A wedding planner, fittingly named Charlie Love, and a cynical divorce attorney are the unlikeliest pair, but Charlie and Max just click right away in Down With Love.

I got these characters. I understand why Charlie had the reservations she does when it comes to Max, and I get why he’s so cautious (and jaded!) when it comes to women. I found them to be incredibly likable, and I couldn’t wait for them to work their ish out and get on the same page!

Kate Meader is a new-to-me author, and I was pleasantly surprised by Down With Love. This was a great series starter, and I will definitely check out the other books in the Laws Of Attraction series, which will apparently focus on Max’s business partners.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

A fantastic book to kick off what should be a fun, sexy series. Kate Meader always brings us a story filled with humor, witty banter, and a sexy romance. That's exactly what she delivered in this book. Cynical, seen it all, divorce attorney Max Henderson and believer of HEA's, heart on her sleeve wedding planner Charlie Love are quite the odd couple but somehow they work. These characters and their story will leave your heart singing with joy. I highly recommend this book and I can't wait for the next one!

Sexy, Snarky, Fun & Seductive ! I always find it amazing how Kate Meader tells a story, once I start reading I am completely lost to it. How it is always fresh and engaging, sexy and fun. There are these great characters, great moments, and great connections. She’s truly a fantastic story teller.
So I loved this, Charlie Love was full of personality and charm, I couldn’t get enough. I love a feisty woman who stands up for herself. Max Henderson was great also, trying to protect his brother from possible heartbreak, being the cynic but with a kiss, opens his heart.
One of my favorite things is animosity between characters because it explodes into electric chemistry. This was off the charts! I love when characters give good fight. It was fun, snarky, and sexy, I could feel the want and need between these two. There was this passionate connection that created so much heat. Hot, Hot, Hot, So awesome.
There were so many funny parts in this. I burst out laughing at times. There was a great balance of entertaining, sexy, and emotion throughout. I can’t wait for the next one in this series. Get your copy now!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I absolutely adored this book. In an interesting turn of events.

Wedding planner Charlie Love meets Max, who just happens to be a divorce attorney. When James, Max’s brother announces he is getting married.

Due to Max’s profession he is obviously against the idea. Max can’t keep wedding planner Charlie off his mind.

Fun read!

This was a fun read! Wedding planner and divorce attorney work together and find their happy ever after. Cute fun read for a new series!

This was an annoying, yet cute story!

The annoying: the h was always wary and doubtful, never believing what the H would tell her, but at least she wasn’t whiny. On the other hand, the H would come off a bit cheesy with his pick up lines, though he wasn’t trying.

The cute: fate was playing with them at every turn. They just couldn’t see what was in front of them.

Grab and have a great read! I believe this is a debut novel for a new, up-and-coming romance author, and she knocked it out of the ballpark!

A smart, sassy romance with a lot of Chicago flavor thrown in, and the Cubs!! My baseball lover heart was super happy about that. Sassy dialogue and even though you know eventually they are going to figure it out, the back and forth between the characters makes you wonder!

Max and Charlie couldn't be any more opposite - she's a wedding planner, he's a divorce lawyer. She still believes in happily ever after; he doesn't think that's possible for him and only lucky people find that soulmate for forever. But when they literally bump into each other, more than once, they start to think that maybe there could be something between them. But can they both get over bad things that happened in the past to make a future together?

I just finished reading Down with Love and this big, goobery grin just won’t leave my face!! This was not your typical enemies-to-lovers story, nope, not at all, and I absolutely loved my time with Max and Charlie!

Max is a bit of a jaded divorce attorney. He’s seen people at their worst—love at the end. And it’s hard for him to really know that love and romance and marriage do actually work. That marriage is work—and worth it when there’s love involved.

And Charlie Love is all about L-O-V-E. She’s a wedding planner for Pete’s sake! She gets to see people at their very best—at the beginning of their marriage. And she loves it and is amazing at her job.

Actually, Max and Charlie are both amazing at their jobs. And their jobs really give some valuable insight as to the people Max and Charlie really are! I loved their interactions with their respective clients—maybe more marriages would be saved with Punch Palaces and better, more fun weddings with higher quality champagne served at planning meetings.

Err, but something neither of them are amazing at is relationships. But they are quite amazing together, whether trading snarky, sexy barbs or in between the sheets, Max and Charlie have an undeniable attraction.

His hand in mine is the hot fudge sauce on my sundae, the relish on my dog, the topper on my Christmas tree. His hand in mine is all I need.

Down with Love was a fantastic start to this new Laws of Attraction series and I can’t wait for more in Illegally Yours.

in down with love, divorce attorney max meets his match in wedding planner charlie. he starts off cocky, assured of his ability to be what women want. but charlie has seen his type before. and she wants the forever. so she's not going to give max the time of day.

but as their paths cross as charlie works to plan max's brother's wedding, she starts to see other sides to max's personality that don't jibe with her idea of him as a cutthroat divorce attorney out to ruin marriages and against happily ever afters.

max isn't against happy ever afters per se, he was just badly burned. and while he doesn't see the best side of marriage in his job, he's actually a guy who goes out of his way to make sure that his clients are women who have more to gain from a divorce than staying in an unhappy marriage. honestly, having had friends leave bad marriages or marriages that weren't right for them, the kind of service max provides is wonderful and necessary. he's all about empowering women. it's really quite amazing, actually.

when charlie and max give in to their chemistry, charlie doesn't fully understand who max is. she's too focused on the idea of the perfect match and believes there is no way max would ever be that person. after all, even their jobs are at odds with each other. but slowly charlie sees the error of her ways.

how these two adapt and change their views on love and marriage and what perfect is, makes for a delightful read.

**down with love will publish on august 7, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/random house publishing group (loveswept) in exchange for my honest review.

When Max's brother announces that he is getting married, Max is at first on guard. As a divorce lawyer, he has seen it all, and he just wants to protect his brother. In comes the wedding planner Charlie Love. Not only does she challenge Max to be a supportive best man, but also challenges his belief on love and whether or not he can find it.

The Story-
Told from alternating points of view this is the sort of romantic story that gets you frustrated when the two characters just don't communicate properly and you get angry because they just wont admit their feelings. I mean frustrated and angry in the best way. Having the two opposing professions sets up the story for a great hate-to-love trope that isn't exactly hate, but definitely the clashing of personalities until the tension is so high it's like a rubber band ready to snap.

The fact that the story revolves around the wedding of Max's brother gives it a definite beginning to end timeline that is easy to follow. I honestly thought there would be a lot more going on that involved the wedding planning with Max helping along with that.

Overall, the story was super quick but cute read. 

The Characters-
Charlie isn't limited to the waiting for the right man keeps her legs closed type, so it wasn't necessarily a stretch for her to eventually get together with Max (no spoiler there, duh of course they do). What I like about her is that she has a back story to her her temper and her personality, such as her appreciation for baseball.

Max comes off as the typical wants to get into someone's panties type of guy in the beginning. I can understand why he was adverse to long term relationships, but he sort of comes off pretty sleazy in the beginning and it definitely was a turn off. Thankfully,  he has that character arc to support the romantic element later. Still, I had a hard time cheering him on the entire time.

The Steam-
I don't normally include this in my reviews, because I just don't read too many books like this. But seeing as this is on par with the romantic smut novel I should probably dive into it since, you know that's one of the key elements to this sort of chick-lit.

I would say that the steam level is pretty decent. The tension really just builds and builds, and you really don't get any sort of relief till about the 50% mark. Now is it the best, most mind blowing scene? Nah, probably not, but it is definitely maximized by the fact that you're forced to wait so long for it.

Down with Love was a fun read. I enjoyed Max and Charlie's story as they navigated through their love/hate relationship. The secondary characters were interesting as well, and I look forward to reading the stories of Max's business partners.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary ARC from NetGalley.

Fun Opposites attraction romance

Kate Meader new series Law of Attraction starts out well with Down with Love. A cute story about wedding planner Charlie Love and divorce attorney Max Henderson. These two very different people fought the immediate attraction that sparked when they first met. I enjoyed watching as the author used humor as they learned more about each other and themselves as they moved to their HEA.
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley.

First impressions can be crucial and cynical divorce lawyer Max Henderson sure blows his with wedding planner Charlie Love. But sparks still fly and the two have a fling. At least, that's what Charlie assumes. But Max's grinch-y heart has grown a size (he still has a ways before it's three sizes) and wants to explore whether there could be something more there.
Between the two of them, they've seen the extremes of a lot of marriages. They have both had relationships that gave them good reasons not to trust other people. They'll have to work their way past all of that in order find their HEA.
The last Big Misunderstanding was a bit much and I never truly connected with Charlie but this was still a lovely read and a nice start to a new series.


Three stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
This book came out August 7th

Kate Meader is an absolute master of the Opposites Attract trope. She knows how to mold two outwardly different characters so that what often comes to light is how much alike the characters are. That deep down they share fundamental beliefs. The joy in reading Kate Meaders' Down With Love is that Max and Charlie are just that sort of couple.

Wedding planner Charlotte (Charlie" Love, ever the optimist, believes in soul mates and in finding her person. Divorce attorney Max Henderson on the other hand can't fathom the idea of a lifelong commitment and is suspect of all efforts Charlie puts into her work. Always a stellar storyteller, Meaders greatest strength is the dialogue and the banter that comes from Max and Charlie being thrust together as Max's brother prepares for wedded bliss. Their chemistry oozes off the pages as Charlie throws down on Max:

“I’m guessing that a busy guy like you won’t have time to worry about the finer details of wedding planning,” I continue. “Just show up for your tux fitting and stow your hate at the chapel door.”
Booyah! That’s a pretty great exit-stage-left line so I stand to leave. But I should have known that a guy as verbal as Max Henderson would have to get in the last word."

I very nearly had a perma-grin while I was reading this but the road to true love is never easy. Max makes some gross assumptions and miscalculates the trajectory of the "no strings attached" involvement that develops between them. Charlie's doubt grow as to the genuineness of Max's intensions. The story plays out at a perfect pace, with both Max and Charlie's POVs in play, and Meader shares some pearly words of wisdom as the possibility of a Max and Charlie union hangs in the balance.

Down With Love shares it's name with one of my favorite feel good movies so I knew I HAD to read it. But then anything by Kate Meader is a must read and I can guarantee that it will make you smile.

Love, love, LOVED this one! This was the author's first foray into first person POV, and I so enjoyed the characters and their delightful story.

Max Henderson is a cynic. After getting burned in the past, even his parents' gloriously happy marriage can't sell him on the idea of Happily Ever After. At least, not for him. Especially not, given his chosen profession as a divorce attorney. But, when his younger brother announces he's getting married to his girlfriend of 3 months, Max is floored. He's got to watch his brother's back best he can, particularly from the typically money-grubbing wedding planner.

Charlie Love is one of the best wedding planners in the business. She loves what she does, and she LOVES love. She's a believer in true love, and the forever HEA. She is always there for her clients 100%, and she resents this MAN questioning her and her motives, especially since he's so ridiculously hot. How dare he?!? If only their attraction weren't so strong, she could forget she ever met his smarmy self.

Max and Charlie's chemistry was off the charts hot and their banter was hilarious and fun. I absolutely loved their antagonistic back-and-forth, and it was so much fun to watch them fall in love, against all their best efforts. The side characters is this story were fantastic, and I loved them all. Max's law partners (who will be the next couple heroes in the series), Max's brother and sister-in-law, and parents, along with Charlie's best friends, and her parents as well. They always provided comic relief and I enjoyed their differing relationships with Max and Charlie, and how they all helped them out, in their own unique ways.

There was so much to love about this sweet, sexy, funny story, and I can't wait for more in this series. I LOVED the author's prior sports romance series beyond words, and I didn't think I could possibly love anything else as much, but this story was truly wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Max Henderson is having a drink with his brother James, where they meet every week, when he spots a goddess at the end of the bar. Figuring what he’ll say to convince her to go home with him, James takes in what he’s starring at and stops him in his track. Tells him she’s not his type, that she’s looking for a permanent man in her life. How does he know this, well she’s his wedding planner. Hell how is this happening, James and Gina have only known each other for three months. Max is a divorce attorney and he sees the tragedy and unhappiness that marriage can bring. Yes he’s a cynic. But he must get to know Charlie Love, yes that is actually the name of the wedding planner.
All of a sudden Max is everywhere Charlie goes, like a gross pimple. Is he drop dead gorgeous, yes. Is he witty and funny, yes. Is he a pain in her ass, absolutely yes! However, she does find him extremely sexy.
Even thou Max and Charlie agree to just have some fun, their chemistry is undeniable. They both are coming from broken engagements that burned them to the core. How can a cynic on love and a believer in the happily ever after, make this work.
Kate Meader is one of my favorite authors. Each story grabs your heart in a wonderful way and puts a smile on your face!

I probably should've written this closer to when I read it. It was a fun and enjoyable read, but it also standard and forgettable.

The characters are pretty standard: he doesn't really believe in love and she is all about the happily ever afters. It even extends to their professions of divorce lawyer and wedding planner respectively. They are stereotypical characters, but are very well developed. Charlie, the heroine, is especially interesting. She was in the foster system and after a rough time she finally connected with some great foster parents. I particularly liked her relationship with her (foster) dad.

Charlie and Max have great chemistry. They have that good bickering, but it's never harsh. And they generally act like mature adults when dealing with their issues. For some reason, I LOVE when Max calls her Charles. Pet names and nicknames don't always work and can feel forced, but this really worked.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to read this and will continue with the series and Ms. Meader's books.

Down With Love by Kate Meader was such a fun, fast paced story. I really enjoyed the banter between Max and Charlie and the chemistry was off the charts.

This story started off rough for me, with the hero coming on SUPER strong in a smarmy, assholery way. If I hadn't previously read and enjoyed a book by this author, I probably would have DNF'd this one. But I read on, and once I got past the intense insta-lust and icky slickness of the hero, this story turned into a solid read.

I won't be posting this review on any other sites, since it isn't a glowingly positive one and I do enjoy Meader's writing overall.

Max is a very well known divorce attorney, Charlie is a wedding planner. They meet when James, Max's brother is planning his wedding to Gina. He's jaded about love and Charlie is looking for love. Her parents are worried about her and want her to be settled. When Max and Charlie meet, it's lust at first sight. Charlie thinks that Max can stratch her itch until she finds love and Max just wants Charlie. Will Max change his mind about Charlie and love? In the middle of this story are parents with problems, a foul mouthed Cubs fan and an unexpected surprise. Loved this book and especially the Cubs fan. Funny and tender and just a great book. I received this book from Net Galley and Montlake Romance for a honest review and no compensation otherwise.