Kate Clayborn knocked this out of the park!

After unexpectedly ginding herself unemployed, Georgie returns home to small town Virginia without direction. Feeling like she needs a path, she stumbles on an old friend fic notebook from high school and decides to accomplish all of her past goals while figuring out her next steps. This, of course, is hard to do in the looming shadow of Levi Fanning - who happens to also be crashing at her parents house while his house is being worked on.

Forced proximity with grumpy sunshine GOLD. This gave me Hart of Dixie meets Sweet Home Alabama vibes but with tender moments of growth and sincerity mixed in.

Kate Clayborn's writing reads like an impressionist painting to me; she writes the small, quiet moments that come together into this cohesive masterpiece of beauty.

Love this one. Pre-order.

Perfection. A stunning romantic comedy filled with heart, humor and depth. I absolutely devoured Georgie and Levi's story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 stars

I cannot express how much I loved this book. Kate Clayborn has been an auto-buy author for me ever since Love Lettering and Georgie, All Along is her best book yet. With memorable characters you cannot help but adore, this romance is a must-read.

Georgie, a longtime personal assistant, has spent her life putting others’ needs before hers. When her famous boss suddenly quits the industry, Georgie is faced with trying to figure out what exactly she wants to do with her own life. She returns to her small hometown to be with her best friend. There, she discovers their “friendfic” diary they made in high school that contains a list of all the things they wanted to do before graduation. Georgie grabs this list like a lifeline and believes that by completing it, she may figure some things out about herself. Her plan hits a snag when she is thrown into the forced proximity trope with the town’s former bad boy and current grump, Levi. The two end up forming a connection over the diary.

This. Book. At one point, a character says he feels like he’s “soft all over, [his] shell peeled right off [his] skin” and that is the only way I can describe how this book feels. It is full of soft, vulnerable characters that you feel like you truly get to know and fall in love with. Ones you root for and want to reach inside the book and hug.

Georgie, All Along is already a 2023 favorite. It is emotional, tender, and downright heartwarming. I loved it beyond words.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a beautiful and sweet story about starting over and self discovery! I absolutely adore Georgie and loved how relatable she was. She was spunky and fun even as she's trying to figure out what she does next!

Levi was swoon worthy! I loved the whole forced proximity and his shy/ slightly social awkwardness. Their whole relationship was so sweet! This was just a delightful read that charmed my heart! All of the side characters too especially Georgie's best friend, Bel were so wonderful! If you're looking for a light hearted, charming read this is great!

WOW WOW WOW! I was not sure about this book at first but Clayborn really outdid herself. Utterly perfect I will be reading this again upon publication! Thank you NETGALLEY!

I absolutely loved the unconventional characters in this book. I can definitely relate to Georgie. I also really liked her parents. It took a while for me to like Levi. I devoured this book from start to finish. Highly recommend!

Wonderful, fabulous, can't wait until it's in print! I want my friends to read it so we can discuss! Oh, I love Georgie, her hippie parents and Levi. I understand small-town dynamics and the desire to stretch one's wings. It was a great read!!!!

Georgie Mulchaly has spent the last decade being a successful personal assistant in Hollywood. But when her employer decides to simplify life Georgie returns to her hometown to regroup and decide what she wants to do next. Georgie is a wonderful character. She is messy and a little unsure what her life goal should be. But she is kind and giving and at her best when helping others. Her parents are away on a trip when she arrives at the family home only to learn that they have said a neighbor, Levi Fanning can also stay there while work in done on his house. His younger brother was her middle school dream crush. She finds a forgotten journal/fic where she and her best friend wrote all thier hopes and dreams for high school and the things they want to do. She decides to do some of them in hopes that they will lead her to a new direction in her life. Levi offers to do some of the list with her.

The story takes a little bit to get going but you get a real sense of both of the main characters. Levi was the black sheep of his wealthy family. I’m not usually drawn to reformed bad boys but Levi is so sweet, sensitive and insecure. I half fell in love with him because of the love he has for his dog Hank. He owns his behavior but it doesn’t mean what life gives him is fair. Georgie walks that line between not making Levi her project and helping him make his world bigger. The side characters are good. Georgie’s best friend Bel doesn’t come off as a BF until a in-depth conversation later in the book. And then you know they are going to be in each others life forever. I read this book in a week when I also read a previous series by the author. I found this one a little less steamy but the heat is still there. And because you get chapters from both POV’s you get their passion and feelings and their out and out longing for each other. It is beautifully descriptive. You know what is going to cause the angst before it happens but you also know these two are going to het their HEA. It isn’t my favorite book by the author but I still heartily recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thank you NetGalley for giving me and ARC of this book, I greatly appreciate it.

Second, Georgie All Along is a funny, heart felt rom-com about pretty different people falling in love. Georgie and Levi’s chemistry is amazing. This book gave me a few good laughs.

The only reason I didn’t rate this book higher was because the writing format was just not really my style, but otherwise it was a good book.

I gave an initial review when I first received only the first three chapters of this book. This is my updated review following having read the entire ARC.
I LOVED this book. I've read one of Clayborn's other books and enjoyed it, but this book was just so good. While there were some aspects that weren't my favorite, they didn't eclipse how much I adored this book and characters.
Pros:
Georgie was such a relatable character. I liked that she was still figuring herself out and what she wanted in her life. So much of our culture seems to based around your career and knowing was you want super early on in life, and for the rest of your life. Not everyone figures that out and it can be very challenging for people like that to feel as though they fit in. I personally have had issues figuring out what I want for my life and I empathized with Georgie so much on this. You feel out of place and like you haven't grown up yet when everyone else around you seems to have it all together and then you're still floundering professionally and personally. I also loved Georgie's confidence and that she never seemed to tolerate people who mistreated her. She knew what she deserved from other people and she wasn't ashamed to ask for it.
I am absolutely in love with Levi. He is amazing. I loved his personal growth as a character and his immediate attraction to Georgie. He was also so mindful of her and respecting her space and what she wanted to do. It was great that Levi supported Georgie in a way that felt genuine. Sometimes heroes are written in a way where their support of the heroine feels like a means towards an end, but it always felt genuine with Levi.
The Levi and Hank relationship was amazing. Hank sounds like sweetest dog on the entire planet and I loved how much Levi adored his fur child.
The resolution with Levi and his family was great. I liked how things ended up with Levi and his family.
Georgie's parents are awesome and I adore them.

Cons:
The Georgie-Levi conflict was a little predictable. I liked that it ended up being about a deeper issue than what initially sparked the conflict. I think it ended up with requiring Levi and Georgie to have a very necessary conversation that made their relationship stronger. However, having her teenage crush stuff be the catalyst to start that conflict was predictable.
At two points there was some confusion over Harry's name. I'm assuming it was a typo, but at the beginning and towards the end of the book there were two points where in one sentence he was Harry and the next sentence he was Henry.
It took me until the end of the book to get onboard with Bel as a character and her friendship with Georgie. For most of the book I didn't really like Bel's character and it felt like their friendship didn't really make sense. She seemed, at least from my POV, to be using Georgie and showing her "I'm better than you because my life is together" which felt inappropriate and like she wasn't a good friend. It wasn't until Bel and Georgie had a heart-to-heart in the hospital that I liked Bel's character because it put her character, personality, and actions into perspective. I don't know if there would've been an appropriate time more early on in the book to have that heart-to-heart, but not having it sooner really left a sour taste for me when it came to Bel's character.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought it was for sure a 5 star read. It was the perfect mix of sweet, romantic, with appropriate character growth that it was both fun and admirable. I highly recommend this title.

Georgie, All Along is a balm for the weary soul. Clayborn has hit it out of the park again with relatable characters on their own personal journeys who find their "someone" that makes the exploration that much sweeter. I can't wait to hand sell this book to my customers.

Georgie Mulcahy is coming home to Darentville Virginia for the first time in nine years. The motivation for her homecoming is to help her best friend Bel settle into her new home while awaiting the arrival of her first child. In reality, Geordie is at a crossroad in life an uncertain what she wants to do next. She was a bit of a trouble maker in her younger days and feels uncomfortable going back to a town which only sees her past. Georgie plans to stay at her folks' home while they are away. As it turns out, they have already promised the house to Levi, the brother of her teenage crush. The unlikely housemates become friends as he starts to help her accomplish some of her younger self's goals that were written many years ago by Georgie before starting high school. What happens when two outcasts connect? Definitely friendship but maybe - something more!

My new Clayborn favourite and a book I adored from start to finish! As always, she digs into the Big Feels in this one, giving us characters we sense in our bones are going to be good for each other, even if they have some serious obstacles to push through before they get their HEA. I loved that both leads weren't perfect. They make realistic choices, some of which are based in fear and insecurity. I loved that while physical attraction played a strong role in the romance, ultimately, the love story was built on the ways Georgie and Levi believed in each other. Surrounded by judgment from others--including a delightfully prickly high school music teacher who sets the tone for what's to come--our hero and heroine have come to believe the messaging around them. That they're the "screw ups." That they're not worth loving or celebrating or in some cases, even feeling like adults. Instead, they have to change to fit in with what's expected of them. Have a life plan. Know what you want. Don't stir up trouble (even the good, fun kind). Clean up your mess. Be like your brother or best friend or whoever seems to be "getting it right." Watching both characters come to embrace their mess and their uniqueness was a balm for the soul. I also adored the friend fic (a kind of journal with Big Plans for high school) and the ways it was used to propel Gerogie's character arc. The details throughout the book are lovely, as expected in anything Clayborn writes. From a metal rooster to the sign on a local market to the colour of a can of spray paint to the ways a seemingly simple title resonates beyond the final chapter. A joyful, moving read full of beautiful writing, sharp dialogue, a swoony romance, a fully fleshed out setting, a lovable dog, and a fantastic cast of supporting characters. Strongly recommend!

Highly recommend this beautiful, emotional romance. It’s not a second-chance romance, but it’s a romance about second chances.
The small town is cozy and the characters are well developed. A new book by Kate Clayborn is cause for celebration. Georgie does not disappoint.

WOW!!! This book deserves all the love. Kate Clayborn made this book absolutely magical in how she wrote and presented it. I loved Georgie and how she truly finds herself throughout the book AND falls in love with the best, grumpiest man ever (who is also the older brother of her high school crush). Go read this right now! I am so excited to get a physical copy when it comes out!

This book felt like a great conversation with a really fun friend. The character development was so rich and interesting and kept me not only rooting for both Georgie and Levi as individuals, but also as a couple. Kate’s writing was thoughtful and insightful.

I really liked this one!

I liked the POVs and the way they meet. Georgie comes to her parents' home (in between jobs and to help her friend who's pregnant) while they are vacationing and finds out her dad offered their place for Levi to stay during some his renovations.
After an awkward phone call to her parents, she decides Levi and his dog Hank can stay and share the house.

Could these two be any more different? Georgie is sunny and free-spirited (even though there's more beneath her front) and Levi is a grumpy, reluctant hero who just wants to mind his business. But they're pulled into a friendship and the falling is just inevitable.

There are some deep issues in this story, it's not all fluff and stuff. I loved Hank and Georgie's parents, and the way they connect to them. I loved how Levi learns to be more open as he falls for Georgie, and how Georgie learns to see beyond.

The ending was super good!

Sexual content and language.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

As I stayed up until 5am finishing this grumpy-sunshine, feels-filled, finding-yourself delight, I’ve decided Kate Clayborn can do no wrong.

She’s nailed down her own brand of rhythm and pacing, with a balanced blend of humor and heart.

Her descriptive writing, her lovably flawed characters, and relatable storytelling always combine for a delicious treat from start to finish.

Georgie and Levi are no exception (and a special shout out to Hank, who is impossible to not love).

Theirs is a story of reinvention, revisiting (but not living in!) the past to better navigate your future, and unexpectedly finding someone to go on that journey with.

While they have very different reasons/motivations for their individual reinventions, a (temporary) forced proximity opens the door for them to support and encourage one another along the way.

Georgie is someone I can absolutely find a kindred spirit in, in am convinced she’s a type 2 on the enneagram scale like me, and so many aspects of her need to be needed & helpful to everyone around her resonated with me.

Levi’s bruised-on-the-surface-but-soft-underneath heart manifests in a way that just clenched my own heart, especially as I learned more about what brought him to the place he’s in today. What can I say, I have a soft spot for heroes who want desperately to verbalize exactly what they’re thinking & feeling, but can’t ever seem to get the words to manifest out loud the way they mean to on the first try. I married someone like that, so I think it helped endear Levi to me right away.

If you have enjoyed any of Kate’s other books, especially Love Lettering or Love At First, I’m confident this one will take up space right next to them for you.

3.5/5 I am not the ideal audience for this book because I am too Type A to truly love a sort of hot mess heroine. BUT this book won me over with its amazing friendships (Georgie and Bel! Middle school shenanigans!) and truly in-depth thoughtfulness about how each of us sees (or doesn’t see) our future selves. I appreciated Levi as a hero who seems to have it all together but really has a lot of crap he still needs to figure out right below the surface. Levi and Georgie couldn’t be truly great for one another until they really looked under their own hoods and did some maintenance first and I think that’s a universal truth that Kate Clayborn always does well.
Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

"Georgie All Along" (high five NetGalley, thanks for the ARC) is the first Kate Clayborn book I wasn't instantly smitten by, but I appreciate the introspective look at what it means to be an adult and deal with the expectations we put on ourselves. What do we let go of? What do we hold onto? How do we let ourselves off the hook for past mistakes, missteps without letting the past hover over our present and future? I think the theme will be deeply relatable, especially for the 30 and 40-somethings out there.