I received this book "Love at First" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. The beginning of the book got my attention but... it started to drag. I found myself trying to decide if I wanted to continue. I did make it to the end but I have to admit that I skipped through a bit. Unfortunately this book was not for me.

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I've come to really enjoy this author's books lately. They are always so full of the emotional and over the top romance that really is one of the reasons I'm drawn to romance novels in the first place. Readers will be swept up by the emotions in this story too - as both Will and Nora have their own emotional baggage to deal with outside of the struggle that is falling in love. Some parts of the overall premise in this book didn't work for me on a personal level just because of where I am in life. Nora is having trouble letting go of the way things were and making any changes at all to her apartment complex or getting rid of anything from her grandmother's apartment that was left to her. And I'm at a point where I'm trying so hard to shed things and downsize what we need to hold onto that the idea of Nora's struggle didn't make logical sense to me. This was a personal thing though and honestly shouldn't take away from anyone else's enjoyment of the book. It was very well written and was so very romantic. Lots of tension leading up to Will and Nora finally admitting they have feelings for each other. And lots of quirky / funny side characters that really made the book so charming and enjoyable! I did really like this book and I'd definitely recommend it!

Thank you to the publisher for this book. I love how this book started with Will as a 16 year old boy seeing a moment that was casted forever in his memory. The story of Will and Nora from enemies to lovers was so sweet. I love how how vested Nora was to keeping the memories of her grandma and preserving the uniqueness of the apartment. It was great to see the journey of how they learned about each other while having different goals for the apartment. The addition of the cast of characters were so charming and delightful.

An absolutely delightful story of finding family, finding yourself, and finding love. It's sweet and kind. It's a little bit second chance, a little bit enemies to lovers, and a lot Kate Clayborn. There are cherry tomatoes, kittens, towel bars, and Gerald, a very endearing secondary character.

I really only have good things to say about this story. I enjoyed the early scheming that Nora engaged in and how that's echoed at the end of the book. I really enjoyed Will and Gerald's evolving friendship. Both MCs grew and learned throughout the book.

It's fairly heavy, though there is certainly levity to help balance, The emotional journey is strong in this one.

Lovely.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sweet love story involving two people who both have experienced hurt and rejection in their lives, and are understandably hesitant to allow themselves to feel the feelings. Surrounded by a community in the house the story centers on, Nora feels fiercely defensive of the apartment she inherited from her grandmother, and the friendships with the other residents. Will, having unexpectedly inherited an apartment from an uncle who wanted nothing to do with him otherwise, is cast as the interloper. Very slowly, both thaw, and a happy end is eventually reached. Lovely, if not especially memorable.

I adored LOVE LETTERING, so I was really looking forward to this book. Somehow, this one just didn't have the same appeal for me. I didn't connect to the premise. The neighbors are just so rude, getting in Will's way when he's trying to clear out his uncle's apartment. They're manipulative and unlikable. The tone is dreary, with a permeating sense of loneliness. The tone doesn't feel poignant, just sad. I suppose the book might appeal to readers who like quirky, interfering neighbors as a backdrop to a romance. It's just not for me. DNF.

DNF at 30%. Love Lettering was something special right from the start. There was a unique approach in that story that I really appreciated. Unfortunately Love at First lacks that special something. The apartment full of zany characters has been done so many times and it's old.. I find the characterization lacking and was turned off by the gratuitous cursing from the male MC. It didn't seem to fit his personality, although his personality admittedly was hard to nail down. Basically, I just don't see much special here which is a bummer because Love Lettering knocked it out of the park.

I’m half-convinced Kate Clayborn is magic because this book is fantastic. She is one of my favourite contemporary authors for writing such fantastic characters and books that celebrate love, found family, and friendship.
Will first sees (but not really) Nora on a sunny day when they’re teenagers, on her grandmother’s balcony. They meet years later when he inherits his uncle’s apartment and she’s settled into her late grandmother’s. The contrast between Nora’s grief and inability to change the apartment and Will’s lack of grief (he met his uncle once) and how he cleans out the apartment immediately to update are a marked contrast.
While they start out with being on opposing sides of building rules, this isn’t antagonistic or enemies to lovers. The attraction is always there. And it is ELECTRIC. The longing, the feelings just when their palms touch…
Love at First is a deeply comforting and satisfying romance. The character development, the intense feelings and uncertainty, supportive relationships, are carefully evolved to move the story forward. I loved Will and Nora's vulnerabilities and how they grew to share them with each other and support each other. A wonderful title to recommend to your patrons looking for contemporary romance.

This book is a hard one to rate for me. The farther along I got into the book the more I liked it. I felt like the author spent a lot of time describing things that didn’t matter (especially in the beginning) and less time describing things that did. It took me awhile to like the characters and to try and connect to them. I think more could have been said about Will and Nora in the past. It would have given the story more depth. Having said all that I enjoyed the book and I was invested in waiting for the happy ending. By the end I would give it 4 ⭐️.

Thank you to Kensington Books for the ARC

Kate Clayborn is a highly skilled writer of contemporary romance. The authorial voice and writing style of the Chance of a Lifetime series are very different from the deeply introspective Love Lettering (review here) and are different once again for the angst and humor of Love at First. Clayborn has the remarkable ability to adapt her writing to fit the story, rather than requiring the story to work around her craft. Clayborn remains one of my favorite authors, and I can’t wait to see what she will write next.

Full Review: https://frolic.media/book-of-the-week-love-at-first-by-kate-clayborn/

This was so wholesome! And uplifting, as promised. The exact breath non-soul-crushing, non-utterly-devastating fresh air I needed. It took awhile for things to *get going*... if you know what I mean (see “wholesome” above), but I was cool with it. Cute vibes in a PG-13 rom com kind of way.

I received Love at First from NetGalley in return for an honest review. Unfortunately Love at first wasn’t a fave. I was looking for a romance to read over Valentine’s weekend but what I got was a pretty depressing tale of love and a lot of need for some therapy for these two main characters. The main characters, Nora and Will are both sweet and well meaning in their own right. Both are introverts and this seems to cause the story to move at a snails pace. Neither want to make a move or appear to be making a move. While this starts as a second chance romance - Will saw Nora once on a balcony when he was a teenager, it turns in to more of an enemies to lovers romance? Sort of? I’m not sure. They had quite a bit of malice in their choices of trying to sabotage each other.

Some bright spots in this book are the large cast of secondary characters living in the building where most of the story takes place. Also the character development we get from some of those characters is super impressive. I especially love Will’s coworker’s character arc. Also when Will and Nora are at their best their are super sweet together and you the reader are definitely rooting for them.

Over all this is a sweet romance with a lot of pacing issues. While it felt like a rather long read, there wasn’t a lot that happened which was unfortunate. The tone was very sad for most of the book and just wasn’t what I was looking for at the time. If this doesn’t bother you and you love introverts falling for each other than definitely give this one a try.

Nora grows up in an old building visiting her Nonna every summer. Will is raised by parents who ignored him and left him an orphan at 17. When Will's uncle Donny dies and leaves the building to Will, he wants to unload it fast. Nora can't imagine the building ever changing. When these two meet, each of them begins to change and see another perspective. What ensues is a love story that makes you smile as they make their way to HEA.

This was a really sweet book. It started a bit slow, allowing the reader to spend time getting to know Nora and Will and their individual motives regarding the apartment building. Their scenes together were lovely, and I found myself wanting more moments between them. Slow builds usually give the best payoff, and this was not different. Will definitely be recommending.

Heat Factor: It’s sweeping and romantic
Character Chemistry: So perfect
Plot: He first saw her as a teen, on a day that changed his life forever. Sixteen years later, he meets her again - only to discover that they’re now on opposite sides of an emotional divide.
Overall: Automatic favorite. I am wrecked.

I have been wanting to read Kate Clayborn for a while, but I hesitated to pick up this book because I knew it was going to play with my emotions, and I just wasn’t prepared for that.

And I was SO. RIGHT.

The novel is calm, driven by the thoughts and feelings of the protagonists and those surrounding them. While the blurb might make it seem like the conflict between Nora and Will is antagonistic, it really ends up being more about how people bring their pasts into their futures. How trying to control what is out of control is a means of coping with changes as we age. How we hold on to things - or ruthlessly eradicate them from our lives - as a means of maintaining that control. Nora and Will, because of their pasts, have almost diametrically opposed approaches to controlling their lives, but when they finally begin to reveal themselves to each other, they see new perspectives that ultimately allow them to be most fully themselves.

This book is SO. GOOD.

Clayborn does an exceptional job of revealing the fears and motivations of Will and Nora to the reader because they are slowly revealing their fears and motivations not only to each other but to themselves as well. The moment that Nora realized that there might be a version of reality in which Will wasn’t just a mean troll about his uncle’s apartment, that he had had an extremely negative experience in that apartment that impacted his entire future, evoked the same emotional response that one might have if one were in Nora’s shoes, having Nora’s experience for oneself.

Clayborn’s prose is poetical, gently pulling the reader along this emotional roller coaster, but still building to huge emotional moments in baby steps that make those interactions between Nora and Will feel enormous and important. That’s not to say that it’s all serious. There are moments that feel playful and just right - like when Will considers the discomfort and embarrassment of fogging his glasses while kissing or when Nora drools on his pant leg while she sleeps or, frankly, just about any interaction Will has with Gerald Abraham, who is burrowed into my heart forever.

Finding a home, a family, love; overcoming long-held fears; letting go of the past when change is scary - it’s all here.

And it is BEAUTIFUL.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Kate Clayborn’s spectacular Love Lettering was the first book I read in 2020. Now, while the rest of the year didn’t work out so well, I can’t deny that it was an amazing reading year for me, and now Love at First looks like it’s continuing that tradition. I am an absolute sucker for a found family story, and this is an expert exploration of that trope and its power. It’s also got a bit of a Romeo & Juliet feel, and since that’s literally my least favorite Shakespearean play, you can imagine my shock when I realized how much I loved this book.

I loved how the title is such an integral part of the book. I always get a little frisson of delight whenever I find the title of the book in the text, and wow, wow, this book. I initially thought “Love at First” was referring to the “love at first sight” trope. After all, the book starts out with a teenage Will standing in the apartment’s garden and being completely smitten with teenage Nora on the balcony – the initial and most identifiable parallel to Romeo & Juliet. The delicious irony here is that Will, suffering from an overabundance of jock machismo, has so far refused to get glasses, so he can’t actually see the mystery girl he’s entranced by. But the events of that day change Will’s life forever, and possibly seeing his Juliet again isn’t enough to overcome that, even sixteen years later. It’s coming to terms with those events that reveal deeper meanings behind “love at first” for both Will and Nora. I won’t spoil what they are, because getting to that point is an incredible journey, but, oooh, I cried.

“We didn’t have sex. He—he grabbed my hand, and then . . . I don’t know. We stayed like that. For a few seconds.”
Deepa blinked. “You . . . held hands.” She tipped back her head and laughed. “This is the most you story. So then what?”


While they do start out in a bit of an enemies-to-lovers position (Will has inherited an apartment in the building and intends to flip it and use it as a short-term rental, which Nora and the other residents are strongly opposed to), neither are ever particularly cruel to the other. Instead, their battles are more rom-comy – death by casserole overload and backyard poetry readings. Nora, after all, loves the building so much that she’s convinced that all they have to do is show Will how wonderful it is and he’ll reconsider. But the event that shaped Will’s worldview – the slow reveal of which is absolute devastating perfection – occurred there, and it’s going to take a lot more than kittens and Shakespearean sonnets to change his mind. The way their relationship builds, with all the requisite pining and hand flexes and leaning-in-doorways, was exquisite.

“A month later there’d be a “For Sale” sign for Donny’s apartment in the front courtyard with a sticker price that’d start spelling the end for this building that Nonna had made a second life in, this building that had—with a bit of fate and a lot of effort—become a family all its own.”


Nora’s building is an extended family, full of quirky characters, so there’s not only this gorgeous romance, but also the various friendships between the building’s residents. They each interact with each other in distinct ways and felt so real that it was relatively easy for me (who often has trouble with scads of secondary characters blurring together) to keep them separate. My favorite, however, was Dr. Gerald Abraham, Will’s boss at the hospital. I will admit to almost, almost loving him more than the main characters. There’s a whole subplot with him and his relationship with his ex-wife – and Will – that made me cry buckets of happy tears. My biggest pet peeve is that there was very little physical description of the secondary characters. There’s a whole conversation where Nora’s best friend Deepa is using the Zoom camera to carefully apply makeup but there’s not even a line about the color of her eyes or anything. It’s a bit jarring.

Overall, this book absolutely wrecked me in the best possible way. It’s a gorgeous exploration of family, grief and love, with a very powerful message, and I highly recommend it!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Love at First was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. I really loved Love Lettering. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. After reading it for a week I’m only 35% into the story.

I like the concept and the characters but it’s very slow going. When I put it down, I don’t want to pick it back up and find myself doing other things instead. That’s the sign that this isn’t for me - at least right now. Maybe I’ll try to come back to it another time.

Thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for the free advance reading copies.

This is a sweet story where, let's face it, we all know what's going to happen but Clayborn has created terrific characters and, well, I really enjoyed it. Will spots Nora on at his uncle's apartment builiding on one of the worst days of his teenage life and doesn't see her again until his uncle dies and leaves him the apartment (don't call it a unit!). Nora is living there full time now in what was her grandmother's apartment, working from home for a San Diego based company. She's also the head of the owners group, which she bands together when Will informs he that he's going to use the apartment as a short term rental. I loved the other tenants, each of whom had a distinct personality but Dr Abraham, Will's boss- he's the best. Nora and Will slowly make their way to one another (there's some real steam once they do) but as in all the best of this type of novel, there's conflict until something (no spoilers) brings them back together. I know this is trope-y but Clayborn's a great storyteller. I know what would happen with Will and Nora but I wanted to know what would happen with everyone else. Thanks to Netgalley for the ArC. A fun read.

Kate Clayborn are you a writer or a lyricist? Loved your writing style so much; It feels like you are writing a poetry....love how the words have a lyrical flow to it!!

Will and Nora are such charismatic, charming couple, you can’t help but fall in love with them! They both have more or less common background and foundation. I loved how the story revolves around an apartment in Chicago and the love of close knit neighbors. Will had seen or may I say heard Nora when he was 15 years old teenage in the backyard of his uncle’s apartment and after 16 years now overworked doctor Will, inherits the same apartment unit after his uncle’s death..

Whereas Nora has been living on and off in the same apartment complex for last 20 years with her grandma, Nona, and have formed a close knit bond with all the neighbors. When Will plans to rent out his unit, Nora tries her best to thwart his efforts and it’s so much fun to read their light feud and sabotage his efforts.

This was a 5 star read for me and I would highly recommend this book to anyone out there who enjoys a good lyrical fast paced romcom!!

Thank you Kensingtonbooks and NetGalley for sending me a gifted copy of this book in exchange of my honest review!!

"You don't have to love people the way you learned to love at first."
This line from Kate Clayborn's new book, Love at First, sums up the feelings behind this book.

This is a story about two people, Nora and Will, who meet when Will reluctantly takes over an apartment in the small Chicago building where Nora and an interesting array of other people live. There is conflict, of course, but there is also a mutual attraction that brings the story full circle.

I liked the story in the beginning. Now, the middle part dragged for me a bit, but in the end, the story wrapped up nicely. I enjoyed not only the main characters but also the other people in the building as well as Will's friends. I thought it was a sweet story with a good message about how we can choose how we love!

I gave this book 3.5 out of 5.0 stars.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC.