The Man Ban by Nicola Marsh is a delightful and humorous romance novel that is a perfect fit for readers who enjoy lighthearted, feel-good stories with a dash of wit and a strong focus on contemporary romance, as it follows the journey of a strong-willed heroine and her charming love interest as they navigate the ups and downs of relationships and self-discovery.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t for me! I tried two attempts - audio and ebook, but couldn’t get invested in the story.

This is an entertaining romance that's a quick read despite a few heavier topics included in the story. They're handled in a sensitive manner and balanced by the humor and sweet relationship Manny has with his grandmother. I also enjoyed the setting down under.

I consider myself a romance connoisseur. All forms. All tropes. Love them! So when a book doesn't hit me it's generally a rarity.

The representation in this one was beautiful! The cultural/religious, medical, etc are all aspects of characters that are sadly lacking in the romance world and ones I love to see! The instant-love aspect could have been a hit, but because the author had so pointedly set these two up as the absolutely gun shy at love types, to see them instantly fall madly in love was a little unbelievable. I also wasn't sold on Manny. It honestly felt like he forced a relationship on Harper just to please his family. While I felt he truly liked her, his pursuit had more to do with family obligations than love.

Again, this is just how I felt and in no way representative of anyone else's experience. Overall, it was an average read. I definitely wouldn't read it again, but it's a good book for the right reader.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Nicola Marsh. ❤️

I got about 20% in but didn't feel the connection/chemistry on this one. A cute premise but not my fave rom-com.

I love the representation found in both characters. Manny is the perfect grandson and doctor, minus his stubborn refusal to settle down with a nice Indian girl. Harper’s recent vitiligo diagnosis and resulting breakup led to her year-long man ban, but is she ready to try again? A no-strings fling with a hot doctor sounds like the perfect place to start.

The Man Ban had all of my favorite tropes, but with only a half-serving of each, it fell just short of delivering the perfect romcom. With a slow start (for me, not for our insta-lust couple), I had to force myself to keep reading. It did get better, but I wasn’t sold out on the story. The banter between the characters felt forced and the plot needed more building. These two scared of love people just didn’t feel the insta-love type. Overall, a pleasing story and conclusion, but I wanted more build and just time spent together with our leads in order to deliver the perfect cherry on top.

*I may have loved this better at another time and in a different format. It had all the pieces but I was just looking for something deeper and insta-anything is never my preferred. I also listened to the audio and was really expecting a historical based solely on the cover (my own fault for not paying better attention).

This was a steamy Insta love romance. I am not usually a fan of this trope, but I felt like it was done well! The banter and steam was perfectly done in this book. I really enjoyed these characters and this story. I recommend checking it out!

Pros: Stunning cover, POC rep, strong fmc
Cons: the MAN

I did not enjoy Manny. At all. His character plus a bit too many bits of miscommunication made this miss the mark for me.

ALSO--holy plot line, things just kept HAPPENING? This was very insta-lustesque and it all spiraled for me after that tbh.

I love the visibility for Harper's auto-immune disease, but that wasn't enough to make me love this book.

"When you swear off men for the foreseeable future, that means no dating. Hookups don't count, right?" The Man Ban is a fun, steamy, light read from Nicola Marsh.

The Man Ban was a fun and steamy read. I like the mixing of cultures. If someone says they are swearing off dating, you know the opposite is going to happen! Manny is kind of forward and while I think he liked Harper, he really rushed their relationship just to please his grandmother.

I loved hearing about Harper’s career as a food stylist. I didn’t know how much went into the styling and this was super interesting.

Thank you so much to Berkley.

This was really fun, I hope that an adaptation, movie, or mini series are in the works. Not quite OMG amazing but a solid read.

This was such a fun romcom. The chemistry has to be strong for me to enjoy a romcom and there was definitely chemistry between Harper and Manny! The "off limits" trope has been a new found love of mine this year and this definitely hit the mark. I will definitely read other books by this author.

While it took me far too long to get around to reading this book, I did thoroughly enjoy it when I did. I loved the characters, their banter, and the strong female protagonist. More than that though, I loved having a male character who needed to learn to embrace his own emotions and insecurities – and he does this beautifully – even if he stumbles along the way. Likewise, the multicultural representation alongside autoimmune representation (vitiligo) is just fantastic. I highly recommend checking this one out!

3.5 stars. This was a cute, sexy insta-love story with some good rep. I know very little about vitiligo so reading about Harper’s struggle with it was interesting. I also had never heard of food styling so I thought that was cool. I like Manny and Harper though both were defined by a single instance of past trauma which always makes characters seem one-dimensional. They did have good banter, it was overly cheesy at times but in a fun, realistic way. Who doesn’t get a little ridiculous with their significant other from time to time? There was good sexual tension and some decent steam, although not as much as I’d expected from all the build up. I found that although I remember liking The Boy Toy, I actually remembered almost nothing about it and I expect this might be the same. I enjoyed it but I don’t know if it’s memorable. Worth a read if you want some fun, sexy fluff!

This was a cute romcom. Harper is trying to establish herself as a food stylist and is showcasing this at her friend’s wedding. Manny, a friend of the happy couple, insults Harper’s choice of career. Surprisingly he shows up in New Zealand at a medical conference where Harper is working. He slowly charms Harper and she starts to take him seriously. Manny’s grandma is determined he needs to be married before she dies. Will this relationship lead to her getting her wish? This was a fun story with great characters.

I’ll be honest - the cover really caught my eye with this book. Between the bright colors, the gorgeous cake and the clear chemistry between the two characters, I was sold. Also the promise of a heroine who was a food stylist really grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, the story inside didn’t really stick the landing for me. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between Harper and Manny in the writing the way I could with the cover. I just didn’t find any redeemable traits about Manny - he just wasn’t that likable to me. He just kind of came off as smarmy to me. Overall, I also found Harper’s character journey to be a bit on the weak side - I kept waiting for her to grow and to me it really felt like she stagnated. Overall, this book had potential, but just didn’t work for me.

After the last few books of hers, I've decided that I will read anything Nicola Marsh writes - yes including a to do list. This woman is a brilliant author.

The marketing for this book seems like the main misstep to me, the title The Man Ban makes me think there will be a lot more angst and/or slow burn while this was basically insta lust.

I really liked the unique nature of the main character, Harper's, occupation--food stylist. I knew this job was a thing, but I think most people don't and would even know what sort of effort goes into something like that. Otherwise, this was a pretty standard, but fun, romance with some cultural complications thrown in. For me, as a reader from the US, the setting in Australia and New Zealand was exotic and fun--made me want to travel there.

The Man Ban follows Harper Ryland who has been on a man ban for the last twelve months, after a really bad breakup.

With her career as an up-and-coming food stylist she works for her best friend's wedding but there she meets the Best Man, Manny Gomes, who ridicules her hard work. Harper automatically dislikes him then.
But a few weeks later Manny steps in to help after an unfortunate disaster and Harper temporarily ends her man ban while abroad. Both don't want a serious relationship, but will they be able to let each other go when they return home?

This was a quick and fun romance read with a dash of hotness!! I highly recommend The Man Ban for all romance book lovers!