Very Nice Box

An office romantic comedy novel about an eccentric product engineer at a hip furniture company whose charismatic boss seems determined to get close to her.
Ava Simon designs storage boxes for STÄDA, a slick Brooklyn-based furniture company. She's hard-working, obsessive, and heartbroken from a tragedy that killed her girlfriend and upended her life. It's been years since she's let anyone in.
But when Ava's new boss-the young and magnetic Mat Putnam-offers Ava a ride home one afternoon, an unlikely relationship blossoms. Ava remembers how rewarding it can be to open up-and, despite her instincts, she becomes enamored. But Mat isn't who he claims to be, and the romance takes a sharp turn.
The Very Nice Box is a funny, suspenseful debut-with a shocking twist. It's at once a send-up of male entitlement and a big-hearted account of grief, friendship, and trust.
"Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman are linguistic magicians, and their sparkling debut manages to expose the hollowness of well-being jargon while exploring, with tender care and precision, how we dare to move on after unspeakable loss . . . [They have] constructed a mirrored fun house, one that leads us down different paths, each masterfully tied up at the end, yet reflecting and refracting our own quirky selves." -New York Times Book Review, An Editors' Choice
"Very funny-and perhaps the most original office satire of the year." -Washington Post
"The story charms, it entices, and it keeps the reader in their hands, wanting more." -Los Angeles Review of Books