I was fortunate to receive an audio version of this book. Suehyla El-Attar Young narrates this story. This was my first narration by this narrator and I really enjoyed her. Her voice was amazing throughout the story.
Paige is an event planner for a cat cafe and there she meets Josh while volunteering. Josh is the brother of the owner of the cafe. I enjoyed this book over all. The story did feel rushed at times, but overall a nice sweet romance.

I received this ARC through #netgalley and I am voluntarily reviewing this book

Paige Danvers is an event manager at the Cat Cafe on Whitman Street. After a string of disastrous dates, she decides to take a break from the dating scene by volunteering with a cat rescue organization, where she meets Josh Harlow, a lawyer and fellow volunteer with very promising relationship potential. After a passionate night together, Paige discovers, to her horror, that Josh is the younger brother of her best friend AND boss, Lauren, which makes dating him a tad bit complicated because many things could go awry if the relationship does not work out. But they’re too deeply attracted to each other to end this, what will happen when the cat is out of the bag?

I picked up this book because of the best-friend’s-sibling trope, unfortunately the execution of the story fell a little bit flat for me.

Paige has a history of ending up with horrible dates, while Josh has been hurt badly by his ex-girlfriend, and as the person in between them, I can get that Lauren is worried for them if the relationship doesn’t turn out well. I can also understand why Paige feels so conflicted about this because she could stand to lose her best friend, and possibly even her job should her relationship with Josh go south. But I felt that the story got a little repetitive and draggy as Paige flip flops between her feelings for Josh and her considerations for Lauren. Although I can commiserate with her struggles, I didn’t quite warm up to her as a character, in part because she felt a little wishy-washy. Ultimately, I didn’t feel very invested in their relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the e-ARC.

Without being catty, this novel is cute as a kitten. Paige and Josh meet at the cat rescue center. They hook up but realize a complication, Lauren. She is Josh’s sister and Paige’s nest friend. I thought the scenarios were realistic, but they gave too much consideration to Lauren. These thing happen frequently. Sure, it’s awkward, but that’s life. It’s a cute read to curl up on the couch like a cat and read.

This was such a cute read! Loved the romance in it and the great pace the story kept. The characters were well-developed, and the plot was spot on!

Oh mayn, What the Cat Dragged In is a fast-paced romance book that satisfices the best friend's brother romance trope *long *sigh* . This is book 2 in the Whitman Cat Café book series and follows a young lawyer and a cat café event planner. Paige the cat café event planner is a lovable woman who is unlucky in love who has pretty much tried everything to meet someone . Her luck changes (or does it) when she meets Josh a young lawyer working long hours and has pretty much no social life. The only problem with falling for Josh is that he is her best friend's brother. I pretty much enjoyed this book and the cats were quite endearing. I highly recommend it if you love the best friend's brother trope and cute cats.

I received a complimentary copy from Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley . All opinions expressed are entirely my own

A huge thank you to Sourcebooks Casa for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

4⭐️ 3🌶

What I LOVED: The cat cafe setting in this series will forever be my fave! It was what attracted me to requesting the first book so I just had to read the next book in the Whitman Street Cat Cafe series. I loved that we got to see more cat-related scenes from catching feral cats, organizing kid events at the cat cafe to even one of the main characters adopting a cat! Those moments made my cat lover heart SO FULL!

The light forbidden aspect in the romance was fun given that the female lead ended up sleeping with her best friend/boss’s brother and the male lead with his sister’s best friend 🙈 Paige and Josh’s chemistry and banter had me hooked immediately and I enjoyed reading about their getting to know and cute dates!

What I LIKED: The main leads’ jobs were interesting so I liked exploring their own work-related sideplots. Paige’s friend group has always been entertaining so I’m hoping we’ll get books for them as well! It was nice seeing what the characters of Like Cats and Dogs were up to.

What I DIDN’T ENJOY: The issue I always had with the best friend’s brother trope was how the middleman would make things about them and contribute to the conflict. That was the same in this book, Lauren’s involvement was unnecessarily stressful. Towards the end, I felt that there wasn’t enough grovelling and the conflict was easily resolved so I was surprised when the epilogue was the chapter immediately after they got back together.

I personally Kate McMurray’s books are so underrated because I found myself enjoying both of her books so far. I definitely recommend checking them out!

THIS BOOK IS PERFECT FOR: pet (especially cats!) loving romance readers looking for a fast-paced, low angst and swoony read!

Paige and Josh meet by chance, and end up having a one-night stand that could turn into more. However, they find out the next morning that Josh’s older sister is Paige’s boss and best friend - and she’s worried if they don’t work out, she’ll be dropped from both their friend group and fired from her job. Can they work past this? (Also, lots of cats! Paige’s job is at a cat cafe).
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Paige and Josh were so sweet together! I really enjoyed this story. Life has been kinda heavy lately - our older cat ended up passing away on Monday - and this book was just what I needed as an escape.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the advanced copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I wish I had liked this - the cover is so cute, it's about cats (!!!), and was set to have just about all of my favourite tropes in it. But the writing style? Good lord, nope, I couldn't do it. The exact definition of telling instead of showing, and I swear every sentence read as 'She did this. Then this happened. And then this happened. Then he said this. Then she replied this.'

I felt entirely disconnected from the characters, the writing was poor, and the main conflict wasn't believable.

A fun dual perspective romance between a young lawyer and a cat cafe event planner who try to find love amidst their busy Brooklyn lives. I loved returning to the Whiman Street Cat Cafe and the great cast of characters. This story feature's Lauren's brother Josh and her employee Paige. Contains some spicy open door scenes and lots of great touristy Brooklyn adventures. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN – Kate McMurray

Whitman Street Cat Café, Book 2

Sourcebooks Casablanca

ISBN: 978-1-7282-1457-3

December 7. 2021

Contemporary Romance



New York City – Present Day



Paige Danvers loves working at the Whitman Street Cat Café and especially enjoys her friendship with the owner, Lauren. One of the activities that Paige does with the pet rescue outreach is to participate in the capturing of stray cats so that they can be brought in for sterilization. People work in pairs, and one night, Paige is paired with Josh, an attorney at a top firm. They hit it off so well that they continue to see each other—which leads to a one-night stand in his apartment. The next morning, Paige happens to notice the pictures in Josh’s apartment and discovers to her horror that she just slept with Lauren’s brother. She worries that if her friend (and employer) finds out, then Paige will lose her job and her friend.



Josh is a recent law school graduate and has been so busy trying to establish himself at the law firm that hasn’t visited Lauren often at the Whitman Cat Café. After discovering Paige’s connection to Lauren, he’s not too concerned, but he understands that Lauren, who is known to loudly voice her opinions, might not be happy for her brother and best friend to be dating. Despite their misgivings, Paige and Josh decide to continue dating—they just won’t tell Lauren. But as their feelings for each other grow, they face the dilemma of how to tell her.



WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN is the second book in the Whitman Street Cat Café series and readers had met Paige in the first tale, LIKE CATS AND DOGS (Lauren and Caleb’s story). The cat café is a place where pastry and cats mix with the customers. Paige loves her job and after finding out that she has just slept with Lauren’s brother leaves her in a tizzy. Of course, her first reaction is to tell Josh that they can’t do this anymore. They both realize that Lauren wouldn’t be happy about their relationship, but is it really her business what they do together? Yes, if they break up, it will cause awkwardness, but they are adults, right? Paige and Josh decide to “test the waters” to see how their relationship develops before they take the plunge and tell Lauren. Of course, if they’ve already slept together (and continue to) isn’t that kind of like putting the carriage ahead of the horse?



WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN is a tale that will tickle a reader’s funny bone with the sharp bantering between the characters—Paige, Josh, Lauren, and Evan, who is friends with the girls. A lot of the scenes take place at the cat café where everyone laments about life, including their love lives, though Lauren is married to Caleb, a veterinarian. Paige has done the online dating thing and it never turns out good for her. Meeting Josh is accidental at the feral cat rescue project. Their instant attraction was unexpected, but suddenly, Paige has only eyes for Josh. But in the end, will they make it work? Will Lauren accept the fact that her brother is dating her best friend?



An amusing tale that is filled with plenty of cute scenes and a smattering of hot sex and cat action, don’t miss WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN.



Patti Fischer

Romance Reviews Today

Will also appear at the Romance Reviews Today website soon: http://romrevtoday.com/

Sad to say, I had higher hopes for this book than what was actually met. For the most part, the only conflict is that Paige doesn't want to date her friend's brother but that conflict seems very juvenile for two people who are near their thirties and who have only just met by coincidence. The lack of true conflict combined with the fact that the leads basically just have the same conversation over and over again with no escalation of the conflict and no real resolution of why suddenly it's fine for them to be together just made this novel very underwhelming.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While I enjoyed the premise of this book an awful lot (a love story revolving around a cat cafe), I found the love story a little too cerebral for me. The characters easily fall into a sexual relationship, but when actual feelings get involved, each character starts plodding on about all the reasons it is a bad idea. They continually talk about how much they like each other, but you don't really feel it in their chemistry. I very much wanted to love this book, but unfortunately it wasn't a homerun for me.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending this ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review!

So...the story is cute and a very quick read BUT - I have a few issues with the story. I'd say I quite enjoyed the first 60% of the book until the "problems" became so repetitive. Josh and Paige meet unexpectedly while helping capture stray cats...and there is an immediate spark. Shortly thereafter, Paige realizes that Josh is her friend's little brother. I am sure you can guess the ups and downs that occur during the story.

BUT - here are my issues... 1. everyone is making decisions for Josh - everyone keeps telling him he isn't over his ex (no matter how much he protests), 2. Paige is so obsessed with what her friends will think of her dating a friend's sibling (even though the friends couldn't care less and the sister gets over it fairly quickly), 3. the characters are suppose to be, for the most part, in their 30s but act like they're in highschool with the DRAMA! 4. Josh is suppose to be a lawyer but sounds like a frat boy and not at all how you would expect a professional to sound. 

The story was cute, incredibly predictable, and not a bad way to kill a few hours...but not a book I'd tell anyone was a must read. It was just okay. 

I did throughly enjoy the narrator for the story- gave me total Sex in the City vibes. She made even the mundane pieces of the story enjoyable.

I was given an ARC of this story to read; but thoughts and opinions are all my own. Thank you to @netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the chance to read this title.

What the Cat Dragged In is a fast-paced, enjoyable romance with four-legged supporting cast members who threaten to steal the show. I adored the world of Kate McMurray’s Whitman Street Cat Café and though I threatened to be sidetracked by the too-cute-for-words felines in the book, the humans at the center of this story were just as endearing.

Paige loves her job as an events manager for the Whitman Street Cat Café. On the surface, she has it all together between her job, friends, and life. The only problem is her dating life is a disaster. Then when volunteering with a cat rescue organization she meets a guy who could be her perfect match. There’s just one problem: he’s her boss’s brother. Having gone through a bad breakup and now drowning in work as a first year associate in a big Manhattan law firm, Josh isn’t in the best place for a relationship. But Paige knocks him off his feet from the first. The two of them just fit and I absolutely adored their easy chemistry together.

Josh and Paige work as friends and lovers which makes it easy to be charmed by their romance. The conflict stems from the fact that Josh is Lauren’s brother and Lauren is Paige’s boss, friend, and the one who brought her into the friend group who is now her family. Lauren (heroine of the first Whitman Street Cat Café book, Like Cats and Dogs) didn’t come off as likeable or understanding for a lot of this story, which was a pity. But the blame for Paige and Josh’s drama can’t all be placed on her: both of them (Paige most of all) get in their own way sometimes. While I was a bit frustrated by the obstacles in the way of Paige and Josh’s happily ever after, they did make sense. The problems seem small from a reader’s perspective but they’re ones I can easily see people causing themselves in real life. Overall, I really enjoyed What the Cat Dragged In. I liked Paige and Josh, they had a fun, easy chemistry, and the cats in the book stole my heart. How is that not a recipe for a good time?

This book asks the question, whats more important, friendship or love? Is it possible to have both in a complicated situation?
As well as being a great love story, this is also a fantastic book if you love cats. I'm aware cat cafe's are a real thing and this book makes me desperately want to visit one. I loved how a couple of the cats have bookish names as well, that was a nice touch.

This is the follow up to Like Cats and Dogs. It’s about Paige who works at the cat cafe with Lauren from book1 and Lauren’s brother Josh. I really enjoyed this one. I still didn’t feel completely connected with the characters but I did relate to Paige. Josh was so sweet and funny. The spicy scenes were pretty good but also slightly awkward I think. My biggest gripe is in the book, Paige is described having blonde hair and the girl on the cover has brown hair. Overall, it was a cute read!

I had to read this one because cats, obviously. This was the best friend’s brother trope which is honestly not always my fav. I feel like it’s sort of dumb for the sister to care that much about who her brother dates. That was definitely an annoying aspect of this story.

But Paige was honestly not great in this story tbh. She sort of used the best friend’s brother excuse to keep Josh at arms length.

Josh and Paige did have a cute relationship with good banter and spicy chemistry.

This is the second in the series and the first is about Lauren (Josh’s sister) so I wonder if I read that first I would feel differently. But you can read this as a stand alone! I know other reviews felt sort of lost because they do talk about Caleb and Lauren’s relationship a lot. But I thought it was fine!

The book cover and the cats had my expectations very high but not as much - after starting to read it.

Josh and Paige were cute but few places it felt they were immature or the character development did not sit well.

Hope the next books in the series would be more interesting.

Cats, a coffee shop and romance, what more could I ask for? I’m a crazy cat person so as soon as I saw the title of this book, I knew I just had to read it.

Paige, is event manager at Whitman Street Cat Cafe, and Josh, is first year lawyer. Josh needed to get some volunteer work for his job and luckily his sister who manages the cat Cafe sets him up with local program helping stray cats. Enter meet cute where Josh and Paige volunteer on the same night and are paired up as a team. As soon as they meet, the sparks fly and it's not until the next morning when Paige discovers Josh is her boss/best friend's brother.

This story in the POV from Paige and Josh and is the best friend's brother trope. This is also the second book in the series, which I was unaware of, so I don't feel you need to read the first book to read this one. It was a great standalone.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really adorable best friends brother romance! I think the author did a really great job of portraying the internal struggle that Paige went through on trying to do the right thing for Josh, Lauren and as well as herself. They almost seemed like star crossed lovers.

P.s. how cute is this cover?!