Finding Mr. Purrfect

The fake-dating trope and some feisty felines animate this effervescent sequel to Gary’s A Cat Café Christmas. Charity Simmons co-owns Meow and Furever, a nonprofit cat café and veterinary practice, with her best friend, Kara—not a prestigious-enough pursuit, according to her successful and status-obsessed parents. She takes a solo trip to Mexico for Christmas to avoid more familial judgment and there unexpectedly runs into marketing manager Will Schwartz, the smooth talking best friend of Kara’s new boyfriend. Charity and Will bond on vacation, leading to a steamy night together—after which Charity wakes up alone. As members of the same friend group, they can’t avoid each other for long, however, and when Charity’s parents pressure her to settle down and spring multiple surprise blind dates on her, she claims she’s already dating Will to get them to back off. Will, for his part, is enamored with Charity, but he won’t admit it, even to himself. Their fake relationship inevitably spawns real feelings, but Will’s fear of commitment may tear them apart. (“If you can’t imagine us together forever, I’d rather you break my heart now than two years in the future,” says Charity.) Witty banter between the leads and cameos from the café’s mischievous kittens lace the heartfelt love story with humor and Gary does an excellent job of painting even Charity’s parents as three-dimensional. Readers will relish this lighthearted romp. (Jan.)