Lauren layne never disappoints and her latest might be one of my favorites! Loved the story, loved the characters and loved the setting. Highly recommend!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

Every Lauren Layne book is an automatic read for me and more likely than not going to be a 5 star read as well!! I am so thankful that I was able to read an ARC of Made in Manhattan! I absolutely loved Violet and Cain’s story - they both grew so much as people by being together and their love story is top notch! If you’re looking for a feel-good romance, with fabulous characters and the magical setting of NYC, this (and lots of Lauren Layne’s other books) are for you!

This was a happy novel that wrapped up nice and neatly, it had me satisfied for a travel day. I do wish there was more of a reason to like the heroine, who was so judgemental from the get go that I found it hard to root for her. The hero definitely has book boyfriend potential, if he could just grow up a tiny bit ;)

Another unfortunate DNF from these Netgalley ARCS. I might be requesting the wrong books or so many people are giving false reviews? But this book just held little to no appeal. The grandson was unbelievable and there was zero chemistry.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book received for free through NetGalley

I absolutely love this book and almost read it in one night. The characters are awesome! Although I don’t normally like the idea of “My Fair Lady” this author did the story well and I adored it. The perfect adorable happy ending story.

Lauren Layne consistently delivers smart, engaging young women and savvy young men who are wise enough to recognize the value in having an equal partner. Her stories are often filled with glamour and excitement unique to New York, but they are always replete with humor and the magic frisson of two hearts finally coming together. Made in Manhattan delivered on all counts, but in this book the reader was treated to the enchantment of New Orleans as well, getting a chance to vicariously enjoy jazz extravaganzas in both cities. Story wise: Violet thinks she's responsible for finding the diamond under the sediment covering Cain Stone, but maybe, just maybe, she's the one who needs to have her core values re-examined.

I didn't love Made in Manhattan quite as much as I loved some of Layne's books, but I'd willingly return to it again. The characters were well-drawn, the settings perfect, and the love story swoon-worthy, as always.

When Edith Rhodes finds her long lost grandson she is relieved that someone in the family will be able to take over the family business. Cain Stone is not from Manhattan, and needs to fit the part. Edith enlists Violet to help her get Cain ready to Manhattan and to impress the Board Members, the only problem, Cain doesn’t want to impress them.

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title before publishing!

I blew through this book, and there was certainly a lot to like about it. Violet is the picture of a perfect , upscale New York socialite. She’s immaculately dressed, volunteers her time as the assistant of her grandmothers best friend, and has lived in the same apartment for nearly her entire life. It’s exactly this skill set that puts her on track to help groom the long-lost grands of the woman she works for to become the next CEO of her family company. Cain is about as different from Violet as he can possibly be, as a long haired, tshirt and jeans wearing man from New Orleans. Little did Violet know that, with Cain’s help, she would be making a transformation into the woman she’s always wanted to be.

This was a super fast, easy and fun read. Violet is really lovable, and both she and Cain have interesting background stories, while not deeply expanded upon. These two have chemistry that’s immediately believable, and it was a fun ride to read about Violet coming into her own and falling for someone who brings out a long-buried side of her. For about 80% of the book, I loved this dynamic, and o did feel like I was kept guessing at how exactly it was going to end.

This brings me to my biggest let down with this story. The ending is… quite underwhelming. The storyline with the CEO position wraps up pretty realistically, but not very excitingly. Similarly, Violet and Cain confess their love at the very, very end, and it leaves a lot to be desired especially as the reader had plenty of time to see just how good their chemistry CAN be. I think i could have been more okay with this had these two known each other for longer than a month. I feel a bit of whiplash from how grounded the CEO storyline ended up ending, in contrast with just how over the top their sudden commitment to one another became, and how difficult that was to believe. I was initially excited to see that there was an epilogue, but that also fell a bit flat for me for similar reasons. I almost with this book had been just a few chapters longer so that the ending could be a bit better fleshed out.

All this said, I’m giving this book 3.25/5 stars. It’s a fun read, and I’ll probably pick up this author again if I’m looking for fluff and some pretty mild but not all together absent steam.

First, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I enjoyed this romance and I enjoyed the glimpse into NYC old-school money. I liked the interaction between the characters and their banter. I liked the pace of the first 3/4 of the book, but I thought the end of the book took some quantum leaps in plot movement without the emotion to substantiate it. I think the book would have benefited with 50 or so more pages so the reader could see the evolution in the characters' relationship.

Overall, an enjoyable read. 3.5 stars.

I adore Lauren Layne, but sadly for me this one was kind of a letdown. The writing felt stiff and didn’t have the easy flow I have come to love by this author. The characters felt robotic and lacked the charm and relatability that others in the past books had possessed. This started off slow and I had a hard time connecting with Cain and violet. They were complete opposites to the point where there was such a disconnect with their characters I couldn’t envision them at all.

I love the fiery dialogue that comes when two opposites collide and their chemistry is undeniable and for me this story lacked some of that passion. I really wanted to love this book, because I have loved the author's work before, but overall this was a huge miss for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC

I adored most of this book but it got frustrating at how their relationship developed. It would be a slow burn but the hero was so standoffish a d with the book only being in the heroines POV , it made it hard to know his motivations. I did really like the heroine and how self aware she was. She did seem to exist in a vacuum though. Overall this was a pleasant read

I always look forward to a good book from LL, but this was not it. I did not feel invested or immersed in this world. Everything was on the surface and, if there was meant to be love happening with our broody characters, I just did not feel it. Certainly, I read about our heroine realizing she was in love, but LL didn't convey the magic. The writing felt phoned in and I was disappointed.

This was a delight! Lauren Layne has a real knack for writing New York City heroines, and it was so fun seeing a southern man enter that world. Really, my only complaint is that I wanted to know more about both Violet and Cain's families, especially her grandmother and his mother.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Gallery Books and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Typical opposites attract there’s more than meets the eye rom-com. Of course there’s more to Cain than we suspect. Of course Violet fights the initial attraction, the world she was raised. She’s deeper than given credit, they always are.

It’s your typical I don’t want to fall but I did.

Cute romance where the country boy meets the rich city girl. Sparks and conflicts arise and we keep turning the pages to see how they resolve their differences and hopefully find love. I especially liked the glimpse into old money New York society that I'd never seen before. Enjoyable read for the romance novel lover!

Lauren Layne is the voice for cosmopolitan woman. She captures life in the Upper East Side with wit, grace, and elegance.

If you’ve liked her past books, Made in Manhattan is worth picking up.

4.5 ⭐️ A rom-com that had me laughing out loud up until the last page. I really enjoyed the banter between the two main characters, Cain and Violet, and all the sweet moments they shared. I found the plot of turning Cain into a proper UES gentleman very fun, especially because Violet was able to discover so much about herself along the way. I would say that the book felt a little too short to me, at only 280 pages, and I wish there was a bit more of the story. I felt like some of the scenes were cut too short and at times, I felt like too much time passed between chapters.

Lauren Layne is back again with another Manhattan Romance classic and there was no hesitation whatsoever when I requested for this ARC. Suffice to say, I immediately delved into this from the moment I saw that I had been approved. There’s just something magical injected into her books whenever I read them because they give me a feeling no other Romance author has yet to give. If I could sum up Lauren Layne’s books with one word about how I feel every time I read them it would be: wanderlust.

Like her other books, this one had the typical Lauren Layne-ness and I enjoyed it. However, I wouldn’t say that I /immensely/ did. While I was feeling very excited as I jumped into this book, I’m not sure I was left feeling the same way at the end.

Let me list the good things first:
- Firstly, the plot was interesting. Reading it felt like I was watching a Hallmark movie in my head and there was a “feel good” emotion as I flipped page after page.
- The development of the female character was superb. I love seeing progress in characters throughout my reading and Violet’s development was read-worthy. From a wallpaper to a woman who knows what she wants, I felt really proud of her.

Now, onto the bad (I am sorry this exists):
- The male LI was just terrible and unlikeable. By the end of the book, all I felt was emptiness. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between him and Violet at all and unlike Violet, I didn’t see any development even though it was written that he did. He was just so bland and forgettable, I have even forgotten his name.
- Violet’s nickname. Ah, yes. Men with pet names. Usually I love it when the male characters call the female character a unique nickname that no one else does. But can this Male LI please remember that “Duchess” isn’t exactly her name??? I understand him mocking her at the start, but we didn’t even get One scene where he calls her by her actual name?! How do you fall in love with someone who doesn’t sound attractive when he uses your name. I don't get it.
- Finally, the epilogue. Usually, when I see book couples already married with kids at the end, I’d feel something. But like what I’ve mentioned in my first Dislike point, I didn’t feel anything here. The romance was bland and rushed to me and that made the ending really unrealistic. One month and they know they’re going to get married? If I were the guy, I’d run for the hills the moment Violet told him about wanting kids. It seemed like they barely knew each other and there they are, happy and content. Then again, I can’t say anything about love because I’ve never experienced it.

In conclusion, I enjoyed the book for its plot. However, the romance surprisingly did not attract me nor did the Male LI. Nonetheless, I still rate it in the “okay” tier because it gave me a warm fuzzy Hallmark movie feeling as I was reading. Can’t wait for more of Lauren Layne’s books in the future!

Lauren Layne is my alll time favorite author..
this rating hurts my heart.
For me maybe the male character (Cain) was too well written becuase there was zero connection, affection or desire to understeand him as he was so standoffish I actually was annoyed. Vi was developed beautifully and i think if this becomees a series i will need to read it becuase i will not judge a series by one book!

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne is the perfect rom-com for a nice night in! The story is a genderswapped My Fair Lady and revolves around Violet, who was raised as a society elite in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She sees herself as a Blair Waldorf meets Holly Golightly and she owns it. Enter Cain, the illegitimate heir to one of Violet's closest friends, who was raised in Louisiana. Can Violet teach Cain proper manners and etiquette so that he can inherit his family fortune? Can you really take a Louisiana boy out of the bayou? And will sparks fly along the way?

Here is an amusing excerpt from Chapter 1, which introduces us to Violet:

"Violet Victoria Townsend was plenty aware that she was the very epitome of a stock character for snob.
Ask any sketch artist to draw a pampered Upper East Side princess, and Violet would skip straight to the top of the suspect list. Shiny, bouncy hair? Check. Expertly applied yet barely noticeable makeup? Check. Pretty, but not in the “look again” kind of way? Yup.
Her nails were never chipped, her ends never split. Her outfits tended toward neutrals and were always paired with a strand of simple, understated pearls around her neck. Even her home address was eye-rollingly cliché. She’d lived in the same apartment off Madison Avenue since age eleven, when her grandmother took her in."

Overall, Made in Manhattan is a rom-com that plays to the author's strengths and will appeal to fans of Gossip Girl or Sex and the City. One highlight of this book is the plotline with a goal. A lot of rom-coms don't have goals, and I think they're essential to maintaining interest in the plot. I enjoyed the addition of the goal here (turning Cain into a proper Upper East Side gentleman). If I had to complain about one thing, I would say that the book is rather short at 200 pages, but it makes for a quick and easy read. If you're intrigued by the excerpt, or if you're a fan of rom-coms in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in January!