Thank you to Net gall eye and Kensington for a copy of this book.

This was a really cute book with a cute premise. Meg was an all around likeable character and you found yourself rooting for her.
Although it was good and had a cute epilogue, it was a bit slow throughout the first half. A bit too much of a slow burner for the type of book it is.

As a romance reader, I loved this. As a New Yorker, I loved this. As a fountain pen and stationery geek, I really loved this. Basically, I loved Meg and Reid's story. Two hurt people silently and shyly falling in love in my beloved adopted New York along with my much adored Tombow and Micron pens - it was like their story was meant for me.
I hide things. My feelings about things in my life, or in the lives of people I care about. I hide them in my letters, and I hide them when I’m talking about the weather or Frisbee or whatever other thing I fill up the space with.
Meg is a newly minted Instagram star of custom hand lettering known for her wedding and journal creations. Despite her success, she's desperately lonely as she struggles to find inspiration and belonging. She's dismayed when Reid confronts her about a secret message she put in his (now canceled) wedding program. Meg and Reid were both so weighed down by secret hurts and pasts that both of them had to figure out themselves before they could figure out how to fall in love with each other.

Meg and Reid do an awkward dance around New York as they discover the city and each other. I loved learning more about Meg as she confronted her fear of losing her best friend, trying to be a good friend to someone new, and coping with her painful past. If there is any place best to do all those, it is of course, New York.

Now I'm off to wander around New York looking for signs and hoping that Kate Clayborn will write another installment in this gorgeously secretive love letter to New York.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn is definitely on my list of books I loved 2019. I liked it so much I read it twice. Meg Mackworth a calligrapher, is in one of those dips we all go through in our lives, her professional life is at a crossroads she’s moderately successful as the Planner of Park Slope but is not sure that she wants to continue in that direction and she has what could be a huge opportunity if only she could work her way through the creative block that has her stymied. On the personal front her relationship with her best friend has drifted in a limbo state where although they still share an apartment they no longer spend time together or really talk and she’s walking on eggshells trying to figure out how to make it work again and not knowing why it’s like this. So when a former client Reid Sutherland walks into the shop where she is working wanting to know why and how she knew his up-coming marriage was a mistake it’s a bit of a wake-up call and she asks for his help in overcoming her creative standstill and together they explore the city she loves and he hates. This is a witty friends to lovers story with a lovely slow burn and a Clark Kent hero who’s buttoned down and nerdy but really hot and hiding a big secret.
Medium Steam. Publishing Date December 31, 2019 #NetGalley #LoveLettering #KensingtonBooks #KateClayborn #ContemporaryRomance #BestRomancesof2019

This hooked me in from the very beginning and didn’t let up all the way through. An understated and incredibly unique romance, Love Lettering features an adorably nerdy hero and the quirky heroine who complements him perfectly. The intricate descriptions of New York and typography will make you fall for the city as much as you do for Meg and Reid. In any other book, the descriptions would’ve been too much, but it’s so well written that it just made me that much more absorbed in the story.

Essentially, the story follows Meg, a woman who has become somewhat famous for her handwriting (think wedding invitations and anything else that requires some fancy lettering). The fame has given her a creative block, and it isn’t until a former client walks through her door that things start to change. A year ago, Meg did the lettering on Reid’s wedding invitations, and after observing his interactions with his fiancée, Meg predicted the relationship would be doomed to fail. When Reid - a man who makes his living looking at numbers and codes - accuses Meg of voicing her opinion about his doomed relationship via a hidden message on the wedding invitations, she’s forced to reflect on what led her to that point. The two forge an unlikely friendship of sorts that heals their broken pieces as they slowly fall for each other.

I loved the slow burn here - these two start out as strangers, almost adversaries, and gradually develop into more. Reid’s not the easiest guy to like (at least on the surface), but I fell for him in a big way. This is told exclusively from Meg’s perspective so the reader is left as much in the dark about Reid’s feelings as Meg is, which made the journey an interesting one. I’ll openly admit that I’m not one who usually enjoys lengthy descriptions of settings, etc., but typography plays a major role in the story and it totally worked for me. You’ll probably either love that or hate it, but it makes it so easy to visualize what Meg sees. I will say that this is such an understated, often serious, read that it doesn’t move particularly quickly, but it held my attention from start to finish without any loss of interest. If you’re looking for a well written, slow burn romance with characters who are as quirky as they are lovable, this is definitely worth your time. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review of this charming romance.

There was so much to enjoy about this romance! The main characters felt real, I love reading about hand lettering, there was a lovely arc about friendship that was as important as the romance, and I'm always a fan of invented pop culture in books, and this one has a great example of it. It's a quiet book, feels very intimate, and a slow burn, all of which I really appreciated.

I have a couple of minor quibbles. The book is written in first person from only the female main character's POV, so we never are in the male character's head. He's a buttoned up person to begin with, and I understand the choice from a plot perspective, but I wish I'd had more of a window into him.

I am also just so sick of whenever math is mentioned, that someone has to be terrible at math, which is the case for the main female character. It does nothing for a character to make her bad at math, except uphold the stereotype that normal people are bad at math and only weirdos are good at it, or that being bad at math is some sort of badge of honor. Really gets my goat.

My other quibble is that for a book that has an element of codes, puzzles, etc., I wish they had been more imaginative. This is obviously because this kind of stuff is important to me personally so when I see it in books I want to think the writer has genuinely come up with something clever (or consulted with someone who could) instead of reading and thinking, oh, that's all we've got? I am well aware I have an unreasonably high standard here.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Happy sigh. I loved this book so much and am only sad it’s finished. I miss Meg and Reid already and I just closed the book.

Meg is The Planner of Park Slope - known for her gorgeous hand lettering custom planners for her clients. She used to also do work for weddings - invitations, programs, etc. And if she sometimes hides messages in her work...well, no harm done - right? No one has ever noticed any of her hidden messages. Until Reid - the groom of a wedding last year - shows up to ask how she knew his wedding wouldn’t work out.

There are so many things I loved in this book. The beautiful descriptions of lettering and fonts. The love for NYC. Characters working on being better communicators (always one of my very favorite things to see). Meg’s personal growth. I’m being intentionally vague so I don’t give anything away but please put this one on your tbr!!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the free book to review.

Kate Clayborn’s book, Love Lettering was truly a work of art for me. I was engrossed with the story from the very first page. I did not stop and was fully engrossed with the story and the characters. Clayborn wrote a beautiful love story that developed organically with amazing dialogue with all the swoon and feels you will crave for. This book is full of this quiet angst, the kind you feel everyday in relationships. The kind you relate to, wondering what you did, where you went wrong, if mistakes are really ever forgiven and what they mean. This is my very first Kate Clayborn read and if the rest of her library is half as good as Love Lettering, I'm destined to become a devoted reader.

This was cute for the most part. I liked the main character, Maeg, a lot. She was relatable but still had a sweet edge to her. The romance was okay but it was too much of a slow burn for me as i wanted it to hurry up a bit in places. I liked the writing style and felt this was a fun little beach read.

I am definitely the outlier here. A lot of people gave this great reviews and the premise sounded promising so I decided to give it a chance. Overall, it wasn't a bad book but the descriptions were so elaborate and sometimes I would have wished for less unnecessary description and more time spent on the characters' dynamics and overall personality. I found myself bored a lot throughout the story and wasn't rooting for the couple. I'd be willing to give Clayborn another chance, though. Perhaps with a more character-based story.

**Disclaimer: I received an ARC of Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**


This Book is so beautifully written! There are many moments throughout Love Lettering that are just lovely. It's such a captivating love story that uses art and the power of art to describe love. This Book is all encompassing and I felt like I was wrapped in a warm blanket all throughout Love Lettering. A must read.

I loved this book! How cute and actually charming (books that have charming in their descriptions aren’t usually very charming). Meg was a unique main character in that she was a calligrapher, which is such a nice change from marketing person which is so frequent in these rom-coms. Meg’s story was so well told and didn’t focus only on her romantic relationship, which I loved, but really dove into many different relationships women tend to have (best friend, daughter). I gave this 4 stars because some of the descriptions were above me and I had to google a lot of typography definitions. It made it hard for me to imagine the characters. But otherwise the story was wonderful.

Love Lettering follows Meg Mackworth, famously known as the Planner of Park Slope. Know for her hand-lettering skills, Meg designs custom journals, artwork, and wedding invitations. When former groom, Reid tracks Meg down for hiding the word “mistake” in the invitations for his wedding, she enlists his help in a project, and the two form an unlikely friendship. But Reid is planning to leave New York by the end of summer unless Meg can convince him to stay.

One of the things I really loved about Love Lettering was how it was not at all predictable. Sure there was a cute love story there, but the overall plot did not follow the usual course. It’s a story about two lonely people who fall in love over a series of scavenger hunts in New York City.

It started strong, drawing me in right from the beginning with its whimsical nature, but slowly lost steam as it tried to develop into a story. It almost had the feel of a short story lengthened into a novel. While it dragged a bit in the middle, it reached a point in the story where it all came together and that made it worth the wait.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the review copy!

First I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this opportunity! I was really looking forward to this book. I kept seeing it everywhere and the more I heard about it the more I wanted to read it. I had read so many positive reviews before starting this book. I found this book to be slow and too descriptive for me. I love some description to help build the story but this was just too much. Too much time is spent on describing Meg's thoughts about almost everything and everyone she encounters. I felt there needed to more development on the relationship between Meg and Reid. The book does have the potential, just wish that there were more Meg and Reid.

Kate Clayborn’s newest romance novel, Love Lettering, will have you looking at signs everywhere you go! Known as The Planner of Park Slope, hand-lettering icon Meg Mackworth is busy designing beautiful custom journals for New York City’s elite. She also has a knack for reading signs that other people miss. Like when she sat across from Reid Sutherland and his gorgeous fiancée, and knew their upcoming marriage was doomed to fail. But no one would notice the secret word that Meg wove into their wedding program, right? She hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid.
When Reid tracks Meg down after a year to find out how she knew that his life would implode on him, Meg doesn’t have an answer. She’s already too busy dealing with a looming deadline, a broken friendship, and a bad case of creativity block. That is, unless Reid can help her find inspiration among the city she loves and he hates? As the two begin to form a connection, both Meg and Reid try to ignore the fact that their friendship might be turning into something more. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late.
Simply put, this is a really inventive and unique story! The emphasis on words, letters, and numbers really makes the story stand apart from other romance novels. As many readers and writers probably know, using the right words can make or break the meaning behind them. This novel shows how words, letters, and numbers affect people in different ways. The games Meg and Reid play are so interesting to read about and the way Clayborn describes the letters Meg sees is detailed and beautiful. The reader can really visualize the letters and see the beauty of Meg’s world.
What also makes this novel stand out is the fact that it’s not just a love story; it’s a story about a woman trying to reevaluate her priorities and they way she approaches hardship in her life. The romance aspect of the novel was sexy and fun and watching Reid and Meg both open up to one another is so much fun to read about, but Reid and Meg’s connection only helps to make their faults and insecurities shine.
The whole setting of New York City and Brooklyn really solidifies the idea that New York is a city where anything is possible. Where two adults can walk around taking pictures of old street signs and not turn a single head; where a celebrity and a calligrapher can become friends; where someone can run away from one scandal and end up running into another one; where someone can find love and create her own family when her biological one is in shambles. Overall, this is a great story that will inspire anyone to follow their dreams and take destiny into their own hands. Sometimes, following the signs will lead you on the right path.

I stayed up late finishing this book. That is a rare occurrence these days. So while I don’t think this was perfect, it was consuming. It was intricate and interesting and unique.

This is the story of Meg, a hand letterer who is having a bit of a mid-life crisis. She has a big career opportunity and is having a creative block and is lonely, with her best friend drifting away. This has a romance but Meg was central to the story as it is told from her POV entirely. I do prefer a less one-sided story with greater interaction between the hero and heroine, but Clayborn weaves magic here and drew me in. Reid, the hero, was lovely. He was shy, reserved, awkward. He was honest, caring and patient. While I loved Meg, I would have enjoyed Reid’s POV too. Their attraction was clear from the start, and how they overcame their self-imposed obstacles was a fun journey.

So, I have been sitting on this review for a week now. And I haven’t been sure what I wanted to say. These things come easy sometimes, others not. I guess it’s a not this time. What I know is that Kate Clayborn is an amazing writer. Her writing moves me in small or significant ways every time I read her stories. This was no exception.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is my honest opinion.

This is my first Kate Clayborn book and I found it to be quite enjoyable. It was unique in its use of codes with numbers and letters as a back story. Meg, a talented calligrapher and "letterer" runs into one of her former clients, Reid. Meg had worked for Reid and his fiancee months before on their wedding program. Reid confronts her about the hidden code placed in the program which spelled out MISTAKE. He wants to know how she knew his marriage wouldn't succeed.

From this shocking meeting, Meg and Reid continue to float in and out of one another's lives and gradually enter into an unofficial "project" together. Over the course of time, they each learn how much the other means to them. Meg is in the process of trying to expand her career by growing her independent company into something with much more exposure. Reid is a quantitative analyst who understands numbers better than he sometimes relates to people. Their differences and insecurities often lead to misunderstandings between the two. On paper they appear to be very different, but they are actually a perfect match.....you could say the numbers definitely add up in their favor.

This was a sweet romance with a twist along the way that I didn't see coming. I enjoyed Ms. Clayborn's writing style and look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Ms. Clayborn for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Really cute, if predictable, story about a woman who does hand lettering and calligraphy work who accidentally on purpose hides a message in a clients wedding program that the wedding is a mistake. The would-be groom confronts her after the wedding is called off and they end up connecting and eventually end up cultivating a friendship and then a relationship.

The characters are flawed, but in believable ways for the most part, and their development throughout the story is really good. Enjoyable, easy beach read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc!

Meg, a whimsical artistic letterer, and Reid, a serious analytical no-nonsense man, meet for a second time when he confronts her about how she knew his relationship would fail. They both have an underlying connection of looking for signs and decoding messages.

I’m not going to lie, I had a hard time getting into this book. I’d say until I hit the 25% mark I was struggling, lots of letter references. I was trying to wrap my brain around all the letter descriptions. Meg is having a creative block and she convinces Reid to help her sort it out.

I’m so glad I stuck it out though because it was such a good love story! They truly learn about themselves and discover each other. It’s a slow building relationship where they learn what makes each other tick. They’re both so different but it’s written so well you appreciate how they complement each other perfectly.

I loved her reference to Reid as being very masterpiece theater. Since I like historical fiction, I got everyone one of the references and they cracked me up. I can completely visualize how Reid was acting.

I was hooked in how they shared their lives with each other and their bond grew. This book had substance and a real story underneath that so many romances don’t have. It was so well written and I couldn’t put it down at the end. The beginning was a little abstract for me but I understand the purpose of it in defining Meg. LOVED this story and highly recommend it.

Thank you to Kensington & NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I want to write a love letter to Kate Clayborn to thank her for writing "Love Lettering."

Sounds cliche and horribly pun-y, but it's true. So consider this review my love letter.

I am in love with this story, head over heels in love.

It's mid-December and I'm considering not reading another book this year because I kind of want to 2019 with this book that I absolutely freakin' adore.

"Love Lettering" is the story of Meg Mackworth, a twentysomething who has become the 'Planner of Park Slope' because of what she creates with lettering and designer in planners, journals, and at one point, wedding invitations and programs. She's an artist. An artist who puts a bit of herself in her work. An artist who might've left a secret message in a wedding invitation for heiress Avery Coster and Wall Street 'numbers guy' Reid Sutherland. That message was MISTAKE.

They don't get married, Avery and Reid. And Reid wants to know what, and how, Meg knew.

This question leads to the story of Meg, of Reid, of Meg & Reid. And it is an amazing story. It would've been so easy to make this story simply a romance, but Kate Clayborn didn't do that. She created three stories in one, because Meg and Reid are their own fiercely independent people who hide things and keep secrets, to protect themselves and to protect each other, and hold back until just the right time for things to go from one step to the next.

The story is in turns funny (Meg's inner monologues are hilarious because they are so relatable), mysterious (whatever is happening to Reid makes your heart clench for him before you even know), heartbreaking (the things that happened to Meg and Reid are not things they deserved), endearing (you can't help but become wholly invested in rooting for these too), and satisfying (it's all good, all perfect in it's own Meg & Reid way in the end).

"Love Lettering" is, at it's heart, a story of friendship. A story of what friendship can be, a story of how friendship can evolve and grow. A story of how sometimes you have to fight with every fiber of your soul for friendship, and how that fight is worth it.

This book is, easily, one of the best I've read this year and I hope very much that you'll read it too.

(Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance copy of "Love Lettering" in exchange for an honest and original review.)

Received an Advanced Reader's Copy from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Love Lettering was both wonderfully whimsical and supremely quotable. There's not a single page that that I turned without quoting or laughing or having my heart moved at least a little. There are those few books that make you feel like you're curled up beside a fireplace with your favourite drink cupped between your palms as you lean in conspiratorially, speaking in soft tones and silent laughter with a close friend. 

Love Lettering is one of those books. 

What I loved about Meg and Reid was that they represent real people, with real flaws, real problems, real insecurities, real doubts and pain. They're real people in a real world, however, they just see things we don't always see. The book is snowflakes upon snowflakes of signs; the ones you see, the ones you miss, the ones you love and the ones that scare you. A woman who loves letters and a man who loves numbers and the story of how these two characters find where the love they have for their respective glyphs fit into their lives and in turn, how these two fit in one another's lives. 

This book is a fantastic read on how to work on relationships, but it's so subtly done that it fits beautifully in the unravelling of the story. Some of the secondary characters have some very very crucial role in Meg's understanding of what a healthy relationship looks like. I love how Meg actively works on what she has learnt. It's what all of us would do, when we find a healthy solution to something that has been plaguing us all our life. We'd insistently work on it, trying to find how this solution fits in our life and how we can change some of it to suit our needs. 

Sometimes while reading about Meg and Reid you feel like you're cradling a newborn baby in your arms for the first time in your life, or caressing the wings of a butterfly or holding gently the wrinkly soft hands of your grandparent. The vulnerable beauty of that is evident in both of them and their interactions and it makes something soft and sweet bloom inside you that you want to protect, cherish and hope for in your life. 

There are certain people in this book that upset you, certain things that hurt and being more used to characters that lash out, hurt and spiral, we're a little shaken with how different it is in Love Lettering. In the beginning you want them to just cut their losses and leave, but would we do that in our lives? To people we've known and loved with all our heart? I wouldn't. I would try. I would speak, put effort and try again. Meg is gentle in a way most of us probably are in real life, perhaps that's why it took me a moment to ease myself into the pattern. 

Love Lettering is definitely not a predictable read. It takes you by the horns in the most gentlest way possible. But when your world turns on its head, whether gentle or not, it is always evident. Five stars. I highly recommend it. 

Happy reading!