I’m in LOVE with this book and I seriously can’t stop swooning over it. You guys, it’s so refreshing. It’s the kind of book that reminds you why you love reading. It’s the kind of book that makes you feel like you’re falling in love for the very first time. It reminds you of innocence. Of first crushes, first touches, first kisses, first loves, first everythings. It dreamy and romantic, sweet and sexy, angsty and heartfelt. Just EVERYTHING. The ULTIMATE friends-to-lovers. And a TOP REC-MUST READ!
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Manhattan is a stand-alone, small town, country romance in the Becker Brothers Series.
Everyone knows not to fall in love with your best friend.
But when your best friend is Michael Becker, it’s impossible not to.
He’s everything our town knows a Becker brother to be: devastatingly handsome, charming as a thief, and the icing on the cake — a sentimental musician who’s never without his guitar.
And he was mine. At least, that’s what I’d convinced myself.
Our bond was born in elementary school, strengthened by circumstance and the promise to always be there for each other, no matter what. And the best thing about my life was being friends with Michael Becker.
Until it was the worst.
I watched him fall in love with someone else, and helped patch him back up when she left him behind. But when he drops the bomb that he’s moving to New York, I realize it’s my last chance to tell him how I feel. And I ask him to make one more promise.
One summer. One list of adventures to remind him that our small town has more to offer than memories of the girl who left him behind.
One last chance to tell him I’m in love with him.
And I’m just dumb enough to believe that maybe he could love me, too.
Angie’s Review
THIS BOOK.
THIS BOOK.
THIS. FREAKING BOOK.
I can’t stop swooning. I seriously can’t stop. It’s so refreshing. It’s the kind of book that reminds you why you love reading. It’s the kind of book that makes you feel like you’re falling in love for the very first time. It reminds you of innocence. Of first crushes, first touches, first kisses, first loves, first everythings. It gives you butterflies, makes you tingle and swoon, but it also grabs you by the heart and squeeeeezes, making you ache and yearn and feel. And those feelings are so incredible, so BIG and BOLD and honestly, reinvigorating. Manhattan made me LOVE reading in a way I haven’t in a long time. EVERY WORD of this romance was PERFECTION. It took my empty heart and filled it up up up. And as crazy as it sounds, this book was an actual escape from my life. After I finished it, I felt like I could breathe again. Like it reached inside me, and I CAN’T EVEN TELL YOU, I just know I NEEDED a romance like this one.
Michael and Kylie are THE ULTIMATE FRIENDS TO LOVERS. Their story is the ULTIMATE FRIENDS TO LOVERS. And goodness, the relatableness (<<— not a word, I know, lol) of these characters is simply next level. Kandi Steiner transports you back to being 18, to having the WHOLE WORLD at your finger tips. She plants you in Kylie and Michael’s life in such a visceral, tangible way.
Kylie and Michael have just graduated high school. They’re best friends, have pretty much been inseparable their whole lives. Kylie has loved Mikey since she was 8. And all this time she has sat by silently, yearning for this boy. And trust me, it KILLS YOU!!!!! To see the way she loves him and to feel her need for him to love her back.
MY. HEART.
Michael has no idea. He’s completely in the dark when it comes to Kylie’s feelings. And not only that, Mikey has just experienced his first heartbreak and is completely consumed by the loss of that girl. And even though it breaks Kylie apart that Mikey had Bailey (the ex) in the first place, she’s completely selfless. Instead of being angry and resentful, she’s soft and compassionate. ALL she wants is to be there for her best friend, to mend his heart and make him smile.
AND OMGGGGGG! YOU GUYS. THE. FEELS.
There is just nothing I can say that will do it justice. I mean… this book exemplifies first love. It truly does. And the pain of loving someone and having that person love someone else….
It burns.
It more than hurts!
And OH BOY, does Kandi make those heartbreaking emotions REAL.
You understand them. You’re almost transported back to your own first heartbreak, and I think everyone knows how that feels. It’s just so so so intense.
As you continue to read, you fall in love with Kylie and Michael. The way Kylie is, the way she slowly works to bring Mikey back, is everything. I became intoxicated by their friendship, and I was slowly and deliciously wooed by the romance as they fell in love along the way.
ITS BEAUTIFUL.
Manhattan was so well done. There’s just such BEAUTY in the story. And honestly, I’m a CRAZY-MESS for this book. Michael and Kylie have wrecked me. Their love is so real that I just FELT it in my soul.
Overall, this is HANDS DOWN MY FAVORITE BECKER BOOK. It’s all the things I wanted. It’s well-paced with realistic and authentic characters. It’s brimming with emotion. The romance is an unrequited love, a friends-to-lovers that’s downright dreamy. The writing is PERFECTION. It’s a FIVE STAR winner. An absolute FAVORITE book of mine. And I just can’t get over it. I LOVED IT. I just ADORED every word. Such a must read.
Series Reading Order:
PS: Manhattan is an interconnected standalone. In fact, every book in this series is an interconnected standalone. That said, the books have a continuous timeline and there is a mystery element that runs through each of them. My recommendation is to read in order.
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