Honestly, this one was super cute. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one and was worried that it would feel too far from the typical holiday contemporary romance that I enjoy, but this ended up being very enjoyable, despite being a bit tacky (but hey, isn't that why we read these?).

I thought Ben and Kara were cute enough, but their 'enemies' to lovers really felt like a stretch. Someone is not a bad person because they don't want to take home an animal at random, and I wasn't crazy about how she made Ben out to be some uncaring, coldhearted person for not taking in a stray (not to mention how unprofessional it was).

Other things that were kind of annoying:
- Ben works in marketing, but as a long time marketing professional, the way his job was portrayed was SO unrealistic. That's not how any of it works!
- Kara's little catchphrases. I know they were supposed to be cute and endearing, but they were too much and so nonsensical

Despite this, I loved the setting (cats are bonus points, always) and I loved that there was a cute cat description at the beginning of each chapter. Ben and Kara's chemistry did grow, and by the end, I really did enjoy the story, but there was definitely a LOT of weird stuff going on to get there.

The premise of this one sounded adorable. Kind of sounded like the TV show Call me Cat. The hero was awesome. But the heroine was not likeable at all. And me as a reader I could not see what the hero saw in her.

wow omg so cute. I loved the cat aspect of this book as I feel like most books include a dog if it has an animal in it. the love story was adorable and super swoon worthy. this is a must read this time of year.

3.5 stars
Very sweet and cute. The equivalent of a Hallmark movie in print.
Thank you Forever (Grand Central) Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an hones review.

Honestly....this was such a joy to read. It felt very "Hallmarkey" in that you know nothing bad will happen to the characters and that they will seamlessly work through any issues they have. However, the adorable cover, concept, and kitty chapter headers were what originally drew me to pick this as the December title for my book club and so far it has been a hit! I enjoyed watching our characters grow together, and maturely work through their issues - since that is something that really lacks in a lot of romance right now. We are adults so life and love can and will get messy but Cody Gary handled it with such heart. While some of the author's other works seem a little intense when compared to this cozy holiday romance I think her range as an author shows great promise for what we might see next! At the end of the day this is the perfect book for you if you love a good redemption story, a search for the truth, a self-proclaimed animal avoider falling for a little kitten, and a whole lot of warm winter vibes.

#ACatCafeChristmas #NetGalley

A Cat Cafe Christmas by Codi Gary


Like cats in your holiday romance? This book is for you!


A lovely romance, with 2 strong leads and many adorable precious cats! Kara is wary of love and focuses on opening her Meow and Furrever Cat Cafe' instead of men.

She is a veterinarian and a good one. Her goal is to adopt the cats out to loving families.

Ben is a good strategizer who is going to help her make a strong go of the cafe. He is great at his job but his flaw? To Kara at least, he's not a cat person.

This book was by turns funny, sweet and even a bit sad in parts.

The cats were my favorite part of the story, but the developing love story was really enjoyable as well.


I really enjoyed how the chapters opened with a cat, a drawing and their name and description, really unique and fun.

I liked how Kara and Ben grudgingly got to know each other, and then like and even love each other. I liked the growth each character showed in the story.

4*****

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley.

Super cute and fun Christmas romance. I liked the concept, story line and characters. A bit of drama some sweet moments between the main characters made for an enjoyable read.

I wanted some warm and cozy reading as we enter this holiday season and I knew A Cat Cafe Christmas would be THE perfect book for me. Codi Gary's novel is a light-hearted, cuddly, warm romance about two individuals (Kara and Ben) struggling to recover from their past relationships that have gone to hell, accompanied by the resident felines of Kara's cat cafe and their friends Charity and Schwartz. The light touch and warm romance depicted here was enjoyable and it filled me with holiday spirit. I would recommend to fans of my seasonal favorite of last year, A Season for Second Chances. Oh, and I would of course recommend to my fellow cat lovers and owners!

A very sweet and cat centered, Christmas love story! I enjoyed the dual POV of both love interests and the creative plot. I would have enjoyed more banter and chemistry between characters; the writing felt a little stiff at times. Overall, heartwarming and cute.

Thank you forever and Netgalley for my copy!

A Christmas Story that happens in/around a Cat cafe?

Need I say more!

This one was so fun and cute and I enjoyed the dislike to lovers we get here. Ben gets to learn to love cats while Kara is a sad soul learning to get past her past betrayal.

The cats were adorable and each chapter is introduced with a different adoptable cat description which I greatly enjoyed.

The love connection happens a bit faster than I normally like, but all in all this one was cute.

This one is perfect for Cat lovers who adore Christmas who don’t need a lot of spice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

This is a new to me author and I have to say I am looking forward to reading more by this author! I loved this book

This was... very average to me. I just finished it last night and I almost cannot remember their names (Kara and Ben???). I know this was just supposed to be like a Hallmark movie in a book but I didn't care about them or the plot at ALL. It was just fine. That's about all I can say.

I decided to DNF this at 20 percent.
The only thing I liked about this book was the cats. I hated the two main characters, the woman was especially annoying and the man didn't have much of a personality.

Do you like Christmas?
Do you like Romance?
Do you like Cats?
Do you like people coming back after getting knocked down?
Did you answer YES to those questions? Hey, I have a book rec for you!

A Cat Café Christmas is a story about people who have been knocked down by people they thought they loved, and rebuilding. Throw in a meet cute, a cat café, lots of good deeds because it is Christmas of course, a growing love between two seemingly very different people and BAM – you’ve got a fun holiday read. Happy Catmas everyone!

**An honest review after receiving an ARC from #netgalley. #ACatCafeChristmas

Kara is co-owner of the Meow and Furever Cat Cafe- a quaint shop that allows people to visit (and adopt) new feline friends. Also a veterinarian, Kara’s dreams have remained, in part, unfulfilled. See, she’s always wanted to pair her love with homing animals with healing them. Unfortunately, limited funding and some bad press due to an ex boyfriend’s shadiness has prevented Kara from truly making this happen.

Then she meets marketing hotshot Ben Reese, a man who has begrudgingly taken on fostering a kitten, yet willingly signed on to help turn Kara’s cat cafe dreams around. The claws come out between Ben and Kara from the start- Kara an animal lover who doesn’t understand Ben’s indifference, Ben a confident business man who doesn’t get Kara’s reluctance. Putting their cat fight aside, the two call a truce for the sake of the animals. But the more they work on finding some fur-ever homes, the two start to realize they just might be purr-feet for one another, too.

I gravitated to A Cat Cafe Christmas for somewhat obvious reasons. Given the @purrfectpages moniker, it should go without saying I love cats and books. The fact that this story took place at Christmas was just gravy. However, for a good part of my adult life, owning a cafe just like this, only with the added bonus of books, has been a dream.

While I didn’t completely find myself “feline” the closed door romance between Kara and Ben, the story still worked in the way only a Christmas story can. In fact, I’d argue the genre of romance has always had its own version of nine lives. It just doesn’t get old. At some point, everybody loves reading about love. A Cat Cafe Christmas gives you kittens, cuddling, and Christmas. Really, what more can you ask for at this time of year?

Cats, Christmas, romance... A recipe for success in my book.

This is a story about saving a local non-profit Meow and Furever Cat Cafe, and a romance that's born between two people who have a lot of past relationship trauma, and who have completely different interests in life. Cute cat names, funny banter, light romance, great friendships, community... All of this, in one little book.

This type of Christmas book doesn't overdo it with Christmas. The focus isn't necessarily on Christmas traditions themselves, but more on the feelings and emotions that Christmas stands for. So, if you don't like your Christmas books looking like Christmas threw up on them, or if you just want to read something a bit different that doesn't centre around eggnog, Christmas tree decorations, or making angels in the snow, I think you might enjoy it.

In terms of romance, I think the parts when our main characters did get together, like for example, the first time they kissed, could have been done much better. I almost missed when they kissed, I had to go back and reread, because I was like, oh, did they kiss? There was no anticipation and not enough details to be quite honest for me to feel all the romantic vibes. I mean, the level of spice, definitely is a personal preference, I just wished these crucial moments were a bit more elaborated on.

I enjoyed the interactions between best friends on both sides, especially the friendship between Kara and Charity. Charity was the one who kind of smacked sense into our main character and made this friendship what it was.

I did feel like Kara was at certain points overly dramatic. She was presented as this super intelligent, witty, kind of chaotic, but quick on her feet person, but then due to this trauma she carries from her past relationship, she would react wildly to Ben's actions. I found this kind of annoying and it made me not enjoy Kara's characters as much as I could have.

For example, the moment when she heard Ben accidentally stumbled on the letter from Worthy... She claims that she wanted Ben to have more faith in her. But why would he? He only met you like a week ago? Why would you set such expectations on a guy you just met and who you didn't even consider as a potential partner.

Overall, I don't find that this book has any major flaws. I read it in a heartbeat, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to my friends.

This sounded like a cute read, but I could tell very early on that it wasn't going to be. I'm not opposed to reading cishet romance, but I am opposed to cishet nonsense, and there was already a lot of it in the first chapter. The male main character made a fatphobic comment and continued to be judgy about the female main character in a really sexist way. I was never going to root for her to end up with him, so I decided it would be best to DNF.

As a cat person, Christmas lover, and romcom fan this book immediately looked cute. Now, having read it, it was cute, but I found it rather dull. Overall this book featured a mild romance, (butterflies and angst not included), marketing, and cats

What a fun read. It might have been a bit formulaic and predictable but the the enemy-to-lovers trope is amusing and the characters were quite sweet. This book was a quick and happy read - perfect for the holidays!

Between the adorable cover and title, A Cat Cafe Christmas was one of my most anticipated holiday reads of 2022. While it had a cute concept and some sweet, fun moments, overall I found this book underwhelming.

I appreciated that Kara and Ben had past hurts that left them with obstacles to overcome, and I liked how they helped each other, but I didn’t feel the connection or chemistry between them. I also thought there was occasionally too much detail (how many times do we need to know that Kara washed her hands before doing something? And I’m not sure I needed to know how to catheterize a cat) that slowed things down and took me out of the story.

Also, for a Christmas story, this has very little actual Christmas. Some of the cats have punny Christmas names, Kara and Ben went to look at some lights, and they talked about all the Christmas events, but I expect more actual Christmas in my Christmas books - holiday fun, Christmas magic, traditions, etc, and that was lacking.