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A review by spearly
Love at First by Kate Clayborn
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