The Cubicle Next Door (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: cubicle wall, West Point, Air Force, Colorado Springs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Siri Mitchell’s insightful, funny chick-lit style shines in this story of putting up walls and tearing them down—all for love.

Jackie Harrison, a computer administrator at the Air Force Academy, is a self-proclaimed geek who must share her cubicle space with the new guy, instructor and former pilot Joe Gallagher. She turns to her online journal to vent and eventually to express growing feelings toward this office neighbor who is everything she is not—fun, happy, and social.

But when her blog is featured as a top pick on primetime news, everyone reads it—including Joe. Will he figure out the words of adoration and confusion are written about him? And will Jackie ever risk expressing her heart offline?

From the Back Cover

What if God has more planned for your life than you do?

Jackie Harrison is a civilian who loves her job at the U.S. Air Force Academy. That is, until she is forced to divide her office into cubicles and share the space with a new history instructor, Lt. Col. Joseph Gallagher. A charmer in a flight suit, Joe wants to explore both Colorado and a growing relationship with his new cubicle mate. The office was bad enough, but Jackie’s beside herself when Joe shows up in her home and church, even turning her grandmother’s weekly bridge game into poker night!

Jackie goes online to vent, but she eventually finds herself admitting her conflicted feelings about this office neighbor who drives her crazy and makes her heart flutter. But when her blog—The Cubicle Next Door—is featured on TV, everyone begins to read it, including Joe. Will he figure out the anonymous confessions and frustrations are written about him? And how will Jackie ever express her heart offline?

***

This tale of limited work space, hidden identity, and cyber confessions is for anyone who has ever longed to be themselves and to find a life beyond cubicle walls.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; 1 edition (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736917586
• ISBN-13: 978-0736917582
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,860 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and light romance, yet serious at the same time, June 11, 2008

By	L "fairytales&dreams" (Where unicorns and fairies play) - See all my reviews

The Cubicle Next Door is a light-hearted romance told from the point of view of Jackie Pert Harrison, a 31 year old single woman that works as a computer tech/administrator at the Air Force Academy. Her life gets turned upside down when she finds out she has to share her office with a new instructor, Lt. Col Joe Gallagher a pilot who's been grounded due to a temporary medical problem and assigned a teaching position at the Academy. Jackie is a reserved woman, used to doing things her own way, used to the routine of her life, and she is dismayed and disgruntled that Joe upsets it all. In personality he is the exact opposite of her. Outgoing and friendly where she is quiet and standoffish. He seems to not take anything seriously, while she takes everything too seriously.

At first, Jackie does everything in her power to stay away from Joe, but he is there every time she turns around. Asking her to eat lunch with him during break, moving into a house a few blocks from her own, always trying to engage her in conversation when she'd rather be left alone. Eventually, Jackie starts to like him (against her will of course!LOL), and she slowly but surely falls in love with him.

I really enjoyed reading this book. This book is categorized as Christian romance, but there is no overt displays of faith or spiritual issues touched upon. Both characters are Christian and they both attend a church service together later in the book. This book reads like a lot of mainstream chick-lit books out there, as it is told in 1st person POV, and there is a lot of funny thoughts and moments you are privy to from the narrator, Jackie.

Although there were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, I could see the more serious undertone throughout the book. Jackie struggles with trying to accept the fact her mother abandoned her as a baby right after giving birth to her, and the fact she never knew her father (he died in Vietnam before she was born). Her fear of being just like her mother (who fell rashly in love with her father one summer, an Air Force instructor, then her mother's devastation at his death, and her subsequent abandonment of Jackie) causes her to push Joe away and refuse to acknowledge that she does have any deeper feelings for him.

In Jackie's eyes, she feels it's easy to never have loved than to love like her mother did and cause pain for those closest to her (namely, Jackie and the grandmother who raised her). However, Joe has other ideas and he continues to pursue her, trying to become friends with Jackie. Jackie gets exasperated and starts a blog to vent her frustrations about life sharing a cubicle with another co-worker. The author included Jackie's blog entries prior to the start of most of the chapters.

This book has no sex scenes or any other depiction of physical intimacy between Jackie and Joe. The most that happens is a kiss and that's not described in detail at all, oh, and a lot of hugging. =) I don't think a romance book needs the graphic sex scenes to be considered a romance book. Most women read romance books for the story, the growth in relationship between the main characters. I thought the author was very effective in showing and describing the developing relationship between Jackie and Joe. The only downside with a story told from 1st person POV is you don't get the perspective of other main characters, in this case, Joe. I could understand why Jackie was so hesitant about being with Joe, but I couldn't really see what Joe saw in Jackie, although by the end he does give a reason why he never stopped pursuing her.

Oh well, despite that negative, I still found this book very enjoyable to read. It made me smile, laugh, and cry (there were some sad parts when Jackie visited her father's grave and her thoughts on her mother). IMO, I think that's a mark of a good book. When you can laugh or be sad with the characters, and it touches you emotionally.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read with depth at its center, November 10, 2006

By	Christina Lockstein "http://christysbookblog.... (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The Cubicle Next Door by Siri Mitchell is a delightful read. Jackie Harrison is a civilian working at a military job and trying to keep herself together. To vent about her job, she writes a blog titled The Cubicle Next Door. When she gets a cubicle mate, Joe Gallagher, she really starts pouring out her frustration on the blog, but is stuck when her blog starts getting national attention and even Joe starts reading it. Mitchell includes lots of fun details about blogging, but the story really revolves around Jackie's fear of opening herself up to others. Jackie's slow evolution is at times heart-breaking and hilarious (and at times both). Something I really appreciated about the book is Mitchell's obvious respect for the military. She writes about them with humor and appreciation without being irreverent or obsequious. The relationship between Jackie and Joe grows naturally. The occasional blog entries are well done. Jackie's also a fun character to read about, because female computer geeks are not often written about, so Mitchell makes Jackie fresh and a hoot to read. Her sarcastic humor skewers both herself and the world she lives in. Not just a great chick lit read or a great Christian read, but a great read overall.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Light Christian Romance, June 27, 2007

By	Coppertop (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This isn't Christan fiction of the type where there is a great spiritual revelation. Both Joe and Jackie are already Christians, but each with their own issues. Joe is career Air Force, but migranes have stuck him teaching European history to cadets (this is actually why I picked up the book...I'm a history prof...but there is VERY, VERY little history in this book). Jackie is a civilian techie who works for the Air Force. She's forced to share a cubicle with Joe and starts a blog about her problems with this. Jackie has been raised by her grandmother b/c her father died in Vietnam and her mother ran off to India right after she was born and has definite committment issues. Joe is the type never to take no - a good thing when dealing with Jackie! Jackie's blog entries are placed right in with the storyline and it works very well. It is a cute, entertaining light Christian romance. Great summer time reading!