my feelings are a bit conflicted on this one. while i did enjoy the romance between our two main characters, casey and alex, i found their banter to be a bit cringe at times and casey was annoying around 80% of the time. my dislike of her made a good portion of this book not enjoyable for me because we’re stuck with her POV the whole way through. alex on the other hand, is actually likable and has a very complicated relationship with his dad, which is a pretty substantial plot point in this book so i think it really would have benefited from being a dual POV. this was also a workplace romance, and while the relationship starts off with a workplace forced proximity trope (which i loved), their work/workplace ends up becoming a really big plot point to this story and i didn’t really care for it much. overall the book was okay, but nothing i would die over unfortunately.

pretty solid debut! there was heavy emphasis on the work stuff and office culture, which felt overwhelming at times. due to that, the romance was more of a subplot, but still enjoyable enough. thank you to netgalley & st martin’s press for this arc!

A Gen Z romance that was a bit hard for a Gen Xer. An amazing workplace romance. Casey's love for her job and her work family. So when she finds out she was passed over for an amazing job opportunity for the bosses son, Alex, it becomes the perfect rom-com set up.

I found this book to be highly entertaining (if a bit longer than necessary) and very authentic. The characters and author are in their mid-20s and I think this book will resonate especially with people that age. I enjoyed it even in my 30s and I think people of other ages will, too, but it was refreshing reading a book where the characters acted and spoke their age.
Alex was a refreshing male lead and Casey was a strong female lead. I liked their chemistry from the start.
There was nothing groundbreaking here but I really enjoyed it. I think the plot grew a little repetitive in places but overall didn't detract from the reading experience. I look forward to reading any future works by this author as I believe this was her debut.

Oh how I adore a well done enemies-to-lovers romance plot!

I loved this book for its workplace setting and true enemies-to-lovers storyline. Casey really really hates Alex and it takes a lot to break through the haze to realize he is nice guy after all.

I recommend you give this sparkling and fun debut a try!

This was a first time read for me by this author and it definitely won't be my last. It was a cute, and sweet work place romance with lovely characters. Casey is a financial analyst for a large magazine company. She's always been more of a numbers girl, but in an effort to be just a bit more creative, she decides to apply for the project manger position that recently opened up. Imagine her shock when she learns she was passed over for the board chairman's son, Alex. Talk about nepotism! To add insult to injury, she now has to work with him on a project. She thinks him to be nothing more than a privileged jerk who is her enemy. Alex, however, is quite taken with Casey, and falls for her from the start. He can't figure out why she dislikes him so much. But as Casey and Alex spend more time together, she begins to see him in a new light and realizes she may have seriously misjudged him. The storyline was well-written and kept my interest from start to finish. The characters were well-developed and I enjoyed following them on their journey of self growth and continue on to a HEA.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC.
This story surprised me in a really good way! Usually with corporate storylines tied in to love stories I get a bit bored or stop caring but the author did a fantastic job really rounding out Casey, Alex, coworkers and their friends lives. I genuinely enjoyed the side characters, & really was concerned for them when their jobs became at stake. I enjoyed the banter, the love and the care between friends.
For the love story I absolutely love when the characters feel like they really authentically fell in love. From being coworkers, Casey disliking him at first to forming a real genuine connection, to friendship that turned to love even if they knew it had an end date. I really felt the love between them.
Alex was just 100% a perfect male lead baby girl haha. No notes because here is nothing wrong with him (he just wanted to be accepted by his dad is all!!) And yes, the email to his dad was a huge misstep and I don’t believe his character would have been that naiive, but I get the author needed to give him one flaw. His story really broke my heart though and how he always expected everyone to leave him eventually. Ughhh my heart. How many times can I say he was perfect? Haha
Casey had me really liking her. I loved her confidence, & intelligence. How she was brave to always go for what she wanted. I started scolding her in my head though once she started to hide things from Alex about work and what Tracy wanted her to hide though because he did not deserve any of it. Their communication through out the book was so refreshing and sweet so when she began hiding such a big secret as he was opening himself up to her felt cruel towards him.

These four snippets from the book made me tear up and clutch my chest with how much I loved them and should convince you to read this book!:

“When the song ends, Alex doesn’t applaud. He comes over to the settee and kneels in front of me, like I knelt in front of him last night in my apartment. When I finally let myself look at him, his eyes are twinkling back at me. His hand brushes my cheek and comes away wet with tears. “You have literally brought me to my knees,” he jokes. I laugh snottily. “I don’t know why I’m crying.” “I do,” Alex murmurs. “You finally let yourself come home.””

“… countdown of Ten! Nine! Eight! ringing out with the power of a thousand drunken voices, Alex takes my face in his hands, and I know he’s in love with me when we get to five. He’s so gorgeous right now, the neon lights of the bar across the street painting him an inky blue. He looks almost like fiction. Like he can’t be real. But he’s also looking at me like that. Like I can’t be real, either. When we get to four, he says it, his eyes on mine, and in them, I see a million colors inside of one. “I love you.” I can’t hear his voice, but I’ve already memorized the shape of his lips. On three, I say, “I love you, too,” positive he can’t hear me, either. We kiss on two, letting those extra few seconds go fuck themselves.”

“Alex.” I grasp at his hair. “What the actual fuck are we doing?” He shakes his head, forehead rocking against mine, his fingers bunching into my coat like the grip will hold me there forever. “I don’t know. Casey, I would . . . I would follow you there. I think I would follow you anywhere.”

“That’s the best part. It doesn’t feel like a tether, it feels like a choice, because the stars in your eyes are fucking why I fell in love with you.”

I really highly recommend this book!

Love Interest
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Clare Gilmore

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Casey Maitland has always preferred the reliability of numbers, despite growing up the daughter of two artistic souls. Now a twenty-four-year-old finance expert working in Manhattan, Casey wonders if the project manager opening at her company – magazine powerhouse LC Publications – is a sign from the universe to pursue a career with a little more sparkle. That is, until she’s passed over for the job in favor of the board chairman’s son.

Alex Harrison is handsome, Harvard-educated, and enigmatic. Everybody loves him – except for Casey. But when the two are thrown on the same project, they both have something to prove. For Casey, it’s getting tapped for a transfer to the London office and fulfilling her dreams of travelling. For Alex, it’s successfully launching a brand that will impress his distant father.

As work meetings turn into after hours, Casey and Alex are drawn to each other again and again, but neither can avoid the messy secrets and corporate intrigue threatening to tear them apart. What they discover about their workplace might change everything – including the dreams each of them is chasing.

My Thoughts: This was an adorable Rom-Com!! This is such an adorable read. This is a first Gilmore book for me and I will definitely read others. Casey is an intelligent woman working in the finance department of a huge magazine and shines with numbers. She is struggling to find her place in the world, where she can be happy, and make a difference. When she did not get the project manager job and finds out that it was given to Alex, her now arch enemy, fury boils to the top. Now Casey is forced to work with Alex, and as her anger diminishes, and truly gets to know him, she finds a different side of him. Now on the other side, Alex is taken with Casey as soon as he meets her and cannot understand her anger towards him initially. This follows the tropes of enemies (kind of) to lovers, forced proximity, opposites attract, office romance, and the guy falls first.

The majority of the story takes place in the workplace, making this a true work place romance story. The story is narrated by Casey, in her POV. Casey is independent, fierce, and x. Alex is loved by everyone, well except Casey, is charming, and loyal to a fault. The evolution of their love story and honest communication with one another was a breath of fresh air. The character development was fleshed out really well, they had depth, witty banter, chemistry, and was really done well. The author’s writing style was complex, swoon-perfect, spicy, and really, just beautiful. The attention to detail that the author put in this book was truly amazing and really brought you into the story, as if you were there. The personal growth of Casey and Alex throughout the story was amazing and felt realistic. Their journey to each other was heartfelt and authentic. The supporting characters really upheld the MCs and brought the story to another level. The author really handles some sensitive topics well with grace and authenticity.

For a debut story, this was fantastically written, so beautiful, and heartfelt. This story made me laugh, cry, and smile. It is filled with swoon and spice with the perfect amount of angst and tension with truly amazing witty banter. This book reminded me of The Hating Game, if you enjoyed that one, you will love this one. I was truly captivated by this story. I would highly recommend to other readers.

Super cute, definitely worth the read. I hadn't read anything by this author before and will be putting her on my to-read list in the future.

ALL THE STARS. The chemistry between Casey and Alex was off the charts amazing. I was transported back to my first time reading The Hating Game, which is a rush I've wished I could experience again. I am anxiously awaiting more from Clare Gilmore after reading Love Interest.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to Clare Gilmore, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an ebook copy of Love Interest for me to read and review. What an amazing debut novel! It was the perfect combination of sugar and spice all mixed with a heaping helping of drama and past trauma. I've always been a fan of the workplace romance trope but the added hate to love twist made Love Interest an addictive unputdownable read! The incredible character growth was written so well with just the right amount of tension and tears and I can't wait to read what Gilmore writes next!

This was cute! I love the rivals to lovers trope and the self growth in both the MC’s. Great characters, I like how it all played out!

4 stars!

I thoroughly enjoyed "Love Interest," which is Clare Gilmore's debut book. This is an enemies-to-lovers workplace romance with a hefty side of corporate goings-on. I will admit that it was a little difficult to get into this book, but as soon as the initial elevator scene happened, I was all in on the main characters Casey and Alex. I don't think I've read a book like this, mainly because of Casey's penchant for finance. I just adored her, and I saw a lot of myself in her character. I also loved Alex, whose tragic backstory slowly unfolds to paint a picture I didn't expect at the start of the book. There is fantastic character development for both her and Alex, and even better development where their love story is concerned. The pining, the longing, the adoration from afar, the unease, the unsureness... I was bewitched by their coupling. They have spectacular banter, great inside jokes, and enough sizzling will-they-won't-they to last me through the season. I also appreciated all of the secondary characters. I loved learning about Casey's parents, her coworkers, and her long-time friends. Unfortunately, I feel like this book ends much too quickly. I enjoyed the ending, but it felt like it wrapped up way too fast compared to the rest of the book. Still, I will be thinking about Tide Free and Gentle for a long, long time to come. Read this book ASAP!

Thank you to NetGalley, Clare Gilmore, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

3 stars | 1 spice

This is a tough one to rate for me. While I certainly enjoyed the story once it got going, it was hard to get into. I feel like I am a little too old for a story like this. It was filled with a lot of work talk which I honestly could have cared less about. Plus for a story that was marketed as work rivals-to-lovers, there really wasn't a rivalry. He got the job she wanted and she never told him about it but quickly got over it because she thought he was hot.

I did think that their relationship was cute once it started. The premise of it was okay but all the work stuff just got in the way of their story for me and kind of took over. I did like the secretive aspect of it. But Casey was a little annoying to me at times with how she discounted herself so often. Only towards the end did she realize that people actually liked her. The mystery aspect when it came to the company was not subtle and I knew what was going on from the beginning. I would have really liked there to be some more mystery to that aspect.

The chemistry between these two is what kept the book going. I enjoyed where their relationship led and how they handled things within the relationship. I wouldn't categorize this as super spicy - just a hint of spice. It's more of a contemporary romance.

Overall, this was a 3-star read for me. I did enjoy it but didn't love it. I would definitely recommend it for someone who cares about finance more than I do and for someone who is a bit younger (early 20s). I think they would appreciate the meme aspect and more of the commentary a little better than I did. I would say that this is still a solid debut thought and I would check out the next thing that Gilmore writes.

Big thanks to St. Martin's Press, Clare Gilmore and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

This debut workplace rom-com was delightful in every sense of the word! Alex was a fantastic romantic hero who fell hard and fast and the relationship between Casey and Alex was mature and swoon-worthy. While this was billed as an enemies to lovers, the tension resolved itself pretty quickly, turning Love Interest into a low-stakes adorable romance.

*Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

**Book was also reviewed on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

This story is told in first person by Casey. I really enjoyed her character and her group of friends and coworkers though a few of them were interchangeable for me. The love interest, Alex, had two sides to him, one that he showed the world as a charismatic, everyone-loves-me type and a quieter side that was a good listener and had a warm heart that is often crushed by the careless disregard of a parent. I enjoyed the flirty meet-cute in the elevator.

While most of this story revolves around the office and the projects that could propel Casey to her dream job and Alex on to his next chapter, I felt like more time could have been spent with the banter between the two of them. Their relationship had a great build on the page, especially when they connected over their families, but it was a bit overshadowed by everything else that was going on in their corporate environment. I also felt that Casey’s initial hatred of Alex and the alleged nepotism that she believed got him the job she wanted in the beginning was glossed over, skipping through time, leaving it with less of an enemies-to-lovers feel than I was expecting.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a copy provided for an honest review.

This was actually incredibly cute. I am a spreadsheet girlie myself (although not a finance girlie) so reading this was a peek at my own love life in so many ways. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

This book brought me so much joy!
Alex and Casey meet in an elevator, he’s smitten right away, her - not so much.
I love romance books that showcase a developing relationship with meaning. This book has it all - workplace strangers to friends to lovers, great supporting characters, a plant mom, some female empowerment, and swoon-worthy moments.
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I’m so sorry this review took a bit - thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the #advancereaderscopy

3.8 stars rounded to 4 for me!
This was a really cute “enemies” to lovers, workplace romance. I really liked Casey’s character and her budding relationship with Alex Harrison. The banter between them was unmatched and so witty. I found the concept very entertaining as well. I also felt like this book took me a while to finish. Mostly, because I’ve just been in a bad reading slump since going back to school, but also I felt that it took a minute to get into the book and I felt that the middle kind of dragged on a bit. But other than those minor things I thought this was a super cute romcom. I loved that both main characters, Casey and Alex, both had their own problems going on and I was able to see where they both were coming from as well as how they’re characters developed from the first chapter to the last.

This was a warm and sweet office romance. It is wonderfully done and I was shocked it was a debut, it felt a little young but I did not mind. Pick this up if you love character drive romance or you're looking for one that has a little forced proximity including only one bed. I will be waiting for Gilmore's next release!