Meg Mackworth's hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing custom journals for her New York City clientele. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Knowing the upcoming marriage of Reid Sutherland and his polished gorgeous fiancée was doomed to fail is one thing, but weaving a secret word of warning into their wedding program is another. Meg may have thought no one would spot it, but she hadn't counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid. A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline and a bad case of creative block, Meg doesn't have time for Reid's questions—unless he can help her find her missing inspiration. As they gradually open up to each other, both try to ignore a deepening connection between them. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, but it's too late . . .
Kate Clayborn's writing feels like a warm hug. From the first chapter, I was utterly charmed with this story. I immediately related to Meg and her creativity block, and to Reid's disdain with NYC's dirt and noise. I was hooked by Meg's and Reid's initial connection (her hiding the word "mistake" in his wedding invitations) and how a relationship could grow from such an auspicious start. Spoiler alert: it does grow, in the sweetest, most wholesome way possible. It's true that the best romance stories take place in New York City, and Reid's and Meg's is no different. Theirs is full of starts-and-stops, sweet moments, misunderstandings and a secret or two, but it's theirs, and it's achingly beautiful to read. I fell in love with this book and I would do anything to go back in time and read it for the first time again.
I feel like recently so much of romance has been about the falling in love and the spice that accompanies that, and those are both great things, and part of the joy of the genre! But I've always felt that Kate Clayborn takes it one step further. In this romance, Meg has to figure out how she gets around her instinct to flee and protect herself in order to fight for the relationships she wants. Not just for her relationship with Reid, but also for her relationship with Sibby and Lark. The added element here is that romance is about the love and the feelings, but also fighting against all other instincts to fight and stay with the person you love. Clayborn explores how complicated, scary, exhilarating, and worthwhile that is, making me truly believe that their relationship will last past the initial falling-in-love, honeymoon phase. I also believe that it's a more realistically idealistic look at romance and all the joys of life that it can bring. Bravo!
I actually had the chance to hear Kate speak a bit about crafting romance, and one of the things she said that has stuck with me was how it's hard to believe that characters could foster a romantic relationship if it isn't proven somewhere else in the novel that they've formed connections of love before, whether that be a friendship or strong family relationships. So, I was prepared for this novel to explore other types of love, and Kate absolutely delivered, especially when tying these relationships with the previous point about fighting for them. I love how genuinely she depicted Meg's and Sibby's friendship—both Meg's confusion about its present state, her understanding of their shared past, and the work they put in to keep the friendship going past the rough spot. Similarly, we get to see Reid interact with his family on-page, and that sweet, wholesome chapter absolutely convinced me that he loved Meg before he admitted anything like that. It is so important to me that we got to see these relationships the MCs have with other people on the page, because it creates a community of people that are part of the journey Meg and Reid took to end up together, making the ending all the sweeter for it.
This book, coupled with Georgie, All Along, has convinced me to auto-buy all of Kate's future books, and to take a look at ordering her previous books very, very soon. I'm sure I'll have more love to share for Kate's books soon. Until then, you can find my other reviews of Kate's work here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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