Book Review: Truly Madly Manhattan by Nora Roberts

Title: Truly Madly Manhattan

Author: Nora Roberts

Get your copy here!

What's it about?

Truly Madly Manhattan is a double feature. The first story (Local Hero) centers around Mitch, a comic book creator who and the single mother (Hester) and little boy (Rad) who move upstairs in the apartment building Mitch lives in. Hester is organized, independent and determined. Her one priority is being Rad's mother. Of course, her life is headed for a new turn when Rad falls in love with the downstairs neighbor, Mitch who is spontaneous, messy and fun. Now the two are left to decipher how they feel about one another, how to protect Rad in the storm brewing within them as the two adults come to get to know one another and grow closer.

The second story, Duel Image, Ariel finds herself at a major turning point in her life. She's a beloved character on the Soap Opera she stars in and just landed a challenging role she really wanted, all while her personal life is largely ruled by a huge secret. Romance could only complicate things, right? But sometimes, complicating life is the most rewarding thing one can do. Now, Ariel just needs to decide if the new man in her life, hurt and broken from his last relationship, reserved and emotionally unavailable is the choice that will lead to her happiness, or if it's the one that will be her downfall.

Favorites:

Favorite Story: My favorite of the two stories was by far Local Hero. While the characters weren't perfect (really, I have some gripes with Mitch) I found the single mom relatable and Mitch reminded me of my husband a little. It was a sweet story that I related to.

Favorite Parts: My favorite part in Local Hero was the end. There may have been tears.

My favorite part in Duel Image was when Ariel showed her strength to Booth. I loved when she told him where to go and refused to let him demean her or chip away at her dignity.

Favorite Character: While some, including me, may have expected me to favor Hester in Local Hero, I really liked Mitch best. He was fun and sweet and a great male influence in Rad's life. However, I did dislike his fast moving, strong emotions. It almost felt like it was too fast and too intense for the time frame in which it happened. It actually left me distrusting him for the better part of the story.

My favorite character in Duel Image may just be Charlie. While I like Ariel, Charlie felt like a stable, intelligent and reasonable person who didn't have an issue with making Ariel question her choices and the way she lived her life. While I liked Ariel, I didn't love her (though I can't tell you why I felt that way because I, myself, does not know).

Favorite Quotes:

From Local Hero: "I'm sorry I'm late." Kay smiled and didn't look the least bit sorry. "Everything takes longer then you think it does on Monday. Even if I pretend it's Tuesday It doesn't seem to help. I don't know why. Would you like some coffee?" (pg. 32) Honestly, the first time I read this, while I was amused by this line, I didn't plan on including this as one of my favorite quotes, but as time went on, I just couldn't stop thinking that I really do like this quote. It's fun. It's silly and it's a really entertaining way to describe Mondays.

"Love doesn't change overnight." he corrected. "It can be killed or it can be nurtured. That's up to the people involved." (pg. 177) There was something about the truth of this line that spoke to me. We often speak of love as if we have no control over it, like it's its own entity but this line reminds us that we have a choice. We can nurture it or we can fight it. We can embrace it or we can sabotage it. We may not be able to control what we feel, but we can control how we react to it.

Other Thoughts:

The thing that shocked me the most was that there was no supernatural aspects to it. The other Nora Roberts books I've read had magic or something in it. While I was a little disappointed, I found that I still enjoyed the book! The stories were fun and sweet. While sex was involved, it wasn't graphic and overwhelming and, for those who want to skip those parts, they were totally skiapable.

What do I rank this?

I give this book a

6

Out of

10 dates

But, that's just me! You may have loved the book! What did you think about it? Did you love it? Did you prefer the second story over the first? Let us know in the comments.