Scan barcode
nessa_booknook's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ameserole's review
2.0
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Like Cats and Dogs honestly looked like a book I would enjoy. Mostly because it has animals in the title, on the cover, and in the book. I am pretty easy to entertain and if any book has an animal (or two) I'm down to dive into it. Zero hesitations coming from me.
Unfortunately, this one was just okay for me. I don't think I had high expectations walking into this book but for some reason I wasn't fully invested into the characters themselves. Or the actual romance. Yes, these two had cute moments here and there but the drama was just meh to me. Plus it didn't feel like an enemies to lovers kind of romance to me either. It was definitely a slow burning one since it took one character way too freaking long to do anything. Which, yes, was completely frustrating to me.
In the end, it was an okay book that had potential to be somewhat more.
Like Cats and Dogs honestly looked like a book I would enjoy. Mostly because it has animals in the title, on the cover, and in the book. I am pretty easy to entertain and if any book has an animal (or two) I'm down to dive into it. Zero hesitations coming from me.
Unfortunately, this one was just okay for me. I don't think I had high expectations walking into this book but for some reason I wasn't fully invested into the characters themselves. Or the actual romance. Yes, these two had cute moments here and there but the drama was just meh to me. Plus it didn't feel like an enemies to lovers kind of romance to me either. It was definitely a slow burning one since it took one character way too freaking long to do anything. Which, yes, was completely frustrating to me.
In the end, it was an okay book that had potential to be somewhat more.
cheyconic's review
1.0
If I’m trying to skip the romantic scenes (romance not smut) in a rom com— it’s not a good rom com.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't have high expectations going into this enemies to lovers/opposites attract, dual perspective romance set in a cute Brooklyn neighborhood cat café. I'm not the biggest cat person either but this book is actually quite charming, with a great cast of secondary characters and some very satisfying open door scenes. Recommended for fans of hipster NYC romances. This reminded me a lot of the Olivia Blacke Brooklyn cozy mystery series.
annika_badenius's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
gerwigverse's review
1.0
"Can you fight like cats and dogs, and still be perfect for each other?"
I gotta confess, this blurb was what got me hooked from the start, because I absolutely love books with the belligerent sexual tension trope! I thought, wow, what could go wrong?
Apparently, a lot of things.
I didn't really like how the author built up their relationship, and wasn't a fan of the banter between the leads. To be honest, I almost DNF'd this, but I powered through for the review.
Really a miss for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review.
I gotta confess, this blurb was what got me hooked from the start, because I absolutely love books with the belligerent sexual tension trope! I thought, wow, what could go wrong?
Apparently, a lot of things.
I didn't really like how the author built up their relationship, and wasn't a fan of the banter between the leads. To be honest, I almost DNF'd this, but I powered through for the review.
Really a miss for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review.
_basicbookworm's review
2.0
As an animal lover and a romance reader I wanted to love this one so badly, it just did not work for me. Enemies to lovers is usually one of my favorite tropes, but it fell flat here. They meet, are instantly attracted to each other, then they hate each other, then they’re hooking up, then they hate each other again, then they become “enemies-with-benefits”. It all went a little too quickly for me and that made it hard for me to get into. This is a light read, and I powered through it pretty quickly, but just didn’t work for me right now.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review
Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review
adammm's review
4.0
I was a little hesitant about reading Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray. With a 3.13 Goodreads rating, I was skeptical of its quality. Nevertheless, having read and enjoyed other (m/m) books by this author, I decided to give the book a shot.
And you know what? It’s actually pretty good. A common refrain in other reviews is that the two protagonists fight over incredibly inane topics that don’t seem to be fight-worthy, and for the first 20% of the book I agreed. But then I realized that their fights are incredibly realistic. Like, think about the real world: take two outgoing, opinionated, and somewhat aloof people, throw them together, and see what happens.
What this book ends up doing astonishingly well is to portray an enemies-to-lovers relationship where the characters really are enemies. Though sharing mutual attraction from the get-go, they genuinely dislike one another. Their relationship soon evolves into enemies-with-benefits (such a great turn of phrase and underused motif in the romance genre!) and have legitimate reasons for not wanting to enter a public relationship, particularly recently divorced Caleb.
The characters navigating their feelings and the strained secret/public state of their relationship is incredibly realistic as well. I know so many people who have dealt with being a “secret” boyfriend/girlfriend—it’s nice to see this trope in a romance.
I dunno. The writing is not perfect, and the characters are a bit obnoxious at the beginning, but there is no way that this book deserves such a low rating. Methinks some of y'all have no experience with complicated relationships. Worth a read.
And you know what? It’s actually pretty good. A common refrain in other reviews is that the two protagonists fight over incredibly inane topics that don’t seem to be fight-worthy, and for the first 20% of the book I agreed. But then I realized that their fights are incredibly realistic. Like, think about the real world: take two outgoing, opinionated, and somewhat aloof people, throw them together, and see what happens.
What this book ends up doing astonishingly well is to portray an enemies-to-lovers relationship where the characters really are enemies. Though sharing mutual attraction from the get-go, they genuinely dislike one another. Their relationship soon evolves into enemies-with-benefits (such a great turn of phrase and underused motif in the romance genre!) and have legitimate reasons for not wanting to enter a public relationship, particularly recently divorced Caleb.
The characters navigating their feelings and the strained secret/public state of their relationship is incredibly realistic as well. I know so many people who have dealt with being a “secret” boyfriend/girlfriend—it’s nice to see this trope in a romance.
I dunno. The writing is not perfect, and the characters are a bit obnoxious at the beginning, but there is no way that this book deserves such a low rating. Methinks some of y'all have no experience with complicated relationships. Worth a read.