Thank you for the ARC Harlequin & Netgalley!

The characters of this book were pretty cute for this book, Mon and Olivia were incredibly sweet. It was really interesting to see the author highlight Mon's immigrant experience alongside Olivia's as Filipinos but I can't speak to the accuracy of the representation itself because I am not Filipino.

If you are looking for more information on the representation, I recommend checking out some of the reviews that are written by Filipinos!

As for the romance aspect, I felt like it was pretty sped up. It was giving insta-love, the first intimate seen we have with them is 5% in which to be honest, caught me a little off guard. I don't mind insta-love sometimes but the book itself was pretty short so keep that in mind as well.

Another thing I want to point out is, I've personally never been a fan of modern-day references or situations written in romance books or just books in general. This book had a LOT of modern-day references which made me cringe. COVID-19 was mentioned, alongside reels, Tiktoks etc. I think mentioning COVID-19 was essentially the KILLER VIBES for me.

I absolutely love how unapologetically Filipino this book is. I am a huge fan of the representation. But the writing style is not for me.

On the bright side, it is a relatively short and quick read! There are parts that are very cute and made me smile, and other parts that I felt like I was just reading to finish it.

Reading about the food and culture made me really want to go visit my family the Philippines and have a good party.

It is a very light hearted romcom that might be better suited of another person.

Unfortunately this was a DNF at 25% for me. The writing style was just not my style. I had not read anything by this author before and I did not know what to expect. You may love it but it was a struggle..

2 people come together, have a 1 night stand and are enjoying each others company Until they realize they’re supposed to be working together. And legally this shouldn’t be a thing.

Olivia and Mon are so cute. They very clearly have a lot of sexual attraction. And click very well. Mon is more laid back and introverted while Olivia is much more outgoing and extroverted. But you know what they say opposites attract.

I think this is a 3.5⭐️ read. I really did enjoy it. It was fast paced, very cute and heartwarming. Great plot both together and separately. And I think the celebrity aspect worked really well in this case. Not too much to say other than it’s a cute romance novel and I enjoyed my time reading it.

Thank you NetGalley, and Carla for allowing me to read this in advanced for my honest opinion!

I loved the representation in this book - Filipinos! It was informative about Filipino culture - including food, family and friend dynamics. Something I didnt like - it tried too hard to make the characters have cultural experiences like going to the Met and looking at art but seems the author isnt that knowledgeable about the art and it came off really superficial! Overall I enjoyed the story and would recommend to friends who are looking for a light hearted romcom with a cultural twist!

This book was full of so much fun and cute moments. I loved the cultural aspects of this book. It added a lot to the story

Fun and fresh romcom that’s filled with Filipino culture. The feel of the read was like going to see a dear friend and the whole thing was so sweet. Thanks for the arc

I really enjoyed this contemporary romance from Carla de Guzman. Mon Mendoza, a musician/producer from the Philippines, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he's invited to New York to produce music for a movie. His first night in New York, he's tired, disoriented, and overwhelmed, and he has to wait for his colleague to come let him in to his short term rental. While waiting, he meets (and almost immediately hooks up with) a beautiful Filipinx-American woman who lives down the hall in a sort of dreamlike sequence that he can't quite believe. Soon after, he realizes who his one-night night stand is - Olivia Angeles, famous actress and star of the movie he'll be working on. When she finds out that Mon is Morningside, the producer whose music she loves and who she pushed to have included on the film, she feels uncomfortable and even a little betrayed. Through their work on the movie, they smooth over their awkwardness and embark on a very sweet colleagues to friends to lovers arc. de Guzman's writing felt very unique to me - there's almost a stream of consciousness element to it, but not in a meandering, overwritten way. It felt dreamy and flowed well. I had to look up so many words and references related to Filipinx culture and the Filipinx diaspora experience, so I also feel like I learned a lot here. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a contemporary romance with some awkwardness, some humor, and just enough angst to keep the romantic tension going.

Olivia, a Filipina-American up-and-coming actress, meets Mon, a music producer and Philippine national, as the two of them work together on a set of an upcoming film. Sparks fly from the moment they meet but they have to reckon with having a shared heritage but vastly different lives, homes and experiences.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶

Overall, YES 🇵🇭 FILAM REPRESENTATION🇵🇭 . As a Filipina-American, it was an absolute pleasure to read a book about the nuances of being native to the Philippines versus native to the US and what that means from a cultural perspective. I related to Olivia's perspective on her own heritage and appreciated that she often mentioned that she didn't understand certain words, phrases or Filipino cultural context given that she is an American. At first, I struggled with some of the deep cultural references myself, but found that I really enjoyed learning more about my own heritage even. I did have to Google Translate more words in this book than I have for any other book featuring non-English speakers.

Mon was an absolutely adorable character. I especially loved how he never hid his thought-spiraling from her. I appreciated how Olivia took what she wanted, especially in the intimate scenes. It's refreshing to have a woman written who isn't afraid to take charge.

Thanks Harlequin Romance and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. This book publishes on March 26, 2024.

This book was like watching a filipino rom-com and it was warm and charming like I envisioned it would be. It had so many filipino culture references that were entertaining and witty- from filipino expressions, food, history and pop culture. With that being said, I felt like the bulk of the story was filled with just those and hardly the focal point of the story, which is about the two main characters. The turn of events felt predictable. I was hoping for a little bit more of how the story evolved versus just filling it up with so many culture references. I think just a bit less of it was more than enough. I still enjoyed it nonetheless. As a Filipina, I'm still proud of the representation, and would look forward to more of the author's work. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read in advance and share my honest opinions

Manila Takes Manhattan is a fresh rom-com, unlike anything I've read in this genre, simply because it was so completely unapologetically Filipino. Carla de Guzman wrote two dynamic, flawed characters, and I absolutely loved reading about Mon and Olivia and how they reaffirm their love and consideration for one another. Mon is an up-and-coming music producer and rapper, and Olivia is an actress acting in her first ~real~ movie musical who fought hard to have Mon produce the tracks for the film.

I loved how much de Guzman centered the Filipino immigrant experience in America from Mon and Olivia's similar but very different experiences. I also really, really enjoyed how inexperienced and not-at-all-macho Mon came across. His desire to freely access all his emotions made him (unsurprisingly) a much better communicator than men bogged down by hyper-masculinity and what it demands of men. Olivia was the more assertive, dominant force in their dynamic, but it worked for them.

I admit to feeling like the beginning was a bit rushed to establish a connection between the main characters. Still, I enjoyed the parts of their situationship where they were getting to know each other, exploring each other's wants and needs safely. Sometimes, I felt like I didn't quite understand or believe the closeness of their relationship. Most of those times, I felt it was okay that I didn't understand because it worked for them.

Overall, I enjoyed this. It was a quick read, it was well-written most of the time (other times I cringed, but I cringe a lot with romcoms, and Mon and Olivia are self-proclaimed cheeseballs), it was diverse, and made me crave lots of yummy Filipino food.

Thank you to Harlequin Romance, Afterglow, and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️s
2 🌶️s
🚨 Pub Date: 3/26/24

A fresh take in romance for sure!

This novel was so unexpected for me! I don’t usually do romance-Hollywood type of thing but this one had me LOL and relating to all the 90s pop culture references PLUS the MCs were incredible adorable with each other and Mon stole my heart from the very first pages. He is literally a dream man and I adore him so much.

It was so easy to relate to this story and the couples dynamic and differences of cultures. Olivia is a famous actress and an actress of color at that, We will see her biggest fears and struggles with an industry that does not appreciate her ..& then you will meet Mon , A music producer who Olivia is a big fan of and he’s brought from the Philippines 🇵🇭 to work on Olivia’s upcoming movie ..

Let’s just say that I was immediately invested on their relationship from the first chapter 👀 ..

What a delight and fresh take on a romance story! I am looking forward for more on Carla de Guzman

Thank you netgalley and harlequin for a copy of this romance in exchange of an honest review

I read this in 2023 and loved it.

Congratulations to the author and thanks to the publisher for the copy!

I really enjoyed this. I thought it was such a great Rom-Com and I read it quickly. It was so good. I enjoyed it. It had some great banter and I loved the laugh out loud moments.
I just reviewed Manila Takes Manhattan by Carla de Guzman. #ManilaTakesManhattan #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I was so grateful I received an ARC of this one! I've enjoyed a lot of Carla's self pubbed works as well as her traditionally pubbed ones with Carina. In this one Mon and Olivia’s romance starts off steamy. They just meet and fall into the sheets and lo and behold they realize they have to work together. He’s the new producer on her song for her movie. Carla brought the fire early on and balanced it off nicely with the sweet moments between them.

I loved how the MCs played off of each other as they hand out and get to know each other and of course inevitably fall into sexy times…again. LOL. I do wanna note there was a moment where I found Olivia was being selfish about a situation but she does actually point that out herself so I wasn’t too vex with her for long. It just shows the characters are so multifaceted, flaws and all. I do wish she had called out her co-star more (meh Colin can choooke!) but I understood why she had to strike a balance of going with things as they are while somewhat taking him to task as she’s a Filipino American actress in a still very white space.

As someone whose read a good few romanceclass books before there were little moments that especially delighted me when I noticed mentions of people and things not only from Carla’s other books but other romanceclass authors and went ahhh I see what you did there.
Honestly, I can visualize this as such a sweet, swoony romance on the screen. Hello get this to a rom com movie STAT!!!

I wondered how Carla would wrap up that ending, given the circumstances but I think it all came together perfectly for our lovebirds 😊

Alsooo, helloooo as a BTS fan I’m pretty sure Mon was patterned after our tol, buff, slightly klutzy leader (I HAVE CONNECTED THE DOTS! LOL) which made the reading even more delightful hehe.

⭐️⭐️⭐️½

This book starts off with a bang by featuring a sex scene and I really liked that. The sex scenes in this book were HOT and I was really into them!

My only complaint about this book was that I wish it was longer. It was lacking the level of depth to the characters and the development to their love story that I like to see in romance books. It felt a bit insta-lovey to me.

I loved that the book featured a FilAm heroine and a Filipino hero. The cultural references and juxtaposition of how the diaspora have different experiences and perspectives was eye-opening.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read but I wanted more.

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥

Words cannot express how much I absolutely adored this book. I loved Mon from the first page. I don’t know what it was about him, but he was sweet and kind and I kinda fell in love with him before he even met Olivia. And I loved Olivia too, she was tenacious and quirky and I loved seeing her and Mon make each other happy.

I don’t know how I was able to get anything done today because I could not put this book down. I just loved it so much! The only thing I wish was different was a glossary of some of the Filipino terms they were using because there were times I was loss. But despite that, still one of my favorite books I’ve read in a long time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable read that keep me engaged the whole way through. Music producer Mon met actress Olivia on his first night in town, leading to a connection over a shared love of music, and an appreciation for art. While they lead very different lives, they are brought together through work.

The story includes an exploration of what it means to be different, especially in America. This is done well, in a way that makes the reader think without bringing the tone of the story down too much.

I would have appreciated a bit more detail on some of the mentions about family and pasts. For example, Olivia mentioned a rift with her parents without ever bringing it up again, or giving the reader any insight.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book, and will recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read romance.

I really wanted to like this one more, but the writing just felt a bit disjointed for me. I really did like all of the culture and things I learned about Filipino and Filipina men and women. I loved the use of language throughout and there were some absolutely gorgeous passages. Instalove isn’t for me, I think. But I did like that they got their HEA at the end!

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

Wow, I have never read a romance quite like Manila Takes Manhattan! It's the beautiful self-contained love story of a first generation Filipino-American actress and a musician from Manila who is charged with writing the music for her first big movie. While I loved the meet cute and the forced proximity, the most interesting parts were all the aspects of Filipino culture and language scattered throughout the book.

When Mon Mendoza finally arrives in New York City for his big break into the music industry, he's exhausted. He ends up waiting in the hall of his temporary apartment for his keys - and runs into popular actress Olivia Angeles, though he doesn't recognize her at first. They end up having a one night stand but realize afterwards that they are working together on Olivia's movie musical. Though things are awkward at first, Mon and Oliva bond quickly over their hopes, dreams, and a sense of familiarity from their shared heritage. They cannot deny that they are attracted to each other, but a relationship seems impossible when they are from two totally different worlds. Is their chance meeting fate? Or are they only meant to be together for a moment in time?

Sweet Mon is adorably awkward and shy. He's so cautious with Olivia, and though he yearns to be back home, he seems to sense a kindred spirit with her. Olivia seems bubbly and charismatic, but she's a bit of an enigma too. She dreams of being a famous actress, but constantly worries that she will be overlooked because of her heritage or that she's only getting noticed because of her closeness with her male costar. Some of the spice scenes were delightfully awkward, but I kind of liked that! S3x scenes in romance are often SO perfect it's unrealistic, so I loved that they were a little more real.

Though I loved the romance in this one, I was SO interested in all of the references to Filipino culture. The food, the places, the music - I was going nuts looking stuff up. And while there is commentary on some negative aspects, particularly the racism both Olivia and Mon face and some of the intricacies of Filipino politics, I felt like I came away with a much greater understanding of the characters and their lives. I am SO grateful to Harlequin Romance, Carla de Guzman, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book!