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Kate Clayborn’s Love at First is one of those books that you immediately feel has wrapped you up in a warm hug, and in which the characters and their story creep gradually and unobtrusively under your skin and wind around your heartstrings. Ms. Clayborn is one of my few go-to contemporary romance authors, and this book demonstrates yet again exactly why that is; this is a beautifully understated but gloriously romantic love story full of poignancy and tenderness featuring fully-rounded, supremely relatable characters with ordinary, everyday lives and ordinary, everyday problems.
We first meet Will Sterling when he’s around fifteen, and his mother has taken him to meet the uncle he never knew existed. He has no idea why they’re there, and while he’s waiting outside the apartment block for his mother, he hears a girl’s laughter coming from somewhere above him. He looks up to the balcony and even though he can’t see her clearly (he’s short sighted and needs glasses) Will is immediately captivated. Something about her – the swishing of her sleek ponytail, her animated gestures, the sound of her voice – calls to him and he stands watching while he can hear his mother and uncle arguing in the background.
Sixteen years later, Will is a dedicated and hard-working ER doctor when he discovers that his uncle Donny has died and left him his apartment. Will doesn’t want it – thinking about the things he’d learned that day so many years ago, or about his long-deceased parents stirs up too many painful, unresolved emotions – but under the terms of the bequest, he can’t sell the place for a year, so he decides instead to fit it out for short-term lets until he can legally dispose of it.
Unlike Will, Eleanora – Nora – Clarke has very fond memories of the apartment building where she spent so much of her childhood, and regards the other (mostly elderly) inhabitants as family. The only child of two archaeologists who spent most of their time away on one dig or another, Nora lived with her grandmother during the summers and has, following Nonna’s recent death, come back to Chicago to live. Moving from San Diego, adjusting to remote working and struggling to cope with grief over her Nonna’s death has led to bouts of interrupted sleep, and now, a few months later, the hour between four and five in the morning has become her ‘Golden Hour’, a time for coffee and quiet reflection before confronting the day. She knows the habits of her neighbours well, so when, on one particular morning, she wakes to hear someone else moving around on one of the balconies, she knows it must be someone new. She ventures outside, and looking down, sees a man standing quietly, his handsome face cast in light and shadow from the glow coming from inside… and feels suddenly that this is someone she should meet.
Will and Nora engage in a short conversation, but they don’t see each other again until a few weeks later, during the meeting of the residents Nora convenes after learning of Will’s plan to let out Donny’s – Will’s – apartment to short term renters. She’s outraged – and the other tenants are worried – at the prospect of a steady stream of strangers coming and going, hating the idea of breaking up their close-knit community – and determines to come up with ways to get Will to change his mind. She thinks if she can get him to see the unique qualities of the building and the people in it, he will fall in love with it (and them) too, and abandon his plan.
For the first part of the book, Nora and Will are at odds, he spending a couple of weeks clearing out and renovating his apartment, she trying to slow him down, put him off and generally make things difficult for him. It’s a bit childish, sure, but for Nora, this is the family unit she’s never really had, and losing that on top of losing her Nonna is just too much to face. And for Will, it’s the place where his life changed forever and he all he wants to do is leave behind the memories of the hurt and disappointment he associates with it.
But even though they want completely different things, neither of them can deny the strong pull of attraction they feel towards one another. The chemistry between them is intense yet understated, and their interactions are awkward and lovely, a mixture of unutterable tenderness and raw vulnerability as they begin to learn about and love each other, slowly helping one another to let go of the things that hurt them and are holding them back. I loved the way the author slowly reveals their truths – to the reader and to each other – showing not only how their pasts have shaped them but also their dawning awareness that those pasts don’t define them and that they can choose another path.
Nora’s neighbours are quirky and wonderfully drawn, as is Will’s uptight but insightful boss, and I loved the found family aspect of the story, the idea that we can choose who to love and surround ourselves with by sharing our hearts and our truest selves.
I had just two minor quibbles, which account for the A- rather than a full-on A. Firstly, I didn’t care for the way Nora treats Will near the end; okay, so it’s a very stressful time but it still felt cold. Also, I’m not a fan of romances where friends or family have to provide a very big nudge to get the protagonists to see what is under their respective noses; I much prefer them to work it out for themselves.
Apart from that though, Love at First is, quite simply, a delightful love story. It’s not flashy or drama-filled; it’s a quiet, heartfelt and deeply emotional tale in which the romance builds slowly and organically, the character development is incredible yet subtle, and the regard and respect the two leads have for one another – even when they’re on opposite sides – infuse every page. I’m sure Kate Clayborn’s many fans will need no urging to pick up this latest release, but if you’ve never read one of her books, Love at First would be a wonderful place to start. Strongly recommended.
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Grade: A-
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 21/02/21
Publication Date: 02/2021
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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I enjoyed this book greatly! Reading it made me feel so happy to be a reader. So happy and lucky to have experienced this story.
Clayborn’s prose is just so beautiful to me. I loved both Nora and Will and the role friendships – old and new – and the community of found family played in the story. I felt like all these lovely characters in the book were treated with such tenderness, care and humaneness. The romance itself was exquisite – nuanced, well-structured, deeply touching, and rich with chemistry. I appreciated how the book handled difficult subjects such as loss, grief and abandonment, and while it doesn’t shy away from problems or make them magically disappear, it still never felt like heavy reading. Quite the opposite. I felt buoyed up by the reading experience. The name of the book is so clever too.
Weird, I don’t think I would be able to get past the premise.
If Will has to hold onto the unit for one year, and then he can–and wants to–sell it, is it really so impossible to find a tenant who wants a 1-year lease, or a rent-to-own lease, in the part of Chicago where this story takes place?
Why on earth would he outfit it for short leases? Wouldn’t he have the hassle of continuously having to credit-check each prospective tenant throughout the year, stuff like that? Wouldn’t he just want one decent tenant for the year? Or maybe two 6-month tenants?
Maybe the story requires the multiple-short-term sublets angle in order to work, but as I say, it doesn’t make any sense to me, just based on the info in this review. Perhaps there is something else about the situation that I’m missing, something that would make the short-term sublet idea make sense. And it would have to make sense in order for me to read this book. (Well, we all have our idiosyncrasies what can I say? :-) )
WIll gets advice from someone who makes a living from renting out properties so he does have some help. But I think it’s meant to be a bit like an Air BnB (I have no experience of them or much experience of renting, which I’ve done exactly twice (for a time of around 2 years) in my 50+ years – not including my student days) so that aspect of the plot didn’t bother me – I don’t/didn’t know why it might be considered unusual.
Property rental can certainly provide a nice additional stream of income, if your plan is long term. Again, though, it sounds like Will just wants to get rid of the property as soon as he legally can. So why go thru the hassle I mentioned above (constant credit checking or doing make-ready chores every time someone moves out, etc.), when one good tenant would solve the Will’s problem for the next 12 months?
Also, a lot of condo/apartment complexes have rules and limitations regarding subletting (same as they have rules about whether you can have pets).
Additionally, depending on where you live and what type of business you run in the U.S., there might be limitations on whether one can use one’s apt. as a very short-term (Airbnb-type) rental property.
Yeah, I’m a tough customer, I know.
She does actually mention that Will checks on all the rules and regulations as to what he can/can’t do with the place. And he does actively try (later on) to find longer-term tenants. But I think that what we’re shown is that he’s so shocked/angry at the bequest that he doesn’t really care, and takes up the first suggestion that’s made to him.l because he doesn’t really want to think about it.
I thought this was excellent. I read it a bit ago and it still gives me all the feels weeks later. Absolutely lovely in every way.
Great review. I think I’ll read this Clayborn in print instead of listening as I did LOVE LETTERING. I found a couple of things about that audiobook distracting, although I don’t know if either of my issues will apply here. Anyway, this sounds sweet and fun, and I did enjoy the plot of LOVE LETTERING, so I’d like to give Ms. Clayborn another try.
I listened to Love Lettering (I reviewed it for AG) and one of the biggest problems I had was that the author would go off into flights of fancy about fonts and lettering – which just didn’t translate at all well to audio. This story is completely different, so I can’t see that being an issue :)
Yep! That was my main distraction. And I started to flinch when I heard “swoonch!”
I don’t recall any “swoonching” in this one, thankfully! ;)
Still on line at the library to read this one!