Love At First by Kate Clayborne
When I think of Kate Clayborne’s previous book, Love Lettering, I think of complex characters with unique views on the world and a sweet romance that builds slowly and then burns eternally, all written in beautiful and smile-inducing prose. For her newest book, Love at First, all those quintessential Kate Clayborne-ism hold true and feel cemented in concrete.
Love at First has quirky Nora pitted against (devastatingly sexy) responsible Will in a battle for the soul of her small apartment complex after he inherits his estranged uncle’s unit (teehee). Will wants to turn the apartment into a short term rental space (a la AirBnB) and the tight-knit residents push back, (kindly, this is set in Chicago, after all) with Nora at the helm.
Will and Nora’s battle of polite, hard-headedness never gets too worrisome for the reader, as their attraction in every scene is apparent. I’m one of those people who hates reading kissing scenes in books. It’s like reading a name I don’t have a sound for, I just gloss over it and assign the appropriate actions, but the kissing scene in this one is VERY GOOD. It made me believe again in the possibility of good kissing scenes. It made me afraid that good kissing scenes are something that only this author can do.
Don’t worry, the cadre of side characters is strong in this book, as it is in many contemporary romances. Will has his boss, Dr. Abraham, though it’s never mentioned explicitly, I think is on the Spectrum. Nora has her co-worker and BFF, Dee who lives in San Diego. But the stars of the side characters are the other tenets in the apartment building, shy plant-lover Emily and ex-school teacher and poetry night host Marian, home-brewer Benny, 80 year old Jonah with his fighting spirit, and the Salas’, Corrine who loves to cook for everyone and her husband who hosts the building’s robotics club.
Kate Clayborne’s beautiful, quirky (from Nora’s POV) prose and deliberate slow-build romance, is another hit for me.
—Ford
I am so in love and a little melancholy.
Kate Clayborn's characters are exceptional with a clear voice. Their needs are achingly available for the reader not just to see, but to feel. The longing, love, and fear Will and Nora are living through, we are too. I was too.
I am a huge fan of Love Lettering, so I came into this book with very high expectations. This book met them, exceeded them, shot them all the way to Chicago and back. It was a joy and a sadness to have finished the book.
This world drew me in, with its inviting, loving, found family and lakeside beaches. (I'm a salt-water gal through and through, so it came as a surprise.) As I lived with Nora, struggled with Will, I started to look inward at my Grandmother. At the shape of love, different for each person, but no less potent. The book made me miss the shape of my Granma's affection. The color of her eyes, feel of her hand. It squeezed my heart, tightened its grip, and reminded me "Breathe out Love".
I am neither Nora nor Will, I am not a fan of grand gestures, I love cats, I do not like marinara sauce (I know I'm a monster). But I am in love with Nora and Will. With the tenacity of their love, the strength of their characters, and the hiccup in his heart. -Sky
