A cutesy romance that explores culture clash and K drama, against the backdrop of New York. A sweet story, perfect holiday reading!

Thank you NetGalley and She Writes Press for the copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating 2.5⭐️


I really wanted to like this... I just didn't feel for anything or anyone in this book.

The first part was the easiest to get through... but I really struggled with the minute by minute writing, it just felt so childish and boring.

This book was really cliché. These two people, that at first glace have nothing in common just meet one night and than two years later after they broke each other's hearts they are in love.... Yes, they had some chemistry in the first part of the book, but then it felt like the author just wanted to put them together without other considerations... It felt very rushed.
The mess with Eric's life in Seoul was a little bit more exciting... but it didn't help much.

I don't regret reading this, it was a really light read... I just really hoped I would like this better.

I received an arc of this from netgalley so thank you!

It pains me to say I did not enjoy this book. I wanted to love this because the premise was so cute and had so much potential. Bianca Curtis is having a terrible night when she meets Eric, a charming stranger who turns out to be a K-drama star. They spend 12 hours getting to know Manhattan, and each other, forging a connection neither is willing to break.
I think secretly everyone fantasizes about their celebrity crush falling madly in love them so I was ready to devour this book, but the writing was just terrible. I didn't feel any chemistry between Bianca or Eric, I almost dnf'd multiple times
I did enjoy that the fmc was half filipino though

This was a great book about finding the love of your life and only having twelve hours with them. I really liked this book and I think the library patrons will too.

This was such a fun and emotional story to read. Bianca and Eric had such good chemistry. Bianca's story was at times heartbreaking and had me in tears. There were some bombshells dropped through the story that had you going WTF! Eric was a pretty ok dude for a celebrity. He seemed down to earth. His "I don't like fame" bit was a little cliché, but it didn't ruin the story. I don't want to give away any more of the story. But I highly recommend this tale. It's a great motivator for someone who got out of a bad relationship and started over to see that it can be done.

What a ride !

Twelve Hours in Manhattan is this kind of book that puts you through so much different feelings at the same time it's insane. My heart melted, ached and smiled while going through Bianca's story. She went through so much things in her life ! I was sad for her and also very admirative of everything she is achieving to grow and evolve as a woman. I found the story very addictive and so well written. I enjoyed every character and the relationship between Bianca and Eric was quite authentic and I LOVED that ! Love isn't linear and isn't simple for everyone. They were the perfect example of right person wrong time and I just wanted to cry when I realized the Universe had a different timing for them. (it's a HEA don't worry ❤️)

The pace, the characters, the writing, everything was amazing. I loved the Asian culture references and the "K-Drama star" set-up. I really liked the New-York universe too and all the little places we discover throughout the story.

I totally recommend this one if you want to read a powerful and emotional story. I had a wonderful time and I am really grateful I got to read this beautiful book :)

I went in expecting a sweet Before-Sunrise kind of romance and this was much deeper and darker ... but also incredibly satisfying. I really enjoyed that Bianca, the main character, is a competent professional in her field and becomes a healthy person following some serious family drama, AND that it all takes place within a lovely romance and a very happy HEA.

I'm 50/50 on this book. The lighter part of this book, the meet cute is whimsical and it feels like it's a fairytale. Bianca and Eric are super cute and I loved watching them grow. I didn't like the slow second half, the time jumps, and there were some heavier topics. I appreciate the heavier topics (substance abuse, abortion) being mentioned but it was kind of off-putting and triggering. It's at best a 3 for me.

Written like a fairytale! I enjoyed the writing and story. Bianca and Eric spend one night together and it changes both of their lives. Even with hardships, Bianca had incredible growth throughout the novel.

The second half of the book did drag a little bit, with multiple time jumps throughout the book. It’s not a light romance, with more heavy topics and themes (ie substance abuse, abortion). There was more of an emphasis on loving oneself rather than the romance between the two main characters.

This was a really cute read! I recently visited New York so I feel like that helped me picture the scenes and emerge myself in the story! It wasn't as funny as I expected and the meet cute made me cringe at times but I did enjoy it nonetheless.

I am a big K-drama fan and I went into this thinking I was going to love Twelve Hours in Manhattan but I was sadly disappointed. Firstly is written very well with diverse and interesting characters who are each struggling with their own problems and I like that this delves into deeper topics and is not just your surface level romance. Sadly though the storyline fell a bit flat for me, I just couldn't get engaged with the characters and the love story was just okay it didn't blow me away like a whirlwind romance should so I feel like I can't rate this any higher.

This book had several twists and turns throughout each section. It took me a while to realize that the twelve hours doesn't span the entire book and is only the first section but that story becomes important to the entire book.
Trigger warnings for drug abuse, death and mentions of abortion.
Eric and Bianca have a complicated life and meet each other and begin their path of growth from that night forward. This story is very much a Korean drama with its fast-paced speed of the story and drama.

Tropes: Forced proximity, workplace romance, Fame, opposite attract, and Korean drama.

I rated this 3/5 because this story was slow-paced and then fast-paced and it felt like whiplash. Some of the drama in the middle felt pointless. The writing and the personal development were important for both characters before they could find romance.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

This wasn’t for me and I’m a huge kdrama fan. The writing was strangely formal with most sentences ending in a name which was unnatural. That the characters were so weirdly close less than an hour after meeting was strange. As was the fact that a huge kdrama star was ok with being ferried around town by a huge fangirl. The whole thing was just uncomfortable

I love K-drama. I love new york. I love romance and serendipitous stories. And this book is all of these things together. It is a story of two very different people that casually meet and spend twelve hours together. However, the time is not right and they departed without keeping in touch. If you have watched Serendipity, the movie with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, you will recognize the common elements. I love the idea that two people can love each other but love is not always enough. You need some kind of order and fulfillment with yourself before being able to share your life with someone else. This is the core of this story. it is not a love story between two people but it is a journey of two people that are mature enough to know that they need to wait to be together. it was beautiful and I loved it.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book.


I DNF’d this book.


I thought it was going to be a fun little rom com with a K drama idol but it was more serious than what I felt was advertised. I couldn’t connect to the MFC and the pacing was just so slow.

It might find someone who likes it but definitely wasn’t for me.

I just finished reading Twelve Hours in Manhattan, and I gotta say, it was just okay.

The main characters, Bianca and Eric, were pretty dull and I couldn't really get a sense of their connection. They spend 12 hours together at a bar, which sounds like a dream, but even that didn't make their relationship feel any more exciting. The only thing that kept me reading was the hope that they would finally get together, but even that was a bit lackluster.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

As Maan Gabriel mentioned, “Twelve Hours in Manhattan” started as a fanfic. I won’t lie, I don’t watch kdrama nor am I in touch with korean showbusiness, so I have no idea who Eric is based on. Probably for the best, since I don’t usually end up enjoying a book when I find out that it first started as a fanfic. But before I read this, I knew it was a fanfic at first. Truthfully, I was interested in this book because of the (half) Filipina lead. I’m also Filipino, so I’m always interested in any romance book where there’s a Filipina lead. But I’m also not too unfamiliar with the kdrama scene since all of my friends watches kdrama. Now, about the book. At first I thought this was going to be literally a story about Bianca and Eric’s twelve-hour adventure in Manhattan. But it wasn’t. I love how almost the entirety of the book is a lot about Bianca finding herself. There’s three parts and their adventure in Manhattan was just the first part. The way Part One ended, my jaw was literally on the floor. Part Two went by so quickly, the pacing was a little off, but I don’t care since I want to get to Part Three already. Then Part Three arrives & it was a rollercoaster of emotions. I was so worried it wasn’t going to end happily ever after, but thankfully it did.