This book was so great! The romance was adorable and I really enjoyed the corporate drama. The ending was perfection too.

This is an astonishing, first rate debut from Claire Gilmore. She has such a clear style and tone to her writing that I can’t get over that it’s her first published work. Both MCs are young, in their mid-20s, trying to live up to their parents’ ideals, while discovering that they have to forge their own way. And they fall in love slowly and seamlessly, with some hot, door ajar bedroom scenes. I can’t wait to read what the author comes up with next!

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Griffin.

Love Interest
Clare Gilmore
4⭐️

I always love when debut novel make me go “this is a debut!?” and Love Interest had me doing that the entire time I was reading. It was a rom-com lovers dream with authentic and lovable characters, witty banter, angst, tension, spice, ( I feel like an “oh my” is needed here) and some amazing communication.

What I loved;
💜 Enemies To Lovers
💜 Workplace Romance
💜 Only One Bed
💜 He Falls First

Pub Date: Absolutely would recommend and I am 💯 keeping an eye out Gilmore’s sophomore novel!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc for an honest review.

"In her captivating debut novel, 'Love Interest', Clare Gilmore skillfully weaves together workplace dynamics, romantic tension, and the transformative power of love. Casey and Alex's journey from rivals to lovers is both heartfelt and entertaining, drawing readers in from the start. While some readers may have desired more tension before their relationship took off, Gilmore's lovable characters and the depth given to side characters add layers of authenticity and relatability. The inclusion of diversity, though at times slightly exaggerated, brings a refreshing richness to the story. Furthermore, Casey's personal growth and her ability to stand on her own outside of the relationship showcase Gilmore's talent for crafting well-rounded characters. 'Love Interest' is a promising debut that satisfies both romance enthusiasts and those seeking a story that transcends the confines of a traditional love story."

3.5 STARS
Numbers are Casey Maitland friends even though both her mother, whom she lost at a young age, and father were and are of the artistic bent. Casey is living the expensive, crowded, and sometimes crazy dream in Manhattan working for a magazine publication company as a financial analyst; they are going through some changes trying to stay relevant in a digital world. When Casey applies for an opening that would expand her skills beyond financial, she is dismayed to find out the board chairman’s son edged her out.

Wunderkind Alex Harrison seems like Casey’s polar opposite with his Harvard education, charisma, high spirits, and handsome looks that makes every instantly like him…everyone except Casey. When they are assigned to work on the same project focusing on an online format, Casey is determined to ace this job so she can get a transfer to the London office. Casey’s late mother was from there, and she has always felt a desire to connect with that part of her heritage.

Although Casey is initially prickly, resentful, and not at all a fan of Alex which somewhat seems over the top, she begins to see her first impressions were not only biased, but incorrect. Alex has a vitally and excitement about life that challenges Casey’s carefully controlled behavior. Casey and Alex both have some complex family issues causing them to doubt their individual worthiness. When some corporate naughtiness starts coming to light, they are involved in such a way that the house of cards could potentially cause Casey and Alex to be collateral damage.

Although this story has a strong romance element it reads more as a women’s fiction since Casey has several fraught issues to deal with including her lack self-esteem and internal self deprecating monologue that inhibits her happiness. Alex helps Casey to recognize life has more possibilities than she previously thought while she in turn shows him that he has more value than being everyone's' friend and favorite entertainment. While at times deeply angsty, the writing quality of this story carries it though for the most part with a few misses concerning Alex’s and Casey’s relationship that did not quite make sense towards the end.

Enemies to lovers, a workplace romance, only one bed, a no-regrets attitude, and a trip to London. What more could a fan of romance novels ask for?

Casey works at a large magazine publisher in Manhattan and finally decides to branch out of the introverted, number-loving finance role she’s filled her entire career by applying for a more creative project manager position within the same company. When she’s passed up for the job only to find out the position was given to Alex, the son of the board's chairman, she seems to be the only person who isn’t instantly charmed by the handsome Alex Harrison.

This fun rom-com has some of my favorite tropes; enemies to lovers, a character-driven plot with personalities that are more complex than what meets the eye, a little family drama, secrets in the workplace, and a heart-warming supportive cast of friends and family. Casey may have a small group of friends, but I loved each of their unique personalities. The fun they have and the support they offer each other come across easily and authentically.

Fans of Abby Jimenez and Sophie Sullivan will enjoy this debut novel by Clare Gilmore. I will for sure be watching for her next book.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for an eARC of Love Interest.

I LOVED this book. I felt that Alex and Casey were both such realistic characters. I really enjoyed following their relationship from the very beginning. I also felt like the friendships showcased in the book really resonated with me.

I definitely recommend reading this book!

Casey and Alex shine as work rivals and more in Love Interest by Clare Gilmore. When Alex gets the job Casey wants but they have to work together, Casey is forced to confront her animosity toward Alex as well as her career goals.

Two of my favorite tropes in this story — workplace romance and forced proximity — were executed to perfection. I loved the fleshed out office setting with employee archetypes everyone knows, and I was so invested in all the characters Gilmore introduced. Casey and Alex’s dry humor was so fun and made them a great match. In the last 30% of the book, there were so many quotes that I am still obsessed with. I loved this debut and can’t wait for more from Clare Gilmore!

*Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Clare Gilmore for this ARC!

I had no idea this book was going to be so good. This book made me laugh out loud several times and also cry like a baby several times as well. Casey hates Alex immediately because he got the job she wanted and she believes there was nepotism involved. They end up getting into it and saying hurtful things to each other, making her feel even more dislike for Alex. Then when they have to work together on a project, they start to get to know each other and sparks fly. They both have plans for the future that don’t fit with a normal long term relationship so they just start having fun together. Eventually love happens and they both have to decide whether to take a chance on love or go their separate ways. This was really fun to read and also heartbreaking at times. There were love scenes but they weren’t descriptive or too hot, just enough to know what’s going on.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publication: October 10, 2023

Rating: 3 stars

I enjoyed this book and was stunned that it was a debut! I loved the characters and the banter between Alex and Casey was on point! The story had so much development and flesh, however, I am torn on how I wanted to rate this.

Things I loved:
- The banter
- Alex and Casey's characters
- The side characters
- The writing

Things I disliked:
- Heavy on the workplace which left me feeling bored
- Light on the romance
- Only a dash of enemies to lovers

Overall, I couldn't decide on the rating because the likes and dislikes are pretty even. I look forward to her next book!

Wow, I wish I could read this again for the first time. I am sad it's over! I was hoping for a workplace, enemies-to-lovers story with great banter, and I thought this was that and so much more.
I thought Clare Gilmore did an excellent job of creating fully developed characters - I loved Casey and I loved Alex. And I loved them together! It was especially great to see them both have their own issues and challenges and read about how they figured them out individually and together.
I just want to rave about Casey a little more, because I loved that she was smart, thoughtful, could communicate and she felt like a breath of fresh air compared to some other characters I've read lately. The story flowed at a great pace and I was so invested in these characters. I didn't think any plot points weren't needed or didn't add to the story. Overall, this was an A+ rom-com.
Also, the side characters were so great. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me there will be stories revolving around any of them.... or multiple books for them all. Even if not, I am definitely picking up the next Clare Gilmore book (soon I hope).
Thank you St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, for the copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for fans of the Hating Game who may have wanted a bit more sweetness, Love Interest is a fast and easy enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance.

We start by meeting Casey, a twenty-four-year-old finance worker with big goals. On her way to land a new job, she meets a handsome stranger in the elevator and they hit it off. However, handsome stranger in the elevator turns out to be the boss's son, Alex, and he just got the promotion Casey should have had. We can all guess what happens next.

This book is a very charming, little romance novel. It has great character development as Casey and Alex get to know each other more. It has a decent amount of spice but not really any sort of smut, and it's quick and easy to read. While it follows the standard rom com book formula, I did enjoy reading it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good beach read.


Read if you like:
- enemies to lovers
- workplace romance
- witty banter
- gender reversed grumpy x sunshine
- tiny hints of spice


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Love Interest starts off as your quintessential office enemies-to-lovers tale with the golden boy swooping in to steal the hardworking female lead’s coveted job, but after the first few chapters, it morphs into so much more. Casey and Alex both have hidden depths to them based on past experiences, and I loved how Gilmore let that all unfold in such a natural, organic way. The laundry detergent!! That had me swooning. The dialogue, character choices, and conflicts all felt realistic for mid-20s professionals, and I loved the character growth for both of the leads. I did think the first few chapters were a little hard to get into, but stick with it because the pay off is well worth it. And I absolutely adored the meet cute moment (Simba!!!); I’ll be thinking about that for a long time. Overall, I found this to be an entertaining, heartfelt rom com that I would recommend to others. I do feel that every other contemporary romance book is set at a publishing/media company, so I am more than ready for authors to branch out a bit, but I look forward to reading more from Clare Gilmore. A special thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book!

"Love Interest" is a captivating exploration of modern relationships, skillfully woven into a heartwarming narrative with such a distinctive voice that I found myself highlighting at least one of Casey's clever one-liners per page. This is the perfect workplace romcom for 2023, and I found myself in my own modern corporate job in many facets of Gilmore's characters at Little Cooper. Casey and Alex's journey had me feeling all kinds of emotions throughout my reading experience, from laughter to empathy, to crying in my bed at 3am when I was 90% of the way through the book. Gilmore's fresh and one-of-a-kind voice is something that will live with me long after I have closed the book, and quite frankly, I NEED more of her work.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of "Love Interest" by Claire Gilmore in exchange for an honest review.

Casey Maitland is 23 and living a good life in NYC. She's got a great job crunching numbers at a publishing firm, loving, supportive parents, and a bunch of fun friends. Unfortunately, she applies for a dream job within the company and doesn't get it. Who does? Well, the male protagonist, of course. He's dreamy, rich, charming, AND the chairman's son, Alex Harrison. For his part, Alex seems pretty smitten with her, but she immediately hates him because she hates that he got the job due to nepotism. (Or DID he?!? Alex's issues with his father play a big role in how the story plays out.)

They start working on launching an online, Buzzfeed-like feature for the company but there's a whole bunch of corporate intrigue that complicates the project. They work well together and Alex gradually wins her over. Eventually, they go out for drinks, fake-kiss, get blasted, and end up spending the night spooning at his place. Things develop accordingly from there.

There is a small army of side-characters whose names I immediately started confusing, and it seems like they all eat at one hundred different NYC restaurants and bars throughout the book.

What did I like? I liked that the heroine had a stated goal that might interfere with their developing relationship (i.e. moving to London), told the hero up front that it was going to happen, and thereby avoided the whole "I should have told him sooner but now my secret will ruin everything" agony loop that I truly loathe. I liked the corporate intrigue stuff, too, and how that was all resolved. I'd love to say more about that point, but that would require spoilers.

This is a debut novel, and it... really feels like one. It's ok. There were just so many small details that individually weren't that bad, but they added up and tended to take my attention away from the story itself. Better editing would have helped.

For example. "The way Alex says my name, in that clear New England dialect, is different than I grew up being used to." Soooo... what she really meant was his New England accent, not dialect. Accent is how something is pronounced; dialect includes pronunciation but also grammar, etc. Casey is from the South, so she DOES have a different dialect, but in this context, dialect is the wrong word.

Another instance. "I remember him planting rose bulbs in our weed-ridden, overgrown flower beds." Roses don't grow from bulbs. They grow from seed, although they are tricky that way so most people buy young plants from nurseries. A character as interested in plants as Casey would know that, as would her florist dad. Also, why didn't they weed the dang garden before doing all this planting?

Okay, last one, but rest assured, I have more. "He smells clean and cottony and perfect, like a rainy vacation rental on your first day." Perhaps I have not been in enough vacation rentals, let alone on rainy days, but I have absolutely no idea what this simile is trying to convey.

The pacing and focus were a little off too. The focus of a romance novel is the developing relationship, psychically, emotionally, etc. There were gaps between significant relationship milestones, particularly in the second half, so at times, it felt more like the story was mainly about Casey. Alex often felt like the first among side characters. A sexy, charming side character, but secondary nonetheless.

I also wasn't wild about the portrayal of ADHD on the page. It tends to boil Alex's condition down to creativity, Adderall, and possibly an inability to commit to anything long term. Casey spends most of the book insisting that one reason their relationship isn't real is because he doesn't stick to anything. As in, he likes starting new projects so he's not really capable of having a long-term, committed relationship. Yes, she eventually realizes that he struggles with commitment because emotional baggage, but until that point, her attitude is pretty dang irritating. While there is truth to some of this characterization, it's still a limited, very zoomed out perspective on ADHD.

So, in general, I can't say I loved the book, but I can say that I liked things about it. I think there's a lot of room for this author to develop. I'd be willing to read her future efforts.

Beautiful, amazing, gorgeous!!!! 🥰


Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

A smart, charming meet cute between coworkers who team up on a project they hope gets them ahead in their careers despite the outcome separating them farther. Plucky financial analyst Casey has never been one to take risks. But when the chance to prove she can take life into her own hands and follow her dreams of living in London comes up, she accepts the task despite having to team up with the aggravating and annoyingly attractive man that took the job she initially wanted. She assumes it's because he's the boss's son. Alex, however, takes on the job of successfully launching a brand to hopefully impress his distant father and prove his worth.
I enjoyed that the miscommunications between these two were not long lived, and the relationship grew at a believable and romantic way between them. But they both have secrets and throughout the book, those secrets grow heavy and pose major problems for their relationship to succeed. I especially enjoyed the fact that there was an overall conspiracy happening they both had to uncover at the company that kept the intrigue of their relationship and work life. The multiple layers added depth to their emotions and story of how they evolve as people separately and together, Sprinkled with charming anecdotes, a perfect blend of humor and heavier emotion, this contemporary romance was an entertaining, swoon-worthy read.

Special Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Griffin for this Arc.

Instant workplace enemies to lovers, Casey losses out on a new job opportunity that goes to Alex. After some friendly internet stalking Casey and her friend (and coworker) find out Alex is the son of the CEO and she instantly assumes this is a case of nepotism.

This romance was such a fun hilarious read but also had its gut wrenching moments that had tears falling. Casey and Alex are both so relatable and normal you can’t help but root for them the whole time. As the whole book comes to its penultimate moment both are left at a cross roads.

I couldn’t put this book down it’s honestly one of my favourite romances I read this year.

This was such a cute easy rom-com book. Casey was a great character, a hard working and smart women. Alex was a Harvard grad, handsome and also the person who got the job Casey was after. I think overall it was a cute romance book with characters that have great development. 3.5 stars!

I received this ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest feedback.

This book is a zippy, fun rom com of a book. Was it super realistic? No, probably not. (I’ve honestly never known the finance department of any organization to get involved quite like this which is not to say it never happens but also, hmmm. I don’t know.) But it’s a decent read to get lost in if you don’t think super hard about it.