This was a cute debut novel with enemies-to-lovers/strangers-to-lovers vibes. I thought the romance part was a little too insta but I liked the main characters together. Some of the dialogue was a bit unrealistic, but overall I liked the story.

This was a cute enough enemies to lovers book, but there wasn’t a lot of enemy involved. It was a debut novel and was well written.

Love Interest by Clare Gilmore

Published: October 10, 2023
St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Pages: 342
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Clare Gilmore is a romcom author based in Tennessee. She split her time in college studying Business (for the practicality) and English (for the romanticism of it all). When she's not writing, she's cooking excessively elaborate meals in a tiny kitchen, listening to a book on audio while she walks her dog, or planning more vacations than she'll ever be able to take.

Debut novels can often be slow or wordy. But this flowed smoothly. I liked the conversational style Clare wrote in, and I liked her character development. I loved that all of the characters had depth and dimension.

This was a sweet story. I like that the romance picks up fairly quickly; we did not have to suffer through 109 pages of almost and awkward near misses. The dialogue was engaging and made me want to keep reading, and the use of emotion was balanced perfectly.

This has everything you want from a good romance. I love feeling like a book is taking me on a journey, and this story did that.

A solid debut, and an author to keep an eye out for. I enjoyed the plot, especially that the heroine was so invested in finance, and struggled with her identity as an analytical, logical person as a child of two creatives. The style wasn't the strongest for me (I've seen it described as Gen Z, and that makes sense that as a millennial it doesn't land 100%), but I'll definitely give the author's next book a chance.

Enjoyed this fun happy ending book; author has brightness and covered the ideas of love to a new distance. Would read again

This was a sweet, easy read! It was definitely very light on the enemies portion of enemies to lovers, but being witness to Casey and Alex falling in love was precious, and the story's writing and pacing kept me engaged throughout!

This book has all my favorite tropes all within 335 pages. WORKPLACE ROMANCE!!!!!!!!!! One bed, opposites attract, HE FALLS FIRST!!!!!! and found family. This is such an unhinged review.
This was such a beautiful, and feel good romance. I loved seeing the MMC fall in love with the FMC, and her take her time to see that, and to realize her feelings back. It's a true workplace romance. The setting is mostly at work- so it's so true to the trope. Its what I wanted The Hating Game to be.

A cute romantic comedy with some spice thrown in! I love a modern heroine who is conquering life in the work place and in her relationships

A workplace romance featuring two people who think they're not in a place to "settle down."

Love Interest by Clare Gilmore is billed as an enemies-to-lovers rom-com. I'm not sure it is: Casey resents Alex at the start but not for very long, and he never has animosity toward her. Between their dead moms (cancer), identity crises, and work drama, I'm not sure the comedy part is quite there. Instead, I'd bill it as a workplace romance between two characters not intending to put down roots. (Realistic for many 20somethings in NYC!)

I really liked the writing at the beginning, including how passionate Casey seems about her job. But this one sort of fell apart for me. The dialogue - including their texts - felt so unrealistic at times, like it was there to flesh out the story, not because it's how two people would ever speak to each other in the early stages of dating. I can live with that, but I'm just not here for a man telling a woman about herself - explaining her feelings to her. And with all the focus on work in the third act, I stopped caring about whether they got together - in fact, I wondered if she'd be better off without him.

Still, this is the sort of debut that'll keep the author on my radar. And I can definitely see how those less attuned to these things would enjoy this one more - I'd still recommend giving it a shot if the premise interests you. I also think it'll be an easier sell for fans of new adult romance.

This book gave off The Hating Game vibes and I loved it just as much as I loved The Hating Game! I am a sucker for a workplace, competitors competing for the same job, romance and this one did not disappoint. It had banter, it had angst and it had amazing main characters!

This was a cute romance story. Girl sees boy, thinks he’s cute. Boy gets girls job,
Girl hates boy for a bit and then start working together and falling for each other. But to each it’s just temporary but is it?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of Love Interest by Clare Gilmore.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

It started out fun but I didn't feel the chemistry between Casey and Alex. Therefore I didn't get into the story or them as a couple. Also, it was sloooooow....

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!

Really liked this book since the beginning because the writing is really light and fun and the universe in there is also very different than what we're used to. The unwind of their relation with all the assumptions and the forced proximity really got me going and loving every single chapter.

I read this book and all I could do was talk about how everyone should read it because it's really great. <3

Love, sweetreadings

I absolutely adored this book. I am so impressed this is Gilmore's debut novel. I was sucked in from the start and could not put it down. I'm not a huge fan of enemies/adversaries to lovers but she did it so well. I loved the NYC setting, the office setting, and all the drama that entailed. The tension and banter between Casey and Alex was fantastic. I couldn't help but root for them.

I'm looking forward to reading more of GIlmore's work.

super cute romance! it was an easy read and i quite enjoyed it! there wasn’t anything extraordinary about it but i did enjoy my time reading it as well as the characters and plot!

This book is a millennial's wet dream.

I was so excited to read this, I mean just look at the cover, but I was so very disappointed. It was sweet, sure, but I couldn't get over the cringey humor. I wasn't invested in the plot whatsoever and kept zoning out and dozing off as I was reading it. I can definitely see why people like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

I'm not going to say anything else because it would just be rude and not helpful at all.

Thank you, NetGalley and Griffin for the advanced copy.

This was new to me author and I really enjoyed this romance! It was so fun, sweet, angsty, and all the tension. I’m a lover of enemies to lovers. This one delivers just that and more! Casey and Alex are a great match. I adored how they had amazing chemistry and acted like mature adults. This is something that makes me happy in stories! Alex is such a swoony character and how he fell first! Casey was so relatable. Really just a great romance! Highly recommend this one!

This was a stellar debut and I connected with the characters almost immediately. Pacing was a bit of an issue for me - I typically expect workplace rivals/enemies to lovers to spend more time in the enemy phase before dating. I thought the second half was padded with more workplace details than I cared for, so I think a slower-paced first half and then briefer workplace details would earned a higher rating.

Enemies-to-Lovers/Workplace rom-com is my kryptonite, which is why I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. A solid debut from Clare Gilmore!