**'When the story is told more with words than visuals it makes for a bad talky-talky book..'

Still trying to recover from major disappointment after reading as the title says 'Love in Disaster' -- it was really just that literally. Its a big 'NO,NO!' when it comes to using this topic or title as a source for this storyline -- was distasteful because its one of the worst times in US history so let the past stay in the past; people are still in pain and traumatized. The characters has no depth,they are both shallow & very dense which then leads the story being the typical lesbian stereotype, also over the top sex scenes and the writing lacks energy or connection which didn't help whatever side stories the author tries to include concerning its supporting cast because the drama surrounding all of them felt like filler and was more of a distraction than anything. By the time i got to the end i was just overly excited to see the two mains characters with one another because i so wanted this book to end.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I really liked this book I couldn't bring it down, bringing Hurricane Katrina into the mix brought an insight to the culture of New Orleans and the people living there during this horrific event. The story of Kit and Teddy really gelled with me. This was a great read; you will not be disappointed.

This is the second novel I have read by Charlotte Greene. The first was Palette for Love. I enjoyed her first novel, and I feel like I should have really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed the characters, Kit especially. However, I really struggled with motivating myself to finish the book. I really think it was just because the story took place during Katrina. My stomach hurt just thinking about where the story was going. When it actually got to the hurricane portion it wasn’t nearly as awful as I had imagined. I knew it was a romance and was expecting a happy ending, but Katrina was so awful I was unsure of how much I wanted to read about it. I wasn’t living in Louisiana during Katrina but I live in Oklahoma and saw so many lives impacted by the hurricane. Greene is an excellent writer, and i actually really enjoy her writing style. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first, but still well worth your time.

I really enjoyed about the first half of this book and liked how the main characters met and how their story developed but at about the half way point, when the hurricane struck, the story kind of changed and me. The characters made decisions I couldn't really follow or see why they would do that and all in all it kind of went downhill from that point on. I wish the author would have kept the book in the same form as the beginning was.
I also disliked the ending a lot, which is never a good thing...

This is the second book I read by this author and both for me rate at 3 stars. This book caught my attention because Hurricane Katrina left a deep mark in people's memories, even for those of us who witnessed its powerful destruction from a distance. There is so much potential in writing about this sad moment in American history that my expectations were high. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed.

First of all, I didn't feel the chemistry between the main characters. Kit, a lecturer of English based in San Francisco starts an affair while visiting New Orleans with Teddy, a chef and restaurant owner. I found Kit superficial first and outright needy as the story unfolded. I didn't find the character believable in addition to the situation surrounding her stay in New Orleans despite the hurricane advance warnings. It seemed to me that the author tried to force the plot for Kit to stay in the city. Secondly, I felt that the author lost the opportunity to show us the despair and real impact of the hurricane in people's lives. This book is, in my opinion, miles away from JM Redmann's take on Katrina in her books Death of a dying man and Water mark which are both very recommendable.

Overall, an ok read. 3 stars.

ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

'Love in Disaster' is a beautiful and emotional love story set against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina. When Kit Kelly attends an academic conference in New Orleans she meets an amazing woman, local chef Teddy. The attraction between them is immediate. I loved both main characters and felt the writing was so believable and pulled me into their story. That they loved each other was obvious but those in the middle of a situation don't always see what is in front of them. Charlotte Green managed to make the hurricane more immediate and real by letting the reader see it through the eyes of these two women. I didn't want to put it down.

I received this ARC by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books in return for an honest review.

This was one of those books where the writing was great, I liked the main characters of Kit and Teddy a lot, but there was just small things that bothered me enough not to rate it 5 stars. Some people may like this book a great deal and they wouldn't be wrong. This is just my opinion so take that how you will.

Again, the writing and grammar in this book is spot on. There isn't anything troublesome that will take you out of the book.

The concept of falling in love in the middle of a natural disaster is fun and puts a lot of things about life in perspective. I especially enjoyed the timing of the book. I won't say any more on that because I don't want to give away what was an interesting surprise to me, but it was a cool little twist.

Here are my two biggest problems. It took a little long to get to the disaster so I found myself wanting to skip ahead. Maybe I'm just impatient, but the build up went on longer than I wanted it to. The second thing was how quickly the two main characters fall for each other. The author was probably going on the basis that a tense situation makes you fall in love faster (ala the movie Speed) but only knowing someone for a few days and then feeling like you can't live without them was a little too lesbian Uhaul for me. I'm not saying it's wrong or doesn't happen, I just prefer a little more dating I guess.

Recommendation: I think most would enjoy this book. Not a strong buy opinion, but a buy opinion nonetheless.

Since I did not enjoy at all A Palette for Love, also writen by this author, this book has been a great surprise for me. I have liked the characters, their interactions and chemistry, the way that their relationship developes and evolves and the steamy sex scenes. Although the story is not very original, I think that it has the adequate amount of drama, taking into account the circumstances in which it takes place. Some of the secondary characters are too silly, but they have not a lot of protagonism, except the selfish uncaring little Mia. But on the other hand, her poor behaviour is the main cause of the definitive approach between Kit and Teddy. It's an entertaining book for my taste.

This is my second book by Greene, the first being A Palette for Love. I liked A Palette quite a bit, unfortunately, this book was just okay for me. I had a hard time connecting to the characters, and that stopped me from really enjoying the book.

The story is about Kit, and English Professor at a conference in New Orleans. When she meets a local chef Teddy, the attraction and affair is immediate. But with Kit leaving back to San Fransisco, an affair is all it can be. With news of Hurricane Katrina baring down on Louisiana, Kit and Teddy find themselves together. Can they make it through the storm and have a chance at a relationship?

While I liked the first part of the book, especially the sites and sounds of New Orleans, the second half really fizzled out for me. Hurricane Katrina, is a tough subject to read about. For a long time, books about Katrina and 9-11, I just could not read them. I have been reading a few books about Katrina recently, that were well done, and I got through them. I guess I just thought the love in a disaster part of this book, would really get to me, and it just didn't. I think I would have liked this book better if Katrina was not a part of it.

My other issue was with the characters. I had a lot of issues with Teddy. I did not care for her at all, and could not see why Kit was so caught up in her. I didn't get the chemistry. It was obvious they were attracted to each other, but I didn't feel love. Kit was a good character, a bit of a firecracker and I liked her temper, I just wish she had a better partner.

This book was not bad by any means, but it was not better than okay for me. I will still read Greene in the future, and would recommend A Palette for Love, before I would recommend this book.

An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.

Began the novel with a conflicted perspective about the utilization, by the author, of an extremely tragic aspect of recent American history as the backdrop against which a relationship between the protagonists evolved. While I have read extremely gripping firsthand accounts about what happened during and in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, the trauma of watching one's world be rendered into destruction hardly seems the ideal situation for love to flourish. That unrealistic quality was present throughout the entire plot and largely limited my enjoyment of the interplay between Kit and Teddy. Dire circumstances are one thing, rebuilding a life after disaster another. A book placed in the midst of two phases of change-the devastation and after- was opportunistic and frankly, as a character, Kit deserved better. The epilogue was also not a welcome finale to the whole. I have enjoyed the gifts of this author much more in her previous publications.

While I enjoyed the first part of the book, and the whole "getting" together thing with Teddy and Kit, I have to sat that the second part of the book was a bit of a disappointment for me. Even though it the whole hurricane disaster was truly scary, it was kind of rushed, and Teddy going into shock seemed written randomly and not particularly skillfully. I don't even know why it had to be there, because to me, it seemed redundant.

I was a bit hesitant to start this based on the mixed ratings (as in this genre I tend to fall in the lower part of the scale anyway), but I enjoyed this. The characters, the writing, the story.

I do feel incredibly let down by the epilogue. I can't imagine who thought this was a good idea.

This is the second novel I have read by Charlotte Greene (the other being A Palette for Love), and I liked both. Her writing style suits me very well for now. Love in Disaster takes us through the budding romance between two interesting characters just before, during and right after destructive events of hurricane Katrina in the city of New Orleans. It is obvious that Greene has an excellent understanding of the events as well as the city itself.
The main characters Kit (Katriona Kelly) and Teddy (Theodora Rose) are believable and complex. The same is true for the secondary character Becky, who is one of the better in that category I have encountered recently. Teddy is sometimes tiring and kind of fickle, and she is still a mystery to me to some extent, and not only because of the point of view, which is exclusively Kit's (third-person limited). But despite that I warmed up to and finished the book liking her, but not as much as Kit. For me Kit is definitely the better part of this interesting paring.
Beside good characterization and setting, all other elements of a well-written book are there -- plot, dialogue, pacing... After a somewhat slower start, the rest of the story reads easily and quickly. The erotic scenes are nicely done, and are very well incorporated into the story.
All in all, I will keep an eye on Greene's new offerings in future.

The title and blurb are what initially attracted me to this story, and then the hopes that I’d find a new author to be on the lookout for.

I found myself immersed in the first half of the book; the chase between the heroines and the uncertainty of these two unlikely characters having a future together.

Then disaster struck and from that point on the story went down hill for me. While the entire event was scary as hell, I didn’t feel any real urgency. Teddy going into so called shock came across as odd and rather drawn out, not that I’m an expert on the condition.

Once they were able to move on, three dogs in tow, the inevitable ‘must have conflict in a story’ reared its ugly head. And I say that as I would’ve been more satisfied if it hadn’t in this instance. Wasn’t the hurricane enough conflict? Apparently not!

So, lets make these two part ways and introduce a wayward brother and elderly father to make the heroine seem like a great daughter. This went on and on and on and by the time the end was in sight I no longer cared if Kit and Teddy ever saw each other again.

While there was a Happy Ever After, sadly I didn’t feel it, so this story left me feeling rather underwhelmed.

Four stars for the first half, two for the second, overall rating 3 stars.

Charlotte Greene...... I loved her first book and I love her second! Kit and Teddy meet as a random hook up in NOLA when Kit is there for a conference. It turns into much more as Hurricane Katrina bears down on the city and neither one can escape. There was some tension during the hurricane and Charlotte did a delicate job outlining the horror that the people dealt with. Kit and Teddy were nice characters. While the book is told in third person, the book follows Kit. We get to hear her thoughts and see the incidents through her. We never get to see Teddy thoughts or her happenings, so I found that interesting. The dogs were an adorable touch to this book as well. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading her next!!

New Orleans equals good eats, rich culture and Hurricane Katrina. What a dichotomy of awesome food and a devastating storm. In the midst of it all, romance. Katriona Kelly is a professor looking for purpose in her life and love. Kit has been whipped by one night stands and a maxed out career she is no longer interested in. Her friend Becky is quite interesting in regard to being a supportive friend and an admirer of women. Theodora is a chef skirting through life on one night stands and a family she is at odds with. Her love for her dogs Jingo, Bingo, and Dot was so sweet, especially when they played together. As Kit and Teddy grow closer so does Hurricane Katrina. It is interesting to read how they work together and support each other during such unfathomable circumstances. I thought the unspeakable give and take between between Kit and Teddy was one of the most enjoyable parts of the book. You do not have to be strong all the time and you can rise up when needed. By the way, if you enjoy reading about making out, this is the read for you.

This book starts off slow, then gradually moves into a better pace and moves nicely to the conclusion. .

I enjoyed Kit. I appreciated her compassion, humor, wit and intelligence. I also liked her friend Becky. Teddy, on the other hand, was someone that bordered on being a stalker and at times just one dimensional: angry. Teddy was rude and arrogant to almost bordering on abusive. Luckily as the storm started to come in Teddy's character began to evolve into someone who was less creepy and a jerk. If the reader can get to the part about the storm then the two characters are more on equal emotional rapport.

I am a big fan of New Orleans. This book goes into detail about Katrina. It is hard to read because of the stark reality of the pain that storm brought to my beloved city. The author does a good job of sharing the details of the tragedy with balancing having the storm as the backdrop to strengthen the relationship between Kit and Teddy. I enjoyed how the author moved the plot towards a resolution between Kit and Teddy..

Also there is a lot of sex in this book and some of it is graphic. So readers may want to be aware when they pick up this book, especially at the start of the book when the two characters meet.

It's a good read. And the author does a nice job of pacing once you get past the first 60 pages, so hang in there, it's worth it.

In New Orleans for a conference, exhausted English professor Kit Kelly has been going through the motions in just about every regard for some time now. She’s tired of her job and sick of sleeping around, and her life is starting to feel like one long, stale rerun of similar days and nights. A chance encounter with Teddy, a local chef, stirs an enthusiasm for life she hasn’t felt in a long time, but news of an impending hurricane threatens to disrupt what they’ve just begun.