I’m completely enamored by Kate Meader’s writing style. With each new story and cast of characters I fall deeper in love with her storytelling.

I know a lot of people, including myself most of the time, don’t want predictable stories, but I actually enjoyed that it was predictable without being dull and/or familiar. Could I figure out the long play of the story? Sure, but it was the excitement of the journey and the development of the characters that really drew me into this story. I really enjoyed the Emma Chase feel of Max’s POV. It was like he was telling his story to me specifically and doing so with a ton of charm and character. Was he a bit of a jerk, sure but once you made it past that surface stuff, he was all cuddles and romance.

I’m also a big fan of how the conflict between Max and Charlie was realistic and not over the top dramatic. I think it says a lot when an author can make you feel the intensity between two characters without having to emotionally devestate me as a reader.

All in all, this was a fantastic start to a new series. I’m really looking forward to hearing more from the secondary characters but I’m especially excited for a particular second chance romance. If I’m reading the foreshadowing correctly.

*I received an early copy from NetGalley for voluntary review

***I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Loveswept, and Kate Meader.***

Down with Love, by Kate Meader, surprised me in a good way! In one corner we have Max, a hotshot divorce attorney who understandably doesn’t believe in love. In the other, we have Charlie Love, an equally hotshot wedding planner who believes in happy endings. When Max’s brother announces his engagement, Max thinks he needs protection from his fiancée, his wedding planner and love in general, but it’s Max’s heart that’s in real danger when it comes to love.

This book was so much fun! Smart, witty characters, lots of laughter and snark, chemistry off the charts…what more could you want? Our couple gave delicious push and pull. Max’s attraction to Charlie is instantaneous, and the pair had great chemistry. I especially enjoyed Max’s growth. Meader takes time to unfold his character for us. He’s quite a womanizer when the story begins, but there’s so much more to him. It was hard not to be impressed with the ways he takes care of his law clients. And I loved his persistence. It was refreshing to have the tables turned on a character like him so that he would feel what it was like to be rebuffed and pigeonholed into a one-night stand. I loved Charlie’s vulnerability too. I loved that she knew what she wanted and didn’t want to settle for less, despite some negativity from her last relationship. She was smart and sassy and impossible to dislike.

The writing was incredibly smooth. It had charm and humour and heat, and yes, swoons. If I had a critique, it was that I found the setup of the story a tiny bit slow, despite the chemistry between the main characters. When the story started, I honestly couldn’t see it working out between them. Not only did they hate one another, they were such polar opposites belief-wise. Meader somehow morphed that dislike into a believable, heart-felt, passionate romance. I am an instant fan of Meader and will definitely be checking out some other titles from her.

I voluntarily read an advanced review copy of this book

I though this book was very good. It was funny and romantic all at the right times. I loved how they were both soooo different when it came to the idea of love but so great for each other in the end.

This was cute and had a lot of feels! I would definitely recommend it. I love this authors writing style.

So, I liked some things about this book, but I really didn't like some elements to the point where it dragged down my overall enjoyment. I picked this via NetGalley because it was associated with Lauren Layne and there was a wedding planner involved, so I went into this with some expectations and specific wants. In these, I was disappointed.

The characters are interesting enough and the alternating POVs work well, but I found the crassness of both main characters and their approach to sex/love off putting. I'm not against dirty talk and rough around the edges in my romance novels, but this didn't work for me in a big way. Perhaps because the first impression I had of Max and his inner monologues didn't make him attractive to me and seemed to be out of character, or his romantic side was out of character in a way that never jived for the entire book.

Their romance was also forced IMO or it developed too quickly. Almost insta love.

There were some great moments in this book, especially with the side stories. Overall, though, just wasn't something that would encourage me to read the next book in the series.

I received Down with Love by Kate Meader from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This is the first in her new Laws of Attraction series and the first time I have ever read anything written by Meader. This was not a hit sadly.
Charlie is a wedding planner hired to plan James’ wedding. His brother, Max, thinks the worst about wedding planners and the money they get to spend. But, Max is a divorce attorney.
The writing was fine but I just couldn’t accept the characters. Charlie is perfect! (Deep breathe). Perfect hair, perfect rack, perfect tiny waist with flare hips all while being smart. She runs, and fills out dresses perfectly, while gracefully wearing 5 inch heals. She knows baseball, can drink beer, yell at umpires, and eat hot dogs, then get into a formal dress. She’s perfect and I am tired of perfect. Max is the typical player who thinks every female should bow to him (and they do), arrogant, and doesn’t believe in love even though he is surrounded by love. Sadly there just wasn’t anything new to draw me in. #DownwithLove #NetGalley

Let me start with Kate Meader ... love her and was SO excited to see that she had a new series! This first novel in the series was so good that I'm really looking forward to seeing what's to come with the series. Max is a fantastic hero - he is jaded about love after years as a divorce attorney. It was so fun to see him grow as a man in this book. And Charlie ... she is fantastic - a wedding planner who is seeking love. She's a great character - full of sass and intelligence that hide her insecurities. And their story is so good - the build up is fantastic, the side characters come alive on the page and I could not put this book down. I connected with this couple and loved watching them come together. Charlie's foster parents were a stand out for me ... love the side story about their relationship. All in all, LOVE this one and highly recommend. (And if you haven't tried Kate Meader, you should ... she's a great romance writer).

I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought the writing was great, and really loved the hero, Max. The heroine, Charlie, was a little harder for me to like. I suppose it doesn’t help that I’m not a fan of elaborate weddings, and Charlie is a wedding planner. But the author, Kate Meader, has written some great books, so I wanted to give this one a try. The book is written in first-person, alternating between Max and Charlie, and I thought the author did a great job of giving them both interesting voices. Like I said, Max really seemed like a good guy, and his “voice” made me laugh quite a bit. I wasn’t so thrilled with Charlie, and didn’t like how she kept pushing and pulling with Max. She couldn’t seem to make up her mind, and I felt sorry for Max. The story moved quickly though, and it featured a look into both Max’s and Charlie’s families. And the men at Max’s law firm were all intriguing and I hope will have stories of their own eventually.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

Down With Love is the first of a two book series, and it suffers a bit from being first. Why do I say that? There is a bit of an imbalance in Down With Love, the amount of time spent launching the series of necessity makes the romance abbreviated. Down With Love is an opposites attract love story. The hero and heroine were not as deeply layered as I would have liked, which made connecting to them a little difficult. I still rated DWL a 4 star read because it is well plotted and the passion factor is high. Kate Meader provides readers with a good story, stellar dialogue and an entertaining read.

This book was the very definition of fun, sexy, romp. Kate Meader never fails to impress with her witty dialogue and relatable characters!

I kind of loved this book, it was not like the author's usual books that I've read and the characters were well-rounded and entertaining. They kept me engaged throughout the book and at no time did I feel like I was taken out of the story by other things taken place in the story around me. It's a great story to be picked up.

A wonderful story about two people overcoming their fears to try love.
Max was about to say I Do when he found out his fiancé was only after his money. Charlie found out her boyfriend was not interested in being with an orphan with a troubled past.
When Max and Charlie meet, the sparks soon turn to fire. With their troubled pasts, what could go wrong?
You’ll enjoy finding out. 5 stars!!

I'll be honest, I found this really hard to get into. I didn't like the narrative voice of the male character and was really put off by him so much that I didn't want to finish.

Charlie and Max have the same ideals...no relationships even if she is in the business of making the dreams of wedding bells go off without a hitch for brides. When the 2 have an unforgettable night together, Max is shaken to his core, maybe she is what he needs. But Charlie the ol' so stubborn Charlie gives Max a run for his money. LOL Great story!

I really enjoyed this book. The whole divorce lawyer vs wedding planner thing is a cute opposites attract scenario. I thought the role reversal was an interesting development, how despite his pessimism about relationships he was the one more willing to make a commitment in the relationship than she was. I thought Charlie was an interesting flawed heroine and it was cute how perceptive Max was to her struggles and the effort he made to get to know her and her family. oftentimes families don’t add a lot to the novel, but they really meant a lot to the story there. The subplot about the parents’ divorce was a bit contrived. I felt like it was just there to add some conflict and drive a wedge between the Max and Charlie. It just didn’t seem like a normal adult reaction or thought process to deal with minor health issues by threatening divorce to save your spouse.

This is definitely a romantic comedy. The banter between the characters makes the story flow easily and Charlie and Max have more than just sexual chemistry that drive their attraction and the story. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of heat, but there is so much more to this story beyond that. I recommend this for anyone looking for a fun weekend read.

<strong>Down with Love</strong> kicks off Kate Meaders brand-spankin' new series, the <a href="http://bookbinge.com/reviews/series/laws-of-attraction/">Laws of Attraction</a> series and the first book features a divorce attorney and a wedding planner. Should be fun, right?

Right.

Max Henderson sees the aftermath of love at work so he's learned that for himself, he wants nothing to do with it. He'll take the sex and the fun but the feelings and all of that madness are not for him. So when his younger brother announces his engagement, Max wants to be happy but he also wants to make sure that his younger brother isn't taken for a ride. So he starts going on and on about prenups and everything his younger brother wants no part in and Max struggles with keeping his opinions to himself and that's made even harder when he finds himself attracted to the wedding planner.

Charlie Love believes in love and she believes in creating memories for the happy couples that come to her for help in planning their big day. She's good at what she does and she believes in happy endings, no matter how much shit her latest client's brother throws in her face. He's the most irritating person and she's not at all happy that he's attracted to her and she's attracted right back. It's going to be an interesting few months and no matter what, she's stuck with Max Henderson underfoot at every turn.

Max and Charlie were a fun couple though Charlie was super extra in her interactions with Max throughout most of the book. I kept wanting to tell her to relax because, damn girl??? And then once I'm over her extra-ness then it was Max's turn to get on my nerves and I wanted to smack some sense into both of them.

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Overall, the story isn't my favorite from Meader but it was still enjoyable. I did like getting to know Max and his family, seeing them embrace Charlie right from the beginning was fun and I really liked the friendships on both sides with Max and his partners and then Charlie and her best friends. They had a good support system but their romance kept making me roll my eyes but the sex was hot though. :)

<strong>Grade: 3.25 out of 5</strong>

I've had my ups and downs with the author's books, so I keep giving her new series a try on the off chance that something sticks and I enjoy what I read. This one was a miss for me, sadly.

I really hated Max! He felt like such a smarmy get! He hated the idea of love so much that he tried to change his brother's mind from his super fast engagement to marriage! When called on his "sabotage" he turns it around into some kind of mocking bet! I hated his attitude, and that didn't change over the course of the book.

Charlie was off to me as well. She was at times sassy/snarky romantic, but then her attitude would change and she turned into a character I hated! It was like the author couldn't decide how she wanted to create her character and instead tried to blend the two, but it came off as awkward and unenjoyable.

I think I'll pass on the rest of the series, though I will probably keep checking out the author's other offerings.

Down with Love features the ultimate opposites attract romance between a cynical divorce attorney and a wedding planner who believes in true love.

Max Henderson is the man you want in your corner if your marriage has gone sideways and you need a divorce. Max is willing to go to bat for his clients and his profession may have turned him a bit cynical as a result. So when his younger brother James tells him he’s getting married, Max is hard-pressed to summon much enthusiasm. And when he meets the wedding planner, Charlie Love, he’s convinced his brother is about to be fleeced. Yet despite his low outlook on the situation, Max finds himself continually drawn to Charlie when an unexpected kiss changes everything.

Charlie had a bit of a rough childhood after her mother died when Charlie was thirteen and she ended up in foster care. The lack of stability in her life caused her to lash out and she wasn’t on a great path until she was placed with Frank and Donna Sullivan. To Charlie, Frank and Donna’s marriage was the ultimate dream and she’s longed to find that for herself one day. I enjoyed Charlie quite a bit with her propensity for swearing and her optimistic outlook on life and love.

Max is where this book fell apart for me as I hated him almost immediately upon meeting his character. He’s misogynistic, full of himself, and acts like he always knows what’s best. He makes comments like he’s some paragon for equality and then turns around and makes a misogynistic remark. I did admire how much he loved his family, but his constant dissing on his brother’s upcoming nuptials got old. I understand that working as a divorce attorney would make one wary of marriage, but Max took that above and beyond. I will admit though that he cares a lot about his clients and he’s willing to do anything to help them.

I never really felt there was a connection between Charlie and Max outside of their obvious attraction to one another. I mean don’t get me wrong, the physical scenes are incredibly sexy with a big emphasis on consent which I loved but I didn’t see anything that made them work outside of the bedroom. Plus while there is a ton of consent in terms of their sexual relationship, outside of it Max has too much of a tendency to make decisions for Charlie.

Unfortunately because of my dislike of the hero of this book, Down with Love was ultimately not for me even though I loved the idea of a relationship between a divorce attorney and wedding planner. I did like some of the side characters quite a bit though, so I will likely be checking out the next book in the series.

I could not imagine a more unlikely pairing than a jaded divorce attorney and a wedding planner whose job it is to bring the romance for happy couples, but Ms. Meader brings together these opposites in a story that is fun, lighthearted and will leave you with a smile and fond memories of long after the last word. 

Max Henderson is a highly sought after divorce lawyer and at first glance, one you would think has a deep, dark reason for choice his career and for being jaded. Yes, there might be a little secret in there, but Max actually has good role models in his parents and is not as opposed to the institution of marriage as one would think. However, he's very short on trust and makes it very clear when he meets Charlie Love, his brother's wedding planner.

Charlie has good reasons for choosing her career and she enjoys creating special days for couples in love, but don't let the polished and very feminine exterior fool you cos she can hold her own with the biggest and baddest of them.

Now if you've ever read any book by Ms. Meader, you know to expect a lot of heat and passion and sassy dialogue. DOWN WITH LOVE was a little different from her usual writing, but no less enjoyable. The author focuses more on the characters and their stories, but with lots of enjoyable banter between them. Honestly, that is my favorite thing about this story because she made the characters very easy to relate with and each layer revealed something a reader would enjoy about both Max and Charlie.

I may be in the minority here, but DOWN WITH LOVE is a welcome breath of fresh air when compared to her previous writing. I have enjoyed her sexy and passionate stories, but this shows that she can bring something new to her writing and I am really looking forward to the rest of this series.