I gave this book a 4.5/5 stars!

As soon as I saw Helena Hunting was coming out with a new rom-com, I had to put in the request to read it! Especially when I read the synopsis! Kitty Hart, an internet famous cat expertise (who owns a cat-sitting business) meets a client who doesn’t like cats! With bad first impressions and continuous CAT-astrophes that happen between the two of them, this was a hilarious romance with a side of real life hard topics that gave this story a lot of heart.

I am a huge fan of books that can incorporate the hard parts of life. Going into this book, you may want to keep in mind that it deals with loss, grief, guilt (past deaths of a parent and a sibling) and a parent with dementia.

My absolute favorite part of this book….Prince Francis! He reminded me so much of both of my cats and how they act sometimes. He definitely contributed to the humor in this book.

If you love rom-coms and you are a cat lover….I definitely recommend this one. But….I also recommend it to the non-cat lovers too!

A romcom about a hockey player and so-called kitty whisperer. This one was just ok for me. I think the writing style wasn't my favorite. It made me feel awkward. People who are fans of Hunting's writing should enjoy this though!

I could not finish enough of this book to be able to leave a comprehensive review, but I hope it finds its audience and I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

While I appreciated the thought behind this book, there just didn’t seem to be a lot there. It was honestly a little silly and I didn’t really feel the chemistry between the MCs. I liked the little budding love story between Miles and Kitty, but I didn’t feel the intended emotion behind the story and couldn’t fully buy it.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Forever. All opinions are my own.

Book Review
A Love Catastrophe by Helena Hunting

📚Tropes, Triggers, Thoughts📚
Cat lover vs dog owner
Sports analyst (interesting profession)
Small business owner
Elderly parents
Hockey (essential for Canadian content -lol)
Canadian content (always love this!)
Cat cafe
⚠️Loss of a child
⚠️Elderly parent with dementia
⚠️ Loss of a parent

Characters
Kitty Whisperer - young business owner and influencer, quirky cat caregiver, likes routine
Miles Thorn- organized and stressed, under a lot of pressure at work and caring for his ailing mother
Prince Francis - Sphynx cat with a behaviour problem

One Line Review
Purrfectly punny for pet lovers!

Thanks to @netgalley @readforever @grandcentralpub for my ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

Are you cat person or a dog person? I’m a dog fan, but A Love Catastrophe is a romcom for all pet lovers. Helena Hunting’s hilarious, and at times, steamy and emotional romance is a delightfully fun summer read.

4.5/5 stars

Miles can’t believe it when he comes across The Kitty Whisperer, Kitty Hart’s cat sitting service. Is she for real? But desperate to find someone to take care of his mother’s moody cat, he gives Kitty a call. She clearly knows her stuff, but can’t believe Miles would just write off his mom’s dear Prince Francis as a demon cat. But, cats are easier to work with than people, so she’s in. As she gets to know Miles and his family better, their antagonism turns to something far more affectionate. But can Kitty change Miles’s ideas about cats, even though he’s a dog person through and through?

This book is tons of fun. Kitty and Miles are both intensely likable characters. While Kitty initially comes off as quirky, she’s a smart, independent business owner who puts her family’s needs first. And while Miles starts off as a hottie grump with no patience, Kitty discovers his marshmallow center and his complex feelings about his own family.

I’m a longtime Helena Hunting fan, and she’s the absolute best when it comes to writing a hilarious romcom with steam. She creates an amazing supporting cast too, who offer just the right amount of support with a touch of “of course you are attracted to each other! Go for it!”

Come for the cat puns, stay for the amazing characters. The Love Catastrophe is paws-itively charming, pet-filled romcom with some emotional moments too. Kitty and Miles are a delight, and I enjoyed every minute with them.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fun light hearted read made up of all the elements I look for in a satisfying rom-com.
Most importantly we have love interests with a fun dynamic, in this case Kitty and Miles have an opposites-attract vibe going. She is a cat person and he is a dog person, this contrast leads to some funny interactions. I would have enjoyed more of the hockey scene and more development of the secondary human characters (I did love the fur-characters). I definitely enjoyed the pacing and the grumpy/sunshine conflict.

3.5/5 - We are following Kitty and Miles. Kitty runs a cat sitting service, and Miles is looking for a cat sitter for his mom's cat. Miles' mom is in the hospital with early on-set dementia and he is having to tackle the trauma of his family history, while managing the stresses of every day life. Kitty is a godsend for him helping out with Prince Francis. They have an awkward first meeting, but that awkwardness becomes attraction and these two seem to have more in common than they initially thought.

These two were awkward AF and it was awesome! I loved two awkward people coming together and just being unapologetically themselves. There was a lot of cuteness in the book, that being said it dealt with some very real topics of family trauma for both Kitty and Miles. I thought it was good to see the two talk about their history and work through it with each other. Both carry tremendous guilt for their past and seem to help the other overcome it.

The one issue I had with this book is the sheer amount of cat puns. I mean, I am a cat and dog lover, and could have done with a few sprinkled throughout, but there was just so much cat! That said, I did love their genuine story and that there was no third act break-up, and that's a win for me.

This is a heartwarming, quick read and a great beach read! hank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love everything Helena writes. This book was so much fun to read. There were many laugh out loud moments. The Kitty Whisperer meets Miles and Prince Francis. Who he has a very distant relationship with. He needs her help with his mom’s cat and there the story unfolds. There are some serious moments in this book that touches you deeply and them some not so serious moments. From their first encounter to everyone there after you are rooting for these two. I just adore them. And I cannot forget about Wilfred. ♥️ he is just so darn cute.

A happy cat lover and a grumpy guy who's definitely NOT a cat lover turn out to have amazing chemistry...come on, it's the recipe for a fun read! Kitty and Miles form an unlikely friendship that inevitably becomes more while all around them some serious stuff is going on. This book is light for the most part but it does have mention of some more serious situations that the characters are dealing with which adds a bit of depth to the story. I will admit that there were a lot of cat puns here and if that kind of thing irks you, you might have some issues, but I was able to take it in stride and enjoy it for what it was, a lighthearted part of the story. After all, cats were Kitty's business. If you're looking for a quick, quirky rom-com read, then this is the book for you - it'll definitely make you smile! And if you happen to love cats, then your smile will be even bigger.

This unfortunately was not the book for me. I tried very hard to finish this book but I couldn’t. I DNF. From the over the top cat commentary and the awkward sexual phrases I just could not do it.

This is my first book by this author and I have three words for this review "A Book Catastrophe"...obviously, I was not impressed. This is supposed to be an adult, a woman who runs a cat-sitting company and the social media around it. She uses words like bingo button to describe her clitoris and called sex her vagina hugging his penis...just no. She runs around spewing cat puns and wears leopard print clothes and accessories. I get it, she likes cats. My son and his wife have four cats, they like cats a lot yet neither wears cat clothing, carries cat purses or vomits cat puns. Her name is Kitty the Cat Whisperer and she has a best friend Named Kat who owns the Cat Cafe, I could go on but what would be the point? This book was terribly kitschy and not in a good way, two or three of these things lightly sprinkled throughout may have been okay but this was just overkill and cringe worthy.

It felt like the book had a split personality. One minute it was trying to be cute and funny and the next it was throwing in early on-set dementia and family deaths. It was like reading two completely different books, there was no cohesion. Kitty acted way too young as a romantic lead for my liking and there was just too much ick factor. The best way to describe this book is cheesy because it lacked substance. And one thing really grated on me, one of the characters was playing a hockey video game and they described continuing to play it as "getting to the next level", that's not how hockey video games work...you can pause the game, finish a period of play or outright complete it, there are no levels. Sheesh.

A cute if not totally memorable rom-com about the romance between a cat lover and a man seeking someone to care for his mom's cat as she seeks further into dementia. The premise is cute, though I wish I had had more understanding that the mom was dealing with dementia as I will admit that that plot point hits a little too close to home for me at this time.

The underpinnings of grief and loss and acceptance thereof don't mesh well with the overall read of this book as a comedy. Kitty comes off a bit immature and the romance between her and Miles feels a bit forced at first, though that aspect does improve.

Overall, I do think "cute" is a good descriptor. Not too steamy, nothing overly dramatic. 3 stars. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for a complementary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

Thank you @readforeverpub @netgalley for a copy of this book. HH is the queen of rom com. I love that this was hockey adjacent romance and it always deals with heavier topics like dealing with grief and aging parents. The meet cute between Miles and Kitty is one of the best I've read and I love how their relationship developed. The banter between the two are so fun and I love that the couple did not have drama. If you are looking for a literal LOL book, this is it.

*DNF*

Copy kindly received for an honest review.

I tried really hard to get into this one - I got to around 60% before I decided to put it down. I wasn't connecting with the characters, and it definitely didn't seem to be a romcom to me. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't for me. I'm also not a cat person lol. I'm sure others will love this, it just wasn't my kind of book unfortunately.

This read didn't hit the spot for me. I felt that the tension building up the relationship was great but after the two leads were together, it didn't seem to work.

This story was just a cute rom-com, and I enjoyed it so. It's your typical Helena Hunting book with the humor and the romance, and so it felt right.

Kitty's job as a cat-sitter is so good. I just love that she took her name, her love of cats, and created this business. Plus the name of the company? PURR-FECTION! Also, as you can tell, I enjoyed all the cat puns that were featured in this book.

The meet cute between the couple was memorable, and honestly Miles didn't create the best first impression. Not to mention his clear issues with Prince Francis. I loved witnessing their relationship grow, and Miles opinion about the cat change. For me the story was a bit slow at times, but that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. It definitely wasn't the face paced read that I was used to with the Pucked Series, the All In series, or even the next gen hockey series.

I really liked all the characters in this book. The friendships were good, and I liked how easily Kitty fit into the hockey world that Miles introduced her to. Oh and that drama? That was an interesting one. I liked how that all played out, and the resolution fit with the social media aspect.

I'll end this by saying Prince Francis stole the show. That cat was everything.

Helena Hunting is an author I can usually count on to write an enjoyable romance, with her signature heat and humor. I've generally loved all the rom-coms she publishes with Forever so it pains me to say that this is my least favorite book she's written. It's probably because I'm allergic to cats so I just couldn't see past all the cat jokes and innuendo - perhaps cat lovers would enjoy this one a lot more.

The thing that kept me from DNF'ing this was the romance between Miles and Kitty. I loved their connection and chemistry. I also loved that there was no third act breakup! Threes cheers for that. And for well done representation of the impact of grief and dementia on a family. Those elements of the story were very well done in my opinion. I also found myself laughing out loud at times so overall this was an easy and quick read, but just go into it prepared for endless cat jokes and references.

Content warnings: loss of brother and father; early onset dementia for Miles' mother

I voluntarily reviewed an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for an ARC of this book.

I really wanted to love this book, but it fell short for me. I think the story and the plot where great and there where some really cute moments, but the conversational writing just felt stiff to me.

Also, being from Toronto I was so excited see the book based in my city, but the writing didn't reflect this city at all. Yeah we have suburbs but not the way this suburb is described - everything about the location just felt wrong.

Also, the hockey aspect... So much wrong with the descriptions - there are no "afternoon" games in the NHL...

I did like our main characters - especially Miles. Kitty was a little harder to connect with, but I did enjoy her moments as well. I feel like there could have been a little more character growth for Kitty, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

Overall, cute book but it took a lot for me to finish it. Unfortunately, not a re-read or must-have for me.

As a self-proclaimed cat lady, I HAD to read A Love Catastrophe about a fellow cat lady. Sadly, it fell a little short for me.

Kitty was a hard character to take seriously. She’s unprofessional (who talks to a cat in the middle of a business phone call?), awkward, and over-the-top. She gets into all these ridiculous situations that are unbelievable and feel like forced comedy.

The story line itself delves into deeper topics like dementia, loss, and grief, but it didn’t seem to fit with the entire slapstick comedy vibe that encompasses the rest of the novel.

In the end, I’m left disappointed.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the review copy.