Hot Desk: New term vibes? Embrace the return to work with this smart, romantic office satire

Laura Dickerman

Sep 2025 · Random House

Ebook

368

Pages

Eligible

Switch to the audiobook

About this ebook

Two rival editors, one shared desk - You've Got Mail meets The Hating Game in the smart new romantic comedy set in the world of publishing, perfect for fans of Nora Ephron and Katherine Heiny.

'Hilarious, heartbreaking, satirical, cutting and FUN'
Laura Jane Williams

'For anyone who loves Curtis Sittenfeld, Nora Ephron, Alison Espach'
Joanna Rackoff

'Super smart and assured . . . Fans of Tom Lake and The Flatshare will love it'
Sarra Manning

'Rollicking and entertaining'
People Magazine

'Captures all the thrills and aches of setting out in the world'
Morgan Dick

1982
When wide-eyed Jane Kinloch arrives at the East River Review in New York, she strikes up a friendship with her fellow intern, the glamorous Rose. But Rose's attraction to their married boss, literary titan Edward David Adams, threatens to drive a wedge between them.

2022

When hot-desking is introduced at her office, Rebecca Blume of Avenue Publishing is furious about having to share her workspace with Ben Heath - an editor at rival imprint Hawk Mills.

What starts as a battle of passive-aggressive Post-It notes escalates after the death of renowned writer Edward David Adams. He has left behind an unfinished novel - and Ben and Rebecca are in competition to publish it.

That is until Rebecca discovers that the manuscript contains a decades-old secret about her mother, Jane.

Rebecca is determined to stop it from seeing the light of day. But can she persuade Ben to let it go?

Two rival editors, one shared desk - You've Got Mail meets The Hating Game in the smart new romantic comedy set in the world of publishing, perfect for fans of Nora Ephron and Katherine Heiny. 'Hilarious, heartbreaking, satirical, cutting and FUN' Laura Jane Williams 'For anyone who loves Curtis...

Discover more

About the author

Laura Dickerman has an MA in Fiction from NYU and an MA in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. She has taught high-school English at the Hopkins School, the Collegiate School for Boys, and Germantown Friends. She was an intern at The Paris Review many, many years ago. At her lowest point, she spent a month temping for her younger brother Colin at Grove/Atlantic where he was critical of her photocopying skills. She’s been a bookclub leader, tutor, and recipient of an NEH grant. She has lived in Vermont, New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, Brussels, and currently in Atlanta with her husband. They have two grown daughters. Hot Desk is her first novel.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate