I thought the idea of this one sounded cute but the reality was that I just didn't click with it. We first meet Lauren who runs a cat cafe and has a flirtation with a new patron, this patron turns out to be the new Vet, Dr. Caleb Fitch who works at the clinic next door. By chapter 3 I knew this book was going to be hard for me. I am not really an animal person (I like them just not to the point where I think one is better than the other) and this book relies heavily on the cat vs. dog mentality. A few days after meeting Dr. Fitch, Lauren takes her cat into the vet thinking they have a UTI but Caleb wants to run tests to make sure it's not something else. Lauren then begins to argue with him, THE DR. about whats wrong her cat and the fact that she owns a bunch means she can diagnosis it. I found this scene so irritating! She is not a doctor, he is and yet she fights with him about how to treat the cat!! Then in the middle of this she yells "you're a dog person aren't you?" Really!! At this point I was done! Why did this become a thing? Why is there a trope for this!

I decided to keep reading to see if the book gets better and the answer is not really. I liked her writing and there was definitely some funny lines like when she she was equating a dog and cat person to a coke vs. pepsi person. Here again, I will gladly drink both and do not have a preference. One other small qualm I had with the story is that they were trying to portray Caleb as a grump and he was in no way one. I love grumpy main characters and Caleb was not that. There was enough in the writing that made me want to be interested so I will definitely pick up another book by Kate McMurray, just not one about cats vs. dogs people. Overall I think this book can work for some people but just not me. Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca for my gifted copy for review.

If you're an animal lover, this book is perfect for you!

This is a very cat and dog centric book and I love that about it. If there's cats and dogs on the cover, I'd love to see them in the book, and we sure did! They stole the entire show!

This is a very sweet romance book with feisty main characters. And we know what that means, feisty characters means lots of bickering and interesting arguments. Loved the dialogue!

And how gorgeous is that cover??

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the earc in return for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.
I thought it was a cute read. Nothing complicated and easy to read.

Cute cover.. Story had potential. Enemies to lovers trope. Characters were a bit annoying, but the overall story was decent. Three stars.

Cat’s are a woman’s best friend.

That’s how the saying goes, doesn’t it? It’s applicable for me, and also for Lauren, the protagonist of the story. She runs a cat cafe in this cutesy part of Brooklyn that hasn’t been taken over by corporations and chain companies, right next door to a veterinary clinic. Which happens to be right where Dr. Cutie McCutie, Caleb works. Who is also a dog person.

This fast-paced story is good for those of you who like enemies-to-lovers type romances. The title accurately describes the relationship between Lauren and Caleb, they hate each other but also can’t keep their hands off each other. Arguments are their foreplay and for the longest part of the book, it fuels their secret relationship. I just wanted to slap both of them and get them to communicate, which they did at the beginning but not as they developed.

I learned a few more facts about cats, animals, and small businesses are a big part of the story, but also that having friends and a support group is necessary to have a thriving and happy life.

3 out of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with the eARC and the opportunity to read this work of art and for letting me meet an amazing author.

This book just did not hit the mark for me. The idea was great I just did not love the enemies-to-lovers trope in it.

This was a really cute book, with great characters, a lovely story-line and being an animal lover, plenty of animals to swoon over!

This was an average romance book for me, enjoyed most of it, but forgettable. This enemies to lover trope could have been better - so much of their issues were silly miscommunications. The cover is completely adorable.

The cover of this book is so cute and I love the premise. I'm a dog person, but my kids love cats and we've been to the cat cafe in town. I didn't love Caleb as much as I had hoped and I felt like the character development was rushed and not really very thorough. I don't have a great idea of the characters as people, just the one-dimensional bits that the story used to move the plot along. It was a good premise and has potential, just needs to flush out the store a bit more IMO.

This will post soon at Romance Reviews Today: http://romrevtoday.com/

LIKE CATS AND DOGS – Kate McMurray
Whitman Street Cat Café, Book 1
Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN: 978-1-7282-14542
May 4, 2021
Contemporary Romance

New York City – Present Day

Lauren Harlow manages the Whitman Street Cat Café in Brooklyn. It specializes in coffee and pastries while allowing patrons to interact with cats that have been rescued and are ready to be adopted. One day, Dr. Caleb Fitch, the new vet next door, comes into the café, and Lauren is intrigued by him. However, he’s a bit of a grouch, especially since he appears to prefer dogs over cats. One late night after a litter of weeks-old kittens is dropped off at the café, and one appears to be in distress, it’s Caleb who is the vet treating them (the vet’s office is open 24/7). Lauren and Caleb spend a night nursing the sick kitten and grow closer. The next morning, it leads them to a one-night (or is that a one-morning?) stand in her apartment. Yet, things are still the same between them. Caleb is abrupt with Lauren because he’s not looking for a romantic relationship, while she wonders how she can get involved with a guy who doesn’t love cats as much as she does.

Caleb is soured on marriage right now because he recently went through a contentious divorce with the woman whom he thought would be his forever bride. He’s dealing with the emotions and baggage from that split, so isn’t in the mood to do more than have an occasional hookup with Lauren—which is where things are between them. But Lauren wants more. As she deals with Caleb “tuning out” in their burgeoning relationship, she tries to distance herself from him, but that’s hard to do when he works next door, and she is constantly needing to go to the vet’s office about one of the cats or get cat food from them. Can Lauren and Caleb build a future together, or are they doomed to fail because he can’t get over his failed marriage?

LIKE CATS AND DOGS is a cute and funny tale that will tickle the reader’s funny bone. Lauren and Caleb have a built-in radar when it comes to each other, yet they still try to ignore each other. But it doesn’t stop their interactions and leading to a few hookups. Lauren wants more than having a friends-with-benefits relationship with Caleb. She really likes him, though he’s more reticent when it comes to their “romance.” After all the dancing around that they do at first in this tale, it is a bit of a surprise how quickly they end up having sex after their long night caring for the sick kitten. But just as quickly, they turn their backs on each other.

There is plenty of entertaining back and forth bantering between Lauren and Caleb, as well as from minor characters, such as her best friend, Evan, and the building’s owner, Diane. Of course, then there are the fur babies: her cat, Molly, and Hank, an abandoned dog that Caleb adopts. Will cats and dogs mix as well as the humans? Will the fur fly between all four? A romp-filled tale you won’t want to miss, be sure to check out the fun in LIKE CATS AND DOGS.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

HOW COULD YOU NOT LIKE THIS BOOK! I loved the vet aspect of this book as an animal lover myself. I think this was such a cute story line.

I would like to thanks #SourcebooksCasablanca for sending me an #ARC of #LikeCatsAndDogs by #KateMcMurray via #Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray is the first book in her Whitman Cat Café series, and centers around Lauren, the manager at the Cat Café, and Caleb, the new veterinarian at the neighboring clinic. While finding each other attractive, the two can stand one another. These two opposite personalities fight about everything - but it only makes them want each other more.

So I requested this book for two reasons: the cover is kind of cute and eye catching, and the synopsis seemed interesting in a rom-com sort of way. But it's misleading as hell, because this wasn't a rom-com. You see, I'm an expressive reader. I smile openly while reading, actually laugh out loud, and when something exciting or horrifying happens, my eyes go all owl like, and I usually have to close the book and compose myself. I might have smiled ONCE in this whole. book. It had promise. I loved the idea of a romance set in a cat café. If you have never been to one, go! They are pretty cool! I love the enemies to lovers trope. But the interactions between these characters were almost cringy. There was no chemistry, no heat, just a couple of two-dimensional characters who argued about the silliest stuff. The side stories were equally uninteresting. And while it's a romance that has sex on page - my favorite - the sex scenes either bored me, or made me snort.

I wish I could have loved this book. I loved the idea of it, but it's just not a winner for me.

That line between love and hate was thin, wasn't it? Or it was a coin that was easy to flip around?"

Actual rating: 2.5/5 stars

Like Cats and Dogs has the premise (and adorable cover) that I love to see in my romance novels - an opposites-attract and enemies-to-lovers situation that sounds really fun and quirky, and has a lot of pets involved. It tells the story of Caleb, a veterinarian that moved to practice in Brooklyn, New York, and meets the crazy cat lady/cat cafe manager next door of his clinic, Lauren. Both of them immediately knew of the attraction going on between them, but their heads will constantly butt against one another, hence causing an "enemies with benefits" relationship between them. The entire thing just really screamed a lot of potential, but sadly, it didn't reach that hype for me.

Things I loved
1. The animals everywhere. I absolutely loved the bombarded nature of cats, dogs, and other pets in this book! They weren't just backdrops in the story, but played a big role in it. It was also really touching and amazing to see the book exploring the wonders of animals, and helping to educate people in taking care of animals and being a responsible pet owner, since I could connect with it as I am an owner of 6 dogs and my sister being a licensed veterinarian. Every cat and dog that appeared just really melted my heart, and it was so adorable to see all their antics.

2. The image of a downtown street of Brooklyn is spectacular. It felt like the author herself wrote as much as she can about the area to make it lively and real as much as possible for her readers. It just made me want to live and stay there forever. Not to mention to hang out in the cat cafe and pet all the cats.

3. The friendships formed between all the characters was really something. It wasn't as pronounced or delved deeply as I would have liked, but I really enjoyed the moments of camaraderie between all of them.

Things I didn't love
1. The petty arguments that keep circling around between Lauren and Caleb. I just didn't find it cute at all. I get that both of them have tons of baggage amongst themselves, but the things they argued about were really insignificant, and could have been sorted out immediately if they just properly talked. I also get the whole "cats and dogs fighting" thing they had going on, but it wasn't just working for me.

2. The introduction of the "enemies with benefits" thing. The 18% of the book got my eyes wide with disbelief with how quickly (very quickly) they flung themselves to each other. I don't mind quick steamy scenes, but the flow of the story towards it just didn't have a great transition, and I distinctly remember rereading the past few pages to make sure I was in the right lane. It was just really too quick and sudden, and came totally out of nowhere.

3. The whole "megawatt corporation buys the entire block" thing was a bit underwhelming. I actually found myself looking forward to where this subplot would go, but I ended up disappointed with how dull it was at the end. It was a great additional conflict to the story, and all points were obviously going towards that direction, but how it happened was just meh. I could have wished for a bit more drama regarding it, rather than just it being an inconvenience to the story.

Nevertheless, I still pretty much enjoyed the book. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't bad either. I am looking forward to reading the author's other works in future, just in case it will be a much better experience.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for an early copy of Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray. All opinions are my own.

Like Cats and Dogs is the story of a veterinarian and a cat café manager who start out as rivals. The vet works next door and they fight "like cats and dogs." It slowly turns into something more...

As an animal lover myself, I thought this romance book was very cute! I loved how Caleb and Lauren started their romance with the saving of kittens. I didn't like the constant back and forth about Caleb having just gotten divorced. Honestly, his divorce was mentioned far too much. It seemed like he wasn't over the fact that he wasn't divorced, but it didn't need to be commented on what felt like every other chapter. However, that didn't take away from how cute I thought the book was. It was definitely a change of pace from other romance novels I've read! I'm excited to recommend it to patrons at my library who are looking for romance novels.

Kate McMurray's books are usually love it or hate it for me. This book falls somewhere in between, I didn't love it but I didn't completely hate it either. I think what kept me from really liking it was that I never came to like Lauren. She doesn't like Caleb after their first meeting at the vet clinic because he didn't just do what she told him to and instead insisted on being able to do his job. She's rude and patronizing to him and then gets mad that he stands up for himself and doesn't just let her steamroll right over him. I also didn't buy their hooking up after one night of taking care of some abandoned kittens. Their break up was predictable and I'm not a fan of these "break up to make up" plotlines. Caleb's big romantic gesture was a bit lame and (although I still wasn't a fan of her's) I liked that Lauren called him out on it. I will also say, that I did appreciate that Lauren made him sweat it out a bit before forgiving and taking him back. Overall, there wasn't anything all that original about this story and the main character was hard to like.

Book Review Time

Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The old debate: cat person or dog person? This enemies to lovers tale addresses that. Can a cat person and a dog person look past their disagreements to get along?

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for proving me this copy in exchange for an honest review!

Things I liked:
-I loved the whole cat cafe and veternarian clinic premise.
-I loved that the character Lauren, age 29, cat lover, basically was made after me ha! Becuase we were WAY to much alike so she felt very relatable to me
-I love that they both knew they disagreed a lot and knew to talk it out (eventually).
-I really enjoyed the friends with Lauren
-Loved the epilogue.

Cons:
-I thought the building being possibly sold plot wasn’t really necessary. Nothing was really done with it and I wish something else had been it’s place.
-Gosh I sadly didn’t like Caleb. His inner monologues were just very annoying and I’m all about the enemies to lovers and people being mean, but man I found his comments just beyond mean and unnecessary.
-The word foxy. It was used too much. I don’t notice this kind of thing normally so if I notice you know it was a lot.
-Repetitive dialogue about them not getting along. Like we get it. No need to bring it up every time you talk.

My thoughts:

I feel like I’ve said it. Caleb didn’t do it for me. He crossed the line one “mean” for an enemies to lovers line to me. So I don’t understand how Lauren wanted to push through and be with him. Lots of repetitive dialogue with the word foxy and the fact they didn’t get along when they weren’t even fighting at the time. I did enjoy the steamy scenes and the scenes when they were alone and being more themselves.

A huge thanks to Sourcebooks Casablance and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of those enemies to lovers stories which don't ever get old, at least not for me. Both Lauren and Caleb carried a lot of baggage and emotional trauma from their past relationships, and due to that you really got to see how beautifully their relationship developed and the growth which presented itself was done in the most lively way possible.

Those two just cannot stand each other! I loved it, their banter was everything! The animals aspect was just so adorable and added another element to this story which just elevated it further.

I have to say, the book did start out kind of bumpy and I was kind of shocked, but as I reading more of the story the better the writing got. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this author's work! This story was a fast, make-you-feel-bubbly-inside, sort of a romantic read. Which, in my opinion, everyone can use more of in these times.

DNF at 33%

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to review this one. Unfortunately I wasn’t into it and have decided to put it down. This might hit the right spot for some, but for me the characters were too unlikable.
As I didn’t complete the book I don’t feel it is fair to five it a star rating.

First of all, thank you to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an eARC of Like Cats and Dogs in exchange for an honest review.

Listen you put a cat on a cover and I WANT IT. Cat cafes, a grumpy vet? So, of course walking into this one I had high hopes!

Alas, I was instantly set off when Monique was introduced. I'm not sure what to expect with two caucasian characters on the front, but not only was Black not capitalized, she is described "with dark skin and an amazing collection of wigs. Lauren though of her as Brooklyn personified." That description almost had me putting the book down, but I thought: no, let's give it another chance.

Well, the author didn't do much research on cats and young kittens, because there were quite a few things that were inaccurate.

Gosh, overall this was just a pure let down! I don't feel too bad about rating this down, though.

I liked that this was sort of the enemies-to-lovers trope but was not at the same time as they were never really "enemies". I did find that Lauren seemed to become more of a hippocrite towards the later half of the book on her stance about relationships. I found her a bit annoying during their fight but also loved that the writing brought out that emotion in me.