This is an ARC review. All opinions are solely my own.

Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne is a lovely My Fair Lady re-telling. This version reverses the roles. This is not a super steamy book and I could see this made into a movie.

Violet is the quintessential New Yorker. She lives in a world of prestige and propriety. Cain turns her world upside down as the surprise grandson of her boss and surrogate grandmother. Their New York and Louisiana upbringings could not be more different. Their initial clashes are a product of both of their stubbornness.

This was a quick moving read. If you're looking for a good vacation book this should be at the top of your TBR.

A wonderful, funny and compelling reverse My Fair Lady story. I loved how much the characters learned and evolved throughout the book, and how the ending was so fulfilling. A romantic and fun story.

It was an entertaining read, but highly predictable. I feel like the author just put names into a generic plot about the New York social circle. A light weekend read if you want to relax.

Firstly, thank you NetGalley and Lauren Layne for providing me with an ARC of this beautiful book!

Now let's start.

This is a forced proximity, grumpy sunshine trope book.

It is the story of Violet Townsend and Cain Stone.

Violet is Manhattan's darling. The perfect socialite. She does everything that people expect of her. From her dresses to her mannerisms, everything is just right and what people expect. This type of behavior is so deeply ingrained in her that she sometimes wonder, if she can ever be more than what she is....
Violet doesn't have a family of her own. However, the closest thing to a grandmother she has, is Edith. And Violet would do anything for her. So when, Edith asks Violet to help her newly discovered grandson and the future heir of the business empire 'adjust' to the elite and privileged society of New York, Violet has no choice but to say yes.

Enter Cain Stone. Our broody, rough around the edges protagonist. He's an unpolished, denim-loving guy who is now being asked to wear and do what not to fit into the upper crust society of New York. He would've given up a long time ago if not for the promise of a hefty paycheck waiting for him at the other end of this torture.

Violet and Cain are like oil and water. But doesn't the saying go like ' Opposites Attarct...'

This book is a modern day twist to My Fair Lady and Pretty Woman.

Personally, Lauren Layne is one my favourite authors, so I had a lot of expectations for this book. While it was a good read, I have to say, unfortunately according to me it didn't reach the usual Lauren Layne level. Rather than gradual character development, for me, it seemed that the changes in the personality of the protagonists were rather sudden. To potray the oil and water base of the story, the banter could've used some improvement as well.

I just finished this book and it was SO cute! It was funny and heart warming.
•
I absolutely loved the #grumpysunshine vibe between Violet and Cain. Violet is a socialite in New York who is very pampered and privileged. Cain is unruly and unpolished BUT little does he know he is actually the only living heir of a billionaire dollar company……when his grandma finally discovers him she assigns her second in command Violet to teach him how to fit in with the very 1% of NYC.
•
Cain and Violet could not be any different but somehow they just fit. What a gem of a book! If you love a feel good romcom….this is it!

Lauren Layne dazzles us with another great romance! What may have started with Violet trying to change Cain became so much more... the journey these two took to finding themselves and really embracing who they are deep down was a wonderful aspect to this book. I love seeing character growth and LL doesn't disappoint in that department.

I was disappointed in this book. I really enjoyed the author's previous books but somehow this was fell flat. I ended up skimming though most of the book.

Lauren Layne’s latest book Made in Manhattan is everything you need in a romcom. An enemies to lovers storyline between Violet, an Upper East Side socialite, and Cain, the brooding working class hunk from Louisiana. These two couldn’t be more different but the electricity between these two can be felt throughout the book. A billion dollar company that Violet must help Cain secure and a family friend who is the perfect fairy godmother. Another fun book to read this month. Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Lauren Layne for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This is a cute retelling of Pygmalion (of which My Fair Lady was another retelling), so the basic plot and story line is a classic. What really sets a good retelling about is the writing and the character development. Unfortunately, this retelling lacked depth in both of these areas, leaving me wanting more both as I was reading and when I finished.

The characters are likable enough (and grow to be even more likable as the story goes on) and they do grow throughout the story, but it all felt so blunt, for lack of a better word. The characters changed without much introspection, almost as if they were brute forced into changing to fit the expected storyline.

The writing was fine, but it was very “to the point”. There was a lot of telling us rather than showing us while setting up a scene, if that makes sense. The author didn’t establish scenes by walking us through the sensory components of the moment, but told us what the scene was. It’s a small distinction that makes a big difference in feeling like I’m really there rather than reading a made up story.

All of these things are what sets apart a 4/4.5 star read from a 2.5/3 star read. This one ended up on the lower end of the spectrum for me, but it’s still a cute, fun, easy read, and if you’re looking for a quick palate cleanser or a Pygmalion retelling, this is one to check out.

Thank you to Gallery books for the advanced e-book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was super cute! Violet Townsend is your typical prissy Upper East Sider who spends her time assisting her surrogate grandmother, Edith. When Edith finds out she has a long lost grandson, she tasks Violet with getting him acclimated to New York life.

I was initially drawn to this book by the Gossip Girl and Sex and the City comparisons but I was pleasantly surprised when it was very different from the two shows. It was a little bit cringey in some parts but I was overall really happy while reading it. It was easy to keep reading and you could easily get sucked in and finish it in a day.

Romcom, enemies to lovers, opposites attract
Violet is the high society, rule follower. She is the perfect example of prim and proper down to the pearls.
Cain is long haired, bearded jean wearing long lost society son. Grumpy, rude and very casual.
It’s like oil and water when they are forced together. They are both more alike than they think. Both lose a part of themselves to be someone their not to please someone. They learned a lot from each other without really realizing it.
Violet’s growth was more obvious. It was fun watching her get a backbone and start to really live. Cain was a little more subtle.
Fun, slow burn romance with great characters.

This was a cute and very fast read! I struggled a little at the beginning of the book, but by the middle I was absolutely invested and enjoying the book! It has the grumpy-sunshine trope which I felt was well done! Cain is the perfect grumpy bad boy and I love that that wasn’t broken down as quickly as some others I’ve read… these two had great chemistry and it really was a delight to read this reverse my fair lady type story where really in the end, it was Violet that made the huge transformation and was able to see that really while focusing on Cain’s makeover, that she was really on the receiving end and finding the person that she was deep down that she had buried due to the loss of her parents as a child.

If you love an enemies to lovers or grumpy-sunshine trope I highly recommend this one as it was done well and had a nice slow burn that made it even better!

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC of this book! I am so thankful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release!

My first Lauren Layne book and it won't be my last!

This book was absolutely delightful! I loved the main characters, prim & proper Violet and rough and southern Cain. The secondary characters were entertaining too!

The banter and flirting between Violet and Cain had me grinning like a fool. I loved how Violet came out of her shell and decided to take chances and speak her mind. I would love to see more of them in the future!

If you haven't added this Rom-Com to your list, do so now!

This fun take on a reverse My Fair Lady is an enjoyable light hearted read. Violet is a NYC socialite, working for her grandmother's best friend, Edith. When Edith discovers she has a long lost grandson, she tasks Violet with preparing him socially to take over the family company. It is no easy task, but they start to bond and learn from each other along the way.....

This is a reverse My Fair Lady type story. I'm not sure what kind of trope it is...opposites attract...enemies to lovers? Whatever it was, it worked for me. I absolutely loved Cain. He's a rugged guy that has it all together until a grandmother he knew nothing about decides to groom him to take over her CEO position in the family business. Violet is brought in to teach him how to fit in...change him to fit in. Sparks are flying everywhere and they're not all from Cain's irritation with Violet. The s..... tension leaps off the page.

I don't usually have problems with family talking to me while I'm reading. However, I was really wishing they would just be quiet and let me read this book! It definitely held my attention. I loved that Violet had her own transformation in the book. And I just loved Cain (it's worth saying again).

Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

I received this novel as an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and it’s characters. It was the perfect light read and the chemistry between the characters and supporting characters was superb. I highly recommend this fun and heartfelt novel.

I'm such a huge fan of Lauren Layne and she never fails me! Made in Manhattan was a great spin on My Fair Lady. I loved the characters and writing as always. Cain and Violet had such great chemistry. I couldn't put this book down and read it in one sitting!

This was a sweet, if formulaic, romance. The message of loving a person for their true self was nice and I thought Violet and Cain were both well-written characters. At first I thought Layne was going to write Cain as a southern hick hyperbole but she managed to give him layers that we get to peel back as the story unfolds. I also liked the Ashley as the always supportive best friend.m and Keith as the ex-boyfriend villain. He was awful without being too over-the-top.
This was overall a solid romance and I would definitely read more from this author in the future.

2 stars

Oh, how it depresses me when a premise with lots of possibilities is ruined by sloppy execution.

With its reverse My Fair Lady plotline, New York socialite heroine, and down-home Southern hero, Made in Manhattan had so many things going for it. However, I found myself unable to connect to this story for a number of reasons. First of all, I found both halves of our leading couple to be pretty one-dimensional with Violet being the reserved socialite and Cain being the angry bad boy. The brief flashes of something deeper that we got from Cain unfortunately go nowhere as the entire book is from Violet's perspective, which I found to be fairly bland throughout. I just finished the book and I feel like I could barely tell you who these characters are.

In addition, the pacing of this book suffers from an incredibly repetitive first half and a second half that constantly stops and starts in terms of actually developing the main relationship. Don't even get me started about how utterly ridiculous the third-act breakup was. We also have several major events that happen off page that actually would have helped put some meat on this story's bones. The love confessions and the epilogue did singlehandedly earn a little bit of affection from me in the end, but the other good moments felt few and far between.

I think there are definitely people that will be able to pick this up and breeze through it, but I personally could not get over what I saw to be a lot of wasted potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

This is a cute romantic comedy that is highly entertaining. We have Violet who is asked by her beloved grandmother to help her friend grandson fit in to New York society. Cain is from the bayou and has become a success in New Orleans when his newly found grandmother wants him to not only come to New York City but also change who he is. This book can be referred to as a reverse my fair Lady or and opposites attract or even a fish out of water romance.

Violet and Cain instantly rub each other the wrong way. But they soon start to understand one another and there is definitely attraction there from the very beginning. The way Violet starts to think of herself differently after gaining confidence from cane is a nice character development. It’s fun to see how Cain doesn’t even try to fit in and Violet keeps trying to insert him into the society. You can see that they would make a great couple but they have to get past what is the future each of them wants for themselves. I really enjoyed that they both thought about what was best for their own future as well as realizing that they were falling for one another. This was a fun book and I recommend it.