I listened to the audio narration of this novel before I eventually decided to read it.
The narrator did such an excellent job in syncing the voice and the acting that I was forced to see if the hardcopy version would match up.
I have read so many romance plots recently, most of them good, most of them bad, and it has made me very critical about any romance novel I decide to read from now on.
Asides the fact that I am getting very bored of regular romance, it would be nice to see a romance novel that doesn't exactly follow the status quo.
I mean, it would be terrific if I read an author that gave me something to think about days and weeks after reading them.
"What the Cat Dragged In". I really wanted to at least enjoy this book.
Don't get me wrong, I found it very nice to read.
The cover was adorable, the art was eye catching, and the fact that the plot was animal friendly.
It is safe to say, that my love for cats might have been what made me give this book a try.
What is this cat friendly romance plot about?
My first observation would be that this novel wasn't exactly the perfect romance read.
It didn't make me gasp for air. It didn't keep me in suspense.
And it certainly didn't keep me pining to take the place of any of the characters.
Sure, the plot flowed easily, and the characters were likeable at most.
"What the Cat Dragged In" is the second book in a series, and you definitely do not need to read the first book in order to enjoy it.
Paige Danver organizes marketing events to keep her cat cafe successfully running.
It is not the perfect stellar cat cafe, but it runs smoothly, and is more than enough for Paige.
However, Paige's love life is not running as smoothly as her career.
Paige is pushing thirty years, an age bracket most people would see as her prime, and has only a long string of fruitless dates to her name.
No relationship, no engagement, and no potential steaming love interest.
That is, until she volunteers at a cat "trap, neuter, return"(TNR) night to help curb the growing population of unwanted kitten.
She meets Josh Harlow, and immediately bonds with him over a night of steamy hot sexual intercourse.
However, fate has a different thing in store for Paige, because she believes her best friend and boss, Lauren, who is also Josh's sister would do anything and everything to see that they do not end up together.
As earlier observed, this book was just there.
The storyline seemed bland and frustrating to me for so many odd reasons.
First, it seems very unlikely, that there would be a conflict of interest if Paige tried to date Lauren's brother. I mean, who wouldn't want their best friend to become their sister in law.
Also, it felt very melodramatic, to constantly have Paige trying to avoid and dump Josh because of Lauren.
If she wanted him that much, getting his sister on your side wouldn't be that hard.
On the flip side, I didn't get to enjoy one of the things that made me read this novel at all.
The cat cafe and the animal friendly side of the story didn't play out that much in the plot.
Apart from the fact that Josh and Paige are afraid of stray cats, it felt rather annoying that they made a lot of remarks about cats mauling them.
There was little to no show of love for cats or animals at all.
There were no favorite characters, absolutely none, and reading this novel left me wondering if I might have had a different opinion about it if I had just listened to the audio version alone.
It's safe to say this novel is better appreciated in it's audio version.
Do I recommend? Not really. But if you're a lover of boring romance, then by all means necessary you should read it.
