Tag: Kate Meader

Then Came You (Laws of Attraction: Book 3) by Kate Meader

On By JolieIn ARC, book review, Loveswept, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - LovesweptLeave a comment
Then Came You: A Laws of Attraction Novel by [Meader, Kate]

4 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept, Loveswept

Date of publication: May 7th, 2019

Genre: Romance

Series: Laws of Attraction

Down with Love—Book 1 (review here)

Illegally Yours—Book 2 (review here)

Then Came You—Book 3

Where to find Then Came You: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

In the courtroom, they’re rivals. In the bedroom, they’re . . . divorced. But could the road trip from hell lead to a second chance at love?

Aubrey Gates is the hottest divorce lawyer in Chicago, a barb-tongued stiletto with legs that go on for miles. When her cool gray eyes meet mine across the battlefield, I want her like I’ve never wanted anyone or anything. Then I remember who she is: the woman who brought me to my knees. The woman who destroyed my faith in relationships.

The woman I used to call . . . wife.

And she needs a favor from me, Grant Lincoln.

It seems my ex forgot to mention the demise of our marriage to her dear old grammie, and now we’re both expected to attend her ninetieth birthday party. In Boston. And because it isn’t already awkward enough, Aubrey and I are driving there together from Chicago. That’s more than a thousand miles of tension, heartbreak, and barely concealed lust.

A little piece of paper might say we’re over, but this road trip is the true test. I intend to get my wife back . . . and I won’t stop until “I do.”

My Review:

I was waiting for Aubrey and Grant’s story to be published. I couldn’t wait to find out the reasons why they got divorced. I thought it was going to be a silly reason, like Grant was working too much or Aubrey was insecure. I was surprised when the reason was revealed. Surprised isn’t the correct term. I was heartbroken for both of them.

Then Came You’s plotline was straightforward. Aubrey and Grant were a divorced couple who are forced to take a road trip to Boston for Thanksgiving. Audrey never told her grandmother that they got divorced. While on the trip, Audrey and Grant are forced to acknowledge the reason why their marriage ended. They also are forced to recognize that their love never went away. Will they be able to put the past in the past? Or will it continue to keep them apart?

I thought Audrey could have benefitted from therapy the majority of the book. Girlfriend had issues which started in her childhood. She was so tense that it was rubbing off on her cat. I couldn’t stand her the first few chapters. But, when she and Grant started on their road trip, I began to see another side to her. I began to like her when she began to open up to Grant about why their marriage ended. I liked that the author wrote her the way she did. She wasn’t perfect, and her issues weren’t going to be solved overnight. I had been getting sick of characters that had perfect lives. Audrey was a breath of fresh air.

I loved Grant. There was a point at the beginning of the book where I thought he was a pushover. But, as the book went on and I began to see the damage that Audrey’s family did to her, I started to understand why he was like that. And I admired him for it. I liked that the author chose to show his reaction to what happened to him and Audrey. My heart broke into bits. I also liked his resolve to mend things between him and Audrey. I will say that he had more tolerance than I did. If my in-laws were like Audrey’s family, I would have lost my cool.

The cat was a huge hit for me. He added much-needed humor to certain situations. I was laughing out loud when he was in the scene. As a cat owner (I have two), I can relate to some of the situations Audrey found herself in with the cat.

I disliked Audrey’s family. Her parents were a piece of work. I couldn’t get over how selfish and self-centered both of them were. The only one I liked was her grandmother. She was a hoot. A pot smoking 90-year-old grandmother. Who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. Loved it!!

Grant’s family was more realistic. His mother was 15 when she had him and she worked hard to provide a good home for him. She might not have had the money, but she adored her son. His stepfather was as good. As I said, they were more realistic. More what I am used to seeing in real life.

I loved Then Came You was a second chance romance. The reasons why Audrey and Grant divorced were heartbreaking. Even in the previous books, you could see how in love they still were with each other. So to watch them rebuild their relationship was beautiful.

The sex scenes were off the chart hot. I loved that Grant gave Audrey 3 orgasms for his one. The author was able to keep the sexual attraction and chemistry going throughout the book.

The end of Then Came You was one of the more emotional that I have read. I wanted to hand hankies out to everyone. But, it was the epilogue that got me. I will admit, I had tears during it. It was an ending that Grant and Audrey deserved!!! Plus, I liked seeing what the other couples were doing too.

I would give Then Came You an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Then Came You. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Have you read Then Came You?

What are your thoughts on it?

Let me know!!

Illegally Yours (Laws of Attraction: Book 2) by Kate Meader

On By JolieIn ARC, book review, Loveswept, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group2 Comments
Illegally Yours (Laws of Attraction, #2)

3 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept

Date of publication: January 22nd, 2019

Genre: Romance

Series: Laws of Attraction

Down with Love—Book 1 (review here)

Illegally Yours—Book 2

Then Came You—Book 3 (expected publication date: May 7th, 2019)

Where you can find Illegally Yours: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Rule #1: Never fall for your client.
Rule #2: Never fall for your client’s fiercely protective, smoking hot sister-in-law.

I’m the kind of guy who believes that everyone deserves the best legal representation money can buy—which just so happens to be me, Lucas Wright. Give me your henpecked, your cuckolded, your irreconcilable differences yearning to break free! And if you’re the bad guy in your marriage, that’s cool too. Your green is as good as anyone’s.

Tell that to Trinity Jones. It’s my job to destroy her sister—the soon-to-be ex-wife of my a-hole of a client—and Trinity’s “big sis” instincts are dialed up to the max. I admire that. I admire her. But she won’t stop me from representing my client to the best of my ability.

Not even if my chemistry with Trinity is undeniable. Not even if we can’t keep our hands off each other. Not even if she injects life into a heart assumed to be long dead.

Because when faced with a choice between love and duty, the job will always win—or at least that’s what I thought before I met Trinity . . . and suddenly conflict of interest never felt so right. 

My review:

Lucas wasn’t looking for a relationship when he met Trinity. Immediately taken with her, he decided that he would charm her into going on a date with him. But that was easier said than done. Lucas is a divorce attorney who is representing Trinity’s soon to be ex-brother in law. If he started a relationship with Trinity, it would be a violation of the ethics oath that he took. The only way around that is if his client agrees to let Lucas date her. Will that happen?

Trinity was working as a whiskey sommelier. She was also happy taking care of her niece and nephew while her sister is going through a bitter divorce. She wasn’t expecting the hot British man that she is lusting after to be her soon to be ex-brother in law’s attorney.  A conflict of interest arises for her. If she dates Lucas, she will risk hurting her sister. If she doesn’t date Lucas, she could miss out. What will she do?

I was wondering who was going to be the next book in the Law of Attraction series. I had it between Grant/Aubrey or Lucas. So when I saw that it was Lucas’s story, I was interested. Lucas had caught my attention in Down with Love. I needed to read it. 

I was a little disappointed with Illegally Yours. Why was I disappointed? It didn’t deliver on the blurb. When I read the blurb, I got the sense that this was going to be a fun book. A book where the characters find themselves in situations that would make me laugh. Not the case here. The majority of the book was spent with the both of them stressed out over being together. Not to mention that individually, they each had major stress.

I did like Lucas and Trinity together as a couple, though. They were cute together. Together, they made me laugh. Their personalities meshed. They made me smile. I rooted for them too. Everything was balanced against them. I was hoping that their story would end up a happy one. I was worried at one point (after that scene with Brian).

 They also had insane chemistry together. Sparks flew when they were together. I had an inner bet going with myself about when those sparks would combust. When they did combust, it made for some pretty awesome sex. 

I liked Trinity. She put up with a lot throughout her life. Because she was biracial, she dealt with that crap (from family and general public). She dealt with crap from being a woman sommelier. She had issues with her brother in law. The depth of those issues stunned me. I wasn’t expecting it to be that, which in turn made me want to smack her sister into next Tuesday. I liked her humor with the age range. She wasn’t exactly a cougar….lol.

I thought Lucas at the beginning and middle of the book was immature. Every scene that he was in, he grated on my nerves. He had to be the center of attention. I have to keep this Amazon PC but I would call him an “Attention W***e”. Just saying.  I did feel bad for him when it was revealed what happened to Lizzie and how his childhood was. I wouldn’t go as far to say that he matured towards the end of the book but he did get better. His restraint at the end of the book made me laugh.

There were dropped storylines. Also, important elements of the storyline not talked about until almost the end of the book. Take for instance Trinity’s attacker. It affected her to the point where she had nightmares about it (years after the event). Lucas took notice when he stayed over when she was sick. Then there was no mention of it after that, even though it was mentioned a few times in the first half of the book. 

The end of Illegally Yours was bittersweet. I am glad that Lucas and Trinity got their HEA but I wished things could have been different with Lizzie. That broke my heart. The epilogue was awesome. I loved it. I also liked how the author set up for the next book!!

I gave Illegally Yours a 3-star rating. This was not my favorite book by Kate Meader. It didn’t deliver on the blurb. There were dropped plotlines. I also thought Lucas was immature. There were things I liked about the book. I liked Lucas and Trinity together as a couple. The sex scenes were hot. The ending was bittersweet. The epilogue was awesome!!

I would give Illegally Yours an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is violence. There are triggers. They would be divorce, cheating, neglect of a child and parental alienation. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book. 

I am on the fence if I would reread Illegally Yours. I am also on the fence if I would reccomend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Illegally Yours. 

All opinions stated in this review of Illegally Yours are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Have you read Illegally Yours?

Love it? 

Hate it?

Meh about it?

Let me know!!!

Down with Love (Laws of Attraction: Book 1) by Kate Meader

On By JolieIn ARC, book review, Loveswept, NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group5 Comments

Down with Love (Laws of Attraction, #1)

4 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept

Date of publication: August 7th, 2018

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Series: Laws of Attraction

Down with Love – Book 1

Illegally Yours – Book 2 (expected publication date: January 22nd, 2019)

Where you can find Down with Love: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Sparks fly when the hot-shot divorce lawyer meets the high-powered wedding planner. The only question is, what kind?

If you ever get married, remember my name: Max Henderson. In my line of work, you acquire a certain perspective on supposedly everlasting unions. . . .

1. Prenups are your friend. 
2. The person you married is not the person you’re divorcing. 
3. And I hope you didn’t spend much on the wedding because that was one helluva waste of hard-earned cash, wasn’t it? 

But some guys are willing to take a chance. Like my brother, who thinks he’s going to ride off into the sunset with the woman of his dreams in a haze of glitter on unicorns. And the wedding planner—the green-eyed beauty who makes living convincing suckers to shell out thousands of dollars on centerpieces—is raking it in on this matrimonial monstrosity. 

The thing is, Charlie Love is not unlike me. We’re both cogs in the wedding-industrial complex. As the best man, I know her game—and I can play it better than her. But after one scorching, unexpected kiss, I’m thinking I might just want to get played.

My review:

I feel bad saying this, but I judged this book before I even read it. I thought it was going to be a fluff book. A book that had zero plot and was heavy on sex. Well, yeah, about that. Not what I thought it was going to be.

Max Henderson is a cynic about marriage. A successful divorce attorney, he has seen what breaking up a marriage can do. It has jaded him against anything wedding related. So, he can’t help but bait his brother’s wedding planner, Charlie Love. She is the opposite in everything. Or so he thinks. It isn’t until he kisses her that Max realizes he’s wrong about love. Will Max find his happily ever after with Charlie, or will he blow it?

I thought Max was a jerk when Down with Love started. I understand that he was cynical. I 100% understand that, but rain on his brother’s parade is something else. I wanted to smack him upside his head, hard. I didn’t understand why he felt the way he did. His parents were still married and in love with each other. But the more I read his story, the more I understood what drove him to that place. All his clients are upper-middle-class women who were pushed aside when their husbands wanted a younger model. Max saw what a divorce could do to someone who wasn’t expecting it. I understood then. But it didn’t excuse his attitude towards Charlie in the book’s first part. Another instance where I wanted to smack him upside his head. I knew he liked her, but he acted like a jerk to her. His attitude changed after the kiss. He went from needling her to helping her with family issues.

I loved Charlie. She was one of the more real characters I have read. I got a chuckle from the thought of a wedding planner with an anger issue. But, my amusement turned to sadness when it was explained why she had an anger problem. She also knew how to handle Max. This was great because he needed to be put in his place every time.

The romance between Charlie and Max did start off slow because of Max’s attitude. But once they kissed, it gathered momentum. When they had sex, it was hot. The other sex scenes were hot, but they didn’t reach the levels of hotness that they had the first time.

The secondary storylines made this book. The one that made me laugh was the storyline involving Charlie’s foster father, the dog, and Charlie’s foster mother. I was giggling over it because of the foster mother’s assumptions.

The end of Down with Love was your typical romance novel ending. But the epilogue more than made up for it.

What I liked about Down with Love:

A) Charlie

B) Charlie and Max’s romance

C) The secondary storylines

What I disliked about Down with Love:

A) Max, at the beginning of the book

B) How Max treated Charlie pre-kiss

C) Charlie’s anger issue

I gave Down with Love a 4-star rating. The book was enjoyable to read with hot sex scenes. Any of my complaints did not affect my star rating.

I would give Down with Love an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is no violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Down with Love. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Down with Love.

All opinions stated in this review of Down with Love are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**