My favorite Clare Gilmore book. Yet! TLDR; Girlboss novel done right

I’m a millennial woman, so obviously I aspired to be the CEO of a company where I was immersed in #hustle culture and named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. But, I have to be honest. I’m now so turned off by that picture — especially for women — that I was skeptical of reading this one. Josephine is the founder of Aritizia-like fashion brand Revenant. Her life has been Revenant since she started sewing clothes in college, and she has had no time for anything else. Especially love, after being slut shamed in high school for kissing her best friend’s brother. Enter in said brother, the swoon-worthy Will, who becomes involved in Revenant after a chance encounter in Austin. Sparks fly, but neither are jumping feet first. Instead, Gilmore takes us on a slow-burn romance journey that I couldn’t put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

5/5 stars

Clare Gilmore has one of the most fresh voices in romance today. She beautifully straddles the line between young and playful, and adults/meaningful characters. Perfect Fit has two leads that are in their late 20s/early 30s in transition in life - and I have not related so hard to two people in a long time. Will and Josie fit in a way that was so delightful to witness - their history, their banter, their chemistry. I love a man who will fall first and stay down bad for his girl, AND who not only supports her but helps her support herself. Josie as a young, burnt-out CEO was so real and the way their story evolved together to also get her to be more balanced in her life choices was honest and true. I love these two so much!

I will say this, I was kind of excited to read this. I liked the premise and all but I was bored. I got to 46% and I was very bored.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book to bits and pieces. Clare Gilmore just keeps getting more and more incredible of a writer. The amount of chemistry, feelings, love, friendship. it's just SO incredibly delicious. Definitely one of my favorite books I've read in a while.

I loved Claire Gilmore's Perfect Fit. Josie's desperate need to be productive, her out of control overworking, her perfectionist qualities, and her consistent fear of failing in any aspect of her life was alarmingly relatable and probably will be relatable to a lot of millennial-age women. She is flawed and it is beautiful and heart-wrenching to see her growth in this book - to see her fall and lose grip on her dreams, struggle in the feeling of uncertainty, but start to realize what is truly important to her, and also to see that she doesn't have to struggle through the recovery alone. And Will is truly the perfect fit - the perfect partner. Will is the perfect book boyfriend - swoon-worthy, considerate and patient, good at communicating and reading into exactly what Josie needs at any moment. Sometimes the perfect couples are perfectly imperfect for each other. This book was so much fun to read - definitely recommend! Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this novel.

I don’t even know where to begin. I love this book. I love it SO MUCH. I find the way the FMC deals with her anxiety fascinating. When life becomes too much, she has to create, to *do* something. (I’m the complete opposite - I retreat). She seems to have it all together and is just “go go go”. And then there’s Will. Oh, new book boyfriend Will. Will who loves every scattered, unsure piece of Josie. Sigh. He really is the best.

Read this because I saw Tarah Dewitt recommend and she was not wrong. It’s such a cute story I like it a whole lot and would recommend to anyone

I loved Josie’s character so much, she really captured so much of the female experience. Her drive for her company and need to be productive, her existential crisis when thinking about anything beyond it, the imposter syndrome the creeped in constantly. Her relationship with social media and needing to feel validated by it, the boundaries she created but still struggled to keep. Her fear of friendships changing. I loved the way her relationship with her non desire to date was written. Josie’s friendships with Zoe and Camilla made me so emotional. The realization that she was the kind of friend she could be to Camilla because of Zoe. Will is so good, like genuinely down to his core honest to god good. I want only the best things for him for the rest of his days. I loved their relationship, their communication was top notch and their chemistry was some of my favorite. So much swoon and feet kicking, I could not get enough of these two.

4.5⭐️ Rounded up

This book ended up shocking me a bit with how much I not only enjoyed it but was able to relate to our female main character Josie. I think there’s a part of most millennial women who will relate to Josie in some way while reading this book.

Josie is a CEO of a fashion brand who is coming very close to burning out but all she knows is how to be a boss girl. Under the advice of her investors to work with a consultant her ex best friend’s twin brother comes crashing (literally) into her life. Will Grant.. wow did he ever make a climb up the list of book boyfriends.

Though this book is still a romcom in my eyes it brings some emotional depth and a good story plot that holds your attention throughout the book.

Second Chance-ish
Ex best friend’s twin brother
Co-workers
Forced proximity
Girl boss
Worldly travels
A couple open door scenes 🌶️

Thank you NetGalley for this free digital advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review

This one definitely was a perfect fit for me! (See what I did there? 😉) I absolutely loved our girl-bossing heroine, Josie, in all of her flawed but beautiful glory. She lived a wild life already by her late 20s but learned some important and life changing lessons in the meantime. The initial meeting between our MCs had me giggling and honestly the humor and heart didn’t slow down from there. Will is an absolute dream and I will definitely be adding him to my top book boyfriend list. This story was another classic case of the side characters adding so much to the story and making it even better, and almost (but not quite!) being even better than the MCs. It’s a testament to the author’s writing when we can grow so attached to side characters without insight or real backstory into them and it was done flawlessly in this one. Also definitely made my wanderlust kick into high gear with all the different locations it took place in! Also the ending? I’m dramatic and it made my jaw drop but I need to know! Please and thank you!

This was a slow burn second chance romance that was worth the wait. There was so much pining. So much will they or won’t they. So many almosts. So much holding themselves in check. It built the chemistry and tension up and made the spicy scenes totally worth it.

I loved the MMC. He was a perfect cinnamon roll. Putting his partner first. Doing things to help her without taking over or being controlling. I thought the FMC had a very interesting dynamic where she was passionate about things such as clothes and makeup and was this perceived (and saw herself) as shallow. But she had the depth and strength to start a fashion brand from the ground up. There was a lot of self-awareness and growth for both main characters in this one. Which I loved.

I thought it was an excellent romance with characters that were unique and interesting, and I look forward to other books by this author.

This was a fun one! Will is a top tier book boyfriend.

I love the chemistry between Will and Josie. They have great chemistry and I just adore their love story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect Fit centers around Josephine, a 27-year-old CEO of a thriving clothing brand in Austin, TX. Josie’s life revolves around her company (to an unhealthy degree). Her best friend, former roommate, and co-founder of her company, is Cami, for whom she is the Maid of Honor in her upcoming wedding. She is a woman who has it all.

Enter Will Grant, the twin brother of Josie’s ex-friend from high school, Zoe. A kiss between Will and Josie in high school led to a fallout between Josie and Zoe. Now, 10 years later, Will is back in her life as a consultant for her company. The tension between them builds slowly but deliciously.

One of the most refreshing aspects of the relationship between Josie and Will is their ability to communicate effectively—no miscommunications or unnecessary drama here. Plus, there's no dreaded third-act breakup!

There is more to this story than just romance. Josie is forced to confront herself, her perfectionist tendencies, her guilt over everything always, and come to terms with what truly matters in life.

The pacing of the plots was perfectly on point. No boring moments or skimmed over chapters. I also loved the supporting characters around our couple. It helped add realism to the story as both had lives outside of each other.

This book is a delightful read with well-developed characters and a storyline that keeps you engaged from start to finish. Highly recommend!

5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This is a delightful rom-com that blends humor, heart, and a timely exploration of work-life balance in a modern, high-pressure world. Centered around the unlikely pairing of Josie Davis, a driven CEO of a fashion brand, and Will Grant, the brooding brother of her estranged best friend, this novel offers a charming mix of romance, personal growth, and a few deliciously awkward moments.

“Despite my best efforts, Will Grant has become one of my favorite people”

Perfect Fit is heartwarming and sweet with the most incredible characters. I loved so many things about this story but my favorite thing was the message of self care and the idea that people come into our lives for different reasons. The connections we make teach us things. Every experience, good or bad, is part of that and at the end of the day sometimes the things that we stress about the most are not as important as we make them out to be in the moment.

Perfect fit is a love story but it is also a story about friendship and the difficult task of trusting yourself. It is about being open and honest about your feelings, overcoming insecurities and being okay with not always knowing how it ends. Both Josephine and Will captured my heart. They are characters that will stay with me for a long time to come.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Clare Gilmore just became an auto-buy author after Perfect Fit. Like Love Interest, I couldn't put this one down and loved every second. Josie's story was so unique and I loved getting to see different layers to her throughout the book. And I'm pretty sure Will Grant is the ultimate book boyfriend!

This was such a cute read 🥹 Two flawed characters trying to find reasons not to be with each other, when all the reasons they shouldn't turn out to be all the things they love and admire about the other 🥲 They truly learn, grow and make each other see the best in themselves 💖She's a workaholic & he would do anything for her!

AWEEE I loved this! The entire big picture, underlying lesson, was so poignant and really resonated with me.

I found this to be sweet, poignant, well written and just profound, all wrapped up into a rom com! Absolutely adored this!

"'You are my boyfriend,' I whisper to him. And whether Will knows it or not, those four words are actually code for I'm-head-over-heels-in-love-with-you."

This was super cute!! I normally don't like CEOs, but I really enjoyed Josephine and her narrative. She truly grew as a character throughout, both because of her relationship with Will and all on her own. It was a unique portrayal of anxiety when self-worth gets tied to something outside yourself, and I loved how it talks about the toxic "girl-boss" type of culture. Will was a DELIGHTFUL book boyfriend, everything a book boyfriend should be. Absolutely swoon-worthy. The side characters were also great too, and I want to see more of them in the future.

I read this during the 60 Minutes interview of Kamala Harris. It made me mad how many times Kamala was interrupted and asked questions only in terms of Trump. So this was a delightful fictional world where women are allowed to be boss bitches, they are allowed to take steps back, and they are allowed to fall in love.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect Fit was just what I needed right now. A sort of past friends to lovers book, in which there's no 3rd act breakup and the drama comes from other reasons. Josephine Davis is the CEO of her own clothing line, Revenant. She started it with her best friend in college, Camila. I loved their friendship. Josie has made Revenent a success, thanks to very hard work and investors. She decides to hire a consultant to get her business B Corp certified. To be honest, I'm not a business person, so some of this plot flew over my head, but that's ok. The vehicle to get Will Grant back in Josie's life made sense. In this case, the vehicle was Will's bicycle, hitting her car in rush hour traffic.

Josie and Will's twin sister Zoe were best friends in the senior year of high school when they moved to Nashville. Then Zoe saw the two kissing and got angry because she thought Josie was using her to get close to her brother, like her ex friend Amber did. Now, 10 years have gone by, and the two have some fences to mend.

This was somewhat a slow burn, although it didn't feel slowly paced. I enjoyed their international travels and how it brought them closer together. The drama from a bitter ex employee making for bad press as Josie works to open Revenent's first brick and mortar store was a little over the top, do people really care about the inner workings of a clothing company and the employees that much that it would make the NYT? Josie's decision to take time away from the company to remember why she started the business made sense. We are somewhat left in a cliffhanger, although I think Josie made the right choice for her future. Regardless, Josie and Will get their HEA, and most importantly, to me anyway, Josie and Zoe make up. 4.5/5☆ out October 29th.