Review: New York, Actually

It's been just over a year since Sarah Morgan published the first book in her series, From Manhattan With Love. I read (devoured) the first three books and thought that was that. They each followed a different friend and the trio was complete. Or so I thought. I was so happy when I realized there would be another book in the series, even if it wouldn't really feature the three women I had come to love in the first three books. New York, Actually may focus on new characters but it still has the sweet, sexy, and funny feel I had come to love in the first few books. (You can read all my reviews on the first books here.)

Here's the synopsis:

Meet Molly
New York’s most famous agony aunt, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they’re other people’s. The only love of her life is her Dalmatian, Valentine.
Meet Daniel
A cynical divorce lawyer, he’s hardwired to think relationships are a bad idea. If you don’t get involved, no-one can get hurt. But then he finds himself borrowing a dog to meet the gorgeous woman he sees running in Central Park every morning…
Molly and Daniel think they know everything there is to know about relationships…until they meet each other that is…

As I said, New York, Actually introduces some new characters into the series. Daniel is the brother of the twins who own a dog walking company that Urban Genie (the company run by the three women featured in the first three books) uses regularly for their clients. Follow that? Basically, as is typical with these types of romances, there's a link between the sets of characters but not a very strong one. It was a little weird to be in the same series and barely see the other characters from past books (and it was only Eva, the heroine in Miracle on 5th Avenue). But, at the same time, I was really happy to get back into this world and see where Morgan is going to take the next few romances. I figure the next book will focus on Fliss, one of the twins, and then the next will be Harriet, the other twin. But that's just my guess! 

*checks Goodreads* Would you look at that. I'm right! Holiday in the Hamptons will release later this month and Moonlight Over Manhattan is being published in October. Yay! More books!

But back to the story! Some people don't like to read romances because they think they're too predictable. I always say that's exactly why I love romances. Yes, I know the two main characters will get together in the end and there will be several bumps in the road before they can finally commit, but it's that journey to the Happily Ever After that is always different. Not every author or story offers a good journey but Morgan always writes an extremely satisfying romance with a swoonworthy HEA. 

Molly was an interesting character. The reader learns pretty early on that she writes a relationship advice blog under a pseudonym and she hides her identity because of something that happened in the past. That something isn't revealed in its entirety until much later in the book and it's one of the reasons I kept turning the pages. I sometimes find with romances that it's really easy to see what the main characters should or shouldn't do. In the case of New York, Actually, I couldn't understand why Molly was so hung up on the past and was so scared of letting anyone know what had happened. Of course, it's easy for me to say when I haven't been in those (kind of ridiculously insane) situations. If romance novels have taught me anything, it's to just be honest and talk to the person you're dating.  

Daniel seemed to be a perfect fit for Molly, even if Molly didn't realize it at first (she actually fought against it pretty hard). He's a nice guy and very successful, plus being good looking didn't hurt. But he wasn't quite as swoonworthy as some of the other heroes I've read in romances, and in Morgan's in particular. I think it's partly because I just saw this story as Molly's. She was a much more interesting and dominate character and Daniel was there to finally allow her to let go of the past and break down her (many) emotional walls. 

I'm so happy Sarah Morgan continued on with her From Manhattan with Love series and wrote New York, Actually. If you're a romance readers, I definitely encourage you to pick these ones up! It doesn't really matter if you read them in order and New York, Actually is a great place to start the series if you want to keep up with the latest books since they're sort of all new characters. Enjoy!

*I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher, Harlequin, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*