Made In Manhattan by Lauren Layne
Genre : Contemporary Romance
Publisher : Gallery Books
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Central Park Pact
comes a reverse My Fair Lady for the modern era about a pampered and
privileged Manhattan socialite who must teach an unpolished and
denim-loving nobody from the Louisiana Bayou how to fit in with the
upper crust of New York City. Perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and
Sally Thorne.
Violet Townsend has always been a people pleaser. Raised in the privileged
world of Upper East Side Manhattan, she always says the right things,
wears the right clothes, and never rocks the boat. Violet would do
anything for the people closest to her, especially her beloved
grandmother. So when she asks Violet to teach the newly-discovered
grandson of her friend how to fit in with New York City’s elite, Violet
immediately agrees. Her goal? To get Cain Stone ready to take his place as
heir to his family company…but to say he’s not exactly an eager student is
an understatement.
Born and raised in rural Louisiana and now making his own way in New
Orleans, Cain Stone is only playing along for the paycheck at the end. He
has no use for the grandmother he didn’t know existed and no patience for
the uppity Violet’s attempts to turn him into a suit-wearing,
museum-attending gentleman.
But somewhere amidst antagonistic dinner parties and tortured tux
fittings, Cain and Violet come to a begrudging understanding—and the
uptight Violet realizes she’s not the only one doing the teaching. As she
and Cain begin to find mutual respect for one another (and maybe even
something more), Violet learns that blindly following society’s rules
doesn’t lead to happiness…and that sometimes the best things in life come
from the most unexpected places.
I think noone does it better than LL when it comes to an NYC romance! She's one of my all time favorite authors and I'd read anything she writes, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that I loved her latest release as well!❣️✨ Well, I admit that I'm a little biased, but seriously this one was really good! I felt the same way that the old LL books made me feel(not that her previous books weren't amazing) and this one was perfect with a little steam(I kinda miss her steamier books😆).
It's a reverse My Fair Lady with Violet, a classy, elegant socialite who attempts to transform Cain, the newly discovered grandson of a close family friend who is quite arrogant, rude and impatient. And I don't think I need to tell you what happens when they start spending more time together 😉
We've got a delicious mix of
✨ Hate-to-love (I won't call it enemies to lovers)
✨ Opposites attract
✨ A prickly hero paired with a prim & proper princess
“Was there a question? All I heard was you being a jerk.”
“Sure there was a question.” Cain moved closer, his thumb pressing at the very center of her chin, lifting her face upward.
“Are you his girl? Or are you not.”
Violet let out a breathless laugh. “Am I his girl? What is this, 1912?”
“That’s not an answer.” He studied her closely. “Then again, maybe it is.”
I've got to say that Cain is nothing like LL's usual suit-wearing heroes. He's quite rude and not-so-charming at first. And I'd thought that Violet would be a spoiled socialite like Georgie from Walk Of Shame, but she's actually very dignified and quite submissive at times due to her childhood experience. At first she was a people-pleaser and what really astonished me was the transformation that she went through. As much as the main purpose was to give Cain a makeover, it was more about Violet's(or Duchess as Cain likes to fondly call her😂) inner makeover as well. We could literally see her go from the usually passive Violet to the more outspoken one! So, that was my favorite part along with the relationship development.
“You’ve changed, Duchess.”
“Have I?” she asked lightly. “How?”
He leaned forward, capturing her eyes with his. “The woman I first met was a blank slate that anyone could write on to suit their own agenda. The woman sitting across from me now . . . she knows what she wants.”
“I do know what I want.” She licked powdered sugar off her thumb and held his gaze boldly. “I’m even prepared to go for it.”
As much as I found it hard to adjust to Cain's attitude at first, I did understand that he has a reason for behaving the way he does. From the very first moment that he entered NYC it was very obvious that everyone wanted to change him and get him ready for display so that his grandmother's wish of passing on the company to him could be fulfilled. We could see where each one was coming from, especially as the thing that brought them together was the task. Noone would like to be told that they're not good enough and had to change to fit in.
But I loved how they figured things out and totally adored the romance! I had a subtle feeling that Cain had the upper hand in the relationship as most of the initiative was taken by Violet for a major part of the book. But that might also be because of the fact that we get to see everything from Violet's POV alone. I'd have liked it even more if Cain had stopped pushing away Violet constantly but then there wouldn't be much tension lol. I loved all the moments between them!
She slowly pulled her hand away from his face, and his fingers tightened reflexively before releasing her.
Anyway, I gotta stop gushing about this one. Please do give this a try if you're looking for a cute NYC romance with wonderful characters! You'll definitely love it!
Find my review on bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest
review*
You can also find my reviews of Lauren Layne's other books here.
Lauren Layne is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Amazon
bestselling author of more than thirty romantic comedies. Her
books have sold over a million copies, been translated into more
than a dozen languages, and have been featured in Oprah Magazine,
Publishers Weekly, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Inside
Edition. She’s based in New York City where she is married to her
high school sweetheart.
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