Will and Nora’s story is a slow burn, frenemies-to-lovers, romance story. The characters both had a less than favorable childhood and history. Love at First wasn’t really that, exactly…more of a second chance? I thought the storyline was written ok, I enjoyed it ok, there was humor and family and friends, but I didn’t feel the “romantic” connection that I like to feel when I read a “romance” book. This is a lot like Author Kate Clayborn’s other books…enjoyable, but not a grab-you-deep type read. 3.5 stars…rounding up to 4.

This was my first Kate Clayborn novel and I'm in love! Omg, it was beautiful- the writing, the plot, the characters! Everything was amazing! This book definitely gave me some Romeo and Juliet vibes! LOVED IT!

“Love at First" by Kate Clayborn is a "boy meets girl" story...er..rather, 16 years ago, the boy hears a girl's voice speaking from an apartment building balcony he is standing under and becomes mesmerized with her from afar but doesn’t actually meet her and now, fast forward, has inherited an apartment he doesn’t want in the building (and people don't want him there)...they come face-to-face but they don't exactly sail off into the sunset...at first.

It's a bit of a star-crossed lovers meets sabotage, meets second chances type story- complete with quirky and animated neighbors, dysfunctional childhood memories and of course, some love mixed in.

This was a cute read that I found easy to get lost in. The people in the apartment building are a bit much and in real life, I would have totally moved out of there but the relationship was pretty sweet...and there's a cute kitten moment too if that is your jam.

Thank you Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I never get tired of getting lost in a great love story. Love At First by Kate Clayborn was one of those stories for me. I was immediately sucked in and happily went along for the ride. What a ride it was!

I think every character in this book was in some way damaged by love. Either their parents couldn't show them proper love or they were spoiled by the love they had and lost. There were many kinds of love. Love between family, friends and friends that became family.

One of the main characters in the book is an apartment building with six apartments. One apartment was recently vacated when it's owner died. One apartment was left to the owners granddaughter who spent many summers there. The other four apartments have older inhabitants. They all have a love for their home that has brought them together as family. I loved the character and feel of the old building that plays a strong part in the story.

If you're like me and love family, generational love stories, I highly recommend this book. This is my first novel by Kate Clayborn and it certainly has me interested in reading more of her books.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and #Netgalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you!

This was my first book by this author and it won’t be my last! I really enjoyed this light and fun story! I enjoyed Clayborn’s writing style and thoroughly enjoyed the main characters. I can’t wait to read more! Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy.

I received a free advance digital review copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn is a delightful, feel good romance with a cast of diverse charming characters. Using the enemies to lovers trope, Clayborn delivers a well written story with plenty of substance , exploring issues of "found family," neighbors helping each other "age in place," and the ramifications of parental loss. Clayborn treats these issues in a sensitive compassionate way, and the story overall is one of hope, redemption, and of course, love. The neighbors in the 6-unit condo building around which the story revolves reminded me of the characters in Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare, which I also loved. I was hoping to learn more about the estrangement between Donny and his sister, the uncle and mother of main character Will (Will's inheritance of Donny's condo and his decision to turn it into a short-term rental is the event that sets the plot in motion), but that storyline is never resolved. My favorite character was Will's seemingly gruff boss, Dr. Abraham - the secondary plotline of the doctor's evolving relationship with his ex-wife (who helps Will with his condo rental plans) and with Will was both heart warming and funny, and I'm glad that Clayborn included these elements in the book. I would love to read other books that tell the stories of the other long-time building residents.

Kate Clayborn has cemented her place as one of my favourite authors. Her gentle and lyrical style of writing has completely satisfied me. This story in particular touches on themes of grief, fear, friendship and found family. Both characters have to face the changes brought on by death in the family. Their complicated backgrounds make loving others challenging, but they each support the other and grow into people who can love others fully.. The cast of secondary characters are well-developed and lovable. I finished the book feeling hopeful. In this day and age a book like Love At First is a gift!

This was an entertaining, well-written book. Nora, Will and the other characters in this story were interesting and fun to read about. The book held my attention and I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

This standalone novel is more than a romance. It's also a story of found family, self-reflection, and growth.

Will first heard Nora's voice on a day that stands out in his memory for a number of reasons. He hears her voice again (he thinks) when he is at the apartment he just inherited. He is hoping to get rid of his inheritance as quickly as possible and Nora has other ideas.

What follows is a second chance (although they never really met-so it's more like a missed opportunity second chance) and a little bit of enemies to lovers romance in Chicago (I love Chicago!). There are also some wonderful side characters both from Will's work and who live in the building itself.

There were parts of the book that were really reflective about both love and how Will and Nora were sharped by love in their life and how that impacted how they engage in the world. While the reflections slowed the pace of the book, I enjoyed their thoughtfulness and how they inspired me to engage in some of my own reflections on the many different ways our pasts can shape us.

Thanks to BookishFirst, NetGalley, and Kensington Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love At First is a cute book, but it wasn’t fantastic. Maybe I expected too much from the story since I have read other Kate Clayborn’s books and wanted to shout READ THIS… but this one didn’t leave me with that feeling. Not that it was a bad story, it was a good book and I know there will be plenty of people that will love it, it just didn't excite me and I never seemed to get invested in the characters. My mood? Maybe, it is possible that at a later date I need to go back and read it again.

I also didn't feel that the chemistry between the main characters Will and Nora, their personalities fell a bit flat. Once again, it isn't a bad story, it was a cute little romance, however, it just did not capture me like so many before it did,

Another absolutely unputdownable book from Clayborn, whose romances seem to be exactly what I need right when I need them. Her prose is just singularly good, and she has a way of writing about relationships that manages to perfectly capture all of those butterfly feelings you get when love is at its newest and most exciting. Will and Nora's journey through this book is sweet and tender and hilarious and emotional, a relationship that resonated with me even more than the one in Love Lettering (which had different dynamics to navigate). It's one-sided-childhood-crush-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, which sounds like a tricky tightrope to walk and it IS, but one that Clayborn navigates with unparalleled ability. There were so many lines in this book I wanted to commit to memory, and by the end I was a verifiable weepy mess. It's entirely possible that this is my new favorite of Kate Clayborn's and I want to push it into everyone's hands.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

" You don’t have to love people the way you learned to love at first."

This book 🥺❤️

This is my first Kate Clayborn book, and certainly not my last. I already got Love Lettering and can't wait to read it. I absolutely love her writing, her delicate, soft, tender writing. This book was sweet and wholesome and beautiful ❤️

Nora and Will have two meet cutes, both adorable, but they only truly meet and get to know each other after the second. They're in a little feud over Will making changes to the building that holds Nora's family, going against Nora's actions in trying to keep everything the same as a sign of love and loyalty to her grandmother and the found family she has there.

So he keeps making plans, and she makes others to sabotage them, in the cutest softest way possible!! And along the way they fall for each other, and to be together they have to face the problems they each have with love, especially Will who stops himself from loving, afraid of becoming something that caused him so much pain.

But this book gives them a perfect progression, allowing them to sort through their feelings, to grow, to find out how they want to beloved, and how to love each other.
And you also have other elements to the book, like the beautiful found family in the building that I adore. And it balances all these parts perfectly. Nothing takes over, everything takes its time and space and is so well written.

All the characters are lovable, both main and secondary. Will is a sweet sweet cinnamon roll you just want to hug, and Nora is amazing and they're both so realistic and layered.

And I loved loved loved Nora's family, Deepa, and the delightfully surprising Gerry!! 😂❤️

The book had me all smiles while reading it, and I was grinning like a fool during that entire epilogue. I'm a fan of epilogues, but this specifically was perfect!!
A perfect continuation of the slow sweet progression of the relationship I mentioned before. They learned more about each other, really grew as individuals and together, made the right calls at the right time, and write their story at their own pace.I loved it❤️

Huge thanks to the author , Kensington books, and Netgalley for the arc!!

Okay, this might be one of the sweetest books I’ve ever read.

I don’t really use the word swoon, but that’s exactly what this book made me do.

I was happy, I was sad, I was smiling ear to ear. I wanted to cry. I felt all the emotions.

Nora and Will are the cutest and WOW the last chapter and the epilogue! I think I actually died from how cute and perfect it was!

This is an enemies to lovers, dual POV story and in addition to the MC’s, this book had a fabulous cast of side characters.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the hilariously awkward relationship Will had with his boss Dr. Abraham. Their interactions were so awkward I couldn’t help but to cackle every time.

This is an open door romance although it is not a particularly steamy read, but that’s okay because it’s such a sweet story, so please give it a read!

Also side note, does Kate clayborn only write the most beautiful love stories? That’s rhetorical, because duh of course she does. And if you haven’t already read her book, Love Lettering then you definitely need to check it out!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen years ago while visiting an uncle he never knew existed, Will Sterling - waiting outside while his mother and uncle fought inside - was captivated by the voice of a girl his age. It was a perfect moment that's stayed with Will throughout many more imperfect ones that came after in his life.

Unexpectedly brought back to the apartment complex after his uncle leaves it to him in his will, Will is caught again by that same voice. Only this time, he also has a name: Nora Clarke. But Will has no plans to live in the apartment, instead he wants to fix it up and sublet it out.

Nora has such fond memories of the apartment complex. She used to visit her grandmother there every summer and it was the one constant in a life often full of surprising unknowns. The apartment and the other people who live in the complex are her family. While she's immediately drawn to Will Sterling, she can not get behind his ideas for changing or sprucing up the place.

What ensues is a back-and-forth game to get the other person to admit defeat. Ultimately what happens is Will and Nora are drawn closer and closer to each other to the point that they'll each have to decide if they can let go of the past enough to find true happiness.

I was really drawn into this story by the premise. Of those often simple and sometimes seemingly insignificant moments in your life the just stay with you. I think we all have them. As far as meet cutes go I think this is a really sweet one.

The idea of Will and Nora being instantly drawn to one another, yet finding out they don't see eye to eye in regards to the apartment complex, just brings to the forefront their own insecurities. So as they challenge one another - Nora trying to keep Will from changing the complex, seeing the beauty in what is already there and Will showing Nora that change doesn't have to be a bad thing - do you begin to see where the other needs to get in order for them to move forward with a relationship. I like how neither character is right or wrong in their overall assumptions, they just have to personally take the leap for themselves. It's very internal processing on their parts I feel, but the plus side is getting to be with someone who truly understands where you come from. Seeing Will and Nora get to that point, or seeing IF they can get to that point is worth the entire read of the book.

I kind of like the ambiguity of the conflict between Nora and Will. If you really sit and think about it, the conflict is silly to say the least. From the outside it's silly. But that's when you think about people's feelings on the inside and how you trace these feelings back to their source that you find the true conflict of it all.

Will grew up with parents who were more focused on each other than they were on raising Will. Nora, too, grew up with parents who were more work focused than they were in raising their daughter. Whereas Will learned to become self-sufficient, Nora did have her grandmother's love to fall into, and losing that makes her want to cling to the things she familiar with, not to let that change happen. Whereas Will wants nothing that he can associate with the past. He's always trying to look forward but in doing so he can miss the things that are right in front of him.

The other families in the apartment complex are like a secondary character treasure trove. I love the camaraderie that they all have with one another, and I like that they are all so close. It almost feels like a bygone era. It's been quite a while since I've lived in an apartment myself, but I was never super close with my neighbors. I knew who they were of course, would give a nice hello in the hall, but that was it. I love how these people have all become extended family. And I like good family, they love to be up in everyone's business :)

Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I loved the ease in which I could slip into the story. I haven't read all of Kate Clayborn's previous books, but I'm thinking I need to fix that soon!

Love at First is a sweet, not too steamy romance that will make you feel lots of the feels. I loved the story, the main characters, and the amazing friend group. The story was a little slow for me at times, but that is most likely a me problem. Will and Nora have a swoony type of romance, with their backgrounds the only obstacle to overcome. I would recommend this read.

I’ll admit, I was in a bit of a reading slump when I started Love at First. Because of this, I didn’t do my usual read-in-one-sitting read of this book but rather, stretched it over a few days. This actually gave me more time to enjoy the book and revel in the beauty of Kate Clayborn’s writing. I honestly don’t have words to describe how skilled her writing style is. You really used need to pick up one of her books and experience it for yourself.

The title of Love at First and the description made me think this was going to be a lovers reunited story. But really, it was a story about discovering what love is and what it means to you. There are examples of unhealthy love, platonic love, love in friendships, love in found families. This is honestly just a love story. Will and Nora are such expertly crafted characters with hidden depths and as they find their way to each other and develop their own love story, it’s just everything. In addition to Will and Nora, there is a whole cast of intriguing side characters who help bring this story to life. Love at First is a beautiful story and one that really hits home with a reader who’s life is going through changes.

This is the second book of Clayborn's that I've read - and I really enjoyed it! Set in Chicago, the two main characters (and perspectives), Will and Nora, come together in a classic Chicago apartment building. Will unexpectedly inherits a unit from his estranged uncle. An emergency room doctor, he doesn't have the desire or inclination to actually fulfill the clause stipulating that he reside there for 12 months before selling. Nora, meanwhile, has moved into her grandmother's beloved apartment - and loves everything about the building and the family that her fellow residents have always been to her since she used to spend summers there as a child. But Will threatens to upend all of that security.

It's not quite an enemies-to-lovers, but close enough to make it fun and fresh. Plus, I love a good Chicago setting - and all of the characters, major and minor, really come to life. It's an entertaining - and pretty romantic - read. There are some steamy scenes but nothing crass or overly explicit (though I am not sure that I would want to listen to an audio version). I am definitely going to continue keeping my eye out for more from Clayborn!

Goodness gracious. This book is so sweet and beautiful. I adored Clayborn's Love Lettering and was so excited to be able to read an arc of Love at First.

After the passing of his uncle Donny, Will inherits his apartment in a building full of quirky and primarily elderly neighbors. Will doesn't have the time or desire to live in the apartment and can't sell it for 1 year so he decides to open it up as a short term rental, much to the chagrin of his neighbors especially Nora. As Nora and Will battle over his apartment, they begin to become friends and attraction builds.

Nora and Will are both so sad and complex: Will hides his sadness behind rigidity and Nora doesn't let anything around her change as a shrine to an apartment building full of people who were her home as a child. They both hold deep wells of grief that they haven't grappled with and as a reader your just waiting for the other shoe to drop. This book also holds a significant amount of love and joy: seeing Nora and Will interact with the amazingly funny and unique neighbors, seeing Nora experience the beach, seeing Will build a friendship he didn't know he needed. And obviously, Nora and Will's relationship is the sweetest (and a super steamy) part.

This is a must read!

This is the first time that I am reading a book from Kate Claybourne. I found Love At First a very cute contemporary second chance romance. If you enjoy reading books from Lucy Score you will really enjoy this book. It hits all the feels with great character building with the main characters. It really seemed like the complex was its own little world that only a select few go to inhabit. I felt like I could connect with all the characters in this book and really enjoyed learning about each ones quarks. I was delighted in the detail of the apartment complex and its inhabitants. I feel like some authors gloss over a few details and some just go into way too much detail that I want to just skim over the intricate details. I love how you are introduced to the younger main characters in the prologue and learn a little about Will’s life before he is reintroduced into the present.

Eleanora Clarke is the quirky resident of her late Nonna’s apartment and loves living there. I felt for her because she hung on to everything that was the past with sentimental items and trying to make the other residents happy. I loved how the complex was her family and they all helped and there for each other. I enjoyed how they would stand up for each other and defend what they thought was how things should be exactly like it was in the past nothing ever changing.

Will Sterling was the new resident of his late uncles unit and just wanted to move on from being willed this place. He had a complicated childhood and just wanted to focus on the present. My heart felt for him being put thru so much as a kid and teenager. He is now an adult and has a career and his life already planned out. Then he gets a unit and just wants to rent it out for his own personal reasons. I thought the little disruptions that the other tenants gave Will while trying to clean out the unit were too funny. They were trying to show him how the complex was a “sorta” family.

I especially enjoyed reading when the two main characters interacted it was instant attraction between them both. Her trying to convince him to not rent out his place and causing little distractions but finding something between them neither could fight. Both characters were perfect for each other with learning of what to let go of and what to hang on to. I absolutely loved reading this book and look forward to looking into more books from this author.

~ Brooke

SWOON.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a free e-arc of this title for review.

Kate Clayborn's writing works for me in such a major way. She suffuses all these tiny details into her books, down to the sentence level (with judicious yet delicious use of parens to include little asides!). More than once, it felt like she writes how I think.

The plot of Love at First is a bit slower than my average romance read, but I'm glad I was along for the ride: This one gets swoon-y! The conflict between the two main characters (Nora and Will) isn't MAJOR, which I actually liked - it made them feel more like adults. Or at least, it made them feel true to life/my romantic experiences (sometimes conflict and tension are quiet things).

And I'd be remiss not to mention the cast. Will recently inherited an apartment in Nora's building - she considers all those living there to be family aaand he wants to unload his unit asap. I really enjoyed scenes with the neighbors, as well as Will and Nora's friends.

Mostly this one just gave me warm fuzzies so I'm happy to recommend it!