Review: Work Nights by Erica Peplin

Work Nights by Erica Peplin

Blurb from Goodreads:

A young queer woman finds herself in a love triangle with an unobtainable intern and a quick-tempered musician in this charming debut that combines Big Swiss with The Devil Wears Prada.

Jane Grabowski hauls herself to her nine to five office job at New York City’s most acclaimed newspaper to sit in stale air under severe florescent lights and mask her rage by sending emails with too many exclamation points.

Luckily, Jane has a reason to keep coming into the Madeline, the distractingly beautiful intern. Madeline has never dated a woman and is uncomfortable with labels but with carefully timed lunch breaks and painstakingly crafted texts, Jane works her way into her life. Meanwhile, Jane’s free-spirited artist roommate tries to keep her from falling for a straight girl by dragging Jane to gay bars and queer Shabbat dinners, where she meets the decidedly uncool and morally righteous musician, Addy.

Caught between Addy’s readiness to commit and Madeline’s alluring unpredictability, Jane is pulled down a slippery path of lies and deceit, leading to a plane ticket that threatens to take everything down in one fell swoop.

My Review:

I enjoyed this one a lot.  It was a bit rambling at time but fit the story and the characters.  If you are looking for a lot of action rather than internal monologue, this one might not be for you but, for me, it was just right. The ending was absolutely perfect, too.

Work Nights comes out next week on June 17, 2025, and you can purchase HERE!  

I WAS A LONELY PIECE OF GARBAGE AND ALL I WANTED WAS TO BE touched.
Not in a gross way. I just wanted someone to touch my arms, my hands, and other places like that. I started wearing shortsleeved shirts on the train, hoping someone would bump into me. It happened eventually with an old woman. She didn't move her arm, so I didn't move mine, and for the next three or four stops, we sat like that with our arms touching. It was nice. Her skin was soft and warm, and when she got up with her plastic bags and cane, I wanted to follow her. I thought I could help her up the steps, walk her home, make soup.