Kate ClaybornRezensionen

I am a big fan of Kate Clayborn novels. They always include someone who has some issue. The person meets someone who sees them as they are. Same in this novel. Jess's mother abandoned Jess and her younger daughter, Tegan, 10 years earlier, leaving Jess to care for her half-sister. Tegan wants to know more about her mother, so she secretly reaches out to Salem Durant, podcaster. Salem had done a popular true crime series about Lynton Baltimore, the man their mother left with years earlier. Along with Salem is Adam Hawkins, a former football star, dealing with the death of his best friend. When he sees Jess, he is intrigued. But he is there to do a job. Can Adam break through Jess's protective exterior and prove to her that he sees her, after she has disappeared into an unrecognizable personality after her mother left? Can he deal with his demons as well?
Enjoyed it.

I love Kate Clayborn. She writes contemporary romances with good depth and well-developed relationships both between the main characters and the secondary ones. This latest novel is almost as much about familial relationships as about the romantic one, and it's very well done.

Jess has spent the last 10 years raising her half-sister after their mom takes off. As it happens, the mother left with a notorious con man, and a famous podcaster has appeared, wanting to tell the story. What ensues is a road trip, a love story, and a journey to healing. Clayborn is adept at writing fully believable female AND male characters, and at walking the line in developing conflict and angst without pushing it too much. This might not be my favorite of hers, but it was a good read.

4 stars

If you’re a fan of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers or Abby Jimenez’s Part of Your World, you should try Kate Clayborn’s Georgie, All Along, about a PA who returns to her small, Virginia hometown a little bit directionless after years of living in LA.

Here are some things you can except and love:

Love at First is about orphans and family, loyalty and betrayal, letting go and holding on. It’s about seeing (or not seeing) different perspectives.

At first. The novel opens with sight, and it’s easy to think that’s the point—Will’s love at first sight of Nora when they are young teenagers. Even though he couldn’t actually see her. He more heard her and felt her presence. After he looks up at her on the balcony and struggles to see her, it’s easy to think this is a story all about sight and seeing things clearly. But like the characters in the book, we learn it’s not about seeing clearly. It’s about seeing differently. A different perspective that heals two broken people.

There are so many different shifts in perspective throughout the story and among all the characters—a mixture of lovable and eccentric and delightful and funny family members (no one is actually related outside each apartment, but they become each other’s family, nonetheless). The characters come to see each other and themselves differently. The biggest change in perspective is how both Will and Nora come to see themselves through the trauma and grief that’s shaped them, and what they find is a home in one another. They learn, in the end, how to love one another without restraint because: “You don’t have to love the people the way you learned at first” (278).

Aiden is still angry and grieving his twin brother Aaron's death; Zoe is one of the lawyers who represented the drug company in his settlement. But Zoe quits the law firm and goes on a sort of apology tour; she means to visit Aiden's parents, but finds him instead. And what Aiden needs is a fake fiancee, to help him win the chance to buy the campsite he and Aaron attended as kids (he thinks that the camp's current owners will look more favorably on families rather than individuals). Zoe agrees to the fake relationship, and even helps Aiden with his proposal to turn the camp into a rehabilitation and wellness site for recovering addicts, like Aaron. But as the two get to know each other, and challenge each other, they realize that they both need to make some changes to their plans. Of course, they end up falling for each other, and of course, their ruse is discovered, but they find their way back to one another.

Quotes

"We need to tell a story. That's what all good arguments are, really. Stories." (Zoe, ch. 6)

It's just time, I guess - [it] keeps moving forward, no matter how you try to stay perfectly still in your anger. (Aiden, ch. 8)

"How much work you do on something has nothing to do with whether it's the right idea." (Zoe, ch. 10)

It's scary, the way Aiden and I know each other, when we've spent all this time trying not to. (ch. 13)

"For helping me see that sometimes you start something for a selfish reason, but you can continue it - you can finish it for another kind of reason. A good, kind, unselfish reason." (ch. 20)

Ten years ago Jess and Teagan's mother left. At the time Jess was 21 and Teagan was 8. This was a familiar situation for Jess, but Teagen had not before felt the sting of her mother's abandonment. Jess steps up to give Teagan the love and stability missing from her own childhood, maybe even to a smothering degree.

Now, Teagan is eighteen and desperately wants to know what happened with her mother. When Teagen uncovers some previously hidden information, instead of going to Jess - who shuts down the moment the word "mom" is uttered - she reaches out to the one person who could bring Jess's carefully curated life crashing down - popular podcaster Salem Durant.

Ten years ago Salem had a huge hit with her podcast on conman Lynton Baltimore. That is, until he skipped out on their last show. The catch: the person that Jess and Teagan's mother disappeared with was, in fact, Lynton Baltimore.

So, they head out on a tense road trip. Salem, to finish what she started with her podcast ten years ago; Teagan, to find the mother who left her; Jess to watch over Teagan; and Adam, Salem's producer who is hoping to use this to get his own podcast off the ground, but he's also oddly drawn to Jess Greene.

This book felt different than previous books I've read by Kate Claybourn. It felt a lot more somber and heavy. Not that her books haven't touched upon these types of topics before, but this one felt very weighted and I think it's because the past hurt and trauma caused by her mother leaving is still very present and haunts Jess.

The story is told in alternating perspectives between Jess and Adam. At first, I wondered why we weren't getting Teagen's POV, but now, I think it is because it would have almost been like having two of Jess's POVs. Even though they're different ages, I still think that the hurt of having a parent choose to leave is felt the same even though Jess is more closed off about it. Plus she had the extra responsibility of taking care of her much younger half-sister. Instead we get Adam, who is a counter-balance to Jess. He's also experienced loss and wants to use the platform a podcast can offer in order to talk about it and bring more awareness. Whereas Jess would close off, Adam is more open. I like where they end up meeting in the middle and how they both influence each other.

I don't know how sold I was on the insta-love scenario between Jess and Adam. It's been awhile since I've read a book where two characters are so instantly drawn to one another. Even though them acting on those feelings isn't also spontaneous, I still wish the realization that they each had feelings for one another was drawn out a little more. Of course, we are dealing with a road trip story that's on a strict timeline, I suppose I can be a little forgiving.

I did like the whole road-tripping, following the clues of the past aspect. When we go back and revisit the past or when we look upon the past with fresh, more knowing, eyes I always find a lot of value in stories like that.

Confession: I read this book 10 days ago and forgot to write a review. I couldn’t remember one single thing about the book when I tried to wrote one today besides a general feeling of relaxation and sweetness while reading it.

Clearly I liked it enough to give it four stars in the moment. In the BOTM app I called it “very Hallmarky”

Yawn

Good bones, a few nice scenes, but mostly a bore. I’m not a big fan when books are all about a lightening strike of love and don’t really build up why / how people fall in love. I think the author did a slightly better job with the male friendship in the book than the romance but even that had a lot of unexplained leaps.

They also make a lot of references to the feud between the main characters but that’s hardly even a think except that the author tells you that it happened. It’s a blip.

3.5

I liked this but I think it feels a lot more heavy and serious than I typically want books like this to be.

The couple was sweet and I always prefer a quiet, thoughtful, leading man instead of the ones who are brimming with confidence and bravado.

Enjoyed the side plots about friendship too.

Charming and whimsical. The twist at the end was a bit of an unwelcome surprise, but it made things wrap up neatly, so I didn't mind it.

#TogetherWeRead book for February 2021.

I don’t read a lot of romance, I seem to enjoy a twisted mind more than a loving heart, but whenever I pick up a Kate Clayborn novel, I know I’m in for a treat, and Beginner’s Luck did not disappoint.

Beginner’s Luck is book one in the Chance of a Lifetime Trilogy, with each book focusing on one of the three best friends. In this one, we have Kit, who is a scientist and not a gambler, having a night on the town with her two besties, Greer and Zoe, and while buying a bunch of snacks to go with all the drinking, one of them decides to buy a lottery ticket, although Kit can’t remember who.

They end up winning a large jackpot and Kit is the only one who decides to keep working at her job, but she does buy a large fixer-upper Queen Anne with her winners, since as a child she never had a stable home.

Then comes Ben, who happens to be in town because his father had a bad fall, and tries to recruit Kit to a big company without doing his homework on her first. And he fails big time, but doesn’t quit trying because there was an instant attraction.

Kit and Ben’s chemistry is wonderful, and over time they realize that each has what the other has been lacking in their lives. Ben shows his interest (love) to Kit by doing acts of service at her new home, since his dad owns the local junk and salvage yard… and that is my love language, so who could I not like Ben’s character!

A sweet and funny (mainly with Ben’s father and their new hire) romance with just the right amount of steamy adult moments to make me want to read the next two books in the series, Luck of the Draw and Best of Luck.

I picked this up after reading a thread by Kate Clayborn about why romance novels often have purple prose (https://www.threads.net/@kateclayborn.author/post/C0WkZhGrqAt). I was like, this lady sounds smart! I'm going to read one of her books!

So it was just a coincidence that the heroine in this book had almost the exact same emotional issue as the heroine of the last romance novel I read, [b:Happy Place|61718053|Happy Place|Emily Henry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660145160l/61718053._SY75_.jpg|97321939]. Both women grew up with parents in a tense, unhappy marriage and as a result, never learned how to argue and work through a relationship problem in a healthy way. Weird! Like deja vu for me to read these back to back.

Anyway, I did in fact find Clayborn's writing a bit on the purple side, but when that happens in romance novels I just skim. Most of the book was fun, especially the frequent references to fonts (because Meg's job is hand-lettering journals for rich people).

I didn't find the hero, Reid, very appealing despite how Darcy-ish he was (serious, blunt, old-fashioned). His personality seemed to do a 180 as he fell in love with Meg and it didn't make sense to me (maybe I skimmed too much). He went from Darcy-ish to generic Nice Guy.

I also didn't love that the key to Meg's success in business at the end is having a rich boyfriend loan her money plus having a famous friend promote her products on social media. I'm happy for her, I guess, but it doesn't feel earned so much as dumb luck.

My quibbles aside, I think this a solid contemporary romance. The writing is a cut above and it was creative and dramatic enough to satisfy.

Overall cute but nothing super special

Really enjoyed this one and plan to read more books by Clayborn.

Love Lettering was sent to me by Kensington Publishing. This is my first book by Kate Clayborn. I enjoyed her style of writing, as she had me hooked on page one. I found the relationship between Reid and Meg so relatable and relevant to the average person. It was not an overly mushy hero driven story, but a slow and steady, good old fashioned relationship. My only reason for giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 is the author kind of lost me at times in the beginning with the sign game. I wasn't totally following the attraction of this, but in the end that didn't matter. With the turns and twists, and sweet relationships, I thoroughly enjoyed Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn.

This was a good book with a really great cast. However, for some reason I did not love it as much as prior Kate C books. I enjoyed so many aspects of it including the awesome sismance between Georgie and Bel and Georgie’s parents, especially Hank! Actually, I liked all the characters minus the dad. There was something missing overall though. Some minuses included how fast but slow Levi and Georgie’s relationship developed, also the book didn't have enough conflict. These and more dulled my enjoyment and I found it boring in parts.

Overall though, I would still recommend this for anyone who wants to read a low-angst rom-com.

Huge thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I absolutely adored our leads and their journey both individually and as a unit (LOL). Nora and Will are just how I like my leads to be aka not awful people! This story is about 2 people with differing opinions about a major issue and how they learn to navigate and find a compromise that works. It was done really charmingly and left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. The secondary characters were charming and full of life, and I will miss them all. I also vastly appreciate that there was no redemption of the truly awful (thankfully few) characters that cropped up.

A charming book which I enjoyed it immensely.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC

Happy Publication Day!

4 ⭐

When her famous screenwriter boss decides to make big changes in her own life and step away from the limelight, personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy finds herself unemployed and unsure of what she wants to do next, Georgie decides to head home to the small town of Darentville, Virginia, where her parents still reside, to take some time for herself and make plans for her future . Georgie is more that a little surprised to find that she has a temporary housemate. It appears Georgie's father forgot to inform her that while they are away, they have invited Levi Fanning (who was also unaware of Georgie's plans to visit) to housesit while Levi’s house is undergoing some repair. Levi (the older brother of Georgie's teenage crush) was known as a troublemaker in his youth and is a loner, estranged from his influential family, running his own business. Needless to say, Georgie and Levi are opposites but as the story progresses we see how these two very different people bring about positive changes in each other's lives, ultimately bringing them closer together. Georgie’s best friend from school Bel also just moved back with her husband and is expecting her first child. While going through some old boxes they find their “friend-fic” diary from their high school years where Georgie had jotted down a wish list of high school adventures - some dreamy fictional stuff and some she had hoped to experience. Encouraged by Bel she decides to follow through on some of those adventures in an attempt to rediscover herself and fill in the blanks for what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Initially Bel and later Levi, help her go through her list and what follows is a beautiful journey of love, friendship and self-acceptance.

The narrative is shared from PoVs of Georgie and Levi in alternating chapters. I loved Georgie! She is so real and relatable. Quirky and sweet, she is a good friend, a loving daughter and someone who is always willing to lend a helping hand. But underneath she suffers from insecurity and confusion about what her next step should be and is more than a tad hard on herself. The author’s portrayal of Georgie and Bel’s friendship is grounded in reality. Even the most enduring of friendships go through ups and downs and moments of resentment and envy along with a deep level of understanding and love for one another. Georgie’s journey is one of self-discovery and more importantly self-acceptance, becoming comfortable with who she is and doing what makes her happy with the love and support of her family and friends. Not everyone has to have lofty ambitions to be happy and Georgie’s realization that she was happy being just the way she is and all she needed was the space to be herself is a beautiful message that this story offers. Levi is an admirable character and I liked how the author gives us insight into his character and his family dynamic without reverting to melodrama. Touching upon themes of loneliness, isolation, family, friendship, love and kindness, this is a story that will strike a chord in your heart.

With a perfect dose of humor, wisdom and insight and an endearing cast of characters, Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn is an emotional, heartwarming and feel-good read that will leave you with a smile on your face.

Many thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I didn't really click with this book and I'm not sure why. It's a slightly spicier Hallmark - but I just didn't love any of the characters. When Georgie Mulachy finds herself out of a job she decides to try and "find herself" by moving back to her hometown and in with her parents. The biggest perk is that her best friend has recently moved back and is expecting a baby so she can pretend she's just in town helping her BFF get the house ready for her kid, but really there is a hole in Georgie's life. While unpacking boxes in her friend's house she discovers the friend fic that they worked on in 8th grade and Georgie is convinced that if she does all the things she aspired to do and never did - she will find some sort of purpose in life. Things don't work out as planned, but she does meet her high school crushes older brother and things get interesting. Again - totally fine storyline - I just didn't like Georgie... and I don't know why.

A young woman returns to her hometown after the rug has been pulled out from under the life she built for herself meets a not quite as young man who has slowly and carefully built a life for himself in that mutual hometown after having trashed the privileged life he was born to. As he finds her and she tries to find herself the attraction is palpable but the troubles are just as clear. The characters are clearly drawn and attractive, and the story is fun, though it does employ all the overly romantic and unrealistic tropes of this century's romances.½

Oh I needed that hit of sun and oxygen. Levi is so unpleasant in the beginning it is hard to imagine what Georgie sees in him. We see his good heart but she cannot, and her interest made me question her judgment. But as he shows more and more to her and others, becomes vulnerable, it is just so lovely. I have been reading super bleak books lately. Good books, even one great book, but dark, things that make one abandon all hope. I needed optimism and boy did I get it.

Georgie has made a successful career for herself in Hollywood as a PA but after her latest employer retires, Georgie returns to her hometown in order to house-sit for her parents, support her pregnant best-friend, and above all to try to figure out what she really wants to do. In the boxes at Bel’s house, she finds the notebook in which she and Bel wrote stories imagining what high school would be like -- and to Georgie, it’s proof that she once had dreams and ambitions for her own future.

One of the things I love about Clayborn’s stories is how important the friendships, and the other non-romance parts of the characters’ lives, are, not just to the characters, but to the narrative. In this particular story, what stands out is Georgie building a better understanding of herself, her long-standing friendship with Bel, Levi’s relationship with his estranged siblings, and the way Georgie and Levi are able to share the vulnerable, messy parts of themselves with each other. And I like how those two help each other, but that falling in love isn’t framed as the answer to their respective dilemmas. It’s just this… good thing which happens, and that feels very realistic.

I liked this one (if not quite as much as Luck of the Draw or Love Lettering).½

I read this after seeing Kate Clayborn speak about romance. One thing the moderator said she really liked about this series was the main character's friends. I was a bit disappointed in this area. I've read many romances with much stronger and more present friendships.

That being said this book was still enjoyable and an easy read.

When Georgie loses her job as a Hollywood personal assistant because her boss wants to embrace a more simple life, Georgie returns to her Virginia hometown. Ostensibly, she's there because her best friend Bel is about to have a baby, but she also hopes to figure out what she, Georgie, really wants. When she finds a notebook that she and Bel wrote with their dreams for high school, she decides to try and make some of those teenage dreams come true. With the help of Levi, former town bad boy, can she figure out what she wants in the future by living out some of the things she wanted in the past?

This was a very sweet romance told in alternating points of view (Georgie/Levi). I loved the characters and how much of the story involved Georgie's friendship with Bel and Levi's strained family relationships. The author openly plays with the Hallmark movie trope of the big-city heroine returning to her hometown, which is a fun touch. Fans of this kind of story should definitely take a look!

I read this book because I was looking for another Kate Clayborn book. I also presumed this book came before Love Lettering, but now I think they might be standalones that just have similar covers?

The general premise that these two people who just get a glance of each other at a young age are somehow destined for each other I didn't love. It was interesting when they reflected on how things would have gone differently if they had actually met and interacted at that young age though.