{"id":31435,"date":"2024-08-26T10:38:30","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T14:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=31435"},"modified":"2024-08-26T10:39:19","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T14:39:19","slug":"review-shock-and-paw-by-cate-conte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/26\/review-shock-and-paw-by-cate-conte\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \ud83d\udd0d Shock and Paw by Cate Conte"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-31435\" data-postid=\"31435\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-31435 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_l6j3858 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner col_align_top gutter-narrow tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_7nr2858 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_y69w858 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"1048\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=640%2C1048&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-31436\" title=\"shock-and-paw-cate-conte\" alt=\"shock-and-paw-cate-conte\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?w=916&amp;ssl=1 916w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=183%2C300&amp;ssl=1 183w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=625%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 625w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=768%2C1258&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=400%2C655&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_1n2r858 customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong><span class=\"a-text-bold\">Beware the cats of Christmas past\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">It\u2019s the holiday season on Daybreak Island, and Maddie James is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight, watching the island\u2019s Christmas decoration competition from afar, spending time with her boyfriend and family, running tours for visitors as part of the festivities and spreading holiday cheer through cute cats in jingle bell collars.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">But trouble hits close to home when word gets out that Donna Carey, the publisher of the island\u2019s only daily newspaper where Maddie\u2019s best friend Becky is editor, may be selling the business. Becky is a diehard journalist and to her, selling the only newspaper on the island is a fate worse than death. She publicly opposes the potential sale, wreaking havoc on her relationship with her big boss.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Maddie is sympathetic, but she has her own problems &#8211; like getting pulled into a role on the Christmas event committee despite her best efforts to stay far removed, and solving the case of a mysterious cat breeder trying to sell expensive designer cats as holiday gifts on the island. But then Donna winds up dead\u2014electrocuted by her own Christmas decorations\u2014and it appears to be more than an accident. To make matters worse, Becky becomes suspect number one. Maddie is thrown into another murder investigation in order to save her best friend from a Christmas behind bars.<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_li44858 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_3ulp858  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16467 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3_5-hearts-1.jpg?resize=146%2C44&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"146\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Aug 20, 2024<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>A Cat Cafe Mystery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>8<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $9.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Maddie James<\/strong> is the proud owner of JJ\u2019s House of Purrs, a cat cafe named after her cherished cat. It\u2019s less than two weeks before Christmas, and the whole town of Daybreak Harbor in New England is excited about the town\u2019s Christmas Lights Contest. Maddie is usually in the middle of all the town\u2019s events, but this time, she\u2019s happy to just be a participant and have more time to enjoy the holidays. However, plans change for Maddie when her mom begs her to step in and organize things for the contest before it ends up being a failure. Then, when Donna Carey, the publisher of the local newspaper, is killed and her best friend becomes a suspect, Maddie puts plans of relaxation aside and begins looking into the murder.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is the eighth book in the <em>Cat Cafe Mystery<\/em> series. I\u2019ve read a couple of the earlier books in the series, but it has been a while. I had a hard time keeping up with all the characters and remembering how each person was connected. When Maddie and her friends were able to narrow down the suspects in Donna\u2019s murder, I had to remind myself who they were. This kept me from focusing on the plot, but I\u2019m sure readers who follow the series regularly won\u2019t have the same problem. I would have loved a list of characters at the beginning. Those that stood out were Maddie, her grandfather, her sister, and her boyfriend, but some of the others blended together.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The decorating contest is a fun element for a Christmas-themed cozy and I love how excited Maddie\u2019s grandfather is to participate and how competitive he is. Maddie and others keep finding advertisements for designer cats for sale, promoting them as great holiday gifts. That part of the plot, especially regarding potential scams, is interesting and informative. I liked the scenes with Maddie and her boyfriend Lucus, owner of a pet grooming salon, and wish there had been more of them. Instead, we have Maddie being manipulated by several townspeople into taking over their part of the contest planning, including having chairs delivered and putting up decorations. This wasn\u2019t as interesting, and I hated seeing Maddie taken advantage of. When Maddie was at the cafe with the cats, the book interested me more, but there weren\u2019t many scenes there. As a whole, I think this is probably a really fun series. This book on its own had some enjoyable parts but had the potential to be even better. I think fans of the series will enjoy catching up with their favorite characters.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_38zl858 customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3X41rjo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/3MmrGwI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte\/1144868581?ean=9781250883988\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/shock-and-paw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Cate_Conte_Shock_and_Paw?id=QIroEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beware the cats of Christmas past\u2026 It\u2019s the holiday season on Daybreak Island, and Maddie James is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,89,128,48],"tags":[148,223,367],"class_list":["post-31435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-christine","category-penguin-group","category-reviews","tag-3-5-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-mystery"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \ud83d\udd0d Shock and Paw by Cate Conte - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a4181aeb9cd5641e30023b9b4d3e00d","name":"beverley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"beverley"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/author\/beverley\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?fit=916%2C1500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"builder_content":"<img src=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg\" title=\"shock-and-paw-cate-conte\" alt=\"shock-and-paw-cate-conte\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?w=916&amp;ssl=1 916w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=183%2C300&amp;ssl=1 183w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=625%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 625w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=768%2C1258&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte.jpg?resize=400%2C655&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 916px) 100vw, 916px\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Beware the cats of Christmas past\u2026<\/strong><br \/><br \/>It\u2019s the holiday season on Daybreak Island, and Maddie James is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight, watching the island\u2019s Christmas decoration competition from afar, spending time with her boyfriend and family, running tours for visitors as part of the festivities and spreading holiday cheer through cute cats in jingle bell collars.<br \/><br \/>But trouble hits close to home when word gets out that Donna Carey, the publisher of the island\u2019s only daily newspaper where Maddie\u2019s best friend Becky is editor, may be selling the business. Becky is a diehard journalist and to her, selling the only newspaper on the island is a fate worse than death. She publicly opposes the potential sale, wreaking havoc on her relationship with her big boss.<br \/><br \/>Maddie is sympathetic, but she has her own problems - like getting pulled into a role on the Christmas event committee despite her best efforts to stay far removed, and solving the case of a mysterious cat breeder trying to sell expensive designer cats as holiday gifts on the island. But then Donna winds up dead\u2014electrocuted by her own Christmas decorations\u2014and it appears to be more than an accident. To make matters worse, Becky becomes suspect number one. Maddie is thrown into another murder investigation in order to save her best friend from a Christmas behind bars.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3_5-hearts-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"146\" height=\"44\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Aug 20, 2024<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>A Cat Cafe Mystery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>8<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley\u00a0<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $9.99<\/p><hr \/><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Maddie James<\/strong> is the proud owner of JJ\u2019s House of Purrs, a cat cafe named after her cherished cat. It\u2019s less than two weeks before Christmas, and the whole town of Daybreak Harbor in New England is excited about the town\u2019s Christmas Lights Contest. Maddie is usually in the middle of all the town\u2019s events, but this time, she\u2019s happy to just be a participant and have more time to enjoy the holidays. However, plans change for Maddie when her mom begs her to step in and organize things for the contest before it ends up being a failure. Then, when Donna Carey, the publisher of the local newspaper, is killed and her best friend becomes a suspect, Maddie puts plans of relaxation aside and begins looking into the murder.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is the eighth book in the <em>Cat Cafe Mystery<\/em> series. I\u2019ve read a couple of the earlier books in the series, but it has been a while. I had a hard time keeping up with all the characters and remembering how each person was connected. When Maddie and her friends were able to narrow down the suspects in Donna\u2019s murder, I had to remind myself who they were. This kept me from focusing on the plot, but I\u2019m sure readers who follow the series regularly won\u2019t have the same problem. I would have loved a list of characters at the beginning. Those that stood out were Maddie, her grandfather, her sister, and her boyfriend, but some of the others blended together.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The decorating contest is a fun element for a Christmas-themed cozy and I love how excited Maddie\u2019s grandfather is to participate and how competitive he is. Maddie and others keep finding advertisements for designer cats for sale, promoting them as great holiday gifts. That part of the plot, especially regarding potential scams, is interesting and informative. I liked the scenes with Maddie and her boyfriend Lucus, owner of a pet grooming salon, and wish there had been more of them. Instead, we have Maddie being manipulated by several townspeople into taking over their part of the contest planning, including having chairs delivered and putting up decorations. This wasn\u2019t as interesting, and I hated seeing Maddie taken advantage of. When Maddie was at the cafe with the cats, the book interested me more, but there weren\u2019t many scenes there. As a whole, I think this is probably a really fun series. This book on its own had some enjoyable parts but had the potential to be even better. I think fans of the series will enjoy catching up with their favorite characters.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3X41rjo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apple.co\/3MmrGwI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/shock-and-paw-cate-conte\/1144868581?ean=9781250883988\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/shock-and-paw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Cate_Conte_Shock_and_Paw?id=QIroEAAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31435"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31448,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31435\/revisions\/31448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}