Darby Baham is a new author to me and I must say that I enjoyed reading about Olivia and Thomas’ romantic journey. Her New York Minute is the 4th book in “The Friendship Chronicles Series.” Olivia is a UK native and she is in New York on assignment and she is a portfolio manager. Thomas is a sexy attorney for an international law firm. Thomas and Olivia met on the airplane as Thomas assists her in getting her carryall out of the overhead bin. The two meet again and Olivia is really feeling Thomas and with Olivia only being in NY for a year romance is not in her plans. This is an entertaining read that I enjoyed, Olivia and Thomas are great together. Love their chemistry, attraction and love for each other. Thomas is there every step of the way rooting Olivia on.

So, what happens when Olivia and Thomas’ relationship is the best thing for them both, will Olivia stay in NY or will she head back to the UK after her assignment is over?

I received an ARC via NetGalley and Harlequin Romance And I am leaving my review voluntarily.

4.5 Stars

I don’t know what to say about Darby Baham’s writing that I haven’t already said. Her writing is amazing. Her characters are real, with real-life emotions, thoughts, feelings, and goals. I find it easy to immerse myself in her stories.

I was excited to learn her Friendship Chronicles series would be continuing. The series is about a group of friends (Christine Vasquez, Rebecca Cunningham, Reagan Doucet, Jennifer Pritchett, and Robin Johnson) who are there for each other through thick and thin, ups and downs, relationships and jobs, the whole nine yards. What’s special about this group is that they are women of color who lift each other up and challenge one another to be open-minded to possibilities.

Her New York Minute is the fourth book in the series. Readers first met Olivia Robinson in book three, London Calling. In that story, Olivia befriended Robin who moved from New York to London for work. As a result, Olivia was able to meet Robin’s New York best friends. Good thing, because Her New York Minute finds Olivia taking a transatlantic flight for a job opportunity of her own. Olivia has one year to make a splash at the New York office of the investment management company she works for. Doing so, would pretty much guarantee she would become head of the portfolio division. With her goal in mind, Olivia is prepared to conquer. A relationship and love are nowhere near her radar. But as they say, things can change in a New York minute.

Olivia is all about girl power, hear me roar. But when her 5’4” frame can’t manage to get her carryon out of the overhead bin and she refuses to ask anyone for help, Thomas Wright steps up to help her out. (Cue the sigh as this scene unfolds.) Not wanting to be waylaid by her all work no play goal, Olivia thanks him and moves on. Only to find herself needing his help once again. (Cue second sigh moment before the end of Chapter Two.) When they run into each other yet again, Olivia realizes Thomas isn’t like any man she has ever met. As an attorney for an international law firm, Thomas understands Olivia’s drive and desire to succeed professionally. He’s totally fine to sit back and be her biggest cheerleader. Thomas is insightful and fun.

These two had an instant attraction. Their playfulness stole my heart. The way they communicated was on a deeper level than you generally find in romance books. The dark moment was surprising and of course dark, but the essence of the entire series shows up and you’re reminded what girlfriends are all about. I loved that Olivia really took time to work on herself first, before trying to make anything work with Thomas.

New girlfriends are introduced in this book, which makes a great segway into the next chapter of this series. I’m looking forward to seeing how Keisha Edwards and Giselle “Gigi” Lewis navigate their careers and meet the one they weren’t expecting.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“We get to decide what’s right for us and what’s wrong for us.”

“The best things can happen outside of our plans.”

“Things change sometimes. Unexpectedly.”

“Sometimes unexpected things are good.”

“You never know what could happen.”

“Anything is possible.”

“Don’t apologize for having feelings.”

“We all need support sometimes.”

“Sometimes the best things come unexpectedly.”

Such a fun book, as always I love Darby's detailed descriptions of outfits - adds so much to the story. Fun to explore NY with these two.

Olivia is ready to take New York by storm.
Fresh off a huge project in London, Olivia must duplicate her success.

Meeting Thomas the moment she steps off the plane throws her off her equilibrium.

This book ask the question "Can a woman really have it all?"

I recommend if you like books that center around friendships, fresh starts, self discovery and budding romances.

I was very thankful to receive an ARC of this book, my first one by Darby Baham. This book gave me all the nostalgic feels of a New York summer circa 2015! Beautiful people all working in their prime, having a great time. Liv is the quint essential NY woman, doing the damn thing. I think personally I'm over the strong woman, looses the guy trope. Like she's in the city of dreams and couldn't surrender to the idea that all her dreams could come true...she was exhausting to read about. The rest of the cast was great and I loved meeting all of them. Thomas himself, was a well written and lovable love interest! I would be interested in reading another book by Darby, with a different trope!!

In preparation for reading this, I had to go back and read the first three books in the series. I was expecting them to be romance, but they were clearly more women's fiction. Regardless of that, I really enjoyed the books.

This book was much more romance than the first three. It was clearly about Olivia falling in love with Thomas. Their meet-cute on the airplane was perfect. I almost screamed when he let her get away without exchanging information. Of course, fate let their paths cross again. I was rooting for them the entire time. She let fear get the best of her but, with the help of friends, she was able to get herself together and have her happily ever after.

Eh. I wanted to like this book. It has never taken me three days to read one of these books, but I kept finding it easy to be distracted from it. It felt more like a book about Olivia and her friends than a romance. It seemed like Thomas had very little page time. The story was told entirely from Olivia's point of view, and I missed getting his point of view on what was happening. It was like half the story was missing. The series is called "The Friendship Chronicles," but I could have used less girl time and more romance.

When Olivia arrived in New York from London, she was excited about the job opportunity ahead of her. She has her entire career planned out with no room for distractions. Meeting a nice guy who strikes sparks was not in her plan, but Thomas is laid back and willing to be friends. I didn't care for how she kept him to a text-only friendship for months before deciding to grace him with an in-person meet-up.

I liked Thomas. He is a nice guy who deserves better than Olivia. He is sweet, caring, intuitive, and understands her. I liked his support and encouragement despite her taking him for granted.

I understand that she had her fears of getting too close, thanks to previous relationships. But Thomas was clearly different than those other men. I had high hopes for her when she took their relationship to the next level, but she blew it when she got word of an upcoming promotion. She lost what little credibility she'd built up with me with her treatment of Thomas. There is some redemption after a conversation with one of her friends gives her plenty to think about. The ending has promise, but if I were Thomas, I'd be cautious.

Career or love that’s the choice facing Olivia Robinson during her year long stint in New York.

Ambition or love…that is the choice Olivia Robinson thinks she must make. Throw in some humor like the early airport scene with overhead luggage and I was ready to get swept away in a fun story.

I did find the writing style to be distracting. I’m all for sentence variety but some sentences seemed overly long for no apparent reason.

One sentence “His hands were also impeccably manicured and looked like they were both soft and moisturized to perfection but also might have a slight gritty texture on the back side, as if he might have been a former athlete who now only used them to get someone’s attention in a restaurant.” 50 words…dang.

This is a leisurely, character-driven, low-angst, slice-of-life story. A lot of the focus is on the female friendships and the FMC’s career, rather than on the romance. The tone is upbeat with likeable characters.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC