I like the way the book started. I also really liked Alex’s and Casey’s characters and really happy with the way their story ended. There were some parts in the book where I found myself pushing through. I didn’t really like parts when Alex pretended he didn’t want Casey to stay with him instead of going to London. I can understand why Casey got mixed feelings from him about it. Yes, he was supportive towards her success but she was also supportive of him as well. Well, in the end it all worked out between them anyways.

Well, this was an adorable workplace romance!

It’s an enemies-to-lovers (kinda), one bed (kinda), romantic comedy. I loved Casey and Alex’s story from the moment they laid eyes on each other in the elevator. I loved the Nashville references. I loved how they both developed and found little parts of themselves along the way.

It was a little slow at times, but nothing that made me want uninterested in where it was going to go. So stinkin’ cute!

I had such a hard time putting this down once I started reading. There was just so much that I loved about it. I loved the workplace setting, and the banter between the characters was just excellent. I especially loved all the finance jokes and jargon as a finance girly. I just wish the enemies part of enemies-to-lovers trope lasted longer, as it felt like it only lasted briefly during the beginning. But I am happy that the enemies part was resolved in a mature manner between Alex and Casey, as this is not often the case in romance. I'm also happy the miscommunication trope was not implemented, as I absolutely hate it. Overall, this is a very solid debut. I recommend checking it out.

Rating: 4.5

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Contemporary romance has not been working for me lately; I’m tired of silly 20-somethings acting like immature fools in shallow relationships based on exactly nothing other than attraction. Love Interest was different.

It’s a workplace romance and honestly, the work-related details bogged me down a bit just because my own career is so different (foreign language teacher). I think this was meant to be an enemies-to-lovers trope and that trope was pretty mild and not super believable. But what stands to me about this book is the character growth. These are mature 20-somethings working through past hurts, family history and insecurities and it’s all fairly relatable. I could see myself as I was in my 20s, dealing with all of that. The side characters and relationships are well-developed, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the friendships. Also, the writing is great for a debut romance novel. I definitely look forward to reading more from this author!

Truly I’m a little scared to keep reading September because I am starting off the month so freaking strong, but oh my lanta Alex Harrison is my new book crush and Casey Maitland is my relatable anxious soul sister.

Casey is up for a new job at work, and gets a meeting request for that morning. She meets a cute guy in the elevator who, it turns out, got the job. And he’s the son of the chairman of the board. She’s immediately suspicious and doesn’t like him because he came in and took the job she was up for. Alex makes her laugh, and they become friendly adversaries at work while working on the same project.

Alex’s declarations are just so relatable. Casey’s are too. These are two characters who feel familiar, like friends. I loved the entire cast of characters in this book. So much good stuff happening!

Chapter 31 made me believe in love. I love love. Someday I’d like to have that kind of magic. Books like this make me really feel. Please read it! Shoutout to @jessicajoycewrites for mentioning it in her stories several times which absolutely prompted me to request from NetGalley. I am SO happy I did. I’ll be ordering a copy for my shelf. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It you like enemies to lovers, and workplace drama, this is the book for you.

Love Interest by Clare Gilmore is a work place, enemies to lovers romance, with well-developed characters and overall an engaging storyline. Great banter between the two main characters, Alex and Casey, which kept the book well paced.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review. An excellent debut from Clare Gilmore, I cannot wait to read what comes next.

If you are looking for an enemies to lovers and workplace romance, this is it! Loved the setting, loved the characters, and loved the writing. I appreciated the diversity represented in this book as well. I can’t wait to read more from Claire Gilmore!
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

I adore these characters! I absolutely fell head over heels for Alex and Casey and their story. I love a good enemies to lovers story, especially one set in a workplace. But I also love a romance story that lets you spend time with the couple as a couple for more than just the last third of the book - this book delivers that.

Love Interest builds a world that you want to dive into, I want to be friends with Casey’s friends and hang out with them in New York.

I am happy that neither of these characters force each other to be anything other than what they are. They support each other through life changes and no one gets resentful. They root for each others success.

This book is Clare Gilmore’s debut and based on this read, I’m so excited to read whatever she puts out next!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author Clare Gilmore for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was an adorable opposites-attract workplace romance between the finance rockstar (FMC) and the golden retriever New Guy (MMC) she lost the job to.

My thoughts:
• I loved the writing. It was engaging, and entertaining and read it in basically two sittings.
• The MCs were great. I loved that they were fully fleshed out–nuances, history/background and all.
• The setting: a publication company! So fun that we got to explore many aspects of it.
• Diverse characters: MMC is Korean American, and a whole bunch of other side characters that didn't just tick a diversity box. Truly appreciated!

If you read this, and I highly recommend you do, message me when you get to the meet-cute, will you? I just loved it so much and it's one I won't forget any time soon!

Thank you, @smpromance for the ARC!

This was cute but a bit forgettable - it didn’t have the real sparkle of some other romcoms I’ve read. I do think part of that is that I’m older than the intended audience (it really felt geared toward early 20s) and so I got a little frustrated with the characters at points. I’m honestly struggling a bit to remember what happened in the book now… I do remember that I liked Casey’s dads, but that her friends didn’t feel fleshed out and I kept confusing them, and that the concept of “Bite the Hand” didn’t totally make sense to me as some kind of breakthrough product that’s going to save the company. All in all, it kept me reading and I finished it quickly, but it’s not one that really made me over the top happy to read.

The characters in Love Interest are a little bit younger (mid-twenties) than many of the romance books I've read recently, and I feel like that's reflected in the storyline and characters, though maybe a little bit unrealistic that they have the jobs they do, in the city they do, at the age they do. The book is an enemies-to-lovers romance between numbers wonk Casey and big vision Alex, but it in many regards is also much about the company they both work for, and their relationships with their parents. If that sounds like a lot to cram into a romance book, you're not really wrong. It makes the romance feel kind of underwhelming - and in many regards as young as they are and as different as they are, Casey and Alex feel more like a physical attraction romance to me than a deep, true love type of one. When, at the beginning of the story, Casey is dreaming about the opportunity to spend time living and working in London, I can't help but feel that should be more important to her than a relationship with Alex. Not because I dislike him, I enjoyed the character, it just felt like an opportunity that she shouldn't pass up and may never get again. And that's probably not the best attitude a reader should have for a book that's intended to a romance! It's still enjoyable and there are funny moments in there you could expect from single people in their mid-twenties living in New York City, but I was never blown away by the romance between the protagonists. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Look. Enemies to lovers is maybe my favorite romantic trope, and Gilmore manages to keep things light but make the romance compelling. I devoured this - it's doesn't feel like the same story rehashed over and over again, it manages to feel new and exciting (even though enemies to lovers and workplace romance are boring after a while). This is so charming and fun, with just enough tenderness to make it feel worth your time.

Thank you to netgalley & St. Martins Press for the ARC!!

Okay - my first thought: I would watch the fuck out of this as a movie.

Second thought: Alex can get it

Clare’s debut novel is smart, witty, heartwarming (obv I cried), and so pleasantly realistic. So often with romance as a genre, I struggle to truly get ‘into it’ because it feels so… cheesy. HOWEVER this was zero cheese.

This book features finance girl representation, murder mystery parties, Nashville hot chicken, and the word ‘petulant’ which I just love so much it hurts.

Would absolutely recommend (4.25 ⭐️) and one of my fav romance of the year so far.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5.0/5.0
Love Interest by Clare Gilmore
ARC - Release Date 10-09-2023

Casey is a finance analyst at a magazine company in Manhattan. She has a knack for numbers, despite growing up with her songwriter father and her yearning to do something creative with her life. She takes a risk and applies for a project manager position in her company and is shot down in favor of the board chairman’s son. Alex is a Harvard grad with experience even Casey knows is a good fit for the role. Casey is assigned to be the finance expert for the project Alex is set to launch, and they accidentally become a YouTube sensation. As they work on the project and get to know each other, they both realize inspiration comes from the unexpected.

This was such a good read! Both the lead characters are well written with so much depth and I love their stories together and on their own. The side characters are also well developed and Gilmore does a great job setting the scenes. She makes the workplace romance work really well with an interesting plot about the company they work for. Her writing is witty and she pulls you into the story with relatable content and the glamor of a New York corporate job. She encompasses the self discovery of stepping outside your comfort zone and taking risks in order to reach your dreams. Alex and Casey fit so perfectly. I was a little let down by the epilogue because I was hoping for more but it also wrapped things up nicely. I can’t believe this is a debut novel - Gilmore’s writing is that good!

Read if you like:
📈 enemies to lovers
📈 workplace romance
📈 corporate dramatics
📈 new york
📈 self discovery

Thank you to @netgalley, @momentofclarety and @smpromance for the eARC. I received a complimentary e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This romance feels like wearing a cozy blanket sipping a pumpkin spice latte in the middle of October. Casey and Alex are both chasing things in their personal lives they don’t quite understand but they both are so caring toward one another. Their romance leaps off the page and sticks to your heart.

For most women in business, Casey is likely a very relatable character (at least she was to me). She’s a totally smart badass at finance but still has a little seed of doubt in her mind about her work. Her growth in her job (and personal life) through out the book was really refreshing, and I just felt so proud of her!

Highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the arc!

Casey Maitland works with numbers. She enjoys that there is no grey area; numbers are black and white. She works in Manhattan at a magazine firm. She applies for an open project manager position, but someone else is hired -- the board chairman's son!

Alex Harrison is well-liked, except by Casey. Casey is steaming that she was passed over for the job she wanted.

The two are placed on a project together. As they work closely together, they realize that sparks fly!

This was a cute enemies to lovers novel. Casey and Alex are lovely! Their banter is on-point. They have adorable inside jokes.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my opinion.

✨ 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖✨ 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓✨ 
 
𝘙𝘌𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘐𝘕𝘎 October 10, 2023.  
 
𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌 𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘚𝘛 is Clare Gilmore's sparkling debut, a co-worker enemies-to-lovers rom-com that proves falling in love is the risk and the reward. 
 
RATING : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  
SPICE: 🔥🔥 
 
This was a great debut novel from Clare Gilmore and I would definitely read more from her in the future. I really like her writing style and the way she writes character development. For me, that’s what made this enemies to lovers, office romance such an enjoyable read.  
 
Casey is a 24 year old finance guru who applied for her dream job but gets passed over. When she meets Alex, the candidate her company chose instead, she immediately dislikes him. First off, YES!! A woman in finance who loves numbers just spoke to my soul so I was immediately drawn to Casey. Second, Alex’s character development throughout the story was just wonderfully written and prof that people can be more than what they seem on first impression.  
 
Also there is only one bed, which for me as an enemies to lovers stan, is just the holy grail! Alex and Casey’s relationship really drove this story forward and I just loved them together. I also really loved the side characters and their tight knit friend group.  
 
If you love workplace romances, enemies to lovers, and some very cute banter and relationship growth, then I definitely recommend this quick, cute read for you!  
 
✨ Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

Rating: 2.5=3

Love Interest had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. The start was a bit slow as was the chemistry between Alex and Casey, and there were just a few too many side characters. I did like the sweet ending, but this story was simply not my cup of tea.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this title for review.

Love Interest by Clare Gilmore follows adversarial coworkers Casey and Alex as they team up on a project, never expecting that they will discover evidence of corporate misconduct— and real feelings between them. I love a good office romance, so I was so excited for this one. While I definitely think Love Interests had strong elements (definite sense of place, good communication), I ultimately felt like the story was bogged down by overly-detailed character descriptions, too many side characters, and a baggy plot. I would recommend it to other readers, but it didn't totally come together for me. For a debut, though, I definitely see promise in Gilmore as a writer and would be happy to try a future book by her. 3.25/5