Love Interest

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.)