Reviewer: Rowena All the Way (Romancing Manhattan, #1) by Kristen Proby
Series: Romancing Manhattan #1
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 21, 2018
Point-of-View: First
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:
In New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Proby’s brand new Romancing Manhattan series, three brothers get more than they bargain for as they practice law, balance life, and navigate love in and around New York City.
Finn Cavanaugh is known for being a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom. He owns a successful law firm with his brother and brother-in-law in Manhattan. On the rare occasion that he has down time, he spends it at his home in Martha’s Vineyard. But when Finn’s troubled niece goes to stay with him for the summer in Martha’s Vineyard, he’s reluctant to take time off from work. That is, until he meets his beautiful new neighbor, London.
London Watson is a Tony Award winning actress on Broadway. When tragedy strikes her family, leaving her alone and injured, she flees Manhattan for Martha’s Vineyard. Hoping she can figure out how to pick up the pieces of her life, London is convinced that she’ll never be able to return to the stage. But when she meets the charming young girl next door and her sexy uncle, they soon lure London out of her shell as she finally begins to heal from the wounds of her past.
But when London feels confident enough to return to the spotlight, she’s dealt another devastating blow. Will the newfound love between London and Finn be enough to conquer all? Or will it be over before it has a chance to grow…?
I’m going to be completely honest with you guys and tell you that I picked up this book because of that gorgeous cover. When I decided that I was going to read and review this book, it was because the book cover caught my eye and I wanted to love this book as much as I loved the cover. I hadn’t even read the blurb before deciding that I had to have this book. I was so excited to jump into a New York romance between an actress and her late parent’s lawyer.
I should also note that this is my very first read from Kristen Proby and I’m sad to say that I spent most of the book bored. I didn’t really connect with London, I liked Finn well enough though he was really controlling so while I liked him, he’d never be a favorite hero of mine and I wanted to spank the shit out of his niece. Don’t even get me started on London’s brother.
So the book centers on London, who lost her parents in a house fire where she barely escaped. She is a Broadway actress who has to take time off to recuperate and so when she inherits all of her parent’s properties, she heads to the place she called home in the summer to try to figure some shit out. She’s surprised when she finds out that her parent’s lawyer is her next door neighbor and she’s still a little annoyed that he tried hitting on her right after the reading of her parents will.
Finn is interested in London and is still kicking himself for his ill-advised attempt to ask her out after reading her parent’s will to her. His niece is staying with him because she’s going through some stuff and not dealing with her mother’s death so well so he’s got his hands full but he’s drawn to London and he’s not really going to question it.
There’s a lot going on this book but not a lot of it was interesting to me. I’m not sure if I didn’t connect with Proby’s writing style or if it was the characters that I couldn’t connect with it but I spent much of this book bored. Now, it wasn’t all bad. I did enjoy London’s friendship with Sasha and I liked Finn’s interactions with his brothers and the niece came around in the end but for the most part, I was just uninterested. It took me a lot longer to read this book than it should have and in the end, I was ready to move on.
I’m not sure if I’ll continue this series and I’m even more unsure if I want to go back and read other books by this author but who knows, maybe another book will be a better fit for me.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5
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