Unfinished Business

by Clare Osongco

In this funny, warmly chaotic tale of love, a floundering office worker discovers her mother's ghost is trapped in the company Slack server, and must free her by resolving her own troubled love life.

A few months ago, Ruby Ocampo’s mother, Adela, died at her desk at work. Now, lost and driven by a misplaced sense of obligation, Ruby’s taken a job at the megacorporation where Adela worked for decades—and, to her horror, she discovers her mother’s ghost is trapped in the company Slack.

Ruby has never lived up to her mother’s expectations in life, but to set her free, she’ll have to resolve Adela’s unfinished business. She makes a list of all the ways she could live more like her mother would have wanted, covering everything from her stunted career to her love life (#5 on the list: date someone in a higher tax bracket!). Soon her quest to free Adela gets Ruby entangled with two men at the office who might be able to help: the estranged childhood friend her mom never approved of—who's the only one she can confide in about this supernatural crisis—and the hot but vaguely sinister junior executive who's been paying her a confusing amount of attention.

In order to give her mom a chance at the afterlife, Ruby must address her shortcomings one by one—and reevaluate her inherited ideas about love, work, and what’s truly important along the way.

Genres: Romance, Magical Realism, Paranormal, Fantasy, Adult, Fiction, Ghosts

352 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2026

About the author

Clare Osongco is a mixed Filipino American author living in Los Angeles who likes to write about falling in love, messy family relationships, and ghosts. She is the author of the adult rom com Unfinished Business (Dell) and the young adult romance Midnights With You (Hyperion). You can find her on Instagram at @clareosongco.

Reviews

[Mai H.]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You may think this is a book about a ghost haunting Slack. You may think it's a romance featuring a High Value Man™. It's actually about the horrors of capitalism.

I should backtrack. Ruby is a mixed race Filipina American whose mom died at work. After the funeral, Ruby moves home and takes a job with the same company. She uses her personal Slack channel to leave herself notes. One day, in doing so, her dead mother messages her back.

Enter leading men. There's Mark, her new superior. Very rich, very tall, very white. Mom approves. There is childhood bestie Greg. Mom does not approve. And I knew where this was going before we even got that explanation. Mom married white. She also wants daughter to marry white, for better opportunities. Even though white husband/dad left them. But I don't like to talk about sperm donors.

In between all this there is a corporate conspiracy occurring. Layoffs are looming. Unions are forming. And Ruby gets stuck between Mark and Greg. What is the right choice? What is the easy choice?

[Robin]

What is “mom’s ghost trapped in slack server” if not love persevering???

Grief and the things we leave unfinished perseveres most literally in Clare Osongco’s adult romance debut, Unfinished Business, a story involving mothers and daughters and the weight of carrying around our ghosts (of the literal and metaphorical variety). Not everyone wants to be haunted by the ghost of their recently departed mother on the company Slack server and Ruby Ocampo will do anything to resolve her mother’s unfinished business. Even going so far as to put her life into upheaval to satisfy the desires of the newly not-so departed. Life and legacy are complex things and Clare Osongco’s, Unfinished Business grapples with both while serving up an office romance triangle and corporate chaos. As her protagonist sifts through a complicated parental relationship, Osongco builds out an inventive love triangle. Will it be the new junior exec with a passing resemblance to Jacob Elordi or a second chance romance with a friend from childhood? Osongco lets the romance emerge where you’d never expect: Slack check-ins, trivia confessions, and food cooked in secret. Unfinished Business’s romance is perfection but so is its essential framing. Slack haunting as the vehicle for examining how parental expectations and control manifest how we view ourselves and what we are allowed to reach for is not only ingenious, but makes for a deeply moving character study. Unfinished Business is witty, romantic, and emotional and Osongco’s humor cuts through intense moments of grief and hardship with startling complexity. Osongco balances it all with such skill, crafting a multifaceted romance that mirrors life in all its minutiae. Ghosts included.

knew when i saw the thatcher biography that [redacted] was so over.

Bookstagram | Blog

[Azanta (azantareads)]

4.5 stars // finally a workplace romance with stakes, except with more of an emphasis on the workplace drama and the romance takes a little bit more of a backseat in what shapes up to be a story that you would’ve NEVER expected from the description of this book. in fact, go into it blind! i would say if you love Sarah Hogle’s humor/style of writing, a little bit of magical realism in your romances, and a little bit of grief mixed in with your stories, then this is the book for you. the Ashley Poston comp is pretty spot on. what a delightful and strange time i had. i read this in pretty much one sitting, really could not put it down. and: shoutout to the unbelievably hardworking immigrant moms who love us in the best way that they can 🫶🏽

[carthi ♡]

oh this was insane! miss clare pls stop ripping my heart into shreds with each of your books T-T full rtc

⋆˙⟡ — pre-read : thank you for the arc miss clare! im ready to get my heart ripped out ^^ buddy read with the best, harkriti (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) probably our first successful buddy read lol

18/7/25: ˙⊹ new clare osongco book!!!!! and its her adult debut?! AKDJDBJDCSJDCJDC I WONDER HOW MUCH I'LL BE CRYING THIS TIME AROUND hahaha... who am i kidding i'll be crying bucket loads lol. whatever it is, my heart is yours to break miss clare 🫡 also its similar to dead romantics?? EVERYONE ADD TO YOUR TBRS NOW!! only *checks calendar* 382 days to go!!

[Anna (annasbookstacks)]

this was fun!! Super unhinged and chaotic but just a really fun, entertaining time. I thought the plot was silly and entertaining and it was definitely something unique that I haven’t read before. Definitely far out there, but fun. It was fast paced so I read it in less than a few hours which is always a plus. I love a book that keeps me engaged! I really enjoyed all the characters and the grief/healing discussion tied into such a lighthearted plot. I didn’t feel much for the romance but that’s okay, I enjoyed the other parts enough to make up for it. Also really loved the writing! I thought it was witty and fun and kept me entertained. Super fun read that I’d recommend! Thank you to the publisher for the arc 🫶🏼

[lami ✪]

⋆ ── four stars💌
Would it be too much to ask Clare Osongco to stop reading my diary and publishing it as books? But seriously, she’s two for two with me right now and I love that so much. She's definitely becoming an author I look forward to reading.

Adela was a single mom who worked herself to the bone, quite literally, for a corporation that didn't seem to acknowledge all her sacrifices. When she dies, her daughter Ruby moves back to their town and begins to work for the same company, in an attempt to be more like the daughter her mother would have wanted. But she soon discovers that her mother's ghost trapped in the company slack servers and she needs to help her move on.

While Unfinished Business is a lot about finding a way to free Adela from the slack shaped purgatory she's in, it's also about freeing Ruby in a way from all her misguided notions of what's expected of her and the person she should be.

I found this so charming. From the humour, to the romance, and the scenes with her coworkers. Honestly it delivers a lot more than i expected from it and every new thing was a pleasant surprise. I laugh a lot but more importantly I felt seen both through Ruby and Adela. I understood where both were coming from and it definitely hurt. I liked how Ruby didn't magically stop being the people pleaser she tended to be even when it would lead to her own demise.

And on the romance aspect I'm so happy it was the couple i rooted for that ended up together. I obviously don't want to spoil anything but they just made so much sense and I couldn't see it any other way. This book definitely accomplished much more than I could give it credit for.

Definitely had an amazing time with this despite my reading slump and I would highly recommend you read this. I want to express a very heartfelt appreciation to NetGalley, the publisher, and Clare Osongco for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Melany]

I loved the premise so I dived right in. This was wild about her Mom being present in Slack, it was amazing seeing the FMC work through it to find things out. My only issue was, it didn't reel me in or keep me fully invested. I thought it was okay but lacked a bit to me.

[Emily Charlotte]

I had the great honor of reading an early version of this story and am SO excited for the world to get to read Osongco's adult debut. Fans of MIDNIGHTS WITH YOU will appreciate the emotional depth and true-to-life relationship dynamics (both romantic, familial, and platonic), but UNFINISHED BUSINESS brings a whole new level of unhinged humor and satirical commentary to her body of work. The love triangle will make you scream and cackle, there's an unhinged sequence in Vegas that I can't stop thinking about, and the ending is one of my favorites I've read in a long time—both surprising and so, so satisfying. Put it on your radar now!!!

[hannah ୨୧]

2.5⭐️
I have a lot to say about this book. First off, never did i think I would read the words "rizzler" "skibidi" and "growthmaxxing" in a book. I also didnt really like the idea that her mom was stuck in the work app and how her unfinished business meant that ruby had to get a good husband. I did not like her relationship with her mom because of the way it was "resolved". It felt unrealistic after the toxic ways she had treated her. Also, why did Ruby KEEP saying Mark Winterson. I understand that was the point at first, but after WEEKS of dating and even considering marriage, you should at least be able to think of your partner by only their first name. Also the one scene where he almost drowned was so random. I felt like she just put that chapter randomly because of how abrupt and zero context it was. There were more Mark scenes than Greg and Ruby and Greg's relationship fell flat for me. How is it possible that Greg truly loved her if he was willing to give everything they had up just because of what Ruby's mom said. Why were they both so hung up on two light kisses 10 years ago. Overall, it wasn't horrible but not my favorite.

[Gayle]

I was fortunate to be trusted with reading an early copy of this book and I blew through it in like two days. Trust me when I say I still think about it ALL THE TIME. I laughed out loud. I had gut-clenching aches when reading certain lines that just made me feel seen. I marveled at the creative hijinks Clare put these characters through. My hand flew to my mouth at the passion. I just kept having to know what happened next, and when I got to the end, I cried?? Like I was watching a TV show I loved that just ended?? Clare is a generational talent who is brilliant, hilarious, and will make you fly through her pages like nobody's business. The only unfinished business I have is to read this again multiple times. Can't wait for the world to get their hands and eyes on this one.

[Ally Eldridge]

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this ARC!

There was definitely a lot going on - a dead mom stuck in a server, love interests and business matters to keep straight, but it all tied together so well in the end. A great read, especially right before Valentine’s Day and right after Halloween. Definitely on my list of re-reads for sure, I could not put it down.

[Carolyn Huynh]

Had the honor of reading a very early draft and was swept away by the humor, tenderness, romance!!, grief, and corporate girlie ennui. Can't wait for this to come out.

[lianna]

rc review]

that was so messy but so fun 😆

ruby’s mom is mysteriously trapped in tkcorp’s slack server after she dies in the office from a heart attack. ruby now works at tkcorp along with a lot of people she went to high school with and she comes up with a list of things to try that her mom always wanted for her, in hopes that it’ll free her mom from slack.

ruby really struggles with validation and i understood that to another level 😭 she grew up feeling like nothing she ever did was good enough for her mom and still feels this way while her mom haunts the company slack server. but when she starts dating mark winterson, the new senior hire, her mom becomes pleased. on the other hand, i was not.

when you first meet mark, he seems like a nice enough guy. he’s a jacob elordi lookalike, handsome, tall, in a higher tax bracket. but then he starts doing things that raise red flags and you start looking at ruby and telling her she’s gotta get out of there.

greg is ruby’s best friend and he’s the real nice guy in this book. he is not in the next tax bracket (unfortunately for ruby’s mom) but what he lacks in materialistic things, he makes up for in heart. this man will follow ruby to the ends of the earth, even if she didn’t ask him to.

ruby’s mom eventually does find her way out of tkcorp’s slack server, of course. but i’m sure she’s still finding a way to haunt the company itself.

[sammi_reads]

3-3.5
Ruby lands a job at her mother's former company. The company her mother died at only months previously. She starts getting messages through the company system from her mom and fi n ds her mom's spirit remsins. Ruby decides to help her mother pass on by becoming the daughter she thinks her mother wants her to be- dedicated to work,friendly and dating tge right successful man. That includes staying away from her childhood friend and romance, Greg. But Greg is the only one she can tell about her mother's ghost. Why is her mother lingering?

I really loved the concept of this book, and really enjoyed the first half, but then found too much time was spent on the romance we knew wasn't going anywhere. I wanted more of her mom and Greg. The union and her coworkers were interesting too, I liked that plot line, although I wished for more small I interactions with coworkers towards the end again. The ending definitely was rushed and didn't come together the best. However, it was a cool concept and an interesting read.

I'd like to thank both Lavender Public Relations, Dell Romance and Clare Osongco for my free reader copy. My review is unbiased and opinions my own.

[Jess]

*paperback

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.25/5)

Thanks so much to @clareosongco & @dellromance for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I’m not typically big on magical realism, in fact I avoid it like the plague because it always seems to fall flat for me BUT this book was such a refreshing surprise. Who am I!?! I enjoyed a magical realism novel!?!!

It was funny at times, serious, heartwarming and sweet.

The characters all seemed so authentic and I loved the way Ruby was able to get closure and find her happy place to land. Ruby’s mom cracked me up.

I think we can all agree that TKCORP truly sucks. Honestly any employer who treats their workers like that sucks too! My husband is an organizer for a Union so that aspect of the book I really enjoyed and it resonated with me.

Anyway if you want a read that’s new & fresh def check this one out. It’s so unique compare to other stuff out there at the moment.

[Shannon]

3.5 rounded up.

I enjoyed this unique take on a paranormal workplace romance that sees one Filipino American woman discovering her dead mother is trapped in the office slack channel. Trying to help her mother move on she starts fake dating the boss -- someone she thinks her mother would approve of while still pining for her childhood best friend Greg. There's a lot of miscommunication, a love triangle, office politics and corruption and a moving mother-daughter grief story. Heartfelt, hopeful and a fun modern take on a workplace romance that was good on audio as well. Recommended for fans of authors like Cara Tanamachi. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Liz_Dolphin70_Reads]

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was funny and unique, and I love how the female main character led with her heart and not what her mother a.k.a. (ghost) wanted her to do. I love the paranormal aspect of the book. I love when there’s romance and suspense mixed in that’s my favorite. Having the book set in the workplace with all the drama and the love triangle was very entertaining, and I couldn’t put the book down.!

[micah ➳ canonicallychaotic]

Following the death of her mother, Ruby Ocampo finds herself working at the same company that her mother worked for Ruby’s whole life. Also at this company: her estranged best friend (that she may or may not have feelings for), and a new junior executive that is quickly taking an interest in Ruby with an NDA in tow. Also also at this company: Ruby’s mom’s ghost in her Slack DMs.

Unfinished Business is a ghost story, one that takes place in a digital sphere. It’s about communicating, expectations (spoken and unspoken) set and unmet, about trying to be the person you think you’re supposed to be to make someone proud. It’s a second chance to say the right thing, the thing in your heart, to more than one person.

This book was familiar—from the Filipino home cooking and the family party to the corporate world and after-work drinks. It’s also laden with grief. Grief for the words you didn’t say in life. Grief knowing that there will always be a version of you that is the last version someone you lost will have known. That anything you do after that will be unknown to them, and there’s no way to make them proud, only the abstract idea of an afterlife and a careful hope that it exists.

Unless they haunt you via Slack.

Then you need to unpack your grief, rethink it. Ask if you’re the reason someone is still holding on. Try to make sure that their last impression of you is one they can be proud of. But what does molding yourself into someone that you aren’t proud of cost?

Unfinished Business is full of yearning, running into people from high school, employee unionizing, and questionable decisions. It made me laugh out loud, hide behind my hands in second-hand embarrassment/anxiety, and cry. It also made me cry.

[Akira]

Clare ate once again! This was such a fun 5/5 romcom/paranormal romance.

I giggled reading Ruby's inner monologue so many times throughout the book, but I also love the balance of her serious dialogues, especially her inner thoughts. The overall pacing of the story was great, but I do wish there was more! The relationship she has with her mom is so relatable, as a Filipina, and I'm sure many POC will relate to it. There's such rawness in Ruby's relationship with her mom and her doubts about Greg, not because of her heart but because of trying to satisfy what her mom thinks she needs. I could easily imagine this book as a movie, which was a great plus for me.

If you want a fun, fast read, dive into Unfinished Business <3 Congratulations on her adult debut! SO EXCITED FOR MORE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE FROM CLAREEEE.

[Anniek]

Many thanks to Dell and Netgalley for the digital review copy. This book is out now!

I probably should have DNFd this one, it wasn't really the book for me. I either wanted the romance to be WAY more central to the story, or the book to be way funnier and more entertaining than it was. As it is, I found it a little boring for the most part.

[Ella Dawson]

oh that ending made me cryyyyyy. Greg the man you are!!!!!!!

[snazzy pen ✰]

Current rating: 3.5 stars?

I requested this book before I knew what Slack even was, and now I am an active user of it (for a student group, but still) 🥲
I breezed through this and was pretty entertained! I will say that the romance wasn't the most interesting, and I definitely wanted to see less of that one love interest, but I did get surprisingly invested in everything that was going on at the company and the haunted Slack server. Anyway, I'm very excited to read Clare Osongco's next YA book!!

[Mella aka Maron]

DNF at 45%.

I really tried with this one but besides the magical aspect of this book, it's incredibly boring. Mark is THE most boring person alive. And then there's Greg who is such a little wimp? He's all like "Why are you hanging with Mark" like he has a right to have an opinion on her life when he hasn't really been in it for years. It's so gross. Red flags for both of them.

I don't mind our FMC and I like that she's autistic-coded (not sure if she is officially autistic or not). I wish the guys were better. And honestly, I wish her relationship with her mom were more interesting too. Her mom was kind of terrible - and I kind of hated it.

I wanted to know how this ends, but I am so over these two guys are their meh.

[Jen]

A ghost trapped in a company Slack server. A daughter drowning in grief and misplaced obligation. A love triangle set against the backdrop of a soulless megacorporation. Unfinished Business is one of the most unhinged, warmly chaotic, and genuinely moving books I've read this year, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment.

‎👻What Worked

The mother-daughter dynamic is the beating heart of this book, and it is handled with such tenderness and honesty that it catches you completely off guard. The grief here isn't decorative, it's structural. Ruby and Adela's relationship is complicated and loaded and unresolved in all the ways real mother-daughter relationships often are, and watching Ruby have to sit with that while simultaneously being haunted by her mother in a Microsoft Teams-adjacent afterlife is both deeply funny and genuinely aching.(I love Microsoft Teams but Ruby is against it😞💔she has valid reason though)

The found family that quietly forms among the office staff is another unexpected highlight. What starts as background noise gradually becomes one of the most emotionally satisfying threads in the book, by the end, that ragtag group of coworkers feels as essential as any of the main characters.

‎ Something that also genuinely surprised me was how sharp the book's commentary on capitalism and big corporations is. It's woven in naturally, never preachy, but it gives the story a satirical edge that elevates it beyond a straightforward romcom. Clare Osongco is clearly paying attention to the world, and it shows.

👻A Note on the Romance
‎I'll be honest, I was rooting against Mark from the very beginning. Something about him just never sat right, and watching Ruby pour energy into that direction when Greg was right there, being everything, was a particular kind of reading agony. You know the type: you're mentally shaking the protagonist by the shoulders while she makes every choice you wouldn't make. Classic.
‎One thing I wasn't quite prepared for were the adult romance scenes, even though I knew going in that this is an adult novel. I think it comes down to how emotionally attached I am to Clare's YA work, Midnights With You. When you've grown so used to an author's previous voice, their adult debut can catch you off guard even when you logically knew it was coming. It's not a criticism of the book, just an adjustment.
‎
‎👻Who It's For
‎Anyone who loves contemporary romance with a supernatural twist, complicated family dynamics, and a heroine who is deeply flawed in the most relatable ways. Fans of Filipino representation in fiction will find a lot to love here too. And if you, like me, are coming from Clare's YA work, go in prepared for a tonal shift, but trust her. She knows what she's doing.
‎
‎👻Final Thoughts
‎Unfinished Business is messy and funny and quietly devastating in equal measure. It's a book about grief, about the weight of a parent's expectations, about learning to want things for yourself rather than for the people you've lost. The ghost-in-Slack premise could have been pure gimmick, instead it becomes the most emotionally intelligent lens for exploring all of that. Clare Osongco has officially, irrevocably, made the jump to adult fiction. And I will be following her there without hesitation.
‎
‎👻P.S
‎I will be using Greg's mum's airport analogy to explain the plot, whenever I'll force someone to read this book~

[Bbecca_marie]

Unfinished Business 👻✨Review✨ thank you @dellromance for the gifted book!

Unfinished Business
by Clare Osongco
out now!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded ⬆️

In this funny, warmly chaotic novel, a floundering office worker discovers her mother’s ghost is trapped in the company Slack server, and must free her by resolving her own troubled love life.

My thoughts 💭:

This was a creative and heartwarming story! It was the mother-daughter relationship that really stole the show for me. I loved watching Ruby work through her complicated relationship with her mom while trying to help her move on. It was a bit emotional seeing Ruby slowly realize that living up to her mother’s expectations wasn’t necessarily the same thing as figuring out what she wanted for her own life. And of course, we get some romance along the way, which was the perfect addition. Even though there’s something inherently sad about Adela being stuck in the Slack server, the story still managed to feel warm and hopeful. I appreciated Ruby’s character growth. Watching characters make mistakes and stumble through their growth can be hard because, just like in real life, people don’t always learn their lessons right away. Sometimes they have to make the wrong choices, sit with them, and figure things out when THEY are ready. Overall, this was a unique and touching story about grief, family, love, expectations, and learning how to live your life for you.

What to expect 👇🏽
🫂 mother-daughter relationships
👻 paranormal twists
💜 workplace romance
🔺love triangle
🌱 character growth
✨ quirky & creative

❓What’s the last book you read that you would recommend?

Happy reading 📖💜👻💻

[Rita]

3.5

Welp, this book was not what I expected. Yes, there were the slack messages between Ruby and her dead mother that haunted her yet like with any toxic relationship, kept her wanting to appease the ghost. Buuuut I didn’t realize that I was also signing up for a book that was also about domestic abuse. Ruby’s “romance” with Mark was disturbing until the end - making the whole exchange with Greg feel forced.

I wanted to enjoy this novel, as I love reading books that are centered around relationships with immigrant parents yet… this book lost me.

ALSO - why, why, why did she keep referring to Mark with his first and last name throughout the whole book?!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Kamryn]

What a fun read!

I just loved the vibes of this book, it was fun, kind of chaotic, and a little out there, but I adored every minute of it. I was also just cracking up at the slack references as a fellow office girly I thought it was 10/10

Ultimately, it kept me very entertained, and I loved how unhinged it was! it was like nothing I’ve ever read before in the best way!

You’ll find…
👻 a funny ghost
✨ magical realism
💻 found family
🩵 work place romance

Thank you Dell for the ARC!

[Christine Fitz]

This book had so much more depth than I expected from the plot summary. I loved the characters, especially the MC and love interest. I was begging Ruby to get it together and get past her crazy narratives about herself and her life so she could see the obvious plot going on behind the scenes. When things started coming together I was really pleased for her. If you're interested in themes like immigrant families, corporate espionage, and worker's rights, you might like this one. And of course second chance and workplace romance!

Netgalley gift = honest review.

CWs - Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation

[BookishKB]

👻💼 Unfinished Business 💼👻

📖 Bookish Thoughts

My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.

💖 What to Expect
• Magical Realism
• Ghost Story
• Workplace Romance
• Love Triangle
• Childhood Friends
_ _ _ _

📅 Pub Date: July 14, 2026
Thank you to Ballantine, Dell, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Samia | Bookaroundandfindout]

If you were raised by a single immigrant parent you’re literally gunna cry in this one. What a funny but beautiful and heart breaking story about a mother and daughter that said too little too late set up in an interesting kind of ghostly story. I really got emotionally wrecked reading this because it really did remind me of my mom and me. Gorgeous story