Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for giving me the chance to read this lovely story, but I would have to say that it was not my thing to read. Yes, I loved its hero Will, and his story, how he fell in love with the heroine Nora...but then after 16 years later that chemistry lacked several times, to me. No idea about other reviewers who I hope you like this story because it is not that I did not like it or enjoy it, I just fell out of love with the love story, I found some moments that were amazing, I laughed out loud, but I also kept hoping for more of Will's story and I kept thinking he could have done something to at least say "hi" to Nora. This could have brought more chemistry when they finally met each other or when he saw her years later. I honestly loved the good times in this story, but I ended up not caring at all. I am sure it is a lovely story, but not for me and I have to accept that even though I am a romance reader, not every love story is for me. For me this story was 3.6 stars. Very well structured main characters, but not chemistry at all.

Kate Clayborn’s Love at First is a great read and will be a must read in 2021.

Will spies his Uncle’s neighbor above him during a big moment in his life at sixteen years old. He has poor eye sight but it’s love at first sight. The teen above is Nora, who lived with her Nonna every summer in that Chicago apartment building.

I won’t tell you much about the plot because it’s just a delicious, beautifully built story full of rich unfolding layers.

We are able to see and hear about each of the MCs lives as they breakdown their walls and find friendship. There is a romance that is a slow burn with a lot of connection.

During this isolating time of covid I sometimes felt PROFOUND loss and joy while reading this book. For anyone who misses their community or being apart of a neighborhood this book will bring that feeling right back to you.

This is my first read of Clayborn’s work and I will be going back to read Love Letters and more!! I’m a historical/contemporary romance reader and loved this book. I think fans of Katherine Center or Jojo Moyes will love this book!

Thank you so much to #Netgalley and #Kensington Books for the eArc in exchange for a fair review. #KateClayborn #LoveatFirst

This is the first Kate Clayborn book I am reading and I have to say I really enjoyed it and I’m considering reading some more! I read about one or two contemporary romances each year, one is always by a good friend and favourite author, so I now know where to look for a second!

This whole story started sixteen years ago, when a fifteen year old Will Sterling, kind of saw, but mostly heard the girl of his dreams. It was a brief encounter, as he stood beneath her apartment. This memory stayed with him throughout the years, as he never had a chance to talk to her. But he tried not to cling on it. Now, out of the blue, he finds himself back in that apartment complex. He just inherited an apartment there, which he doesn’t plan to use. Instead, he plans to either sell it or rent it out. But he finds himself talking to a woman two balconies above, in the middle of the night, after one of his very demanding shifts in the hospital.

Nora Clarke has a habit of getting up at 4 o’clock in the morning to enjoy what she calls the golden hour. At on of such occasions she notices a handsome stranger standing at the balcony of her late neighbor. They start a conversation and before she has any chance to get to know his plans about the apartment he rushes back to the hospital. Despite her hopes that the tall doctor will appreciate his neighbors and the building, she receives news about short term rental plans that makes everyone unhappy. Not wanting to let down the people she considers to be her family, she sets out to sabotage his efforts, falling in love with him in the process.

This heartwarming story is the best thing to read after all the unpleasantries we went through this year! It surely takes your mind away from all of that, from the reality and sends you away on a journey through love. Reading about the relationship Nora has with her neighbors one can only realize that we actually chose the people that are close to us, the ones we consider to be family, even if we don;t share the same blood. And these people, or chosen family, will always be there for us, as we will be for them. They will always look at for us and they will support us in every decision we make, trying also to help us see what is best for us, without really forcing us on to something.

The characters are so real and so loveable you cannot not feel something about them. I was really emotional with Will’s story. This is something no child should be living and, maybe I am a dreamer, but I really believe this is not many children have to go through. The background with his parents and his relationship with them is not something common, not something you would read in many books about and that made it unique. Even though I was not happy at all with it, I really liked how it was all brought up, bit by bit, through Will’s memories and everyday scenes that really tied up with the rest of the story. And most of all, how it affected Will and his response to that. Self preservation took hold and helped him bare what was coming his way. On the other hand, Nora was so attached to her late grandmother that she almost forgot to live her own life. She lived through her Nonna, one of her most favourite people on earth, that was not with her any more. This is somewhat more relatable, as we usually don’t like changes and we feel more comfortable with life as I knew it so far, even though it doesn’t make our everyday easier.

The romance between them was so beautiful. It was build on bits and pieces of every day and every action and every little thought or discussion. It was a realization of sorts through time and experiences and it came so easily and unrushed that it was most enjoyable! It’s a slow burn romance that I totally recommend to lovers of the genre!

The book comes out on the 23rd of February, so do keep an eye on it!

Thank you to NetGalley & Kensington Books for an advance copy of this book. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.

4.5 stars - This is another fantastic read for this newish to me author. Hands down, the most special thing about Love at First is the characters. It’s an ensemble of mostly older, outspoken, and opinionated individuals. The hero deserves so much more than life has dealt him. This family of neighbors and the cute girl upstairs are just what the doctor ordered. Also, the romance and sexy happens much sooner than it did in Love Lettering, another huge plus!

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

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to recap the plot here, but I'm going to remain in awe about how Clayborn builds the characters Will and Nora and layers them in such beautiful ways. I fell right into this world she creates and it's a world filled with community and human connection that really resonated at the end of 2020-the covid year.

I started and finished this on Christmas Eve at a time when I was really missing human connection from family and friends and Clayborn's book brought it back to me about how much those ties fulfill our lives.

Will and Nora have an intense connection from the start and I love that we see them as teens and get that sense of how their experiences of familial love have shaped their personalities and choices. We are in Will's perspective as much as Nora's-maybe a little more. Their first real physical connection occurs from Will's point of view and it is gorgeous and sexy.

There are friendships that develop and change in this book. There is a sense of place and time. Nora and Will fall in love, yes, but they also learn from each other and from their friends. They do not have to experience and express love the way that they learned while young. You can learn to love differently and thoughtfully. And what a beautiful idea at the end of this year of isolation.

I really loved this book. Get a copy in February and sink into it.

This book was extremely engaging and I read it in less than 24 hours. I loved all the characters who lived in the building and the way they formed a community to support each other. I especially enjoyed that Will was able to become a part of that community and to experience support and love in a way he had not found from his own family growing up. Often in romance at least one of the main characters will struggle with their feelings because they have not had healthy love modeled for them throughout their life, but it rarely takes this particular form. As such, I deeply appreciated the way Will's parents were portrayed by Clayborn; that type of selfish love is often shown as being destructive for those within it, but so rarely do we see (in books) the impact it has on those along the periphery. The neglectful damage done to Will was heartbreaking and I appreciate that it was included here. I think that took this book into territory different from other romance novels and gave us a more interesting perspective on the heroes motivations. I wish we'd had similar insight into Nora's childhood, which I felt was slightly lacking. But in all, it was a delightfully engaging read and I would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

Following up Love lettering, her first book, this novel provides an immersive story that drags you in and makes you not want to put the book down and wanting more. Great story and love the details of the lives of all characters intertwined

This was sweet, funny, and tugged at something deep in my heartstrings the way Kate Clayborn’s writing always seems to do.

This sweet story will warm many hearts this coming February.

Here’s the description from Kensington Books:

“Sixteen years ago, a teenaged Will Sterling saw—or rather, heard—the girl of his dreams. Standing beneath an apartment building balcony, he shared a perfect moment with a lovely, warm-voiced stranger. It’s a memory that’s never faded, though he’s put so much of his past behind him. Now an unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property and get back to his regular life as an overworked doctor. Instead, he encounters a woman, two balconies above, who’s uncannily familiar . . .

No matter how surprised Nora Clarke is by her reaction to handsome, curious Will, or the whispered pre-dawn conversations they share, she won’t let his plans ruin her quirky, close-knit building. Bound by her loyalty to her adored grandmother, she sets out to foil his efforts with a little light sabotage. But beneath the surface of their feud is an undeniable connection. A balcony, a star-crossed couple, a fateful meeting—maybe it’s the kind of story that can't work out in the end. Or maybe, it’s the perfect second chance . . . .”

My thoughts: This was sweet, and I love Clayborn’s writing. I definitely didn’t get as invested into this story as I did with Clayborn’s previous book, Love Lettering.

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded up for Clayborn’s writing. Contemporary romance fans will love the characters in this sweet story.

**Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an eARC of this book. My opinions are my own.**

Love at First by Kate Clayborn is a charming and sweet romance. If you enjoyed Clayborn's previous romance novel, Love Lettering, then you will also enjoy this story. Will and Nora "met" 16 years ago, and now they've ended up meeting again at that same apartment building. Will wants to rent out his apartment, but Nora doesn't approve of that because the other people that live in the building are like family to her; and she isn't sure what kind of people would be living in Will's apartment. A little bit of a battle ensues, but Will and Nora grow closer to each other and closer to all of the neighbors so that they become a kind of dysfunctional family. This story was so heartwarming, and I loved it! Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

There was a point when I was worried that I wouldn't like this book. That the main lady would be considered the free spirited character who opens the main man's world. Instead, it acknowledges that the main lady does live in a tomb. That she has flaws. The main man does have issues regarding his parents but he's not blind to this. Together they try to be a better version of themselves.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

This was a rather leisurely and mystical read. For some reason, Will fell for Nora when he was 15 years old when he just heard her voice from a balcony shooing away some squirrels and never actually saw her or talked to her. He finally meets her when he inherits his uncle’s apartment. Nora resists Will’s plan to put his apartment up for short-term rentals because she fears that will disturb the character of the building. She and the elderly tenants of the building team up to try to persuade him that the building is special. It certainly helps that he still is attracted to Nora as she is to him. And the elderly residents of the building are cute and funny.

I found it took a while to get into this book. There were a lot of interior monologues and descriptions without much action. But it was worth it once Will and Nora started interacting more.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Will hears Nora’s voice from under her balcony when he is fifteen years old, he also sort of sees her but his vision is compromised at the time. He felt something instantly and didn’t see her again until 16 years later.

Love Lettering was my first Clayborne read and since that ARC I’ve completed her back catalogue. I do feel that Kate has grown as a writer, and this one did have that desired glow-y effect on me, especially in the beginning.

Will, Nora and all the people that lived in their building were lovely to read about and it reminded me a little of Beth O’Learys second book The Switch. While I like secondary characters, and the influence of community and older people on a story, I felt the romance lost its way. It was Love at First sight or sound for both of the leads, but I just didn’t like the road blocks. I prefer for a couple to be apart for a while—for the delicious chemistry—but it just didn’t work for me here. I didn’t even feel strong chemistry when push came to shove.. the writing was so good though that I did love and enjoy them together. The first few scenes had me hooked, of course the kittens, the sick scene and the intimate scene were highlights.

I was underwhelmed at times but also really into it at others. This kind of experience really makes me question myself—why am I so hard to please?

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC to read and review.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn.

Will falls for Nora as a teen when visiting the same complex in which he inherits the apartment of his deceased uncle. Will has little connection with what family feels like and Nora is all about familial bonds made by the members of the complex co-op. Will comes in guns blazing to flip his apartment into a short term rental property and raises Nora's hackles to shut him down through trickery.

These two don't have a traditional enemies to lovers trope and that makes this novel fall a bit flat. Their chemistry just isn't present.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Love at First.

I was super excited to be accepted by NetGalley to read and review Love at First that releases on February 23, 2021. After hearing so many good things about Kate Clayborn's novels, I was excited to have my first experience reading her work. This is a cozy, heartwarming read. With an enemies to lovers troupe backed up by a stellar cast of secondary characters, there is something for everyone here. A really sweet read that I was always eager to cuddle up with.

Kate Clayborn is such a beautiful writer, she could probably make a shopping list read poetic. Thankfully, however, Love at First is so much more interesting than a shopping list. As a reader, I felt almost like a part of the apartment complex Nora called home and I adored Will from the very first scene when he was a teenager falling in love with the sound of Nora's laugh. His backstory was heartbreaking, and this book could have gotten depressing but it was so well-balanced with humor and steamy moments that it never did. This was only my second book by the author, following Love Lettering, but I already have a book from her backlist on my Kindle. She's amazing and I'm a fan!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Love at First was all kinds of cute and adorable. In it, you will meet Nora and Will. Now these two met two times in their life. Once, when they were both around 16 years old but it was way too dark out in order to make them see it was actually them or not. The second time around? Well, they were a bit older and are sort of rivals.

I wouldn't necessarily put this under enemies to lovers kind of romance. More like a second chance at romance since he claimed to have fallen for a girl at first laugh. Sounds kind of romantic and I was there for it all. These two had really cute chemistry but I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I just wanted to get through the little drama that I knew was coming my way because I wanted them to work everything out and be cute all over again.

It happened and I enjoyed every second of it. The ending was just really cute and put a smile on my face as well. Plus, this book was really easy to devour - so I can't wait for my next book by Kate!

Love at Firsr is a sigh worthy read. Will was a gawky 15myear old when he spotted Nora on a balcony. He fell for her at that moment amd she was completely unaware. Sixteen years later he’s back at the same building, ready to claim her for his own. I liked the Che us try between the two plus the cacaphony of tenants added into,the mix. The best scene was toward the last part of the book when Will re-enacts a very important scene from the past. I loved the input from others while it was happening. This read will reinvigorate the belief that love can occur swiftly and can endure.

3.5 stars

Love at first is a romance between Nora, a young woman who considers her neighbors like her family. They all know each other and do not like a change of habits. And that change comes in the form of Will, a nephew who recently inherited his uncle's apartment. The only time he met his uncle was when his mother came to talk to him when Will was a teenager. Back then, he saw a girl he still hasn't forgotten... He left before saying hello to her but years later, he'll be able to have a proper meet cute with that same girl.

Overall, this was a pretty cute and light romance with some funny moments. I really liked the characters and it was sweet to see them interacting with each other. While I don't believe it will have a long-lasting impact in my memory, this was still enjoyable in the moment :)

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

I was a huge fan of Clayborn's "Love Lettering" in early 2020, and although "Love at First" doesn't entirely capture that same magic, it's still a warm and witty romance that touched my heart. The story centers on Nora, a long-time resident of a quirky apartment complex, and Will, the cynical nephew who inherits an apartment from his estranged uncle. Will's family history is particularly painful, so he wants to sell off or rent out his inheritance and get out as soon as possible - which Nora and her neighbors most definitely do not want. Thus begins a funny and, occasionally, heartbreaking back-and-forth as both Will and Nora learn to navigate painful pasts and discover that neither of them has the full story.

We all know that a romance rises and falls on the chemistry of its leads, and, in this, Clayborn definitely succeeds. There's just enough of the "sunshine girl/cranky guy" trope to be pleasing, but it fortunately doesn't devolve into dull stereotypes - no manic pixie dream girl here! The supporting cast is a little more standard-issue: their neighbors are charming and fun, but not always memorable; the most intriguing member of the supporting cast is Will's doctor colleague who's, amusingly, both very blunt and very reserved. The pace of the book is just a tiny bit on the slow side, but it remains a sweet tale that deals with real, significant emotions, making it a definite repeat read!