The Seductive Lady Vanessa of Manhattanshire

This book was the perfect form of escapism and I loved the unquie premise. You can expect to be entertained by all of the colorful characters.

"Together they would be the talk of the kingdom"
"And yet dreams lack the linear, cartesian logic that I identify with a perfect story"
"A lady must always be a lady after all"
This book, this story, these characters and this author completely took me by surprise.
When I first started reading it, I was expecting everything but what I actually read.
In a combination between reality, fantasy, written and lived, this book plays with confusion and bewilderment just enough to keep the reader's interest, while also raising questions about life, love and perception...
Lady Vanessa 's life is just like that of every single person who sometimes feels suffocated by their own reality.
The story of the author themselves is the story of every single reader who's trying to escape in a different world, where our characters can do and feel everything we do, while trying to deal with our owns.
Of every writer who has a story to tell and doesn't know if it's gonna be heard.
"Am I good enough? Am I serving my character, my reader, myself? Will anyone possibly care about my work?"
After all, how many of us have even just once dreamed of being teleported into a Bridgerton reality, where the most important thing was wearing proper dresses and finding the right soul mate?
It is confusing yes, but I loved the changes of povs. I really liked the fact that, while one chapter we could follow one plot, the other someone else was at the centre of attention.
And the great references to classical colture, mentioning famous novels like Don Quixote ... loved those!
I really wished I could have read more about it all ... but I guess it's all work in progress!!
"Now I think I just loved that this desirable man desired me"
"I've started to think about something that should be news to no one: that love can be fatal"
"Was she crazy? Or just love crazy?"

Wow! What a funny, clever, critical and sympathetic book about books. I loved the update on Don Quixote -- and the situations Lady Vanessa gets into often had me laughing out loud. The same goes for her fabulous sidekick Magdalena. But I also loved how the plot took so many fun and unexpected twists and turns. What starts out as a total comedy actually ends up being really dramatic, too. I thought it was a wonderful book. Highly recommended.

I read this book without trying to look for any deep meaning hidden amongst Lady Vanessa's escapades. I just read and laughed at the silly antics the Lady finds herself in, taking pleasure in the absurd and accepting at face value. Doing that I found this well written, hilariously entertaining, with sharp, witty, if somewhat eccentric excerpts throughout.
Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.