Kat & Maus

Kat is on a skiing holiday in Canada when she meets Maus, a German who lives in the USA like her and who is also on holiday. He is younger than she is but that doesn’t seem to matter to him at all. She is honest and admits to being married with a small son, but that doesn’t faze him either. They’d live for the now, not for what is in the past he told her. He is perfect for her in every way and seems to intuitively know what she likes. He is gentlemanly and patient and the attraction is immediate and reciprocal and so begins their tender, gentle romance. Kat’s marriage is stale and she is fed up with keeping up appearances and going through the motions. This feels good, natural and she feels loved, respected and more of an equal partner.
But all is not as it seems to be. Maus only knows all about her and what she likes because he has been hired and coached by her suspicious and controlling husband Mark Bell, a very rich and successful defence lawyer. The agreement is that Maus must test Kat’s loyalty and fidelity to Mark and in return everything concerning the holiday will be paid for by Mark and also he will work free of charge to free Maus’ best friend who in languishing in gaol unjustly accused of rape by an ‘It Girl’. Kat would be devastated if she found out the truth – mad as mad could be with both men. The trouble is Maus has fallen hard for Kat. The trade off has turned sour. Whatever Maus says or doesn’t say he stands to lose Kat, the trophy wife and he still wants justice for his mate. Disaster is just about inevitable. If only they hadn’t fallen in love it could have all worked out.
I liked the idea for this novel a lot and thought the story was well told with interesting characters. I particularly liked the parallel story about Kat’s sister’s romance. They complemented each other perfectly. I loved the romance between Kat and Maus, gradually building up to a sizzling and sensual love story. But what I didn’t like was the ‘after story’ of when Kat was reunited with Mark and they both returned home. I was frustrated by the stall in Kat and Maus’ love story and thought that this fractured and slowed down the pace and tone of the novel altogether, because it changed it so drastically. I also thought the ending was very rushed and could easily have been expanded as this was a relatively short novel. I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Black Rose Writing through my membership of NetGalley. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences given or taken. I found the novel a mixture of very enjoyable and the feeling of being hijacked, especially as the ending was so poorly executed. So it was with very mixed feeling that I wrote this review.

I received this book for free from Netgalley and Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I found the author did a good job in writing the world building. We meet Kat, she is in a marriage that is unappreciative and while away on a trip, Kat thought she finally met someone that she could trust. but not everything is as it seems. She meets Maus while on her trip but little did she know, Maus already know about her. He has been hired by Kat's husband to spy on her.

The characters were very well written. I felt like I was looking through their eyes in this story. The plot was set up nicely. I look forward to reading more from this author.

.I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciated the opportunity to discover a new author to me. I found the description to be inviting and I was very curious.

While I did read the story and the pace was good, I found the circumstances unbelievable. It was hard to connect or feel empathy with any of the characters given their deception. The story ended up with an HEA but getting there felt like work.