Loved this story! Max and Charlie were so fun to read. Great secondary characters, too. Can't wait for more from this author.

4.5 Hearts

Down with Love is the first book in the Laws of Attraction series. I was so excited when I saw that Kate was starting a new series. I am loving her Chicago Rebels series so I knew I had to get my hands on this book. I just love meeting new characters. Starting at the beginning of a series and following it until the end. The synopsis kickass so I will make this quick 😉 <if you follow my reviews then you know this most likely won’t happen.

Max is a divorce attorney. Charlie is a wedding planner. He doesn’t do commitments. She is looking for one. He sees the ugly at the end of marriage. She sees the beauty in the beginning of one.

Max was warned. His brother told him she was not his type but he loved a challenge. He had no idea what he was getting himself into but he wanted her from the moment he saw her. And when she opened her mouth...it was over. He was fucked and he knew it. She was witty, beautiful, and didn’t want anything to do with him. That’s what she wanted him to believe anyway. Yes. He felt the hate. He also saw the lust in her eyes. He not only wanted her in his bed but she intrigued him. He wanted to know more about this woman. But, how could this playboy convince her to give him a chance?

Aw! I loved it. Max is such a smooth-talking cocksure man. He is also sweet, funny, and smart. He also has a clumsy side. It’s really an amazing blend. He cracked me up. He definitely has a way with words. Charlie enjoys his words as well. His sweet ones. His filthy ones. His arrogant ones. Especially when she got to throw her own back at him. Which is one of the reasons why I loved her. She knows how to put him in his place. She also knows what she wants and doesn’t need. She also knows what she deserves. Together, these two are hilarious, sexy, beautiful, and a bit crazy.

Overall...it’s a wonderful start to a new series! I do love my lawyers and this group is so much fun! I can’t wait for Lucas’s story. The bloody Brit is going to make me fall.

Quotes:

“So while you wait for the one”—get out of my head, playah!—“you live vicariously, setting up lavish matrimonial monstrosities and selling people an impossible fantasy. Overcompensate much?”
“Maxie,” James says. “Play nice.”

“This creeping up on me is getting to be a habit, Henderson.”
“My best work is done from behind,” I murmur in her ear, but then I notice a sort-of-familiar, pretty Asian woman, her mouth curved in a grin, and realize I need to behave. “Hi, I’m Max.”

“You’re killin’ me, Charles.”

I enjoyed this light, fun romantic comedy very much. It was the perfect read for the beach - I really enjoyed Kate Meader's light and easy style of writing. Our main characters Max and Charlie were very well done - I was definitely loving the divorce attorney vs wedding planner banter through out the book. It was such a fun take on enemies to lovers! Although it was a little hard to swallow that our leading lady was "Charlie Love" and she was a wedding planner. But hey - it was cute. Down with Love had the perfect mix of humor, and sweetness with a touch of steaminess.

This book was a little different for me, I wasn't really sure what to expect when reading it, but then boom, I fell in love. Not my typical type of like, I didn't find the male character to be overly Alpha, like i usually like my men in books, but other than that I have no complaints! I will for sure be searching for more books by this author! Thank you for letting me read!!

Max is a cynical divorce lawyer. That’s what he is on the surface anyway. His partners in the law firm tease him about having a softer, romantic center. He keeps that side well hidden though. After one disastrous engagement ended because she loved his money more than him, he’s determined no one will get that close again. When his brother tells him he’s getting married & is using a wedding planner, Max immediately jumps to conclusions. After all,”That’s her job - smoke & mirrors, upselling on everything, creating the fairy tale while you flirt with bankruptcy.”

Charlie loves her job as a wedding planner. She helps the couple create the experience they want for their day. It’s helped her get over some of the issues from her youth. She still has moments where she doesn’t feel worthy & it makes her reluctant to let anyone in. She’s attracted to Max after he gets his foot out of his mouth but knows it would never be a “forever” kind of romance. Can they ignore their attraction? Or do they find a way to make it work?

Ms. Meader has given her readers what looks like an opposites attraction story. Once you start to delve into the plot, there are more similarities between them than you expect. The characters are realistic & describes such that I was able to picture them in my mind. The story pokes a little fun at the storybook image of the rich, uptight family as it goes along. This was an entertaining story & a good introduction to the characters to come later in the series.

I'm ashamed to say that I've purchased several books by this author and this is the first one that I've read and it won't be the last. I'm now searching my Kindle for all past purchases so I can catch up because I love her writing -- she packed this book with everything that I love in a romantic comedy. I didn't feel like this was your "usual" enemies to friends to lovers romance because it was so much more than that. I loved Charlie's parents; Max's partners had me in stitches and Cujo, the little beast, was icing on the cake! Max might have started out as "The Cynic" but he turned into a swoony, alpha book boyfriend that you're going to love -- "If you ever leave me, you'll also take my heart." I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

Loved it! Funny, smart and sexy! Max and Charlie are so like each other with their viewpoints on love and marriage. They are perfect together! I loved the dialogue and chemistry between them. This is a fun read for anyone to chill out with. I couldn't have asked for more!

Great story. Love Max and his amazing heart... Charlie- she took a long time to grow on me. Still not convinced. 3.5 Stars
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I have read many many books by Kate Meader. I just love her writing style!! Her books are always full of humor and fun loving stories that you can really relate to. So I always gravitate to new titles by her.

One of the things I enjoy about this author stories is she brings together people that may not necessarily normally bond. People who would technically be opposites are brought together in explosive ways.

This story features a divorce attorney who is a little bit cynical but more a romantic at heart. Max is a delicious hunk of a man who has many secrets tucked away and I adored him. When he meets Charlie, a wedding planner, the first thing he thinks of is how much money she is going to fleece from his brother.

Charlie is somewhat repelled the first time she meets Max and for many of their casual meetings she has the hate/like emotional connection going on. Max is the one who becomes the chaser as he is the true romantic of the bunch.

There were a few things that held me back from loving this story. For one, I did not care for Charlie for most of the book. I felt no real connection or vibe with her. She was annoying at times and I just did not get the buy-in from her at all.

Another issue was the lack of heat in this book. Normally we get the heated attraction and great sex, but this time, I felt it was less important than the rest of the story... More of the day to day activities were featured.

Overall, I love Kate's books because they are always a delightful, engaging read. But this one was a bit lacking for me, mainly because of Charlie.

This was a cute enemies to lovers rom com. It started out a little rough for me. The writing was a bit cheesy at times, but it got better as the story progressed. The chemistry between Charlie and Max was great and I loved the back and forth banter between them. They truly couldn't be more on opposite ends of the spectrum, but they fit together well. It made for a funny, romantic story!

This book was a pleasure to read. This story is about Max and Charlie who have both been unlucky in love. They come together to arrange Max’s brother’s wedding. Charlie tries her best to hate Max but she finds that he actually has a few redeeming qualities.
The story flowed well. The characters were believable and it was well written. I finished the book rather quickly because I just couldn’t get enough. I haven’t read this author’s work before but she will definitely be on my radar now.

I really enjoyed the book. I've read many Kate Meader books and have always really liked her books and this one didn't disappoint.

I loved the back and forth between the H and h. Was witty and totally believable. Enjoyed how the two grew separate and together.

I would say it's the best book I've read in several months.

If you're looking for a good, light hearted book without a lot of angst, look no further.

Received a copy from Net Galley for honest opinion

Let me start off by saying I do not read books with attorneys, musicians or actors. They just do not interest me…until now. I have loved everything I have read by Ms. Meader so when I read this series is about lawyers, I thought do I want to take a chance? Hell yeah, I am glad I did. Max is sex-on-a-stick. Not only is he terribly sexy but he is kind, loving, feeling, just plain wonderful. Boy could we all use a little Max in our lives. Charlie is a little harder to like. She does not want a committed relationship. I do love that she owns who she is (for the most part). It is kind of a role reversal story in that you think it should be Max that wants a fling (and he does, kind of) but really he is in it for the long haul. Max makes this story.

The Good, The Bad, and Everything In Between

The Good
I’ve been enjoying Ms. Meader’s writing through several series and she’s a dependable writer who can give me the heat and heart mix that makes me happy. I love the way she creates these little clusters of characters, all living and loving in Chicago, and like that vibrant city, the characters across all her series are diverse and colorful. This is another solid rom-com, with alot of potential for future story and some interesting crumbs for future couples that I want to get to know.

Charlie, aka Charlotte Love, is the wedding planner for Max Henderson’s brother and they are on opposites sides of the same coin. She gets to revel in the beginning HEA happy feels, while Max, a divorce attorney, is there for the bitter endings. It’s certainly colored their perceptions of love and matrimony, and they have an immediate attraction, even while they butt heads as they move along on down the road to, yes, you guessed, romance.

Now, the devil is in the details, in life and in romance. It’s the little details that make this story work and occasionally not (more on that later). Yes, their Firsts are fun and flirty, but once you strip away the initial trope of player/rake falls for his match, is when you start to see that while Max is the love cynic, Charlie’s protecting her heart just as much as he is. I liked the bit of a twist and since it is dual POV, you get time in each of their heads to understand their motivations which was helpful. When the story starts to dive into the nitty gritty of their relationship was when I was most happiest flipping to the next page on my kindle.

The Bad(ish)
Those pesky non-romantic details needed a little more page time though. You really don’t get to see Charlotte the wedding planner in action, except what was necessary to drive the romance. Same with Max, you get a bit more of a glimpse at his professional life, but just enough to establish his law firm and future couples. The secondary characters almost all have potential but you don’t get to know them beyond the surface. This felt like a setup book, and it’s fine, but I think there was potential for more. The story is pretty straightforward and perhaps had some time been spent on those other relationships, I would have felt like I knew those characters, and by extension Max and Charlie, better.

Everything in Between
The subplot involving Charlie’s foster parents was a nice touch, even if it also needed a bit more time and definition. They served the main romance, but I would have loved to see a little more time building them up as individuals.

The Bottom Line 4 stars
I enjoyed Max and Charlie’s romance, and I was in the right mood for a lazy, weekend read. I would have loved a little more time spent on developing their professional and personal lives outside the romance, but their chemistry more than carried the story.

If you’re into a solid rom-com that focuses strictly on the romance and setting up a new series, I think you’ll enjoy it.

I LOVE Kate Meader. This book was really good and set up for the rest of the series. One of my favorite tropes is the cynical guy falling in love.

I stopped reading Down with Love at 30% because I wasn't enjoying it. I didn't like Charlie or Max. Max is over the top cocky type of man with an over-inflated ego, who likes to brag about how great he is. I prefer my heroes a little more humble. I was OK with Charlie until I got to the part when she lost her sh*t over a baseball game and caused disturbance at the said game. I am not a big sports fan so I don't have a lot of understanding for someone who will go into full-blown rage over a sports match. It's not something I find interesting or want to read about. I've read a lot of sports romances that I enjoyed but I just don't want to read about someone getting shitty because their team is losing.

The writing style didn't work for me either. The writer uses too many unnecessary metaphors for everything she describes. It was very strange and got annoying very quickly. I decided not to continue reading Down with Love because this book and me just didn't mesh well together and I have too many other books on my TBR that I want to read.

I love a good haters to lovers romance and Kate Meader delivers in spades with Down with Love, the first novel in her new Love Wars series. What happens when a divorce attorney and wedding planner tango? Grab a cup of coffee and check out my spoiler free dates with Down with Love.

Humor, sweet moments and sizzling heat await you in Down with Love. It's the perfect, feel-good-romance to curl up with this weekend. Don't forget the chocolate and wine. Full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer on August 6th.

This is a story of opposites attract and maybe even frenemies to lovers. The story will have you turning the pages just to see the banter between them, it was such a great story.

Max Henderson and Charlie Love couldn’t be more different in their beliefs about love. He is a highly sought after divorce attorney, she brings people love and joy while being a wedding planner. They have a chance meeting while Charlie is setting up everything for Max’s brother James’ wedding. And do the banter begins… It could be so funny at times, and a little steamy at others. Of course in stories like this we know at some point they end up “together”, but do they stay that way or go their separate ways after the James’ big day?

Max has one big ego, but it does get in the way of his love life so to speak. He sees the dirty, the underbelly of divorce each and every day being a divorce attorney. There were quite a few times that even I wanted to smack some sense into him. He has this gorgeous woman right in front of him. I just adored Charlie, she was so charismatic when it came to love. She believed in it with her whole heart, which is makes her a wonderful wedding planner. Not these two do have some steamy banter between them and I enjoyed it all so much. They were not without some issues though but they had plenty of chemistry between them and some pretty steamy chemistry at that.

There a quite a few side characters, like the parents of Max and James (which were just the sweetest) to Charlie’s best friends. The didn’t feel like side characters to me, they had an interest in making Max and Charlie see what was right in front of them and played their parts well. Oh and Max had a couple of his colleagues/friends that played a part in just about everything Max and they were just as cynical as he was at the beginning. Illegally Yours, is the next installment, so I am curious as to whose story it will be, maybe one of their. That would be amazing.

When I reached the end, I was pleased that everything worked out the way it did. What would a romance be without a little bit of steaminess and a little bit of angst and I thoroughly enjoyed these from start to finish. It turned out to be a great romance and one of change and love, I couldn’t have asked for more.

When I first saw the title for this book, I immediately thought of the film by the same name, which was a sort of homage to those old school rom-coms. Well, I have to say, the name fits, because this book had a vibe similar to that of the old Doris Day films I love so much.

Both Max and Charlie had suffered major romantic blows, and were leery of new relationships. While Max became a cynic regarding all things romantic, Charlie was still buying into the idea of "the one". When their paths cross, there was a lustful attraction, but the more time these two spend with each other, the more they begin to think there could be more.

What I Liked:
• I love slightly broken characters, and these two had a lot to overcome. Both were left with gaping wounds from their previous romances, and it was really special watching them slowly close as their friendship grew.
• The interactions between Charlie and Max were fantastic. I really enjoyed their banter. They played off each other quite well, and it was often fun and sexy. But it wasn't all fun and flirty. These two actually took time to get to know one another, and there were a lot of sweet, tender, and heartfelt moments shared between them too.
• Charlie and Max had great families. I really liked the way Meader worked them in, because their parents were pretty adorable.
• I always love a hero, who goes from cad to disney prince. I am not sure if Max was a cad through and through, but I liked that he unveiled that hidden softer side to Charlie, because that Max was the Max worth knowing better.
• Meader did a great job introducing us to Max's partners. They had a fun bromance going on, and I am eager to get their stories.

Overall:
I really enjoyed Max and Charlie's story. It was fun and humorous, but also very heartwarming. There were tons of laughs, smiles, and even some happy tears.

Charlie and Max are polar opposites in their world views and professions. Max is a divorce attorney and Charlie is a wedding planner. They are oil and water. Charlie makes some pretty unfair assumptions about Max right from the beginning. Max is having a hard time with his brother's impending nuptials and has been kept in the dark about several things. To say he doesn't take it well is an understatement. Charlie doesn't just sit back and let Max deal, she compounds the problem by giving Max more grief. I had a hard time liking Charlie at points and didn't really get how she "changed" during this book. Max did change a lot in this book and it was nice to see his growth. Charlie was more of a take me as I am girl but wanted Max to change for her. I had a hard time wrapping my head around that and, therefore, couldn't give the book 5 stars. It was well written, had a good plot and kept me interested the entire time. I would recommend to someone looking for a romance where the hero realizes that love does exist and can change everything.
I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

A divorce attorney walks into a bar where he meets a wedding planner. Not just any wedding planner. His brother's wedding planner. The wedding planner that he'll be in close contact with for the foreseeable future or maybe...forever? I know, I couldn't put it down either.