Love at First is an absolute delight!

Nora lives in an apartment she inherited from her beloved grandmother and loves everything about it, the building and all of her much-older neighbors so when newcomer Will shows up with ideas about changing things, she's determined to get rid of him despite the fact that he's totally dreamy.

It's an enemies-to-lovers story with a fun twist (real estate!), there are sassy senior citizen supporting characters and Clayborn's writing is funny and fresh. (A favorite line: "Will Sterling.... He had a name like a doctor on General Hospital, which Nora found extremely insulting.") One of the things I loved most about this book is that both characters grow - it's not a one-sided relationship where one person has something to get over for things to work out. Will and Nora are equally flawed and each has to identify their own issues before they can ever be right for the other.

Love at First is the first of Clayborn's books I've read and I'm definitely going to pick up her others. If you're looking for a romcom that will put a smile on your face, this is it.

Thanks to Kensington Books, NetGalley and the author for a copy to review.

This is probably my favorite Kate Clayborn book so far. I loved Love Lettering and the first book of her Chance of a Lifetime series/trilogy. Norah and Will have my heart. I like how quiet this book is, "quiet" meaning there are no lost family secrets, scandals just to break up the couple. There's also something on how she writes love stories and characters that are familiar, somehow relatable, and yet they will make you feel nostalgic all at the same time. And I loved the neighbors on this book, too. They were just quirky and funny.

After this and Love Lettering, Kate Clayborn is an auto-buy author for me! This is the story of Will and Nora who both have a need for family and find it in the most unexpected ways. The narration of this story was very sweet and somehow reminded me of my favorite show: Pushing Daisies. There are laugh out loud moments, there’s honest conversation, there are loveable characters, and there’s just enough steam to warm you up on a cold night!

Love Kate Clayborn’s books.. Will Sterling first “met” Nora when he was 15 right before his life totally changed. Now 16 years later he is meeting her again after his uncle leaves his apartment to him. Nora has moved into her Nonna’s apartment where she spent her summers growing up. Will doesn’t want anything to do with the apartment at first. He decides to update it and rent it out. Nora and other tenants don’t want this to happen. As Will starts the process of cleaning it out, Nora tries to find ways to deter him. As time goes on this feud turns into friendship then into love. Both of them have some baggage from how their parents treated them tha t they have to deal with. As the figure out some of their issues and how to work things with each other this story turns into a unique love story.

Romance is a very new genre for me and I’m so glad that this was the book I chose to start with!

Clayborn’s voice is a delight - witty and spellbinding. Her quick humor is exactly my cup of tea! I was immediately hooked by the hilariously realistic internal dialogue (made even better by the dual POV) as well as the repartee between the characters. It’s not that this book is devoid of difficult topics, but the heavy moments are expertly peppered into a lighthearted narrative full of endearing characters.

Nora and Will! I adored them both and had a wonderful time following along on their enemies to lovers journey. This was a perfect romance for me because the physical attraction was just background noise to the growing emotional connection between them. I really felt like I was able to buy into the story because I could see where the feelings and actions were stemming from in both Nora and Will. I loved them both dearly, feeling their pains and routing for them to choose love throughout the whole book.

But also... everyone who isn’t Nora or Will! Clayborn’s supporting cast will charm your socks off. The cheeky neighbors, supportive co-workers and unlikely friends are the icing on the cake of Nora and Will’s love story. In fact, this book is so much more than their love story, it is a look at found family, self-discovery and healing from trauma. I could have read about this group of characters for a long time. I often found myself wishing I could crawl in between the pages and join their backyard parties.

If you’re a fan of quippy banter and an emotionally rooted love story, I highly recommend getting your hands on this one.

I loved this second chance romance story even though they tend to not be my favorite. It was different and I enjoyed it.

A family is what you make of it!

Dr. Will Sterling was surprised that he inherited his uncle’s apartment in a small condo building in Chicago because he had only met him once. That one time he heard the most gorgeous girl on a balcony. Now Will is back to the condo and he’s heard the voice he had used to make something of himself.

Nora Clarke was used to taking care everyone in the condo building because they were her family after her grandmother’s death. Will Sterling wanted to change things after inherited his uncle’s condo but hearing Nora’s voice and her friends helped him to realize that a family is what you make of it.

Nora has made her family with neighbors and friends, but she must let Will into her life when he realizes that he wants a family!

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

I l-o-v-e-d Love Lettering and was super jazzed to get an ARC of Love at First but honestly I ended up dnf-ing it at 25%. It just wasn't gripping me in the slightest. I've tried twice now and both times I found something else more interesting to read instead.
Maybe it's me and I'll come back to it and love it? But right now it's merely eh.

Love Lettering is one of my absolute favorite books, so I was really excited to read Love at First and let me say… it did not disappoint.

I’m seeing a trend where it’s hard to describe exactly what Kate Clayborn’s books are about, because there are just so many different layers to them. Love at First is about Will and Nora, their feud, their found family, and their fears of letting go or letting people in. Clayborn’s skill as an author shines in her gentle building of relationships, the way she’s able to make you care so much about what’s happening to these characters, though you can’t even tell the exact moment you start to fall in love with them. It feels like such a natural progression with every chapter. This was told in dual POV, unlike Love Lettering, which added another layer to how much I absolutely ached for both Will and Nora. Seeing the differences in how each of them viewed love made rooting for their relationship an even more heartfelt experience. A special shoutout to Will and Gerald’s friendship, and the way it highlighted Will’s changing views on how people saw him, and what he was capable of being for others.

I’ve now read two full novels and a novella by Kate Clayborn, and all three have made me cry (I’m not a frequent crier at romance novels). I cannot recommend her enough, especially if you’re looking for sweet, unique love stories.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with this ebook for review!

Kate Clayborn’s Love at First is a warm hug of a book!

I just adored this love at first sight (for him!), enemies to lovers story that was the perfect blend of fluffy fun and emotion.

Will’s complete bewilderment at how attractive he finds Nora, despite her deep suspicion of him and the change he represents, was just adorable! And as icing on the cake, one of my most favourite tropes is in the book - hero devotedly nursing poor sick heroine!

The friendships in this book was also a core part of what made it so enjoyable and I particularly loved the bromance between Will and his poker-faced boss. I have come to expect really good friendships and/or found family from Kate’s books and I was not disappointed here. The neighbours were all delightful and the backbone of the book, as Nora rallies them fend off suspicious newcomer, Will, to protect their community.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky and heartwarming book that had plenty of tender and hilarious moments.

Love At First was a delightful read. It was a combination of the love-at-first-sight trope and the enemies-to-lovers trope, but with twists. Both main characters, Will and Nora, had not-so-typical childhoods and are still dealing with their emotional baggage (they are around age 30). Both sets of parents were very wrapped up in each other in different ways and didn’t have a whole lot of time or emotional space left for their children. The additional characters from Nora’s Chicago apartment building are well-defined, diverse, and non-stereotypical. In addition, Will’s boss, Dr. Gerald Abraham is terrific and I loved seeing the progression of Will’s relationship with this man. Kate Clayborn lets you into the inner thoughts of both main characters, which was a nice change of pace from many romances. The book drives home the message that family isn’t always your blood relatives.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

“My hiccuping heart” is my new swoon worthy phrase!
Will Sterling had a tough adolescence, but the image of the girl on the balcony and her laugh stayed with him. Sixteen years later, he is back to that place, not by choice, and she is there! Left with an apartment from an uncle he never knew that he doesn’t want, Will works to unload the burden, but a feud ensues with the residents of the building and the lovely Nora, who makes his heart hiccup.
A very swoon worthy read. Not only is it sweet, but it is salty and sassy. The supporting cast of characters are endearing, including 2 wily kittens.
This is my first time reading Kate Clayborn, and I’m in love with her writing style and how she portrays strong minded heroines with everyday issues. You have to read Love at First, and you’ll realize you don’t have to love the way you were first loved.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Corporation for the ARC and allowing me to give my honest review.

This book crushed the enemies to lovers and love at first (kinda) sight thing all in one book. Bravo.
This is a super cute, easy read. I really enjoyed the idea of found family and my favorite part of this book was all the adorable characters that lived in the building. Oh and Poetry night. The meet-cute was really fun and enjoyable and I loved the Golden Hour they shared, I thought it was so sweet.
Gerald, or Gerry, was another highlight of this book. I love his mannerisms and he made me laugh every time because I just loved the way he interacted with other people.
The characters had some childhood baggage they needed to unpack but that seemed to be it, plot-wise. It didn't have anything extremely memorable about it, but it was still a cute little romance.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Kate Clayborn creates a wonderful cast of quirky characters in a charming old building that is the center of this love story. I found myself amused and emotionally connected to the characters right away. I love how Clayborn creates complicated characters and has them grow in ways that work with the plot of the novel. Both characters have to deal with their issues to find their way to love together. In this story, it really is the secondary characters that make it fun. Also, it has kittens.

This is the second book I have read by Clayborn, and while I didn't love it as much as Love Lettering, I still found it a good read.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in return for a fair review.

Now to the book! Year ago, Will saw the girl of his dream on a balcony by his uncle’s apartment. Now year later, Will is unexpectedly back at that same apartment. Will can think of nothing else other than unloading the apartment as quickly as he can. Instead, he encounters that same girl from the balcony all those years ago. Nora on the other hand is not about to let Will ruin their tight knit apartment community by turning his apartment into something similar to an Airbnb.
This was a cute story. I knew I had to read this book when I saw Christina Lauren talking about how much they loved it. That is high praise! It was a classic enemies to lovers story. Comes out a week from today!

Love at First by Kate Clayborn is a delightful story of love and friendship and found family.

It has a bunch of quirky characters who share an apartment block and who look out for each other. Into this group Will finds himself when his uncle leaves him his unit  apartment. Will has only been there once before when his uncle rejected him. So of course Will wants to do nothing more than clean the place up and let it. However... that's not accounting for the fact that the girl/woman he saw on that first visit is still there.

What follows is a delightful story of two people who have been wounded by their upbringing, where they had learned certain things about life, that maybe no longer stood them in good stead. It was delightful to see them changing and growing and finding their way.

One of my favorite characters was Will's boss, Gerald. He too undergoes change and finds his way in life and love in a heart warming vulnerable way.  

This book shows us what it's like to live with a diverse group and be accepting and caring. To find love in all its facets.

Can one earn an official certification in doorframe leaning?
Because if anyone deserves a framed diploma highlighting his doorframe leaning capabilities, it is Dr. Will Sterling.
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Five hiccuping hearts for Love At First (By the way, when I got to the part of the book where the title was clearly born from, I cried. Even typing this, it’s giving me goosebumps).
It has all the Classic Clayborn Characteristics (say that five times fast) I love:
Snappy dialogue, lovable characters (I *love* how much time we get to spend with their inner thoughts because for me it enriches the plot), a happy balance of chest-aching angst and belly-laugh humor, and the warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie feeling that floods your body when you’re finished.
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Nora and Will’s story centers around found family (Listen, you’re going to love the side characters as much as the main ones-Gerald almost stole the show for me in the last ten percent!) and coming full circle. I’m a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope, but I also love how neither is really the “bad guy.” They are each working through their own experiences with grief, but their methods of handling it are polar opposite. It’s what causes them to butt heads initially, and also what winds up binding them together.

📚 Kate Clayborn is so good at creating places and people full of fine grain details. I feel like I know Will and Nora personally.
📚 Nora's apartment building feels like Stars Hollow in miniature, the way the residents all know each other, love each other, argue with each other, and take care of each other.
📚 LOVE AT FIRST is a lot about grief and moving on, but it's also about love and nostalgia and hope and the way two people can lean on each other in order to make it through.

I think I own almost every single Kate Clayborn book but this is the first book by Kate Clayborn that I finish completely. (I say completely because I've read 2 chapters of Love Lettering but haven't yet continued!). Love at First is simply one of the best books of this year. Yes, we are in February still, and I haven't yet read a lot of 2021 books, okay. But this book? Unmatched.

Balcony talks, kittens, cherry tomatoes, second chances. I haven't stopped crying since I finished this book, I still feel my face all hot and tired from all the tears I have cried. One of the best love confessions I have ever read. But I think it's because it was Nora and Will, and because of their history together. It's also because of Kate's writing; so lyrical, so poetic, so beautiful. As I said before, this is my first Clayborn book, so I didn't really know what to expect, only knew that I was going to probably love it a lot. But now, having read LOVE AT FIRST, and actually got to know Kate's writing and craft, I'm obsessed.

Will, the guy who has come into Nora's life, ready to disrupt every single thing she has carefully protected. She doesn't want anything to change, but Will is that silent typhoon who really doesn't know the effect he has. Will, the guy who wants to be loved for the first time. Who really has always craved a family. And now, coming into this building, meeting all these different personalities, the neighbors, who are all a family, his life is forever going to change.

PS. I love when a romance book has a "person a is sick and person b is going to take care of them, cook them food, buy their medicine, stay by their side" scene. Happy to tell you this one has one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for an opportunity to read Love At First

When a teenage Will spots a thirteen year old Nora up in her grandmother’s balcony, he falls in love. 15 years later, the meet again.

What I liked:
✔️ the supporting characters are what make this book! From the neighbours to Gerry and Sally, I would have loved to have read more about them
✔️ a cutesy story

What I didn’t like
✖️I wish there was more dialogue - more banter. The love story was cute but lacked excitement and fun and I found myself skipping paragraphs to get to the scenes with the other characters