In Office Hours

Two women on other sides of a generational divide fall into ill-advised workplace romances in British business journalist Kellaway's latest water-cooler romp (after The Real Office). Twenty-something single mother Bella and married 40-something exec Stella slide down the slippery slope from self-deluded temptation ("it's just a fantasy," says Bella of her attraction to her balding, philandering boss, James) to slow dancing around the photocopier, as Stella dreams she does with her boyish, working-class Welsh crush. Of course, disaster looms for all involved, and while the stories sometimes take on the predestined feel of case studies, Kellaway manages a consistently funny tone as her characters handle romantic fallout in generation-appropriate fashion and confirm what they already know: too often, it's the woman who pays the price. (Feb.)