My first Kate Clayborn book (can't believe I didn't read love lettering ) . This book tells the story of Will and Nora who met when they were teenagers but didn't really see each other's face only to meet 16 years later at the same building . Instead of being lovey dovey and let's get into it they are bickering . It goes from an almost relationship to a frenemies kinda situation and eventually becomes a friendship . After a stressful week this book was calming and much needed. Highly recommend it

‘Love at First’ reads like…a story written in fanfiction style—albeit well-written fanfic, so this is in no way a slight—from start to finish. I couldn’t put my finger on it and puzzled about Kate Clayborn’s writing style for the longest time until it hit me that there’s so much there that takes up your concentration just to get into the story. It’s ultra-descriptive, very introspective when it comes to the protagonists’ brooding thoughts and in many ways, filled with understated charm that I can see appealing to many fans who go for this type of contemporary romance.

The introduction to Nora and Will was odd, to say the least, involving the vanity of a 15-year-old boy refusing to wear glasses, the briefest of a (blind) meeting involving shouting and tomatoes and some family issues that faded to black before moving to the events of the present day. But the start of the book went rough for me—from the intricacies of their lives to the storm in the teacup spat over the unit and its lease—and I found myself skimming, impatient to just see the whole point of the story (even though it’s got kittens!), only to realise I was thumbing through what was really supposed to be the story.

It definitely got better though the further I went on. There was a lingering cosiness that Clayborn attempted to build here: the idea of a block-apartment family, the relationships they had, the disagreement between Nora and Will, the secondary cast of characters that surrounded them as they journeyed towards their HEA. Clayborn also worked towards a resolution between Nora and Will in a mature way (no shenanigans here) which I could appreciate, ending up with a picture-perfect tableau that at times felt like a side-skip of the heavier issues that Nora/Will faced in favour of a lighter, more warm-hearted conclusion.

It’s a rare thing to find a book that keeps a big smile on my face through out every page. Love at First is so much more than a love story. It’s about found family. It’s about being a little bit reckless instead of playing it safe. It’s about going after what you want. It’s about learning that love isn’t the same for every person in your life, and that love doesn’t have to be the love that you were first taught. Love at First is an extradorinaiy story that will warm your heart.

I love Kate Claiborne's writing and "Love Lettering" was one of my favorite romance novels that I read in the last year, so I was excited to read her new one. I'm happy to report it is a solid follow-up. In a world (and a dating landscape) that is particularly unkind, her characters are all relatively good to each other, even in conflict. Her writing is gentle with the characters' quirks and emotions and somehow allows the plot and the love story to unfurl slowly while never being tedious. My best comparison points are a modern Jane Austen or adult Jenny Han.

What a delightful slow burn romance! Everything about Love at First was charming. I loved the enemies vibe it gave off from the beginning. I could feel the spark Will and Nora had through the tension from the moment they met. All the ways Nora tried to fight Will's determination to rent out his apartment were clever and entertaining. I loved seeing how their attraction turned to more despite their difference of opinion on the apartment. Once it grew from enemies to more, I fell even more in love with the story. Will and Nora were so good together!

I also loved all the side characters. Nora's "family" was hilarious. Each apartment owner had such a distinct personality that added so much to the story. Same with Will's doctor friend and his ex-wife. I loved how well they all fit into the story and made Nora and Will stronger characters. 

There wasn't anything I didn't love about this book. Kate Clayton is one of my new-to-me favorite authors of 2020. I instantly fell in love with her writing in Love Lettering and it became even stronger with Love at First. I would highly recommend this book to romance fans.

I really love this author and her newest book only reinforced that! This story gave me all the tender feelings. It made me feel like I was walking through nature, quiet and profound. The main characters, Will and Nora, are growing throughout the book, both learning to let go of the past and embrace what comes next. This story includes a delightful cast of side characters, as I would expect from any Kate Clayborn book, and vivid descriptions of the apartment building they call home. I especially loved the depiction of male friendship between Will and his boss. Both men benefited from the connection and it was really lovely to watch unfold. As an extra bonus, the title of the book comes around in a very poignant and unexpected way at the end.

‘Love at First’ is a tender, clever, beautifully crafted story written by the inimitable Kate Clayborn.

When Will Sterling was a teen, he found the girl of his dreams standing above him on an apartment balcony. Sixteen years later, Will has inherited a unit in that very same building, and finds himself enamored by one of the tenants, Nora Clarke, who he’s almost positive is the same girl from his childhood. Though their initial meeting is pleasant, they soon find themselves at cross purposes. And so they become friendly(ish) rivals, each set upon achieving their own goals… though neither can seem to fight the connection they share with each other.

Told in dual perspective third person, this story brilliantly follows both Will and Nora through their respective interconnected stories. Clayborn’s writing style is both humorous and poignant as she presents us with two protagonists who are learning how to move through the world amid loss and change. Both Nora and Will have a wonderful narrative arc where growth and healing happen in the most satisfying of ways.

I also enjoyed how Clayborn incorporates the idea of fate into this novel. It never feels gimmicky or overwrought; rather, it feels visceral, real, and perhaps a little bit magical. The chemistry and connection between Nora and Will is a joy to read… first as they face off against each other as rivals, and then as they soften toward each other and become lovers. They’re both flawed, but are willing to work on themselves to become better people. And I have to say that Will is one of my favorites heroes that I’ve read in romance. Of all time. So there’s that, too.

If you love a well-earned love story with wit, humor, poignance, and character growth, ‘Love at First’ is the perfect book for you. I already know that this will be one of my top reads released in 2021, hands down.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

4.5/5 stars! When a teenaged Will Sterling and his mom visited his uncle, he heard a girl laugh and fell in love. But fate has other ideas and it took sixteen years for Will and the girl, Nora Clarke, to meet again. The same building but almost in opposite sides. It takes the residents of the whole building and other characters befriending Will, for him and Nora to get that second chance. I adore this book. I liked Will, Nora, their friends, and the residents of the building that the majority of the story takes place at. My personal preference requires some more details about certain characters to satisfy my curiosity, but I loved the "family" concept that is important to the story. Like Ms. Clayborn's previous book, I highly recommend this book. **Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.**

Love at First seems, at first, a simple story when boy meets girl - but it’s not. Will and Nora’s story is about two people who have a lot to discover about themselves that helps them to open up to each other. As their story unfolds, you get a glimpse of the people that live in the apartment building and how special their bond is to one another. The back stories of Will and Nora will make you happy and sad and yet these stories help to show us who Will and Nora really are. I loved the heartfelt relationships and the love of these two characters. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC - Kate Clayborn’s stories are wonderful!

This book will have you smiling ear-to-ear, it's an un-put-downable, quick read and feel-good love story!

I loved watching these two main characters grow, develop together, and of course, fall in love! The enemy-to-lovers trope is so well done, especially because they are only mild enemies it is super realistic and yet still makes you swoon.

This was my first read from Kate Clayborn and I really enjoyed it, I can't wait to start reading more from her! I seriously loved that you get to hear from the perspective of both main characters, hearing both their perspectives really made this book for me!

So I will forever read anything by Kate. Her writing is sublime and I can never get enough of her stories. This one is cozy and sweet and steamy. All the stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ARC of this book.

I stumbled upon, and adored, LOVE LETTERING earlier this year and was thrilled to snag an early copy of Clayborn's upcoming release (2.23.21) LOVE AT FIRST. It was wonderful.

I’d describe this as “Romance Adjacent” with a sweet and mild enemies to lovers story. But at its core it's really a story about community, family (first and found), grief, belonging, love and second chances. I loved that the book wasn't just about the main couple, but also a cast of secondary characters that were fun, loud, supportive and loyal. This book was a delight from the "missed meet cute' beginning to the swooning, sublime ending.

Will finds himself at his dead estranged-uncle's apartment... the same apartment he was at as a teenager when he saw a teenage girl who caught his eye. Well, that girl is back and living in her grandmother's apartment. All of the apartment dwellers in the building attempt to get to know Will and determine what his intentions are as he cleans out the apartment. Will memories that Will has kept all of these years help a relationship bloom with Nora?

This book fell pretty flat with me. I anticipate a chick-lit book, and that is what it is, but there wasn't much pulling the book along or helping the characters develop.

Poignant, romantic, funny -- Love at First is a must read.

In Nora Clarke's small building, you don't just have neighbors, they're a family. So when Dr. Will Sterling inherits his uncle's apartment and makes no bones about the fact that he intends to turn it into a short term rental, these two are instantly at odds. And there's only one thing for Nora to do, either make him fall in love with building or sabotage him.

But Kate Clayton doesn't just deliver a prank-fest. She weaves a story around these two that gives their dance real depth and emotion. Will and Nora's parents set very different examples for them about how love looks and works and it bears out in nearly every interaction they have with each other. If only people in real life were this cognizant and emotionally intelligent.

If you love a story with rich characters and emotionally satisfying romance, run, don't walk for Love at First.

Finally, I have to mention that Clayborn does this awesomely effective thing with word /phrase repetition. It got me in Love Lettering, and it shows up in Love at First, too. So good.

If you read this book in the early morning or late at night, it feels like part of a dream (although much better plotting than any dreams I've ever had).

The large cast of characters is a lot of fun, and there are plot threads that felt new and unique. There was some conversation about remote work vs. working in person, and I'd be very curious to see what those conversations at that company are like in this new reality.

I highly recommend Love at First.

Note: Both characters are dealing with grief/loss in some way, so if now is not a good time for you to read about that, maybe save this one for later.

*3.5 stars

While, overall, I ended up enjoying this story - the relationship between Will and Nora and the whole cast of characters that contributed to the overarching plot around the building - it was a little slow at times and I felt like the point of the book was kind of buried until the second half.

Even though we got both POVs, which made it easier to understand, you don't understand why Nora is such a stickler about the building (I still don't really get it) or what is really going on with Will's past until much too late in the story.

It was cute, but there was also a lot of floundering to get from point A to point B. And I think, from the few stories I've read by this author, it's kind of her writing style. The writing is solid and there's nothing wrong with it, but not the simple, easy, breezy flow to the writing that I like to see in a romance.

Thank you Netgalley & Kensigton Books for a copy of this ARC.

The Golden Hour. I hope some if not most of you dont need the Golden Hour like some of us. I do the Golden hour too. It’s a cross btwn love and hate. I love the peace, the quiet, the aloneness of it. But… I hate the grief that sits in my throat, the absolute change that is me. The old me vs the new me. This book was soooo MUCH the Golden hour. It made me feel all the feels. Hopeful, sad, happy, lustful, excited, scared, I can keep going but I wont.

Clayborn is like fine wine, better and better with each book. You think you can go in and read a few pages and you get sucked in and never want it to end and then you have to put it down just so your body and mind can adjust to all the FEELINGS that are stamping through your body. You have to put it down so that you can truly appreciate the prose that she delivers. She is soooo quietly amazing. Her books are just the fucking cats meow. I want and need more and I cant wait for where she brings me next.

Till the next Golden Hour…..

Mare~

<i> Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review </i>

Love at First follows the story of Nora and Will, who each end up the owners of apartments in the same building - Nora having inherited from her grandmother and moved into said apartment, Will having inherited a flat from his estranged Uncle. Having seen Nora years ago and felt a connection, we watch as these two get to know each other finally after years.

Honestly, the characters fell a little flat for me - just didn't find myself relating to either of them. I could see how some people would, but personally, neither of the MCs spoke to me, and I just found a lot of both of their actions rather frustrating. I also felt like the supporting characters didn't receive quite enough development or attention.

**PLACEHOLDER REVIEW & POST--Full review to follow closer to pub date**

In the last few months I’ve stopped requesting dARCs bc reading on my iPad means I’m a tap away from Twitter’s firehose of fuck-awful news, & I’m trying not to live that life. But I still checked Netgalley on the reg for Kate Clayborn’s latest, & slapped the ‘Request’ button within a minute of hearing it was up.

Always, but especially now, it’s a balm to dive into work by an author who has your complete trust. It’s annoying to pimp books way in advance of their pub date (02/21 for this one), so I’ll save a full review for down the line. But I read LOVE AT FIRST in a day, freed for long stretches of time from the brain-buzzing wretchedness of this year, & that deserves a big ol’ brass band of gratitude…or an appreciative shout, at the very least.

This was my 5th Clayborn, & it was everything I hoped for (& more! all the parenthetical exclamatories!!)—a quietly dazzling love story full of grief & grace, humor & healing. In the months before it drops, you can glut your soul on her equally-satisfying backlist: LOVE LETTERING came out earlier this year, & the A Chance of a Lifetime trilogy I read in e-book form, but are now available in paperback if you, like me, cannot resist pressing on the Twitter bruise every 9 seconds.

I had high hopes for this book, Clayborn generally produces exemplary contemporaries. I was not disappointed! “Love at First” nails it.

The modern love story of Nora and Will feels organically romantic from the first page. A beautiful take on the favorite “enemies to lovers” trope without being too precious. The narrative has a vaguely YA feel, these are two people who despite being adults are learning to be themselves for the first time, while not feeling cheesy or insufficiently sexy. This book will melt your heart and lustily sweep you off your feet. Good stuff!

In between the romance, Clayborn tackles the complexity of all the humans in this perfectly crafted world. Love, grief, abandonment and overcoming the failings of our families all get compassionate handling. “Love at first sight” is blended so well with the realities of humanity, this book feels friendly and loving from start to finish.