Member Reviews
This was a fun quick read. Nothing too over the top. Thought the romance was interesting. The characters were good.
As someone who loves reading mangas, I really wanted to love this. Unfortunately though, I found the story very lacking. Although I felt bad for Zane, I also couldn’t look past his temper and misogynistic outbursts. That definitely ruined his character for me and I couldn’t connect with his character. Julia’s character was not much better because I found her to be quite selfish and at times annoyingly naive. Aside from the lackluster story and characters though, I did enjoy the artstyle.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoy these Harlequin romance mangas. I love the illustrations. I love the stories and since the stories are from actual books, sometimes it even motivates me to go and read the book for more details. Love it.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Harlequin/SB Creative as the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Book title : Zane: the Wild One : a Harlequin Manga
Author : Browyn Jameson ; Illustrator : Eko Yumi
Release Date : 25 March 2019
Julia our heroine is the daughter of the mayor. Her sister decides to host a party in order to find Julia a husband. On her way to the party, Julia gets an accident. Zane, our hero comes with his white horse---nay his truck. He looks so dangerous and wild which is quite the opposite of Julia. Meanwhile, Zane cannot believe that the lady stand
ing in front of him is the same Julia, the innocent Julia that he had known for years. And yes...like any other Harlequin stories, there are super hot flames spark between them.
My only concern to this manga is that everything seems like wrapped up harshly so some points are missing including the development of the characters. Julia's character is quite a little bit dull in my opinion. I know that it is probably because everything should be shortened and portrayed in manga but still, it is such a lamentable thing. Luckily, the illustration is pretty and it cheers me as the reader a little bit. Despite of those reasons, this manga is still a nice manga to read between the time.
Review: https://literatureisliving.wordpress.com/2019/05/13/zane-the-wild-one-a-harlequin-manga-by-browyn-jameson/
Once i figured out how to read them on my device., i really liked my time with this short story in maga form. I have to say the story was cute, and the artwork was fantastic.
Thank you to Harlequin / SB Creative and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy to read and review.
I did not like this story. Mostly because of Julia's character. This story had a lot of potential but her naivety, self-obsession, and lack of respect for and understanding of Zane's feelings ruined it all for me.
There is a clearly wrong misconception about Zane (the wild, bad boy) that the town refuses to let go. He's a good guy who did his best to raise his little sister after an unfortunate situation. So I feel for him. It's never easy being an outsider looking in. However, he does have a bit of a misogynistic temper (big no-no).
I love Kree, Zane's sister. She is so sweet and down-to-earth. She's funny, fashionable, and exuberant. Kree brought color and life to the otherwise lacking story.
Harlequin Romance manga is a recent fixation of mine, and so it's been interesting to explore a classic genre in a new format.
This story is a rather generic contemporary romance. It takes place in a small town, and the heroine is Julia, the classic 'good girl' and Zane is the resident misunderstood bad boy. Nothing incredibly offensive about the setup, but overall, the plot felt stilted, vaguely manipulative, and lacking.
Julia's position of 'naive good girl' seems to be based on this idea of virginal purity... in spite of the fact that she was previously married and desires to have a child. She doesn't go to the local bar, so she's 'naive'? She babysits her nephew and takes care of her brother's dog, so that makes her this angelic figure? It seems rather forced. Even more forced is the plot point of her 'rebellious' belly button ring. It's constantly brought up, and I can only assume that the author is someone easily scandalized if the mere idea of a belly button ring is seen as an act of rebellion or something that would tarnish her image.
Julia was overall just a strange combination of underwhelming in terms of interests or personality but overbearing when it came to her behavior. After she gets pregnant, and Zane expresses his desire to move somewhere else, given the rejection and disdain he's faced for decades from the fellow townspeople, Julia goes around and finds ways to 'make it work', that all seem super manipulative. She says she wants to do it for Zane's own good, but it seems fairly selfish, since she's the one who wants to stay in town, and though Zane eventually changes his mind, it feels like it was done after his arm was twisted.
I just didn't care for the plot at all. It had potential to be better, but then it got bogged down with a protagonist who was dull and controlling and just not very likable. You deserve better Zane!
Plenty was a beautiful and serene town, and Julia was the mayor’s well-behaved daughter. Her sister decided to host a party in order to find Julia a husband, but on her way to the party, Julia got into a car accident. The man who came to tow her car took Julia’s breath away—it was Zane. He was a wild and dangerous man—her complete opposite. Zane was surprised to see Julia, too. He couldn’t believe the sexy beauty before him was the same, innocent Julia he’d always known. Will his insecurity ruin their chance at love in the end? Find out yourself!
This review is not going to be long. I am not a huge fan of a review rehashing the entire plot and spoiling it for everyone.
This is the first Manga book that I have read. I felt like I was in high school reading a comic book. It was an enjoyable and interesting read. I will definitely read another Manga book.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received this manga from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
Been awhile since I read one of the current batches of Harlequin Manga, I had so much other things to read + I was kind of too sick to stay at my PC to read and review. But today I feel much better, so let's get on to reading a new one, and the chosen one is this book. A book with a very interesting title (Zane the wild one, oh my?) and a cute cover. And the blurb is also lovely, two people who apparently know each other have the chance to meet up again, get to know each other. I am hoping for plenty of cute romance. :)
"I'm the typical good girl who's the daughter of the town mayor..." Wow, stuffing all the cliché character stuff in one. :P
Oh my, I love this girl. Sensible! So many girls in these stories will just walk around in high heels no matter the situation, but this girl actually was planning to go barefoot. Yes!
I have to say her eyes are very distracting though, they are so big for her face, a bit like the olden days anime. Maybe it would have helped if they had some colour in them, but now it is just like two black pools.
I wonder what is going on between these two characters. They seem to have a history, given how they interact. Zac is a bit confusing, he wants her at that place, but also not. He wants to kiss her. He wants to be with her. But then doesn't dare to do it as if something is holding him away. And Julia is afraid people will think badly of her if she goes, which also makes me confused. I guess it may have to do with who her dad is, but I still think it was a bit silly that she worried so much. It made me wonder what is up with this town.
She touches his hand and thinks about how powerful vitality flows from it and how it is the warmth of a man. Which made me chuckle as it sounded pretty weird.
Ah yes, we find out that they have known each other for a long long time. And, at least Julia, has always been interested in Zane. Though we see that Zane is also very interested in Julia, not sure how long he has these feelings. I am kind of curious if they always liked each other and never had the guts to go for it. Which is a shame.
Oh my, Kree has a hair salon! That fits so well with her and her personality (and her fabulous hair).
Sorry, but what... he accidentally bumps against her and makes a comment over a piercing? Um. Dude.
We learn that Julia has had a divorce? And here I thought she was looking around for her first husband and to start a family. *is a bit confused* But I can imagine she is pissed at her ex-husband. That is a pretty low blow from him.
Um, what the fuck is wrong with this town. I am sorry, but Julia is just a normal girl, sure she is the daughter of the mayor but is it that weird that she likes to visit a bar for once? Or just go kiss a guy she clearly likes and has a giant crush on? Why do people need to act like this? Why even get a fight happening?
I am happy with what happened after, it was super swoony and sweet and I was squeeing in delight.
But, as expected, we hit page 85 and drama happens. So typical. And it was once again, dumb drama, totally unnecessary even.
Oh good Lord. (view spoiler)
There were some more bumps in the road, along with confessions just didn't feel well timed, but with the ending coming up I guess they had to add these confessions so we could go to the happy ending.
As you can see, a bit hit and miss, the characters had chemistry, I was rooting for them to get together, but I would have liked it to be a bit more natural, less drama. There is plenty of room to do that. And this couple deserves it completely. They were just so cute. I did love the art, sure the eyes were a bit weird and reminded me a bit too much of the olden days of anime (and maybe also a few bits here and there). I will still give this one a 2.5 stars. So right in the middle of the rating scale.
*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book*
I don't know what to think about this story. It might have not been my best choice. I'm not super familiar with manga, though I saw some of. I do like the drawings, especially those famous manga eyes. I liked how everything was presented and how well played out. The story, on the other hand... Well, it's the reason I've never liked Harlequin books. The plot is simple and painfully obvious. There's a good girl, bad boy, little town gossip and happy end. I kind of feel stupider after reading this... I don't think I'll reach for another Harlequin - in any form, but manga might have a chance to appear on my reading list.
This is my first Harlequin Manga. It's a simple love story, quickly told in manga format with simple conversations. The other characters in addition to the protagonists -- the boring one, the sister, the elderly neighbor -- are cute in how they're described. The bad boy and good girl image of the main characters are often used in romance, so that felt predictable, and I loved the ending. Enjoyable quick read.
This "Bad Boy in a small town who likes the shy mayor's daughter" just warmed my heart. The element of a divorce was nice, and something that made the female character more relatable.
The art in this volume was great! They eyes were especially big and pretty. All in all, a fun josei one shot.