TEST
Warning: if you hate humiliation humor, In a New York Minute is unlikely to work for you. Its whole meet-cute plotline centers on humiliation, as does what happens to our protagonists afterward, so if you don’t twig to embarrassment avoid this one. But if you’re here for slow-burn romance, heavy miscommunication and awkward – well, this is definitely your kind of romance.
New Yorker Franny Doyle is not having a good morning. First she gets downsized out of her job at a very bland interior design corporation. Then on the way home, the subway doors close on her favorite dress, ripping it off and exposing her thong underwear. Next thing she knows, a handsome man’s taking off his suit jacket and draping it over her unmentionables to shield Franny from the eyes of the gawkers.
Unshockingly, someone was filming that moment on their cell phone, and the video goes viral. Franny becomes a social media star, one half of the #subwayQTs, just when she needs the financial boost.
Her knight in shining armor is the organized Hayes Montgomery III, who has a close relationship with his sister Perrine, a promising job in a financial partnership he co-runs, and no current plans to settle down.
Franny and Hayes try to date, but they are total opposites – and yet they keep finding each other, keep spending time together and enjoying each other’s company. Can they find love?
Yes, but only after a pretty inexplicable third act break-up. In a New York Minute is a very traditional sort of romcom, feeling like a lost mid-90’s Julia Roberts film – in good and bad ways.
The book has a lot of positives, especially the way it captures Franny and Hayes’ confused feelings about one another. Franny is artistic, spunky, and hard to dampen; Hayes is an analytical dorky type who accurately tracks his every minute and moment and second; they’re both caring, likable people, even though he spends more than half of the book seeing another woman (sigh).
Franny and Hayes’ very slow burn romance definitely has the right amount of longing, and their meet-cute works very well, but it really doesn’t feel like they spend enough time together as a couple for their three-quarters-through break-up or end-of-book reunion to have much of an impact.
On the other hand, Franny’s friendship with Lola and Cleo, and Hayes’ relationship with his doctor sister are both delightful (these two friend groups eventually dovetail together in a delightful way). Franny’s uber-close relationship with her mom, which she has a hard time balancing with her own wants and needs, feels very realistic. The New York setting is well-captured, too.
And then there’s that humiliation humor. The meet-cute naturally contains that, as do some of the events that happen in the early part of the book. Readers who can’t stomach such humor might want to avoid In a New York Minute for more than a day, but for me it was worth walking that last country mile.
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Grade: C+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 22/03/22
Publication Date: 03/2022
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
The review is mostly positive so I’m surprised at C+
I’m sure Lisa will respond, but I wanted to say that If I feel a review doesn’t match the grade, I always check in with the reviewer. In this instance, I thought Lisa made it very clear that she wasn’t keen on the use of “humiliation humour” or the third-act break-up which, despite the things she liked about the story, pushed the book into “can’t really recommend” territory.
Well, it wasn’t clear to me.
“And then there’s that humiliation humor. The meet-cute naturally contains that, as do some of the events that happen in the early part of the book. Readers who can’t stomach such humor might want to avoid In a New York Minute for more than a day, but for me it was worth walking that last country mile.”
It’s a good review. I’m just saying I’m surprised. Not bashing, not being snotty. Just a comment. I have this book on my TBR pile so it’s not like I love it and I’m “offended”. Just. A. Comment.
My C reviews usually indicate “it’s not the best book in the world, don’t bump it up your reading list, pick it up when you’re bored” if this helps.
I also mentioned it doesn’t feel like they spend enough time together and that Hayes spends way too much time with his future ex.
I was hovering between a B and C for most of it, but I really couldn’t take the humiliation humor, as Caz indicated below.