I really liked the premise of this book, a cat adoption cafe with cute kitties and an even cuter chef. Unfortunately I just couldn’t connect with the characters, so for me it’s just an OK read. 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca for a copy of Chasing Your Tail!

"Head to Brooklyn's Whitman Street Cat Café: the coffee is strong, the desserts are delicious, kitten cuddles are never out of stock—and finding love is guaranteed."

Great setting and premise! I wish the Whitman Street Cat Cafe is real so I can visit it one day. I also enjoy the career of the main characters and learning more about being a chef.

This was a great escape read even though I was not really a big fan of the couple, especially the FMC. I felt that both lacked chemistry and were not right for each other. Also, there were some strange racist and homophobic language in the book, and I feel like the author was trying to make a point or make her characters more diverse, but she did not execute it properly.

Overall, Chasing Your Tail is perfect for fans of "will-they, won't they" and second chance romance!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Chasing your Tail is book #3 in this series. I really enjoyed the first two books and this book did not let me down. Lindsay is not thrilled that her best friend hired her ex - an amazing pastry chef named Brad Marks to work in her café. Their breakup was due to Brad kissing another woman and Lindsay never gave him a chance to tell her it was not what it looked like. Lindsay lands her dream writing job - first assignment - interview Brad. Great.

The story winds through their will they won't they until the end. I really liked how this story wrapped up - but will there be a fourth book for Evan?????? I would love to know this answer.

This book had me at Cat Cafe! What a fun setting for a romance novelfe! What a fun setting for a romance novel. Usually I am not the biggest fan of second chance romances but this one had me hooked. I was a little put off at first regarding the cheating aspect of the story but that does get resolved in a way that I could deal with.

The characters in this one were likeable and all of the food sounded delicious! This is definitely a book that you should read with plenty of snacks nearby! The author lost me a little at the inclusion of the television show, I felt like this was just adding something extra to the story that wasn’t really necessary as it didn’t add much to the storyline and took away from the elements that were already there.

Overall a really fun second chance romance with plenty of delicious dishes and cute cats! I haven’t read the rest of the books in this series but I think I will pick them up as light reads during my holidays.

This book immediately caught my attention with the blurb! Cat Café and a second chance romance? Sign me up! Unfortunately, it was a very hard book for me to read. I felt that Brad and Lindsey’s chemistry didn’t flow well and their thoughts/feeling skipped around super quickly. It was hard for me to connect with the characters when I was getting whiplash from the constant back and forth of emotions. The characters felt immature to me as well. I think the story line has promise, but the story needs some polishing.

I liked this book. it started a bit slow for me but I'm glad I stayed with it and finished it. This is my first book from Kate but I'll be picking up her new books.

I read 75% and then skimmed the rest
I felt like there wasn't as much character development as I expected. The premise is super cute!
The execution just didn't feel like it delivered in the way I was hoping.
This book had a lot of things that called to me when I pick up a rom-com, second chances, forced proximity, quirky setting, and of course, food. Unfortunately, it fell flat. I felt like the characters were whiny and there wasn't enough character development to warrant a happy ending.
I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

I love a book about a cat cafe. I haven't read the other books in the series, so I am not as invested in the other characters as I could have been. There was just nothing that stood out in this book that I haven't read in other books.

Thank you for the advanced readers copy Netgalley, but this one ultimately was not a book worth finishing for me.

Hello

Apologies for the late notice, but I have decided not to review this title.

While I am certain it's obvious by now, I wanted to also clear this off NetGalley, so it's not showing as open for either of us.

I look forward to continuing to work with you in 2023 and beyond.

Laura

An interesting second chance romance. It did not grip me but it was a good escape read.
Many thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was an enjoyable romance that I didn't want to put down. I loved the main characters and the story was well developed.

I was immediately drawn in by the cute cover and the blurb for this book! A second chance romance featuring a cat cafe and a food critic sounds like catnip to me! I really loved the premise of this story and the idea of love around a cat cafe! Lindsey and Brad deserved their second chance and I really enjoyed how they came together throughout the book. The setting was perfect to me and as a foodie and amateur baker, I loved all of the food featured throughout the book. However, I definitely would've liked to see more from both Lindsey & Brad's past to really understand their characters flaws more. Overall, this was a light and fun read and perfect for those looking for a fast romance with the cutest cat cafe!

I always get so excited about a second-chance romance and after reading the blurb of this one the excitement just went up. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of this novel I love the cat cafe and all of the baking. Although the plot did keep me interested and I liked Lindsey and Brad well enough I found a lot of the discussions they had to be repetitive and pointless at times. I liked how understanding Brad was of Lindsey and all the struggles she was going through. Although by no means were these characters perfect I found that to be what I liked about them because it only made them more real.

Sadly, I didn't manage to finish this book before it was archived. However, what I did read was very good.

Uggh...I really wanted to like this one, but I just wasn't connecting to any part of it. I didn't hate it, I just didn't love it, and I had to really push through finishing it. Maybe it was the trope not being my favorite (second chance romance), or the frustrating will they or won't they, but this one just wasn't my favorite.

I really liked the overall premise of this story and really enjoyed many parts of it. In the end though, I found myself gloss over some parts and being a little bored. Maybe that's due to me not having read the first two books in this series.

Have you ever been to a cat cafe?

I’ve never been to one but I’d like to one day! The Whitman Street Cat Cafe is one of the main settings in Chasing Your Tail by Kate McMurray, and it sounds adorable. 😻

Aaaand that might have been the only part of the book I enjoyed. 😬 This book had potential to be a cute second-chance romance, but it wasn’t for me in the end. I finished it, mostly due to finding the audio on Hoopla, but I found myself skimming (what’s the audiobook equivalent of skimming?!) because of a variety of issues.

First, I didn’t buy into the chemistry of the two main characters. I’m sure others who read this will have no problem seeing the magic but it just wasn’t there for me.

The story got really repetitive at the 75% mark. The same conversations (internal and external) kept happening over and over AND OVER again. Both of the main characters had issues but dang, Lindsey needed some help. Her character was crying out for some guidance and I wish therapy would have been part of the storyline. It’s wonderful when people can work through their issues on their own, but in this case, the MC couldn’t and it would have been nice to see professional help worked into the book.

Apart from the lack of chemistry, repetitiveness, and my issue with the absence of counseling support (yes, there’s more I didn’t love 🤣) there were multiple scenes that felt unnecessary to the story. I think having fewer of these odd side scenes would have made the book move a little faster. I know this is part of a series (I haven’t read the others) and it seemed like the book was trying to do too much catching up with the other characters’ lives.

There were also some really strange placements of homophobic and racist language. I think the author was trying to show that these are still very real issues everywhere...but they’re never actually spoken out against by the characters so it comes across as “these things exist. Oh well.”

Sooo I probably should have DNFed this one but I’m kind of glad I didn’t because now I can share my thoughts on the entire book.

As always, give this one a try if the synopsis sounds good to YOU! Our different tastes in books is one of the things I love about being book lovers. ❤️

Chasing Your Tail is a second chance romance featuring two culinary school graduates as they try to reconnect five years after heartbreak. They've gone their separate ways, but now their paths are colliding once again. Brad is a serial flirt who may or may not have cheated on Lindsay. Lindsay is a food writer with trust issues. Brad works at Lindsay's best friend's cat cafe and they have several run-ins as they try to figure out if they're both willing to give things another shot.

I liked the premise a lot, I liked the idea of second chances involving a cat cafe. However, I just could NOT get behind the characters in this one. Brad was super annoying to me. His dad being a bigot is the reason for one of less likable qualities (serial flirting), which he never fully tries to get rid of. He just accepts it as part of himself that has to be dealt with by anyone he's involved with. He loves shifting the blame for things onto Lindsay, even after admitting he's part of the problem. His attitude throughout this book is just such a turn-off. I personally could not get into the story overall and just found myself becoming more and more annoyed as it went on. I loved the food sections - that's where the characters all shine. But the dialogue between the main couple just doesn't feel right to me. If there were more cooking together, food moments, I likely would've enjoyed this more. Those parts felt great.

Lindsay I liked. I understood where she was coming from and I understand her hesitation to take risks. She's easier to follow and understand than Brad, very often. The book also doesn't do a good job of showing time passing so it's not clear how long Brad is putting effort in when he's getting frustrated which makes him feel impatient instead of worn out from putting in effort. Honestly, I would've much rather read the love story of Lindsay's gay friend, Evan. His love life seems far more interesting and I bet he'd be way more fun to read about than Brad.

This book would likely be awesome for readers who can relate heavily to the relationship dynamic between Lindsay and Brad, who also love second chances as a trope.