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From the publisher:

In this warm and witty romance from acclaimed author Kate Clayborn, one little word puts one woman’s business—and her heart—in jeopardy . . .

Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing beautiful custom journals for New York City’s elite. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Like the time she sat across from Reid Sutherland and his gorgeous fiancée, and knew their upcoming marriage was doomed to fail. Weaving a secret word into their wedding program was a little unprofessional, but she was sure no one else would spot it. She hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid . . .

A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out—before he leaves New York for good—how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline, a fractured friendship, 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 about their lives, work, and regrets, both try to ignore the fact that their unlikely connection is growing deeper. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late . . .

Is it too late to add a title to my favorite books of 2019?  Released on the final day of 2019, Love Lettering quickly became one of my favorite books of the year.  The first thing that struck me about this book was the writing.  The prose has a lyrical quality to it that I don’t often see in contemporary romance. I would describe the writing as artistic if that makes sense.  The language that Clayborn uses to describe Meg, Reid, and New York almost seems to embody Meg’s profession as an artist and calligrapher.

Clayborn expertly builds Meg and Reid’s relationship as Meg tries to convince Reid to stay in New York through a series of walks around the city looking for inspiration for her next project.  The reader gets to see the city through Reid’s eyes, for the first time really getting to know and love the city he has lived in for six years, and through Meg’s eyes, the eyes of an artist who looks for signs everywhere she goes.  I had never given much thought to hand lettering as an art form and I would have a hard time listing fonts beyond Times New Roman, but after reading about Meg’s passion for her art I find myself paying more attention to fonts and stopping to notice the style and design of signs.  I absolutely loved Meg and Reid as a couple.  Meg is creative, persistent and witty which serves as a perfect foil for Reid who prefers numbers and can have a hard time connecting with people. Since it was published at an awkward time (the last day of the year) I haven’t seen Love Lettering make many recommendation lists and get the attention it deserves.  I highly recommend Love Lettering, even to those who do not usually read romance.  It is exceptionally well written, features complex characters and an insightful look into the city of New York and the art of hand lettering.

1/20 Caitlin Brisson

A note from the BookBitch

I have to add my two cents here. Caitlin had texted me that she thought I would enjoy this book. I was off for a few weeks over the holidays and did quite a bit of reading. But this last week I had encountered several stinkers in a row. Books I did not finish. Books I didn’t get past the first chapter. Books I wasn’t in the mood for (but went back to and loved) and well, you get the idea. So I eagerly started this book on New Year’s Eve day and finished it before dinner. I loved it, for a lot of the reasons Caitlin mentioned. I would add that it is also a love letter to New York City.  The characters were interesting and well developed, the setting was really another character, and the romance seemed to bloom organically, if you’ll pardon the pun. The art of hand lettering so intrigued me that I started down a rabbit hole, and first found this interview with the author, which led me to this article on Bullet Journaling, which I had never even heard of.

Caitlin had emailed me that her entire review could have been, “This book is amazing. Read it.” Yep, that sums it up and I concur.

LOVE LETTERING by Kate Clayborn. Kensington Publishing Corp. (December 31, 2019).  ISBN 9781496725172. 320 p.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 3rd, 2020 at 8:00 AM and is filed under Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.