4.5 stars

have LOVED Clayborn's last couple releases, and this one was no different - Levi and Georgie were such great characters and their relationship was so fun/intriguing to read about

Only thing that I found with this story that knocked it down from 5 (and wasn't a big surprise because I had the same issue with her other books) is that the beginning takes a while to get going. But once it does around the 15-20% mark, it pulls you right in.

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn was a highly anticipated read for me. I really enjoyed Love Lettering when I read it last year. So I was thrilled to get an eARC of this book from -NetGalley

And Georgie, All Along did not disappoint. This book is a really lovely story of self-discovery and romance.

Georgie moves back to her hometown after she’s laid off from her job as a high-powered personal assistant to a film director. She’s feeling aimless and unsure about what she really wants out of life, and being back in her hometown puts into stark contrast her dreams as a young woman vs. what she’s accomplished in life. She finds a notebook she wrote as a child with all her dreams for the perfect high school experience and realizes she didn’t actually do any of it. She decides to go through the book, experiencing those things now with her best friend in an attempt to figure out what went wrong and what she really wants from life. Along the way, she just might fall in love with a handsome man with his own complicated past.

This book was an utter delight. Funny, heartwarming and swoony. I think it also might have been the case of the right book at the right time for me. I read it as I moved from Cape Town back to my home country and was struggling with some of the same feelings as Georgie. I felt like the lessons she learned along the way were beautiful and I’m so thankful I got to read it.

Georgie, All Along comes out in January and I definitely recommend it for rom com lovers!

this book healed me y'all I literally read it through post-covid booster fatigue. my eyes were actually burning but I kept going. it is so cute and has so much heart. you will relate to and root for georgie! it made me reflect on my life and the things i wanted to accomplish as a child versus who i am now, and feel a bit of reconciliation. levi is so sweet. overall lovely as always, kate clayborn.
thank you to Kensington Books, Kate Clayborn, and NetGalley for the ARC.

There’s not many contemporary books that I thoroughly enjoy reading from beginning to end. This is one of them. I feel like I resonated with the main character, Georgie. She is all of us in the current time; Busy running around and working on everything for everybody but yourself.

Georgie returns home to figure out a path for her life. Throughout this, she’s introduced to the male main character. Chemistry is amazing between the two. A definite slow burn budding romance.

Seriously enjoyed this read.

I received an arc from netgalley for honest review.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fantastic. I love Georgie as a character and for the journey she goes on. You can tell that she's going to go through this journey to fully find herself with or without the romance that she finds along the way. But Levi being there is like the cherry on top of this story. Their relationship is so sweet and feels very real. I also loved the other relationships between the characters, especially Georgie and her best friend Bel.

This was such a feel good story especially to other people who feel like they have that "blankness" in their lives.

I loved the characters that were developed in this books, but this version had a few noticeable editing areas (Harry/Henry) used interchangeably, some typos or missing words that I hope get corrected before publishing!

Also I would die for Hank.

Georgie, All Along

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The cover of this book just drew me in and I’m so glad I got a copy of it via @netgalley !

Georgie and Levi’s story was beautifully written and has some characters with great depth. Georgie is back in her hometown trying to figure out what’s next while Levi has steadily built himself back up in the same town. The dual perspective aided well to their development and even the best friend, Bel had depth to her story.

Check this one out if you like small town romance and character growth!

"But I can tell he's watching, can tell he's looking at me like I'm the moonbeam he once said I was: bright and rare and mysterious."

Levi & Georgie. AND HANK THE GOOFY DOG!!! Romance readers are going to MOON (beam) all over this book. And shed some tears. And swoon. I'm too far gone for Levi Fanning. My favorite grumpy meet-cute. JUST chef's kiss! 100% A+. Kate Clayborn = GENIUS.

THINGS & STUFF
-dual POV
-small town
-soft vulnerability (RIP @ me *melting emoji*)
-grumpy x sunshine
-friend fic
-strawberry milkshakes
-citronella candles & pizza
-horror movies & dock jumping
-self discovery/reinvention
-ROOMance: forced proximity
-THE hand flex
-messy & chaotic family dynamics
-pinterest
-#IsThisAKissingBook: open door. Forearms kisses are adorable! They way he notices her smiling at him. That mouth to eyes to mouth to eyes gaze. It's reeeeal good.

Thank you Kensington Books for an advanced copy!

Song: The Midnight Train To Georgia by Gladys Knight

Georgie’s famous boss changes her life, no longer needs a personal assistant, and tells Georgie to go do what she wants to do. But what is that? Georgie has no idea. She grabs the lifeline from her best friend and drives across the country to her hometown where she finds a journal of sorts from her teen years and is convinced it will guide her to her hopes and dreams. Enter the older brother of her high school crush, also seemingly struggling with life and the stage is set for an honest, funny, poignant, tale of regaining one’s self and discovering the new.

3.5-3.75?

I received this ARC from NetGalley, and here is my honest review:
This was not my most favorite read. To be fair, I am just kind of over the girl-meets-boy-who-has-a-dog-trope. Even minus the dog, I think I am just no longer as interested in contemporary romances!

My bias aside, this was a very cute read, I must admit. It got better as the chapters unfolded and we learned more of our main characters' personalities. I love Levi and Georgie's love story, the focus on family, the healing that unfolds... It is a book that maybe inspires some hope for a meaningful and lasting love, as well as family ties being reformed. Oh, and it is set in Virginia, so it hit home for me on that front!
There was a pretty steamy scene or two in this one. But I appreciated that we really did not spend a lot of time on those intimate moments, because I think that would have taken away from the emotional intimacy that was being built within the pages. So, spicy scale? 2/5 red hot peppers.

I'd say, if you love a good ol' chic-flic, this is a good pick for you.

Thank you, NetGalley!

Georgie is a personal assistant to a Shonda Rhimes-level film maker in Hollywood, but when her boss decides to step back from the crazy, Georgie is lost. She's spent so much time serving others that she doesn't know what she wants in life. She heads back to her childhood home, temporarily vacated by her traveling old hippie-type parents (such a fun and original couple, I loved them!) only to find it's being occupied by the local (handsome) grump while his house is being remodeled. He builds docks on the local waterway, and his grasp of science and ecology is a nice twist. His issue is that he's been the black sheep of his family, but it's a role he was pushed into cruelly and unfairly. The two of them fall in love, inevitably, but the journey is heartwarming. I love Clayborn's writing and this one was perfect, as expected.

Georgie, All Along was so wonderful. The author's writing style is beautifully lyrical and the main characters' love, frustration, shame, and triumph came right off the page. It was so fun to be in the POV of Georgie, in all her chaos, and I loved seeing Levi transform from grumpy and walled off to embracing her 'expansiveness.' The plot is simple enough (Georgie has a bucket list of sorts) that it allows the character development and relationship progression to take center stage. I also couldn't help noticing that this is a *spicier* book than this author usually releases, much to my delight. Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2022 (although it doesn't release until early 2023).

Format - E ARC (netgalley)

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 🌶 🌶

Series- N/A

Troupes- Opposites attract, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, finding oneself.

CW- Mentions of drug use and firearms

I think this is only my second book by Calyborn, but somehow I’ve fallen in love with her writing style and her wonderful characters all over again.

This is not just a romance story, I know I know we say that all the time but, this one really hit home with me. There’s not that layer of trauma that so often is the foundation of a book about people reinventing themselves and learning that their past does not define you. Georgie could easily be your best friend or that person in your life that you can always count on. She’s floundering trying to find a propose once more while also trying to find herself and is that not just the most relatable thing?

Levi, is a changed man. He was a shit in his youth and now estranged from his siblings and running his own business he’s found a new life and while it's a little lonely it good. That is until Georgie barges into his life and turns everything inside down. In the best way possible.

These two dummies have an electric chemistry that keeps you in the story turning pages until suddenly you’re at the end and there’s no more Georgie and Levi to be had. I slammed though this book in 24 hours and didn’t even notice. The slow burn is delicious and the spicy times are hella spicy, but also sweet.

It’s safe to say I loved this book and will defiantly be reading it again. But first I must read more of Kate’s back log!

What a fantastic story! I loved the dichotomy between Levi and Georgie’s personalities as well as the journey they took to reconcile the present with their past regrets. Would definitely recommend!

Another winner from Kate Clayborn - reading her books feels like sinking into a really great hug. I loved Georgie and Levi and this quiet story about two rootless people finding a home in each other.

Wow. I had no idea what i was getting myself into when i started this book, but I’m so glad i picked it up. It was a wonderful read! Beautifully written!

This was a wonderful book. This is the second Kate Clayborn book I have read - I read and adored Love Lettering and so much of what drew me into LL is here in Georgie, All Along: complicated, nuanced and relatable characters, tender explorations of personal insecurities and loneliness, and just lovely emotional writing.

The MC Georgie Mulcahy returns to her small town after years working as an executive assistant in Los Angeles. Georgie has decided to return home to uncover what she thinks has defined her life - a lack of a specific direction or plan. Staying at her parents' house while they are on holiday, she discovers Levi Fanning is a houseguest - a point her slightly scattered hippie parents have forgotten to mention to her. Levi is the older brother of Georgie's high school crush, has a reputation as Trouble, but is now living a quiet life running a dock-building company. Georgie and Levi decide to both stay in the house and Levi helps Georgie on her quest to accomplish what she imagines are unfulfilled teenage milestones from a rediscovered "friendfic" - a diary she made with her best friend in high school. I am very much NOT a person who wants to return to the high school version of myself but I appreciate how well Clayborn uses Georgie's return home and her drive to do the things she thought were important in high school as a guidebook to reexamine her self in the past and in the present.

Georgie is a wonderful character with lots of personality who has accepted other people's opinions of her as fact; but over the course of the book rediscovers her self, her confidence, and the strengths she always had. It is a well written journey for her. Levi is Book Boyfriend material TM - reliable, competent, intense, has a beard, cooks, cleans, has a lovable neurotic dog Hank (who is quite possibly the best fictional dog ever!). So far so romance hero definition. But Levi is also complicated and not in a stereotypical way, he is vulnerable, emotionally mature, and nuanced. I loved both characters equally and enjoyed their moments on page together, but also the moments apart - thanks to the dual POV. And their contrasting text styles was *chefs kiss*

This was an emotionally satisfying and lovely romance that I enjoyed so very much.

What a super sweet love story! I loved every second of it.

Georgie is all chaos and mess. I don’t think I have related more to a character than I have with Georgie.

I feel for Levi and the painful childhood that he had and the trauma from his father. I understand his need to be small and not make any ripples.

I loved all the nicknames that Georgie’s dad gave to her. I thought they were hilarious and wished there was more of them. I loved all the supporting characters and their friendships, especially Hank!

Georgie, All Along is a heartwarming romance that delves into themes of redemption, toxic family dynamics, what it means to fit/fit in, finding your purpose, returning home, and female friendship. Kate Clayborn is gifted at seeding important ideas into her love stories.

I will say this is not my favorite of her novels, but I still think it is worth the read. Levi is an excellent grumpy love interest and Georgie has tons of personality.

A charming romance!

I love a grump hero and a shy heroine! It's such a good combo an I feel like Kate Clayborn does a great job with this in Georgie, All Along. Levi and Georgie are interesting and compelling. At first, I thought this reminded me a Hallmark/Lifetime holiday movie. Mostly it was Georgie being forced to go back to her hometown, but the story was complex and well built with both plot and setting.


Synopsis:
Longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy has made a career out of putting others before herself. When an unexpected upheaval sends her away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page.

But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a “friendfic” diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline—a guidebook for getting started on a new path.

Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest. As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side—if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back.