I expected an absorbing plot and engaging characters; I did not expect it to get me right in the feels. With winning characters, a multigenerational found family, and a fun Chicago setting, this romance from a prior Summer Reading Guide author is going to make a whole lot of readers happy. Heads up for several open door scenes.

This is a sweet story about romantic love, families (conventional and otherwise), and learning to trust others with our authentic selves. It’s an undemanding read with some real substance to it, nonetheless. The main characters, Nora and Will, are appealing and believable as they discover that in spite of their differences, they are not so dissimilar after all when it comes to what really matters.
I confess to not being much of a fan of the “romance” genre in general—not that I don’t love a love story, but I usually want more from a novel than most books in that category give. In the right mood, a light read can be great; sometimes we need a comforting, uplifting story, and 2020 has been one of those years, hasn’t it? It’s just that I find that I have to sift through a lot of dross to get any gold when it comes to the romance genre; so many of those novels are just plain badly written. This is one of the exceptions. The writing flows delightfully, and I thoroughly enjoyed the quirky characters living in the apartment building where Nora has inherited the home of her beloved Nonna. She has loved the neighbors in the small block of flats since she was a child spending summers there; they have always been the only real family she has known. Will, a doctor, has also inherited a flat from his Uncle Donny, of whom his memories are anything but fond. Will intends to use the flat as a means of income via short-term rentals, an idea that horrifies the rest of the building’s inhabitants.
The novel’s strength is the developing relationship between Will and Nora in this engaging “enemies to friends to lovers” tale. The connections between the main characters and the other inhabitants of the building also add to the story’s appeal. This one is well worth looking out for when it is released in February of 2021.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this romance. Nora and Will met when they were kids at a very traumatic point in Will's life. Nora's carefree personality brought happiness and joy to his life even if it was but a brief moment. He would later meet her again under the same balcony as he decides to rent out his uncle's apartment and his practical, dull life would never be the same again. They come to know each other through a series of comical sabatoging events. Will is afraid to give full rein to his feelings for her in fear that he would become obsessive like his parents. Nora battles her own demons of letting of the past. In the end, Will realizes that he needs her in his life and theirs become a sweet, passionate relationship built on love and trust. The author does an amazing job building sexual tension and creating realistic, flawed characters that learn to truly love and let go. Really enjoyed it.

I really liked @kateclayborn.author ‘s first book that I read and this second one was just as good! This cute romcom centers around an apartment building in Chicago and made me want to visit the city again. Nora and Will have such a beautiful story with flaws, growth and empathy.

I was so excited to get an early copy of this book! Oh man, it had me hooked from the first chapter, and I flew through it!

I enjoyed basically from start to finish. I really liked the contrast between Will and Nora's feelings towards the building, and I felt that Kate Clayborn did a very good job at handling that conflict. I feel like the pacing plateaued for a bit in the second half of the book, but I will still so invested in Will and Nora and had a very difficult time putting the book down!

Overall, I thought it was a great book, and would definitely recommend (I think I like Love Lettering better though).

4.5 Stars. This was so good! It had a sloooooow burn and by the end I was just smiling so big. I felt so many emotions reading this book and every single roller coaster was well worth it. Heart wrenching, tender, romantic and hopeful and so much more. You just couldn't help but root for Nora and Will straight from the beginning. I totally get the slow burn, they needed time to grow and figure out what they wanted and stop running from everything they had been their whole lives. It was well worth it. Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC.

Oh, was this lovely. Nora and Will’s feud turned romance was delightful, but it was this sentence that caught like a burr: “You don’t have to love people the way you learned to love at first.” The supporting cast was just as much fun as the leads and Gerald deserves all the BFF charms. Clayborn has such a gift for the small details and I am here for it.

Having really enjoyed “Love Lettering” by Kate Clayborn, I was very excited to read her latest book “Love at First” and it didn’t disappoint. If you’re looking for a well written romance story that explores some deeper topics, this is the book for you. Both of the main characters, Will and Nora, have difficult backgrounds. They both need to work through how their legacies will affect their lives in the present. Although the title of the book seems to allude to “falling in love at first sight”, which is pertinent in the story, but it’s actually symbolic of so much more.

Thanks to #LoveatFirst and #NetGalley for the ARC.

Love at First is the second book I've read by Kate Clayborn. Much like Love Lettering, the author has a way with making you feel like you're there. The location is as much a character in the story as the actual characters are. In this case, the backdrop is a well loved apartment building where the longtime inhabitants have created a unique family dynamic. When Will arrives after inheriting one of the flats, it seems the dynamic will be irreversibly changed.

The story was charming and the cast of characters were all likeable, each in their own way. This was an enjoyable easy read.

I really don't have much to say about this, surprisingly. I mean, I enjoyed the story overall. It's cute, it's light, it has some adorable moments. But it's also a little forgettable? That sounds a bit harsh, but this isn't really something I will be thinking about years to come, if that makes sense.

I found myself much more invested in Will and his backstory, and I would have loved to see more of that. Actually, I would have had Will and Nora meet when they were teenagers. I think that would have helped their chemistry, because I found it to be lacking at times. Although I do think both of their individual character developments are quite nice.

But other than that, this just feels like any other romance novel. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I read Love at First and to be honest, it fell flat for me. I was super excited to read this. The whole premise sounded good. But I was kind of bored. There was no chemistry for me. Nora and Will had no spark. It often times felt forced. From the start of the book I was intrigued with Will more because of his family and their whole backstory. His mom and his uncle who turned them away.

Kate Clayborn is a stunning writer. The prose is achingly emotional--it just radiates the ache of grief and desire and frustration and the gamut of emotions that she puts her characters through. And how the title of the book clicked into place within the story in multiple ways was frankly breathtaking. The book tips slightly towards being more Nora than Will, and I often found Nora verging on immature in her attempts to run Will out of the building and too stubbornly insistent on living in the past. As for Will, I sometimes didn't feel we got enough of his thought processes (why did he think he'd be just like his parents when he doesn't seem to be in any other respect?). Those qualms aside, it's a really gorgeously written book.

Wow... where do I begin? I fell hard for Love Lettering and could not wait to get my hands on Clayborne’s next masterpiece. Love At First exceeded my expectations... and more.

I’ve never read a book more tender or beautiful. My heart would race at the small moments between Will and Nora, break for their pasts and fill with joy for the community and family Clayborne created. I loved every minute of this story and the characters. I couldn’t put it down, staying up until 3 am to finish it and then read it again a second time today.

There is something so lyrical and emotional about the writing. Clayborne crafts so much beauty in the simplest of moments and scenes. Her words on the pages are proof that she is a true master in love stories that feature real hardships, real people and real relationships.

Love At First was easily my favorite read of the year.

⭐⭐
Cute contemporary romance. It took me a little while to warm up to this, but I enjoyed it and the writing is lovely.

Will hears Nora on a balcony in his estranged uncle's home and is intrigued by her. Moments later, he leaves, his life forever changed and doesn't see her ever again. 16 years later, his uncle dies, leaving him the apartment. He reconnects with Nora, at first not realizing it's her.

So the initial plot is kinda flimsy... He, a 15Yr old boy, is enamored of a laugh and blurry outline and 16 years later, still remembers it. Not since Prince Eric and Ariel has a man fallen so hard for so little.

Nora and Will are pitted against each other, with him wanting to turn his uncle's bequest into an Airbnb, and she... not liking it. Again, we veer into some odd territory. Nora is obsessed with preserving every memory of her dead grandmother through the apartment building (a strange outlet!). Her attempts at thwarting his plans are toothless and they end up bringing them together.

There is a lot of work put in by the author to sketch out characters and their inner lives (motivation, insecurities, etc). The connection between Will and Nora is always there, but their acknowledging it pretty much takes until the last page.

A few things about this book did not connect with me. The white-ness... Everyone is white. It's fine, but even her BF Deepa (So. Asian name, so prob not white, but no description) has no POV that indicates her to be anything other than white. IDK if I'm explaining it well.

Also, Will and Nora's parents... Guys. (MILD SPOILER) Are white people ok? No one's parents loved them bc they loved each other and their work? Huh? Is this a thing? If it is, I'm sorry, I love you and wish you well.

Finally, I wasn't going to go here, but here I am. When I think about a close community of friendly neighbors who look out for each other... The image is often low income, and/or immigrants and/or black and brown people. Maybe I'm alone here, or maybe this author (and many others) decided this community of people is lovely... But what if it was white with no financial concerns? And wrote this book.

Premise was hard to swallow, but lovely, twee characters abound is this story of found families and community.

#LoveAtFirst #NetGalley

Another gorgeous book from Kate Clayborn. This book is exactly what I needed at the end of 2020: soft, kind, and hopeful. I thought the start was a little confusing at first because Clayborn was alluding to things she didn't want to reveal until later in the story, understandably, but weren't especially needed for the flashback to when Will was a teenager. After that, the story of Nora and Will falling in love takes off. As always, the characters are complex and feel like friends by the time you've finished the book. Also, the supporting characters are developed enough to add to the story without taking away from the primary romance. It's really a master class in character development. Absolutely recommend.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is in the perspective of Will and Nora who almost meet as kids and officially meet again as adults in an apartment building with a "family" sort of feel. I must admit that the main characters kinda fell a little flat for me for the first half of the book and I didn't really understand where the conflict was really coming from. However, it all came together as I kept reading. I absolutely loved the other characters in the book. I could imagine them being the comedic relief in a rom-com movie. Overall, it was a cute book. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Earlier this year when I read Love Lettering, I could not stop recommending it to people and the word I used to describe it was “tender”. Get ready people because I’m going to be just as annoying recommending Love at First!

Will Sterling first encounters Nora Clarke as a sullen teenager on the balcony of the building where her grandmother and his uncle live. Sixteen years later, Will’s uncle dies and leaves him the apartment where he meets Nora and her crew of neighbors and solicits their ire by having the audacity to turn the apartment into a short term rental.

Watching Will and Nora fall in love feels like a privilege on these pages. They are whole human beings with dysfunctions and hang ups and so much love. The entire cast of neighbors (and Gerald and Sally!) are integral to how tender and delightful this story is.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions contained here are my own.

Love at First follows Nora and Will, who both end up as owners of units in the same apartment building. Nora, having lived there every summer with her grandmother, inherited it after her grandmother’s death. Nora loves her new home and her chosen family within the building. Will, on the other hand, reluctantly inherits it from his uncle, whom he never knew. To the utmost horror of his neighbors, Will wants to turn his unit into a short-term rental. Nora makes it her mission to show Will why the building and its residents are so special.

This is a mild enemies-to-lovers story that gave me all the feelings. This book dives delicately into some harder topics such as: losing loved ones, resisting change, finding your chosen family and, of course, finding love. To me, this book is not only about their love story but about their path of healing together.
Will and Nora are both complex characters, who are written perfectly. In addition to the main characters, their neighbors are all wonderful in their own quirky ways. Everyone in the book felt very thought-out and real.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read Kate Clayborn’s next story!

I’ve read everything that Kate Clayborn has written, and I’ve enjoyed it all, but I think this might be my favorite. This book is similar to Love Lettering in that it’s set in a city with a couple who shouldn’t get along but get to know each other. I liked this even better than Love Lettering. Clayborn’s biggest gift is her exquisite use of details. I have to slow down to read her books because every sentence matters. She often describes feelings through small physical sensations: the way it feels when two palms touch; the way a new shower curtain allows you a little more room to extend your elbows. A towel bar is a not-insignificant plot point in the book! All of these details creates a feeling that lingers even after you finish the book. It is hard to sum up the way Clayborn’s books are special, except to say that reading them—and having the characters revealed—is the most wonderfully dramatic process. Everything is so deliberate. This isn't a book to rush through. The devil (and delight) is in the details.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Kate Clayborn is a new author to me. I stumbled upon her books earlier this year when I needed a break from all the troubles of 2020. I have to say that I am a huge fan. Her books have characters with real issues. Of course, it's a romance novel, but it just feels like a good story. She doesn't dwell on the sex, but rather on growing the relationship of the characters, which makes it more believable and a great read.

Will is 15 when he falls in love with a girl's laugh. It lights him up inside and makes his heart stumble. He never gets to see or meet her, but his stolen moments under a tree in her backyard mark him. It was a sweet moment right before his world upended.

Fast forward 16 years. Will is now a doctor and has inherited an apartment from an uncle he never really knew. The only catch is that he cannot sell it for a year. The apartment is very dated as well as the building where it resides. The tenants are all elderly, except for the woman on the 3rd floor - Nora. Turns out Nora is the girl he heard all those years earlier.

Josh is intrigued by her, but feels that he isn't cut out for any kind of lasting relationship. Residual trauma from his parents. Nora is also smitten with Will, but his determination to turn his apartment into a sort of Air BnB puts her feelings at odds.

Working through their issues and developing their relationship is just so sweet. Clayborn introduces the quirky neighbors into the mix which layers in the depth. She also takes her time with the story, once again making the reader feel like their getting a glimpse into a real life romance. You can't help but root for Nora and Will. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for my ARC of this book.