From the author of the runaway bestselling novel Best Friends, a smart, touching novel about the intimate yet fragile relationships among five very different people, thrown together in a small medical office, and how each life affects the others.

Alicia, Brice, and Caroline are the ABCs-three close friends who have been brought together while working at the cozy medical practice of Drs. Markowitz and Strub in Midburg, Ohio. But when Alicia and Dr. Strub begin an affair, a dramatic chain of events ensues that gradually but drastically alters the office environment-ultimately requiring all five coworkers to redefine their relationships to one another. As Dr. Strub''s romantic life is thrown into turmoil, Dr. Markowitz is faced with the dire illness of his own wife and the secret life she has kept from him. Nurse Alicia withdraws to focus on her prodigy son; receptionist Caroline enters into a strange romance she previously would have dismissed; and office manager Brice, his once-ordered world disintegrating, is set dangerously adrift. Finally, a questionable business venture that evolves into financial scandal precipitates a monstrous tragedy that threatens to destroy everyone involved. Warm, moving, and witty, The Off ice of Desire offers an insightful look at human nature that will appeal to those who loved Moody''s previous novel and anyone else who has worked in an office.

If I had not been selected as a winner in the ReadingGroupGuides.com ARC review, I never would have come upon this unique little story. Martha Moody captures the day to day intricacies and dynamics between five people who staff a local medical office. Her writing style leaves the reader feeling as if they are a fly on the wall, peering into the lives of these characters in their daily interactions. Between an office romance, a questionable business venture and a final tragedy, the reader is taken on a journey and led to experience the effect of interactions among staff members both in the office and beyond the office doors. I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to read and preview this book and will be sure to share it with others.

RELEASE NOTES: