A cute story that has me going back and forth between 3 and 3.5 stars.

Will Sterling first had contact/no contact with Nora Clarke in the form of tomatoes thrown off a balcony when he was a teenager. What? Yes, he heard her sweet voice and felt the falling tomatoes. She had no idea he was there, and he never really saw her because he could not see very well. But she piqued his curiosity. Then, as teenagers do, they both grew up.

Now, sixteen years later as he enters the apartment building his uncle left to him, he recognizes that voice he has never forgotten at the very same apartment building. What luck he has! But will she be happy to meet him when she learns his plans for the building? She is not happy.... but he is so handsome...she is being difficult...but has that voice....

He has plans and she has plans of her own - mainly to sabotage his plans. Then there is the quirky fun group of residents that make up the building. This book was a little bit of a slow burn for me. It is a light book, and it was nice to turn to this in between heavier books and subject matter. Will I remember this book in a year? Not sure, but as I said it was a nice distraction.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kate has a way of writing that draws you in and makes you feel as if you’re reading something unique and special. I was immediately hooked by the hint of fate and missed connection between Will and Nora and stayed hooked because of the authors vivid descriptions, heartfelt inner dialog, and achingly incredible slow-burn and tension. I’m a sucker for a good slow burn, and this book brings it! Will and Nora’s first night together was EVERYTHING! This is an enemies-to-lovers story with lots of hijinks and great supporting characters. The author brings such and in-depth look and insight to these two slightly sad, slightly broken individuals. This is a tender story about how our past experiences with love shape us in to who we are, but it doesn’t have to define us. Kate Clayborn is officially an auto-read for me!

I did not enjoy this book. I was excited to read Clayborn's follow up to Love Lettering, which I liked. This book was also getting good reviews. However, I found it to be unimaginative, boring, and not well written. The elements I enjoyed in Love Lettering did not find their way into this book. The best thing I can say about this is that I liked the cover art.
Unfortunately, this book gets 1.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy. They can't all be winners.

Unlike the quietly beautiful Love Lettering, this took a lot longer to grow on me. There's something sedate and easygoing about the writing style, so it's easy to put down and walk away from - which is not usually a glowing endorsement for a book. But once I delved deeper into the story and got more invested in the romance, it had my attention. This couple complements each other perfectly, coaxing out the best in each other and providing plenty of incentive to do so. I loved the progress that this hero makes throughout the book, and I loved the quieter moments that the author excels at writing. Some of the most intimate scenes take place outside of the bedroom, and it was great to see these two get closer. The tone and pacing are likely to be too slow for some readers, but if you like your romance to simmer a little bit, then this one is worth the wait.

The story follows Will and Nora, two strangers who are connected by an old apartment building. When Will was a reckless teen, he visited the building during the darkest day of his life, and it was there that he (kinda, sorta) met Nora. Sixteen years later, they come together for their first official introduction - and their experiences have given them completely opposite opinions about the building. For Nora, it's the place where she's been surrounded with love. For Will, it's the place where love was extinguished. As they feud over their different approaches to dealing with the rundown building, Will and Nora get closer. Their feuding turns into something like friendship, and after that follows love.

I will say that it often takes me a little while to settle into third person stories, so it's entirely possible that the perspective is to blame for this taking time to grow on me. But I don't think that's the case here, and I probably would've lost interest if not for my appreciation for Love Lettering - which, ultimately, would've been a shame. It's a pretty subtle romance, riding a fine line between slow and slow burn. Once I got to know these characters better, it was much easier to fall for the story, and the author's talent shone through. It doesn't have the intensity of the typical enemies to lovers romance, nor does it have the feel of a true opposites attract romance. It's an interesting combination of a lot of things, but the author does an outstanding job making the story feel unique. I loved the community aspect and the way this relationship builds slowly. If you're looking for an emotional, intelligent, slow burn romance, you've found it here - but this is definitely a laidback read. I received an early copy via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review of this slow burn romance.

Kate Clayborn is the Shakespeare of contemporary romance. Her books should be bound in leather and printed on beautiful, creamy white paper with the titles embossed in gleaming letters on the covers. She writes about love as though it were a living, breathing thing visible to the naked eye. And I am here for it.

This is a gorgeous, deeply sad romance about two people with misconceptions about love and how to express it. The way that brilliant, closed off doctor Will and cautious, skittish Nora come together is a wonderous thing to behold and my only regret, as it always is with truly great books, is that I'll never be able to take the journey for the first time ever again.

I love the honesty of Clayborn's writing and her ability to adorn that honesty with the most purely beautiful writing I've ever encountered in books like these. I'd love to see her books as films or plays. Everything she writes matters. There are no extraneous characters or throwaway scenes that are just there because that's what a romance needs.

I loved this.

The love story we needed. My only qualm is that it is being published after Valentines Day. I think this book is the perfect mood read for those who are seasonal readers.

Will first heard Nora speak 16 years ago when his sight was compromised, yet they don't meet until they are in the same apartment building. Will wants to rent out his apartment, but Nora doesn't approve of him doing that, as she is close to the other people who live there and they have become a surrogate family to her. She isn't sure about the type of people who might live in Will's place, so a battle of wills ensues between them. Through it all, they grow closer to each other and Will grows closer to the other tenants. I love the slow burn element of this book, because it makes you truly start to root for Will & Nora even when you know as a reader that you'll get a HEA and the ending is the perfect finish!

Kate Clayborn just came on my radar in 2020 with Love Lettering. Love At First is her latest romance involving Nora and Will, two young adults who each inherited apartments from family members. Nora loves her living arrangement, especially her neighbors. Will is not interested and plans to turn his apartment into a short-term rental, to the dismay of Nora and the other residents. The residents band together to convince Will to abandon his plans. And of course, he and Nora fall in love.

While the romance genre is inherently predictable (you know they’re gonna end up together!), Clayborn’s characters avoid cliches. Even the supporting characters are unexpectedly fleshed out. Those details make her stories enjoyable and memorable.

I went back and binged her three book series about luck, involving a three friends who win the lottery after buying a ticket together. Her characters are likable and fun. I can’t wait to see what Clayborn writes next.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn was such a fun, sweet romcom! I previously enjoyed Love Lettering and was excited to see that Clayborn had a new book out. This time set in Chicago, with a small apartment building as a backdrop. This book explores similar themes of belonging and building on that with choosing family. Our leads are Nora who works from home and lives in her Nonna's old apartment and Dr. Will who inherited his unit as he calls it from his estranged uncle. Will wants to air bnb his place and the building is Nora's family so she's having done of it. It was fun to see these two banter and learn how to be an adorable couple. I especially like how Clayborn tied this one up.

Kate Clayborn’s writing is of a rare quality; it’s eloquent, poetic, powerful, and so highlight-worthy.

Thought my review is longer than usual, I hope you can appreciate it later after you read “Love At First”; perhaps you can save it for now.

I don’t get the notion of “insta-love”. Perhaps because I’ve never experienced it, except vicariously through Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. But hey - don’t let the title of this book dissuade you in any way; the title “Love at First” has such deeper meaning that you won’t get ’til near the end. It’s kind of like the movie title, “Love, Actually” - you tie in the meaning later when the swoony voice of Hugh Grant musically says, “Love actually is all around.”

Dr. Will Sterling has inherited an apartment in a 6-unit building where he once visited as a teen 16 years ago, the same day he saw teen Nora on her balcony, unbeknownst to her. Now, Will wants to get this property off his hands, for he wants nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, Nora and the rest of the building’s tenants are outraged that this stranger would do such a thing, and as the ringleader of project “Foil Will’s Plans”, Nora schemes ways to persuade Will to do otherwise.

Thus, the enemies to lovers trope. But alas…also a second chances…

But the story is NOT only defined as these tropes - nor an insta love. I actually found it more as friends to lovers. I loved watching how Will and Nora grew to become friends, and then the way they slowly fall in love as friends is super heart-felt and made me want to read about friends falling in love all the time! Whether it was during a poetry reading, repairing a bathroom fixture, drooling on one’s lap, taking care of one when sick, or when just standing under a door frame…looking…and smirking, the chemistry and love felt between Will and Nora got me all tingly inside.

I loved how the story went even deeper than just the romantic aspect. It’s also about family and how you don’t have to be blood-related to be defined as family. “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs: the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.” - Maya Angelou. This, my friends, encapsulates the tiny 6-apartment building complex - well the people, that is. They all have a gigantic history together and practically watched Nora grow up. It’s sad that Will had a poor exemplification of love in his life, and it is through Nora, her “family”, and even his quirky boss, where he learns that not only can you choose your family, but that love IS actually all around. (There’s another important lesson that is well-connected to the title).

On a personal note, it was hard not seeing myself in Nora: living two lives, holding onto fragmented artifacts of the past, holding on to such artifacts because she felt comfort and connected to the person she lost, feeling guilt, not living for herself, and using all the aforementioned to dictate how she runs her life.

Having Will in her life was a transformation in Nora, but it rang true the other way around, for this building is the very place that Nora calls a home full of unconditional love and laughter, but it’s the very place that had exuded no love whatsoever for Will. Throughout the story we learn why and we also see how Will and Nora grow to become best versions of themselves with each other.

I have to say this: I absolutely loved this book more than “Love Lettering”. I can’t believe I said that, but it’s true. 5 stars from me for sure!

Thank you to Negalley and Kensington Publishing for this lovely ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Yes, this is a typical contemporary romance but it goes much deeper than most. Because it’s all about the power of a compassionate community where everyone helps each other out. These 10 or so, residents has been living together in the same apartments in the same building for years. They may not have a lot but they have each other. When one of them passes on, the nephew who inherits his apartment causes some consternation with his “new fangled” ideas. If you came for the romance, I can tell you that it is cute and fun. You will enjoy it.

Loved this slow burn romance from Kate Clayborn. Set in Chicago, this novel follows Nora, a graphic designer grieving her grandmother, and Will, an ER doc who stays busy to avoid thinking about more uncomfortable truths from his upbringing. Nora and Will enter each other’s orbit when they both inherit apartments in the Logan Park neighborhood of Chicago. This is a tender novel that explores grief, hope and memory. For readers who enjoyed Love Lettering, this romance is a bit steamier.

Love at First is a lovely book with a grumpy hero doctor in glasses and a sunshine heroine in tech. Each has grief they have to deal with when it comes to family and with a bit of antagonism from Nora and Will. The supporting cast of the other tenants in the building was lovely.

I enjoyed it as my first foray into Kate Clayborn's books and will more than likely pick up another one soon

I opened this book to read and just enjoyed the ride. Two people coping with life: change, friendship, love, challenge, regret. Can they adapt? Are they willing to try? Will and Nora are aided and abetted by a cast of secondary characters who add such zing to the story. All in all, a very satisfying read.

When Will Sterling was a teenager, he first encounters Nora Clarke. He is immediately intrigued by her but never gets to meet her....until 16 years later when he inherits his uncle's apartment in the same building that Nora lives. Will has plans for the apartment that Nora and the current residents don't like. Nora sets out to try to change his mind about how to handle the apartment, and their relationship develops from there.

The storyline is a bit boring, and the issues surrounding the apartment don't really set up the intended tension needed between the two main characters. It isn't clear if this was intended to be an insta love, an enemies-to-lovers, or a friends-to-lovers type romance. The two main characters lack chemistry and I couldn't get invested in their developing relationship. There are however a few cute moments in the book, and the writing is good.

2.5 stars - rounding up. I wanted to like this book, but I just could not connect to the story or characters. It wasn't poorly written, but the story just never felt real to me. I also didn't feel any chemistry between the main characters, Will & Nora, which is a must-have for a romance. I ended up skimming the last half, and probably would not have finished this if it wasn't an ARC I was reviewing.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Love at First was an adorable tale of two unique individuals who struggle with love and their idea of what love must look like or mean. Will and Nora's pasts make it difficult for them to acknowledge their feelings and move past prior emotional struggles to embrace the true love they have for each other. Insert a few lovable and quirky neighbors and a gruff but honest doctor friend and you have a memorable story about love: finding it, realizing it, and keeping it. Love at First is a cute tale I would highly recommend.

A wonderful, tender, and emotional read. Nora and Will’s journey from their past to their future. Nora is been loving her Nonna’s live since her death. She inherited her apartment, her belongings and her lovely neighbors, and they are her family and her responsibility. Will want nothing to do with his uncle’s unit in the same building because the hurting memories from his past and is set to renew and rent it. But this will disrupt Nora and her neighbour’s life. Will they fight for their believes or will their fight bring them together? A really great love story

I liked the premise of this book but wish the battle between the two had been a bit more fun and drawn out. It may have led to more moments of tension. They didnt even kiss until 60% of the way through. I liked the heroine more as she seemed to actually grow and change. The hero was more of a sad sack a d I felt like his back story never resolved. Overall this was just a pleasant read but not very memorable.

This is very recognizably a Kate Clayborn book and yet also something new and different. Will and Nora have echoes of past Clayborn characters. Will is solid and steadfast, Nora is emotive and a little desperate. They both seem simultaneously put on the page to repel and collide. Will is determined to move forward, Nora is desperate to maintain the status quo. Will wants to forget his past and the family that didn't want him, Nora wants nothing more than to maintain the traditions and home her nonna left to her.

And yet, they come together in the most beautiful, tender, and touchingly funny story. The level of humor is new - Clayborn has always shown flashes of it, but this story verges on slapstick at times with Nora's increasingly frantic attempts to repel Will. Also, there are kittens.

Let's face it: I adore Clayborn's work and have done since I read [book:Beginner's Luck|35717661]. But this one broke new ground.

I was given an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.