⭐⭐⭐⭐
Georgie, All Along, Kate Clayborn
Kensington Books, January 24, 2023

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

Georgie is used to taking care of everybody, but herself. Her busy career as a personal assistant in LA leaves very little time for self-care and her needs. Unexpected unemployment brings Georgie back to her home town for some R&R. Upon arriving home Georgie finds her childhood diary detailing a bucket list of sorts -- and Levi who seems to be her roommate for the time being. Georgie and Levi form an unlikely alliance and of course sparks fly -- but they both find themselves on a path to finding what's missing.

A romance, yes, but also a book that will fill your heart up and feel like a warm hug.

@kateclayborn.author @netgalley @kensingtonbooks #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #romance

I AM SO HONORED I GOT THE CHANCE TO READ THIS NOVEL. It hooked me immediately and I love how much we focused on all the side characters as well.. I really enjoyed the storyline and wow my heart melted so many times.

Tightly written, earnest, laugh-out-loud funny at several parts—one of the best romance books I've read in ages

From @heasonmytbr

Thanks @netgalley and @kensingtonbooks for the advanced copy of @kateclayborn.author book #georgieallalong

Georgie has always lived in the moment, which made her great at her job as an assistant to a famous screenwriter but also got her a reputation for being flaky growing up. After losing her job and housing, she moves back to her small hometown to help her BFF prepare for her baby—and also to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Enter Levi: a gruff, quiet dock builder who ends up staying at Georgie’s parents house with her. As they get to know each other, they realize they have more in common then they thought.

I found myself rooting for these characters and wanting to give Levi a big hug. Highly recommend adding this book to your TBR!

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam: 🔥🔥
Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, dark past, small town
Publication date: January 23, 2023

Georgie and Levi are the couple of the year for me, Kate Clayborn has written a triumph of a contemporary romance.

Georgie is good at her job, but lacks any ambition or plans for her life. Levi has restricted and disciplined his life to a paralysis.

Slowly, Georgie begins to remember who she used to be by working through and old high school journal. Levi is just gobsmacked by her sunshine.

The way they maneuver through his traumas and her self esteem is lovely.

I loved this story.

This is my first book by Kate Clayburn, so I didn't know what to expect from her writing. Overall, this was a cute read that I enjoyed.

Georgie was a funny character and I enjoyed seeing her return home and embark on a mission to try and achieve all her wishes from an old diary from her childhood. I liked seeing the scenes between Georgie and Levi and seeing them grow closer throughout the course of the book.

While this book took me a while to get into at the start, once I hit the midway point, I found myself more invested into the plot and found this to be a cute, quick read.

FLEW through this excellent, incredible book. Tightly written, earnest, laugh-out-loud funny at several parts—one of the best contemporaries I've read in ages.

As a personal assistant to the rich and famous, Georgie Mulcahy spent the last several years in California running other peoples’ lives to the extent than her own wants and desires never even surfaced. After her last employer decides to retire from the crazy hectic Hollywood life, Georgie returns home to her rural Virginia parent’s house who are the epitome of hippies from the sixties. Georgie’s best friend from school years, Bel, with whom she has kept in touch has also moved back, and is expecting her first child. Georgie’s scatter-brained parents are off on a road trip; she is quite surprised to learn they had offered their house to Levi Fanning whose reputation as a troublemaker has lingered long after he matured. Levi’s house is undergoing renovation so though it is way beyond his comfort zone, he agrees to be roomies with Georgie.

Georgie discovers an old notebook in her childhood bedroom which she calls a friendfic as it was written with Bel having all their young hopes and dreams for high school in glittery, heart drawings filled glory. Adrift with no clue what she wants for her life now, Georgie decides to live out some of the schemes that had never come to fruition enlisting the help of the taciturn and man of few words, Levi Fanning. It is often said you cannot go home again; however, Georgie in her enthusiastic and sometimes very lively way, thinks she can somehow find herself in those old dreams. Levi has spent years atoning not only for his misdeeds, but avoiding his wealthy family out of not only guilt, but a father who essentially disowned him.

While Georgie's attempt to accomplish her old goals seems either nonsensical or even childish, they provide a sort of template for exploring who she was and where Georgie would like to be in life. She has rather strong self-esteem issues feeling that her life has been low on accomplishments or adulting. This Women’s Fiction has a very slow burn romance coupled with a sort of navel gazing (which would please her parents) and reevaluation of Georgie’s life thus far. In a small community where she runs into people who knew Georgie back in the day, not all the memories are good and some even cringe worthy. Both Georgie and Levi learn the value of letting go of past hurts and moving forward with a life even better than either could have imagined.

I cannot say this is one of my favorite Kate Clayborn books though I did like Georgie and Levi very much. Ms. Clayborn's stories are always contemplatively written and at times, thought provoking as well as imbued with deep emotions so perhaps this one will inspire people to view their early lives with a different lens.

I heard so much buzz about this book so I was delighted to receive an advanced copy.

This is my first book by this author so I wasn’t sure what to expect. A lot of Kate Clayborn fans have said Love Lettering was their favorite, so I want to make sure I check that one out.

The beginning of the story was really slow for me, just took awhile for me to figure out the characters and where it was going. Usually I read books in a couple of days or weeks but this took me a couple of months. Some people like a slower build in books but I prefer a bit faster pacing. However, the 2nd half of the book was easier to get into and more interesting but it was still a slow read overall.

I adored Georgie and Levi. Their sweet romance was fun to see develop…they had a natural chemistry and as they overcame different hurdles it made me root for them to work out. I also really liked how Georgie and her best friend interacted.

Im surprised not much was made of Levi and Cal’s relationship, since that was a big part of the story arc and tension throughout the story.

I really enjoyed this book, it was my first Kate Clayton book and won't be the last! Overall this is well written, romantic & full of character through out. I loved the main character Georgie & found her very relatable. I highly recommend this book for all readers who love a romance book & make sure to add it to your 2023 wish list!
Huge thank you to Netgalley & Kensington books for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review

This latest from Kate Clayborn was a delight! I loved Georgie and Levi and their sweet, tender, and messy relationship. With multiple moments that made me laugh out loud and even more that made me smile, this love story is layered, thoughtful, and real. Clayborn has become a favorite author of mine because she always makes me laugh, swoon, and think. Releases in January, 2023, highly recommend!

I absolutely adored this book. It was exactly what I needed, just when I needed it. I wanted to feel safe in a story about people falling in love. I wanted interesting characters and relatable struggles. I wanted good writing and a happy ending. If you're in that kind of a mood, I highly recommend this one!

Also, shoutout to our hero Levi Fanning who was a kind of male representation that really meant a lot to me. Someone who has suffered and is doing their very best. I have such love for how the author dealt with him and his particular struggles, and I just know readers will get a lot out of the journey with him and Georgie.

Three and a half stars.

Georgie is living her best life as PA to an LA superstar, until boos decides to streamline her life and semi-retire. Now Georgie is homeless and jobless, so she decides to returns home to Darentville, Virginia to lick her wounds and help her BFF Bel, who begged her to come home only a few weeks earlier. Driving thousands of miles cross-country, on very little sleep with a car stuffed to the gills with plastic bags containing all her worldly possessions, Georgie feels like nothing has changed from her nineteen year-old self who left all those years ago. Then to add insult to injury when she tries to buy a couple of milkshakes at the local store she finds she has no money, giving the locals another chance to put her down and the very rude man in the line behind her the opportunity to grumble, and then pay for her drinks.

Helping Bel to unpack her junk room at the new house she and her husband have bought in anticipation of their first child, Georgie comes across an old diary which she and Bel wrote together, but less of a diary and more of an anticipation of what life at High School would be like, the thins they would do together. Georgie is mortified to realise that she didn't do any of those things and decides that this is her chance for a do-over, perhaps doing all these things will help her find her direction because it seems as though she still doesn't have a vocation, or even any inclining of what she wants to do next.

Moving into her parents' home while they are on one of their wacky roadtrips, Georgie is horrified when the grumpy guy from the shop lets himself into her parents' home accompanied by his big dog. Little does she know that her scatty parents offered to let Levi Fanning and his dog stay at their place while his home is being remodelled, and forgot to tell her when she said she was coming home.

Levi was the town's bad boy, when Georgie was at school there were all sorts of rumours about him, basically anything bad, he had done or was responsible for (a bit like the guy in the film Ten Things I Hate About You). He was also the older brother of Georgie's teenage crush who features very heavily in her diary. Levi has cleaned up his act and is a responsible businessman now, but his parents, brother and sister no longer speak to him, which is a pity because the family owns and runs a large up-market hotel where he could otherwise have stayed during the remodel.

Although Levi might have scared her initially, Georgie can't force him to sleep in his truck, or put his dog in doggy day-care, especially after he is mauled by a much smaller dog so she agrees to share the house with Levi. In return, Levi offers to help her with her diary to-do list, especially since Bel being so heavily pregnant means she can't do several things on the list. Can these two lost souls find redemption together?

I like Kate Clayborn, I really enjoyed her Chance in a Lifetime trilogy about three friends who win the lottery, and I liked this too. Intelligent characters, a tightly woven plot, cutesy small town, lovely dog - what's not to like?

Recommended for those who like small-town romance, reluctant roommates and curmudgeonly heroes.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I've read a couple of Kate Clayborn novels and they never disappoint to be an absolute delight and this one is no exception. Levi's and Georgie's struggle to be accepted by the community they grew uo in and never feeling like they fit was so relatable and I just wanted to give them both a hug. After some initial hiccups they worked so well together and really understood each other.
The storytelling flows really well and there are plenty of hilarious moments. How could there not be with the most cutest dog in the mix.
The only tiny little thing that annoyed me was Georgie's best friend. While she apologizes in the end for not supporting her the whole way through, it didn't really feel enough to me. Georgie was always doing her absolute best and I didn't really see what she was getting out of the friendship with Bell.
All in all I absolutely adored this book and will for sure be picking up other novels be this author.

TW: mentions of verbal abuse by a parent, past substance abuse

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.

Oh my gosh this review breaks my heart. I love Kate Clayborn. LOVE Kate Clayborn. Have read her other books multiple times, and was so so SO excited for this one, so you can imagine my crushing disappointment when it just...fell flat. 3 stars at best for me. It fell so inexplicably flat for me; I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and if I didn't love Kate Clayborn so much, it would've been a DNF for me. The pacing felt off, the story dragged...I have no idea y'all, I'm so confused.

HOWEVER, I initially reviewed Love Lettering as 3 stars and then re-read it a year later and and loved it. LOVED it. 5 stars, and it's now one of my favorite books and have gotten many of my friends and followers to read it. So who knows, maybe I need to re-read this one in January 2023 before it releases and see if my mind changes?

I really love Kate Clayborn’s writing, and getting to read this early was a treat. Georgie, All Along is a romance, but it’s also a book about a best friendship, a book about family, and a book about a woman realizing how good she is at all the many wonderful things she is. I loved the weird little town, and Georgie’s parents, and Levi’s coworkers, and all the side characters who add so much to the story. This is a book that I think will strike a chord with a lot of people in 2023.

*deep breath* Hi. Hello. Get ready to go on a journey with me. 😌

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. ❤️

I truly enjoyed this book. This is my first Kate Clayton book and I'm eager to read another one ASAP! I was hooked from the start and instantly wanted to be friends with Georgie aka On My Mind. She is perfectly flawed, but supported. Clayton does a good time of having you be empathetic and open to Georgie's development without being annoyed by slow and frustrating character development you find in other books. Georgie is open to change and doesn't wallow in self pity. I loved her friendship with Emma and Harry. Her relationship with Emma was reassuring because, even though they were really different, their relationship has stood the test of time. Emma's husband didn't disappoint either. Even when the relationships in the story went through something, the characters rose to the occasion to make amends/resolutions. Levi Fanning is the ultimate book boyfriend: mysterious, a little crabby, hot, irresistible, charming, and swooooooony! What Clayton does really well in this book is allowing the characters to change and develop, be vulnerable, show emotion all while keeping you entertained and happy throughout the story. I highly recommend this book!

<i>georgie, all along</i> by kate clayborn is a romance story with vulnerability and growth at its heart.

georgie, an individual who has no idea who she is or what she wants from life so consistently puts others' needs before her own, meets levi, a retired bad boy and local grump as the duo form a connection through a ‘friendfic’ diary georgie and her best friend created in high school. the diary is where georgie once envisioned the dreams of her high school self and looks to them in adulthood in an attempt to find a sense of direction in her directionless life. local grump helps her, and along the way, the two discover more about themselves and accept pieces of who they are that they never thought they would be able to grasp. also, did i mention that local grump is the gorgeous older brother of our georgie’s former crush? it’s a tale as old as time, and yet clayborn seemingly freshens up the trope, welcoming us into their world as the pair benefit from each other and the situation they find themselves in.

overall this is a lovely romance, well-written with the issues at hand and full of characters to connect to. i just know it will be one of my favourite 2023 romances.

<i><b>thank you to netgalley and kensington books for the arc.</i></b>

The blurb for this book describes it as "tender" and I couldn't agree more. Georgie is experiencing a quarter-life crisis that leads her back to her parent's house in her hometown. While much of the book centers on Georgie's journey, the best part for me was the hero, Levi. He is also on a journey, striving to be "friendly, not fragile" as his mantra tells us. Levi's progression toward understanding and healing is really beautiful. Both Georgie and Levi push the other in a way that is only meant to help that person, even if it doesn't mean a romance between them will be the end result. They truly want the best for each other and it's touching to read.

The characters in this book are vibrant and real, making messy decisions and putting themselves out there. Plus there is dog! A cute dog that has his own set of adorable doggy concerns.

This book is a perfect balance of character and romance and I loved it. Ms. Clayborn does it again.

This was such a beautiful and sweet story about starting over and self discovery! I absolutely adore Georgie and loved how relatable she was. She was spunky and fun even as she's trying to figure out what she does next!