Love Interest: A Novel

by Clare Gilmore

Overview

Love Interest is Clare Gilmore's sparkling debut, a co-worker enemies-to-lovers rom-com that proves falling in love is the risk and the reward.

Casey Maitland has always preferred the reliability of numbers. Now a twenty-four-year-old finance expert working in Manhattan, she wonders if the open project manager position 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, what they discover about their company might change everything—including the dreams each of them is chasing and their mutual love interest.

“Love Interest is Nora Ephron for Gen Z.” —ASHLEY WINSTEAD, author of The Boyfriend Candidate

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250880543
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	55,229
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

A Nashville native, Clare Gilmore studied Supply Chain Management and English Literature (a perfect combination) at the University of Tennessee. She is currently a resident of Tennessee daylighting as a corporate analyst. Love Interest is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

07/24/2023

Gilmore’s confident debut rom-com features a pair of ambitious but appealing young careerists. Despite having an English mother, Nashville-raised Casey Maitland hasn’t traveled much beyond the South. Taking a finance job at a Manhattan magazine publisher was an adventure, but she’s ready to go bigger by earning a transfer to her company’s London office. That job feels out of reach, however, when new hire Alex Harrison takes the lead position on a project she’d been eyeing for herself. Unaware that Casey wanted his job, Alex doesn’t understand her initial animosity to him, but puts that aside to focus on the project’s success and winning approval from his estranged father, the company’s CEO. Inevitably forced to collaborate, Casey discovers there is much more depth to Alex than his flirty persona initially suggested, while Alex is impressed with Casey’s ability to bring people together. Gilmore adds some welcome realism to this workplace romance, and refreshingly avoids using coincidence or luck to propel Casey and Alex to their professional and emotional wins. This should earn the author many fans. Agent: Melissa Edwards, Stonesong. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2023

DEBUT In this engaging enemies-to-lovers romance, Casey Maitland works in the finance department of LC Publications, a magazine publishing company. She realizes that most people (including her artsy parents) view accounting as a boring, stop-gap job, but she appreciates the stability of numbers. Deciding to shake up her career a little, she applies for the flashier project manager position in a new company endeavor and is disappointed when the job goes to Alex Harrison, the son of the company's chairperson. Casey is prepared to hate Alex, just on principle. And she does—at first. A childhood filled with rejection has taught Alex to keep everyone at arm's length and give them the version of himself that they want and expect. He doesn't feel that pressure with Casey, though. When Casey is assigned to work directly with Alex, the long hours and constant contact reveal the Alex behind the mask, whom Casey finds extremely attractive. VERDICT The couple are likable, fully developed characters with believable, interesting backstories. Their steamy chemistry and witty banter will have readers cheering for their eventual happy ending.—Heather Miller Cover

Library Journal

"You might think that mentions of spreadsheets and the SEC can't be sexy but I'm here to tell you that you are very wrong! Clare Gilmore's Love Interest delivers such a flirty, fun workplace rivals-to-lovers story featuring all that and more. By the end, I was rooting for Casey and Alex to solve all their problems — in both work and love — and figure out that the missing variable in their lives was each other."
–– Alicia Thompson, author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers

“I can’t gush enough about Love Interest, an enemies-to-lovers gem that has quickly taken its place among my favorite romances. Clare Gilmore has managed to write a love story that feels both utterly of the moment—laugh-out-loud funny and irreverently edgy—and like an instant classic, delivering the heart and depth that make some romances stand the test of time. And have I mentioned how sexy it is? Love Interest is Nora Ephron for Gen Z, complete with the swoony NYC setting. Prepare to add Gilmore to your auto-buy list.”
–– Ashley Winstead, author of The Boyfriend Candidate

"Clare Gilmore strikes the perfect balance between intense/angsty and lighthearted fun in her debut contemporary romance Love Interest. With sexy vibes, sharp dialogue, and astute observations of life and love in New York City, the author brings an authentic and seemingly effortless understanding of how early twenty-somethings navigate independence, work, and romance. This was an absolute delight to read."
–– Meredith Schorr, author of As Seen On Tv

"Love Interest perfectly captures the thrill of those first few post-college years; the excitement and fear of casting off what’s expected of you in favor of what you actually want, and the exhilaration of falling head-over-heels for the last person you’d expect. This book charmed and delighted me from beginning to end!"
–– Ava Wilder, author of How to Fake it in Hollywood

"Smart, sexy, and full of laughs, Love Interest will have readers swooning. With sparkling banter and lovable characters who jump off the page, Clare Gilmore is a sharp new voice in romance perfect for fans of stories with big, messy but endearing hearts."
–– Holly James, author of Nothing But the Truth

From the Publisher