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Messing With Matilda by Cat Lavoie
Published by Cat Lavoie on April 4, 2018
Genres: Chick Lit, Romantic Comedy

As a professional organizer in New York City, Matilda Hart wages war against chaos and clutter on a daily basis for her clients—and she vows to never let it invade her own well-ordered world.

But when her boyfriend decides to deviate from the path she’s been planning for them, Matilda’s perfectly structured life begins to crumble. She reluctantly finds herself back in the tiny hometown she fled a lifetime ago—determined to lay low and avoid running into anyone she used to know. So why is she reconnecting with her former best friend and putting up with the bridezilla antics of Amber, her high school nemesis?

When Matilda is tasked with keeping the bride-to-be’s heartbroken ex away from the ceremony, she discovers she has history with the man who’s trying to sabotage the wedding. Matilda quickly realizes that teaming up with cute and quirky—but hopelessly devoted—Silas Flynn could be mutually beneficial. He needs help wooing the woman he considers the love of his life and Matilda can’t pass up the chance to finally get back at the meanest of the mean girls by assisting Silas in his attempts to disrupt her wedding.

Will everything go according to plan for this mismatched pair? Or will working so closely together make uptight Matilda and laid-back Silas lose sight of their common goal?

One thing’s for sure—things are about to get messy.

*****

Excerpt:

I don’t want to go home. Facing an empty apartment—one I now know I’ll be living in for the foreseeable future—is too much to handle right now. But I can’t stand on the sidewalk forever while strangers walk around me giving me annoyed looks. I can’t be mad at them—if the situation were reversed, I’d be one of those strangers wondering why the idiot in the black cocktail dress isn’t moving.

So I start moving.

Since home isn’t an option, I decide to walk to Hart Your Space and partake in one of my favorite activities—ordering office supplies. My newest obsession is colorful paperclips and I feel like ordering two boxes today—look at me being all reckless with money. I also have a few follow-up appointments next week and I should look over my notes again just to make sure I’m adequately prepared. I could schedule a lunch date with Dr. Paxton too, but none of these things are urgent and just thinking of the word “date” makes me want to throw up what little dinner I ate.

I take out my phone and see a new voicemail from my mother and two emoji-filled texts from Evie with a series of hearts, keys, and question marks. It’s like she knows something’s going on. Ignoring my messages, I fish my headphones out of my bag and connect them to my phone. Inserting the tiny white buds into my ears, I open up the podcast app on my phone and find the episode I was listening to earlier. The smooth voice of the narrator blasts into my ears—blocking out most of the traffic noise and the random conversations of the people walking past me—and I sigh with relief.

“It was a gruesome crime scene, and I was the first police officer who responded to the call. Even twenty years later, I can still remember every single detail. They are etched into my memory, and I still become emotional when discussing the events of that day.”

You wouldn’t think that listening to Crime Stalker with Jake Deno—a podcast about an NYPD homicide detective and his most memorable cases—would have a calming effect on anyone, but I’m completely fascinated by it, downloading each episode onto my phone as soon as it’s released. I listen to it at the gym, during my commute when Evie isn’t with me, and when I need to become immersed in someone else’s gory reality to escape my own.

#

Forty-five minutes later, I’m a few steps away from my office, and I’ve already decided that I’m taking a cab home when I’m done here. My feet are killing me, and I can’t wait to collapse on my desk chair and kick off the uncomfortable shoes that are giving me blisters. If I had known I’d be storming out of my date with Arthur, I would have worn the orthopedic shoes he prescribed to me after diagnosing me with flat feet, or pes planusas they say in the foot business. The heel is so chunky, it would have been perfect to throw at Arthur’s head when he started talking about Fiona and Boston. I try to forget about those two idiots as I rip the buds out of my ears.

*****

REVIEW: Being a huge fan of Cat Lavoie, I knew I had to read this book!

Right from the beginning, I could definitely relate to Matilda! Not only is she fun and quirky, the most important thing about her is that she’s real. Through the ups and downs in this laugh out loud romantic comedy, the author had me swiping pages on my iPad as fast as I could, and I was sad when it was over. I won’t give any spoilers, but I can definitely say that this book will stick with me for a long time.

If you’re looking for a book that will make your eyes bug out with surprise and your heart swoon, then “Messing With Matilda” is definitely something you will not want to miss reading!

I give “Messing With Matilda” 5 stars!

*****

INTERVIEW:

Describe your writing style in five words: Quirky chick lit with cattitude!

What is something that would surprise people to know about you? I’m a little bit allergic to cats. (I sometimes get itchy, watery eyes when I’m around a long-haired cat—but I never let that stop me!)

Salty or sweet? Can’t choose–can I have both?

What’s on your nightstand? A notepad and pen. Stuffed hippo given to me by a friend. My Kindle. A few of Paddington and Molly’s cat toys.

What was your writing/editing/publishing process like for “Messing With Matilda”? I write really slowly, so completing the first draft took ages. Thankfully, the finished draft didn’t need too much editing so that part of the process was quicker. Messing with Matilda is the first novel I’ve self-published (my first three novels were released by a small press.) It was a lot of work, but I’m really proud of the finished product!

Have you ever been star struck by anyone? Definitely. I’ve had the chance to meet a few musicians and stand-up comics that I adore. I’d like to say I stay calm, cool, and collected when I meet a famous person, but I freeze and can’t speak.

Where did the idea for “Messing With Matilda” come from? I knew I wanted to set another book in the fictional town of Messina and I loved the idea of writing about someone who grew up there and unwillingly comes back to visit.

Who inspires you to write? The book world inspires me—writers, readers, bloggers. It’s so much fun to be a part of such a vibrant and supportive community!

If “Messing With Matilda” was turned into a movie, who would you want to play the characters? My dream cast would be…

Matilda: Jenna Coleman
 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1982510/

Silas: Johnny Flynn
 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1926865/

Evie: Krysten Ritter
 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1269983/

Amy: Sarah Hyland
 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0405103/

Amber: Anna Camp 
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2319871/

What are people’s reactions when they know you’re an author? People typically have a lot of questions about how long it takes to write a book and what kind of books I write. They also ask me if I’m going to write a novel in French one day, since French is my native language. (The answer? Maybe!)

What is your favorite quote?I have always loved this quote from Oscar Wilde:“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

What are you working on right now? I’m in the early stages of plotting and researching my next novel. I love getting to know new characters, even though I kind of miss Matilda and Silas.

*****

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About Cat Lavoie

Cat Lavoie is a chick lit writer from Montreal, Canada. She loves writing fun and quirky romantic comedies and is the author of BREAKING THE RULES, ZOEY & THE MOMENT OF ZEN, PERI IN PROGRESS and MESSING WITH MATILDA.

A fan of all things feline, Cat loves cats and hopes to someday have a house full of them in order to officially become a crazy cat lady. (But one or two cats will do for now.)

If she isn’t reading or writing, Cat enjoys listening to podcasts (mostly comedy and true crime) and watching way too much TV. She fell in love with London many years ago and hopes to go back one day. Cat is currently at work on her next novel.

To connect with Cat and find out more about her books, visit CatLavoie.com and follow @CatLavoieBooks on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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