I wanted to like this story better. It took me forever to finish it because it was so slowly paced. The characters are developed very well. I enjoyed 3/4 of this book, but the sudden turn in plot at the finish line just had me skipping page after page.

Meg and Reid are an unlikely pair and I rooted for their relationship, but the ending spoiled the whole thing.

Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettered journals and calendaRs are the talk of New York City. As the newly named “Planner of Park Slope,” Meg creates custom pieces to help her clients stay organized, be inspired, share their personal brands, and celebrate the big moments of their lives. Her star is rising, and with good rEason. Her creativity and whimsy is attracting attention from all over.

But Meg has a secret. She’s blocked. While she can certainly throw together yet another cAlendar for a client wanting a springtime “Bloom Where You’re Planted” motif, she herself wants something more for herself. She wants something Different. She wants something new. She wants to be reminded of the hand-lettered signs that first activated her creativity when she moved to New York. Meg wanTs something new. But first she has to deal with something old.

Back when she was doing weddings, Meg was working witH a couple that she thought were not a good match. She left a secret in the wedding program, a secret that she never expected anyone else to see. But someone did. Straight-laced Reid Sutherland is a quant, a math genIus, and he knows codes. When he confronts Meg with this, she has to make a choice about what to do next. Does she follow her dreams, her inspiration, her heart, or does she stay Stuck?

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn is a beautifully written romance that Blends the excitement of New York City, the anxiety of life changes, the charm and sweetness of a new relationship, and the slow burn of secrets long held coming tO the surface. Meg and Reid are delightful characters, and being a small part of their journeys is such a pleasure and an honor.

Reading this nOvel feels like being a part of a very personal journey, a lovely journey through self-doubts and loneliness, through creative blocKs and personal healing to take these characters to a place where they not only fall in love with each other, but they learn to love themselves too. I don’t read a lot of romances, but this one is well worth it. Highly recommended!

Galleys for Love Lettering were provided by Kensington Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

⁣If I only said one thing about this perfection of a romance, it would be *swoonsh* If you’ve read it already, you know! ⁣
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I’ll be honest, Love Lettering was a bit of a slow start for me. But holy cow, did it pay off. This was my very last read of 2019 and it met all the huge hype I’d heard about it beforehand. ⁣
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This was my first Kate Clayborn, and I now understand why people talk about her books so much. Her writing is absolute magic. Even with the first half of the book being a little on the slow side, I completely fell in love with Meg and Reid. And New York. The setting is definitely one of the key characters in this story and I absolutely loved how the city played a role in their friendship and eventual romance. ⁣
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The entire story is told from Meg’s POV and by the end of the book you feel like Meg is one of your friends. There’s so many little thoughts and quirks that add to her character. I’m big on dual POV romances, but having Love Lettering written in this way was perfect. It’s impossible not to feel her feelings about Reid right along with her. And Reid *swoonsh* I love a nerdy hero and his character was right up my alley. Their characters together were everything! ⁣
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There’s a definite twist I did not see coming, but it made me love the characters and the story even more. It’s probably already clear from being in my top 2019 reads stack, but I LOVED Love Lettering. Absolutely a five star read for me. ⁣
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Kate Clayborn’s writing is magical, delightful, *swoonsh* perfection. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Love Lettering ASAP!

The title of this book is what made me choose it; LOVE LETTERING, just caught my attention. Having never read anything by author Kate Clayborn I wasn’t sure what genre this book would fall into for me. I am not normally a romance reader; I tire quickly of silly banter and aggressive/passive relationships so I was hoping that was not Ms. Clayborn’s style. Though not a fan of Romance, I am a fan of bullet journaling. I had just picked up my first journal and began to try to be creative making a day planner and here was the main character Meg, an artistic letterer making day planners!! Perhaps this added to my enjoyment of this novel.

Meg is an artist, quirky and often scattered in her thoughts and actions. Reid is a mathematician, analytical and serious in his thoughts and actions. There is no silly banter, only intelligent conversation. There is no passive-aggressive behavior, only respect. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey Meg and Reid embark upon looking for signs and decoding messages while making a connection of the sweetest kind.

This book was a slow starter for me, all the references to fonts was losing me at the beginning, before I was invested in Meg and her relationships. Aside from Meg and Reid, the relationship between Meg and Sibby was perfect; defined how we change and grow and our friendships do not always follow that path. It showed the reality of friendship, true friendship, not the catty, back biting relationships between women too often present in romance novels.

This is a novel with a romance and a worthy story. I highly recommend it, especially to anyone who is bullet journaling. Love Lettering will delight you and keep you entertained with intelligent caring characters.

4.5 stars

When I saw cover for Love Lettering I was so excited for it. The concept itself was original and creative. Kate Clayborn is not too new for me and I loved her other series. Meg is pretty unique in that she sees signs in letters also because that's her livelihood. I think it's awesome really those personalized qnd pretty planners. I likr watching tutorials on those but I'm never any good. Reid is pretty much direct what you see is what you get. He feels old fashioned a bit stiff and super smart. The creatived in this story goes both ways, book smart and artist smart.

Awkward start but now they are working and playing the word games it becomes lovely to see. As they explore New York city looking for signs and just enjoying each others company. Meg usually avoids confrontations and is light hearted mostly. But when pushed or hurt her hackles rise. Words can we hurtful and words don't always mean what they say. Meg finds that not all fighting and confrontation is bad somethings you fight for. These two gave me the swoonsh, Reid and his masterpiece theater looks all the simple gestures and smiles between them.

The whole plot was original, I loved the writing. Reid and Meg were uniquely themselves. There was a twist in the whole thing that made everything make sense. They had to go through tough times but they fought for their relationship. All the signs and codes were meaningful. It was pretty brilliant really how it all came together. Not only for the main leads but the sub characters and all the relationships. There was always honesty even when it was uncomfortable and when they had to keep secrets. I genuinely adored this story I was fascinated by all the clever imagination behind it.

Love Lettering caught my attention with its cute cover and mysterious blurb about Meg and Reid’s relationship. Reid is a numbers guy while Meg is a letters girl. They keep finding reasons to hang out even though they don’t logically understand why. It may not make sense to them but they both got feelings and the more they are together the more feelings grow.
I loved Reid because he was perfectly imperfect and so good for Meg. Reid was such a great guy. He was the best thing about this book.
I liked Meg and Reid but didn’t like the Sibby and Meg subplot as much. I wish there had been more passion between Meg and Reid earlier but overall I would would recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book given in exchange for an honest review.

Such an interesting concept! I loved reading about the lettering and the fonts and using script as a different way to see a city. Overall, I found the central relationship a bit dull, but I did like the way they played off each other's strengths and the way that the main character grew as a person and learned to overcome past learned behaviours to start asserting herself.

This is a Netgalley ARC review. All opinions are solely my own.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn is a laid back novel that had my attention right away. When Meg and Reid met I was a little worried. Then a little Shakespeare is thrown in the mix and I was entranced. I loved the slow pace of the relationship. They had to build it up.

I wish that there were illustrations to go with the writing in the book. I think that would have enhanced the reading experience.

What fine writing this was! This was the first book I have read by Ms. Clayburn but hopefully it won’t be the last. This was a very unique and interesting story, with a little magic thrown in.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the premise of this book. It sounded so fun and just like something I would love. A words girl and a numbers guy? How fun! The plot moved along nicely, and I liked the writing style. However, I just didn't connect with either Meg or Reid. I wasn't excited about the story or itching to find out what happens next. I was disappointed because I read so many wonderful reviews! I guess this one just wasn't for me!

I was very intrigued by this book. It was a fun story, but fell a bit short for me on uniqueness. I still enjoyed it.

I'll be honest I wasn;t sure as I started this book that I would relate to it or like it. I, like many others on the internet, love watching hand lettering videos, but posessing no such artistic skills myself I wasn't sure if the minutia of calligraphy would be confusing or work well within the scope of the book.
I'll admit it; I was wrong. Meg is a interesting character with a unique set of skills and circumstances and as soon as we learn about hidden messages she is encoding in her commissions she is captivating and I am hooked. Reid was less of a slow burn, if only because I have come to recognize the signs of a leading man: brookding, smart, social inept at times, past relationship drama, and a hidden secret.
None of these characteristics of Reid make him less interesting or compelling, but they do serve a good foundation from what to hope for from the story.
This book was like taking a walking tour of New York through its signs, billboards, and awnings and it was a fascinating way to revisit a old friend.

Meg is hand lettering artist trying find her way in New York City and finally start her own business. Despite recent popularity, she is in a lettering slump and often finds herself leaving hidden messages in her work, unbeknownst to her clients. One “mistake” in her work later and along comes Reid making her promise not leave hidden messages in her work. Soon, Meg finds herself drawn to Reid and finding insight in their many walks around the city. But, is there something more than just these games? I had high hopes for this one and found the inclusion of lettering a fresh take on romance. However, I sometimes found Meg to be a bit childish and Reid didn’t quite fit that charming personality I’d expected. Despite this, I found this to be a cute, quick read to start off the year!

I don't usually read a lot of romance and I was kind of hesitant to request and read this book, but I'm so glad I did. I loved the premise of the book, a hand letterer that hides a message in the wedding program that says the marriage won't work. Who has guts like that, Meg certainly did. It started slow and before I knew it, I was hooked. It made me laugh and cry and made me all warm inside. It was funny, endearing, maddening at times, but well worth my time to read it.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn is a wonderful romance, I really enjoyed. Meg Mackworth is a hand-lettering specialist, who uses her talent for making custom journals and wedding invitation etc. When Reid and his fiancee come in to the shop to proof the wedding program, Meg can tell right away the marriage won't work. Meg hides a message that spelled out says mistake. Reid comes to see her a year later, to inquire how she knew. Reid is a numbers genius, and found the code right away. Eventually Meg and Reid start hanging out, and play games looking at signs. There is so many aspects to this book, romance, work, and social interactions just to name a few. How stressful it must be for people like Meg and Reid when their mind is always analyzing everything. I highly recommend this book, and I will be reading more books by this author.
I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.

4.5 stars. This is one of those books that starts slow, but all of a sudden, you’re super into it and racing to finish. Love Lettering is as gorgeously written as I imagine main character Meg Mackworth’s hand lettering is - it’s fresh and different in it’s treatment of a character who is protective of herself and doesn’t have a ton of friends. It’s also incredibly original in creating a hero who feels period-piece romantic, but also very real.

Meg Mackworth is a hand letterer who has come into a bit of fame. As The Planner of Park Slope, she’s developed a custom hand-letters journal business that keeps her in her Brooklyn apartment, but now, she’s faced with a huge opportunity that is even more exciting and lucrative. The problem? She’s got an artistic block and a real fear of failure. Added to the fact that her best friend and roommate is becoming more distant and moving out, and Meg’s feeling a little vulnerable. Enter Reid Sutherland, a former client who comes in demanding to know why Meg left a hidden message in his wedding program - for a wedding that didnt happen. Reid is handsome, stoic, and burned by his break-up and by New York City - and Meg is part of that. Spontaneously realizing they both need a friend, Meg invites Reid to come with her on some city walks to help inspire her work and help Reid realize what there is to love about New York.

What starts as an achingly slow burn becomes a story of honesty, friendship, love of NY, fighting to keep the people you love and making choices. I really loved it. Yes, Love Lettering is a romance - and an esoteric one at that - but I could see people who read straight women’s fiction loving it too - the beauty is in the details of the way Meg and Reid first meet, Meg’s way of looking at the world, and how it compares to mathematician Reid’s world view. Also, ALL THE NYC STUFF. If you’ve lived in New York or just love the city, you’ll love the way it almost plays it’s own character in the book as the characters struggle to find their way. It’s not just a setting.

The push and pull is so great and cute and unique for all the characters. As a reader, I was practically begging Meg and Reid to get to the actual romance, but the writer in me appreciates just how much author Kate Clayborn pulled off here. Meg and Reid don’t live in a bubble and they both have friendships, relationships and work lives that bleed into their story, and it just feels so full and true.

Love Lettering is a winner if you’re into anything paper crafty or journal-ish and even more if you’re into romances that really develop and hold their cards close. I know I’ll be reading this one again and possibly even buying a hard copy for my shelf. This one is a keeper, guys.

5 hard-won stars!

This was my first read by Kate Clayborn and I loved it!

I'll admit, I almost dnf'd the book at around 10% because it takes a while to get into the head of our main character, Meg. Her tendency to see patterns in words all around her was a bit distracting to begin with, but it actually was one of the highlights for me by the end of the book.

The way that Meg and Reid connected with each other by seeing signs and patterns in the world (and most notably his wedding invitation) made for a unique love story! Meg was uninspired in her work, and fearful of her tendency to hide messages for the unsuspecting client. By playing games with the button-up Reid, Meg found a new kind of inspiration both in her professional and personal life.

I really felt for Meg. Her intense loneliness was heartbreaking and watching her grow and open up to those around her was immensely satisfying. A beautiful love story!

Meg is a hand-letterer and calligrapher in high demand for her stationery, planners, and wedding invitations, but she has the unfortunate knack of putting her feelings about the customer in her work. When a groom shows back up a year later wanting to know how she knew his wedding would be a mistake, she swears off the coded messages and insights she can't control. Except now that Reid wants to know more about her, she finds herself desperate to learn more about this mathematician who hates New York but somehow seems to understand her.

This was a really cute story, and I loved the writing. There were a few too many details about calligraphy and fonts that I didn't entirely understand, but they added an interesting dimension to the characters because each is described with certain letter styles. This was a great debut by Kate Clayborn, and I'll be sure to check out more of her work in the future!

Recently I've become really interested in hand-lettering, so when I was browsing NetGalley and I saw a book named Love Lettering, I had to give it a go. It seemed like the perfect mix, a romance story centered around a woman who does lettering as her main job. I was caught from the beginning. But, this love story felt short for me. I feel like I was more interested in learning about Kate's business than in her relationship with Reid. For me a romance book has to focus its attention in the love story and not the side story of the characters. That's why I gave this book 3 stars.

I put off writing a review for Love Lettering because I have so many mixed feelings about the book. I love the art of hand lettering and calligraphy, but I sometimes found the minute focus on the process and different styles (which I obsessed over while reading the text!) distracted my attention from the love story. When I wasn’t wholly distracted because I was visualizing letters and fonts and serifs and sans serifs, I loved this quietly charming – and slightly magical – opposites attract romance.

Meg Mackworth was mostly content working at an upscale paperie, creating beautiful custom hand-lettered stationery, journals and planners for its elite clientele. But then word about her talent spread like wildfire over social media, and her once quiet life became a distant memory. As Love Lettering begins, Meg – dubbed The Planner of Park Slope – is struggling to enjoy her success. She’s lost her creative spark just as an important deadline for a hand lettered journal showcasing her innovative style looms, and she’s panicking. Overwhelmed by the pressures of fame, her work feels forced and uninspired. Meanwhile, she can’t talk to her best friend and roommate about any of it because they’re barely on speaking terms (and she doesn’t know why), and Meg is still trying to shake off a sense of guilt about the hidden message she left in a client’s wedding invitation forecasting the demise of the relationship. She’s mostly convinced herself that no one will ever spot it, but if they do, it will spell disaster for her burgeoning career. Worry and doubts are her constant companions, and she’s certain things can’t get worse… until they do. Reid Sutherland, the gorgeous fiancée of her former client – the client whose invitation contained the hidden word – enters the shop. Stunned and wary, Meg’s initial reaction is to hide. And then she notices he isn’t wearing a wedding ring.

Reid Sutherland is a financial analyst with a talent for spotting patterns – which is how he spotted Meg’s hidden word in the wedding invitation. Although Reid called off the wedding for many reasons – not the least of which was because a total stranger knew it was a mistake – he wants and needs to know how the artist knew the relationship was destined to fail. When Reid walks in the door of the shop and spots Meg, he’s curious and angry and anxious, exhausted by New York City and his job, and desperate for answers from the unassuming woman who made him think twice about his meticulously planned life.

Meg and Reid are a study in contrasts, and as usual, Ms. Clayborn – via the first person PoV of Meg – slowly reveals the hidden depths and quirks of her characters as they reveal themselves to each other. (This author knows women and articulates their insecurities, their doubts, their strengths, their secret selves so clearly… they are women I know and understand.). After an alternately awkward, tense and antagonistic conversation with Reid in the shop, he leaves – but neither he nor Meg experiences a sense of closure afterward. Later, Meg obsessively replays the conversation, and in a pseudo-penitent act, she challenges herself to help Reid fall in love with New York City.

As Love Lettering slowly, quietly unfurls, Reid and Meg awkwardly – painfully, really – discover more and more reasons to spend time together, and more and more reasons to like each other. Each ‘scavenger hunt,’ is like a marvelously, intricately crafted short story within the greater novel, and as they roam across the city finding NYC’s secret places and hidden treasures, they also find them in each other. Their conversations are witty and sharp and difficult and lovely, and watching the author’s characters fall in love is such a wondrous experience. I can’t think of any other author who so perfectly captures those scary wonderful feelings of falling in love. Eventually, the slow simmering heat between Meg and Reid reaches a boiling point, and their friendship gives way to a sexy, passionate affair. Their happiness casts something of a magical, soft focus glow over the whole novel, and it’s all amazingly well done… so it’s a bit of a shock when the story takes an abrupt twist. Honestly reader, the clues are all there, but I was surprised nonetheless.

The affair with Reid helps Meg to find new inspiration for her work, and confidence in herself. She challenges her roommate to be honest about their estrangement (I confess, I didn’t love this character), and nurtures a new friendship with a client on her own journey of self-discovery. Reid, as I mentioned earlier, remains something of an enigma – to the reader, and to Meg. Reader, he’s lovely, but intense and oh, so tightly wound. It’s a delight to watch him enjoy Meg, and to sometimes relax and let his guard down. He’s complicated, and so is his life – well, at least the part he allows Meg (and us) to see.

So let me circle back to one of my biggest challenges grading this book. I love hand lettering, calligraphy, typography, branding… truly, I’m obsessed with it, which was a mixed blessing reading Love Lettering. I geeked out when I read the blurb and saw the cover. I looked forward to hearing about Meg and her career and her art. And then I started reading and obsessing. I couldn’t turn my brain off trying to imagine the letters and styles and fonts… and ended up wholly diverted from the story! I suspect the majority of readers will not have this experience, and all the letter talk will serve more as a background to the story. Unfortunately, for me, it was its own special kind of torture!

Based on the aforementioned challenges I experienced reading this book – and my complete and total inability to detach the lettering references from the actual story (UGH!) – my grade is something of a compromise. Love Lettering is a love letter to romance, New York City, and hand lettering. Lush and lovely, it’s sure to please fans of contemporary romance.