The Apartment

by Ryo Arisawa (Illustrator), Debbie Macomber

When Hilary got a place on the San Francisco Symphony as a flute player, she decides to move into her own place to escape her restricted life with her over-protective mother. Although excited at her new found freedom, it doesn't last for long. The next morning, the quiche she left in the fridge for breakfast was gone, her milk had been used and an unfamiliar bag was in the living room! As she stood confused, a handsome man she had never seen before appeared in front of her and says to her angrily "what are you doing in my house?"

Genres: Manga, Romance, Graphic Novels, Harlequin, Contemporary, Comics Manga, Manga Romance

128 pages, Nook

First published October 25, 2009

About the author

See also 有沢遼

Reviews

[Librarian Jessie (BibliophileRoses) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wtf was that 2 month bs? 🫠 Literally he was handed a green light on a platter and he shoved a big ass red flag into it like butter

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

artwork is lovely but there’s no depth to the actual story

[Caddictbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 2.5 ⭐

Ya ampun ceritanya loncat banget 😁 tapi paham sih, mungkin karena dipaksakan dijadikan manga dengan jumlah halaman cuma 129 halaman. Gak berharap apa2 pas baca, nikmatin aja. Untuk artnya aku kasih 5 bintang, berhubung aku gak bisa gambar wkwk, tapi memang artnya bagus dan cantik. Bukan bacaan yang wajib dibaca, gak direkomendasikan juga, tapi kalau cari bacaan ringan untuk seru2an, ini masih bisa jadi pilihan. Sekali duduk habis, tapi ya gitu.. ceritanya loncat banget, jadi tiba2 mereka saling suka aja tanpa ada perkembangan yang signifikan di hubungan mereka. Aku juga kurang suka sama karakter cowoknya. Nolak nolak tapi mau, alasan nolaknya juga kurang oke:(

[CamryWagon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps my standards may be too high from reading shojo manga by the Japanese superstars of the genre, but this fell short of my expectations. The target audience for this rather short work is much younger than I usually read, so as such I should make an allowance for that. I felt that if the story had been allowed a little more length to grow, the characters may have shown a little more depth. The art was nice, but the lettering (English pdf version) was a bit sloppy at times. There were some glaring inaccuracies, such as locale (Portland?) and where the flutes are usually seated in an orchestra. The story wrapped up neatly in the length allowed but didn't do much for character credibility - the resolution was much too easy.

[elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is pretty cool in a 2008 sort of way. The story is not great and the characters are very flat. It was an awkward read, and I don't know if that is because of the original story or a translation thing. Also the end was super rushed. To be honest I didn't know what harlequin manga was before this and it is definitely not my speed. It took a while for me to decide whether this was so bad that it was good or just bad, but I ended up going with the latter. Maybe it is camp, but it is too camp for me.

[Nicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

1 Star for the lame story, 3 for the illustrations.
Full disclosure, I hate Harlequin, so this was never going to be a book for me. However, I have been seeing these a lot on friend’s shelves and I was curious about the manga makeover by Japanese artists.
What can I say, I’m not a manga reader either, but I will be on the lookout for these next visit to Japan as I think they might be good reading practice for my abysmal Japanese!

[Daria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pointless read. The fact that this book felt like sped up movie with little to no development in the plot, characters, and the very story. This was one of the blandest story i have ever read. The romance was so unbelievable especially with the fact they it just felt like they met and suddenly fell in love in matter of months from very little real interactions that feel genuine.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*
This was really cute. It was my first manga so I wasn't too sure how to read it. The artwork was really cute. The only thing that bothered me about the story line was the ending. I felt it was a little extreme for a short time

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very cute and a cleanser for me. It made me smile and the artwork is so pleasing to the eye. The story was predictable but it is the reason why you would pick up the manga in the first place. It was a solid standalone, and very quick to read.

[Daria Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a waste of time

This was such a forced story. The romance didn’t feel organic at all, characters were very flat, and the plot was so condensed that it just felt like a sped up movie at 5x speed leaving no real development for any of the relationships.

[JenJen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual 3.5 - I’m trying to read a bunch of manga to make my yearly reading goal 🫣 This was short and to the point. A little cliche and jumpy, but overall enjoyable. I’m curious about the other Harlequin Manga; if they’re all like this, it might be a short adventure with those books.

[deborah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had no idea this was based on a Debbie Macomber book until I finished it, and all I'll say is that this put me off of wanting to EVER read a full Debbie Macomber novel. "The Apartment" isn't even bad enough to poke fun at or anything, it's just uninspired and way too hetero.

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet, loved the art, too

[Cat {Pemberley and Beyond} · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover intrigued me, so I downloaded it. Whilst very fluffy it was gentle and reassuring. :)

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet. Some funny moments, too.

[WishingTree · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot is so bad and the characters are so lame. I shall have to stick to proper manga and manhwa next time. No more Harlequins!

[Meigo Fitzpatrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cringey and sappy. Sorry I read it.

[Maddyish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know it's written almost two decades ago but it's so obvious. Maybe skip this one and spend your time reading something else.

[Kristi West · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kind of mangas I love. Super sweet and romantic. It's short but it wraps it all up nicely.

[swa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It went downhill somehow. What's with the 2 months agreement? Why would you date someone if you fancy someone else? It seems ridiculous to me lol.

[✿.｡.:* ☆:*𝓑𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓪*:.☆*.:｡.✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS WAS LITERALLY THE FIRST MANGA I EVER READ. THINK I FIRST READ IT IN 7th GRADE??? ANYWAY,
RE-READ IT 5 YEARS LATER, AND YEAH. ITS BAD. LIKE STORY HAS NO DEPTH AT ALL 😭

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appeal Characteristics: Manga Art, Bishonen men, sparkles, bubbles, and faries <---(kidding)FLUFFY TEENAGE GIRLS! Plus the parents will be relieved that there's no graphic sexual over or undertones. Your cozy "grown-up" book packaged nice and neatly to teenage girls. I did have to mention the fact that these drawings are "japanese style" so the fact that the dude listens to "country music" I laughed for about twenty minutes because that doesn't fit in the type of story or drawing style at all.

The fact that Harlequin romances...or super cozy romances almost read better as a manga was sooo surprising to me... THE FACT THAT IT'S EVEN DONE IS SURPRISING...

I'm definitely going to be fooling around in this genre. It's just cute like...there's nothing at to the story at all except the art...

The fact that there are some serious Harlequin books turned manga comics like: Vengeful Seduction, Domesticating Lucas, The Secret Baby, or The Italian Playboy's Secret Son...makes me giggle, and yet want to read them all. :)

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read this while waiting for some books I have on hold through my library. I've never bothered with manga before and this seemed like a good, easy starting point. The story was simple and predictable. Hilary is so naive that I wanted to gag. The forbidden romance aspect was entertaining, but would have been more so perhaps if I were younger. One star for the story, one star for being entertained.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the books I downloaded from the library onto my kobo reader for my trip. I have never read manga before. The style was interesting and I would consider reading more of this style, but for a first experience having it be a harlequin story it sucked. I Do NOT like harlequin stories they are completely unimaginative and BORING.
How did I end up with a harlequin?

[verygarza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps if I read this 10yrs ago I would have given it a higher rating. It was cool to discover Debbie Macomber's worl was adapted as manga but I found Hilary rather weak and find it ridiculous that she can love a man so deeply in a month's time.

[Primadonna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. I don't know. I find the male protagonist irritating. And the female too naive.

[Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not deep and predictable, but I enjoyed it.

[Turibio]

nice

[Holly Letson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga reminds me of the Chad Brock song, "Yes!".

It's a fun romance story of people from entirely different walks of life find their own happy ending together.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, if you want a story where the h is wealthy and the H is not (just average) then this is for you. Not really that boring but not also that remarkable. Just like the H, this is story is average.