4.5 Wine Glass #ARC #Review of Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

 

Title: Moonlight over Manhattan
Series: Manhattan with Love #6
Author: Sarah Morgan
Format: Kindle,
Published: November 28, 2017 (HQN Books)
ISBN: ASIN: B01MT9OWQ1
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Linda
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Wine Glasses

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?

Linda's Thoughts:
Here lies Harriet, who knew a lot about hair balls, but not a whole lot about the other kind.

Moonlight over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan is a delightful, fun and festive romance set mostly in Manhattan, New York. It’s a heartwarming holiday story about facing your fears and falling in love. This is only the second book I’ve read by this author. I had previously read and thoroughly enjoyed Miracle on 5th Avenue (Book #3) and honestly couldn’t wait to jump into another book in the author’s Manhattan with Love series. This is the sixth book in the series but, since each book in this series works well as a stand alone, there’s no worries about reading the series in order.

As the story opens, we meet Harriet Knight who is shy and reserved. She and her sister run Bark Rangers, a successful dog-walking business in Manhattan. For the first time in her life, Harriet is living alone as her feisty twin sister has just moved out of their shared apartment. Her twin and her brother have both found recently found love and Harriet is truly happy for them. But, she also feels adrift as her siblings have both been very protective of Harriet all of her life. She is determined not to be a burden on her siblings, so she has been challenging herself with tasks outside of her comfort zone. Her challenges haven’t all gone well.

At this moment, she is hanging outside a bathroom window over a dumpster with an objective of escaping from a disastrous blind date. This particular challenge night ends up with Harriet in the ER as she fears that she has broken her ankle in her fall from the window. That is how she meets dark, sexy and jaded Dr. Ethan Black, an attending physician in the ER, who, at first fears that Harriet has been the victim of abuse… or that she has purposefully hurt herself to obtain drugs. Hot as Ethan is, Harriet knows he’s not her type and she never expects to see him again.

Then, the daughter of one of her clients experiences a medical emergency across the country. Her client needs to leave and makes arrangements with her brother to take care of her dog while she’s gone. He works long hours and agrees to take care of the dog only if his sister’s dog walker comes in to take care of the dog while he’s working. Things don’t start well at all as when Harriet arrives to walk Madi, the dog, on the first day, she finds that Madi has wreaked havoc in Ethan’s home. Ethan walks in and immediately blames Harriet for the mess. Is it possible for these two to build a relationship from that untoward beginning?

Both Harriet and Ethan are likable and genuine. They’re complete opposites as she sees a cup as being half full and he sees it as being half empty, but, amazingly, they complement each other. Their story is a heartwarming Cinderella retelling. Harriet believes herself to be the sort of woman men want to help, not the sort they want to help themselves to. Ethan has been married before and believes that he’s not suited to be in a long-term relationship. Will Harriet find the confidence to face life head-on? Will Ethan discover that he is not a hollow tin man without a heart as he deems? AND will all this happen before it’s too late for them?

Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from Moonlight over Manhattan:

No one lies down in this place. Unless they’re dead. When you’re dead, you get to lie down and only after we’ve tried to resuscitate you.”
--- 

“Of course she told me voluntarily.” Harriet lifted her eyebrows. “Or maybe you think I tied her to the sofa and tortured her with Earl Grey tea?”
--- 

“If you don’t push yourself to do the things that scare you, how will you ever find out if there’s more to life than the one you’re living?”

If you are looking for an entertaining and endearing holiday read set against a snowy background, Moonlight over Manhattan perfectly fits the bill! I enjoyed the humor, the setting, the characters and their touching story! I can’t wait to read more books in this series!



Suggested Reading Order: 
Sleepless in Manhattan (Book #1)
Sunset in Central Park (Book #2)
Miracle on 5th Avenue (Book #3)
New York, Actually (Book #4)
Holiday in the Hamptons (Book #5)
Moonlight over Manhattan (Book #6)