl who decides to apply for a project manager job at the publishing company she works for. She's passed over for the job by the board chairman's son. I loved Alex and Casey's relationship. Alex has boundless ideas for the company, which Casey tries to reign in as the financial expert at the company. I loved their banter as they grew closer and closer. Soon they are drawn into some corporate intrigue that could threaten their happiness. It was a fun workplace romance with great main characters., supporting characters, and some corporate intrigue as well.

This was a sparkling debut by Clare Gilmore and I can't wait to read more from her. Perhaps a sequel to this story?

Thanks, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the early access to this book!

Love Interest
Claire Gilmore

Pub date: Oct, 10.

Casey and Alex were everything I could have asked for in a rom-com workplace story. The autumn city vibes, the character development and the supporting characters created a beautiful story that had me wishing I had all the time in the world to keep reading.

Casey and Alex felt SO authentic, and I found myself relating to different aspects of their personalities. As individuals I adored them, and as they began seeing each other I felt obsessed and in love with them. An aspect I really loved about the dynamics of Casey and Alex’s relationship was how they felt so genuine, like they weren’t with each other and talking 24/7 but they both showed effort with communication and came back together easily. I loved that and it felt so real for these 20 something old adults who work genuine grown up jobs in a big city.

Casey was extremely relatable through her shy personality, her want for guaranteed things, and insecurities. Plus, representation of a woman in STEM? I’m sold. Alex was practically her opposite, but he was so sweet and understanding that she enjoys and needs alone-time to recharge. The banter between them was immaculate, and I felt myself wanting to yell at them to kiss already but there were some anti-commitment issues involved with them both. However, they saw each other’s true selves and wanted to support each other’s personal growth no matter what which made me love them more.

The corporate workplace and finance jargon did lose me a little bit, but I still adored reading about Casey, Alex, and all their friends/colleagues. Each character’s quirks and personalities made this book into a captivating and cute read that I feel like anyone who reads romance will admire. This was a beautiful debut of a book by Claire Gilmore and I’m beyond excited to see what she writes in the future. I highly recommend adding Love Interest to your TBR’s!

4/5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I picked this book up just needing a change from other books and wasn't sure how much I would like it. I liked the description so why not!
I loved this book and already recommended it to so many people. It feels like the hating game meets how to lose a guy in 10 days but so much more. I loved the representation,the reflection, the nuance, the fun, the swoony. It wasn't particularly spicy but that was okay! I cherished this book and binged it in less than two days. I can't wait for more from.the author!!!
Only thing I didn't like tbh was the title!

There is a lot to like about Love Interest. The main character is very relatable and the love interest, Alex, is extremely likable. Both have unconventional family backgrounds that were interesting to read about. There was a lot of good diversity and representation among the characters too which is important to me. The business related subplot was a little hard to follow for me- not sure if that’s a me thing- and their work life confused me. She loved finance, but never seemed to be doing finance related work. Mostly, I enjoyed it. It’s a cute debut. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this story because I wasn’t bought in in the beginning. I’m happy that I continued on with this because it turned out to be really good. I thought the relationship between Alex and Casey seemed genuine and normal. Nothing seemed super over the top and as a reader you could completely see this happening in real life. All of the characters had their relatable moments and you were able to feel for the situations that are happening to them. I did really like that when the problem happened at work they seemed to handle it like adults instead of having a yelling match with each other. I would have loved if it was dual pov. I think it could have helped to understand Alex more then what we do when he interacts with Casey.

Casey and Alex - co-workers/enemies (although Alex has no idea why they're enemies...) turned lovers were great MCs. Honestly, I had to keep reminding myself that they were young 20s, they came across so mature dealing with work stress and family issues. Casey is working so hard to follow dreams and not take the easy road and Alex is working to prove he is more than his last name while still trying to make his nonexistent relationship with his father mean something to both of them. 
This story had a large focus on the actual work side of things which was a nice change of pace - I think I might have actually learned something from this read! For all of Casey and Alex's great communication early on, the fallout from lack of communication towards the end took this one surprised me a bit. I loved Casey going out and getting what she wanted professionally and I loved Alex supporting her in his own way and I LOVED every time that he called her "Simba".   

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This is Clare Gilmore's debut novel and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the Advanced Readers Copy of Love Interest by Clare Gilmore!

I can barely put into words how much I loved this book!

I'm actually in such awe that this is a debut novel, and I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for the author's next releases!

This was the perfect workplace romance, with cozy, autumn city vibes! I laughed, I swooned, I cried, and I stayed up way too late reading this book! It was impossible to put down!

Casey and Alex have such an amazing chemistry, right from the beginning! Casey starts off being cold and distant with Alex after learning he's the CEO's son -and got the promotion she wanted. But as they get to know each other, she realises he's more - way more - than what she initially thought.

Their relationship felt so organic and authentic! Everything happens in the span of a few months, which made it really believable to me. I loved how they would spend time away from each other, yet still text and keep in touch like any real couple.

Alex was so adorable and hot! The way he kept on trying to win her affection at the beginning, when she was so stand-offish, was so swoony! His need to be liked by everyone and his inability to say no to social plans was funny and such a great contrast to Casey, who's more introverted and enjoys spending time alone.

I could connect with Casey on many levels, especially her shy, introverted personnality and her insecurities. She was such a relatable, endearing main character!

Also, the cast of secondary characters was just top-tier! I couldn't get enough of reading about her friends and family.

I could go on, but instead I'll just say, don't walk, RUN to get this book when it comes out Oct. 10 2023!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A wonderful debut by Clare Gilmore. I loved all the characters, especially the side characters who formed a tight-knit group/found family. I wish we saw more of Freddy, who was hilarious; the scene in the bar where Casey first meets him had me crying laughing. I loved the slow burn workplace enemies to lovers, and when we eventually get backstory on Casey's and Alex's lives, it really adds to the story and to their relationship. The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars is because I was lost a bit in the middle with the workplace scenes. That's just me, though, the world of finance holds zero interest for me, so kudos to the author for not losing me completely there. I would definitely read this author again.

After the job she wanted was awarded to the son of the board chairman, Casey was forced to work with Alex. Initially, she resented him but slowly fell for his charms and saw that there was a lot more to Alex than she originally thought.

I adored these two from their very first meeting in the elevator (wait until you hear what he says to her!). There was this spark and fun exchange which had me smiling. But the fabulous banter didn't stop there. Many of Alex and Casey's encounters and written communications were filled with great verbal volleys which had me grinning from ear to ear.

Needless to say, I was onboard this ship from the get-go, but alas, the characters were kind of anti commitment. They had different reasons for wanting to be free of such entanglements, and therefore, they settled for fostering this connection with a pre-designated expiration date. I sort of hated that they had this end in sight, but the time they spent together was wonderful. Watching them open up and get to know each other, sharing pieces of themselves that they tend to keep undercover, and really communicating. It was all perfect and frustrating every time they reminded me that it would end.

I mean, I didn't believe them, obviously. Especially when it came to Alex. He kept trying to sell me on his rolling stone life, but I felt like he put himself out there for Casey. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and if she said the word, he would be hers forever. My heart was mush for this man.

I must admit, I was not the biggest fan of the corporate takeover plot, butI rolled with it because I understood that it was pushing other parts of this story forward. And how could I be mad when there were so many fantastic characters to love. Casey's dads were definitely treasure type characters, and I adored her friend group as well. Alex didn't have a big posse, but his steadfast friend, Freddy, was a gem.

Overall, this was a delightful workplace rom-com. It was a pleasure seeing Alex and Casey fall in love, find the success they were seeking, and grow personally and professionally. The ending was one of those perma-smile type ending too, making my final impression of this book an incredible one.

I so loved this story! It perfectly encapsulates the feelings of falling in love with another person while also finding and falling in love with yourself.

Thanks to NetGalley I received an advanced electronic copy of the book to read and provide a review.

Adorable! If you enjoyed The Hating Game, you’ll absolutely fall in love with this. Likely even more so!

An office enemies-to-lovers romance that made finance and numbers sexy. The characters were endearingly flawed and the story was fun and interesting. I really appreciated how the author slowly shared the background stories of the main characters while they revealed themselves to each other. I was captivated from start to finish and even read through with a tension headache - that’s how much I enjoyed it and needed to Alex and Casey’s ending.