Love at First

Sixteen years ago while visiting an uncle he never knew existed, Will Sterling – waiting outside while his mother and uncle fought inside – was captivated by the voice of a girl his age. It was a perfect moment that’s stayed with Will throughout many more imperfect ones that came after in his life.

Unexpectedly brought back to the apartment complex after his uncle leaves it to him in his will, Will is caught again by that same voice. Only this time, he also has a name: Nora Clarke. But Will has no plans to live in the apartment, instead he wants to fix it up and sublet it out.

Nora has such fond memories of the apartment complex. She used to visit her grandmother there every summer and it was the one constant in a life often full of surprising unknowns. The apartment and the other people who live in the complex are her family. While she’s immediately drawn to Will Sterling, she can not get behind his ideas for changing or sprucing up the place.

What ensues is a back-and-forth game to get the other person to admit defeat. Ultimately what happens is Will and Nora are drawn closer and closer to each other to the point that they’ll each have to decide if they can let go of the past enough to find true happiness.

I was really drawn into this story by the premise. Of those often simple and sometimes seemingly insignificant moments in your life the just stay with you. I think we all have them. As far as meet cutes go I think this is a really sweet one.

The idea of Will and Nora being instantly drawn to one another, yet finding out they don’t see eye to eye in regards to the apartment complex, just brings to the forefront their own insecurities. So as they challenge one another – Nora trying to keep Will from changing the complex, seeing the beauty in what is already there and Will showing Nora that change doesn’t have to be a bad thing – do you begin to see where the other needs to get in order for them to move forward with a relationship. I like how neither character is right or wrong in their overall assumptions, they just have to personally take the leap for themselves. It’s very internal processing on their parts I feel, but the plus side is getting to be with someone who truly understands where you come from. Seeing Will and Nora get to that point, or seeing IF they can get to that point is worth the entire read of the book.

I kind of like the ambiguity of the conflict between Nora and Will. If you really sit and think about it, the conflict is silly to say the least. From the outside it’s silly. But that’s when you think about people’s feelings on the inside and how you trace these feelings back to their source that you find the true conflict of it all.

Will grew up with parents who were more focused on each other than they were on raising Will. Nora, too, grew up with parents who were more work focused than they were in raising their daughter. Whereas Will learned to become self-sufficient, Nora did have her grandmother’s love to fall into, and losing that makes her want to cling to the things she familiar with, not to let that change happen. Whereas Will wants nothing that he can associate with the past. He’s always trying to look forward but in doing so he can miss the things that are right in front of him.

The other families in the apartment complex are like a secondary character treasure trove. I love the camaraderie that they all have with one another, and I like that they are all so close. It almost feels like a bygone era. It’s been quite a while since I’ve lived in an apartment myself, but I was never super close with my neighbors. I knew who they were of course, would give a nice hello in the hall, but that was it. I love how these people have all become extended family. And I like good family, they love to be up in everyone’s business 🙂

Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I loved the ease in which I could slip into the story. I haven’t read all of Kate Clayborn’s previous books, but I’m thinking I need to fix that soon!

3.5 stars

Will first “sees” Nora when he was fifteen years old. He doesn’t really see her face, but hears her sweet voice and feels something. Will’s life changes dramatically that day they visited his uncle Donny that he never knew existed. It was then that he learned that his father was sick.

Sixteen years later, Will is now a doctor and back to his now deceased uncle’s apartment that his uncle left to him. It’s there that he sees Nora again. He’s not sure that it’s the girl from many years ago, but soon realizes it is. Will wants nothing to do with the apartment and soon fixes it up for short term renters. Nora, at first, has plans to sabotage him the help of her quirky neighbors–she learns of his family history and why he doesn’t want to live there.

Nora doesn’t like change. She has lived in her deceased Nonna’s apartment and hasn’t changed anything in it. Will is someone who wants to be loved, but is afraid of ending up like his parents: young and in love, but then lost with the idea of not being with each other.

I enjoyed this sweet romance about learning to love and be loved. I really liked Will and his internal thoughts. There were sweet moments between Nora and him that had my toes tingling–one in particular towards the end of the book involving tomatoes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story drew me in from the prologue. There was a lot going on and the reader is introduced to the two main characters right from the start. I instantly felt a connection to them both and knew I wanted to find out more about their lives and their future connection.

I didn’t realize from that very endearing beginning that I would be introduced to a lot of interesting, quirky characters. I loved the community that surrounded Nora and then, eventually Will. Speaking of Will, he just wants to fulfill his uncle’s will and get out of the apartment he inherited asap. Well, life might just have other plans. Did his uncle know what Will really needed even though he didn’t know him? Or was this all a big mistake?

The cute purple cover makes one think that this is going to be a light, fun, quick chick-lit read. But, oh, Love at First is so much more, so much depth. There are so many emotions in this story—friendship, loyalty, conflict, protectiveness, disagreements, fun, laughter, love, frustration. I loved the abundance of wonderful characters and loved the interactions between all of them. And remember I mentioned quirky—loved the quirkiness.

This is the first book I have read by this author but I know it won’t be the last. I enjoyed it so much and I’ll be on the look out for her future stories.

Will inherits his estranged uncle’s apartment and plans to offload the property and get back to his life. Until he meets Nora, who lives two floors above and won’t let him ruin her close-knit building.

This was such a sweet, slow burn romance. I liked the chemistry and tension between Nora and Will as they were obviously intrigued by one another but also on opposite ends of a conflict. I also appreciated their neighborly feuding — it was charming but never over the top (and did it better than The Cul de Sac War in my opinion). They’re both dealing with their own emotional baggage but learn how to heal and move forward with their lives.

I also loved the emphasis on your chosen family and the community shared by those in the apartment building. The cast of characters were all quirky but wrapped themselves around your heartstrings as they cared for both Nora and Will.

Overall I recommend if you want a sweet love story that handles deeper topics of grief and forgiveness.

What starts off as a meeting between two strangers during golden hour – the time frame right when the sun hits everything with its golden light – turns into an often funny, sweet and romantic love story in Love at First

Will has recently acquired his deceased uncle’s apartment unit. Will wants nothing to do with the apartment unit, the people who live there or any memory of his uncle. Will is busy – he is an emergency physician after all and wants the unit off of his hands ASAP. With some urging, will decides to flip the unit and sub-lease it. And that’s where Nora comes in.

Nora has so many fond memories associated with her current apartment. She spent many summers there with her late nonna and the apartment complex tenants have become more of a family to her. So when an outsider – Will – comes in talking about change and sub-leasing the apartment, Nora isn’t having it. What starts off as a feud between the two, slowly turns into something more.

I loved this book so much. Kate Clayborn has a way of writing her books that just gets to me. The story in Love at First revolved around Will and Nora, but it was also so much more than that. It was about sharing their history and how it shaped them to who they are. It was about second chances and the choices that we make when faced with hard decisions. It was about two people coming together because they end up meaning so much to each other.

I don’t think I’m doing this review justice, but just know that I absolutely adored Love at First and I can’t wait to go back and re-read my favorite parts.

Warm, wonderful and totally worth a read

Kate Clayborn’s Love at First has so many great elements that made it an amazing read. These include:

-A really lovely, youthful first encounter;

-An apartment building full of good, supportive (and at times quite nosy) neighbors;

– Lead characters with intelligence and charm;

– A romance that gives equal attention to both the hero and heroine’s inner thoughts and feelings;

-Some great supportive friends (Gerald for Will and Dee for Nora);

– A slow burn connection that eventually ignites like crazy!; and,

– Touching backstories for the main characters that lead to the issues that trouble their relationship; the adversity makes the good moments all the sweeter.

Added to these, the writing itself was superb. Clayborn’s writing is new to me but I’ll be back for more!

Thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy; this is my voluntary and honest review.

This book is a very slow, layered read. It takes a while for everything to come together, as the reader must piece together bits and pieces overheard or seen by different characters in the book, to eventually make a whole. To me, this approach is part of what makes this book so interesting.

Nora and Will (almost) met when they were teenagers. Will remembers his first sight of Nora vividly, even though he couldn’t see her clearly due to his nearsightedness. His mother had taken her with him when she went to talk to Donny, Will’s uncle. Will was waiting outside when he first saw young Nora.

Adult Will is a respected doctor who takes extra shifts to fill up his hours. His life is all about work. Then his uncle dies, and leaves Will his condo, an unwelcome responsibility. Soon Will is renovating his condo, caring for kittens, and spending time with Nora. He is also being asked relationship advice by his mentor at work, which is hilarious. The man is a pretty rigid guy (think Will in 30 years if he doesn’t loosen up), newly divorced, and wants his wife back.

Nora spent summers with her grandmother (Nonna) when she was growing up. Adult Nora inherited Nonna’s condo when she died, is living there, and works from home. Nora is at a standstill in her life. The building and the residents are home and family to her. Will is bringing unknown changes to the building, and all the residents are nervous as nothing much has changed in a very long time.

I loved this book and highly recommend it. Bonus, it contains a poem from The Monday Poem by Mary Oliver, whose work I’d never read before.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. These are my opinions of the book.

Thank you in advance to the publisher, Kensington, for providing a complimentary advanced review copy through Bookish First. A positive review was not required or requested, and all words are my own.

This isn’t my first experience with the author’s work. Last year I won Love Lettering through Kensington’s “Between the Chapters Club”. I really wasn’t too impressed with it. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to read anything else by the author again, but I don’t believe in writing off an author because of one bad experience or because I didn’t care for something in a book. That’s definitely not fair to the author. And, it isn’t fair to the reader because they might miss out on something as a result. One bad book experience doesn’t warrant a complete ban of the person’s work. I know I would appreciate a second chance, so it is only polite and respectful to show that grace on someone else.

That’s why when I saw this book; I first tried to win a copy through Goodreads. After two failed attempts (obviously I lost both times), when I saw it on BookishFirst, I decided to claim it with points. Perhaps I should’ve taken the Goodreads losses as a hint that it wasn’t meant to be. Still, I don’t like just giving up.

I was immediately drawn to the beautiful and whimsical purple cover. The plot sounded interesting – absolutely adorable. But, as with some books I’ve read here recently, there is a difference between the cutesy blurb and the story between the covers. Sometimes it’s the same and connects, other times? It’s a loss.

This was a sad mix of cutesy premise, cutesy dialogue, but yet it suffered something along the lines of the delivery and journey. After reading some other reviews – I do feel somewhat relieved I wasn’t the only one seeing that.

The writing could be engaging at times, and there was SOME good dialogue between the characters. But, despite the premise, it did not win me over.

Despite the cute feeling of this book, this is NOT a clean read by any means. There are “s” bombs as well as “f” bombs. The word a$$ is also used. And, there is an on-page scene with some descriptive language used. For those looking for a clean, fun read – this is definitely not it.

Besides Will and Nora, there were a LOT of characters to try to keep up with. At times it was a bit overwhelming to keep track of them as well as their place in the story, and the relevance they played in it.

This story begins (or rather the prologue) when Will is 15; his mother is at his uncle’s apartment to ask a favor, one that Donny doesn’t want to do. But, it is here that Will hears Nora and falls in love with her – or rather her voice. Clayborn’s writing in that moment is real, visceral, and heart-breaking. Though, right off we don’t know what the favor is or why Donny won’t help his sister.

Sixteen (16) years later, Will (now a doctor) has to stay in Donny’s apartment for a year to inherit it. Of course, he has other ideas for it, which is not sitting well with the residents, particularly Nora. The author did a great job with the pros and cons of short term rentals known as AirBnBs.

While Will has unpleasant memories of his uncle (and by extension the apartment) from that one night, the other residents were seemingly fond of the man; and upon learning about Will’s plans – borrowed items tend to start showing up to show their appreciation for Donny. Yet, we don’t learn that much about the man – only the residents’ version versus Will’s memory. That’s one of the reasons Will doesn’t want anything to do with the apartment.

To prevent Will from trying to fulfill his goal, the residents begin a zany campaign to kill him with kindness – from loads of food to fake poetry readings. While some of the ideas work, it isn’t changing Will’s mind.

His feelings for Nora shift and wane – he cares for her, the idea of her, but also sees who she is here in this moment.

The reader sees this sweet moment when, after finding some abandoned kittens, Nora gets sick and asks Will to stay with her to keep her company. It is a touching “feel-good” moment which doesn’t last too long,

Nora reveals to Will her attachment to her own outdated apartment – it belonged to her grandmother. Nora was closer to the woman due to the fact of her own parents being rather “distant” due to their work. Thus, despite Nonna’s passing – Nora is holding on to the past.

Will finally reveals his own past – that Donny didn’t want to aid his dying parents, namely by taking him in. As a result, teen Will had to take over as an adult and handle everything from paying bills to burying his parents on his own. Thus being a teen and a caregiver was a taxing toll on him. It would likely be a toll on any adult.

Due to the recent pandemic, this might be a bit triggering to some readers. Thus this is namely the reason he doesn’t want the place. Nora finally understands, and Will asks her to keep the secret. There is no reason for the other residents to know.

When Nora is feeling a bit better, Will leaves.

After two weeks, he is still thinking of her. She brings him dinner at work. She also wants her apartment like his – not a short term rental, but redesigned. The two eventually kiss which leads into much more.

Nora begins to realize that the apartment she is living in is more her Nonna’s than her own.

Another back story is a crazy relationship between Will’s fellow doctor and his ex-wife. While divorced the two seem to still care about each other and begin “dating” again. Thus, it is that relationship that Will realizes his own issues with commitment stem from his parents and not wanting to be like them.

Will then decides to fight for Nora as he begins to realize he has genuine feelings for her.

At the same time, Nora is out in California dealing with her job. After working remotely due to Nonna being ill, Nora has to return to California. But, she, like a friend/co-worker has become disenfranchised due to changes inside the workplace.

Despite their past, their current issues – Will and Nora do eventually find a way together. At times it felt a bit forced and unnatural. I really couldn’t relate to or connect to them as a couple. The other characters felt more like filler than natural and organic.

Will and Nora’s job back ground and issues, while trying to be interesting, do lack substance. The storylines also feel like filler and not something that is natural and connected to the story.

While I didn’t exactly hate this book, it isn’t something I was overly fond of either. At times it did feel like a chore to read and I had to push on to get it done.

Thankfully this is a standalone read.

I’m sure the author’s fans will more than likely enjoy this read. As much as I tried to give the author a second chance, I likely won’t be reading her stuff again.

This was such a tender and heartfelt novel. The prologue grabbed me right away and I didn’t want to put the book down. Kate Clayborn balanced all of the emotions and humor so well in Love at First. Her writing is magical and I found myself swooning one minute and then laughing out loud the next. I loved this entire cast of quirky and charming characters. Love at First is a love story, but it’s not just about romantic love. It’s also about the love between friends, neighbors, found families, and most of all, it’s about loving yourself.

There are too many things to list, but here are just a few of the things I loved:
– The great mix of tropes: forced proximity, enemies to friends to lovers, and second chance-ish romance. They worked well together and felt really balanced.
– All of the secondary characters, especially Gerald. Each provided amazing comic relief and I loved the bromance between Gerald and Will.
– How Nora and Will’s story came full circle. I loved the backstory and that ending and epilogue made me swoon so hard. Their love was subtle and almost quiet, but it was so very tender and beautiful. I loved that it wasn’t rushed and that they each recognized that they had to reconcile their pasts before being able to truly move forward.
– “I’ll see you.” I loved how this simple line could be interpreted not just to say goodbye/see someone later, but to really see a person for who they are. That connection of understanding and being seen was so powerful between Nora and Will.
– The importance and theme of family. This was one of the most painful and beautiful parts of the novel to me. I was really touched by how this group of “orphans” took care of each other and created their own new family.

My heart is so full. I really can’t recommend this book enough.

CW: grief, loss of loved one, parental abandonment

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

Love at First by Kate Clayborn is a delightful modern romance that intertwines the past, the present, second chances and fate. The storyline combines humor, romance, loyal friendships and love in such a delightful way. Without giving away any spoilers, it is the story of Will and Nora who have an undeniable attraction to each other. The author is to be commended for her creation of the quirky, charming, likable and relatable characters. I found myself smiling and laughing as I read the dialogue between the characters. I have to thank Kate Clayborn and Kensington Publishing for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy of this wonderful book. These are my opinions solely and I rated it a five.