Love Lettering is a portable romantic comedy – it would make a great movie, limited series, comic book, etc. Good job, Kate Clayborn!
Love Lettering is about Meg – an up-and-coming hand-letterer and designer in Brooklyn. A few years ago she moved from the Midwest to New York with her best friend, Sibyl. Sibyl, aka Sibi, is an actress looking to make her way in the City. Meg is more of a wanderer than a planner (even though she custom designs planners), but seems to have a found a niche with her lettering skills. She was even featured in the newspaper as the Planner of Park Slope.
Meg is drifting through life, seemingly content to be a supporting character in someone else’s story, when an under the radar indiscretion catches up with her. A former client, Reid Sutherland (I call him Robot Reid because he’s a stiff numbers nerd), notices something in an old wedding invitation that Meg designed for his wedding. That something wasn’t supposed to be there. He shows up unexpectedly at Meg’s work and asks her about it, and that quiet confrontation catalyzes Meg’s whole life.
As I mentioned, it’s a rom-com, so you already know all the big beats. I’ll skip that stuff. What made this such an enjoyable read for me was the supporting cast. Meg is layered and fun, but the supporting character have their own volition, motives, flaws, strengths, etc. Their lives happen beyond their interactions with Meg, and I think Kate Clayborn really nails being in your late 20s/early 30s and how relationships/goals/dreams change over time. There were probably four or five separate people I was rooting for in their pursuits beyond Meg, and that’s pretty impressive!
I probably would’ve gone 4.25 or 4.5/5, but I’m not an “open door” romance person, and the door is wide open two or three times, haha. I just skimmed through those sections.
P.S. I listened to the audiobook, and Nicol Zanzarella was a fantastic narrator.