Book Review: Love at First
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Author: Kate Clayborn
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Kensington
Publish Date: February 23, 2021
Format: eBook
★★★★★
This book is perfect for those that like: Secret Crushes, Doctors Who Wear Glasses, and Found Families.
You might not like this book if you aren’t into: Slow Starts, Childhood Issues, or Poetry.
Purchase: Bookshop / Barnes & Noble / Amazon
From Goodreads: Sixteen years ago, a teenaged Will Sterling saw—or rather, heard—the girl of his dreams. Standing beneath an apartment building balcony, he shared a perfect moment with a lovely, warm-voiced stranger. It’s a memory that’s never faded, though he’s put so much of his past behind him. Now an unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property and get back to his regular life as an overworked doctor. Instead, he encounters a woman, two balconies above, who’s uncannily familiar . . .
No matter how surprised Nora Clarke is by her reaction to handsome, curious Will, or the whispered pre-dawn conversations they share, she won’t let his plans ruin her quirky, close-knit building. Bound by her loyalty to her adored grandmother, she sets out to foil his efforts with a little light sabotage. But beneath the surface of their feud is an undeniable connection. A balcony, a star-crossed couple, a fateful meeting—maybe it’s the kind of story that can't work out in the end. Or maybe, it’s the perfect second chance . . .
I guess it’s going to be an annual thing now where Kate Clayborn publishes a book and I read it and it becomes my first 5-star read of the year. Last year it was Meg and Reid from Love Lettering and this year, I fell hard and fast for Nora and Will.
Y’allllll… ::dramatic sigh::
Nora and Will weren’t perfect by any means. In fact, they both frustrated the hell out of me at times, but their journey, not just one another, but to themselves and overcoming their respective pasts was perfection.
And their romance? Whew. It was like Kate Clayborn reached into the brain of my youth and wrote about all the scenarios that I used to daydream about. I mean, to be noticed without knowing it?To bring on an affection just by being your whole unguarded self? GAHHHHH. And those first moments of awareness of someone new? Someone that you aren’t quite sure of yet except that you just KNOW when they are near?? The relief you feel at seeing them again?
Absolutely delicious.
Even beyond this love story, we also get to witness genuine friendships being built, not just between Nora and Will, which is also good, but with other people in the book. We get to see two men move from a professional respect, to a stilted out of work relationship, to full blown admiration with an entire Confession of Like scene that legit made me smile SO BIG.
There are rich side-characters that are given more than just plot service actions. We get glimpses into their lives and how they all came to live in this one building and it all adds up to making us, the reader, feel like part of a community. Maybe it’s Covid and the lack of meeting up with family and friends - and the looming presence of those that don’t care about this pandemic - but seeing this group of people come together regularly and rally for each other was absolutely what I needed right now.
This was a delightful read from start to finish and I hope you read it so you can understand what I’m about to say:
I would die for Mrs. Salas. That is all.