I was really excited about this book.

I love a good enemies to lovers trope but this one didn’t do it for me.

There were so many characters to keep up with and not much happened in the 10% I read. I just couldn’t keep going because I didn’t love it.

I did love some of the references made though!

I know a lot of people will really enjoy this!!

If Love Interest has a million fans, I am one of them. If Love Interest has ten fans, I am one of them. If Love Interest has one fan, then it’s me. If Love Interest has no fans, that is because I am no longer on this Earth.


Ok listen, I need a minute to process this. I really loved this book, like I flew through it. It’s interesting because so much of the story is rooted in the relationship development of the main characters, and everything else including the main plot fell to the sidelines in comparison - but not in a bad way. I think that I just loved the relationship so much it outshone everything else - and it was lovely and wholesome (but not too wholesome - 🌶 lol). The banter, and deep cut excel references carried. I guess I’m a sucker for a good corporate romance with a found family where the guy falls first with sort of enemies to lovers vibes (at least from her perspective).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book; I very much appreciate it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I am always drawn to books with an intelligent heroine with mathematical talents so this book description appealed to me.. I liked this heroine so much I wanted her to be my BFF. I enjoyed the story and the business intrigue. However, I found the hero to be a little bit too perfect in his project management role, and found the story moved along a bit too slowly for me.

I'd happily read more books from this author.

A story that grabbed me right from the beginning, Love Interest has characters with real depth, a compelling storyline, and a touching romance. I fell in love with Casey and Alex right away. Their back stories, Alex's strained relationship and search for acceptance with his father and grief for his mother, and Casey's feelings about being unworthy of her family, impact their present lives in a way that informs the story in such a natural way. The secondary characters, both friends and workmates, provide good foils to Alex and Casey. The machinations of certain higher-ups in the company they work for threaten both Casey and Alex and their companions involved in an online magazine startup, bringing dramatic tension to the novel. The pace moves fast enough to keep the reader engaged throughout as the story builds toward the climax, yet the development of the action and the relationship between the main characters never seem rushed. I highly recommend this one for lovers of women's fiction/romance.

I really loved this book, I couldn't put it down because i needed to know what was gonna happen it was so fun to read and see the love between the 2 characters bloom to something good

This man….book boyfriend of all book boyfriends. Wow! Blown away by this debut. The chemistry, the workplace drama, the tension, the steam!!

I can’t wait to get my copy and suggest it to everyone that will listen!

A fun office romance filled with quirky characters!

If you are a fan of office romances like the Hating Game, I definitely think you’ll enjoy this book.

Alex and Casey are an absolutely adorable enemies (sort of, at least by Casey’s view) to lovers story that is filled with emotional moments and fun banter!

I’ve never read a rom-com with the FMC being a finance guru, but I loved Casey’s love of math and her view of it as something constant, something unchanging in her life. I am always a fan of a nerdier heroine.

Alex, sweet sweet Alex. I really liked Alex and the emotional development we saw from him. He and Casey were definitely a great couple together and I loved their development.

The only thing that sort of lost me in this story was that I didn’t find the plot outside of the couple to be very interesting. I loved them, but everything else was just a little boring for me.

But overall, a great story. Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Casey is a finance guru, and Alex is an entrepreneur. When he gets the job she applied for, she is MAD. But soon the two are finding themselves connected in a way they never have been with anyone else. Could this be... love? This story was outstanding. I loved the chemistry all the way through the book. I will be flagging Gilmore's books as to-read in the future. Please release more asap!

I absolutely adored this book! I loved the focus of a FMC that loves Excel spreadsheets and knows what does and doesn’t make hot chicken REAL hot chicken. I loved how much of a cheerleader Alex was for Casey in all things & the team that they made together. Plus, Marty + Jerry are just precious. Their whole friend group was great, too! This book is going to stick with me for a longtime (and now I want Bobbie’s Dairy Dip IYKYK).

4.5 stars

I was given an E-ARC of this story by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. I am giving this review voluntarily.

To start off my review, I really enjoyed this story. Sometimes, I get a real craving for an office romance and this filled that for me. Casey and Alex, I love their personalities along with their growth throughout the story. I also appreciate how the side characters weren’t *just* side characters. They had their own lives, motives. I just knew that they were living their own lives and not there just to move the story along.

I will also give a nod to the author for all the inclusivity. It was nice to see it just added in without it being a huge deal.

Despite really enjoying this story, I can’t find myself giving it a full five stars. There was a little bit of instant love and then the third breakup act, which, you’ll know if you read this. It kind of threw me off a little bit.

All and all, I love this story. The characters are great, the writing was amazing. I was hooked to this slight enemies to lovers office romance.

3.5 stars. There is a lot to like about this book. Great writing, wonderfully witty banter, and excellent chemistry between the main characters. Casey and Alex's love story is quieter than some novels but I liked that element of it. I also really liked Casey grappling with the fact she enjoys her "boring" job and still feels pressure to do something more exciting with her life. I feel like that's something a lot of readers will identify with.

I struggled a bit with the plot because the workplace conflict didn't feel as high stakes as it should have, given the impact of the potential outcome. I also felt that Casey had a few too many personal flashbacks that provided extensive detail into the "why" of her perspective at times whereas we didn't get anything that specific for Alex because it's not a dual POV. So it left me feeling like I understood Casey too much and Alex not enough.

Overall, this is a sweet story with great writing. I will definitely be checking out future books from Clare Gilmore.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute but really needed to be edited down. I don’t need literally EVERY SINGLE DETAIL. It took me out of the book way too many times to count.

If you loved The Hating Game, you're going to like Love Interest.

Both main characters are competing for the same job but they don't know it at first which made the plot interesting. They also had a great meet cute. I loved the elevator scene! After that these two kept being thrown together for work projects. Their interactions were entertaining but they also had serious moments too. It was a nice balance.

For a debut author, I think Gilmore did a great job setting up characters. the world and the plot of the story. The characters were fun, relatable and realistic. I think the company setting was well done too. My only complaint was that the writing could be a little too descriptive at times, and that would take me out of the story/slow down the pace.

Love Interest is for the readers who love workplace romance, rivals to lovers, and forced proximity.

Lovers of the book The Hating Game will love this enemies to lovers office romance! Casey and Alex's relationship is swoon-worthy, and I loved that readers get a lot of time with their relationship in these pages. They don't spend forever just pining and doing nothing about it--instead they grow into their feelings over time, and then have to face the consequences as the drama from work comes to rear its ugly head. This book feels like a love letter to NYC and London, which was a fun bonus. Highly recommend!

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. Will recommend it to everyone I know!

Casey is all about numbers. Alex is an ideas, yes kinda guy. When Alex takes the job Casey is up for she immediately dislikes him.
Alex was charming and funny. Casey was socially awkward and a bit too numbers focused. They brought out a side to each other that worked.
Aside from a bit too much focus on the financial part of the business the story was good overall

Love Interest has a cute, classic premise and a well-rounded cast of characters. There was a lot that felt really promising, but every setting, person and prop is described with such detail that it slowed down the pace at which I was reading the story. While I appreciate how much work the author did to help the reader visualize everything from the humid morning to the resewn bag strap, it quickly felt more distracting than beneficial.

This book was so fun and such an interesting workplace romance! Clare Gilmore develops her characters well and delivers on swoony moments. This was an overall sweet read and I would definitely check out more from this author!

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable story. Casey and Alex both come from broken families, losing their mothers when they were young. However, Casey had a father and later a stepfather as well who loved and supported her. Alex, on the other hand, had a father who only acknowledged him when it was advantageous (Alex was the result of an affair), and who believed that his wealth and the nice trust fund he provided Alex made up for the lack of genuine affection. Alex is outgoing and gregarious, making everyone he meets feel important. Casey is very much an introvert, uncomfortable in social situations and needing time to herself to decompress. She also has a lot of anxiety and insecurities, and the only area where she truly feels confident is finance/working with numbers.

Alex and Casey meet because they are going for the same job, although Alex does not realize that Casey was his competition for the position as project manager for "Bite the Hand", a digital media startup at the magazine publishing company (Little Cooper) where Casey works, and where Alex’s father was the CEO and now board chairman. Casey is asked to help with the financial aspects of the startup, which means spending more time with Alex, who irritates her initially (especially as she believes nepotism played a role in him getting the job and because he jumps from one idea to the next, regardless of cost, and Casey has to try to make the numbers work).

However, their initial meeting, which involved an amusing exchange in an elevator, sparked an attraction, and Alex is determined to get to know Casey better. Their evolving friendship and then relationship is one of the best parts of the story, especially as Alex recognizes there is more to Casey than she realizes and helps her understand that she is a source of inspiration for her coworkers, and that she makes those around her better. There is a great supporting cast, especially Casey's best friend and roommate, Miriam, and Casey's coworker Brijesh.

3.5 Stars Clare Gilmore's debut novel, Love Interest, is perfect for fans of The Hating Game and Dating You/Hating You.

Financial analyst Casey Maitland just lost out on a project manager role at her company to the board chairman's son, Alex Harrison. Although she wants to hate him, Casey begrudgingly agrees that Alex is perfect for the role. Besides, she has her sights set on a transfer to the London office, but only if she can work through the financial aspects of the project that Alex is now leading. Casey and Alex are thrown together time and time again, and neither can deny the chemistry that's between them. They start to explore their attraction to each other, but what are they? Are they dating? FWBs? While caught up in each other, Alex and Casey also become caught up in secrets and corporate intrigue that may put their jobs--and the entire company--at risk.

This book reminded me a lot of Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren, but the main characters aren't competing for the same job the entire time, nor are they pranking each other. Casey and Alex were sweet main characters who had a lot in common but also seemed to be the inverse of each other, as Casey's friend points out. This makes them a good match since they both challenge and understand one another. Overall, this was a quick and sweet romance.