This debut was a beautiful and refreshing read. The wit & banter in Clare’s writing was consistent, and the characters were gorgeous. I loved the setting - as someone who experienced the corporate world in my early 20s, the culture/office politics really hit home.

I related so much to Casey. She was whip-smart, working her way up through the ranks. I love that she was a woman in finance and was viewed as the rising star by her superiors. There were elements of the male toxicity that still exists in that world (hi, older male executive creepily touching her without asking), but I also loved that this wasn’t the main focus of the story. Casey was closed off to love, guarded in her ability to open up - she felt like she constantly needed to prove herself. The tension between her & Alex when they started working together and she realized he had taken her promotion was real & handled beautifully.

Alex - my sweet sweet Alex. This man was patient, kind, ALSO whip-smart, & so supportive of Casey. He was a perfect depiction of having to come to terms with your upbringing & succeeding despite it all. He was so into Casey from the start (the “Simba” nickname!), and wanted to hard to prove her wrong - be worthy of her love. Their dynamic developed beautifully, and Alex’s growth to accepting who he was & that Casey’s love wasn’t conditional made my heart hurt in the best way.

This book made me laugh, cry, and gave me this weird longing for that time in your life when you’re discovering yourself and finding your people. I loved every minute.

This book was so adorable. It has workplace romance, enemies to lovers, & a little bit of fake dating. I usually don’t like workplace romances, but I loved this one. The tension is perfectly drawn out and the romance is so cute. The characters are so well-developed and I related to Casey so much. She isn’t like a lot of other characters in how they would usually be pressured to be smart instead of creative, but she almost felt bad for having a 9 to 5, mathematical job. Alex is the perfect love interest. He doesn’t want Casey to change or pressure her to be more social or creative, but he loves her for who she is. He digs deep and wants her to believe that she is inspiring and creative. He has a damaged backstory, but it’s revealed in perfect little fragments and he never tries to use his history for pity or an excuse.
All things aside, this was a wonderful little romance and I read it so fast. I was page turning waiting for Alex and Casey to get together and they’re so easy to root for.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Will you like this book? You might if you like:

Workplace romances
Complicated family relationships
Spreadsheets
Corporate intrigue
Grumpy (her)/Sunshine (him)

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. Gilmore’s book comes out in October and I am sure it is going to be a big hit. This is an adorable rom-com about two people finding out exactly who they are and what they want in life.

Casey and Alex both work for Little Cooper, a magazine publisher with a number of different imprints (think Conde Nast) and they have both gone for the same job. Alex, who it turns out is the son of the Chairman of Little Cooper’s Board, ends up getting the position, but when Casey and Alex meet in the elevator at Little Cooper, they don’t yet know this and there is an instant attraction. Which, once Casey finds out Alex got the job she wanted, sours a bit. But Casey can’t stop thinking about Alex, who it seems is actually a really likable guy.

This book has everything I want in a romance: humor, chemistry, strong friendships, complicated but fairly realistic familial relationships, and obstacles that I can’t wait to see how the author resolves. Gilmore does a wonderful job fleshing out our MEs and making you cheer for them. I was impressed at how she resolved the major roadblock.

This is Gilmore’s debut novel and I was impressed, I will definitely look forward to reading what she comes out with next.

What a sweet, sweet story this was! This is an excellent example of a well-done office romance that includes a touch of enemies-to-lovers... I say touch because let's face it, it's clear from around 20% that they're not going to be resisting each other for very long.

I won't even lie, the corporate jargon went completely over my head, but the story had enough substance for me to follow how it related to the MCs.

Casey is a strong FMC, independent in her own right and very well-written. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it.

What I loved about this story is how the MMC, Alex, is the proverbial damsel in distress. While he seems put together, he's the one who believes that he's not worthy of love, albeit for a very valid reason.

Their relationship should in theory be spicy and clever, and while it certainly is, it's also incredibly sweet. The way that they look out for each other and have each other's back is so refreshing.

If I have anything negative to say, it's about the first few chapters. I honestly got tired of meeting all of the side characters. I lost track of them by the time the third was introduced. It would've been a lot smoother of a transition had some of them been introduced a little later in the story.

TL; DR: Robert sucks. Alex deserved better.

4 ⭐️

Casey Maitland has always found comfort in the reliability of numbers, hence her job in Finance at a huge media conglomerate in NYC even though both of her parents were artists. When Casey is thrown on a major project with Alex Harrison, son of the chairman of the board of her company, she instantly dislikes him. Not only is he in the job she fancied for herself, he’s strikingly handsome, charming, and deftly capable. As they work more closely together, Casey realizes that her first impressions aren’t always right and there may be more about Alex that is worth knowing.

I loved this so much. The banter between Casey and Alex right from their initial elevator meeting was on point. The way that Alex and Casey drew out each others tender spots as they earned each others trust was beautiful. Reading their romance felt a lot like falling in love. It started with small glimpses of something more and slowly morphed into everything.

The connection that Casey finds to Alex’s mother when she relocates to London had me in full on sobbing tears. It was such a beautiful moment for Casey, and it also allowed her to feel more connected to her own mother as well. I love how the loss of their mothers allowed for Casey and Alex to forge a deeper bond with each other than either of them had ever experienced before.

That ending!! I was simply stunned by how beautifully the story concluded. The way that Alex and Casey professed their love for one another and built an imperfect yet beautiful home in each other was so well done.

Bravo to Claire Gilmore on a gorgeous debut novel! I loved this so much and am truly feeling so blessed to have read so many amazing debuts this year! Recommended to all romance readers and especially those that love: 📈coworker forced proximity🛗 bad first impressions 😠enemies to lovers 💋 kissing for cover 🛌 only one bed 🏙️ corporate intrigue 👯‍♀️ found family friendships 🥰 epically swoon-worthy declarations of love 🏡 finding home in each other

This debut romance was a fantastic read, and I’ll look forward to reading more from the author in the future!

Casey has always loved numbers for their consistency and order. She works in finance, but longs to break out and leave a legacy the way her artistic parents have. She applies to a project managing job at her firm, hoping to branch out a bit, but is passed over for Alex Harrison, the handsome son of the board chairman’s son. As they work together, they start as adversaries but slowly open up to share the tender parts they hide away from others.

This book was beautifully written, with so many moments and lines that I loved reading. The progression of Casey and Alex’s relationship from adversaries to friends to lovers went at the perfect pace, and their conflicts felt realistic and not contrived. They shared things in their past that helped bond them, and the care that they showed for each other was heartwarming.

I enjoyed the setting at a media conglomerate that was launching a digital page. The behind the scenes look at filming videos, planning the agenda, and working the financials was an interesting addition, I also loved that the story took place through the fall and winter, giving small touchstones over all the holidays.

The secondary characters are fantastic. I loved Casey’s two dads, her best friend, and her co-workers. They added levity and humor, and Casey’s bond with her bestie was beautiful. The story touches on who we tether ourselves to in our lives, and whether those ties feel restrictive or like safety, and I loved this entire idea.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Griffin for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I’d give this one 4.5 stars!

I really enjoyed this book! The relationship between the two leads developed well and I think they were both really cute together. The plot of the story was interesting as well. The side characters make this novel a lot of fun too and I think it would be fun to get spinoff stories about them. This story definitely had some finance related terminology that I was a little confused about but it was easy enough to just infer what everything meant. I think this was a really solid debut and I can't wait for more books from this author!

Rounding up from 3.5 because the ending came together beautifully and made me cry.

This book did what a lot of other workplace rivalry, i want to hate you without even knowing you books don’t do…and that is not make the characters completely immature.

The way that Casey and Alex build a relationship and get to know one another was realistic, and getting to see them help each other overcome their own personal struggles was heartwarming. Their random banter was top notch as well.

I think this book did a great job highlighting struggles young professionals go through and also reminding readers that is ok to be afraid of change…but never run away from it.

If I had to describe Love Interest in one word, it would be: SWOONY. Swoony romance, swoony hero, all of it.

This book was all about figuring out how to go after what you want and not being afraid to follow your own path. It had a great balance of serious and light hearted. Personally, I loved the Nashville tidbits that connected me to the years I lived there. If I had one complaint, it was that there was a little too much explaining and backstory at the beginning (instead of weaved throughout), but once the action got started, I was all in.

This debut novel was clever and sweet and sometimes hot. I highly recommend.


Posted to Goodreads: 8/14/23
Posted to Instagram week of 8/21/23 (@ashlie_overbooked)

2.75/5 ⭐⭐⭐

“Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.”

I LOVE a good office workplace enemies-to-lovers trope, akin to the style of "The Hating Game," but this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
The beginning established the classic scenario: Casey encounters Alex in the elevator, unaware of his identity. Upon discovering that he secured the coveted job she had wanted, this is where the "enemies" aspect should manifest.
However, the story skips ahead by a month, and the implication alone suggests their strained relationship. We're deprived of witnessing their conflicts, their interactions during that initial month. This omission hampers the narrative, as we're not given insight into what led to their enmity beyond Casey's resentment over losing the job. At a party occurring after this month-long interval, an interaction portrays Alex as affable and charming, while Casey clings to her grudge, treating him unjustly due to his father's role as the company chairman.
An argument ensues, during which Alex remarks that Casey possesses a personality akin to a porcupine and isn't the ideal girl the internet perceives her to be. Subsequently, Alex regrets his words, implying an affection for her that she remains unaware of.
My concern lies in the rushed depiction of their relationship's foundation, leaving readers to grasp their dynamics without witnessing their evolution. I didn't quite sense a strong connection between Alex & Casey either, even after they got together. So the romance left me feeling somewhat indifferent. Casey was very ANNOYING in my opinion, and I kept wishing she would just leave Alex alone to be happy with someone else. 😂

Overall, it was not a terrible story, but as an avid rom-com reader, who has already read so many books like this, AND it’s one of my favorite tropes… I can’t rate this as high as maybe a newbie would.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s press for the ARC! This was a cute read and I enjoyed the relationship between the characters. I did feel there was a tad much of cliche and layers to the plot, but overall enjoyed this romance read.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a digital review copy of "Love Interest" via NetGalley!

Love Interest is a workplace rivals-to-lovers story, set in a magazine company that's undergoing some structural changes. Casey and Alex are an adorable couple who trade banter and use their respective strengths (numbers/finance for Casey, and creative/people skills for Alex) together to organize and work on a prospective new digital project launch. I loved how supportive they were of each other, and how their love story developed over time.

I did feel like this book was a little too long. The story was very focused on Casey and Alex's relationship, and I wish it lingered longer on everything else happening in the background with the corporate storylines. I didn't feel like those were completely resolved in the end!

Love Interest is a stellar romcom. Clare Gilmore gives us main and supporting characters to love, family and work baggage to resolve in realistic ways, and an enviable skill with dialog and descriptive turns of phrase. Can’t wait for her next novel!

I read Love Interest in one sitting (granted, I was stuck on a 13 hour flight, so there wasn't much else to do, but still -- I really wanted to keep reading this one). I absolutely adored Casey and Alex. There are sparks flying from the moment they meet in the elevator (he's hot AND funny?!), and it just gets worse (better?) when Casey finds out that Alex just got the job she wanted, and he's the board chairman's son to boot. And obviously they have to work together on the project that Alex is spearheading in the job that Casey wanted.

I really liked Casey's internal monologue in this. Her anger and attraction and desire to do a good job and be successful were all so relatable, and I couldn't help but root for her to succeed and for whatever she and Alex were turning into to succeed.

The one thing I found annoying with this book is that there are lots of secrets, and you as the reader just know that that's going to blow up in everyone's faces. I know it's ~ for the plot ~ but it still made me nervous. Secret keeping aside, even if I hadn't been on a plane, this probably would have been a two-sit or three-sit book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of Love Interest in exchange for my honest review.

I picked up Love Interest because the description gave me The Hating Game vibes, but I stayed on because it was a witty, intelligent and immersive novel and I desperately wanted to know how our main characters got to their HEAs.

Casey is all about finance and budgeting. Alex is all about the big deals and project management. Each of them has baggage that the other doesn’t know about and each projects confidence that makes it difficult to see the other’s struggles. But they are attracted to one another and eventually realize that.

I liked how the book was substantive and not just fluff — the main characters had depth and the workplace struggles felt real to me. It was well written and I was surprised that it’s a debut! I am looking forward to the next one.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Clare Gilmore for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Debut? Pardon? Complete perfection!
Beyond solid office romance. The banter was complete perfection as Casey and Alex got to know one another. I’m a sucker for an elevator scene (elevator sales girl here- hi. It’s me.) I loved the banter and found myself laughing out loud with some side eye rolls from my husband. Highly recommend my rom com lovers grab this one, it’s out October 10th!!!

0 ⭐️

Welcome to desperately trying to earn brownie points by jamming in as many representation characters as possible irrespective of statistical population percentages! I get that “DiVeRsItY” in representation is the go-to requirement in romance novels these days but seriously?

I ended up DNFing this book about 4 chapters in. Couldn't get into the characters. Couldn't get into the story. Poorly written. Just plain boring. I wish I had DNFed after the first chapter and saved myself the time of reading chapters 2-4.

**Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.**

I am so happy that this was my first approved ARC read.

I was captivated from the first few pages. The chemistry between Casey and Alex was palpable from the beginning to the end. Their relationship was so real and consuming.

Their was love, friendship, truth, reality, and heartbreak. The story was so wholesome between all of the characters and not just Casey and Alex.
At every page I wanted to know more, I couldn’t put it down.

Thank you to @momentofclarety for this amazing read. Also, thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read this before publication.

This book is out 10/10/23. Don’t miss out!

I genuinely cannot believe this is a debut because I have never read a book that I love and adore as much as this one. I hope BookTok loves this book, I hope this book is going to be made into a movie/TV show. I need everyone to read this book because it was phenomenal—enemies to lovers, workplace romance, hilarious characters, and lovable moments between friends.

Casey Maitland is obsessed with leaving a legacy. She wants to follow in her parents' footsteps, especially her mother’s, and go to London. Alex Harrison lives an untethered life. With an absent father and a mother who died too soon, he finds no comfort in staying at a place for too long. These two cannot be more opposite but at the same time, they can’t seem to stay away from each other especially since they have to work together.

There were some aspects of Casey’s character that I didn’t relate to but I admired her loyalty and work ethic. She also had amazing growth in her character because comparing her college self to there is a drastic change from the scared girl to the confident woman she has become. Alex Harrison had a ton of humor and he was so mature. His desire to get his dads attention and to be loved was heartbreaking but I’m so glad he got his happy ending.

If I write more, I might end up spoiling this book so please go read it! I think this book is kind of like The Hating Game but with more emotionally mature characters. It was a fun read and I’m so sure that everyone will enjoy it.

LOVE INTEREST is an entertaining and sweet love story of a workplace romance. I really appreciated how grounded and real the author made the story and the characters. I tend to steer away from corny and cheesy romances, and LOVE INTEREST felt genuine and truthful from the beginning to the very end. I enjoyed how Alex was drawn to Casey from the moment they met and yet Casey was the one who had to rethink her first impression of him. I loved the sparks and tension between Casey and Alex and am very happy those two found each other! A wonderful debut and looking forward to reading whatever the author publishes next.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my review.