It took me a while to finish this novel. The tone was different from the other books. Not in a bad way, but yet different. And Madi turned out to be a star in Moonlight over Manhattan. I could literally see her running through the apartment and cause one heck of a mass. No doubt, the romance factor is there. With all the snow, emotions, and feelings you won´t find a page where you get bored. And the scenes in Vermont, holy smokes – I want that here too!
Verliebt Für Eine Weihnachtsnacht*
by Sarah MorganFrom Manhattan With Love Series #6
Translation Ivonne Senn
Original Title Moonlight Over Manhattan
Publisher Mira TB on October 8, 2018
Genre Novel
Pages 393
Format Paperback
Source Publisher
✶✶✶✶
Harriet Knight wants to face a challenge every day. But when the dog sitter meets her newest client, she gets a powerful stutter: Although the attractive doctor Ethan Black triggers a fever boost in many women, he fails miserably at the education of the irrepressible spaniel Madi. To help the dog, Harriet has no choice but to move into Ethan´s apartment in wintery Manhattan – where she falls head over heels in love with Ethan. But when her job is done, Harriet has to ask one thing: did she give Ethan her heart just for a Christmas night? Or for a lifetime? (personal translation by ©Vi at Inkvotary)
Story
Harriet wants to get out of her comfort zone, and does every day something, she usually wouldn´t do. One thing is, to do Online dating. One of those dates is so awful, that she ends up in the ER. Her ankle is hurt, and that way she meets Dr. Ethan Black. One picture of a man and one, who makes her heart stumble. With him and Madi, she will have a great time, but then she has to face reality without Ethan and Madi and she knows that it is only her who can make a change.
Style
Written in the style, the author has – soft, easy to read -, there is no chance of getting bored. Harriet is a completely different type of woman than Fliss, and maybe that was the reason why I had some problems with this novel sometimes. Sure, when I was finished, I could say that it had been some sort of reading pleasure. No doubt about that. But the tone in Moonlight over Manhattan isn´t the same as it had been in the author´s other books. Harriet puts animals, dogs to be exact, first. No matter what, if a dog is in need, she does everything to help.
That she is only covering her loneliness that way, and the fact, that she needs always something in her life to comfort because it is the only way to make her feel valued, she doesn´t realize. At first.
Characters
Harriet misses her twin, Fliss. But she needs to stay on her own feet and she needs definitely to be able to cope with the life her own way. So, no more excuses, no more having her twin sister and her brother helping her with everything that bucks her. When she meets Ethan in the ER, she is almost sorry for her hurt ankle that she is in need of his time and doctorly advice. Her low self-confidence was sometimes a bit too much to take. Oh yes, she knows exactly who and what are the reasons for it, and why she is acting the way she does. And yet there are scenes where I was tempted to take her and tell her she should stand up and stop feeling guilty about her own condition and that she needed other people´s help.
Sarah Morgan gave Harriet everything a good character needs to have. And it was wonderful to watch, how that figure changed during the ongoing plot. How she grew out of her comfort zone and how she finally started to see things in a different way.
Conclusion
A novel that will entertain you the same way it makes you think about those, who have to deal with something. It was absolutely wonderful to read those scenes where Ethan gives Harriet space and time to get out the words she wants to say and to deal with new things. Sure, it wasn´t as fun to read as the novel about Fliss, but Harriet is the complete opposite to her twin sister so this tone would have been awkward in here.
Happy reading
*This book was kindly provided to me by Mira TB in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you. Therefore, the cover of the German edition is shown first in this review.
*This book was published Moonlight over Manhattan by Harlequin Books on November 28, 2017
Sarah Morgan
Sarah Morgan dreamed as a child of being a writer and although she took a few interesting detours along the way, she is now living her dream. She loves being outdoors, preferably on vacation so she can forget the house needs tidying. Sarah Morgan writes hot, happy contemporary romance with humor and sensuality. She has sold over 14 million copies of her books and was nominated four years in succession for the prestigious RITA© Award from the Romance Writers of America which she won twice; in 2012 and 2013. She also won the RT Reviewers´ Choice Award in 2012 and has made numerous appearances in their `Top Pick´ slot. Together with her husband and children, she lives near London, England.