Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions!

One of my easiest 5 star ratings ever, but probably one of the hardest reviews to write. Its hard to sum up how much I loved this book and these characters in a short review online, I feel like some typed words on a random post won't do it justice - but alas, I will try!

Will and Josie's story starts with a laugh-out-loud meet cute, and throughout the first half of the book you learn about their complicated history and past connection. You watch them try to fight their undeniable chemistry, and eventually give into it, and learn how to be in a serious relationship, how to better support one another, and inevitably how to better love themselves.

The workplace component was so fun, especially because of the nature of Josie's job. She is a normal girl, with a not so normal job. Will comes in to help her company as a consultant, but he quickly takes the job outside the work place as they grow a deep friendship and understanding of one another. Because they start as friends, the love that grows between them is incredibly vulnerable, rooted in true compassion and care between them. The scenes in the hotel room while Josie is sick? I was SOBBING.

Josie was our beautiful, flawed, and relatable leading lady. Even if you can't relate to her job, you can find pieces of yourself in her people pleasing tendencies, love of simple things, and hesitancy to let people get too close. Watching her crack herself open and begin to work on herself was inspiring, encouraging me to do the same!

Will. Grant. This man was the definition of a damn good man. He was raised as a southern gentleman, but he also was just a good person. His love language is DEFINITELY acts of service, and the way he steps into Josie's mess and helps her through it each time helped her on her journey of self care and discovery. He goes through his own season of change alongside her, and they both become a support system for each other that is full of honest communication, gentle encouragement, and vulnerable confessions that help them grow into who they are meant to be as individuals and as a couple.

Clare Gilmore has solidified her spot in my ranks of favorite authors with this book. Her ability to write the most swoon worthy romances with incredibly relatable characters is truly unmatched. She simply gets what it is like to be a young adult in this day and age, and she portrays that experience so beautifully in her romance stories!

The plot was cute! The characters were cute too, loved will and Josie. Will is hired by Josie’s team to help with her fashion brand and they don’t have the best history because Will is Josie’s ex best friends twin. the reason I’m giving it three stars is due to the execution. I felt the storyline was a bit rushed, from the very beginning it felt rushed. It’s a fun light read but something was definitely lacking.

This contemporary romance may have changed my opinion about second chance romances! I know it’s a popular trope but it’s not my favourite…but Will Grant might have me rethinking my opinions! Will and Josie are thrust together in true second chance style and despite the obvious heat and attraction, they ACTUALLY deal with their past, talk things through and are really mature about everything which is (a) a surprise and (b) a refreshing difference from other miscommunication and burying the past preferences of other leading ladies and gents. I love the focus on Josie’s career and the company she’s building with her drive and passion. This is a beautiful story!

While this book was fine, even cute at times, I couldn’t get myself to care about Josie or even root for her. It felt pretty rich she could just leave the company behind and the conflict with her romance just didn’t track with me. The ending cliffhanger was especially annoying.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in essence for an honest review.

4.5 stars. I normally hate contemporary workplace romances because late-stage capitalism is such a drag, but Clare Gilmore’s books just work for me. This is a slow burn, (nothing physical happens until about 70%), but it is worth it. There’s an A+ sick caring scene — it’ll live in my mind rent-free and I’ll be happy about it. There’s also a throwaway one-liner about golf that I’m dying to share because it made me laugh out loud. The ending was perfect, both for me as a reader and for the characters’ growth and development. I have no doubt in my mind that Josie and Will will be happy together for the rest of their (fictional) lives.

Thanks to St. Martin’s and NetGalley for the ARC!!

Thrilled, elated, overjoyed to have received this ARC. It was a mature, sexy look at love that left me clutching my kindle. Josie was an ACUTAL relatable FMC- MORE BURNOUT REP IN ROMANCE! MORE GIRL BOSSES ADMITTING THEY ARE TIRED BC THEY'VE WORKED TOO HARD! And the decisions she made in light of that were mature. I love the role friendship played in the story. Will, thanks for helping our girl feel supported. I appreciated his patience.

Thank you for an ARC for my honest opinion!

Thank you #netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy

Expected Publication: Oct 29 2024
Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Josephine is an over worked CEO of her fashion company. Will is a business consultant and Josephine’s ex best friend’s twin brother. 9 years have passed since ‘The Kiss’ that ended it all (or started, depending on perspective) and when Will and Josephine accidentally meet again and end up working together, they soon realize that The Kiss was more than the catalyst that broke up a friendship.

Firstly, I’m not sure this is a traditional romance. It didn’t have the usual romance arc: No compelling reason why the two MC’s couldn’t be together, it lacked the 3rd act climax and there was more to this than the romance arc. Women’s fiction seems more appropriate given that it’s more about Josephine’s journey. Keeping this in mind, and having expected a true romance, I had mixed feelings about this one throughout. Overall, I loved the characters (including the side characters) more than the storyline. Some scenes were unnecessarily long and that made it difficult to keep my attention. I liked the strong, supportive friendship between Josephine and her best friend; a strong secondary character is always a win with me.

Overall, it was good and I’d recommend this to anyone looking for more than just romance in a book.

My rating / 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
rounded up to 4

#perfectfit
#womensfiction

Perfect Fit has cemented Clare Gilmore as the queen of the business romance- and never before have I been just as invested in the corporate forecasting aspect of a book as I am in the romance itself!

📚 Perfect Fit
✍ Clare Gilmore
📖 Contemporary Romance
⭐4.5/5
🌶️ .5

🙏 Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy of Perfect Fit. All opinions are my own.
◾
🎯 What I loved: This book was well-written, interesting and compelling from start to finish. Gilmore did a fantastic job of creating a world for her characters that was just as interesting as the characters themselves and where it was as easy to root for Josie and Will as it was for Josie's company Revenant. I adored Josie and Will's initial encounter and the pace and way their relationship developed. Most of the tension took place outside of what they were building together, so this felt (unironically) like a perfect fit relationship, built on mutual respect and communication which was refreshing. You'd think with a healthy relationship developing that this wouldn't have been propulsive (seriously, there are so few romances that do low-tension well), but it absolutely was and I couldn't put this down. The conversations about seasons of friendships, burn-out and starting over were relatable and I was genuinely sad for this to be over when I flipped to the last page...especially when I got to the last little cliffhanger!
◾
Read if you love:
*second chance romance
*ex-best friend's brother
*corporate settings
*goal-driven main characters
*Austin setting
◾
See also: Fool Me Once, Will They or Won't They, Just My Type

2.5 ⭐️

May thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was just okay for me. Not bad at all, but not great. The term “B Corp” was mentioned 31 times, so that got on my nerves. I also didn’t really connect with the characters and felt the same insecurities were just repeated over and over. Could be a cute summer read for some.

3.5 stars rounded up for the emotional maturity shown in the (later) relationships in the book.

clare gilmore’s latest work, perfect fit, explores the life of josie - a woman in her late 20s who is serving as CEO of her own fashion brand. she’s pondering what’s next for the business and what’s next for her in relation to the business. her best friend cami is by her side and, at the direction of her largest investor, she’s also welcomed a consultant into the fold. she and will (said consultant) knew each other growing up…what will that mean for their present day relationship?
the book flashes back to a few key dates in her high school life which helped shape the woman josie is today. otherwise, we’re looking at current day friendships, relations between colleagues, and romantic partnerships from the present.
i enjoyed josie’s experience with burnout and the way that she handled the larger “what if” questions as they pertained to her company. she was very much a “this business is me. this business cannot fail or i will fail. failure is not an option.” style of owner and her exploration of what constitutes success was refreshing.
to me, the book sets itself up well for a sequel but it wouldn’t be necessary. i’d enjoy reading more of josie’s story but, if it ended here, i’d be fine with that.

thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Clare Gilmore
Enjoyed the premise, the characters, the friendships, and the relationship between Will and Josie.
Very easy read

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was so cute! Josephine and Will were a really cute couple, one that you wanted to root for. It wasn't a cut and dry love story, and their journey to each other made a lot of sense. I can't wait to read more of Clare Gilmore's work!

Thank you again for the ARC!

This was a very fun read! This read is perfect for contemporary romance lovers and readers of Emily Henry and Tessa Bailey. The characters are absolutely lovely and I love that we follow their story and second chance romance. It was a bit of a slower read, but I do prefer more fictional romance over newer contemporary romance. i love the main character josie and really related to her and i love her relationship with will. i would love to read more from this author in the future. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Such a cute story about learning about priorities and being a good friend. It made me sad to see Josie and Zoe had absolutely no fight in them to try and rebuild their friendship when both deep down wanted that. I also liked some of the things said about how things aren’t always fair or 100%, but if you keep giving your best, other people can and will help.

I plan to share this book a day or two before publication date. I will come back to update once it is planned.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Perfect Fit" by Clare Gilmore is a warm, heartfelt, second chance romance that I really enjoyed. Our main characters, Josie and Will, are thrown together for a major work project and have to confront the regrets and feelings from their adolescent history together. There is a fantastic cast of supporting characters who round out the personalities of the leads. The setting is perfectly rendered through atmospheric descriptions of Austin, TX and its food scene; it made me want to go back to visit the city. I also really appreciated the realistic and emotional plot lines regarding burnout, regret and closure, personal emotional growth, and the importance of friendship. This was such a well-rounded story; highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was so cute! I really enjoyed the storyline and the setting. I've seen others talk about how it gave Intern vibes and that's just SO true. And I loved loved loved that movie!! Josie and Will are so loveable! Will is amazing in every way. A genuinely good man with a big heart, great personality, and a sense of humor. The communication between these two was top tier. Thank goodness for no miscommunication from them!

This was a fun romance! I found myself invested in the characters and flipping the pages to find out what would happen next.

I feel like I don’t have too much to say about this one. It was cute and fun to read but it didn’t have me in a chokehold with any of the characters. I think there was too much conflict involved in the MCs and the romance didn’t feel fun or effortless to me.

It might be a book I’d go back and read and I would still recommend it, but I feel like I read it and forgot about it.

Thanks so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

A delightful rom-com with heart and humor. The plot is well paced with a few twists to keep the reader invested. The exploration of work-life balance, personal growth, and forgiveness adds depth to the narrative. A read that will leave you smiling.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

My first Clare Gilmore but definitely not my last!

This is exactly what I needed to read! I loved the discussions about imposter syndrome, being a woman in the workplace, and figuring out who you're meant to be. I absolutely fell in love with Josie she is so kind and someone I could do easily fall in love with a root for. She was so relatable and human and I loved seeing her journey. I couldn't put this book down! The romance was so sweet and swoon worthy and I loved the friendships!

I can't wait to read Claire's backlist!