What Happens to Men when They move to Manhattan? by Jill Knapp
Publisher: HarperImpulse
Release Date: 24th July 2014
Buy: Kindle
Rating:
Life in the city gives 23 year old Amalia Hastings a ride she is not expecting. As she tries to find her way on the little island that never sleeps, she discovers she has a harder time navigating through life then she does the streets of Greenwich Village!
She thought she had everything she wanted – a new apartment in Manhattan, a first-rate education at NYU, a group of trusted friends and Nicholas, a boyfriend who she once believed was her soul-mate. But somehow, it isn’t enough.
Stumbling through her relationships, Amalia encounters Michael. An attractive classmate who quickly moves from being one of her close friends, to an inconsistent friend-with-benefits. After all, the only thing consistent about New York is its beauty.
Amalia is essentially torn between two men, and Michael is torn between two women. Her best friend Cassandra is being strung along by her “boyfriend”, Bryce, and even her friend Olivia is having a secret relationship!
After getting terribly lost searching for love in all the wrong places, Amalia finds herself asking – what happens to men when they move to Manhattan?!
So what does happen to men when they move to Manhattan? The short answer is, they seem to become right plonkers… At least where the men in Amalia’s life are concerned anyway.
Amalia seems to be doing alright in life. She’s living the dream in New York – she has a nice apartment, is studying at NYU, has a dream boyfriend and great friends. She’s certainly not going to let her classmate Michael’s good looks throw her off track, even if she does go all funny when he brushes his arm against hers.
However, things come crashing down for Amalia when her boyfriend (and love-of-her-life) Nicholas dumps her on her birthday (what a guy, eh?) as he doesn’t like her plans to go travelling to Brazil over the summer. This leads to a difficult time for Amalia as she starts to lose interest in her Master’s Degree and starts getting closer to Michael. Only, Michael has a mysterious girlfriend who lives in Phoenix, and despite sleeping with Amalia it doesn’t look as though he’s going to end his long distance relationship any time soon… Not keen on the idea of a ‘friends-with-benefits’ relationship, Amalia struggles to come to terms with getting over the two men in her life and dodging the mine field that appears to be dating in Manhattan. After getting lost a few times along the way can Amalia find out who she really is and what exactly she wants from life?
I found this story really different to a lot of the books I’ve read lately and I really enjoyed Amalia’s ‘journey’ as she encounters the ups and downs of her love life.
It’s my dream to go to New York so the setting of What Happens to Men when they move to Manhattan? was amazing to read about and Jill Knapp really makes the surroundings come to life. (I think I now want to go even more…if that’s possible!)I loved reading about student life and there is a generous sprinkling of great one-liners.
There are some interesting supporting characters in the novel; and I particularly liked Cassandra, Amalia’s friend. In fact I think in some ways I preferred her to Amalia, she seemed more fun to read about and it took me a while to bond with Amalia. I did find myself firmly rooting for her at the end though and I’m proud of the decision she made, so she drew me in eventually.
I also have to share my love for the cover of this novel; it’s gorgeous! It’s colourful, eye-catching and interesting (the apple reminds me of a bottle of Nina Ricci perfume…is it just me who thinks that?)
What Happens to Men when They move to Manhattan? is quite simply the story of one girl struggling to get to grips with the men in her life and the direction she’s going in. The happenings are realistic and I found it to be a really enjoyable read. It’s the perfect book to read on a sunny afternoon; light, fast paced and unusually honest. I also really like the message that I got from this book of how important it is to be true to yourself and do what you want to do if life…
I will definitely be on the lookout for the next book in the series so I can find out the next step of Amalia’s journey…
*A huge thank you to Jill for sending me this book to be reviewed.
I’m a blogger for The Huffington Post, and a former college professor. Chase is my debut novel, and the first in a series of books I am writing about being young, single, and living in New York City. I am a native New Yorker, but currently reside in Raleigh, North Carolina.
You can follow Jill on Twitter @JL_Knapp
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