4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I will never look at letters the same. And for that matter, signs. I will forever look straight at a sign and really study it. Why was it created that way? I wonder why they, whoever they are, which isn’t relevant, decided to go with the color and shapes. Does it have more than one purpose?
This book was a romance and so much more. Towards the end I just couldn’t put it down. There was nothing predictable in this story.
The two love interests drove me crazy. Both of them are extremely awkward and I waited and waited for one of them to make a move. It was painful to watch them struggle with each other. And then it finally happened and they were adorable. Perfect for each other. This romance is a slow burn, so you have to be patient to see all the great things about it.
There was mystery, friendships and starting over. And my favorite, a HEA.
I really enjoyed this book. ♥️

Favorite quote:
“For a split second we look at each other, and to me it feels like a mountain of letters between us, all jumbled up and unmatched, a thousand things I need to say to her but can’t figure out how to say. Not without starting some kind of terrible avalanche. Not without getting buried beneath them.”

This is a NETGALLEY book and all opinions are my own.

Before she was the "Planner of Park Slope", Meg was known for her hand lettered wedding wares. A year after designing her last wedding package, the groom, Reid, pays her a visit, because he found the message she secretly planted in the program. Racked with guilt and facing down an artistic blockage and distant best friend, she initiates a friendship with Reid, as she worries about her past impacting her future.

I became a fan of Clayborn after happily discovering her Chance of a Lifetime series. She has a knack for writing sweet romances with lots of humor and characters you can't help but adore, and she has done so, once again, with Love Lettering

When I first started reading, I immediately took note of how Clayborn's writing had this beautiful fluidity, that reminded me of the sweeping strokes of our heroines talented hand. The quality of the writing definitely pulled me into Meg's artistic world, which I found interesting and wonderful. At times, I can hardly read my own handwriting, therefore, I was enthralled by Meg's craft, and really enjoyed getting to learn some about the ins and outs of hand lettering.

I also loved Meg. There was something about her voice, that caught my attention and kept it. She was witty with a biting sense of humor, and I was often tickled by her many observations. I sort of felt like this was Meg's story and it included a romance. Much of the story revolved around her trying to regain her mojo in order to compete for a large contract, while she was also grappling with her fading friendship with her lifelong bestie, Sibby. I felt her pain and loss, and was crossing my fingers, that she found her way back to herself and the things she loved.

With Sibby slowly pushing Meg away, she had this need for connection, which drove her to contact Reid. She thought he would be a great companion to help her find her inspiration via walks throughout NYC. This was one of my favorite parts of the book, because I was Brooklyn born and bred, and all New Yorkers maintain a strong affection for our city, even when we no longer live there. It was such a special way to see NY, and I found myself looking forward to Meg and Reid's walks.

I mentioned there was romance, and it was one I rather enjoyed. This was slow, slow burn romance, which was rooted in friendship. Though I think there was an instant attraction, it took a while for these two to find their rhythm with each other, but once they did, it was a thing of beauty. I really enjoyed spending time with Meg and Reid, be it at a hole in the wall restaurant, visiting the family, or simply over text messages. They just seemed to click and fit with each other so well.

There was a bit of a plot twist towards the end, which threw me for a bit of a loop, but I still really enjoyed this book. The lettering, the walks, the friendship, and the romance were just so wonderful! I declare this another fantastic Kate Clayborn book.

When I started reading this book, all I could think of was the phrase killing me softly

This book is full of this quiet angst, the kind you feel everyday in relationships. The kind you relate to, wondering what you did, where you went wrong, if mistakes are really ever forgiven and what they mean. And holy hell, this will be my fourth review of Kate Clayborn where I'm at a loss for what to even say.

It will be a time I say once again why I love her-her inclusiveness as a matter-of-life. Her feminism, quietly shining through the page. Her evolved men who are clearly, incredibly leaders without (and sometimes with) the grunting physical presence. Is that enough? I will mention her settings again. This time, in New York, this time taking in every sign and letter. Relating numbers to letters. As if I didn't love this author enough. Her settings, the characters careers, the secondary characters all speak to make a complete, beautiful, fully alive story. And she twists the knife. Subtly, slowly. And you just get it. You feel it.

But that's not all. Because this is key: She writes extraordinary love stories for basically ordinary people falling in love in ordinary ways. She does so convincingly, quietly....killing us softly.

Reid and Meg burst with courage. They grow because of each other. They explore vulnerabilities, so much so we often take a deep breath with Meg when she begins her direct confrontations. And though I didn't find what Reid was doing much of a mystery, I appreciated the way it was integrated in the story and the conflict it created. It was well done without being sensationalized.

This book is all first person POV, and I didn't mind. I enjoyed getting to know Reid through Meg's open book. Through her loneliness and desperation, and I enjoyed getting to see her friends in the same way.

And despite this, I felt I knew Reid quite well because he was direct. That said, he is easily one of the most unique heroes I've ever read. Reid still felt whole, and I just loved him. I loved everyone in this book. I loved Meg's development and finding her own way. I loved the settings. Her unique job. His unique passion.

Love, Love, Love, it beats.
yep, that about sums it up.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. This has not affected my views on this book. I can't wait to get my hard copy, in fact.

This was a slow read for me and I love slow burn books. A well written book with an interesting premise. The heroine, Meg, is professional calligrapher and we get a detailed look into her world. Her struggles with her best friend, her fears with her work, and of course the hero, Reid. Reid was flat initially for me but he gained steam as the book progressed. At first I couldn't see them together but the author somehow made me start cheering for them to be a couple.

4.5 stars

Love Lettering was such a wonderful surprise. I was already intrigued after reading the chapter preview and now, after finishing the book, I can safely say that I am in love with Kate Clayborn's writing style and sense of humor. The book was heartfelt and emotional at times, but also uplifting and hilarious. There were even a few plot twists that I didn't see coming.

Meg was such a relatable heroine. I loved her inner monologue and many of the thoughts racing through her mind had me laughing out loud. I really enjoyed the gradual build up between her and Reid. Their connection felt organic, as they came to understand and appreciate the other. All of the lingering glances, the subtle (and not quite so subtle) gestures, and barely there touching, had me swooning. I'm a sucker for the Masterpiece Theatre style intimacy and tenderness that Meg so often references in regards to Reid's manners. I would have loved if the big reveal at the end and it's resolution would have been hashed out more face to face, but I understand the reasoning and significance of it being presented and resolved the way it was.

The slow burn/opposites attract romance between her and Reid was wonderful, but what I loved most was Meg's journey and how she really came into her own through the course of the novel. I appreciated the focus on friendships and how they can fracture and break down, but also grow and evolve. One of my favorite parts of the novel was the discussion that Meg has with Lachelle about learning how to figuratively fight.

"... sometimes fighting isn't about leaving, it's about staying. It takes practice to get it right, and it's painful, but if you want to stay with people, you do it."

Love Lettering was a witty and beautiful novel that I truly wanted to savor. The epilogue left me just the right amount of warm and fuzzy and I can't wait to read more books by Kate Clayborn.

Note: If you're not a fan of hand lettering or fonts, it's possible that the descriptions and level of detail that the book goes into about how Meg sees the world and all of its signs, will be a bit overwhelming. It's clear that the author took a lot of time researching the topic and my font/lettering loving heart couldn't get enough!

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

Love Lettering is very different!

Meg Mackworth was the Planner of Park Slope but had gotten out of doing wedding invitations and was doing personalize journals and planners for customers in New York City when Wall Street mathematician Reid Sutherland came by the paperie to ask her why she had put a code in the wedding invitations for Reid and his now ex-fiancé. Reid wondered how Meg knew they shouldn’t get married even though they broke up for other reasons but he also told her he hated New York City. Afterwards Meg reached out to Reid to help him fall in love with living in New York again by finding hand painted business signs because they were giving her inspiration for three treatments for a craft company to design a new line for them.

Love Lettering was different to me where the couple sends messages to each other without using a lot of words which is really interesting to read and different from where the couple falls in love instantly and Love Lettering is a slow burn type of book.

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

I loved Meg and Reid. I really felt how they visualized letters and numbers and how they connected them together. I loved their growth and stories. I couldn’t get enough of how personal the story was and how flawed and real both Reid and Meg are in their relationships together and with other people. If you love a good romance and like feeling attached to and a part of their stories, this is a book for you.

Review of Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn:
⭐️⭐️✨ (2.5 stars)
.
Meg Mackworth is a hand-lettering designer who weaves hidden messages into her work. She incorporates the word “mistake” into a wedding program for a couple whom she believed the marriage was doomed to fail, but assumed no one would spot it. Except the groom did.
.
This book was very slow for me to read though I’m not sure if it was because of the book itself or the holidays. Nevertheless, I couldn’t devour it like I have with so many other contemporary romance books. I wanted to love this book based on the synopsis alone but I found it very hard to get through. I will admit, her profession as a hand-writing designer has inspired me to want to play around with some calligraphy but her ongoing mentions of different font styles distracted me from the story. I spent more time going down a rabbit hole of watching calligraphy videos than actually reading the book. I did enjoy the added touch of a thrilling twist towards the end that I absolutely did not see coming. I also appreciated the Epilogue where she wrapped up all the loose ends in a nice tiny bow for us. I hate when loose ends are not tied up. 😤 It was a good book, not my favorite but it certainly is an inspiring book!
.
Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for an advanced readers copy of Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn in exchange for an independent and honest review. Look for this book out on shelves on 12/31/2019 and grab a copy for the new year!

Meg is essentially a calligrapher who designs journals, wedding programs, etc in Brooklyn. Reid is a quant (just like my husband) who is an expert in numbers and codes. These two meet before Reid gets married, as Meg is the designer of his wedding program, and re-meet a year later after Reid decodes a hidden message in the program. Their friendship that buds into something more develops through the course of finding inspiration, overcoming fears, and being more honest with yourself — all of which are relatable to most on some spectrum.

It took me a long time to finish this (it drove me crazy), but as you know, it has been super busy the last few days. Thanks to a snowstorm yesterday though, reading complete!

Okay. I wanted to love this. It was one of my most anticipated reads this fall, and was so excited when I received an ARC. However... unpopular opinion over here! Honestly, the concept of the story was unique and absolutely raw. But, the slow burn killed me and reading about fonts (seriously too much sans serif in the beginning) lost my interest a bit. Meg was 26, but for some odd reason, I felt like she was an old soul (good and bad, depending on how you look at it). Overall though, Clayborn’s writing and details flowed well, and would’ve been a quick read if it were any time but the holidays.

It was a bit of a slow start for me, but after about the halfway mark I was hooked and didn't want to stop reading. I loved the hunting for letters. It made me think about walking around looking for signs where I live. I really liked the character of Meg.
Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the arc. I am voluntarily leaving a review.

SAMPLE CHAPTER
I've only just recently read my first book by Kate Clayborn, but enjoyed it so much I couldn't wait to read this excerpt from her forthcoming book, especially as it sounded really unusual.

Meg makes her living by designing hand lettered custom journals etc. and after a piece in The Times has become quite famous and known as The Planner of Park Slope. But supposedly she can also read signs in relationships that other people miss and last year wove a secret sign into some wedding invitations as she knew the marriage was doomed for failure. The first chapter of this book is when the bridegroom comes back to the shop and asks how she knew - he'd found the secret code!

And... then it finished! Just when it was getting interesting, and I wanted to read more and know more about this lovely world of lettering and secrets.

But it's a great concept for a book and I now can't wait until it's published, I feel inspired to rush out and buy some calligraphy pens and have a go myself!

UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2019:
I've now read the whole book and whilst I did really enjoy it, I've had to drop it to a 4-star as I did find it dragged a bit at times.

So... in the end the ex-bridegroom, Reid (maths whizz) and Meg start a stilted sort of friendship, each quite awkward characters and set in their ways. A lot of the time they are out and about finding lettering inspiration for Meg, with Reid being very closed off about his job, which he seems to hate, along with New York. Meg tries to persuade him otherwise, and their relationship slowly (very slowly!) starts getting easier, but they are both quite quirky characters.

I really enjoyed the hunt for the different lettering around the city, I love old signs and that part of the story really interested me (and even made me go out and buy a journal and some pens to start my own bullet journal!), but whilst I did enjoy the story it didn't quite live up to the fabulous start, and the sample chapter I read, where I was expecting really great things for the rest of the story. So I loved the very beginning, lost interest a bit in the middle... but then towards the end something completely unexpected happened and Meg and Reid's lives were completely turned on their head, which reignited my interest. I definitely warmed to the two main characters as the book went on and really liked them by the end, but it did take me a while getting there. But an interesting book, and one that I definitely will remember.

This was an interesting concept for me. Meg saw the world through fonts. Reid saw the world through codes. Together they could have made one crime solving duo. Meg was a difficult character for me to fully connect with. She was very passive, tended to fly under the radar, didn’t want to stir the pot, and not driven to stand up for herself. She was living in a situation she was too scared to confront, in a job where she was unmotivated to progress, and living in a city she was too sheltered to explore. I feel like the only time she really became alive is when she compared the people and situations to fonts. The way she would describe the swoosh of a letter or the bold of a font it made the story become more alive and you were able to feel the emotions of the story. Reid is sweet but there is something about him that makes me feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Reading his character I feel like he was too good to be true and just waiting for the mystery to unravel. I love how kind he was, but most of the time I felt like he was really distant to Meg, and though I know it was intentionally done that way, I felt like it dissolved some of the “romance” of the story. There’s a lot of melancholy at the start of the book and it carries through the whole story. Your rooting for Meg to find happiness, either with her job, her personal friendships, or love. It seems, however, like she has a hard time finding any peace within her life and that unease and uncertainty made it hard for me to connect with the story or characters. I just felt sad and discouraged reading the story and didn’t find happiness until the very end.

I enjoyed this love story about Meg and Reid and liked that it included secondary stories about her work and friendships. It was generally a sweet and whimsical romance but then all of a sudden there was a very long and detailed sex scene, which seemed out of place an. Rating: 3 stars (I liked it).

In Kate Clayborn’s novel, Love Lettering—Reid and Meg meet up because of a message that Meg hid in Reid’s wedding invitation a year before. Reid comes to Meg looking for answers and a tentative friendship develops. Kate Clayborn’s characters are deep, complex, and beautifully flawed. The relationships in the novel feel authentic and the pacing is perfect. This novel is sure to be a hit with readers.

S-u-r-p-r-i-s-i-n-g. Kate Clayborn’s “Love Lettering” is just that in the best possible way. A contemporary romance novel that threads stories of work, friendship and love that takes place in NYC.

In a world where almost everything is digital- on our phones and on our computers- Meg Mackworth’s hand lettered planners, notebooks and designs are in high demand, but Meg is creatively blocked. Enter, Reid- a stoic, professional gentleman and one of Meg’s former clients. Their friendship is unique and while Meg loves NYC and finds inspiration all over the city, Reid can’t wait to leave.

L-e-a-v-e, what Sibyl, Meg’s roommate is doing by moving in with her boyfriend, but is she just leaving the apartment behind or her best friend too?

This book was a slow burn for me, but once everything came together I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Fresh, funny and relatable, definitely recommend for you or for a gift for the new year!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for my full eARC of this book which I used for my review; all opinions provided are my own.

I love and enjoy hand lettering, and actually know how to do it (not professionally but I know it). However, every single detail explained here was a plus for me, BUT this book supposed to be a romance genre book not a Lettering for beginners kind of book. Yes, the story is there, but if you're looking for something to happen, it'll be after you read 50% of the book. Love Lettering didn't make me feel anything but boredom; there were few lines that made me laugh but other than that, nothing happened. Also, I couldn't explain the Meg's and Reid chemistry to fall in love and believe me, I do believe in love at first sight, but I just didn't believe their love.for each other.

While reading this book, I wished I could be able to read from Reid's point of view; to know his thoughts about Meg, about anything in general. It took so much from me to finish this book, because I just didn't feel anything and felt bad because romance in totally my genre..

When I read the first excerpt I thought this would be a really cute book, however I was disappointed with the full book. It was nearly half the book before a real conversation or a hint at a storyline emerges. For the first half Meg is way too much "in her head" . The first half of the book could have been described easily in a few paragraphs. I had to make myself plough through and considered for the first time not finishing a book. The final product is a decent storyline but still missing an element that makes you feel anything with the characters. Reid almost acts like someone 'on the spectrum' . His passive aggressive behavior throughout the book is strange when at the beginning when they met you might think he would have more warmth. Too much too late. Needs a little work to be a really good book.I
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an unbiased review.The opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this book. Not just because of the fragile characters who found their way to each other and also found their way to bettering their lives. The writing of this novel is beautiful and I didn't want it to end.

Synopsis: Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing beautiful custom journals for New York City’s elite. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Like the time she sat across from Reid Sutherland and his gorgeous fiancée, and knew their upcoming marriage was doomed to fail. Weaving a secret word into their wedding program was a little unprofessional, but she was sure no one else would spot it. She hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid . . .

A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out—before he leaves New York for good—how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline, a fractured friendship, and a bad case of creative block, Meg doesn’t have time for Reid’s questions—unless he can help her find her missing inspiration. As they gradually open up to each other about their lives, work, and regrets, both try to ignore the fact that their unlikely connection is growing deeper. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late . . .

I will defiantly be reading more of Kate Clayborn. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC.

" My lower back aches, everything I put on feels a half size too small, and I would very much like to attach a vacuum hose to my mouth that connects directly to a bag of chocolate, clutch a heating pad to my middle, and watch a series of rom-coms where no one every seems to get a period, ever."
.
I REALLY ENJOYED THIS CUTIE-CUTE BOOK! It had a nice blend of comedy (mostly through the inner-voice of the protagonist Meg), toe-curling steam, major man crushing *ahem* REID you are so delightful, good pacing, and a clean and tidy ending. If you are looking for something light and funny, you can't go wrong with Love Lettering.
.
Meg is an up-and-coming artist in New York City, specializing in lettering and calligraphy. She designs planners and stationary and until recently, wedding items! Sometimes, the letters Meg design get away from her, and after her last wedding, she designed something in the wedding program that she absolutely did not intend to do - she planted a hidden sign within the pages of the program. Enter Reid, the groom (swoony groom), who was not fooled by Meg's hidden message, and wants to know more about what she had to say. PANIC!
.
Definitely check this one out, guys!
.
Thank you to Kensingtong Books and Netgalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn as an ARC from Netgalley. I absolutely loved this book and the premise of the story. The "love lettering" in the title doesn't refer to actual love letters but refers to artistic lettering. Meg is a freelance artist living in New York with her best friend. She was designing wedding invitations, programs, thank you notes, place cards, etc but now her focus is on designing custom made journals. The story is a love story but it also focuses on how Meg expands her artistic talents in the process. She and Reid (the love interest) start a quest as friends to find unusual lettered signs all over New York City. I loved the characters, loved the story and found the entire novel very creative. I could not put the book down. I can't wait to read other books by Kate Clayborn.