Meet-Cat

Golden Years #2

by Adele Buck

Astrid Ellis is an introvert’s introvert. A widowed, bestselling mystery novelist with grown kids, she’s very happy on her own, thank you very much. But when a cat mysteriously appears in her fifth floor apartment, of course she’s going to make sure the poor thing gets back to its owner…

…Who turns out to be Astrid’s brand-new silver fox of a neighbor, Ben Strong. Despite being immediately intrigued by the reserved and beautiful woman, he's determined to respect her boundaries. Trouble is, the cat is smitten with Astrid and keeps demanding visits. What else can he do but ask if his lovely neighbor will time-share the little beast before she (the cat, not the woman) yowls herself into an early grave?

There is at least one huge reason why Astrid doesn’t want to open her heart to handsome, kind Ben, but with an adorable cat as matchmaker, how long can she hold out?

163 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 2025

About the author

A New Hampshire native, Adele still has membership card number 430 from her hometown library even though she has lived in the D.C. area for over 20 years with her fantastic husband and the requisite number of melodramatic cats.

Having worked as (among other things): a bookseller, a server, a communications manager, an actor, and a stage manager, Adele is currently employed as a librarian at a Washington, D.C. law school.

To keep up with the latest, please sign up for her newsletter on adelebuck.com.

(Photo credit: Brian Adams PhotoGraphics)

Reviews

[Verity W · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Meet-Cat, our heroine is Astrid, mystery novelist, widow and mum of two grown boys. When a cat wanders into her fifth floor apartment she's somewhat concerned about where it might have come from. But it turns out she has a new neighbour in the next door flat. Ben has taken in his daughter's cat when she moved away and couldn't take Willow with her. But the cat seems to have taken a liking to his new next door neighbour and the two of them end up with a bit of a time share arrangement - forcing them into each other's company. Astrid is fiercely independent and part of the joy of reading this is her and Ben finding ways to be together without her feeling like she's giving up her freedom by wanting someone in her life.