Cats

Review: Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir

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Title: Girl with the Cat Tattoo (Cool Cats #1)
Author: Theresa Weir
Date of publication: 29 May 2012
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Comedy

Author's links:

My rating: 3.5 stars
I am posting this alternative because it is just so cute and fits the story perfectly. The other cover works better as part of the series, that's while I have included it as well. 

Goodreads Blurb

For cat lovers everywhere, this sweet, quirky, and delightful romance is about a young woman and her matchmaking cat. A little bit of mystery, a whole lot of whimsy. 

When a matchmaking cat takes it upon himself to find his young mistress a new mate, he accidentally stirs up memories better left forgotten.

Melody’s husband was murdered by what seemed a random act of violence. Two years later, the killer hasn’t been caught, and Melody is coping in unhealthy ways. During the day she’s a mild-mannered children’s librarian, but at night she’s a party girl, hanging out in bars, drinking with new friends, and often bringing home strange men. Although acquaintances have tried to keep in touch, Melody has cut herself off from most of the people in her old life. Max, her eccentric cat, doesn’t approve of her new friends, he’s tired of the parade of losers, and he finally takes it upon himself to find Melody a new man.


My Review

I read the second book in the series first and I really enjoyed it so I decided to go back and read book 1 as well. And I am glad to say that it turned out be the right decision. This one was just as good, albeit a bit different than Geek with the Cat Tattoo (my review). 

It was a quick and cute romantic read. I like the author's laid back writing style and I enjoyed the idea of giving voice to Max the cat. He was funny and sweet, just adorable and I even don't like cats that much. 

I loved the romance in the story and liked both Melody and Joe. They are both very real, ordinary people who find each other with the help of one extraordinary cat. Their story was told very much from Max's POV which made it a rather unusual read.

The author added a strong element of suspense/action which balanced the sweetness of the romance. The action brought Joe and Melody together but it also drove them apart, at least temporarily. 

I don't particularly like name dropping in the books that I read, so at first I was put off by the whole Ellen Degeneres situation but after thinking things through I decided it worked well in the story with Max being the cool cat he is. 

It is not a laugh-out-loud kind of funny book, yet it leaves you with a goofy smile on your face (it's Max's fault mostly, though Melody adds a lot it as well) and with a warm feeling in your heart (I blame Joe for that).

It is the perfect light read that I can recommend to anyone who loves romance mixed with some suspense and whole lot of humor and cat's matchmaking and musings on life and love.

Cats

Teaser Tuesday 41

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Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read 
• Open to a random page 
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 
• Be careful not the include spoilers! 
• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers. 

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

This week's teaser comes from Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir. This was a short fun romantic read including a hot cop undercover and sad but sweet widow and her absolutely fabulous cat (we get the cat POV which was really fun to read). I am using as my teaser the opening sentences of the book since I think they represent the tone of the whole book perfectly. 

"Max had been a cat as long as e could remember, but he was pretty sure he'd been a rock star in one of his previous lives. He just had that kind of cool about him. Right now he was sitting in the middle of the floor in Saint Paul, Minnesota, feeling hostile while staring at the strange man in his mistress's bed."

 Girl with the Cat Tattoo - Theresa Weir 
It is currently free on Amazon, so you can get it if are intrigued by the teaser :)

Goodreads Blurb

For cat lovers everywhere, this sweet, quirky, and delightful romance is about a young woman and her matchmaking cat. A little bit of mystery, a whole lot of whimsy. 

When a matchmaking cat takes it upon himself to find his young mistress a new mate, he accidentally stirs up memories better left forgotten.

Melody’s husband was murdered by what seemed a random act of violence. Two years later, the killer hasn’t been caught, and Melody is coping in unhealthy ways. During the day she’s a mild-mannered children’s librarian, but at night she’s a party girl, hanging out in bars, drinking with new friends, and often bringing home strange men. Although acquaintances have tried to keep in touch, Melody has cut herself off from most of the people in her old life. Max, her eccentric cat, doesn’t approve of her new friends, he’s tired of the parade of losers, and he finally takes it upon himself to find Melody a new man.

Comedy

Review: Geek with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir

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Title: Geek with the Cat Tattoo (Cool Cats #2)
Author: Theresa Weir
Date of publication: 20 Dec 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Comedy

Author's links:
Website / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 3.5 stars



Goodreads Blurb

This book will make you laugh out loud, sigh, hug your cat, then hug your boyfriend.
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Recipe for love and laughter:
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Mix together a story told partially from a quirky, bad-boy cat's point-of-view, one shy, super sweet nerd who builds musical instruments, and one adorable violinist who's afraid to fall in love. Stir in a cat tattoo, a little danger, wry observations and truths about love, a romance in the truest sense of the word, some laugh-out-loud humor, a great in-joke about John Cusack in Say Anything, and you have Geek with the Cat Tattoo. 
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Basic plot: 
Shy music geek Emerson Foshay breaks into a cold sweat and is rendered speechless whenever Lola Brown, the girl of his dreams, steps into his guitar shop. But once a stray cat named Sam follows him home, everything changes and Emerson becomes the coolest guy in town.
My Review

I picked this book because I was intrigued by the blurb and the promise of a cat's POV. What I got was Sam, a rather special cat with extraordinary abilities to plant thoughts in the minds of his owner. I have to admit it was a little scary at points but overall I really enjoyed his voice.

I liked the writing style of Ms Weir very much. It was succinct just hinting at things and leaving the rest to the reader's imagination. Despite the multiple POVs the story flow was smooth and evenly paced. There wasn't too much drama, just deep emotions represented with compassion and understanding and a touch of humour. 

I appreciate the ingenuity of the idea of writing from a cat's perspective bu I can't vouch for its authenticity since I am not much of a cat person. I liked both main characters, Emerson and Lola, and Sam, of course has a special place in their love story. I found the cat's telepathic abilities a bit scary (if you take them seriously), but thankfully this element didn't overtake the story. The focus remained on Emerson and Lola and their attempts to connect with each other. The romance element was strong and touching without being cheesy. Ultimately, it was a story of two young people, both artists, finding their soulmate with just a teeny tiny help of a very special cat. 

I have a soft spot for socially awkward characters and Emerson was just adorable. There is something really cute in guy when he is so smitten by a girl that he cannot think/talk straight when he is around her. He was intimidated by what he saw as Lola's perfection, but in reality her past experience has also made her insecure, even shy. 

I expected the story to have more LOL moments with the cat acting as a matchmaker, but it turned out to be more realistic and serious. Overall, it is a sweet feel-good and a bit whimsical romance which I greatly enjoyed and can recommend to anyone looking for a quick fluffy read. 

I received a copy of this book by the author via the New Adult Book Club on Goodreads. 

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