Then Came You by Kate Meader-Review & Excerpt

THEN CAME YOU (Laws of Attraction #3) by Kate Meader-Review & Excerpt

 

THEN CAME YOU
Laws of Attraction #3
by Kate Meader
Release Date: May 7, 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 7, 2019

In the courtroom, they’re rivals. In the bedroom, they’re . . . divorced. But could the road trip from hell lead to a second chance at love?

Aubrey Gates is the hottest divorce lawyer in Chicago, a barb-tongued stiletto with legs that go on for miles. When her cool gray eyes meet mine across the battlefield, I want her like I’ve never wanted anyone or anything. Then I remember who she is: the woman who brought me to my knees. The woman who destroyed my faith in relationships.

The woman I used to call . . . wife.

And she needs a favor from me, Grant Lincoln.

It seems my ex forgot to mention the demise of our marriage to her dear old grammie, and now we’re both expected to attend her ninetieth birthday party. In Boston. And because it isn’t already awkward enough, Aubrey and I are driving there together from Chicago. That’s more than a thousand miles of tension, heartbreak, and barely concealed lust.

A little piece of paper might say we’re over, but this road trip is the true test. I intend to get my wife back . . . and I won’t stop until “I do.”

••••••••••

REVIEW: THEN CAME YOU is the third (and final ?) instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult LAWS OF ATTRACTION erotic, romance series focusing on three friends and law partners: Max Henderson, Lucas Wright and Grant Lincoln. This is formerly married divorce attorneys thirty-one year old Grant Lincoln, and thirty-year old Aubrey Gates’ story line. THEN CAME YOU can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Grant and Aubrey) using present day and memories from the past, THEN CAME YOU focuses on the second chance relationship between formerly married divorce attorneys: thirty-one year old Grant Lincoln, and thirty-year old Aubrey Gates. Over two years earlier Grant and Aubrey’s marriage fell apart, slowly spiralling out of control when grief and loss formed the elephant in the room. Fast forward to present day, wherein Aubrey’s fear of flying finds her former husband Grant Lincoln offering his services to drive from Chicago to Boston for the Thanksgiving holiday, and Aubrey’s Grandmother’s ninetieth birthday. Along with Aubrey’s psychotic cat, Grant and Aubrey trek cross-country while Aubrey refuses to acknowledge the struggles of the past. What ensues is the rebuilding and rekindling relationship between Aubrey and Grant, and the potential fall-out as Aubrey’s detachment and refusal to talk about what happened and why, push Grant, one final time.

Aubrey’s childhood of privilege never included the unconditional love of two adoring parents. Believing herself unworthy, our heroine struggles with what was and what will never be. Grant Lincoln has never stopped loving our story line heroine but convincing Aubrey they are both entitled to a second chance is harder than Grant could have ever imagined.

The relationship between Aubrey and Grant is a rekindling romance between two people whose life together will forever be changed. Aubrey and Grant blame themselves for what happened and why but sometimes there is no explanation for tragedy or loss. Never forgetting about the woman that called to his heart, Grant is hoping that their time together will trigger the love they once shared. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and seductive, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including Aubrey and Grant’s large extended families as well as Aubrey’s mother Marie-Claire, her father Jeffrey and his girlfriend Mercedes, and all-knowing grandmother Libby; Grant’s fellow business partners and attorneys Mac and Charlie (Down With Love #1), Lucas and Trinity (Illegally Yours #2).

THEN CAME YOU is an emotional and heart breaking story of family, friendship, love and loss; of pain and remorse; of second chances and moving on from the past. The premise is impassioned, sensitive and revealing; the romance is realistic and spirited; the characters are charismatic, flawed, and animated. THEN CAME YOU is an introspective on life, loss, acceptance and love.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Down With Love
Ilegally Yours
Then Came You

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

 

My second dirty martini appears before I’ve finished my first. I turn to find him at the end of the bar, and my breath catches just as it did that first day I saw him in the lecture hall. How does he do it? More to the point, how dare he do it?
He raises his beer bottle—Budweiser, Grant doesn’t care for anything crafty—and gives me that slow, shy smile, the one guaranteed to heat me from the inside out and make my panties slip an inch or two. These days, it takes more than that for the full-scale underwear drop. I’ve become more circumspect in my old age.
I raise my glass back and shift my thigh so my skirt rides up a little. It’s deliberate, an invitation. In a few seconds, the seat beside me is host to the most excellent ass I’ve ever had the pleasure of fondling. To think those gorgeous buns were all mine for the exploring and gripping and biting—
Hold up there, Gates.
There will be no butt-grabbing or ass-nibbling shenanigans with your ex-husband!
But said ex-husband has always had a way with words. “Want to screw ourselves stupid in my hotel room?”
I almost choke on an olive. A resounding clap on the back coughs it up from my throat, whereupon I deposit it on a napkin. First off, I give it an accusing glare as if that spherical blob is to blame for the less than sophisticated response to what I just heard.
“Ever heard of foreplay?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Seven hours in the car with your whining cat. All the foreplay I need.”
I laugh my head off. The muscles in my belly constrict, questioning this burst of energy, and I realize it’s been a long time since I let loose like this.
“All right, all right, let’s try again,” he drawls. “Waiting for someone?”
“Yeah, my date. He’s stuck in traffic.”
“Not a boyfriend, then?”
I give him a look, then a sharper one at his Budweiser bottle, playing like he’s beneath me.
“He’ll be here any moment. Weather, y’know.”
“Probably a good idea not to have him pick you up at your place.”
“Oh?”
“He would’ve had to take you, there and then, just inside the door. Lift that skirt and slip in deep and true.”
Just like one of our dates back in ancient times. I abstain from picking up my martini because my hand will shake all that precious alcohol onto the bar.
“I already told you there’d be no funny business, Grant. It’s just too complicated.”
“But you’re not denying that it’s crossed your mind.”
“Hard not to. Sex was never an issue between us. You’re still reasonably attractive, and I’m not dead.”
If anything, he’s become hotter in the last year. Perhaps it’s the slight sadness I imagine in his eyes whenever we meet. Melancholy shouldn’t be so sexy.
“So the only thing in the way is a boatload of history, recrimination, bitterness, and failure.” He sips his beer, a knowing lift to his eyebrow, all while keeping his eyes on me. “Just reasonably attractive, Bean?”
I shake my head. “Confidence was never your problem, Georgia.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I lost a little faith at one point.”
And there it is again, that wall between us that’s impossible to scale.
“Is this the point where I should apologize?”
“No,” he says immediately. “I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty, simply telling you where I’m coming from. We know each other too well to sugarcoat it.”
He’s right. But our familiarity with each other’s quirks and tics doesn’t make it any easier. If anything, it’s a millstone around our necks. We had something wonderful and it burned to an ash of regrets. 


 

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

Share

Illegally Yours (Laws of Attraction #2) by Kate Meader-a review

ILLEGALLY YOURS (Laws of Attraction #2) by Kate Meader-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 22, 2019

Rule #1: Never fall for your client.
Rule #2: Never fall for your client’s fiercely protective, smoking hot sister-in-law.

I’m the kind of guy who believes that everyone deserves the best legal representation money can buy—which just so happens to be me, Lucas Wright. Give me your henpecked, your cuckolded, your irreconcilable differences yearning to break free! And if you’re the bad guy in your marriage, that’s cool too. Your green is as good as anyone’s.

Tell that to Trinity Jones. It’s my job to destroy her sister—the soon-to-be ex-wife of my a-hole of a client—and Trinity’s “big sis” instincts are dialed up to the max. I admire that. I admire her. But she won’t stop me from representing my client to the best of my ability.

Not even if my chemistry with Trinity is undeniable. Not even if we can’t keep our hands off each other. Not even if she injects life into a heart assumed to be long dead.

Because when faced with a choice between love and duty, the job will always win—or at least that’s what I thought before I met Trinity . . . and suddenly conflict of interest never felt so right.

•••••••••

REVIEW: ILLEGALLY YOURS is the second instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult LAWS OF ATTRACTION erotic, romance series focusing on three friend and law partners: Max Henderson, Lucas Wright, and Grant Lincoln. This is twenty-eight year old, divorce attorney Lucas Wright, and thirty-four year old, sommelier Trinity Jones’ story line. ILLEGALLY YOURS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Lucas and Trinity) ILLEGALLY YOURS follows the building relationship between twenty-eight year old, divorce attorney Lucas Wright, and thirty-four year old, sommelier Trinity Jones. Lucas Wright doesn’t do relationships but meeting sommelier Trinity Jones’ at Max Henderson’s bachelor party made our hero sit up and take notice but trouble is about to follow Max and Trinity when Max discovers that Trinity is the sister in law of the man he represents in an upcoming divorce battle. Ethically and morally Lucas knows he should either step aside, or ask permission to date his clients soon to be ex sister-in –law. With permission granted, Lucas and Trinity embark on a romantic relationship one that is doomed when Lucas is unable to remain impartial when Trinity reveals the truth. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Lucas and Trinity, and the potential fall-out when secrets are revealed, and Trinity, by her need to take care of everyone she loves, becomes the enabler as her sister struggles to move on with her life.

The relationship between Lucas and Trinity is one of immediate attraction although Lucas’ smart British mouth gets him into a bit of trouble with out story line heroine. Discovering that Lucas is her sister’s soon to be ex-husband’s attorney knows that to cross ethical lines could place Lucas on the road to disbarment but the heart wants something more than a passing fling. Both having suffered painful childhood drama, Lucas and Trinity become kindred spirits as they recall heart break from the past.The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense.

We are reintroduced to Max and Charlie (Down With Love #1), as well as fellow divorce attorneys and business partners Grant Lincoln, and Aubrey Gates: Trinity’s sister Emily Carso , and her soon to be ex-husband Brian, and their children Chase and Arianna ; and fellow co-workers and Trinity’s friends Gideon and Pete.

ILLEGALLY YOURS is a story of secrets, family, heart break and love. The premise is inviting and spicy; the romance is spirited and moving; the characters are sassy and sexy. ILLEGALLY YOURS is an energetic and passionate look at two people willing to cross the line for something more.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one DOWN WITH LOVE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

Share

Down With Love (Laws of Attraction #1) by Kate Meader -a review

DOWN WITH LOVE (Laws of Attraction #1) by Kate Meader -a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 7, 2018

Sparks fly when the hot-shot divorce lawyer meets the high-powered wedding planner. The only question is, what kind?

If you ever get married, remember my name: Max Henderson. In my line of work, you acquire a certain perspective on supposedly everlasting unions. . . .

1. Pre-nups are your friend.
2. The person you married is not the person you’re divorcing.
3. And I hope you didn’t spend much on the wedding because that was one helluva waste of hard-earned cash, wasn’t it?

But some guys are willing to take a chance. Like my brother, who thinks he’s going to ride off into the sunset with the woman of his dreams in a haze of glitter on unicorns. And the wedding planner—the green-eyed beauty who makes a living convincing suckers to shell out thousands of dollars on centerpieces—is raking it in on this matrimonial monstrosity.

The thing is, Charlie Love is not unlike me. We’re both cogs in the wedding-industrial complex. As the best man, I know her game—and I can play it better than her. But after one scorching, unexpected kiss, I’m thinking I might just want to get played.

•••••

REVIEW:  DOWN WITH LOVE is the first instalment in Kate Meader’s contemporary, adult LAWS OF ATTRACTION erotic, romance series focusing on three friend and law partners: Max Henderson, Lucas Wright, and Grant Lincoln. This is divorce attorney Max Henderson, and wedding planner Charlie Love’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Max and Charlie) DOWN WITH LOVE follows the acrimonious relationship between divorce attorney Max Henderson, and wedding planner Charlie Love. Max’s brother James has thrown him for a loop with the announcement of his upcoming wedding to Gina Torres, a woman his brother has known for only three months. Enter wedding planner Charlie Love, a woman who pushes all of Max’s buttons, buttons he admits come with hard and fast rules about love and marriage. What ensues is the building relationships between Charlie and Max, and the potential fall-out as Charlie and Max are unable to reach a harmonious impasse with regards to love and a happily ever after.

Max is an embittered divorce attorney who has seen it all, and the one time he thought he had found his own happily ever after destroyed his faith in marriage and love. Meeting Charlie Love, the woman currently starring in all of his fantasies and real-life drama finds Max thinking about forever but a forever that is quickly shut down when another impending divorce drops onto the horizon affecting his relationship with our story line heroine.

The relationship between Max and Charlie is one of immediate attraction; a palpable sexual attraction that does not go unnoticed by friends and family but an attraction that is tempered by their opposing views on love, and their inability to meet somewhere in the middle. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Max’s brother and his fiancé Gina Torres, as well as Max’s very well-to-do parents Susanne and Jack Henderson; Charlie’s foster parents Donna and Frank Sullivan; whiskey sommelier Trinity Jones; as well as Max’s law partners Lucas Wright and Grant Lincoln. Lucas and Trinity’s story line is next in Illegally Yours.

DOWN WITH LOVE is a sexy and spirited story line with flirty characters and a provocative romance. The premise is inviting, realistic and spicy; the characters are flawed and struggle in their opposing views of marriage and life.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Kate Meader

Originally from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemprary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

Share

Damage Control (Laws of Attraction #1) by Kate McMurray-a review

DAMAGE CONTROL (Laws of Attraction #1) by Kate McMurray-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 18, 2018

Senate candidate Parker Livingston chose his political dreams over a future with the man he loved. He lives with constant regret about not having Jackson Kane in his life. Or his bed. And when a strange woman is found murdered in Parker’s apartment, Jackson is the only person Parker trusts to help clear his name.

Jackson never forgave Parker for the way their relationship ended. He moved on, built a name for himself as a criminal defense attorney and swore he’d never let heartbreak back in. But when Parker shows up on his doorstep, wild-eyed and handsome and desperate for his help, Jackson can’t say no. Parker is a lot of things, but he’s no murderer.

Forced back together, searching for answers, their attraction returns with a vengeance. Any distraction—personal or professional—could be deadly. The murderer is still at large, and he’s made it clear one of them is his next victim.

••••••••••

REVIEW: DAMAGE CONTROL is the first instalment in Kate McMurray’s contemporary, adult LAWS OF ATTRACTIONS erotic, M/M romance series. This is attorneys Jackson Kane, and senate candidate Parker Livingston’s story line.

NOTE: DAMAGE CONTROL is a M/M romance story line and contains sexual situations that may not be suitable for all readers.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Jackson and Parker) DAMAGE CONTROL follows the rekindling romance between college sweethearts and attorneys Jackson Kane, and senate candidate Parker Livingston. A young woman was found murdered in Parker Livington’s apartment, and our hero is the prime suspect for all of the apparent reasons. Believing himself targeted for his run for the state Senate, Parker knows of only one attorney he can trust with his life, and his heart. Enter former lover and ex-boyfriend Jackson Kane. What ensues is the focus on the investigation into the woman’s murder, as Jackson and Parker struggle with their on-going attraction and unwavering love for one another.

Five years earlier Parker destroyed Jackson’s life when an opportunity to enter politics meant keeping secret their love and their affair. Eight years together as partner and lovers meant nothing when politics beckoned, and the potential fall-out of their relationship could have damaged Parker’s hopes of a seat in the Senate. Destroyed by the man he loved, Jackson walked away only to be pulled back into the life he had pushed out of his mind.

The relationship between Jackson and Parker is one of broken hearts, and desperate attempts to avoid the elephant in the room. Jackson isn’t willing to place his heart back into the line of fire knowing their attraction to one another continues to burn with the fiercest of needs. Well-to-do, Republican and gay, Parker’s desperate attempts to beg forgiveness is clouded by his race for the state Senate, a race that, once again, threatens the relationship with the man that he loves. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Jackson’s law partner Michael Reed, as well as police detective Gavin Shaw. There may be an understated attraction between Reed and Shaw, an attraction that is hampered by Reed’s marital status to his wife Julie.

DAMAGE CONTROL is a story of regret, broken hearts, friendship, forgiveness and love. The premise is spicy, edgy and riveting but the main focus of the story line remained on the couple in question pushing the murder investigation into the background. The romance is one of second chances; provocative and dramatic; the characters are spirited, realistic and brilliant. Kate McMurray addresses the current wave of political divisiveness including the battle lines drawn for same sex relationships, health care and the faltering economy. DAMAGE CONTROL is an intelligent, passionate and reflective story line.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy 

Share