Read was fun and easy to do in one sitting. Great characters. Plot was interesting. Romance was adorable.

Really sweet romance captured in ink. Art was great and the mangaka was able to capture the heroine’s designs very well.

Book Review
Title: A Man for the Night
Author: Natsu Momose
Genre: Manga
Rating: *****
Review: In A Man for the Night we are introduced to Josie who is a virgin, when she is offering the chance to attend her high school reunion, she is worried about the popular girl Amber who made her life hell bullying her and doesn’t want to attend the reunion alone after breaking up with her boyfriend. Her best friend Kay suggests hiring a male escort for the night just to attend the party with her and Josie agrees.
We are also introduced to Callum whose brother is trying to become a movie star but to make money on the side he works as an escort under a false name. However, with a big audition coming up he can’t attend Josie’s reunion, so he asks his brother to go in his place and reluctantly he agrees. When Callum meets Josie for the first time, there is an instant attraction between them, and Callum actually reveals his true identity at the reunion to stop Amber from humiliating Josie.
Following the reunion Callum ends up staying at Josie’s place for the night after her place was broken into and her friend Kay isn’t there to stay with her. Josie can no longer control her desire for Callum and the pair end up developing a purely physical relationship, but both begin to fall for the other. When Josie realises that she is falling in love with Callum she breaks off their arrangement, but neither can really move on and in the ending scene the pair finally admit their feelings for one another and begin their relationship. A Man for the night was an interesting read and I really enjoyed it and it has to be one of my favourite entries from Harlequin Manga by far.

Harlequin romance manga comics are like my romance catnip. Gorgeous illustrations. Romantic stories. Just all around beautiful. And quite often, the comics make me want to go back and read the books too. I think for me, the comics serve a purpose of illustrating a beautiful story and bringing it to life with wonderful illustrations. It's also a teaser and taste of the story it often makes me want to take in the original story for more depth and detail. Between the book and the manga comic, they are a winning combination. And yes, I know, my review of the manga comics are often the same but it's mostly the case because they often get the same reaction from me. Thank you for this wonderful medium in delivering romance to a dedicated reader.

Typical of this kind of adaptation, in order to fit the book into 128 comic pages, events happen abruptly and the dialogue is driven by exposition. It's a cute idea, with a struggling young woman going to 12 Christmas parties with an emotionally damaged businessman, but it's a slight read with blunt emotional development.

The manga style serves the parties and dresses and pretty lead characters well. Romance novels depend a lot on interior monologue, and those self-examinations of feelings are handled through captions with a different font, which is a good technique, even if the amount of trauma in these characters' back stories is overdone.

Light, frothy, unmemorable, but nice for the holiday spirit.

I received this manga from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

It isn't Christmas any more, in fact it is almost my birthday, but I still couldn't resist requesting this one. 12 dates, a hot guy and a cute girl, but they cannot fall for each other. Well, I think we all know how this is going to end, right? :P

How they met? I laughed. She was stealing crackers for lunch and he bumped into her making her drop her bag/the crackers. What a way to meet. But thankfully he isn't angry, instead he understands. And of course, of all the coincidences, he is the one to take her home. Good, because I wouldn't want her to go on the subway with how she looks now. It is just not the right place for a fancy lady.

Aww, we find out what happened to our guy that makes him so sad, and I could imagine. He lost his child!

Haha, I would have looked just like our girl did when someone proposed such a deal to me. Pretend to be your lover? Go to all sorts of parties?

Ohh, I love a girl who can turn an ugly dress in something different. Yes, sorry, the dress just got even uglier, sorry! But it is the truth. My lord, woman. What did you make? But still, I love that she doesn't just buy new dresses instead just alters old ones. Plus, she made him very much distracted with that open back. That poor guy could barely hold his composure!
I am also happy to see more dresses by her hand later on in the story and that people are recognising her talent for altering dresses/clothes + fashion.

Aww, dude, no you can live a happy life. I haven't lost a child myself, so I cannot really talk about the situation very personally, but everyone deserves a happy life. I am sure your baby would have loved to have his mommy and daddy happy and not unhappy like you guys are now. You are allowed to have a happy life. But he keeps talking constantly how he isn't allowed it, and that now he knows about Eloise's past he can't tell her about his flaws. What? He kept hurting her with this attitude (like when she is happy to kiss and he can't). I know they both decided on pretend, but come on you guys both know it is way more now.

Ah, they kissed. Sure, it was kind of forced as it was under the mistletoe, but hey, I will take it!

I am also happy that Eloise was able to talk about her story. Now I am just waiting for Rick to do that as well. Come on! Spill it out! Finally, at page 80 he tells her and just like Eloise I was crying. :( And Eloise has some advice for Rick, probably also what she learned from the death of her husband.

*snorts* Flowers are nice to spread around the page but maybe look at where you place them. :P Rick looks like he is having one grow out of his ass.

Argghghhhh, Rick! Why did you ruin that. It was a perfect moment. Please! Argh. *shakes Rick* Then again, this is Harlequin, these stories love to throw in a wrench right in the last moments. So annoying. Can we just have a happy ending without the stupid drama? I get that Ricky had a few last things to resolve, but could he have done that without being such a meanie?

I am not sure how I felt about him inviting her parents. I would seriously be pissed if my fiance would do that if I had a bad relationship with my parents. :|
But at least the rest of the wedding was perfection!

The art was pretty nicely done.

All in all, still happy I read this, maybe I will re-read it during Christmas one day.

Lovely romantic manga set in as a Christmas romance that was very cute and entertaining,

**Received this ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Harlequin/SB Creative as the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Book title : The Twelve Dates of Christmas: a Harlequin Manga

Author : Susan Meier ; Illustrator : Miho Tomoi

Release Date : 14 January 2019

Our heroine, Eloise is a temporary worker at a law firm. She felt bored at work and tired of getting lowly paid. When she attended a party, she later met a handsome businessman named Ricky who asked her to be his "fake-girlfriend" in return for helping her finding a new job. She would have to attend 12 Christmas parties with Ricky. It turned out to be a surprise as people in the party adored Eloise and her taste in dressing. 

I barely see any conflicts here as they only circle between the hero and heroine. The heroine's past in which she came from a well-off family who later eloped with a dopey guy. The hero who was afraid to love because he once was psychologically by his late wife making him lost a son. Despite of all those little flaws, this love-story wrapped into a manga-style comes as a sweet romance for one to read. 

Review: https://literatureisliving.wordpress.com/2019/01/10/the-twelve-dates-of-christmas-a-harlequin-manga-by-susan-meier/

When Eloise meets Ricky at a party she doesn't realise how much her life will change. Ricky promises to help her find a new job and in exchange she agrees to accompany him to twelve parties. Ricky is still grieving the loss of his son but he wants to attend these parties so that people will stop expecting him to fling himself back into life. Eloise seems very kind but in need of help and so Ricky thinks this will be a way of them helping each other.

Eloise is a lovely woman, full of compassion and kindness. She is also very creative and able to turn heads with her dress designs. As Ricky gets to know her he feels himself coming to life again but he doesn't think he deserves love because he blames himself for his son's death.

Eloise can sense the darkness in Ricky's life and as she does her best to understand him and learn more about him, she also feels the growing attraction between them, but will Ricky hold onto what is growing between them or let it go?

This is a lovely manga romance with great pictures. The story is full of hope and emotions and it is just right for winter reading. When it is cold, blustery and dark outside this is a book to cuddle up with.

The artwork is beautifully drawn and the characters come to life and draw the reader into the story. Why does Ricky blame himself for his loss and how will Eloise cope with her own difficult past? Can the two of them have a future together?

Lots of questions, but the answers are found as the story unfolds in the beautiful graphics. I think this is one of my favorite romantic manga stories.

Copy provided by Harlequin via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

what a more delightful story to read, even with the events that hit the protagonists in the past, the writer presented a romantic, light and well cliche plot great for Christmas and New Year. Loved it.

Eloise is a young widow who was rejected by her parents because she eloped against their consent. She is now in such dire circumstances that she is forced to stuff her bag with food at a Christmas party in order to have something to eat the following week and that's where Ricky meets her. Ricky offers Eloise to be his hired date for the coming weeks up to Christmas so that he does not have to fend off unwanted attention. He's shut himself off the rest of the world after a grievous personal loss and he's convinced he's not good enough to have love in his life again. But Eloise is persistent and slowly melts his ice, party after party... until he leaves her alone for Christmas... or does he?

A sweet Christmas romance where love more than time shows a desperate man that wounds can be healed with the right person on their side if you do not throw away your shot. Join Eloise and Ricky on this ride through a festive New York.

I really enjoyed this book. A beautiful love story about mourning, kindness, and the beauty of happiness. Highly recommended to fans of romance and manga