Hot Desk Audiobook By Laura Dickerman cover art

Hot Desk

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Hot Desk

By: Laura Dickerman
Narrated by: Corey Brill, Cassandra Campbell, Renata Friedman
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Buy for $20.24

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Younger meets Writers & Lovers in this rollicking, sparkling, and funny novel that spans decades and generations of a family in the publishing industry.

In the post-pandemic publishing industry, two rival editors are forced to share a “hot desk” on different days of the week, much to their chagrin. Having never set eyes on each other, Rebecca Blume and Ben Heath begin leaving passive-aggressive Post-it notes on the pot of their shared cactus. But when revered literary legend Edward David Adams (known as “the Lion”) dies, leaving his estate up for grabs, their banter escalates as both work feverishly to land this career-making opportunity. Their fierce rivalry ultimately forces each to decide how far they’ll go to get ahead, what role they want to play in the Lion’s legacy, and what they mean to each other.

As their battle for the estate gets more heated, Rebecca learns of a connection between her mother, Jane, and the Lion. The story travels back four decades earlier to when Jane arrives in Manhattan and meets Rose, soon her best friend. Jane and Rose are two strong, talented young women trying to make their mark in the publishing world at a time when art, the written word, and creative expression were at their height. But one fateful day during the April blizzard of 1982 will change the course of Jane’s life, and of their friendship, forever... City Life Genre Fiction Urban Women's Fiction Funny

Critic reviews

"The ensemble narration of Corey Brill, Cassandra Campbell, and Renata Friedman renders this audio production a real delight. At a publishing house, unseasoned editors Rebecca Blume and Ben Heath are forced to share a desk on different days of the week. A rivalry ensues, which heats up when a literary giant known as the Lion dies and his literary estate becomes fair game. As the novel progresses, the narrators move the listener back in time to reveal a previous relationship that Rebecca’s own mother had with the Lion. Brill, Campbell, and Friedman master the voices of the main characters with a lot of flair."
All stars
Most relevant
This was a really enjoyable listen, loved the narrators, the twisty story, It's a bit of a romance, and I definitely laughed at loud several times, but there's also some other wonderful and moving story elements that I don't want to spoil that balance out the frivolity. A very New York tale.

Such a a fun dishy publishing world story

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This fun story has it all: clever use of time and hot desking to anchor new and old love and competition; NYC of today and early 1980s; humor; juxtaposition between my generation (early Gen X) with today’s generation and between gender norms and offenses. A well crafted novel about the world of editing and authors. Satisfying read!

Smart and Clever

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I thought this was going to be primarily a fun, romantic book. And while it is that, it is also more. A careful look at how attitudes about SA have changed from the 80s to now as well as a thoughful look at hero culture.
This book was so much more than I thought it would be. I loved it!

This book is wonderful!

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