"The Man Ban": 3.5⭐

(Unpaid Review: thank you to @netgalley, @berkleypublishing and @nicolamarsh for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review.)

What a lovely, quick and fast-paced read this was! Awareness to vitiligo and representation to other cultures were absolutely amazing!

I only wished there was more screen time to the secondary characters, but let me tell, the steamy parts were absolutely incredible! 🥵

This book was good and I loved the chemistry between the main couple. I did feel like the last half moved very very fast though. I could see the proposal coming a mile away and I must admit I was surprised Harper didn’t at least question why he was proposing so quickly. I thought the final conflict was resolved very quickly, but overall it was a fun read.

I ended up DNFing this one about half way through. I found it enjoyable, but my brain couldn’t seem to focus on the story. I look forward to revisiting it later!

I actually went into this one without realizing it was set in Australia, and Melbourne of all places. So that made me instantly delighted, and homesick all at once.

Harper decided she’d put herself on a ‘man ban’ after a nasty breakup where she finally revealed her vulnerability to her boyfriend at the time, and the next day he broke things off.

Manny Gomes becomes completely smitten with Harper during a wedding, but the two get off to a decidedly rocky start when he belittles the food styling at the event, not realizing that Harper was actually the stylist. But two weeks later Harper is working at a hotel in New Zealand when who should walk in but Manny, who is attending a conference there. He actually helps her out with the job when her assistant is a no-show and naturally, the more time they spend together, the more sparks start to fly.

I loved all the little Australianisms and places in the book that feel like home to me. I’ve also been lucky enough to travel to New Zealand for work a few times, with a bit of vacay tacked on, so it was really special to read about NZ as well.

I found myself getting a little annoyed at Harper and Manny on occasion because I really wanted them to get out of their own way, but overall I found them pretty loveable and I really enjoyed this book so much.

If you’re looking for a good dislike-to-love story (I wouldn’t go as far as to call them enemies or anything), then you can’t go past this one.

This book was a really fun quick romcom, that is perfect for the summer!

I loved the relationship dynamic of Harper and Manny, I was literally rooting for them the whole time!! I dont really know how to put into words, how cute this book was but I can say I will definitely be looking to pick up way more books by Nicola Marsh, ahh!

Oh how I loved this book!! I feel like I fell in love right along with Harper and Manny! This was such a great, steamy love story. Both Harper and Manny have to overcome their internal struggles to be able to fully open their hearts up to each other. When they come together, things get hot. I love the fact that Harper is a food stylist. I think that would be a really neat job to have. It definitely wouldn't get boring. I love the fact that Manny is so loving and loyal to his grandmother, Izzy. Although, Izzy did get on my nerves quite a bit with her constant nagging. Nicola Marsh wrote such a touching, lovely book. I love it when I finish a book that leaves me completely happy and satisfied.

"Get your mind out of the gutter."
"From the way you kissed me before, I thought you liked it there."
"That kiss should never have happened."
She slammed the trunk and dabbed at her face, doing little but spreading the whipped cream around, before holding it out to him.
"It wasn't part of the plan."

The only plan Harper has had is to stay away from men. No more dating for her. She has a thriving career that she loved. That was her focus now. That seems simple enough. Until she meets Manny.

Manny loves his career. Being a doctor has taken hard work, dedication and commitment. But a commitment to a woman? No thank you. He's happy being a single doctor who enjoys dating around. Until Harper.

Circumstances throw Harper and Manny together. Neither one seems to mind either. They are definitely enjoying each other's company. The closer they get, the harder it is to deny the attraction. Learning to trust each other and be vulnerable with each other will be the hardest thing for them to learn.

I adored this story! The characters were so entertaining and the plot was great!

How does a woman survive without a man? Very well, thank you very much. But when an interesting specimen crosses your path, you can have a little fun, right?

A tale of lust at first sight, with a heroine who is off men at the moment. And a playboy hero who pursues her relentlessly.

(Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange of an honest review)
This was a funny, sweet, and steamy read. Harper and Manny have great chemistry and their banter is so witty it actually made me laugh out loud at times. I also really appreciated the inclusion of a main character with vitiligo, and after reading the author’s note, I think it’s even more meaningful.
The only negative I have is the romance was moving a little too fast for me towards the end, but the book does address that.

A fun foodie romance with beautiful settings and sporadic frustrations.

Harper Ryland has decided to institute a man ban after a disastrous breakup and instead focus on her blossoming food stylist career. Styling the food at her best friend’s wedding might be just the break she needs; hopefully some of the guest will want to hire her. During the reception, one of the groomsmen, Manny Gomes, disparages her work and she decides to exact revenge by humiliating him. But things don’t go exactly to plan. A few days later, she has a career-defining job in New Zealand and she sees Manny there as he’s finishing up attending a medical conference. After some problems arise that risk her success with the job, he offers to step in and help out. And maybe they’ll also see how things go if they give into the chemistry between them…

Overall, I enjoyed this story. The chapters are short and make it really easy to read. The setting of Melbourne/Auckland/Lake Taupo also was amazing and definitely makes me want to visit those places someday! I feel like we really got immersed in the location and learned a lot about the best places to be a tourist in each city. The friend group was very supportive, as well, and helped us understand Harper and Manny better.

Now for the not-so-great parts. During their first meeting at the wedding, Manny managed to be pretty creepy. It was intended as a pick-up line and a measure of how smooth and flirty he is, but their interaction made me feel gross. It took quite a while to really warm up to him again. There were also several instances of sexist statements. Manny was constantly told that he needs a wife to take care of him, despite him being 40 years old and a successful doctor. He told Harper that he likes a woman with a “healthy appetite”, making it sound like she’s “not like the other girls”. Harper commented that Manny must actually be a woman because he wanted to go on a date instead of just having sex. These were all small moments and could have been throw-away comments, but they definitely don’t feel great to read about. Outside of these moments, the central conflicts revolved around a lack of communication, but the end of the story was all wrapped up with minimal fuss and quick forgiveness, making it seem like nothing was really accomplished and the characters didn’t really grow. I would have liked to see them really working through their issues individually and together so they could be stronger people and a stronger couple.

Despite these frustrations, I do think this a fun story and I recommend giving it a try. Just know what you’re going into and set your expectations accordingly. It does give off fun summer vibes and is light-hearted and an easy read, so it would be a good choice to take on vacation!

Thank you to Berkley Romance for giving me the chance to read a digital ARC of The Man Ban by Nicola Marsh! I read The Boy Toy last year and loved it. The main character in The Man Ban, Manny, was a character in The Boy Toy, but you do not need to read The Boy Toy to understand this one, although there are some references you may not get if you don't read The Boy Toy first. In The Man Ban, Harper is on a self-imposed "man ban" after her last relationship went up in flames. Since then, she has more or less sworn off men. Manny is a 40 year old ER doctor, who has little time for a relationship due to the demanding nature of his job. I thought this was a cute, quick, and entertaining read. I have been having a hard time finding books that will keep my attention lately, but this one was just what the doctor ordered! I also appreciated that it didn't take too long to get to the steam, because there is nothing worse than a story taking forever to get to the action! I think The Boy Toy still comes out ahead for me, but I still really enjoyed this story. One aspect of the story that was a little anti-climatic for me was when Harper finally reveals her vitiligo to Manny. She spends most of the book building it up and being worried about how he will react to it, and then when she tells him, it's almost like it is glossed over. I would have liked to see this revealed earlier and maybe some conflict as a result of it? I also am not sure how I feel about Manny's grandmother, Izzy. I found her to be both likeable and unlikable at different times throughout the story. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

After a bad breakup, Harper Ryland imposes a man ban to focus on her career as a food stylist. At her friend's wedding, and latest job, she decides to take revenge on Manny Gomes when he makes fun of her work. Only to run into him a week later when she's on a job that could give her a big break. When ER doc Manny volunteers to help her when her assistant quits, Harper has no choice but to accept and the chemistry between them sizzles.

The romance between Harper and Manny was very flirty and intense (and steamy!), but some of the storylines felt rushed - including the relationship between Harper and Manny. I did enjoy Manny's grandmother Izzy and their relationship.

It was a light fluffy quick read - a good beach book.

This was a great Adult Romance, with a wonderful ending! I would definitely recommend trying it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

2.5 stars

Well, this sounded fun and I love the bright cover, but this one didn’t quite deliver for me.

I liked Harper. She’s sassy, yet tender and passionate about her job. I loved reading about the food she was working with and how it seemed to come alive. Manny is…not the best hero. It’s said over and over again that he’s a playboy, and that he’s slept with everyone he works with. Okay, whatever, I just didn’t need to be reminded of it.

Plot wise, it is a very quick read. Everything moves quickly: the insta-lust, the proposal, the break up, the resolution. All of it felt rushed and not nearly as fleshed out as it needed to be. I did like learning about a new-to-me autoimmune disease and appreciated that aspect.

Overall, it was a fun and mostly fluffy story, but I just couldn’t get into the two MCs together. Harper deserved better.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

I am sorry but this book was ridiculously boring.

I was put off at the beginning by Harper's incredibly childish act of putting a pie in Manny's face. I thought the entire scene was ridiculous and unrealistic and immature. It didn't make any sense when taken with the rest of Harper's character. Unfortunately, it got worse from there.

There was no internal tension of "I kind of like him but I'm not dating right now" from Harper that I would have expected given the set up. Her "man ban" was broken incredibly easily which means there really wasn't any conflict in the book. They basically liked each other right away, the conflicts they faced were mostly outside their relationship (i.e. Manny dealing with Izzy, Harper dealing with her parents).

One of the most detrimental things was that I couldn't bring myself to care about either of the main characters. Or most of their plots. I couldn't care less about Harper's parents' divorce. I didn't care about Manny's weird "I'm not marrying" vendetta. And I didn't care about their relationship at all. I just thought it was boring.

One thing I thought was really weird was how they seemed to have no difficulty discussing sex. There was lots of "foreplay" type things in the book where they would have some sexy talk moments that were fairly graphic in terms of language but there was never any smut? Usually either the allusions to sex are very veiled, much more tame than what I found here, or there is smut. There was literally chapters building up to the first time they had sex and then it lasted all of one page. I think that's a weird play for a romance book and I wasn't a fan.

I thought that the instigation of the third act conflict, Izzy telling Harper that Manny didn't actually care about her and then later taking it back saying she was testing him was ridiculous, convoluted, gross, and annoying. Easily one of the worst plotpoints I have ever read.

And finally, there were a couple things that came off as very "old fashioned gender roles" and vaguely transphobic. The most noteable one being Manny says "This isn't a fancy date, it's low-key, and I want to spend some quality time with you" and Harper's response is "You sure you're not a woman trapped in a man's body?" No thanks.

I've been dying to read Manny's book and was not disappointed with it in the least. Nicola Marsh writes fun, steamy, funny, relatable books that cover difficult dating topics such as cultural differences. I enjoyed this one.

Anytime you swear off doing something, inevitably means it's NOT going to happen, am I right?

Harper was everything I love about a fierce female main character - determined to do things on her own, to succeed in her professional life over caring about her love life. Focusing on herself, she is going after her dreams, finding support from her friends (who Marsh writes into the story perfectly, as not the focus, but a fun peek ahead for book 3, and a flash of our friends from book 1!) and trying to be the best daughter she can, even if her parents are pulling her in the middle of their own struggles.

So of course, she meets Manny as she is showcasing what she can do & somehow he charms his way into her heart, man ban & all.

I enjoyed the portrayal of the family expectations in a mixed-race relationship, especially the way Manny's grandmother was written into the story, and how both of our main characters had their own struggles they brought with them, and how their issues were revealed and resolved.

Pick this one up if you love a rom com with a little bit of real issues, that still leave you with that HEA feeling you're hoping for!

A cute rom com that touches on so many amazing topics like mental health, auto immune disorders, divorce and more. I enjoyed the boy toy a bit more then this I didn’t connect to the hero as much in this one but I still found him sweet and sexy. If you’re looking for a good pallet cleanser pick this one up

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an e-galley of The Man Ban.

I absolutely loved The Boy Toy, so when I saw that Nicola Marsh was publishing The Man Ban I could not wait to get my grubby hands on it.

There is nothing that a good rom-com cannot fix. Harper has finally started her dream job as a food stylist - which feels like the only good thing that has happened. Her parents are in the middle of a separation, she developed an auto-immune disease that affects her skin pigmentation, and her ex-boyfriend dumped her 2 months after her diagnosis. When she bumps into Manny Gomes at a friends wedding, she is left reeling from their encounter.

When Harper lands a dream contract in New Zealand, she is thrilled. When she bumps into Manny at the same hotel, she decides to make the best of a second encounter.

DON'T WE JUST LOVE BI-RACIAL COUPLES! I also love the touches on the Anglo-Indian culture, it was really interesting to read about. THE EMPHASIS ON TRUE LOVE! Harper and Manish are couple goals, all the way. With Manny having trust issues when it comes to women, and Harper struggling with a skin condition, both members come with a lot of baggage. But, the way they learn to love each other for who they are, THAT is what love is really about. A WONDERFUL READ :)