Down with Love by Kate Meader

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.

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
I love Kate Meader's books and this is no exception. Her character driven story about Charlie and Max is a wonderful look at love from two vastly different perspectives.

Max is a high-powered divorce lawyer who sees what happens to couples after the "bright and shiny" wears off. His view of love is very cynical, and he has no use for people he believes exploits people's love for money – especially wedding planners.

Charlie loves helping people plan the wedding of their dreams. She likes knowing that she's had a small part in making their day – "their" day. For her, it’s all about making memories, something that the couple can share with their families years down the road.

Max's cynical attitude leads his brother to reluctantly share the news of his wedding proposal and introduces him to Charlie, their wedding planner. It bothers Max that his own brother has shared his concerns about telling him about his news with Charlie, enough so that Max acts like the cynical a$$hole that he's known to be in the courtroom.

As Max and Charlie's relationship develops, you can see how much Max struggles with seeing the world around him change. He's been hurt and duped, by people claiming to love him and it’s only after Charlie walks away does he realize that all change isn't bad.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the first in a new series by Kate Meader and has her winning style stamped all over it. I really am looking forward to the upcoming installments – and hope that she will be finding happily ever afters for the other partners in the law firm with Max.

The set-up is perfect, and we get some of the expected jabs and jibes between the two leads – Max, the love-averse divorce lawyer, and Charlie, the wedding planner for Max's brother's wedding. But there is only so much of the obvious, and lots of funny and original twists in their nature, their view points, and their expectations for the future. We soon learn that they are both people with bad track records with romance, but where Charlie still believes she will find the one, Max is doing all he can not to fall into that trap again. It makes for some interesting conversations, that is for sure, both before they succumb to their chemistry and afterwards too.

I loved the humour, the camaraderie, and the revealing of what a good guy Max really is – I love the idea of the PP and would have released a lot of my anger in there!!

Thank you, Kate Meader, for giving us the first in what I am sure will be another great series.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
This book feels like a classic movie romcom. It’s the story of a successful divorce attorney who finds himself unwillingly attracted to his brother’s wedding planner. Max and Charlie are both beautiful and successful but while Charlie is a romantic, Max has facilitated too many messy divorces to believe in true love.

There is great chemistry between Charlie and Max in this story. I loved the banter between them and I enjoyed watching Charlie unsettle Max. Their relationship is fairly predictable but it is good fun watching them get over their hang-ups so they can finally be together.

Max and Charlie’s families and colleagues are wonderful and I loved the sense of fun in this book. I found Max’s easy privilege a little bit annoying at times and his career success at 29 is more than a little bit implausible. Fortunately, Charlie balances Max’s privilege and she forces him to be more self-aware.

This is an easy, fluffy, feel-good read with likeable characters, a little bit of heat, and some laugh out loud moments. It isn’t a complicated story, but it is a great summer holiday read.

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, a fire hose, or a hockey stick, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemporary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Down with Love (Laws of Attraction #1) by Kate Meader to read and review.