MY LIFE HAS NO MEANING NOW THAT I FINISHED THIS BOOK.

Finally posting my thoughts on this one. Since finishing it back in September this book has consumed my thoughts and I've already reread it. And yet I still can't find the words to do this book justice. It's my favorite book of 2022 (even though it doesn't release until 2023 ooops) and literally is everything I love in romance novels.

Kate Clayborn is truly a master of her craft and this book is exactly what romance should it. I highlighted over 100 passages L O L. It's achingly romantic, full of heart, and features two amazing protagonists.

Georgie is coming back home and is trying to figure out her next steps in the world. I loved how this was resolved and as someone who is basically the same age as Georgie, it felt incredibly natural and realistic. I adored her relationship with her best friend and loved Georgie's "Ah Ha!" moment. Her parents were also 10/10 love them.

And Levi though...what a love interest. This man is quiet and grumpy until he isn't and seeing him warm up to Georgie was everything. He is gone for her from the get go and I adored his POV so much.

Overall, I simply am obsessed with this book and I don't even like reducing the novel to it's tropes because it is so much more than that, but if you like grumpy/sunshine, small town romances, strong female friendships, or bucket lists in books, I think you would enjoy this one.

This was such a beautiful story. Kate Clayborn is a phenomenal storyteller and her writing gripped me me from the beginning. I loved watching the story of Georgie and Levi unfold while they both unpack struggles they have been living with. The way Levi opened up to Georgie and the way Georgie became Levi's safe space was so beautiful to read. A beautiful love story!

I’ve always loved Clayborn’s books, some more than others, and this one fell somewhere in the middle.

Georgie is a 28-year-old who lost her job as a personal assistant to a Hollywood director (who semi-retired) and has moved back home to VA to figure out her next step in life. While helping her pregnant best friend Bel clean out a room, she discovers a junior high notebook she made detailing what she was looking forward to in high school and how her life might play out. As she is facing a crisis of finding what she wants out of her life (rather than what others want from her), she uses the notebook to help guide her toward something new in life.

Levi, as a former troublemaker and black sheep of a prominent family, was kicked out of the family and banished by his father. At 32, he has turned his life around…business owner, homeowner and keeping a low profile.

Can Georgie and Levi help each other see more potential and value in their lives and futures?

I liked the humor in this one, I liked Hank the dog, I liked most of the secondary characters, and I especially LOVED the nurturing and supportive nature of Georgie’s and Bel’s friendship (Clayborn does the depth of female friendships so, so well!).

But somehow the Georgie/Levi story did not grab me like the mains in the author’s previous books. I’m not sure why. Partly I felt they were both immature for their ages in dealing with their issues. Georgie, while exuberant, could also be annoying at times with it, and I occasionally wanted to shake Levi for his passiveness.

But there were tender moments which I’ve come to expect in her books, and she imagines those especially well. All-in-all, a good story with a sweet, healing romance.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing the free early arc of Georgie, All Along for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Thanks Kensington Books and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!

Georgie has moved back home after living and working in LA. She returns feeling lost and aimless.

Levi has spent his adult life trying to stay out of trouble and brush off a reputation he earned as a child.

Georgie and Levi work to overcome their fears and grow together.

This book was a sweet and enjoyable contemporary romance.

4.5 stars. While this may be my first read from Kate Clayborn, it certainly won't be my last. I loved the two main characters in this one, Georgie Mulcahy and Levi Fanning. Georgie is back in her hometown, planning for a temporary stay to help out her best friend Anabel who is expecting a baby. Georgie is at a crossroads, having just been let go from her job and no plan for what to do next. She has never been much of a planner, more of in-the-moment type of girl and she thinks of this as a setback trait because she feels so devoid of ambition and career goals, especially since her last job revolved around catering to her employer's needs rather than her own. Given this new blank slate of possibilities, she's a bit staggered by the emptiness and unknown of how to fill it, seeing the deficiencies and holes more than anything else. Levi has spent most of his life living opposite of his father's demands, but has finally carved out a path and life suitable for him and which he can be proud of. But it still doesn't erase the past of his misgivings and behavior, so he keeps his head down low and personal space very private. Georgie and Levi may seem like opposites at first, but they also have a lot in common. I also find them incredibly endearing and fun together, as well as funny, too. It wasn't an instant kinship, but with some forced proximity, Georgie's exuberant behavior nudges at Levi to open up more and let her into his space. Their chemistry is perfect in how they complement one another and experience old things together in a new light. The story is also about both of them overcoming their past pretenses and being comfortable in their current skin and how they can slot into each other's lives because there are complications that intrinsically arise with their relationship. Yet neither of them disappointed me with how they handled those hardships because they are better than their pasts and together, they are unstoppable. The romance has such an underlying heat and simmer that it's the small gestures and facial expressions which scream out their love and affection and I adored this. Definitely a new favorite of mine.

Unfortunately, this was not for me. I had such high hopes given all the reviews. I was so incredibly bored and hated that the term "fic". No thank you. Moving on...

Such a warm, beautifully written story. Filled with all the messy wonderment of life. I absolutely adored Georgie and Bel. I loved their friendship and the love they had between them. I love how truthfully they saw each other. And levi is such a complex character. Perfectly flawed and messy. This is a story that truly makes you think about your life in new ways. The writing was lovely - I really felt like I was meeting each of these people and this town they shared.

my thanks to NetaGalley for this ARC. I have loved previous Kate Clayborn books I"ve read and this is no exception.

This is the story of Georgie--someone who didn't quite fit her small hometown when she was young--who has now returned, years later. Her job (that she excels in) as a personal assistant back in California has been eliminated and she comes home to help a friend and decide what she will do going forward.

Being home brings back many memories and takes Georgie back to her awkward years there. From her first encounter in a small town store on her return, to numerous interactions with locals who remember her, Georgie finds herself being pigeon holed back into who she was, not who she is.

This book is a slow voyage of discovery for Georgie and a treatise on communication and thoughtful self assessment, One of the first people she encounters on her return in Levi, a man who had his own reputation as a boy and has been working his way out of that through the years.

Levi and Georgie find each other but the path isn't easy. There is pain and misunderstanding and a heaping dose of toxic family dynamics at play in this book. But there is tenderness and the way the romance starts and progresses is lovely to read. Both MC hold themselves back in some ways and the progression to them being open and more confident in themselves is a journey we take with them in this book.

It was an engaging read. A bit more angsty than some of Clayborn's books but in a meaningful way. I enjoyed reading about Georgie and her progression in this book was rewarding to read.

She and Levi work and it was satisfying to see them make the effort to be together and be there for each other.

A friend had recommended me this book and, trusting their judgment, I immediately requested it. And I’m so glad I did! Georgie, All Along was a sweet romance between two people who’ve spent their entire lives being misunderstood.

Georgie Mulcahy‘s back in her hometown, reeling from being let go from her long-time personal assistant role, having been told to go find herself. She’s ostensibly there to help her best friend Bel move into her new home and prepare for her new baby, but she arrives there to find that she’s got everything figured out. Bel unearths their old friend-fic, where the two of them had planned out their high school lives. Georgie sets out on a mission to accomplish everything in the journal, eventually with the help of Levi Fanning, whom she ends up being roommates with due to a misunderstanding.

I wasn’t aware that this was a dual-POV book going in, but I ended up really enjoying having both Georgie’s and Levi’s point-of-view! They’re both going through their own things: Georgie’s rediscovering herself and trying to accomplish the items on her list, while Levi is trying to make a life for himself in a town that only knows him by his bad reputation.

Their first few interactions are as awkward as you can imagine when they’re both mistakenly promised an empty house to stay at by Georgie’s parents. However, over time, they warm up to each other, and it was really sweet to see their romance developing.

Part of Levi’s conflict was his terse relationship with his family. He owns up to all of the bad decisions he’s made in the past, but it’s clear that his family reminds him of those bad days. I liked reading about his character growth, as well as Georgie’s. She’s on a journey of self-discovery, but she’s also becoming more focused in the now instead of worrying about the lack of ambition people are always telling her she has. Part of her arc was embracing her ability to adapt so well, which Levi helps her recognize.

I also really liked reading about her close relationship with Bel, her best friend. Next to her, Georgie feels even more lost in her life since Bel is so put-together. However, the two of them both realize how much they need the other in their lives, especially in times of crisis.

Overall, Georgie, All Along was a sweet romance that unfurled slowly but surely. I loved the characters, especially the protagonists’ character arcs. Also, the last line of the book made me tear up a little (we love call-backs to earlier moments in the story!). If you’re in the market for a romance with a self-discovering heroine and a gruff hero, you should check out Georgie, All Along!

A new favorite that will resonate with a LOT of readers. Georgie is such a fascinating character and Levi is so compelling. In Kate Clayborn style, it's funny and sweet and real.

3.5/5 stars. This book was cute and pretty emotional. Overall, there really isn't too much of a plot but the author makes up for that for being very focused on the characters themselves-their thoughts, their feelings, their dreams, their history, etc. The book alternates between two POVs: Georgie and Levi. Georgie has returned home to her small town in Virginia where she grew up after her boss decides to retire leaving her out of her PA job and bereft, uncertain what she wants to do next. She returns home to stay at her parents' place and unexpectedly finds Levi Fanning, the former "bad boy" who had been invited to stay there while Georgie's parents were out of town and while his home was undergoing repairs. Levi is grumpy (of course) and Georgie is sunshine (why not), and the two of them decide to become temporary roommates in part because of Hank, Levi's adopted dog.

In the meantime, Georgie has re-discovered her old "friendfic" journal that she wrote with her best friend Annabel filling the journal with their hopes, dreams, and to-do list in advance of starting high school. Georgie decides that she wants to try to finally do everything she wanted as a teenager, hoping that it will help her figure out what she wants to do with her life next. Levi offers to help her check some of those to-dos off of the list.

I loved the relationship that blossomed between Georgie and Levi, and I appreciated that we got to see both of their points-of-view. The reveal of Levi's history with his father and his mistreatment and, essentially, abandonment is heart-wrenching. This didn't feel like the typical opposites attract situation, but when the characters come to realize that they fit with each other, the pay off felt well-earned. I also appreciated Georgie's struggle with the "blank" spaces in her life as she tried to figure out her next steps, as the author reflects the truth that a lot of us face that there is so much pressure on people to have it together, to have plans and a career path and a timeline to follow when life just doesn't work that way! Overall, this was a good read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this for an honest review.
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I loved everything about this book. I devoured it. The chemistry between Levi and Georgie was so good. I couldn’t stop smiling through it all.

I would 100% recommend this book!

I was excited to get a NetGalley advanced copy of this book, because I just love Kate Clayborn's novels. This one though just wasn't all that special. The novel centered on a woman who returns to her hometown, and yet I realized after finishing that I didn't know much about her or feel any attachment to her.

3.5 Stars

I so enjoyed Love Lettering by this author. She really knows how to write touching, romantic stories. This one is a heartfelt, yet slow-going, touching story about Georgie and how she returns to her hometown to start anew.

I loved the characters in this book. They were real, true to life, and similar to people everybody knows. Georgie and Levi were so adorable together and I liked them as a couple. I appreciated the way the author wrote chapters from the point of view of each of them. The side character of Georgie's BFF, Bel is exactly the type of best friend any woman would be lucky to have. I loved that the book told the story of two youngish (compared to me) people growing and learning to love themselves, people can learn a thing or two from this couple.

The plot had my emotions all over the place. One minute I'd be crying and the next laughing my butt off. The sex scenes in this book we hot and steamy. I am not usually one who goes for that sort of thing but with the romance factored in Clayborn nails it. Just a warning though, it tends to get a bit graphic so if that is something that would bother you as a reader be warned.

While I enjoyed a lot about this book it was a little too slow going for my tastes and a little long in the tooth for what it is so I can't bump it up to four stars but I think many people will like it and I would read more of this author's work for sure.

was not familiar with Kate Clayborn's previous works so I was not sure what to expect. There is a scene early on in the book that made me howl with laughter. To top it off there was a second scene a further bit in that was also quite funny.

This is a book about Georgie who is working to reinvent herself. Growing up with her best friend, Bel, she was always in the shadows even though she didn't realize it at the time. Then she is in the shadows of her big personality bosses in LA. When her boss unexpectedly quits her job which leaves Georgie also jobless, she decides to move back home since Bel is ready to have a baby.

Upon returning to her hometown, Georgie discovers a journal of sorts that her teenage self wrote. It was all about her hopes and dreams for her high school years. Looking back, Georgie realizes that the two friends did not do any of the things they had planned. Georgie starts a journey to experience these things and in the meantime, discovers her self as an adult.

This was a fun quick read with some meat but not too much.

3.5 stars/5 stars

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kate Clayborn is an amazing writer and Georgie, All Along was no exception. I couldn’t put it down and it’s an instant favorite. Highly recommend for fans and new readers.

When Georgie heads back to the small town she was happy to leave it is will mixed feelings. She is happy that she will be there to help her lifelong best friend prepare for her first child. She is less happy that she will be back to the people who seem unable to see that the grownup Georgie is different than her teenage self, It doesn't help that George feels adrift after her being let go from the job at which she was so successful. When she finds a journal of stories she composed about the things she wanted to do her senior year but never did it seems like the perfect opportunity to retake control of her life. Running into grumpy Levi who has his own past to reckon with might be another perfect opportunity.

Kate Clayborn is an author that I trust so when it took me awhile to connect with this story I wasn't' concerned, I knew that I would get there and boy did I. My issues at first were with the friendship fic and how I never really understood why Georgie fixated on silly childhood plans likes jumping off of a dock to make a wish and how accomplishing them could possible have an impact on her sense of self. To each their own. Levi was another challenge for me at first. I loooove a grumpy hero but he was all over the place for me and outside of the way he cared for his dog I did not see the appeal at first. At all. However as things developed between them and his emotions came pouring out I found myself reading with a hand over my heart. Every reservation I had was quieted and I was overly invested in their HEA. Great side characters and an emotional impact that crept up on me prove once again that Kate Clayborn is an author I know I am in good hands with.

I received. copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I tell you I wasn't expecting to get an ARC of this book, I mean that I genuinely didn't think the universe would be so kind to me after punching me in the face repeatedly this year.

And yet, one sunny Wednesday, there it was. An ARC in my inbox. This must be what it feels like to see the sun for the first time. But, like, more exciting.

This truly feels like a fever dream to me. Kate Clayborn is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE authors, and I would probably have murdered someone just to get to read the first two chapters early. And I would have been right, because this was EVERYTHING I could have ever hoped for and more!!!

Georgie, All Along is a masterpiece. A MASTERPIECE. It's heart wrenching, spellbinding, magical. A romance that will stay with me for the longest time.

This is the story of Georgie Mulcahy, who was considered flaky and uninterested and unmotivated by her small town while growing up. A couple years after high school, she transitioned from waitressing to working on movie sets, and ended up getting a great gig as a personal assistant to a famous writer/director, which she kept for years.

After the writer/director decides to unceremoniously quit Hollywood and go live on a farm, Georgie finds herself unemployed and, once again, uninspired, with absolutely no idea what she wants to do with her life. Lucky for her, her best friend Annabel, who has just moved back to their hometown, calls her for help getting settled in her new house and getting it ready for her baby, who'll be making an appearance in two months.

Being back in her hometown just shows Georgie how much everyone's unflattering impressions of her have stuck, and how much she lived up to them. The one thing that gets her out of her funk is that, while helping Bel unpack, she finds a friend fic they wrote together in middle school. A friend fic, apparently, is like a journal where kids would write about their future dreams and adventures and stuff (if this is a real thing, I'm sad I missed it, lol).

The fic inspires Georgie to do all the things she and Bel planned to do in high school, but never got around to. It gives her a purpose, which is just the thing she had been looking for.

Just as Georgie makes this decision, she's surprised by a new development: it turns out that Levi Fanning – once a troublemaking, angry kid who became infamous in the town, and now a quiet, grumpy dock construction worker with a face carefully carved by God – has been promised by her parents that he could stay in their house for the next two weeks. Except, you know. They promised the same thing to Georgie. So, what to do? 😏😜

Important note: Levi is also the older brother of Georgie's high school mega crush, Evan, and it makes her feel very confused that she's now so intensely attracted to his black sheep older brother and can barely remember Evan's golden boy face.

Levi's history with the town and with his family is so tragic and heartbreaking. His journey towards getting past his mistakes and learning to be kind to himself is beyond emotional. Not going to lie, tears were shed.

Georgie and Levi's romance is Kate Clayborn at her absolute best, and keep in mind that her worst is still legions above everyone else. There's so much tension, and so much work done in trusting each other and confronting each other's demons and learning to move forward.

I can't even with how amazing this book is. It broke my heart into a million pieces and put it back together. The characters, the romance, the writing, the setting, the friendships... everything!

I'll never get tired of saying Kate Clayborn is unfairly talented and could write the fuck out of a grocery store list if she wanted to. And we would all be lucky to read it.

Who doesn't want all of their wishes to come true? Christina Lauren have ranted and raved about this one and it did not disappoint! Such a cute story about finding yourself when life knocks you down and not letting of the past, which is always easier said than done.

I hope this book will become popular! It was a lot of fun and I liked the storyline as well as the characters.