This was a big yawn for me. While there were some realistic moments that had me loling, I felt the characters were one-dimensional and frankly, shallow. I wasn't in love or cared about any of them, which made this one hard to digest. While I slugged through it to finish, I must say it is not one of my favorites.

An absolute surprise delight debut romcom that had me laughing out loud the whole way through! This was excellent on audio with some amazing sound effects! It also gave me huge Bridget Jones vibes in the best Cuban-American way as a list-loving reality tv producer tries to find love and career success as a 30-something Manhattan woman. Highly recommended, especially on audio! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I can't wait to read more from this author!!

DNF @ 44%. This book is an absolute chaotic mess. The story is truly all over the place. I did not really care for Ana as the main female character, who seems very shallow and only cares about the superficial despite wanting to do "something meaningful" in her life and job. We haven't gotten there yet, and everything in Ana's demeanor tells me this isn't necessarily the focal point of the book. There are SO MANY characters, so many men, that we don't really get the chance to learn about them apart from their physical traits. I like all of the reality tv behind the scenes stuff, and I appreciate the latine representation, but there's just so much "meh" going on here that I really didn't feel drawn to finishing it.

Thanks to Lissette Decos, NetGalley, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

I’ve always been fascinated by the world of reality tv and what goes behind the camera. We all know that it’s a wild ride and sometimes reality beats the fantasy like my father likes to say.
Ana is a very typical young woman that works in the tv production shows and wants to start a better life for herself after seeing how her other friends have it so easily in life.
I can’t say that I liked her character too much. At times she was annoying and stubborn but I can totally relate with her in so many situations that she had to get through. The society holds us captive in so many standards that somehow we loose parts of ourselves. And I loved how Ana was described in here. Her life is nothing like her friend’s one and she doesn’t take everything for granted.
It reminds me of the 90’s show and Carrie Bradshaw’s ambition to tribe in her professional and personal life in a jungle type of life.

A debut that many readers will enjoy.
Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Ana Takes Manhattan is “a novel about one New York City woman skilled in producing swoon-worthy reality TV shows but whose own life is a mess, with nothing ever going according to plan.”
This was a fun and I really needed it after reading something much heavier right before. I think Ana is a pretty relatable character, just trying to do her best at her career and find love in a big city, while her best friend seems to have it all.
I really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes world of reality television, where Ana works on a reality show as a producer. Throw in some wedding planning and I’m definitely hooked. Especially once I read that the author has so much experience working as a producer for reality tv, and even worke on one of my favourite reality shows, Say Yes to the Dress. I always thought being a producer would be kind of fun, but wow you really have to be prepared for anything and really think outside of the box.
If this was Lisette Decos’ debut novel, I’m excited to see what she writes next!
Best quote: “When I check off every single task, I feel like I’m in command of my own ship. A sense of calm washes over me, and it’s as if I’ve stepped under a warm waterfall.”
Publication Date: February 28, 2023

Ana Takes Manhattan was an enjoyable debut from Lissette Decos. Our MC Ana is a producer for a reality show that films couple's engagements. She's been doing this job for many years, but everything changes when one proposal goes horribly wrong.

Also, she feels like she missed the boat on her own romantic life as their are no contenders for her. Her best friend says she is too picky about men, and she isn't lying. Ana literally has lists of deal breakers for men she may be interested in. But she comes across a list she mad in college of the four qualities a man must have for her to fall in love. She comes up with an idea: put that deal breaker list away and find four men who represent one of the qualities on her love list.

Ana's dating adventures are pretty hilarious. As a fan of reality TV, mostly the Bravo-universe, the behind the scenes editing and filming parts were fun. Plus, the author is a veteran reality TV producer, so she knows her stuff.

The stakes were pretty low in this book, and though it does have romance, it's more about Ana finding herself. I look forward to what the author writes next and hope it's more juicy reality TV.

Thank you to Forever Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

This book was just ok for me. Nothing that was either bad or good. I felt like the timeline skipped ahead a lot in weird ways but overall an enjoyable read

Ana likes lists and like any good list-maker, she has one that has all the qualities she wants in her perfect man. When life starts moving forward without her, she decides maybe she doesn't need to find one man who ticks all the boxes, but rather a different man to tick each of the boxes. What's her end goal with this plan? Good question...

This was a fine story, but felt very superficial. None of the relationships Ana had felt like they were very well explored. The final relationship she ends up with hardly featured at all in the story and felt very forced.

Ana was not very likeable and most of the characters just seemed very immature. Not an bad book, but it will be forgettable.

I really wanted to like this book but i dnfed this around 50% there was a lot of loopholes that I do not like.

Red if you love:
- reality tv shows
- New York City

This started off so strong, but then it quickly lost the plot. As I was reading it, I kept thinking it would be a near-perfect read if more editing and character-building were utilized. The second half felt particularly meandering and aimless. You know who her ultimate love interest will be pretty much as soon as he's introduced, but the book takes you through way too many pointless scenes with the other one-dimensional, trope-y men. As a result, it feels like we barely have any time with the real love interest and his relationship with Ana. The main character's relationship with her best friend is also very shallow and one-sided, and when they do finally argue, it's basically resolved without any real discussion, and the best friend's own subplot is never wrapped up.

Is it still a fun and easy read? Yes. Is it a little frustrating because of how poorly executed certain things are? Yes.

I really wanted to like this book, but it was a Do Not Finish for me at about 60%. I've seen other good reviews for the book, so it might have just not been my cup of tea or the mood I was in since I'm a mood reader. I may go back and reread it at some point and I would definitely try another book by this author in the future.

Ana Karina (really with the name?) is a reality tv producer who has been manipulating the reality (we all know this happens) but she's unhappy with her own life and sets off on a journey of discovery. This is a well trod theme but it's not well executed here largely because Ana is pretty unlikable. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I DNF.

Ana Takes Manhattan was such a fun and witty read! I loved the setting, and the humor found throughout the book. I didn't care for how chaotic the story was and some of the characters seemed underdeveloped.

Read if you like:
- NYC setting
- Reality tv shows

I want to preface this by stating while I did not enjoy this book, I really do hope others do. There’s much in the narrative that will get you laughing and smiling, and while the romance didn’t hit for me, it may very well for you.

But for me, this book simply wasn’t it. At least not the way I would have liked.

》The Lead《

Ana was a character I went through highs and lows with. The highs came in moments of true endearment...when her character started to feel more three-dimensional and relatable. At one point she discusses the traditions of her family New Years throughout her life and it was literally word for word how I grew up as well. It brought such a smile to my face. Moments like those endeared me to Ana.

But they faded all too soon.

Her character read rather superficial and shallow. On one hand, it is interesting to read a character that one may not immediately warm up to— there’s certain immaturity and judgmental attitude she needs to work through, and eventually she gets there, but for some (aka me), it takes too long to do so.

》The Romance《

The true romance took too long to develop, and when it finally started I found I simply did not care. It didn’t feel genuine, there was lack of chemistry which became a lack of care on my part. That said, ironically my favorite character is the main love interest. I actually really liked him! And maybe if that facet of the story had been developed earlier, or just had been more present, I may have had another perspective on the romance as a whole.

》Toxic Friendship《

Romance books, for me, always need to have strong friendships within it. Characters our lead(s) can rely on as they navigate the workings on their heart. Unfortunately, the main friendship in this book felt toxic and, like much of the book, shallow. I was really disheartened by it.

》The Lists《

I can only take so much of the numbered lists on every other page. It became distracting rather than add to any of the endearment I would sometimes feel for the lead and story.

》The Ick Factor《

In one of my previous reviews I discuss how one of my no-gos in reading is cheating, be it emotional, physical, what have you. It happened too often for my liking in this story. This is more of a personal nitpick because I am sure others would view this facet much more differently than me, which is fair. But this was a massive red light for me.

》It’s Okay, that’s Life《

I wanted romance, but didn’t get much of it. I did get some laughs, some heartwarming moments along the way, but it was cluttered with lists, too many devolving almost-love stories, and a lead who rang more juvenile than adult.

It wasn’t the book for me, but I hope you find in it what I could not.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book doesn’t start out in the right way. I don’t like jumping into a book that has already “started”, and this one drops us right in the middle of a situation that we have no context for. From the get-go, I was lost. It seemed like the author wanted us to feel left out of the story. I didn’t feel like any of the characters had chemistry, and I felt more awkward than anything while reading different interactions.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

(3.75) Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel! I thought that Ana was a well-written character and I enjoyed reading her story. I also really liked each of the men that she was pursuing. They each brought something really important to Ana's journey and were effective vessels for the lessons she needed to learn. I am also a sucker for understated chemistry that simmers below the surface until the end, and her and Richard were just that. I also was happy about the fact that any discontent between the characters was reasonable and resolved at a normal pace. The main thing I didn't love about this novel was that there were a lot of characters packed into such a short novel. I didn't think all of them were fleshed out as much as they could have been and some could have been cut altogether.

Thank you @readforeverpub for this book. I was intrigued by the premise of this story of Ana who is a producer of a marriage proposal reality show. The book was entertaining but I felt both Gia and Ana were way too immature and didn't agree with their behavior. I was expecting more romance but this book was more women's fiction. I was a bit annoyed with Ana's list and how she thought she can create a perfect boyfriend.

While the premise of Ana Takes Manhattan was intriguing, the author clearly understands the reality TV setting, and several of the characters were interesting, I struggled with several aspects of the story. Several of Ana’s love interests seemed firmly two dimensional, and her relationship with her best friend also was hard to understand. The ending also seemed a little rushed - the resolution of several story threads wasn’t satisfactory.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Forever and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital arc

A story about more than just romance, but loving yourself enough to know that you deserve love. Oh and the reality tv aspect is so fun!

3 stars! Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed the premise of this story but I have mixed feelings about the execution. It was really nice to see a woman like Ana figure out what she wants in her professional career and in her personal life. I liked Ana’s growth and how she was willing to take chances and put herself out there. It was nice to see how career oriented she was!

However I didn’t love her personality because she was so immature and her friendship with Gia felt a little toxic. I didn’t think Ana was super likable initially because she was very judgmental so I had a hard time connecting with her. The characters felt a little one sided and everything felt surface level so it was hard to understand the characters and root for them. Especially in regards to her friend Gia who behaved very inappropriately throughout the story.

Also the story ended abruptly which is weird because I felt like the story dragged on and on.

I think Ana learns a lot about herself and what she wants in life. The romance that was in the story had so much potential but didn’t really do anything for the story. Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me.