This book was STUPID CUTE! I can't even begin to tell you how cute it was! Absolutely cinnamon roll adorable. I don't even think I can function anymore after reading this. I love witty banter in my books and I swear 80% of this book was just witty banter and verbal sparring dialogue between the two characters and I am living for it.. Not everyone will like a book filled almost entirely of dialogue and minimal prose paragraphs, but I am 100% a fan. It made the book a super, fun, and quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Books for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

The Man Ban was an easy, fun read with really likeable characters. I loved how fast paced the chapters made this one seem and was surprised by how well Marsh writes in 3rd part POV. Warning, the descriptions of food in this one will leave you hungry, so grab some snacks! 😂 My main problem was that I didn't really feel a connection to Harper. It is my understanding that both of our main characters do make cameos in another book, The Boy Toy, but since this was my first book Marsh, I can't be sure if reading that first really would have bridged that disconnect for me or not. I am certainly interested in reading more by Marsh and hope that you all enjoy The Man Ban.

After a bad breakup, Harper has sworn off men. She's focusing on her career as a food stylist, and a friend's wedding is a great opportunity to show off her skills. Even if the annoying best man isn't impressed by her skills.

After a bad breakup, Harper has sworn off men. She's focusing on her career as a food stylist, and a friend's wedding is a great opportunity to show off her skills. Even if the annoying best man isn't impressed.

Physician Manny has no intention of ever settling down, despite his grandmother's constant refrain of wanting to see him marry before she dies. When he runs into Harper at an international conference, his only intention is to make up for his careless words at the wedding.

Fate has thrown them together, and a little fling can't hurt, right? But what happens when they return home?

This is a cute, whimsical book with likable characters and a touch of humor. The plot was a little uneven—the two main characters didn't deal with their issues, until suddenly it all blew up—but overall, it was a fun read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review. Physician Manny has no intention of ever settling down, despite his grandmother's constant refrain of wanting to see him marry before she dies. When he runs into Harper at an international conference, his only intention is to make up for his careless words at the wedding.

Fate has thrown them together, and a little fling can't hurt, right? But what happens when they return home?

This is a cute, whimsical book with likable characters and a touch of humor. The plot was a little uneven—the two main characters didn't deal with their issues, until suddenly it all blew up—but overall, it was a fun read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The Man Ban initially caught my eye, because I love the cover and the title. We LOVE a good man ban. I thought Harper Ryland was such a fun character to read about! I loved her witty and quirky persona. This was a short and sweet romance which I just loved to read. This was a perfect ROMCOM for the summer and I think everyone should get their hands on it. I loved how Harper was determined and driven to achieve her goals and I took so much inspiration from her. This was an amazing novel and I will be keeping my eye out for more from Nicola Marsh!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one unfortunately is a DNF @20% for me. Reading about Manny was almost like reading about the overly flirty friend in a sitcom from the 90's that doesn't take a hint that everyone kind of laughs about that is harmless but now watches and feels uncomfortable. I had hoped that Harper would call him on it more and she does to an extent but he laughs it off and clearly is more concerned with his own desire than with such silly things like what she wants or her consent. He's kissed her twice and neither time was the consent clear to me and I just felt uncomfortable reading further about these two. I loved the Boy Toy this one just didn't work for me.

Harper is done with men, at least for the next 12 months. She has declared a man ban just in time for her best friend's wedding. However, the infuriating best man, Manny Gomes, is making that really difficult for Harper. So what is a girl to do? Make his life miserable and embarrass him for being rude to her of course! But soon Harper is seeing Manny isn't who she thought he was. Will she be able to put down her walls and open herself up, or will her Man Ban keep her from possibly finding true love?

I really enjoyed the premise of this book. What woman hasn't had a terrible break up and therefore wanted to swear off men? Nicola Marsh wrote some fun characters (especially Manny's grandmother).

This is a tough one to review without giving spoilers. I really liked Manny and Harper. I was enjoying the book up until about the 70% mark. I don’t want to give spoilers but I wasn’t a fan of how the plot unfolded and the timeline of events from then on. I appreciated the storyline of a heroine with vitiligo, especially after reading that the author has this autoimmune condition. Maybe I’ve read too many romance novels lately but I’m just not a fan of characters keeping a major secret the entire time they’re hooking up. For the amount of very forward things these two characters say to each other, you’d think they could share some honesty that would benefit the emotional part of their relationship. I would say this book definitely has flawed characters that in the end, learn from each other. I just don’t know that the redemption was earned. I enjoyed the little peek of Samira, Rory, and Pia from The Boy Toy.
I’m going to rate this one a 3.5 and round up to 4 for Goodreads only because I did enjoy the majority of the book until it got crazy.
See my highlights to read more about what my ratings mean.

Thank you to @berkleypub and @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

A sexy insta-love romance with a comical meet cute where an up and coming food stylist falls for a commitment phobic doctor. An easy and quick read with lots of quirky characters.

Harper has placed a man ban on herself and just wants to focus on her up-and-coming food stylist career, but when she runs into the annoying and flirtatious Manny Gomes at a friend’s wedding, she kisses Manny thinking she’ll never see him again. When they run into each other a second time, the two end up spending a crazy and sex-filled weekend together and fall hopelessly in love, but can the two of them make their new relationship work in the real world?

I enjoyed the banter between these two and the supportive friend group, but I didn’t connect with the two main characters! I loved how Marsh brought up the health related insecurity with Harper, but the focus was placed on their sex life and I felt like both characters lacked emotional intelligence. I wanted to love this books, but it fell a little flat for me.

The heavily anticipated follow up to The Boy Toy is finally here!! In this story, Manny gets his own HEA. It definitely surprises the head of ER who never commits to serious relationships, but he may have met his match when it comes to Harper.

The banter and chemistry between these two was nonstop. Both are sarcastic, sharp witted, and full of lust when they are together. I enjoyed watching them kickstart their relationship during a work trip in New Zealand. It was full of several funny moments followed by lots of flirtation hat was really sweet to watch unfold.

I was surprised to find how drawn I was to Harper. I really liked her storyline, her profession and truly felt for her as she struggled with her emotions and personal issues. While this is a romance, it still showed both characters working through heavy topics. Manny is ridden with guilt after his mother’s death and tries to protect himself by not getting attached. His grandma is also going through some scary health issues. Harper is dealing with her parents who have split after 35 years of marriage and keep drawing her into the middle of their squabbles. She has also been diagnosed and undergoing treatment for vitiligo. I was familiar with this autoimmune disease, but appreciated learning more about it through the authors own connection.

I also enjoyed catching up with Samira and Rory, from The Boy Toy, as well as a few side characters who make up this circle of friends.

This was the first book by this author for me and I really enjoyed the writing style. It was a fun little RomCom and an easy, fast read. I did however think the title of the book would come into play a little more than it did. It seemed to me there was not really any ban going on at all. The characters seemed to get together rather quickly. Overall a good little read.

The Man Ban
Author: Nicola Marsh
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Happy Pub Day to The Man Ban! Thank you @berkleyromance for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

What I Loved?
❤️ Manny. I wanted to know more about him after reading The Boy Toy and he didn’t disappoint. He sure was a 🔥 doctor.
❤️ Harper’s job. I never knew what a food styler really did so I was excited to learn more about it!
❤️ Izzy. Because what’s better than a meddling grandmother?!
❤️ Cameos from our favorite characters from The Boy Toy.
❤️ The journey that Harper is on surrounding her vitiligo and self esteem. I’ll admit it- I had to google while I was reading to learn more.

Harper is content with focusing on her career. Her last relationship ended badly after she reveal some personal information to her ex-boyfriend, so she rather focus on the other areas of her life. Romance is the last thing she wants but she soon finds herself very attracted to Manny Gomes after their encounter at a friend’s wedding.

Manny is avoiding marriage by any means necessary. His grandmother is on the hunt for him to find a perfect Anglo-Indian wife. He flirts with Harper all night long knowing that his grandmother would not approve since she is not Indian. The harmless flirting becomes something more as he gets to know Harper better.

Harper is sent on a work trip in New Zealand and runs into Manny. The sparks start to fly as he offers to help her out. I really enjoyed the sexual tension between Harper and Manny. The heat level is just smoldering. I didn’t like how the author had Manny talk about what he wanted to do to Harper in detail but when it came down to it, she faded the scene to black almost. It was told in the next chapter.

They enter a relationship rather quickly. I expected a bit more angst and fight but it seems natural for these mature adults to fall in love. Harper reveals herself to Manny in a raw and vulnerable way and he easily looks past it and accepts her for who she is.

A brief misunderstanding takes place and brings drama into the relationship. Of course, the ending is smoothed out so quickly and easily that I almost felt the little drama didn’t need to occur.

I will say that I’m not sure if this is part of a series but there are lot of characters and couples who seem to have back stories. You won’t get lost in the story but I think it can enhance the overall feeling.

Overall, this is a quick and humorous read that I would recommend to contemporary romance lovers.

~ Samantha

This was a fun dual perspective open door romance between Manny, an Anglo-Indian doctor and Harper, a white Australian food stylist.

Fans of The boy toy will recognize Manny from that book and appreciate the cameos from other characters (Ie Rory, Samira and their new baby). This is a standalone novel though and you don’t need to have read the earlier book to enjoy this story.

Things I loved:
- So many amazing food descriptions!

- Great banter and streamy sexual chemistry between the MCs

- Lots of armchair travel (the story is set primarily in Melbourne but the characters also travel to several places in New Zealand)

- How much family is at the core of the book (Manny adores his ailing grandmother and Harper is dealing with her parent’s separation).

- I also really enjoyed how once again the author has written highly relatable main characters (Harper has vitiligo- a skin condition that makes her self conscious and was the reason behind her year long man ban after her last boyfriend dumped her because of it)

If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Nicola Marsh’s contemporary romance books you are missing out. Highly recommended for fans of love stories featuring diverse characters, exotic locales and great food descriptions like The boy toy, Simmer down and Recipe for persuasion. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

This is a super easy reading romance and a good follow up to last year's The Boy Toy. With the romance developing while Harper and Manny are both in New Zealand, I enjoyed the descriptions of their environments, and I enjoyed the descriptions of Harper's food styling. This may have worked slightly less well for me because I just found Manny to often act very immaturely- he's been avoiding relationships so long he doesn't always act like the grown man he is. It's easy to see why Harper reacts the way she does when Manny fails her after she's revealed her biggest secret to him, and I appreciated that he came to his senses quickly.

I think I liked this one even better than The Boy Toy - I had some personal issues with the surprise pregnancy storyline in that one. I really loved Harper and Manish as main characters - both flawed and both dealing with some intense personal issues (and of course, since it's a contemporary romance, they are very specifically NOT talking to each other about those issues). As a person with an autoimmune disease, I really appreciated that one of the main characters was realistically portrayed as dealing with a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease and navigating through the ways it affected her life, both expectedly and unexpectedly. A great mix of heavy and light, snark and sap, and some great characters to get to know!

Nicola Marsha is a new to me author who really impressed with a romance about a heroine coping with vitiligo; turns out the author also has vitiligo. Beautifully handled with respect and authenticity, Harper's vitiligo didn't define her or her romance with suave ER doctor Manny, but rather gave a true look at what happens when a chronic condition controls almost all your daily decisions and emotions. Harper had to accept her condition as part of her romantic life before she could actually accept that she could have health, acceptance, and love.

I was also dazzled by the author's food writing. After the first few pages, it will be impossible not rush to an Indian restaurant (or wedding!). Food stylist Harper wasn't the only food lover, Manny more than held his own when it came to lovingly describing their meals.

The problem was I wasn't sold on Harper and Manny together. For two people in their 30s and 40s, these two were remarkably juvenile. Manny first rubbed Harper the wrong way by criticizing her role as a food stylist at their friends' wedding so she retaliated by spraying whipped cream in his face. Somehow, that kept his interest enough to follow her around Auckland with cheesy pick up attempts. Anti-marriage Manny was infamous for flirting and flings and it showed.

Harper should have stuck to her guns. Instead, these two keep secrets: Harper her vitiligo and Manny his grandmother's disapproval of interracial romance. (Btw, it was irritating that Manny was constantly identified as Anglo-Indian but never was Harper labeled Caucasian, it was just understood.) And when these secrets led to a clunky, corny, barely meant marriage proposal, I lost all hope for these two.

In the end, I came to the conclusion that the author can certainly write but unfortunately I personally never felt the connection between Manny and Harper.

In The Man Ban, Harper is a food stylist who is focusing on her career, banning dating of any kind after a rough breakup. Manny doesn't ever want to get married, content in his ER doctor job, working long hours. But when the two spark attraction after running into each other on vacation, they decide to give being together the ole college try.

I fell in love with Manny while reading The Boy Toy, so I was so excited to find out that he was getting his own story. Manny is a great guy! He is so understanding, but deep down, he has some issues to work through that he keeps hidden. Manny's perfect nature unnerves Harper and he knows how to push her buttons. I loved their easy banter, and but I especially appreciated how Manny accepted Harper with her massive insecurities and just loved her.

While the two did fall for each other quite quickly, it felt believable due to their forced proximity and Manny's age. He's 40 and doesn't want to screw around. There wasn't a ton of push pull of will they, won't they, because both characters were direct with their needs, which I appreciated.

I loved being able to see the friendship between Rory, Samira and Manny develop after the first book and I especially loved the relationship between Grandma Izzy and Manny. It was sweet.

The Man Ban is a quick read, with short chapters that kept me wanting to read more. I did enjoy The Boy Toy a tad more than this one.

⚠️CW: vitiligo

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

The Man Ban is a romantic comedy. It can be read as a standalone. However Manny (the male narrator) was a supporting character in the Boy Toy. And Samira and Rory from The Boy Toy are supporting characters in this book.

This book takes place in Australia and New Zealand. And I adored both of these settings.

The female 3rd person POV is 30 year old food stylist, Harper.

The male POV is 40 year old doctor and confirmed bachelor, Manny.

Harper and Manny meet at her best friend Nishi's wedding. She is on a "man ban" after a bad breakup. I love this term!

I really loved Harper's job as a food stylist. And I was very interested in the jobs that she had. I found everything to do with this to be absolutely fascinating. Manny is Anglo-Indian. And I found everything to do with his culture and all the mentions of Indian food to be amazing.

I enjoyed Harper's "secret". I enjoyed Manny's grandmother. And I really enjoyed all of Harper's friends. Also the romance was so fun and flirty. I enjoyed it a lot.

Overall this book was a quick read. It was a fun sexy rom-com. And I definitely enjoyed it! Also I really enjoyed the author's note at the end as I had wondered if certain parts had been autobiographical.

What a great romcom binge! I finished this is about 4 hours and just LOVED both Manny and Harper! They had great chemistry, fun banter, and we didn’t have to wait until 50% to get the great steam!!!

Third person POV isn’t usually my fave, but Marsh has a way with words that just flows so well. I love the pieces of herself that Marsh leaves for us in her work, makes the story so special and unique.

I will say, I was pretty angry at Manny and his Granny at the end … I needed a bit more groveling for the resolution.

The Man Ban by Nicola Marsh is an enjoyable read where our heroine navigates the challenges of food styling, sexy escapades, an autoimmune disease and a multicultural relationship.

Food Stylist Harper Ryland has had a firm man ban in place for the last twelve months while she focuses on her career and avoids dating disasters after a nasty breakup.

Harper will make no exceptions not even for the sexy Anglo-Indian ER doctor Manny Gomes attending her best friends wedding where she is maid of honour and has styled the wedding food! Manny is the 'eternal bachelor' and when she seeks revenge on something he says at the wedding it makes for a rather awkward encounter.

When Harper’s allocated food assistant doesn’t turn up and calls in sick for her latest job at a luxe New Zealand hotel chain she unexpectedly runs into Manny who is there for a medical conference. Manny offers to assist and help her out and then the flirtation begins!

Harper has an autoimmune disease she hides from everyone and finds this challenging at times, it was heartbreaking to see the lengths she goes to keep this a secret from Manny.

I loved the food styling aspects of the story it was so interesting and the fun banter and chemistry between the lead characters makes for some steamy scenes. The setting in New Zealand added a wonderful holiday vibe.

A fast-flowing, engaging storyline, loveable characters and witty dialogue.