Review: Love Lettering

Love Lettering
by Kate Clayborn
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Publication Date: December 31 2019
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp
Pages: 325
ISBN: 9781496725172
Genre: Romance | Contemporary | Adult Fiction
Source: Library

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Synopsis: Meg is famously known as the Planner of Park Slope. She designs custom journals with her beautiful hand-lettering skills. When Meg is commissioned to design a wedding program for a locally famous socialite and her handsome fiancee, Reid. One look at them and Meg knows their marriage will fail, so she sneaks in a secretive word onto their wedding program, knowing that no one will ever notice it. Fast forward to a year later when Meg is working at the shop and in walks Reid. He demands to know how Meg knew his marriage would fail. Meg never counted on Reid noticing the word, let alone him having so many questions.

Plagued with design block, a looming deadline, and a failing friendship, Meg has no time for Reid’s questions and she certainly has no time for a relationship. As Meg calls on Reid for help with her lack of inspiration, they both start to gradually open up to each other, while both denying that there is no connection between them.

Review: When I started reading Love Lettering I was unsure if I wanted to quit and add it to my DNF shelf, or keep reading in the hopes that it would get better. Thankfully I chose to wait it out and see if it progressed, and it most certainly did. Kate Clayborn is a fantastic writer, and her knowledge of lettering is either incredibly well researched, or she’s a secret lettering junkie. In fact, the lettering lingo is what kind of held me back in the beginning. I’m familiar with design and font, but this was a whole different level than my current knowledge base and it seemed tedious to get through and almost at times distracting. The first few chapters are full of references to lettering and font. As the novel continues, the references are much more subtle.

I think the thing I enjoyed most about this story is that it’s relatable and that the characters seem authentic with realistic personalities. Meg has such a strong voice and her character development was spot on, I couldn’t help but want to be her best friend and go on one of her New York adventures looking for signs. Meg and Reid’s relationship is adorable and makes readers believe that love is worth it, even when it may be initially unconventional — falling for a client who “ruined” your wedding, yikes! At first, I had a hard time being interested in Reid’s character. His personality was so bland and boring, it wasn’t until I got further into the story that I realized how much of a soft spot I had developed for him, and a fondness I had for his quirks.

Another thing that I loved about this story is that it wasn’t a typical romance. This novel wasn’t full of lust, it wasn’t rushed, there was no sense of urgency between the characters. It was a simple story of two imperfect people, coming together, under the most unlikely circumstances, and building a relationship as best they could while still being true to themselves and their shortcomings. That’s what makes Love Lettering so perfect.

“…Sometimes fighting isn’t about leaving, it’s about staying. It takes practice to get it right, and it’s painful, but if you want to stay with people, you do it.”
― Kate Clayborn, Love Lettering

Love Lettering features an engaging, witty, and richly detailed writing style. The tone is heartwarming and whimsical. The characters are realistic and relatable. I can’t wait to read future novels by Kate.