If I had to pick only three romance writers to read for the rest of my life, Kate Clayborn has cemented herself in my mind for placement on this list (don't ask me to choose the other two just yet though). Beginner's Luck is, I believe, her first published novel, and it's just as beautiful, heartfelt, smart, and real as all the others of hers I read so far. I can't wait for the other two books in the series to print in paperback so I can fall even more in love with Kate's storytelling!
Kate Clayborn lives in Virginia, where she's luck enough to spend her days reading and talking about all kinds of great books. At home, she's either writing, thinking about writing, or—during long walks around her fabulous neighborhood—making her handsome husband and sweet-faced dog listen to her talk about writing. Kate loves to hear from and connect with readers—follow her on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Facebook. Visit her at kateclayborn.com to sign up for her newsletter. You can find more of my reviews of Kate's work here.
Kit Averin is anything but a gambler. A scientist with a quiet, steady job at a university, Kit's focus has always been maintaining the acceptable status quo. A sudden windfall doesn't change that, with one exception: the fixer-upper she plans to buy, her first and only real home. It's more than enough to keep her busy, until an unsettling handsome, charming, and determined corporate recruiter shows up in her lab—and manages to work his way into her heart . . . Ben Tucker is surprised to find that the scientist he wants for Beaumont Materials is a young woman—and a beautiful, sharp-witted one at that. Talking her into a big-money position with his firm is harder than he expects, but he's willing to put in the time, especially when sticking around for the summer gives him a chance to reconnect with his dad. But the longer he stays, the more questions he has about his own future—and who might be in it. What begins as a chilly rebuff soon heats up into an attraction neither Kit nor Ben can deny—and finding themselves lucky in love might just be priceless . . .
I could probably gush about Kate Clayborn's writing all day. I teared up by the end of Beginner's Luck because of one big conceit: that of people being home to us. Throughout the course of the novel, Kit is determined to build her own home, something she didn't have growing up. She does a pretty good job if I do say so myself, forming community and overcoming renovation obstacles, and she's forced to confront the fact that what home means to some people might mean something different to others. I just loved how, over the course of the novel, Ben starts to feel like an extension of her home, because he's a place where she feels safe. I love how she learns that people can and do start to define our meaning of home. It's subtle and gradual and then it shows all at once how masterful Kate Clayborn is at crafting heartfelt and real romances.
Family is also key in Kate's books. For Kit, that takes the form of her biological and chosen families. Kit's only close with her brother who raised her, having a more complicated relationship with her father and the nomad life that didn't leave Kit with a lot of stability growing up. Ben, too, has a strained relationship with his mother, which becomes heartbreakingly apparent later on in the novel. He is close to his father and his neighbor, though, and it allows him to take a teenaged kid in need under his wing. River and his relationship with Ben is a huge shining part of the novel, and is such a joy to read about. Kit and Ben have to learn to navigate the relationships they have with their families—Kit's and her brother's differing reactions to their upbringing, Ben and his mother's placement in his life—in order to move forward back towards one another. It's so well done!
I love when romance novels also have a thorough examination of the characters' careers. Kit is a scientist—and while I may not understand exactly the type of science she does or what her work means in the grander STEM-scheme of things, what I can understand is that Kit loves her work, and she loves what she does. She doesn't need to keep climbing any ladder to feel successful. It seems that Ben, too, is also learning to slow down and starting to understand that life is about more than just the next work trip. I loved how Clayborn articulated that sometimes ambition doesn't look like what we've been trained it looks like. Kit is ambitious for staying settled and finding safety and comfort while also working a job she loves. That ambition can look like leaving behind a job that looks successful to everyone else but is unfulfilling, in order to work in a family business or move home. Clayborn is the only author I would trust to make these kinds of arguments so seamlessly in tandem with the romance of the novel.
I cannot wait until the other two books in the series come out in print, because you can absolutely believe that I will snap them up. Until then!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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