I feel like all I’ve said lately is “I’m not a rom-com kind of person” but seem to be devouring them all - and Love Lettering was no exception.

Where to start? This book is a breath of fresh air. I loved all the intricate details of writing and Kate’s job. It didn’t really pick up momentum for me until around 25% the way through but I adored it.

I really do think I’m starting to get into this genre and Love Lettering was an easy, light read full of amazing description, likeable characters and a great plot.

There is a full review now on readwithamy.co.uk

I absolutely loved this book. It’s one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. It’s original and sensitive, romantic, lyrical, and sensual. I wouldn’t have thought that I’d have been caught up in the story of a woman whose life revolves around letters, but I couldn’t put this down. Meg has built a business designing planners for people with her own whimsical calligraphy and designs. She sees emotions in letters in such an interesting and different way. It reminded me of descriptions of synesthesia when people perceive one sense through another sense. In her case, she experiences emotions through letters.

And then one day a man for whom she’d designed wedding invitations and a wedding program a year earlier comes into the store where she works. He asks her how she knew to put a secret message in the wedding program she’d created. What starts out as a mortifying moment for Meg is the start of a friendship and slowly growing romance between the two of them as they begin to explore New York City looking for interesting signs and letters.

The story develops with some surprising twists, but nothing that is unmotivated by the characters or the plot. And it continued to grab my interest so that I couldn’t stop reading.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

First of all, where can I find a Reid in my life?!

Guys this book had all the feels. Meg is known as the Planner of Park Slope where she creates custom journals for New York’s elite. She also has a way of reading signs that others miss. She creatively weaves a sign in one of her clients, Reid Sutherland and his fiancée Avery’s upcoming wedding program.

A year later, Reid comes to the store where Meg works to figure out how she knew that his marriage was doomed. But when Meg faces a writing block, Reid helps her find her inspiration.

I can’t handle how much I loved this book. I’ll admit, the first few chapters were slow, but once you get in, you won’t be able to put this book down! Five stars!

This is so good that it's kind of absurd -- the premise is a great hook, but the two characters at the book's heart are what really sell it. Kate Clayborn, to me, sets the bar for contemporary romance, and I can't wait to read whatever she writes next.

Love Lettering truly had a little bit of everything for me: A woman running her own business, a friendship in turmoil, a potential romance, a little suspense, and a whole lot of NYC. Thank you to an author for featuring NY's cheap eats and endless walkability!

I don't really think the synopsis does this one justice, so instead I'm just going to note that the main characters were easy to imagine, I enjoyed sinking into this one over a weekend, and I laughed out loud a couple times. I was definitely rooting for Meg throughout, and loved seeing her personal growth. I think Love Lettering's technically a romance, but I loved that her own life wasn't an afterthought - this is the kind of book that makes me think that maybe true partnership is possible.

The little details are what edged this one to 5 stars for me - the psoriasis, the first day of her period, the little jokes. And I applaud Clayborn for showcasing bad behavior, and underlining how that's, hello, bad, and showing how one might navigate it. There's plenty of sunshine and beautiful park walks in this one, but also rainy days and tough situations, and I so appreciate it for both.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a free e-arc of this title for review.

Love Lettering is a beautiful, emotional, and poetic love story. Meg is a hand letterer with a bad habit of hiding messages in her work. Reid is a numbers guy who found a hidden message in his wedding program - a wedding that never happened.

This book is as much a love letter to New York as it is a love story between Meg and Reid. I adored the way Meg's mind works (and we're in Meg's brain the whole time - this is a single POV book, but with good reason), how she sees life in words and letters, how they come alive to her. I sympathize with her reaction to conflict, and appreciate her growth trajectory.

One of the things Kate excels at is building relationships. In this book, there's a lot of relationship development and repair, particularly around female friendship. And it feels so genuine and beautiful.

This is one of my new favorites. I'll be reading it again soon.

I was provided with an ARC by the publisher for review via NetGalley.

I loved, loved, loved this book. My favorite were the characters. But I loved the story and the romance and the tension.

Oh my gosh, I loved this book. It was so well written. It’s warm and funny and emotional. The characters so well developed that I didn’t miss my usual preference for third person with two points of view in my romance reads. The author did such a magnificent job of showing us Reid Sutherland through Meg Mackworth there was little we did not know or weren’t able to correctly infer about him. Meg Mackworth is a gem of a heroine: ambitious, thoughtful, caring, and not without her insecurities. I’m also a huge fan of bullet journaling and art journaling and I all but swooned over a heroine who designs planners, calendars, and such. Clayborn is my new go-to romance author and I can’t wait to read her other books.

Love Lettering is about Meg, an artist famous for her hand-lettering. She has found success with desigining custom journals, doing events and so on. However, she has quit doing weddings after she weaved a secret message to her clients program about his doomed marriage. A year later Rafe, the client, is back and looking for answers.
Meg and Rafe start to meet up, learn more about each other and ultimately fall in love. However, both are struggling with other issues in their lives - for example Meg is having a hard time with her friend Sibby distancing herself from her and wanting to move out.
For me, the romance in this book was secondary, and I was really invested in the friendship of Meg and Sibby. I think the author handled this very well. What happens when two artistic people come to a big city to find success but it (mostly) works out for only one of them? Of course, Sibby was not aware of all the struggles Meg had to face with her success and fame but she still struggled with accepting that her plans had not come to life. I really hoped that they could fix their issues and reading about Meg's love for Sibby and hope for their relationship was heartbreaking.
I did enjoy this book a lot and will look into other works by this author.
PS!I really enjoyed a beta hero for a change!

Meg is famous for designing custom journals in Manhattan. She reads the body language of her clients to inspire her. The only wedding program she did she figured out that the couple weren't going to make and created a code in the program. She didn't expect the would-be groom to see it. Reid seeks her out to know how she figured out the relationship wasn't going to last. Kate, in the middle of a creative block, decides to reach out to reach to Reid to help her read the signs of New York City to help inspire her.

Her relationship with Reid is sweet. She's very good at reading him which is good because he's very closed off. I love that she has found the secret of the universe, reading signs. Reid himself is very interesting especially when his big secret is revealed in the end.

I'm taking a star away because it felt like a love letter to New York City. There are other cities out there. Why is it always New York City that's portrayed as magical for artists?

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**

Title Love Lettering

Author Kate Clayborn

Release Date December 31, 2019

Description from Amazon

Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing custom journals for her New York City clientele. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Knowing the upcoming marriage of Reid Sutherland and his polished fiancée was doomed to fail is one thing, but weaving a secret word of warning into their wedding program is another. Meg may have thought no one would spot it, but she hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid.

A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline 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, both try to ignore a deepening connection between them. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late . . .

Initial Thoughts

I originally applied for an excerpt of this book on NetGalley because the premise sounded cute. I normally don’t read many adult rom-coms (because I watch enough movies like that) but I wanted to give this book a chance. The excerpt was great and I really hoped I’d be chosen for the full book. Spoiler alert, I was.

Some Things I Liked

Reid and his job. I loved that Reid was a numbers guy and that he was a quant. Despite my obvious passion for reading and writing, my actual day job is in finance so when I read quant – I knew exactly what his character was like. I’m also a numbers gal at heart. There were so many facets of Reid’s character that resonated so familiarly with me.
Similarly, I also loved Meg’s character. While I might be a finance girl by day, I am a writer by night and I just love planners. Meg is basically living out my fantasy life being able to start a business with her creative outlet. I loved her character and the way she described so much of her surroundings with typographical adjectives.
The setting. I have lived right outside of NYC for my entire life and I go to work in midtown every day. I felt like I got to see it from a whole new light while reading this book. There is so much more that I want to see and explore now. The setting fit this story so perfectly.
Realism in the relationships. A lot of this book is about relationships that are broken and I found that super refreshing. Too often, romantic comedies are filled with happily ever afters where nobody fights and everything is just perfect. This book had characters with a lot of issues and they fought, they mended some relationships, and they let others go. It was a very realistic take on relationships.

Final Thoughts

I loved this book. I’m so glad I received the entire book because, I’ll be honest here, I had forgotten about reading that excerpt until I got the email that said I received the full book. I am entirely disappointed that I forgot that first chapter at all and I will definitely not be forgetting this book any time soon. The story, the setting, and the characters were perfect.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Parental Guidance by Avery Flynn – if you liked the rom-com elements and Meg’s creative self-made business, give this book a try.
The Christmas Countdown by Donna Ashcroft – if you are looking for a Christmas-y version of these feelings and themes, give this new release by Donna Ashcroft a try.
Again, but Better by Christine Riccio – if you are looking for a more YA version of this book and you enjoy themes of making mistakes and making them right – give this book by Christine Riccio a try.

I really enjoyed how the author wove in information about lettering and how Meg (heroine) hides messages in her lettering work. It also was a story on how Meg found her creativity again and reignited her passion through Reid (hero) by following patterns. Overall this book was a fun and interesting romance story to read, as it does not follow a typical romance storyline.

I dearly loved this book. It reminded me that two of the first words we learn are 'look' and 'see'.

The heroine, Meg, is an artist with paper and ink. She creates all kinds of unique hand lettered paper products - journals, announcements, invitations, including wedding invitations. She lives in New York City with a roommate, and one of her favorite pastimes is walking around the city looking for faded old signs, some of them also hand lettered. She notices small things that others would miss.

Meg also notices other signs. She met with a couple who wanted her to create their wedding invitations, and noticed that they seemed mismatched. She put a hidden warning in their invitations - and unfortunately or fortunately, after the wedding was cancelled, the groom to be (Reid) came to see her, wanting to know how she knew. It turns out that Reid who moved to the city to work, hates New York. Meg hopes to change his mind as she loves the city. There is a very slow growing romance between Meg and Reid.

It turns out that Reid also sees patterns that others miss which has far-reaching, serious consequences for a lot of people. Reid is quiet but he is no pushover.

My thanks to Kensington and Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Whimsical, fun, flirty, sweet, romantic. I can picture all the love letters Meg Mackworth would use to write my descriptors. Reid Sutherland seemed to be her complete opposite but they worked. I loved the slow build of their relationship and the easy pace of their story. Love Lettering is a charming story.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn is unsurprisingly utterly brilliant. Last year, Beginner’s Luck was a last minute addition to my favorite books of the year list and Love Lettering, which is out on December 31st could very well make a lot of people’s list if they spend NYE reading it. I know it’s certainly on mine. Fortunately for me, Kensington approved me to read my copy early so shout out to them for that (for real, thank goodness because I knew I wanted a physical copy of this and my bookstore SHUTS DOWN for like a week for inventory purposes.). (And Netgalley for making that happen.)

Love Lettering is about Meg Mackworth, hand-lettering superstar named The Planner of Park Slope, who is experiencing a severe creative block when Reid Sutherland walks back into her life. Meg did Reid and Avery’s wedding programs and she may or may not have hidden the word MISTAKE in the program. When Reid comes to confront her about that, Meg feels guilty and promises to never do it again. Meanwhile, Reid admits that he’s tired of New York and kind of hates it. Meg takes those feelings of guilt and her need to get creatively unblocked and shoots a sort of friendship shot by inviting him to explore New York in search of hand lettered signs throughout the city.

While I do feel like the beginning was a little slow, Kate’s writing style is so captivating and gorgeous that it’s hard to consider that a flaw. I feel like I know Meg so well, that I’m not entirely convinced she’s not a real person. Meg is dealing with a lot with the creative block, but also her best friend and roommate isn’t doing a good job being her best friend right now. Friendship break ups are the worst, but when your friend is just leaving you in limbo? That’s harsh.

One of the things that I absolutely loved is that one of the problems Meg faces is that she doesn’t do confrontation. She doesn’t know how to have healthy fights and she grew up in an environment where there was a ton of fighting and toxicity, so instead of fighting, Meg just doesn’t. In this book, she has to learn to stay, to have the argument in the hopes of fixing the thing that’s gone wrong. To keep the negative undertone from swallowing the relationship whole. She has to do this with friends and with Reid and everything about it is so, so good.

Also, y’all probably already know, but Kate Clayborn writes anxiety so freaking well. She’s just utterly brilliant at characterization and depicting it, not just telling you. Honestly, this book is incredible and Kate is incredible and if you haven’t yet, I would HIGHLY recommend preordering yourself a copy. It’s brilliant.

Always love a book based in NYC. Took me a little while to get in to the story, both main characters felt emotionally ‘closed’, which was a little frustrating, as I wanted them to open up to each other. Loved how they both communicated in different ways, one with numbers and the other with letters, quite thought provoking and I am definitely walking around with my ‘eyes open’ now.

I was provided with an ARC of this title from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

ONCE I STARTED READING I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Which meant I needed like seventeen cups of coffee the next morning. Thank goodness I read it on a Saturday - I would have been one hot mess if I'd had to focus on work the next day.

I loved everything about this book.

Meg has made a life for herself by virtue of her creativity and hard work. The detailed explanation of her craft was absolutely fascinating. She is soft-spoken and flies under the radar - using her art to convey her feelings.

Reid's character literally leapt off the page. A quiet, complex, seemingly grumpy, but really only misunderstood hero who is smart and sexy and determined? Heck yes.

The love story evolved over a series of scavenger hunts that I now want to try the next time I'm in New York City. The dialogue was clever, realistic and resonant. The intimate scenes were both sweet and steamy. The wrench in the works was unique, and elaborately woven into the fabric of the plot. One of the best contemporary romances I have ever read.

I liked this one!

First of all, how stinking cute is that cover?! A+ on marketing lol

Other Things I enjoyed-

The Setting- I love NYC and haven't been able to visit as often as I'd like. Luckily for me Kate Clayborn really captured the city and its great energy in this book! I loved following Meg and Reid on their adventures through the city.

The Friendship- Although this is a love story it features a strong female friendship. I adored Sibby ( Maybe even a little more than the main character if we're honest) The author really showed what true friendship is and it warmed my heart.

The Conflict- There were a few conflicts woven into the story and I appreciated that the author didn't cause conflict for the sake of having conflict in the book if you know what I'm saying. It was well done and I also appreciated the resolution.

Meg's Career- Meg has an awesome career and a tie into social media. Meg was portrayed as successful but not rolling in dough lol. You get to see Meg do something she loves and also get to see her work at it. It was very realistic and enjoyable for me to read.

Now the part of the review I enjoy the least. Why the book lost some stars-


I felt like the romance was lacking a little. I totally believed that Meg and Reid liked each other but it wasn't love for me. I didn't feel it.

The book had highs and lows. There were times when I was completely invested and engaged and others where I was bored.

Towards the end I found myself skimming.

All that being said I'd still read more from this author and if asked about this book I'd say it was cute and tell other readers and friends to give it a go. I am so thankful to NetGalley the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this title prior to its release in exchange for an honest review.

Really nice and gluttony triggering excerpt well written full of angst I get crazy for slow burn they are my drug of choice so I really liked this due to the fact that this book has all that is needed to shine
Waiting for 2020 full release

#LoveLettering #NetGalley

What an adorable book!
Lots of description about fonts, pens, letter strokes and other hand lettering and drawing ideas and concepts. Handlettering is not in my artistic repetoire, but I do love looking at it... As such, many of the ideas and descriptions are quite lost on me, but the author is not too wonky on this, so if it's not thing, you'll be fine.

The story itself is fun and engaging. The characters are all pretty white, but also feminist- periods, harassment & consent are discussed pointedly, but not preachily.

Reid & Meg are the main characters and they are both fairly well drawn. I like the secondary characters as well - only one of them is a caricature (Cam) but he's so minor it's not noticable.

This book is also funny. It's also surprising. I thought I was in for a fluffy rom-com, but this one has a real story, conflict and a lot of heart.