I tried really hard to connect with this one, but I couldn't. I am a huge Helena Hunting fan, but this one fell a little flat. I was expecting more of a feel-good romcom but there were too many heavy topics (and no trigger warnings) for me to really get into the characters and their relationship. While I love a good cat pun, I felt that some parts were over-the-top cringy. Sorry, I couldn't enjoy this one more.

I would describe A Love Catastrophe as a cozy romance. It’s funny, cute, and full of cats. Cat haters beware!

A Love Catastrophe follows Kitty, a cat sitter, and Miles as he searches for someone to watch his sick mother’s cat. Kitty and Miles are forced to work together to care for his mother’s Sphynx and don’t get off on the right foot.

Kitty and Miles have instant chemistry despite their mild dislike of each other based on first impressions. By no means would I describe A Love Catastrophe as enemies-to-lovers, but there is some animosity.

What makes me describe A Love Catastrophe as cozy is not only how cute the story is as a whole, but both Kitty and Miles are quirky and insecure in their own ways. These quirks and insecurities permeate the story as Kitty and Miles work to overcome them together.

One other aspect of the novel I thoroughly enjoyed was the setting. A Love Catastrophe is set in Toronto! There aren’t enough romance novels set in Canada.

If you’ve read Hunting’s novels before you know her spice is excellent. A Love Catastrophe is by no means her spiciest novel, but scratches the itch.

Overall, A Love Catastrophe is an incredibly cute and funny romance that will have readers swooning for not only over Miles but also for all the animal love.

Helena Hunting is a comfort author of mine so being lucky enough to receive ARCs of her books is truly a dream come true for me. Thanks so much to Helena, Netgalley, and the publisher for this ebook. I LOVED it. If you are a cat person, or have cat people in your life, this book is exactly for you.
 
A Love Catastophe follows Kitty, the Kitty Whisperer (she runs a business taking care of cats, cat-sitting, etc.), and Miles, a data analyst for the city’s NHL team who hires Kitty to take care of his mom’s cat after she is diagnosed with dementia. Their first “meet-cute” is anything but cute. It’s downright hilarious, setting a precedent for the whole book. I laughed so much throughout this book and really loved the relationship develop between Kitty and Miles. They both have pasts filled with grief and guilt so seeing them discuss those times in their life and handle the burdens those periods left them with really helped me connect with these two characters. This book is all about personal growth and moving on while retaining Helena’s classic humor and banter. Both Kitty and Miles them were just absolutely adorable and funny and real.
 
I really love Helena Hunting as an author- her range is phenomenal and her books never fail to bring me joy when I’m reading them. A Love Catastrophe is purr-fect, witty, and so entertaining. Just another reason for Helena Hunting to be one of my favorite authors.

A Love Catastrophe is a sweet, feel-good rom com with spice and laughs.

A lot of the situational humour in this book is a little far-fetched, but it’s still enjoyable. It’s cringe-humour, particularly in the beginning–so if you’re a fan of awkward sitcoms like The Office, this book might hit right for you. I’m not going ot lie, but I did groan a few times! It felt like Dad humour at parts, which can be a hit or a miss for most.

I love books where the hero and heroine dislike each other instantly, and Miles definitely does not make a good first impression! While the book is a rom com at heart, it does attempt to touch on some tougher topics, which I found made the book a little depressing at times. Miles’ mother has recently been diagnosed with dementia, and his brother died when he was only a little boy. Kitty’s father died years ago, and her mother has never been the same.


Hunting has a delightful writing style, and she really leans heavily on the cringe-humour when describing things. This is particularly the case for the dialogue between the two main characters. Honestly, the way that certain characters would say things was the highlight of the book for me. I know I’m not supposed to quote an arc (as the text might change in the final copy), but this line is too good to pass up. After Kitty says something awkward, she says “I wish I could pluck that last sentence out of your ears and shove it back into my word hole.” LOVE IT.

This book leans heavily on the cat themes, so if you’re a cat lover, this book might be just up your alley! Kitty is the “Kitty Whisperer”, which, of course, earns some awkward jokes from the male characters in the book. (Fortunately not the hero, otherwise I might have had to DNF on the very first page!) Prince Francis, Miles’ mom’s cat, is a real demon, which results in a lot of hilarity in the story.

All in all, this is a sweet and light book with some triggers (already mentioned), resulting in a fun beach read!
*This book review will be posted to my blog, Goodreads, TikTok, and IG on June 7, and Amazon on the pubdate*

thank you NetGalley for my copy of A Love Catastrophe!

i love Helena Hunting’s books, they feel like a warm hug & also i end up laughing at some point as well . this book was just the same !

i am not too big of a cat person, but i loved the insight of kitty being a cat watcher & how they meet . so miles is a data analysis for the NHL & his mother is having a hard time after an episode that leads to her dementia diagnosis . this brings in kitty because he needs someone to look after his mom’s cat !

these two we’re so cute because they were a little awkward & the slow burn was so good . the characters bonded so well & both of their trauma was related to each other in some way & seeing them help each other through it was great .

This book is for animal lovers and specially people who love animal puns. There are several throughout this novel.

Kitty is a cat sitter and influencer and Mile’s works for the NHL. They meet after Mile’s mom starts to have a series of health issues and he needs someone to watch her “demon cat”. Enter Kitty. She’s unique and quirky. They begin to bond over a shared love of animals and things in their past.

This book was just not for me. The spicy scenes were kind of cringe. Example: the phrase “bingo button” is used at one point. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Parts of the book were very sweet, fun, and heartfelt. However, the book felt disconnected and I found myself skimming to make it to the end.

When they shared some of their past together it read more like trauma dumping than connecting. It was hard for me to get on board with this book. Again, just not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

4 Star review A Love Catastrophe by Helena Hunting

This was another well written, entertaining story from Helena Hunting which I enjoyed. A Love Catastrophe is Kitty Hart and Miles Thorn’s story and it ticked a number of boxes for me.
Have you ever heard of a cat whisperer? I haven’t, but that is what Kitty is known as so when Miles needs someone to take care of his mothers’ cat Prince Francis (aka the Gremlin).
His mother needs long term care as she has dementia and it is confronting for Miles. This was handled with respect by Ms. Hunting and added an emotional side to the story.
Miles and Kitty are so quirky and different, he is a bit of a grump where she is sunshine and light and on paper they should not work and yet they do. It was heart-warming to watch their relationship progress.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

DNF. This story is just not for me. I really tried to get into this one, even getting half way through. But I just couldn’t connect. It felt silly. Unromantic. I’m a cat person, but this was a little too over the top. And a cat sitter who squirts cats with a water gun?! Nope.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy from Forever Pub via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you like cats, the most adorable love story mixed with hockey and lovable characters this one is for you! Helena Hunting has such a way of writing that makes you just root for all of the characters, even the supporting ones. I can’t think of a single character I disliked. Kitty and Miles are precious and I loved their witty banter. There was just the right amount of steam too. I loved how the book tackled some tough subjects too and focused on different ways of healing after grief. I definitely recommend it!

Perfectly cheesy, and honestly a few too many cat puns for my liking. And I say that as someone who loves puns and adores cats. It's the mispronunciation of words to make them cat pubs for me #EnglishMajorProbs. Not to mention the cutes-y innuendos got to be a but much for me.

Kitty (first bad cat pun) owns a cat sitting business in Canada. She gets a request to watch a cat for a short period of time while the owner is in the hospital. She meets the cat owner's son, of course he's hot, and chaos happens, sometimes literally. There wasn't a third act break up, which I appreciated because there wasn't a need for it. It felt a little shallow at times, but what can one expect from a contemporary romance.

Read "A Love Catastrophe" is you enjoy the following tropes:

- dual POV
- enemies to lovers
- opposites attract
- she loves cats & he loves dogs
- forced proximity
- awkward meet-cute
- extremely punny puns

However, I need y'all to know that I don't think any of those tropes worked well in this one. It was so chaotic. At times I felt secondhand embarrassment because some of the dialogue and interaccions between characters were just so cringe. There was a point where I felt as if I was reading 2 different books: book 1 is pun filled, over the top personalities with a rom-com vibe and book 2 was dealing with family issues like career growth, life altering allergies, parental death and dementia.

Need an example of the cringe? Our leading lady Kitty calls her … well ya know … her bingo button. What the hell? There’s no way 🫠

Again, I don't think this one works. Even if you're a cat lover like Kitty, who's entire personality is cat themed (that alone is bizarre, but to each their own, right?), this novel made me think this story was more for fun than a solid attempt at writing. Harsh? Maybe. But y'all it's bad.

A Love Catastrophe was very vanilla. Could be used as a palate cleanser. NO SPICE! Great opposities attract between a boho cat lover and a muscular hockey lover. Two people who find each other when both of their worlds are changing. They relate to each due to past tragic events and help the other overcome all the changes that are happening

Funny and unexpected! I enjoyed this romcom by the one and only, Helena Hunting. I wish there would have been a little more spice but I loved the concept and how many times it made me laugh.

4.5 stars
I have been a big fan of the author for many years and I have read all of her books.
A Love Catastrophe is a funny and light-hearted story. Kitty is a cat whisperer. She kitty sits for people and that is how she meets Miles. Kitty is a very sunshiney person. Miles, not so much.
Miles mom has been diagnosed with dementia and he is struggling to deal with it. His mom has a Sphynx cat that Miles has to take care of. He is not a fan of the cat, at all. He needs help so he hires Kitty.
Initially, Kitty isn't too impressed with Miles. How could she like someone who doesn't like cats? But she knows Miles needs her help so she sticks it out.
These two are so cute together. Kitty helps Miles deal with his mom's cat as well as helping him come to terms with his mom's illness.
Kitty's life has its own issues but these two make it work.
I really enjoyed this book.

A Love Catastrophe was super cute! I'm a cat person, so I loved Kitty and her love of all things cats.. I thought the chemistry between Kitty and Miles was great and really made me root for them. It was good to see the Kitty's growth finally dealing with her father's death while helping Miles with his mom while she transitions to assisted living with dementia. With a MIL with dementia, I see this as my future. I always love Helena Hunting's books and this did not disappoint.

This book was so sweet. Helena excels at writing quirky female leads and swoony male leads, and the plot centering around a crazy cat lady was a home run in my book. The transition of enemies to lovers was smooth, and I loved the chemistry between the leads. This is a perfect palate cleanser!

I don’t think I have even related so hard to both the main characters before. Not only do they seem to blurt out some of the most awkward things (100% relatable), but their growth through grief and change was extremely relatable.

This book was a bit emotional, but it centered more on grief and loss. I especially loved that these characters came together to deal with an outside drama and not internal relationships drama.

I’m definitely repeating myself but this book was relatable on so many levels. The author did an amazing job giving us an authentic feeling love story that really balanced grief and comedic moments.

CW: loss of family member, dementia, social media backlash

I am a huge Helena Hunting fan and I loved this one. The animal puns and shenanigans were classic and I love that Hunting always mixes some humor into her stories. At this point I fully expect it. I also thought this was really balanced and there were definitely some heavier topics, but the emotional conversations were just as important. I was laughing out loud at points which was so fun and I thought a cat sitter plot point was a delight. I also enjoyed how their Miles and Kitty's relationship developed throughout the story. I truly love reading Helena's books and her rom-coms are always so joyous and so good. Thanks to Forever Publishing for sending me an e-ARC to read and review!

A Love Catastrophe is a lighthearted romance filled with puns. SO many cat puns!! Kitty is the proud owner of The Kitty Whisperer, a pet caretaking business. She runs into Miles (quite literally!) and ends up taking care of his mother’s cat. Miles and Kitty initially seem like they don’t have anything in common, so why are they unable to stay away from each other?

This is a sweet, cheerful read. Miles and Kitty are a perfect match once they get past their mutual negative first impressions. However, it was a little jolting that serious topics such as dementia and life-threatening allergic reactions were interspersed with such lighthearted content. I also didn’t connect with how some of the more romantic scenes were written, but I think some readers will love them. Readers who love cats and dogs, Helena Hunting, and lighthearted romance definitely need to check this book out!

Thank you to Helena Hunting, Forever, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oxford Star is a fun enemies-to-lovers romance with a plus sized heroine. This book was a slow burn that kept me wanting to read just one more chapter.