Book Review | Moonlight Over Manhattan

She’ll risk everything for her own Christmas miracle…

Determined to conquer a lifetime of shyness, Harriet Knight challenges herself to do one thing a day in December that scares her, including celebrating Christmas without her family. But when dog walker Harriet meets her newest client, exuberant spaniel Madi, she adds an extra challenge to her list–dealing with Madi’s temporary dog sitter, gruff doctor Ethan Black, and their very unexpected chemistry.

Ethan thought he was used to chaos, until he met Madi–how can one tiny dog cause such mayhem? To Ethan, the solution is simple–he will pay Harriet to share his New York apartment and provide twenty-four-hour care. But there’s nothing simple about how Harriet makes him feel.

Ethan’s kisses make Harriet shine brighter than the stars over moonlit Manhattan. But when his dog-sitting duties are over and Harriet returns to her own home, will she dare to take the biggest challenge of all–letting Ethan know he has her heart for life, not just for Christmas?

 

 

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I seem to have a lot of Christmas themed reads this year, which I am quite enjoying, this book was kind of an accidental one though. I must have read it in the blurb when I first requested it but when I was looking for my next book to read and I saw the title it didn’t immediately jump out as festive. Of course, as soon as I saw the cover I knew and I decided that I had to read it especially since the weather took a very cold turn and it was the perfect excuse for getting wrapped up in a blanket and having some sofa time.

Moonlight Over Manhattan was very surprising, I was expecting a lighthearted and easy read but I wasn’t expecting that there would be a lot of depth to it or that I would become quite as emotionally invested as I did.

I felt like I could really relate to Harriet, being fairly quiet and shy myself, some of the situations she put herself into as part of her project to challenge herself made me feel anxious for her. Her growth was really inspiring, it was good to see that it was a self-directed change and not for someone else.

The developing relationship between Harriet and Ethan was lovely to read, it was great to see them bounce off each other and how they both were able to surprise each other with unexpected behaviours. They don’t get off to a good start, but by the end you are really rooting for them to get through their differences and stubbornness.

As I usually find in romance books there were times that things were a little bit predictable and slightly unbelievable however there was a lot more to the story than I had thought there would be. I won’t give away any details but there was a lot of substance to the characters backgrounds and that really did help make it more well rounded.

I hadn’t realized before I read the book that it was part of a series but I am pleased to say that you don’t have to have read any of the other books to know what is going on. Any other characters, who I am assuming have been the subjects of the other books, that are mentioned are given enough detail and I didn’t ever feel like I was missing out on some knowledge.

I’ve not read a Sarah Morgan book before but I will certainly be looking out for her books from now on, I’m pretty sure I might go back and start this series from the beginning as well.

If you’re looking for a funny, emotional, heartwarming tale with a festive feel then I would definitely recommend this book.

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