Cute but predictable AF. Love the cover and the idea but this was somewhat of a miss for me. Not as much of rom-com as I thought it was going to be.

Still recommended. Thanks to Netgalley, Zara Stoneley and Harper Collins UK One More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 8/31/21

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I very much appreciate it.

I absolutely loved the "post it note" aspect of this book; it was very endearing and well done. I also enjoyed the relationship between the sisters; it felt realistic and I appreciated the character's growth. However, the book became a bit drawn out and repetitive for me, and although I liked the ending of the story, the actual last page of the book had an abrupt ending and I wanted another page or two to wrap things up a bit more completely..

This book seemed to me like it would be like the Flatshare by Beth O'Leary, but this book just wasn't for me. The idea of Alice and Jamie sharing desks, never seeing each other and leaving little notes for each other was cute, but it just didn't capture my attention. A lot of it felt long and drawn out and I just did not feel the passion between Alice and Jamie.

I did like the exploration this book had on the work at home portion of the pandemic, as well as the impact the pandemic had on working and living conditions for many people, especially those that are in a shared living situation. I think it did a good job of capturing many people's thoughts during the pandemic.

This book focusses on some important issues, including Alice's ex-boyfriend, David, and his need to get back together with her. I think there could have been a deeper exploration of his stalking, and a discussion of how what he was doing was actually stalking, but that didn't happen.

I did like how Alice started to explore standing up for herself to the various people in here life, and being more assertive, but at the same time she still fell into her "old ways" in some aspects of her life, like with Jamie, which made me questions if she was really as changed as she kept telling us she was.

In the end the style of writing and the book was generally not for me. A lot of unnecessary, mundane, every day life things were shared and there was just not enough to keep me captivated. I received a copy of this from NetGalley and the publisher for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

*4.5
i received an arc through netgalley.

this book is so good but once again i was a bit annoyed that they were fade to black scenes but it made sense. i wish we got to hear them say out loud to each other i love you, also i needed an epilogue knowing how everything fully worked out. i would like to believe that they are married and are co parenting alfie but i don’t know

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins UK/One More Chapter for the ARC!

3.5 stars. I was planning on 3, but it got better as it went on.

I thought the love story was cute, but it was quite frustrating getting there. I didn’t realize the pandemic and COVID would be part of the backdrop, which honestly, we are still in the middle of that and it’s not enjoyable to read about, just stressful. I feel like having to “hot desk” could also have been achieved just by saying the company was downsizing the building and still wanted to keep people on.

I did like Alice, and following her journey from being a pushover to actually telling people what she wants and needs. Jamie was sweet, but frustrated me at time when he just wouldn’t tell Alice what was going on. Sophie, I could have lived without.

All in all I’m glad I read it, but I’m not sure it would be a reread for me.

Super cute!

Imagine desk sharing with someone, and you leave notes back and forth. And you can be honest because why not - you dont see them face to face. Of course I loved the notes, and fell a little in love myself.. I might have gotten a new book boyfriend.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

Thank you for the ARC NetGalley.

I'm sorry to say this, but this book wasn't for me. I didn't think that I could go through the first few chapters because I couldn't follow her mind most of the time. But I decided to go through anyway and we you get to the desk part it was actually cute, but didn't really capture me. The only thing that I really loved was the way the feeling the pandemic brought to people, especially who worked from home had.

There was so much exposition in this book, I could not get interested in the characters. We barely get to see actual interactions and instead see a rehashed version of Alice’s thoughts over and over.

Trigger Warnings for references to life after the Covid pandemic

Publication Date 31st August 2021

Thanks to #NetGalley, the publisher @onemorechapterhc and the author @zarastoneley for providing me with a digital ARC of Hotdesk in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way. I thought this book was bit slow to start but really got into it and enjoyed it. I loved the character building and the romance between Jamie and Alice was lovely. I particularly liked the post it note swapping and would love to read more by this author.

Hot Desk is certainly timely but the story never quite got its momentum going until I was just ready to DNF--the writing is not as tight as it could have been, which is a shame because he's a cute story and in the age of covid it's certainly very very timely. I expect this will find an audience as it's definitely a cute story about the pandemic, or at least as cute as stories about the pandemic can be!

I loved Zara’s previous book and this one is just as good! Really fun and hard to put down!! I loved it

I received a copy of this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really quick, fun read. I enjoyed it a lot.

Really enjoyed I was drawn right into the story and hated to put it down.Well written involving another good read by this author.Will be recommending #netgalley#harpercollinsukchapterbook.

Fun little romance. Quick read. Appreciate it that it did have some substance to it. Loved the sister relationships in addition to the romance relationships. The co-parenting situation did seem to work out a little more easily than it probably would have in real life.

The concept of this book was great, especially since the big Cov now affecting everyone's life, a lot of us are facing the situation where we have hot desks at work.... But no love coming along with it :P

The characters were lovely. The author did great transporting us in with them and going on this journey, but i feel as if the execution was a bit off. Alice's inner monologue was a bit draggy at times. I also wish that Jamie's big issue near the end was not in the book, I think it just didn't fit.

Don't get me wrong, the book was adorable, love the post-it notes, but for me, it was just missing something.

I think it's too soon for me to read a book that so heavily focuses on covid, considering...we're still in the middle of a pandemic. The plot sounded interesting, but there was no mention of covid at all. Maybe if the book was set several years in the future, I could have dealt with it, but it was too much. I didn't want to hear the main characters' inner ramblings about how awful working from home is. Being in her head was a lot, and she came across very immature.

I was really looking forward to reading this as the write up was so good and it certainly didn’t disappoint me at all from the first page I was hooked and just wanted to read more to see what was going to happen. It’s full of work and relationships and romance and being happy and honest with others. The characters are able to draw you in and the plot is well written and you just want to keep reading.
Alice years ago kissed a bloke who she always has had something for but she is with someone at the moment who she knows isn’t right. She on her way to work and gets an email saying they have a meeting that mortgage and she thinks after the pandemic and working at home she is going to loose her job as the business is going under. But once in the meeting she learns they are slim lining the office and you will work part at home and part in the office and she will share a desk with someone who she learns is Jamie who she knows is this bloke she kissed years ago. He doesn’t seem to realise she thinks and while they share a desk he leaves notes for her and she can’t wait for what the next note will say. They soon start getting closer but there are still secrets to come out and one major one as well and how will Alice cope when she learns Jamie does remember the kiss they had and he does feel for her but what else is he hiding and will she support him and find a life with him or not and how will work life go sharing a desk together.
Worth far more than five stars as so well written.

It took me a little while to get into this story but it turned out to be a lovely, warm, uplifting read. I really warmed to the characters as they developed, particularly Alice. A story about date, love and finding yourself.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Netgalley, I was chosen as an early reviewer!

*****Coming out August 31, 2021*****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What happens when Alice a highly disorganized person , finds out that she will be sharing a hot desk with another coworker, Jamie, who is organized and whom she had a drunken fling with? This is exactly what happened when their company decided cutting costs with sharing hot desks would be the solution with their employees coming back to work after strictly working from home due to Covid-19. Will she be able be productive and figure out how to share a desk with someone she is attracted to? Will Jamie accept who she is and be able to make it work?

A fun light read that highlights the struggles of working during Covid-19 pandemic. Be sure to add this to your end of summer TBR list. A great book club pick!

💜 Thank you, @netgalley, @harpercollinsuk, and @onemorechapterhc, for an e-arc of Zara Stoneley's upcoming novel, Hot Desk!

💛 I loved this book and blew through it in 2 days! Set in today's world (read: Covid exists) Alice's office has to down-size and she now has to share her desk and personal space with her co-worker, Jamie. Their professional relationship starts to blossom into more through cute post-it notes left for each other on their desk…but there will be a few bumps in the road.

💙 I especially enjoyed this being written in first-person from Alice's POV - she is literally all over the place sometimes and while that may be annoying to some, I loved it! I learned so much about her, her family, and her quirky housemates!

💚 Hot Desk is set to release on August 31st.