Cutbacks at work mean Alice has to work from home some days, sharing a desk with Jamie at work on the days he works from home. She has never forgotten a kiss with a stranger at a music festival which happened years ago, and realises Jamie is that stranger . Funny post-it notes left between the 2 lead to a friendship, could it ever be more? Funny and hard to put down, a good holiday/cold days read.

This is my first Zara Stoneley novel. It was zany, up to date and funny. It was set post covid when office workers started returning back to the office. Alice, the main character, is quite relieved to be back as she house shares and her room is quite small to work from. It demonstrates the feeling of isolation at home that some people felt. Missing work colleagues must be quite a wrench. Not working myself now, I can only imagine how it must feel for many people.
Once Alice returns the staff are told that they will be doing part time at home and the other half in the office. They will be hot desking and sharing the desk with a person working the days she wasn’t. Although this wasn’t great news Alice could just about cope until she found out who her opposite number would be. Jamie. She didn’t get on with him at all. At a school dance they kissed and then when Alice started working in the same place as Jamie, she wasn’t sure whether she should say anything. She didn’t. As we all know in life, we have to do things we don’ want to do. Alice liked lots of things around her on the desk. Jamie was a tidy person. They compromised. As Alice is getting used to her new way of working her boyfriend, Graham, was being unbearable. He would not accept that Alice had dumped him.
As the story unfolds, Zara shows us how helpful post-it-notes can actually be. I loved the characterisation. Graham was so possessive, a trait I cannot stand. Therefore, he made me cross and I did shout out loud a few times, when he made me cross. Jamie was different. He was very thoughtful and kind. Alice just needed space, something she hadn’t had whilst growing up as she had siblings and had to share. There were some good laugh out loud moments too. Find out what happens between Alice, Graham and Jamie. It was a book I did not want to put down and have recommended it to friends. Thank you so much Zara for your wonderful insight and brilliant book. I will definitely read your other books now.

I really wanted to like this book but, there’s just not much depth to the story or the characters. The main character spends ages saying how irritated she is by her love interest, they flirt, miscommunications aplenty and then a really rushed ending. I hoped for a really frothy warm-hearted romantic read but petty squabbles ruined it.

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was really refreshing to read a book set in our ‘new normal’ and the challenges that go with it. The story is sweet and takes a bit of an unexpected turn but it’s easy to read whilst still maintaining an interest level while not being too deep.

Never like giving poor reviews, but sadly this one wasn’t for me. Found myself skim reading to get through it, which is never a good sign (don’t like to not finish).

This one took me a while to read. I didn't feel too connected to the characters and didn't feel much chemistry. It had a lot of potential but I just wasn't interested.

Sadly this book wasn't for me. The first hair was very out of touch and slow and I did get more interested in the second half, but my then I honestly didn't really care anymore. The premise was cute, and even though the story was predictable, there was some cute moments between the two characters.

2.5 stars- This book was okay. It took me some time to get into it as the writing towards the beginning wasn’t great. It was overly conversational, in a bad way. It was more interesting in the middle, but then took a weird turn for the last third or so. There were several little things that didn’t make sense to me:
-There is a point towards the middle where Alice orders noise-canceling headphones, but it has mentioned earlier in the story that she already had some
-Everyone who sends texts in this book signs their texts at the end with their names (or initial). Who does that?
-At the hot desks, there is a pc that both people share, but also they use laptops so they can work from home? This doesn’t make sense to me
-Alice says when working from home in her bedroom, she was worried about showing her unmade bed and clothes on the floor. Why wouldn’t she 1. Clean up before going on Zoom and/or 2. Use one of the fake backgrounds so no one can even see her room?
-Alice is a website designer, but says she makes very little money. I thought website designers got paid pretty well (or is that just a misconception?)
- Also, Alice seems to work with her clients extremely independently. Are there not managers or supervisors that review new clients’ websites before they see them?
+When Jamie emails Alice for the first time, he said he hadn’t been in the office Friday morning, but Alice said the note she left him the day before was gone? Huh?
-There we’re basically no physical descriptions for any characters. Was this intentional?
-The main character/author uses the term “housework slut”, in a way that makes no sense.
-Alice occasionally, randomly says the word “sugar”, seemingly as a substitute for expletives, but also uses expletives. It’s weird.
-The ending is strangely abrupt. I felt like I was missing an actual ending.
Overall, this book had potential, but ended up being just okay.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

Book received for free through NetGalley

A cute book. I liked how it referenced Covid instead of ignoring it. That said it took me a bit to get into the book and although I liked the characters I wasn't fully invested. Not sure if that was me or the writing style.

I stopped and started this book twice before persevering through it in order to tick it off my reading list. It took over halfway until I found myself really getting into the story.

A return to the workplace story following the pandemic. However, the lead seems too interested in her possessions on her desk.

Thanks NetGalley for given me the chances to read. But it was kong and h couldn’t get until it. Still if you like this type of book then go for it!

The beginning of true novel seemed a little like the character was just rambling about the preferences of her desk, which made it hard to get into. However, about half way in it started to actually be cute. The male character was awesome and their romance actually made sense when you had the backstory. It ended up being enjoyable but took some time.

As life returns to normal after COVID, and people return to the office for work one office decides to try hot desking to reduce costs. Alice and Jamie have to share a desk, it turns out they shared a kiss 2 years prior and have both been thinking about the other all this time. Little notes to each other lead to spending more time together. It was a nice story, although some of it hard to believe. I enjoyed Alice's character, but found Jamie's a bit unrealistic.

Thank you for the advanced read.

Thank you so much @HarperCollins & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 25 November 2021)

SYNOPSIS | Alice has just returned to the office after the COVID pandemic lockdown & she is thrilled to be back in a space that will help her creative brain thrive. The problem is that her company has decided to cut costs therefore they will be hot desking with another colleague... her hot desk buddy just happens to be the guy she has had a huge crush on for over 2 years.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the concept of leaving notes for each other (very reminiscent of The Flat Share)

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- that I am meant to believe that both characters have been pining after each other for over 2 years after having one drunken kiss (& no dialogue) at Reading festival
- the excessive use of the word "ace"
- this is the second book I've read featuring COVID & I didn't like it anymore this time round
- the conflicts on both sides added unnecessary drama
- I wasn't invested in the romance. I felt no butterflies.

A great look at life as life gets back to "normal" after the Covid pandemic. Having your own space to work and then having to share can be fraught with lots of problems especially if the person concerned is not much liked. I found it funny at times but I found the long monologues by Alice a little bit tiresome. I really can understand Alice wanting to get back to the office. I really enjoyed how the romance gradually grew as we got to know the main characters.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own. *SPOILERS*

This was bad. I quite like the premise but how it plays out bothers me. I did not like the surprise child who was hidden from the dad. I don’t feel like it was sufficiently wrapped up to conclude either. I don’t know if I’d read anything else. I liked Alice. Jamie was okay. I left pretty unsure. It ended very abruptly in my view.

This was the cutest read I’ve enjoyed in a long time! A love story developing between two office workers forced to share a desk and progressing from rivals to lovers. A great way to while away those fall nights!

Not for me unfortunately. Having lived through all the covid rubbish was enough. Trying to read about it was step too far unfortunately

I started reading this book around the same time I started The Flatshare. Sadly, I decided to dnf that book due to the post-it notes plot point, and did the same with this book. I guess I need my characters in the same room to really feel the romance and tension.

Well, don't judge this book by it's cover, because it's not a fun romcom of a book. The main character is so focused on her love for her desk...we get it, it's her only personal space...don't need it repeated ad nauseam...that I got a quarter way through the book and just gave up.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.