Clare Gilmore's "Perfect Fit" is one of my all time favorite romances (and I say that as someone who doesn't really even love the romance genre) and I was SO excited when I saw that this was available for request on Netgalley!

This is the story of Josie (wealthy CEO of a start-up fashion company - generally very hard on herself) and Will (kind, patient, understanding, goes out of his way to make people happy). Josie met Will via his twin sister, Zoe when they were teenagers - they kissed once and everything kind of blew up.

This is the story of how a chance encounter bring Will and Josie back into each other's lives - will it be for good this time?

I found both protagonists likeable, and enjoyed the workplace romance vibes. The writing was always a notch above what I expect in my romance books, so that was a treat. It really reminded me of being in those early stages of a potential romance, and how exciting and intense everything feels. Although Perfect Fit remains my all-time favorite Clare Gilmore, this was a real close second! I have no doubt I'll be reading her third book, when it comes. I'm fully onboard the Clare Gilmore train!

I'm a sucker for a great dedication and an interesting opener! I was hooked. I enjoy Gilmore's writing style. I read this book so fast.

Will Grant is an EXCELLENT book bf. Josephine Davis is a flawed, imperfect lady working in a position that is never easy on women. The love story was a slow burn, but so sweet. It's a second chance romance with minor spice, not a ton of banter (but that didn't bother me in this case), good female friendship representation, and an honest look at a woman in a powerful business position.

I don't LOVE how it ended, but I guess it too shows strength. You DO get a HEA though!

Spoiler Coming!
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I also didn't love how the epilogue left things open, but maybe that is so the reader can decide if she moved on to a slow life or if she stepped back into her role as CEO.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
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This book far surpassed my expectations. It follows Josie, who is the CEO of her own clothing company and Will, a consultant for her company, who is also Josie's ex best friend's twin brother. They shared one kiss in high school and then never spoke to each other again. Now they have to figure out how to work together, but also deal with their growing feelings for each other.

I loved seeing Josie's growth as the book went on. She started out putting all of her self-worth into her company's success but slowly realized she was very close to burn out, and there could be so much more to her life than work. Will is the perfect book boyfriend. He was supportive, kind, and did everything to make Josie see just how amazing she was outside of her job. My favorite part was that there was no third act breakup. There came a point where Will said, we are going to have a conversation, and at the end of it, we are not going to break up. It was just really refreshing. I highly recommend everyone pick up this book when it comes out in October!

Rating: 4.5/5 So close to perfection!

I would file this under “quick and easy summer read.” The storyline, while cute, was also predictable. That didn’t bother me so much. I thought Josie and Will were well-suited for one another and I enjoyed watching their story unfold. I would recommend to someone who plans to spend their day, uninterrupted on the beach.

This book was amazing and I devoured this book in just a few sittings! I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

I thought this book was super cute! The main characters had really good chemistry and I loved that they weren't one dimensional and they felt like real people. The secondary characters also added a lot to the story and felt fully fleshed out. I loved that there wasn't a 3rd act breakup and that the main characters supported each other through the main conflicts.

I loved this book. I looooooved this book. Holy shit, I LOVED THIS BOOK. I finished within 12 hours (with 6 of those hours being a sleeping break). I simply ate it up. It was such a great depiction of mature and supportive relationships- both friendship and romantic. As someone who works in corporate America, Josie’s experiences were far too relatable. The way she processed them on page helped me reflect on my own off page. With the inclusion of a high school friendship fallout and the aftermath that followed, I think many many many people are going to relate to this book. I am so glad we saw Josie’s reconnection with Zoe, and I loved their conversation about their friendship ending being both tragic and poetic. Don’t even get me started on Will. 10/10 male main character. I loved how he loved Josie, and how Josie loved him. He is the breath of fresh air I crave.

I know I’ve said ‘loved’ about 87 times but I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed reading this. And this is my first Clare Gilmore read! I will be keeping an eye out for more of her.

Thank you NetGalley, St Martins, and Clare for the ARC! ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis : Josie has built a successful clothing brand and is not letting up yet. With big dreams of certifying her company as an ethical clothing brand, she is looking for a new consultant. After a minor accident with her car and a bike, Josie finds a consultant, her ex-best friends’s twin brother, Will. As Josie and Will still reeling from a beach make out session in high school, work together tensions flair, and Josie wonders if she has the time to let romance take over.

My Thoughts: I loved Josie and Will’s story. I enjoyed the workplace setting, and the depiction of Josie’s difficultly with social media and relationship with the company she build from scratch. I thought the ages of the characters and the challenges they faced were unique in a romantic comedy as well.

⭐️REVIEW⭐️

Unfortunately, this book was just not the perfect fit for me. 

⭐️⭐️ 5—Regretfully, I have to admit that I DNFed this book because my reading style and the book’s writing style were not compatible.

As mentioned in some of my previous reviews, I absolutely loved fanfiction as a teenager and will even occasionally read some now and again. While Perfect Fit is not a fanfiction, to me, it reads exactly like one written by a preteen who ends up taking a three-month break from updating due to something aggressively tragic, iykyk. Even then, those fanfictions managed to keep my attention more. 

Perfect Fit reads very juvenile and is overall a tad bit immature. I’m unsure if it was the constant italics or parentheses, but I struggled to connect and become invested in the characters. Perfect Fit wasn’t quite the style of book I was interested in, but I can see where others may enjoy it. While there is definitely a target audience and demographic for this novel, unfortunately, I am not part of it.

a solid 3,5⭐️

starting off i’ve absolutely adored Joise’s character and the overall setting of the book. Perfect fit is a cute second chance romance but it sadly in comparison to Clare Gilmore’s debut novel fell a little flat to me. I still highly recommend reading this book and i will definitely keep on reading and supporting whatever clare comes up with in the future.

What a great book club summer read! This book follows businesswoman Josie, who is the owner and CEO of her own fashion company. This book did a great job of conveying the struggles women often experience in the corporate world. Josie is at a point in her life where she's been hustling nonstop for so long and is feeling burnt out and starting to question what makes her happy, things I think many readers can relate to. The chemistry between Josie and Will was great and I thought the strong female friendships were critical to telling Josie's story. I would recommend this to readers looking for a sweet romance with a strong female lead.

The most perfect book club book for your gal pals to read this summer!
if you like: powerful boss women characters, a business/pleasure romance, Austin, Texas - this book is for you! Josephine is a strong, independent woman, CEO, overall boss, and has her life on track - until she literally runs into a blast from the past! You won’t want to put this down.

This was a cute read. I connected with Josie and the general representation of women in corporate America. Trying to find a good work/life balance is hard and I felt this was accurately depicted in this book. The use of pop culture references was great!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the Advance Reader's copy of Perfect Fit by Clare Gilmore. I enjoyed this book, but I had a hard time connecting with the main character, who was also the narrator. The author creates an interesting plot with a young female CEO at the center, which was a first for me in a romance novel. I really enjoyed Josephine's close relationships and those characters, but I hard time relating to her on several levels. Her professional interests in fashion, emotional issues and the novel's setting were challenging for me to like and so I struggled to connect with Josephine and her story. A personal connection with characters through the author's prose really elevates a novel for me. Josephine faces professional challenges with her company, her friends and an old flame who comes back into her life in a professional role. She struggles to navigate all of her relationships, but her problems resolve and her relationships all end up on a happy note. She found her HEA which was a relief. Overall a good plot and strong character development but not a favorite read for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Perfect Fit is the story of Josie, a burnt out 28 year old CEO who ends up reconnecting and working with the guy who ruined her high school reputation. Clare Gilmore does an amazing job depicting the lives of milenni women in corporate America: trying to find a work life balance, maintaining female friendships, dating, planning bachelorette parties, and trying not to doomscroll.

This novel really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to like it so much. The pop culture references were SO current that I think the book may age quickly, but it was refreshing to read a book so topical.

Josephine is the CEO of a clothing brand that she started on her own at a very young age. Will is the twin brother of her high school best friend who is now a consultant. She hires him to help her and they reconnect. This story does a great job with the topic of burnout and being able to reevaluate your life at anytime and change what you want to do. Will and Josephine's relationship was so sweet and they communicated very well. I highly recommend this book.

This was my first Clare Gilmore book, and I'm looking forward to reading more! I enjoyed the premise of the story (and Josie being the CEO!) as well as the character development throughout the book. Flew through it pretty quickly and thought the book was quite engaging!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for honest review!

This book was cute! I was drawn to it from the cover and and I wasn’t disappointed. The chemistry between the two main characters is there from the very beginning. The story had a lot of depth to it with real world struggles and I appreciated that.

I liked the idea behind the story, but I really don’t enjoy when novels use hyper-current references - I think there’s an element of suspending belief that’s required while reading romance novels and it takes me out of it when the Barbie movie is referenced. I also wish Josie’s growth was less motivated and influenced by Will and she grew more on her own but overall, I did have a good time.

I really enjoyed this book by Clare.
I choked up a bit at first with Josie and her overwork and routine, the need to always cover and attend to all work needs, but resilient is a reality we face today in our jobs.
However I really liked her character and independence, that's something I always value in a book.
It is a nice book, quick to read, with a very unexpected but very nice love. I totally recommend it.