Oomph and moxie infuse Clare Gilmore's Love Interest, a spunky contemporary workplace romantic comedy. Gilmore sets the story in a massive business conglomerate, based in Manhattan, which promotes trendy iconic brands. Casey Maitland is a 24-year-old financial analyst, one of many "white-collar workaholics," who resides in Brooklyn Heights by way of Nashville, her hometown. She works for Little Cooper Publications, a division of the company where she focuses on "crunching numbers and pleasing corporate executives." After her boss encourages her to apply for a promotion, a project manager position, her ambitions go bust: Casey loses out on the new gig to Alex Harrison, a hip, handsome, Harvard-educated, and hard-working Korean American, the son of the board chairman and the same guy she'd just admired on a flirty elevator ride. Soon, she is working alongside him on a new project. Nepotism initially tests their wills, until they find common ground amid familial complications. Can the two actually join forces and merge on the road to success? Or will cut-throat corporate politics--and a search to find deeper meaning in their respective lives--drive them apart?
Casey's snarky internalized narrative voice will win over readers; she is both analytical and competitive, yet sensitive and vulnerable, at her core. This, along with a diverse cast, lots of romantic chemistry, authentic corporate angst, and spot-on details about the appeal of living and working in New York City, will have rom-com readers falling headlong for this swoon-worthy, feel-good first novel. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines