Kate Clayborn has quickly become one of my go-to authors for romance and humor. Her writing can be both whimsical and deeply felt and never fails to leave me with a smile on my face and a happy heart. This book was no exception.

Will "met" (or more aptly "heard") Nora from a balcony as a 15 year-old boy going through a sad and turbulent period in his life and was instantly smitten by her infectious laugh. Sixteen years later Will is now a doctor who has inherited his estranged uncle's apartment in the complex where he first "met" Nora. He is captivated all over again by her adult self even though they are feuding over his subletting his apartment to strangers who she feels will infringe on her "family" of neighbors. As they learn more of each other's lives/childhoods, they begin to trust each other and understand each other from a different perspective.

Will is an endearing character who literally took responsibility for his family at age 15. He has skewed views of relationships because of his parents and is afraid of feeling too much and becoming obsessive and selfish. Nora, who was basically raised by her Nonna, has trouble with change and letting go. As they both open up (both to each other and to themselves), they begin to heal and look forward to moving ahead in their lives.

I loved this story...for its heartbreak, for its poignance, for its humor and for its honesty. I also fell in love with the secondary characters, who are endearing and supportive in all ways.

Another wonderful story from Clayborn, and I look forward to many more from her.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and #KensingtonBooks for providing me the early ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.

Even though I wasn't sold on the blurb, I was still looking forward to reading this book because of the author. I think it would have worked better for me if Will and Nora had actually met before their 16-year separation, but overall it was a cute, if not super memorable, romance. While perhaps not fair to compare, I was listening to Kate Clayborn's Chance of a Lifetime series on audio, and Love at First just didn't have that same magic for me.

3 stars
Love at First by Kate Clayborn

Sweet and cute love story The characters are good, the story is predictable but very readable. Overall, this is a very enjoyable story.

this was a really cute read. i was very excited to read this upon seeing the synopsis and i was not disappointed. the romance was adorable, but i would’ve loved to see flashbacks of will and nora meeting as teenagers. i think it would’ve helped cement their relationship better. nonetheless they were still cute.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn asks the question can love really bloom when only one of the couple has experienced love at first sight.

Just before his entire world is upended, Will Sterling hears the voice of a girl that he can't stop thinking about. But life has a way of surprising him and 16 years later, Will actually meets the girl, Nora, after he inherits an apartment from his estranged uncle. Will finds the building dated but is slowly charmed by the eccentric residents and stories of the uncle he never knew.

Nora, struggling after the death of her beloved grandmother, views Will as an interloper, who is threatening to modernize her loved art deco apartment building. While strangely drawn to Will after a chance early morning balcony conversation, she slowly starts to open up and the two try to navigate their attraction to one another.

Having previously read Claybourn's Love Lettering, I expected a bit more whimsy and a touch of magical realism. But I still enjoyed this exploration of what is worth holding on to and what's better to let go of and how that relates to love and grief. Nora and Will are fully-fleshed characters and the apartment residents are fun and add a sense of humor to both them and the story as a whole.

I look forward to more by Claybourn in the future.

Note: I received an copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Beautiful! That's how I'd describe will and Nora love story. Just beautiful these two are enemies when they meet as adults, but things quickly change and develop. I love that they don't stay enemies for long and it's a slow burn type of romance. I truly enjoyed the sweetness of the characters and the romance.

I had high expectations for LOVE AT FIRST after reading LOVE LETTERING, and it met every expectation I had.
We're introduced to Will at the age of 15 in the beginning of the book and then again a decade and a half later when he returns to the building where his life changed all those years ago. He's a different person, and meeting him before makes it easier to appreciate the person he has becomes as we begin the book in earnest.

Nora was initially a complicated character for me. She's fanatical about the building she lives in. She fanatical about change. She is, quite frankly, a lot that first time we get her POV. But it doesn't take long to see the balance given to her character. She's grieving, and desperately trying to hold onto the stability as the ground underneath her is shifting. Even when the two characters are attempting to one up one another to get what they need/want from the building, they seem drawn to each other. There's an understanding underneath the bickering that easily translates into more later in the story. When that shift happens, magic.

Sweet story. I loved Nora and her community of neighbors. I was all in on this book for the first 70% or so and then I kind of lost interest. This typically happens for me when there is an enemies to lovers trope. I love the back and forth and once it’s over and we have other conflict, I get a bit bored. I like the chase? What can I say?

Things I loved: Nora and Will’s back and forth, trying to irritate each other even though they were really into each other. The fun group of misfit neighbors. Nora’s old-soul, caring nature.

What I didn’t love: The conflict with Will’s parents. I don’t want to spoil, but I didn’t get that dynamic. Neglect I get but the reason for it didn’t resonate with me. I also didn’t love that we didn’t get to know Nora’s best friend, Dee. She seems like a lot of fun and I would have loved to hear more from her.

Overall this is a solid 4 star read for me. It had humor and heart. I will definitely get in line for the next Clayborn book!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was charmed by the author’s last book, Love Lettering, so I was really excited about this book but I’m sorry to say I found it disappointing. There is a bittersweet beginning for the characters when Will first sets eyes on Nora as a teenager that is an interesting angle to begin the story as the reader gets bits and pieces added to the events as the book moves on but I’m sorry to say there just is not enough going on in this book to keep the reader’s attention. These characters were so guarded maybe it’s hard to care about them because while being good people they just are not interesting enough to carry the story. Overall there just is not much going on.

It’s not a compelling romance or even a slow burn story. It was actually slow and boring. I found myself with very little interest in reading this book. There are a lot of random characters in the building but we are not given much time to care about them which makes the plot even odder to me. These people and the building are very important to Nora and towards the end Nora acts that way but it felt odd to me from the way it was written. In her last book I felt the author had written a love letter to New York City but Nora’s love for the people and the building did not come through in this one. It happens to be set in Chicago which is about as relevant to the book as this line here in my review. I actually liked Will in a lot of ways but I find adult characters with childhood issues and dramas annoying for the most part and that’s really his hang up. It’s just not much to work with or care for these characters. I’m sorry to say I do not recommend it. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book had so much potential to be cute and funny, the perfect romcom, but it unfortunately fell flat for me. Both characters sounded the exact same. And although the poetry reading was fantastic and funny, the rest of the book was very slow and lacked the sparkle present in that scene.

*thank you for the ARC. I will not be adding my review to GR or AMZ because I don't like to bring down a book's score.

I loved this book so much i even recommended it on my latest 2021 Most Anticipated Romance Reads video on YouTube!! https://youtu.be/qrpRmINvrp4

I adored this book! It gave me The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movie vibes... Everything to me was so well done... from all the characters that lived at the apartment complex to the furniture Nora's grandmother left her to Will's stiff demeanor.

I am a huge Kate Clayborn fan and cant help but devour these beautiful stories that she writes, they leave you feeling so warm and filled up.

I adored Will and his determination to stay in his hurts, even though Nora and the group of residents slowly but surely cracked his hard exterior. I loved the growth in Nora as she realized that she could change things around and it wouldn't change the wonderful memories she has of her grandmother. The sabotage that Nora and the others play on Will is wonderful and so very enjoyable!

The dialogue and story overall is just so fantastic and I will certainly be sharing with book with everyone.

A heartwarming rom-com about a boy who falls in love with a voice and the man who returns many years later to find the same voice belonging to the spokesperson for the building in which he’d just inherited a condo. And she wanted him out.

Nora moved in with her Nonna and took care of her through her last months then inherited the condo in the building where she pretty much grew up. Everyone in the building had chosen one another as family and they are very close. The other residents, mostly older, were cute and quirky and easy to love. That boy, who was now a hot doctor, didn’t know how to love until he became close with the residents of the building, and it turns out his instinct was right and Nora really was the love of his life!

The way the story unfolded, It was satisfying to see the way Nora and Will’s walls crumbled and they learned how to be whole and loved, respectively. There were plenty of funny moments and hijinks with the residents of the building. I recommend this novel as a nice break from your life. 4 1/2 stars.

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kate Clayborn did not disappoint with the latest novel, Love at First! I read this book in a day because I loved the evolution of Nora and Will’s relationship. The novel had perfect pacing and depth to allow connection to the characters. Highly recommended!

This book is pure romance for me. Angsty, found family, love at first sight, a little bit of fate, characters who fall in love and learn to love both, beautiful imagery and sense of place. I highlighted a million passages, the language is gorgeous. Pacing is excellent, though I slowed and savored this one, I did not want it to end. Will and Nora will stay with me. Not only can I not wait to read it again but this will remain a comfort read forever on the keeper shelf.

I might do a longer review another time. Right now I just need to stay in all the feels for this gorgeous book.

This book was a beautiful story of learning what love is. Will and Nora have had different experiences with love that have affected how they view their feelings for each other. Love is not tied up in things familiar, love is not all consuming and excluding all others, love at first is not all there is. This was a beautiful book and I look forward to reading it again because I know I will get even more from it than I did at first reading.

My sincere thanks to Kensington and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Love at First and give my unbiased opinion of it. I will recommend.

Love at First is a beautiful tale of second chance romance with a twist. The twist being that they never actually met all those years ago. Sixteen years ago, Will Sterling overheard Nora on a balcony. Struggling with his vision at the time, Will never really got a good look at Nora but he fell head over heels with her voice and personality that he witnessed at the time - all of which Nora was unaware.

Fast forward to present day, Will is back to the building where it all began and suddenly faced with meeting the girl of his teenaged dreams.

I recently fell in love with Clayborn's writing after devouring Love Lettering a few months ago, and was so excited to learn her new book, Love at First, was releasing soon! Clayborn is able to weave such lovely, romantic tales of two completely opposite people who somehow manage to be perfect for one another - and Love at First is just another example of her great storytelling abilities!

After facing some difficult huddles in life, Will has grown up to become quite a serious, determined man. He's a successful doctor with not much else going on in his life, until fates leads him back to the balcony (and to Nora).

Likewise, Nora's life resolves around the same steady pace. She's living in her late nonna's apartment, working from home, and only interacts with a couple of long distance work colleagues and the other older tenants in the apartment building. Nora feels a little lost and is finding comfort by hanging onto the past.

I really enjoyed the way Will and Nora's relationship grew. While many people have labelled this story as enemies to lovers, I find it to be a very mild version of enemies. Instead, I simply like to refer to these two characters as 'stubborn and stubborner'. There was definitely a heavier emphasis on these two characters building a solid friendship which allowed the 'love at first sight' trope to feel more defined and less about 'love at first lust'.

However, I feel the stars of this book were the side characters. Will's fellow doctor and his relationship troubles with his ex-wife were entertaining and I enjoyed seeing their reconciliation just as much (if not more so) that Will and Nora. The apartment building in this story also had a bevy of crazy characters that all somehow flowed peacefully together.

Overall, I found this story to be enjoyable and a very easy read. It's lighthearted and fun, but briefly touches on heavier topics. Clayborn did a wonderful job with this story and I cannot wait to read more of her work in the future.

My apologies but this will not be a very coherent review. I might be entering a "Kate Clayborn can do no wrong" phase. Each book I pick up by KC has gotten my emotions engaged and made me relate to the characters in ways that I don't expect. This was no exception. So, I just want to note that since I strongly suspect that I am now in such a phase with author, my bias will be unchecked and gushing may ensue.

I don't think this was the best book by KC, but it's my favorite for the moment -- until a new one comes out or I reread another. Just as she's done in each of her offerings, there is precise and exquisite care in giving these characters the right story. I love the themes of found family and lonely souls finding a right fit with each other. I enjoyed how the past defined their interactions and the coming awareness that it doesn't define them now and how they go forward. I loved both Nora and Will. They were worthy, relatable leads.

This book deserves a lot more than what I am going to be able to write. I think the main point I want to say is that the plot, setup to this story matters less than the fact that KC chose to write it. If it's not a trope you like or it doesn't sound interesting to you, just know that the character-development is worth it. I'm totally biased at this point, but KC could write anything and I would read it.

I'm floored. I'm wrung out, but it was totally worth.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the published for a chance to read and review this book. Views are my own.

Kate Clayborn's writing is like a deeply layered chai latte with complex flavors so harmoniously blended that you find yourself soothed despite, well, yourself. Lavish language sprinkled with humor and kindness and awkwardness and angst that should go well together but really, really do. Likewise, Will and Nora came together in a beautiful melange of sweetness, loneliness, and insta-recognition (not instalove) that made perfect sense.

To be honest, this wasn't my favorite of Kate Clayborn's romances; that would probably be Love Lettering. There was a fair amount of logic suspension at play here to believe the events that would lead poor nearsighted (physically and emotionally) Will back to his destiny under Nora's balcony. The detours for poetry readings, kittens, nosy elderly neighbors, and a divorced boss were fun at times, ungainly at others.

But during these crazy covid times, the lovely fairytale connection between Will and Nora is comforting and romantic all at once. During a time when we are supposed to avoid all interaction, a love story where two people first meet accidentally, reunite unknowingly, and then fall in love despite themselves - this reminds us that ultimately we all need to connect and love, as lovers, neighbors, friends, people.

The writing is masterful in this book, and the story intriguing--I DNF because of a steamy content. Whenever I read adult novels I forget that they aren't YA. Haha. I'm not a fan of explicit sexual content in any book, adult or otherwise.