Book Review: Love At First by Kate Clayborn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publication Date: February 23, 2021

Book Review: Love at First

Tender and Warm-Hearted Romance

“The first time Will Sterling saw Nora Clarke, he could barely see at all.”

Kate Clayborn engages all of your senses with her writing and immerses you in the world she has created in every book she writes. She does this very gently and tenderly in “Love At First”.

We are first introduced to young Will and Nora and their non-meeting at the building where Nora is visiting her grandmother. Will needs glasses desperately – he can barely see at all but due to his own stubbornness he is avoiding it. It is due to this that he only truly hears Nora’s voice.

“It burst into the air above him, then trailed down from one of those balconies above like ivy, making his whole body go still, making his adolescent heart stutter-stop in his chest in a way it never had before.”

Nora appears as nothing but a blur with a ponytail on that day.

While this is going on Will’s mother is visiting his only uncle in the building. Will has never met him and hears her having an argument with him; he hears her begging him for help which he refuses to give. Will decides then and there that, “He was done with blurry distractions. He was done with being a kid.” We later find out the terrible truth behind this change in Will and his attitude towards the building.

Will’s life is changed, he decides to get glasses, he quits playing ball, he breaks up with his girlfriend. “He was seeing clearly now.”

Sixteen years later, Nora and Will meet again in the peaceful dark of what Nora calls the “golden hour” of four in the early morning, from balcony to balcony each having inherited apartments in the shabby building. Will has inherited his apartment from the uncle who refused to help Will’s mother that long ago day.

Will and Nora soon find themselves faced off as enemies; on opposites sides of a disagreement regarding the building and must deal with all manner of confusing feelings for one another.

Although to me it is a quieter book than the author’s previous works, it is so, so lovely and full of emotional intelligence and tenderness for her characters. You ache for Will and Nora. You cry for them.

The people inhabiting Nora’s building are an entertaining group adding extra personality, uniqueness and character to the story. They are Nora’s found family and she loves and protects them fiercely.

The true magic comes in the hushed tones of the conversations between Will and Nora, stealing those golden hour moments and learning one another bit by bit. In addition to the hiccup of Will’s heart, the caress of palms meeting for the first time, the quiet moments all expertly convey the new and stunning, surprising feelings Will and Nora have for one another.

The last act of the book sparkles with discovery and excitement as the characters call back to that first non-meeting.

I truly loved this expertly crafted book. It’s a must read for me. “Love At First” nourishes your heart and soul as Will and Nora learn that you don’t have to love in the manner that you learned to love at first.

WRITING STYLE: 5/5
PLOT: 5/5
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 5/5
ROMANCE: 5/5
HEAT: 5/5

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