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treereads's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
This book started out pretty slow for me. From the back cover i knew the premise wasn't one i would usually read but I loved Love Lettering so I really wanted to read another Clayborn novel.
Once I got into the story I found I really liked all the little ways that Will and Nora found connection. I liked how they found they had similarities in their childhoods. I also loved all the many ways he helped her.
I'll admit there were way too many side characters for me. I prefer to focus on the main characters so a whole apartment building if characters plus co-workers was a lot.
I really did love Will and Nora together i just wanted more of them and less of everyone else.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Once I got into the story I found I really liked all the little ways that Will and Nora found connection. I liked how they found they had similarities in their childhoods. I also loved all the many ways he helped her.
I'll admit there were way too many side characters for me. I prefer to focus on the main characters so a whole apartment building if characters plus co-workers was a lot.
I really did love Will and Nora together i just wanted more of them and less of everyone else.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death and Death of parent
angelareads's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Medical content and Panic attacks/disorders
spearly's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Hm hm hm... this is an interesting review to write.
SPOILERS. You've been warned.
I started off this book with a near certainty that it was a bust. And the first half totally was. Honestly, it was nearly a DNF for me until we finally got to some juicy bits and things started to pick up.
So, in the end, a solid 3 stars. Nothing special, not the worst book I've ever read, and certainly not the best.
I feel a little mislead by the blurb. We get a total of ONE whispered 4am conversation from Nora's and Will's balconies before they come face to face. That was one of the things that drew me to this book - that these two might be having deep, lovely conversations at 4am before ever coming face to face. Actually, the whole 4am Golden Hour thing is abandoned pretty quickly, too, until the end of the book where it's suddenly relevant again.
Also, the whole feud thing just fell short. I could have gotten behind some sort of instant attraction turned full-out rivalry over Will's plans to rent out his unit. Nora could have been a little more cut throat. I like the idea of an unwitting attraction, a need to one up each other, to win, to battle it out. Then slowly, we see them soften up, open up, turn all that hot-and-bothered attraction into something deeper.
Everything here just felt incredibly mundane, which I'm sure was Clayborn's intention. Will was nice. Nora was nice . The main conflict of the book was fine.
And yes, I can accept that the main themes of the novel were family, community, loyalty, loss. Clayborn did all that, and well. It's just, for me, it wasn't enough to be captivating.
Honestly, the standout characters to me were the neighbours. I loved them! I wanted more of them! I wanted to see them bond with Will. We got hints of it, especially with Jonah and Marian, and that felt natural to me. I even liked Gerald, the seemingly personalty-less character who actually had quite a drastic arc in the novel.
I will give credit where it's due, though. I LOVE romance books with dual POVs, and though Clayborn captured Will's voice really well. I was skeptical of his reasoning for holding back with Nora at first, but the more we got into his history with his parents and uncle, the more it made sense. The more I could actually kind of see where he was coming from.
So, Love at First remains solely middle of the pack contemporary romance for me. Do I regret reading it? No. Will I almost certainly forget about it in a day or so? Almost certainly.
SPOILERS. You've been warned.
I started off this book with a near certainty that it was a bust. And the first half totally was. Honestly, it was nearly a DNF for me until we finally got to some juicy bits and things started to pick up.
So, in the end, a solid 3 stars. Nothing special, not the worst book I've ever read, and certainly not the best.
I feel a little mislead by the blurb. We get a total of ONE whispered 4am conversation from Nora's and Will's balconies before they come face to face. That was one of the things that drew me to this book - that these two might be having deep, lovely conversations at 4am before ever coming face to face. Actually, the whole 4am Golden Hour thing is abandoned pretty quickly, too, until the end of the book where it's suddenly relevant again.
Also, the whole feud thing just fell short. I could have gotten behind some sort of instant attraction turned full-out rivalry over Will's plans to rent out his unit. Nora could have been a little more cut throat. I like the idea of an unwitting attraction, a need to one up each other, to win, to battle it out. Then slowly, we see them soften up, open up, turn all that hot-and-bothered attraction into something deeper.
Everything here just felt incredibly mundane, which I'm sure was Clayborn's intention. Will was nice. Nora was nice . The main conflict of the book was fine.
And yes, I can accept that the main themes of the novel were family, community, loyalty, loss. Clayborn did all that, and well. It's just, for me, it wasn't enough to be captivating.
Honestly, the standout characters to me were the neighbours. I loved them! I wanted more of them! I wanted to see them bond with Will. We got hints of it, especially with Jonah and Marian, and that felt natural to me. I even liked Gerald, the seemingly personalty-less character who actually had quite a drastic arc in the novel.
I will give credit where it's due, though. I LOVE romance books with dual POVs, and though Clayborn captured Will's voice really well. I was skeptical of his reasoning for holding back with Nora at first, but the more we got into his history with his parents and uncle, the more it made sense. The more I could actually kind of see where he was coming from.
So, Love at First remains solely middle of the pack contemporary romance for me. Do I regret reading it? No. Will I almost certainly forget about it in a day or so? Almost certainly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Death, and Death of parent
ktdakotareads's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
caseythereader's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thanks to Kensington Books for the free advance copy of this book.
📚 Kate Clayborn is so good at creating places and people full of fine grain details. I feel like I know Will and Nora personally.
📚 Nora's apartment building feels like Stars Hollow in miniature, the way the residents all know each other, love each other, argue with each other, and take care of each other.
📚 LOVE AT FIRST is a lot about grief and moving on, but it's also about love and nostalgia and hope and the way two people can lean on each other in order to make it through.
📚 Kate Clayborn is so good at creating places and people full of fine grain details. I feel like I know Will and Nora personally.
📚 Nora's apartment building feels like Stars Hollow in miniature, the way the residents all know each other, love each other, argue with each other, and take care of each other.
📚 LOVE AT FIRST is a lot about grief and moving on, but it's also about love and nostalgia and hope and the way two people can lean on each other in order to make it through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
mrsbennettreads's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! Releases in Feb- you will enjoy it if you liked Love Lettering and/or The Switch.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
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