If you're a cat lover, this book is definitely for you! Aly is cat influencer on Instagram and has a big following. As popular as she is, she can't make enough to pay the bills. Rick from a promo company contacts her in an effort to help make her brand more profitable. As time goes on, she feels as if she is taking advantage of her cats. She has a hard time connecting with people and Rick helps give her a boost. Could they possibly have a future together?
This was a cute and quirky story that I found to be quite enjoyable and entertaining. There were plenty of humorous moments that had me laughing or just generally left me with a smile on my face. A really adorable story and am glad I had the opportunity to read it.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Life's a Catastrophe is an entertaining and fun read, but does have a more serious side to it. Aly Meadows is an influencer, her fans are in awe of her cat Instagram site 'Alycat'. Aly is a 'catfluencer' and uses her spare as a carer to build her influence and her followers. This has led to her being offered a real game-changer as she has been head-hunted.

While this is a fun and really entertaining read, there are also some serious sides to this story. A disjointed and not warm home life growing up and living in a flat full of boxes isn't a situation anyone wants to be in. But for Aly though, it is all hers - for the time being!

I really loved the humour of this story and Aly is a bit of a clutz, a walking catastrophe really does sum her up. She manages to get herself into some random predicaments, and with not altogether negative effects. It does make for some chuckling moments throughout the story.

I am going to admit to being more of a dog person than a cat person, but the author has done such a wonderful job with the feline characteristics and traits with the cats. Also, some really interesting things that I never knew about the care of a hairless Sphynx cat.

You don't have to go far on any of the social media sites to find vids and posts of pets and this is what appealed to me about this book when I first saw it. I really liked the balance of fun and serious and there is of course a romantic element to this book.

It is a slow-burner of a romance, but one that has Aly in a bit of a quandary. But it definitely does add a steamy extra to this story.

It is an entertaining read and one that I really enjoyed, ideal for lovers of fun and humorous as well as rom-coms and of course everything cat. It is one I would definitely recommend.

Life’s a Catastrophe wasn’t for me.
I would however say it had its brilliant moments.
I liked it’s takes on the influencer side.
Aly and Rick were fun too.

Being a self proclaimed cat lady, i loved this. It had everything that I could possibly want in a book and then some. It was a nice quick read with some deeper moments to make you feel things.

A really easy read which is full of emotion through the love of cats and how you can learn from them.

Aly Meadows is a self-proclaimed 'catfluencer' using her two beloved pets to earn thousands of likes on Instagram. But behind the lens, Aly is broke, facing eviction and living a life that's a million miles away from the glamourous world of social media stardom.
Extraordinary. Outstanding… absolutely amazing… just wow!… Loved it

Excellent contemporary rom com by Kirstie Pelling. I really enjoyed this take on the bonkers world of social media influencers and how Kirstie differentiated it by making it all about cats (which, even though I'm a dog person, I really enjoyed!) Comical and warm, well done, Kirstie, on your debut!

This is such a cute story! I love the Instagram and Cat-fluencer piece of this novel! As an avid follower of any animal account on Instagram or TikTok I was heavily swayed to read this book because of that!

Aly is at times a bit full of herself but then also insecure. This actually can be related to as well because as someone who has times of an inflated ego and sometimes a low period of 'am I actually doing the right things' it's nice to see that featured in a character in a RomCom. Basically, everyone has flaws, and sometimes an MC being mirrored closely to real-life can be a turn-off but I enjoyed it.

There are aspects that will have you almost crying while others will have you laughing! This is a great debut for Kirstie and I would definitely read the next novel she puts out. While there are pieces that could have been explored more or elaborated on, this is a fast read that will definitely enthrall millennials and Gen Z RomCom readers!

"Catfluencer" Aly has a huge following on Instagram, where she posts photos of her cats dressed in costumes. But it's not paying full-time money, and even with her job as an in-home carer, she's struggling to pay her bills. She's contacted by a promo company that wants to help her make her brand more profitable. She's wary, but CEO Rick convinces her to give them a try. Over time, she starts feeling like she's taking advantage of her cats and questions the basis of her online business. Can she and Rick find a compromise, in both their personal and professional lives?

This is a quirky chick lit that's primarily about Aly's relationship with her cats. There's also a love triangle. The book has a very British feel, so if you enjoy British humor, this novel might be for you.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

CW: death of a pet, death of a parent

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was clever, fun, held my interest and I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

For fans of quick wit and feline friends. Meet Aly Meadows. Catfluencer. Her care worker wage doesn't stretch far, so she hopes to.strike in the Insta- world when cats are the hot trend and hopes mega agency Glimmer will be invested in her kitty offerings , but not before she has submitted her saliva for DNA testing to determine her perfect genetic "hug in a mug" coffee formula tailored to your individual needs! Bonkers, yet I cannot help wondering what my own special coffee would be! It would taste all the better washed down with the handsome stranger she meets at the coffee Dock. He bowled me over in the life with: " You need to tell the lift what floor you need. Unless you'd like to come with me to mine?" Ooooh yes! I love a little lift tension! However, he almost lost me with his preference for the world building of George Lucas over Tolkien!
I absolutely adore Aly. She is quirky, quick witted and effortlessly hilarious. I love her honesty and authenticity. Meeting Mr Right with her dress tucked into herr tights and striped woolly backside on display made me guffaw and love her all the more. The electricity between the pair is sizzling: " I feel him like a static shock and not just in my hand; I don't know where he ends and I begin". Yet, there are deeper and darker moments and themes in this read too. Both Aly and Mr Handsome have their past demons to dispel and current heartaches to overcome. An old flame of Aly's also launches into the chaos with his own peculiar attempts to court her affections. There is a whole cast of weird and wonderful characters from the corner shop couple to ex sex worker turn cat crazy retreat lady, who encourages parties of people to act like cats. Bonker modern world! A vivacious read that leaves your heart full with plenty of laugh out loud moments. Just missed out on the full range of stars as the crazy cat classes were a little OTT for my liking, though believable and also ...ahem...I am a dog lady! #lifesacatastrophe #kirstiepelling #Embla #Netgalley

You should read this book if, like me you're well on your way to becoming a crazy cat lady.

Aly Meadows and her kitties Molly and Milly are known as Alycat on Instagram. Aly joins the PR firm Glimmer and becomes enamored of the CEO Rick Harvard

Aly seems insecure and a little self absorbed. It seems like she has a hard time connecting with other people and connects with her cats instead.

Overall this book was just okay to me. I didn't particularly like it, but I certainly didn't hate it. It had its moments and was a very quick and easy read.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

TW: death, bereavement, death of animal, abuse, mention of sex work, mention of addiction, mental illness

When I saw this title listed on NetGalley I was immediately excited. I love cats, and usually love stories which include pets as supporting characters. But this book was... well, honestly? Bizarre. It was billed as a rom-com, and likened to the style of some of my favourite romance authors, but I just can't fathom why.

Right from the get-go, we're supposed to believe that in 2022 anyone is stupid enough to give consent for their DNA to be tested for something as frivolous as representation by an influencer talent agency. And not even to know why? I'm sorry but what?! I almost tapped out there, but wanted to give it a fair go. Well, that's only the start of this chaotic read.

Aly, a cat instagrammer, has been approached by the biggest influencer talent agency to grow and monetise her brand, but despite the fact that she's apparently broke (yet has somehow still managed to put savings away towards getting on the property ladder), she initially turns the agency down instead of simply telling them she actually has two cats, not one.

From there it just gets more and more chaotic. Aly seems hell-bent on self-sabotaging herself at every opportunity. The romance between her and Rick feels paper thin, and there are so many random sub-plots. I even had visions of a certain Big Brother moment at one point (if you know, you know), and dear God, that's something I thought I'd wiped from my memory.

Layered throughout this absurdity are some really heavy themes. Listen, I LOVE some angst in a story. But the lighter parts and the actual 'rom-com' felt weighed down by them. I can't honestly remember laughing at any of the scenes.

Finally, the linguistic tone of the writing just didn't tally with the ages of the main characters for me.

*Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to give an honest review*

Overall Rating: ❤❤*
Heat Rating:
Emotional Rating: 😾🤦‍♀️

I rated this 1.5, but rounded up to 2 as it is a debut novel and everyone has to start somewhere. This wasn't for me. I will upload my review to Amazon UK on publication day.

This book was…wild. In a very weird way. I’m giving it 2.5 stars, rounded down to 2. I feel like the potential is here in the story, but it didn’t come together in any kind of a cohesive narrative. Life’s a Catastrophe (big emphasis on CAT) introduces us to Aly, an up and coming cat influencer who is about to be evicted and seems to barely be hanging on by a thread in any aspect of her life. She’s being scouted by a fancy PR company, and runs into the CEO, Rick, in a lackluster meet-cute where she word-vomits her opinions about all of the pretentiousness of his company.

This is a very Wealthy Businessman meets Manic Pixie Dreamgirl trope of a story, except Aly isn’t just eccentric but seems to actually be self sabotaging her life. She makes a series of bizarre decisions that act against her own self interest, including deleting her 100k+ followed Instagram account right after being hired on by the PR firm, lying about the most mundane of things all of the time, and co-opting the #blacklivesmatter hashtag in an incredibly dense and thoughtless way.

This book is a tornado of thoughts and scenes being spewed out kind of randomly, and the flow of the narrative was oddly choppy and chaotic. Because of this, we don’t see much interaction between Rick and Aly, and it never makes sense to me why Rick is attracted to Aly or what he sees in her until the VERY end after their reconciliation. The two spicy scenes we get fade-to-black in weird ways that make you question even if they hooked up or not. For example, Aly is finally on Rick’s bed, and he’s in the middle of taking her clothes off, but Kav calls and she answers while presumably Rick is giving her an orgasm? But it’s hard to tell if her “I’m coming right now” that she says to her friend on the phone is a double entendre that she’s coming or “coming” ya know? Then the very next sentence, like the very next sentence they’re on the stairs:

‘Before you rush off, I have something for you. Almost forgot.’ Taking the last two stairs together Rick lands evenly on the wood and produces a heavy square of white material from the banister.”

Like they were just in bed together and now they’re on the stairs? What just happened? This is just one of dozens of examples of odd and random transitions that make me question what scene I’m in or what’s happening.

I’ve accepted far weirder storylines from rom coms than a woman who is obsessed with cats as her only friends, and this whole “be more like your inner cat” subplot thing, so it’s not just the cat weirdness that put me off of this book. For a while I thought some of my confusion with the storyline was just the difference between reading a book in British English vs. American English, but the more I thought about it I’ve read plenty of British authors without issue, like Jill Mansell and Sophie Kinsella. I really just think this book needs some heavy editing to create a throughline I care about and that doesn’t give me whiplash while I’m being jerked around from scene to scene and thought to thought.

This book just definitely wasn’t for me.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A cutesy read but I found the writing basic and skimmed a lot. I wanted more romance from it and felt the subplots got in the way of this without adding enough to merit it.

It’s a bit slow for my liking. The characters are charming and it contains some triggers.
I like the fact that it’s British and written in British English.

LIFE'S A CATASTROPHE is brisk, sassy, smart-alecky, and down right adorable! It stars a shy, pretty lady, Aly Meadows, who is a social media infleuncer. She has two cats that are the stars of her channel. Aly has developed quite an enormous fan base. Although, her life hit the brakes, with a testy eviction notice, little money, and a ramshackle life. Something's gotta change and soon! But what?

Enter hunkalicious Rick Harvard, head honcho of Glimmer talent agency. He offers Aly an enticing job offer at his company. Only Aly has to decide whether she should take a big step by going out of her comfort zone. Life behind the lens is her life. Going public is scary! Little by little she gains confidence, thinking like a cat, owning the room. Does Aly go global? Will she also find love along the way?

If you love a good laugh, along with cutesy cats, then LIFE'S A CATASTROPHE is right up your alley! The story moves at a rattling pace, with lot's of quirky characters, nutty scenarios, problems with men, and lot's more. Ms. Pelling's debut novel is a spectacular story that will warm your heart! It blends likable and not so likable characters, gossipy life, spicy situations into one entertaining read. LIFE'S A CATASTROPHE is a meowing good time!

As a cat lover I had to read this! I really enjoyed it and didn’t want to put it down. I’d love to read more by this author. Well written. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

I'm going to be completely honest and say I was extremely bored throughout. Maybe this was because I'm not a huge cat fanatic but I was just very bored whilst reading.
I found myself trying to speed through it just so I could finish the book (which isn't something I usually find myself doing. Also, the love interests didn't seem to interact all that much which didn't make that much sense to me.
If you love cats I'm sure you'll like this book but personally, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an opportunity to read this book but it was a tough one for me. As a cat lover who dabbles in Instagram I was really looking forward to this story. Much like Alys wardrobe and personality the writing was just entirely too chaotic for me. I’m not sure what was going on at any point, the progression of the romance felt unnatural and I feel like the book should have come with some sort of content warning. It was a little heavy for a romcom