Wonderful book could not put it down. Cannot wait until the next one comes out. I have found another great new author .

Max Henderson, a divorce lawyer, and Charlie Love, a wedding planner have two different outlooks on love and marriage. When they are made to work together because of Max's brother's wedding, the gloves come off!

This is such a fun, amusing, teasing, hot book! I loved the characters and the plot. I would really recommend this book!

She had me at “Ramen. Freakin’. Noodles.”

I LOVED this book! At first glance, it seemed like it would be just another “Alpha male player finds the one woman who changes his ways” book. While that is an underlying theme, to reduce it to something that simple would be a great disservice. Max has so many more layers, as does Charlie. The journey that they take as they war with each other is both heartwarming and hugely entertaining (the quotes at the beginning of each chapter help guide the reader; I’d suggest maybe citing them if possible). Kate Meader has a way of writing that doesn’t seem as stilted as many other authors in this genre. Her characters are likeable and they “spoke” in a way that was very natural; Charlie, especially, reminded me of how my friends and I talk. Meader also writes descriptively. I never highlight passages in books, but I highlighted more than a few in this one. My favorite was “…familiar doubts have a habit of dropping acid into the crevices in my self-assurance.” By using her words beautifully, (Max would be proud), she gives more life to her characters’ feelings. I will be putting Meader in my “favorite authors” list, and look forward to reading more books by her!

I read this on a plane from Oklahoma to Florida to see my family. I read it in about 3 hours and it was the perfect light read for a flight.

A fabulous read about opposites attract. Wedding planner meet divorce attorney. I loved this story from the beginning to the end. It was a fun and sexy read. The two main character's banters was very entertaining. I would recommend this book.

This is a cute, light summer read. While I don't usually go for the typical wedding planner romance, I do go for the whole opposites attract trope! Marriage planner meet divorce attorney is a great pairing and the author's writing really sold it. Recommend as a pool or beach read!

I had a blast reading this story. I almost skipped the opportunity because I think the wedding planner romances are overdone, but the whole “extreme opposites” thing with the divorce attorney vs. wedding planner sounded different, and I decided to give it a chance. I’m so glad I did! Turns out, I absolutely love this author’s writing style. She clearly has a great sense of humor and a quick wit, and those things seep right through into the thoughts and dialog of both Max and Charlie. Both characters come across on the outside as having it all together, but they each have pasts that have made them train wrecks on the inside. They are flawed, and I appreciated that immensely; I can’t stand a story with perfect la-de-freakin-da characters. This is romantic comedy at its finest, and I can’t wait to get my hands on more by this new-to-me author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Loveswept for providing an ARC for review.

Absolutely loved this book. Max the self professed forever bachelor, happy with this life of one nighters when he chooses and his career as a divorce lawyer gets a huge surprise when his weekly meet with his younger brother announces that he's getting married... to his girlfriend of only 3 months. In James favor is that Max likes her, it's when Max hears they hired a wedding planner that sends Max a little over the edge and it turns out the great looking woman Max has been staring at and then cornered in the bathroom hallway using his best come on lines is none other than Charlie, the wedding planner. Max just sees money flying out the window. Because that's what planners do in his opinion. Nevermind what on the backend of the relationship deal when things end in divorce, Max ensures that his clients are well cared for. Max is a great attorney and he was well written in that regard, taking care of his clients in a personal way, to ensure their well being. He was a great transitional person. Max and James both come from money, their parents are absolutely charming and lovely as are the rest of the characters... wait... I take that back. The Brit. One of Max's partners. He was obnoxious as heck to a point where I wanted to throttle him. You have to read the book to fully appreciate what he does and it made me want to toss my kindle. The three together balanced each other out. Nicely done. Charlie had her own story and I loved her. She didn't come from money and thankfully she was taken it by a couple who brought her out of the loss of her mother at 13 and the wicked temper issues she had. A temper that still makes an appearance now and then. Max was attracted to that part of Charlie. Oh lets face it Max was attracted to all of Charlie. Despite their differences on love which ne'er the twain shall meet, they were a great match in so many ways.
I don't want to give too much of the story away, this simply has to be read.
I loved that Kate shifted gears a little bit with this series. This story is funny, warm and sexy. I love her books, she writes a fantastic story and throws in plenty of steam, but her characters are always relatable and I think that's what I like the most. She brings them to life off the pages and you get to know them as people. Not one dimensional characters we often see. Kate Meader never disappoints.
I'd give this more than 5 stars if I could.

**arc from NetGalley and Loveswept for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Max is a typical bachelor who thinks marriage isn't for him. Charlie is ready for love and ready for the future, but not with Max. They couldn't be more opposites, but you know what they say...opposites attract. And boy do they attract. And attract. I wasn't so certain I could love Max Henderson — he was kind of a slimeball checking Charlie out, flirty but kind of sleezy in his pursuit, but as the book evolves, so does he. You see his motives as being truly kind-hearted and for the benefit of Charlie, and less about his personal motives to get in her pants. Plus once they've done the darn thing, he obviously can't get enough. Charlie is everything I wish I was — smart, competitive, feisty, loving, hopeful. Being married to a Chicagoan myself, I can't get enough of the Chicago references (and especially the Cubbies), but what truly made this book different for me was how real it felt. Despite the money, despite the outrageous scoreboard antics, I felt the real emotion behind these characters. The plot felt like I was watching two friends fight their attraction. It's what makes Kate Meader an amazing storyteller. Best book I've read in a very long, long time.

Wedding-planner, come meet the divorce lawyer: 2 occupations at odds with each other, down to the fundamental beliefs that the people working in these lines should hold. Right? ‘Down with Love’ is where Kate Meader bravely tackles these opposites and tries to prove the contrary with Max Henderson (the first victim, so to speak) and Charlie Love—whose last name is ironically appropriate for her occupation.

Excited as I was by Meader’s blurb of this new series, I was also a little wary, because beneath it lies the stereotypical trope of a commitment phobic player paired with a woman who tries to be sassy and stumbles when the charm comes out. And with Meader’s style of writing, I can say—objectively—that it’s perfectly tailored for the rom-com style that many readers would expect. Meader’s writing is pitched exactly like the voices you hear in romantic comedy, that is, pitch-perfect, if that’s your sort of thing, in other words. That much, it delivers.

Max Henderson kicks of the start of Kate Meader’s new series of cynical men who think they’ve seen the worst of humanity in the battlefield of court when divorce inevitably hits couples. But I think the male POV is tricky to write, period. Getting the fine balance right between voice, hints of vulnerability and the cocky front that many authors try to portray of their alpha males who apparently know so much about women is one that either has me grimacing or smirking. The usual smug, self-satisfied, arrogant tone of Max crosses the line into bar-smarmy faux smoothness and sleazy bad taste and it isn’t frankly something I want to read of a male romantic protagonist who’s head seems to be constantly filled with women’s body parts and what he’d like to do to them. (Here, I’m reminded of another author who’s done the same previously and it isn’t that good a memory, sad to say.)

But because many rom-coms are retellings and rehashes of tropes with varying contexts, character histories and storytelling styles, ‘Down With love’ still feels at its core, one that doesn’t deviate too much from the well-worn but well-loved formula: a woman who finally gives the cynical Max what he’s always fed other women (nothing beyond a night or two) and then it’s the typical reversal of him finally getting a taste of his own medicine just as he realises she’s unlike the others. Cue the game to wear her resistance down, thanks to the perpetual player, no-one-gets-hurt reputation Max strives to cultivate in the first place.

There are a few bits of talking ‘out’ to the reader as well—better known as breaking the fourth wall here, when a character steps out of the fictional word briefly and breaks through the invisible wall separating reader and the cast—and I’m not too sure how I feel about that here. Perhaps Meader seeks to bridge that connection between Max and me when the use of the second person pronoun ‘you’ seems to…mediate this distance that I subconsciously hold, first to convince me that he’s anti-marriage and then later, to convince me that he’s a reformed man. Or perhaps I’m just over-reading this.

In short, I think I wasn’t really feeling this at all sadly—not the pairing, not the context and not the plot. ‘Down With Love’ didn’t exactly move me much even as Meader tries to work out the opposing beliefs of Max and Charlie, and given the many times I managed to walk away and came back to the book (rinse and repeat) it’s clear this isn’t the story for me, as much as I really like Meader’s writing.

Max and Charlie (Charlotte) seem to be exact opposites when they meet. Charlie, a wedding planner, is looking for a long-term committed relationship, while Max, a divorce lawyer with a committed phobia, is committed to his life as a player. However, their worlds keep colliding since Charlie is Max’s brother’s wedding planner. They have strong chemistry, but Charlie keeps fighting it despite Max’s interest in a short-term fling. Of course, they both eventually grow up a bit and have a HEA. The author does a terrific job of introducing their friends and families and of providing a strong backstory that explains their personalities. The dialogue is witty and intelligent. I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

This book was absolutely wonderful. I loved every second of the story and cannot wait for more in this series. For me Kate Meader is a hit or miss but when it is a HIT it is a major wonderful and this book was majorly fun and terrific. Largely that is due to the great banter and wonderful characters in this story.

Charlie is a wedding planner. She loves love and Max is a rich kid, now successful divorce lawyer. When they meet it is lust at first sight but they both come at love from different places. But Max cannot stay away from Charles and he insinuated himself in her life.

Meanwhile Charlie is friends with Max's soon to be sister in law and is also planning the wedding, so she is in Max's life alot as well. The two start out a friends with benny relationship but they both end up wanting more. However family relationships cause some strife in their romance.

This was an absolutely wonderful story and I loved it so much.

When Max, a jaded divorce lawyer spots a beautiful woman across the bar and can’t take eyes off her, he doesn’t know that that woman is going to change his life forever.
Charlie is the wedding planner hired to palm his brothers wedding and hopes to find her own happily ever after soon, and also knows Max is not the One.
I loved reading down with Love. There is not a single dull moment with the banter, the humor, steamy romance and sweet moments keeping you entertained. This is the first in the Love Wars series and I can’t wait to read more.

I really enjoyed these characters and their development throughout the story. I loved how Max and Charlie went from having great antagonistic banter to allowing themselves to become vulnerable with each other. I always enjoy reading a novel where the female protagonist is capable of being witty and in control of her strong attraction to her love interest, and I'm happy that I've seen this in the other 2 novels I've read from Kate Meader. I also liked the other characters in the story as well. Max's friends were interesting enough that I look forward to reading about them in the future, and I found myself rooting for sweet Gina and James.

Down With Love is book one in the brand new series, Love Wars, by Kate Meader.

Max Henderson may have come from money but he lived on what he earned at his job, a job he loved. Max is a divorce attorney. He considers himself a realist. That love isn’t all hearts and roses. Yes his own parents are still madly in love after all these years. But at work, he sees the reality of it, that there is a very ugly side to love. The one time Max let down his own guard he got badly hurt. Now he is a one night per woman type of guy, two tops. He has a good life, he has his routine, and he’s happy with it.

On a night out with his younger brother, his brother had some huge news for him, he was getting married to his girlfriend of all of three months. Yes, Max liked his brother’s girlfriend but it’s a little too fast. So while he is reeling from this news, the whole, eyes meeting from across the bar and sparks flying thing happens. What a perfect way to cope with the news, a hot woman for the night. But then his brother informs him that this isn’t just any woman, it is his wedding planner!

Charlie Love did not come from money. She was a child who was put into the system after the death of her mother and she had severe anger issues. If it weren’t for the foster parents who she ended up with, she wouldn’t be who she is today, a successful business and home owner. Charlie is a wedding planner. She loves her job. Charlie’s foster parents are anxious to see her settle down and she agrees, that she really wants to find her perfect match. But when she let down her guard with her one serious relationship and let him really see who she was, where she came from, he was no longer interested. Now Charlie tries her best to not let too much show. To just let the good parts out and keep everything else suppressed.

Then Charlie met Max. Max stood for everything she didn’t. He didn’t believe in love and she did. She made her money starting out marriages with their dream day. And Max made his by tearing them back apart. So why did she feel that little zing whenever she was close to him? Why did he keep creeping in to her thoughts? Max was not a relationship type of man and even if he were, he is definitely not what she was looking for. But maybe she could just enjoy him for a night to kind of blow out the cobwebs. Then she could get back to looking for Mr. Right.

“I represent everything he despises – i.e., belief in the lasting power of true love.”

When Charlie and Max give in to their chemistry, it is most definitely hot! A sort of role reversal happens though. Max starts to see the prospect of something good here, something he wants to explore. And Charlie is convinced that Max is not the man for her and that this is a one night stand. What Charlie does begin to see, though, is a side to Max she didn’t realize was there. A side that is addicted to old romance movies where the couple always gets their happy ever after. A side that takes care of his clients, long past the usual duties of a lawyer. A side that if she let herself, she could easily fall for.

“His hand in mine is the hot fudge sauce on my sundae, the relish on my dog, the topper on my Christmas tree. His hand in mine is all I need.”

This was such a cute story. There is plenty of humor, plenty of steam, and plenty of sweet moments. I loved how perceptive Max was and how he helped Charlie not to try to hide parts of herself. That those parts were what he loved about her, the whole package. These two were so perfect for each other. This is one of those books that you walk away from with a smile on your face.

If you love the opposite points of view, love/hate relationships then Down with Love is for you. This is an amazing read. You get sucked right into Max and Charlie's banter. The attraction is hard to miss. I love how the world of a divorce attorney and a wedding planner collide. This is a fun and cute read. You will love Max and Charlie. I can't wait for more from this series.

This was such a great book! Charlie Love is a wedding planner who, like her name, believes in true love, though she hasn't found hers yet. Max Henderson is a divorce lawyer who has a very different perspective on love and is determined to look out for his brother, who has proposed and is planning to marry his fiance. I really enjoyed reading the banter between Charlie and Max and the development of their relationship. I would recommend this book to others and look forward to reading more books by this author.

Charlie is a wedding planner and Max is a divorce attorney. They say opposites attract, but I wonder if that pushing it. They do talk a lot though and that might just be the secret to their happily ever after.

I had a difficult time getting through this book. I usually enjoy Kate Meader's books but this one just didn't click for me. The relationship between Charlie (the wedding planner heroine) and Max (the divorce lawyer hero) came across as contrived and not natural. There were also too many other sub plots that I felt overpowered the main story. This is not one that I would recommend. I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
I loved this book! Max is a divorce attorney who is down on love because of job and past relationships. His brother James has fallen madly in love and is getting married and asks Max to be the Best Man. Charlie is the wedding planner who wants her own happily ever after, but hasn’t been the luckiest in her own love life. These two start off on the wrong foot (literally, as Max steps on her foot), and the initial antagonism, turns into foreplay. I loved all of the characters in this book and I loved that the relationship took time to develop. This is a great start to a new series. I cannot wait for the next book in the series.