*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.

A sweet little romance that manages to use familiar tropes without them feeling juvenile. I especially love how all the side characters were fleshed out - too often, romances keep one-note side characters waiting in the wings to trot out their lines. Here, it felt like everyone served a purpose and was their own person.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to romance in general and contemporary in particular, but I love Kate Clayborn and how realistic and relatable and generally likable all her characters are. Love at First was a great read, and I'm so grateful to the publisher for approving me for it right away because I desperately needed a book like this this week; not to sound overly dramatic, but it reminded me of how great and decent and lovable humans can be even when they're working through real conflicts (both inner and interpersonal). Strongly recommended.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
I had high expectations because I loved Love Lettering so much and I'm very glad to say I was not disappointed! A very cute (mild) enemies to lovers romance with very low angst. Let's be honest noone can cope with any kind of stress right now. Will was the cutest and Nora's prank had style instead of just being annoying and doing lasting damage (hate when prank wars are like that). I was also just super invested in Gerry and Sarah's romance. Tiny spoiler: very glad their marriage pulled through. While I still favor Love Lettering (Reid is one of my all time favorite book boyfriends) this was a great read and you won't be disappointed if you also loved Kate's first novel.

I was so very lucky to receive an ARC of one of my most anticipated 2021 romances. I sunk into Love at First (February 2021) by Kate Clayborn this weekend, and it is essentially the electric brush of two lovers' hands captured in perfect book form.

Love at First reminded me of all the romantic touches I've loved in so many different forms of media. From the perfect rhyme in a sonnet, to Romeo falling head over heels at the first sight of Juliet, the Darcy hand flex in 2005's P&P, I highlighted the heck out of my digital copy. There's a perfect line I'm holding close to my heart right now.💓

And while I fell in love with Nora and Will, I also gathered close the residents of Nora's apartment building. The city of Chicago and Midwest sensibilities reminded me of some of my favorite films, especially Batteries Not Included & While You Were Sleeping (the found family and Lucy's loneliness, not the amnesia part). The way grief, family, and learning to love is explored in this book, wow. I'm blown away.

Anyway, I'm a certified Kate Clayborn Fan so I may be a bit biased, but I absolutely loved this book and I really hope you all do too.

Kate Clayborn sure knows how to mess with our hearts.

The writing. I loved that Clayborn didn't just introduce me to Will and Nora, she also made me feel as if I was a part of their story, with a front-seat access to their vulnerability and compassion.

I dove into this one with zero knowledge about the plot, and I must say that that may be one of the reasons I enjoyed Love at First. Not knowing what to expect but holding on to the hope that, since I loved Love Lettering, I would no doubt love this too.

I loved that the focus of the book wasn't just the two main characters, but also family, personal differences, moving on and getting things done. Despite Will and Nora starting off as enemies, they never lost respect for each other and I appreciated that. They were civil, they were both mature individuals. And to be surrounded by a cast of secondary characters that are just as fun and loud, reading this book was an absolute delight. Clayborn managed to make even the most mundane things exciting and relevant. It was a wonderful unfolding. My only problem was that I felt some aspects to be unrealistic and obscure.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington for the ARC!

Such a precious book! Very different from Love Lettering but still such an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the side characters just as much as the main characters. But, honestly, give me adorable old people and I’m sold.

Love at First is a gorgeously-written story that plays with the idea of a “fated” meeting on a balcony between two teenagers (with echoes of Romeo and Juliet) and then fast-forwards to their re-encounter as adults. It offers a relatable, grounded exploration of how much work and risk and change and patience goes into the ways people love each other (mostly, but not exclusively, romantically). There’s a rich set of secondary characters, and a deep investment in the setting. There aren’t a whole lot of big external plot events, but it was gripping nonetheless.

Romance readers will find a real homage to the genre in this book. The plot structure is masterful in how it moves from the GREAT BIG TROPES we all know and love (fated mates, second chance, rivals-to-lovers) and slowly narrows them down to a compellingly specific story of two people, all while ramping up the angst and feelings.

Fans of Love Lettering will find some familiar things to love (swoony prose, a memorable hero, well-articulated themes) and a few stylistic differences (a tighter focus on the love story, dual POV, and 3rd-person past narration) all of which work wonderfully. Highly recommend!

Wow I really loved this book! I won't lie, I am so pleasantly surprised because Clayborn's previous work Love Lettering was a book that everyone loved and I just could not connect with. That being said, the writing was excellent so I knew I would want to check out work from her in the future so I am very thankful to get to read this early. I loved Will & Nora and truly felt that their longing was palpable. Clayborn's unique set-ups and wonderful prose are part of what makes this story wonderful, but the star to me is the side characters! I loved the neighbors! I cannot wait for this book to come out and to share my love of it.

Loved this book, the story of Will and Nora.

Will saw Nora years ago, just before his life changed forever. He is trying to change everything about the place she lives and loves, so do they have a chance of being friends or more?

Loved all the other characters that live in the building.

I’m embarrassed to say that Love Lettering was my introduction to Kate Clayborn. I read it at the beginning of the lockdown and it was warm and comforting and exactly what the doctor ordered. So I was excited to be given the opportunity to review an ARC of Clayborn’s new book: Love at First.
That excitement remained while I read the book. It’s so very good. It’s darker than Love Lettering because grief plays such a major part; it’s included in every fibre of the story. And connected to the grief is love, so much love. Both main characters had to deal with parental neglect but where Nora had her grandmother and the people in the apartment building, Will was alone. Over the course of the book he finds love and friendship and more love. The setting, the characters, the romance – everything really – were wonderful. Every part of Love at First is complex and clearly crafted with so much love.
I absolutely loved this book and I’m sure I’ll read it over and over again.

A delightful romantic story that will please all lovers of the genre! The characters were absolutely lovely and the storyline flowed seamlessly. Highly recommended!

What a lovely treat this book was. It was love at first sound for Will and 16 years later he finally meets the voice & fuzzy image of a brown ponytail he fell for in a balcony scene as memorable as Romeo & Juliet's. Will & Nora's story has a little something for everyone: personal growth, love for others but also one's self, midnight rendezvous and a cast of supporting characters you will cheer for. Seriously, is there an opening in this building for me to move in?! I promise to never call it a unit and always come prepared for poetry night.

The dual perspectives keep the story fresh and interesting and really allows you to really feel for all of the characters and see how they got to where--and who--they are today. There is heart, there is loss and grief and everything is written in a quiet, gentle way. Nothing feels forced, nothing feels over the top or implausible.

I know I already mentioned them once, but the supporting characters in this book were the shining stars for me. Maybe I'm realizing how important neighbors are during this time of quarantine but Nora's support system, and of course Gerry and Sally, really add such a richness to this story that I can't emphasize enough. 4.5 stars for this heartwarming tale.

Many thanks to Kensington and Netgalley for the ARC.

This book is like that hand flex scene in Pride and Prejudice, but book length. It's got Kacey Musgraves "Golden Hour" vibes. Basically, it is perfect. There's longing, communication, miscommunication, growth, partnership, community, and love. It's the kind of book where you close it (or the Kindle app, in my case) with a wistful little sigh and maybe you're a little misty. It's not overwrought, it doesn't feel forced, everything is just so genuine and real. Just a lovely read with the right amount of angst that leaves you with the impression that this couple will be together forever, no diggity doubt.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of LOVE AT FIRST by Kate Clayborn.

Simply put, I think that Clayborn is one of the best line-level romance writers out there right now. Her prose is top-notch. But this too extends to her ability to craft compelling characters, with real problems that get you in the heart, mind, and gut. I really felt for all the characters in LOVE AT FIRST (it really is a delightful cast as the pull quote says-- I mean, Gerry, come on!)., but especially Will.

I love reading Clayborn's work. This book is no exception. I did feel a little bit like the plot was a bit unsatisfying, but I loved watching her characters at play. Can't wait for her next one!

Thank you so much to netgalley for this ARC. I really enjoyed "Love Lettering" so was excited to hear that Kate Clayborn wrote a new book! This one started slow, similar to how I felt Love Lettering started, but once I got into it I found myself rooting for Will and Nora. The characters felt like old friends and it felt more like catching up than learning about someone new. I totally though this book was going to end at the 70% mark, but then one last twist was added to the story. I think it probably could have been a bit shorter, hence by 4 stars vs 5, but overall a lovely happily ever after read.