Cat Lady by Dawn O'Porter (one spoiler at end of review)

CAT LADY [n.]

Single, independent, crazy, aloof, on-the-shelf, lives alone . . .

It's safer for Mia to play the part that people expect. She's a good wife to her husband Tristan, a doting stepmother, she slips on her suit for work each morning like a new skin.

But beneath the surface, there's another woman just clawing to get out . . .

When a shocking event shatters the conventional life she's been so careful to build, Mia is faced with a choice. Does she live for a society that's all too quick to judge, or does she live for herself?

And if that's as an independent woman with a cat, then the world better get ready . . .

Fresh, funny and for anyone who's ever felt astray, CAT LADY will help you belong - because a woman always lands on her feet.

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I don't know how to review this book, but not for the normal reasons. I started crying at about two thirds in and didn't really stop, but I loved every word and I'd have kept reading if there was more. 

The writing flows amazingly here. I was a hundred pages in before I realised it, completely swept away (although the situation with the pet group did confuse me at first, that could have been clearer, but I got it in the end.) It might have helped that I am definitely a cat lady myself, so I could relate perfectly to Mia, but I think even people who are weird and don't like cats will enjoy this one. The animal here happens to be a cat but it could be anything; the relationship is the important thing, not the type of animal.

Mia's found family is amazing. I adore found family when it's used well, and here it's just fantastic, messy and hard and fulfilling and wonderful. I could wrap myself up in their interactions for a long long time. I liked the variety of relationships as well, romantic, friendly, professional and familial all represented here. It was wonderful to watch her social circle open up as we went through the novel.

BE AWARE there is a certain amount of very openly described sex in here.

I'm definitely recommending this one, just with a tissue warning!

And here is the spoiler: the cat dies. It's exactly as heartbreaking as you think it is. But it does get better.

Cat Lady publishes on the 27th of October, 2022. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.