Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray is a cute contemporary romance

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like Cats and Dogs is the first book in the Whitman Street Cat Café series by Kate McMurray. I listened to the audiobook version, which was narrated by Suehyla El-Attar Young. The print version is 338 pages, and the audiobook clocks in at about eight hours. The book covers in this series are really cute and drew me in, and I’m a sucker for adorable furry friends because every cat I’ve ever had was a rescue.

Our heroine, Lauren, is the owner of a Brooklyn-based cat café. Her ex recently got engaged, and she’s pretty bummed about that. She’s also bummed because other cafes in the area have started to close up. Our hero, Caleb, is the new veterinarian in town who moves in next-door to the Whitman Street Cat Café. He starts his new job at a local vet clinic which is the official animal clinic for the Cat Café.

When Lauren is sure Sunday the cat has a garden-variety UTI, she brings her into the clinic. However, she butts heads with Caleb, who insists he should be running further tests to check for bladder stones. He further gets frustrated that Lauren seemingly thinks she knows better than someone who spent years in school for this. They get off on absolutely the wrong foot; she’s a cat person and he’s a dog person so naturally they fight like cats and dogs.

They got together a wee bit too quickly in my opinion, but I understand why (the high of saving an animal’s life can put you into action). I agree with some other reviewers who noted that their bickering was more mean spirited than snarky banter towards the beginning of the book. Some of their arguments felt pretty forced.

I’m pleased that this book raised awareness for a lot of important things, like animal shelters, re-homing animals, and issues that arise from feral cat populations and how we can help. I also loved how Brooklyn was kind of a character itself in the book, and especially loved the Stitches yarn shop shout out (I try to stop by every time I visit NYC).

Tropes in this book include: dual point-of-view, enemies to lovers, grumpy-sunshine, friends with benefits, catching feelings, and evil real estate developers.

I also read and reviewed the second book in this series, What the Cat Dragged In, which you can read here.

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