*ARC kindly provided by Kensington & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

i thought this was a cute read. i had trouble warming up to the book at first as i felt it was a little too slow for my liking, but it eventually found its footing (which explains the two deducted stars.) the two main characters were very grounded and likeable, and at times relatable.

I've been a Kate Clayborn fan since her first book, and this book reminded me of my favourite of hers, 'Luck of the draw'-in its ability to combine a sweet and steamy love story, with excellent character arcs for the protagonists. Georgie and Levi are eminently likeable, their connection is believable, as are their individual hang-ups about their self-image. I tend to like these prodigal-child-returns-home storylines, along with a possible second chance romance, and this book delivered on both of those-though in typical Clayborn fashion, they're subverted, just a little bit. Was the prodigal child just that prodigal? And do you really know what you want from a second chance romance? Lovely writing, excellent supporting cast of characters-you know they're fully realised when you're hoping for this to be a series, and for all of them to get stories of their own! Must-read romance novel of 2023, skip that mediocre EMily Henry and COlleen Hoover, read this instead!

The deal: Titular Georgie loses her job as a Hollywood assistant, and moves to her hometown with nothing but a notebook full of real-person fan-fic she wrote with her high school bestie years ago. Then she meets a hot brooding bro with his own stuck-in-high-school baggage. (I got an ARC from NetGalley.)

Is it worth it?: No. Either watch a hilariously awful Hallmark film or read Get A Life, Chloe Brown, which has the same “bucket list” conceit with 300% better sex writing.

Pairs well with: Central Places by Delia Cai if you want the “returning home to old crushes,” but literary. Or the aforementioned Talia Hibbert.

C-

"I'm caught up in her, everything about my senses dialed way up, but no so much that I can't think of how Georgie this kiss is, how right away she put her whole self into it. Sure you can stay here, sure I'll watch your dog, sure I'll tell you about my strange list Georgie. Expansive Georgie. I've never met anyone like her in my life, and getting this close to her is perfect, dizzying, overwhelming."

When her job as a personal assistant in Hollywood comes to a sudden end, Georgie is heading back home, unsure of what to do next. As soon as she's back home, she heads straight to her best friend, Annabel. To Georgie, Bel has her whole life in order while Georgie is floating along, unsure of what comes next.

When the two of them are cleaning out boxes at Bel's house, they find a "friendfic" diary from their high school days among everything else. The book details the best friends dreams and goals, and Georgie realizes it's the perfect manifesto to get her life started up again.

Georgie heads to her parents house where she's staying ready to settle in with her rediscovered treasure, when Levi Fanning and his dog show up. Her dad's mix up lead to Levi thinking he had a place to stay while his house was being renovated, and Georgie thinking she'd be alone. She only remembers Levi has the older brother of her high school crush who is broody, ex-troublemaker, and silent. Because life is continuously going unaccording to plan, she really can't kick his hot man and his cute dog out on the streets.

__________________________________________

This book was such a delight to read. I loved Georgie. She was messy in the kind of way that radiated chaos and warmth and happiness and just pure joy.

Instead of sulking for long after her world is turned upside down, she sets out to do something that’s going to make her happy. The book is a perfect balance of romance and character journey/development. We got to not only see her fall in love, but find her joy and start start to believe in herself. Her journey had me weeping.

Levi also had SPECTACULAR character development. My god, I adored him. Getting to read about him breaking out of emotional damage the “misunderstood, delinquent, punk kid” box that was built around him was perfect. Clayborn knows how to write characters with such beautiful hearts that you’re able to connect to deeply. Levi is soft. A beautiful character that compliments Georgie so well.

I loved everything about this book. It is my first Kate Clayborn book but 100% not my last. I had the best time on the friendfic journey with these characters. I was laughing, weeping, and falling in love along side them. The characters were magnificent and their relationships were so well developed. Everyone needs a friendship like Bel and Georgie, someone that sees them the way that Georgie and Levi see each other, and adventures to bring you joy.

Thank you NetGalley, Kate Clayborn, and Kensington Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 million stars

“That’s how Georgie Mulcahy becomes, for now at least, both my roommate and my dog sitter”
“Due to recent events involving my hot, uninterested roommate, I’ll probably get started on digging a hole later!”
I loved, loved, loved this romance book !!!
It was absolutely perfect under any aspect !!!!
A writing style that makes it easy for you to get into the story. A plot that engages you and keeps you focused on what’s happening to the characters and why they are behaving in a certain way. And some characters’ dynamics that are just so sweet and so great and so amazing to read, you will feel into the story and driven by it !!!
I absolutely loved Georgie and every second she spent in trying to figure out what she wants from her life, hit so much close to home !!!
And Levi … oh my goodness this man !!! This sweet, sweet man !! I’m absolutely in love with him !!! Despite everything he has been through in his life - let’s say that growing up has not been easy for him - he is still so loving and so sweet and gentle in everything he says !!!
Their roommate romance is one of the sweetest I’ve read this year and the spicy scene - albeit not frequent and a bit less “intense” than what I’m used to - was absolutely amazing !!! Chills honestly from moment one just because of the constant tension between them !!
I literally cannot wait for this book to be out !!!
“I like the way we fit”
“Georgie Mulcahy … from what I’ve been seeing the last few weeks, wherever you are is that man’s scene”

georgie, all along is charming and sweet and makes me think of the transition from summer to fall. it made me feel safe - like it's okay that my future feels a bit, well, blank. and i desperately have been needing that reassurance lately.

clayborn is so good at crafting characters who fit together like puzzle pieces - they just WORK together. i loved georgie and levi, they balanced each other out, but had similar insecurities. clayborn is soooo good at creating a setting and supporting characters that amplify the story. i just feel like a lot of love went into this book and it shows, and for that i am really appreciative. i'm looking forward to future books and reading more of clayborn's backlist.

thank you kate clayborn and kensington books for my review copy <3

My first Kate Clayborn book and man, did it tear me up! I dont know how else to explain this, but it was a STORY! I can safely say that many, vast majority, romance novels are centered around the romance between the MC (duh!) Hey! I love that- so dont get me wrong! I want to spend however many hours engulfed in love- from the meet cute, to the third act breakup, smut and beyond. However, some are more expansive (such a perfect word for this book that you will just have to read it to get it!) These stories take us on a ride, exploring some human truths, personal failings and familial struggles. This was it!

Did it have the quirkiest, funniest heroine? YES
Did it have a hot hermit hero that is so vulnerable you ache for him? YES
Did we have chemistry? YES

But we also got:
* A person struggling with life while everyone around her seems to be moving in the 'right direction'.
* A person allowing the sins of his past color his days.
* Two people desperate to connect and feel understood, only to find that in each other
* A reminder that sometimes picture perfect people have their own inner demons

I'll be thinking of this book for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book from the very start until the very end! It was a great storyline with just enough drama and romance to keep it light and fun. I loved the character development for all of the characters. There was a depth to each of them that was touched on during the story line. A great read! But now I am having a book hangover…I’m not ready to throw myself into new characters just yet.

Georgie Mulcahy has spent the years since high school putting others' needs before her own. After her famous boss decides to leave Hollywood, Georgie heads home to help her best friend prepare for motherhood. While cleaning out some boxes at her friend's new home, they discover a "friend fic" they wrote before starting high school and Georgie realizes she didn't do any of the things her pre-teen self imagined. Levi Fanning is still dealing with the many bad decisions he made as a teen and the falling out he had with his family. He's created a safe, stable, quiet life for himself, which is upended when he and Georgie become unexpected roommates. I absolutely loved this book- Kate Clayborn has become a favorite of mine, and honestly her writing gets better and better with each book. This was a book I wanted to hug when I finished.

Georgie….

A new author for me and one I will read again. Kate Clayborn gives us a story about a journey of “self” for both the H and h.

Our heroine Georgie has loving, quirky, non-mainstream parents who accept her as she is. In theory this is great! But teens usually have issues with anything different and her upbringing leaves its mark on grown up Georgie. She feels unfinished, or blank. As she journeys home to help her BFF she relives her past through her 8th grade dream-book and learns about herself and how to deal with the opinions of others about her.

Our Hero, Levi is the older brother of Georgie’s teenage crush. He has his own demons to wrestle as he chose, in his youth, to thwart his father’s extreme rules and expectations and travel his own rocky path. His self journey includes forgiveness of himself and others.

Ultimately the two help each other realize the good about themselves and give each other the sense of belonging that they both seeked.

*** My thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley. This is my honest review given in exchange for the ARC of this book. **

WOW! I honestly do not know how Kate Clayborn consistently finds all of the emotion in me and wrings it out in the most joyful ways, but she does. This story was so excellent and so thoughtful and so perfect. I love Georgie and Levi and the journeys they are both on and how much they love each other.

This was my first book by Kate Clayborn and I’m so impressed! From start to finish, I was transported and simply could not put it down. I loved chaotic Georgie, and I loved misunderstood, stoic Levi. I think the author did such a lovely job with the dual POV; we got details of how each side interpreted an interaction differently, and it really showcased their differences in personality. I love a pining hero, and Levi is smitten with Georgie pretty quickly and when reading his POV chapters you really get his feelings. I love how he sees Georgie as expansive. The friendship with Bel and her husband was a great side plot, and found myself rooting for all involved. I ultimately thought there could have been more of Levi’s backstory, maybe some more maturing but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. I also enjoyed the writing, it didn’t feel typical, it had its own sort of rhythm that I can’t put my finger on but it really swept me away. Great true romance for me! Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

I always really like Kate Clayborn, but I *loved* this book. I can't even completely put my finger on what exactly it was about it that I loved so much, but I was staying up late just trying to see what happened. I loved Georgie, who has always been told she's kind of a mess and that she doesn't live up to her potential or plan far enough into the future. She's a good daughter and a great friend, and I enjoyed being on her journey of self-discovery with her. After being let go from her Hollywood personal assistant job when her boss decides to leave the entertainment industry and live more simply, Georgie packs up and heads back to her hometown in Virginia. Her life long best friend has just moved back with her husband, and she's pregnant, and Georgie wants to be there for her. Her first day back, she rediscovers their "friend fic," a notebook they collaborated on in eighth grade to get ready for the big shift to high school. Georgie realizes that she once had all kinds of future plans and decides to live out some of them. Soon after discovering the notebook, Georgie heads to her parents' empty house and is surprised to find that her dad also promised a colleague a place to stay. That colleague is the reformed bad boy older brother of Georgie's middle/high school crush (who plays a starring role in the fic), who is still recovering from a whole lot of trauma and struggles to get close to people. But they pretty quickly realize they're super into each other, and they have to figure out how to navigate that while they're both also trying to figure their individual shit out. I don't know, it just really worked for me. It was sweet and sometimes funny and there is an AMAZING dog character named Hank - best dog I've read in ages.

Ahh, Kate Clayborn. How does she write such such moving romances, and with characters that are so unique and special? There is nothing I love more than a grump-sunshine novel, and Clayborn delivers this in spades.

Georgie and Levi fit certain romance tropes, and yet, Clayborn is able to write MCs that are extremely unique. Levi is super grump, and that is my absolute catnip. Georgie--who isn't your typical romance heroine--is a little lost and confused, and it was nice to see that in a FMC. Sometimes FMCs can come across as too perfect, but Georgie isn't. I love her flaws. Same with Levi. I think a flawed couple is so much more realistic.

Overall, this book was wonderful. A good example of Clayborn's beautiful, intricate writing. The only tiny issue I had was that the book dragged at first. It took a while for me to get into it.

I love Kate Clayborn and was really looking forward to reading this novel. She did not disappoint, yet again!

I enjoy Kate Clayborn and I enjoy small town romances. So Georgie moves back into her parents' house in her small home town. Her parents are off on vacation and what she doesn't know is that they are letting someone house sit because his house is being renovated. Enter Levi Fanning. Georgie had such a crush on Levi's brother when she was in school but Levi has been estranged from his family for a very long time. She gets to know and falls for Levi but she is working for his family which gets a little awkward. Some parts of this book were a little slow for me but other parts moved quickly. Both characters had some growing to do throughout the book.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with this book. I was really looking forward to it cause I liked her previous trilogy. The biggest issue I had was with the writing. I really believe this book could have benefited from an editor. Far too much rambling, which added nothing to the story. Far too many run-on sentences, which actually made it difficult to read at times. We have many library patrons who suffer from ADD and ADHD. I do believe sentence structures, like these, would make it difficult for readers.

The other issue I had was the pacing of Georgie and Levi’s relationship. It was so fast-tracked that it felt like whiplash. As the reader, you didn’t get to invest in their development. It felt like the writer was just rushing to achieve certain benchmarks instead of writing a romance subplot. I did like Georgie and Levi as characters. Going on their character growth journey was lovely. I wish their relationship was written as nuanced as they were as characters.

Georgie Mulcahy's job as a personal assistant in Hollywood ended and she felt unsettled. She was clueless as to what direction to take next in life. Georgie made a career of taking care of other's needs, but had not thought about her own wants and needs for quite a while. Her best friend, Bel, talked her into coming home to help her prepare for the birth of her first child. Georgie and Bel found an old journal from eighth grade with their hopes and dreams for their high school years. After reading through the journal, Georgie realized that many of the things she planned to do in high school didn't happen. She thought if she completed some of the goals in the journal, it might lead her to what she was wanting next in life.

Levi Fanning had a difficult childhood. As the black sheep of a prominent local family, he was constantly in trouble with his family and sometimes the law. He and his father did not see eye to eye and it led to his father demanding that he break contact with the family. Levi struggled to find a way to turn his life around. He found work as a dock builder and eventually took over the business. He sometimes encountered people who remembered him as a child and were unsure of him. Levi's plan was to keep to himself and to quietly show he was a changed man.

I had all kinds of love for this story. Georgie and Levi were two characters who had lives in transition. I enjoyed their journey to find what they wanted and find each other. Georgie's parents were loving and fun. The nicknames her dad had for her were excellent. I could imagine the author laughing while thinking them up. Hank, Levi's rescue dog, was a frequent scene stealer for me. I could see him in my mind out in the yard having a conversation with a big metal chicken (see the The Bloggess and Beyonce). I fell in love with Georgie and Levi and wanted everything good for them. This book checked off all of the boxes of happiness for me.

I received an e-ARC for Georgie, All Along and want to thank Kate Clayborn, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to voluntarily read and give an honest review of this book.

This book was so much fun!
I absolutely adored these characters.
There was so much depth and growth
Everyone felt so real. I was totally immersed in the story.
Highly recommend.
I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Georgie Mulcahy returns to her home town after she was laid off from her job. She feels unsure of her next step and is used to putting everyone ahead of herself. She knows she will be in town for a bit to help her best friend prepare for her baby and then move on to the next thing. She finds her "friend fic" that she wrote in middle and high school and finds some things she always wanted to do, but never got around to. She decides, in order to figure herself out, she will do these tasks. Things hit a snag, when she meets her unexpected roommate, the surly, loner, Levi Fanning. Levi offers to help Georgie on her quest. As they are working through the pages of friend-fic, something more starts between them and Georgie begins to discover what it is she really wants.

Wow, this story really packed a punch. This book was truly a masterpiece for me, that hit me right in the feels. There was so much I loved about Georgie and Levi and their journeys. I loved Georgie so much as a character. She was wild, messy, chaos, but she wasn't ashamed of it (most of the time). I also thought Levi, the grump that he was, was a perfect match to Georgie's sunshine.

There was something just magical about this book for me. Levi loved Georgie so much, but he needed to come to terms with his past history before he could move forward and believe that he was someone that could be loved. The journey both of these characters go on is wonderful and I loved it, though it made me cry.

I also loved the side characters in this book. Georgie's parents were hilarious and the parents we all wanted, but were embarrassed by. I also loved Georgie's friend, Bel and her husband.

This was my first Kate Clayborn book, but it will not be my last. I enjoyed the emotion and the feelings this book gave me. I can't wait to check out her back-list and future books! Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.