From the small-town setting, to the forced-proximity, to the expertly utilised sunshine/grumpy dynamic, I was all on board, finding it extremely hard to put the book down to attend to real life for the duration of this read. Their attraction and their romance was a delicious slow-burn, so expertly written by Clayborn it had me sighing and swooning at all the right moments. A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page. The reason why Levi is the black sheep of his family doesn't get explained until somewhere around the 70% mark, but it does constantly get teased. Levi (the older brother of Georgie's teenage crush) was known as a troublemaker in his youth and is a loner, estranged from his influential family, running his own business.

While I enjoyed a lot about this book it was a little too slow going for my tastes and a little long in the tooth for what it is so I can't bump it up to four stars but I think many people will like it and I would read more of this author's work for sure. Like the book tried to really dissect some topics that were pretty heavy for the characters, and just didn’t do it all that well. So, Georgie decides to head home to small-town Virginia, to house sit for her traveling parents, in hopes of regrouping and getting back to the basics while she’s at it. Something I thought a lot about while reading is the idea I came across recently in an unrelated reading, positing that books don't belong to genres so much as they use genres. Once there, she discovers that her parents, off on a road trip, have "double booked" themselves a set of house-sitters: Georgie, and Levi, the taciturn, bearded older-brother of the golden-boy football star she used to be in love with in high school.Even though many of the themes have been done a million times before, it still felt fresh and genuine. And most of all, by creating moments where both Georgie and Levi benefit from others' kindness and support, while being really compassionate about how they react in the absence of those things. While no one would choose to work with difficult people, Gallo provides practical solutions to do good work with these individuals. There’s things for her to do there, of course: support her best friend, Bel, who is married and pregnant, and has just moved back herself, and housesit her parents plants. So here's where I start to fall apart and lose coherence, because I kind of cannot believe how well this book does both of those things.

Which does knock another chunk of potential audience away – this isn't for the reader expecting a grand picture of the world, or a gritty look at womanhood today. Lots of heated glances and couch make-outs and “ mine” and blue eyes and excellent beards and, and, and…you get it. He, too, has come a long way: From local troublemaker to local dock builder, Levi rose to many occasions - just not confronting his toxic father and, thus, he’s also estranged from his siblings for no good reason at all.And win the lottery solely so I can afford to donate enough to a fancy college so that they have to name the library after it! That is not going to appeal to me, and I was also constantly confused as to why Georgie kept referring to this journal as "the fic".

Also, the book is able to really clearly distinguish between how others see Georgie, how Georgie sees herself, and how the people who love her see her, and yet combine all three for a fully-realized, three-dimensional character. The Tormentor co-worker can become emboldened in the hybrid workspace; their communication may lack the empathy they would be compelled to show in face-to-face interactions. Georgie, All Along has the bones of a highly-recognizable setup: Georgie Mulcahy has just lost her demanding, high-powered job as a personal assistant to a Hollywood star, and responds by stuffing her (very few) belongings into trash bags, throwing them in the back of her car, and driving home to the small Virginia town she grew up in. Georgie has to decide what she wants to do next in life since her last boss retired, leaving Georgie as loose ends. Perhaps I’m just over-invested in the sunshine/grumpy dynamic of the central couple but it seems so fundamentally a summer read to me.Hayes spins a tale like a wushu master spins a kick - with deft speed, grace, and bone-crushing impact. Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. Kate Clayborn, if you’re reading this, please make this a series and have the next one be about Evan or Olivia so I can die happy. That said, I've read this ages before y'all can, I'm so sorry, but this is going to be my favorite romance of 2023.

Furthermore, this is one of those stories that will sink into your skin, and stay there for a while.Safe All Along will help you break the cycle of what-if worries and experience the peace of God in new ways.