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Truly, Madly Manhattan: Local Hero / Dual Image

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Local Hero
His trade was creating heroes, but writer Mitch Dempsey had never seen himself as one. Yet something about Hester Wallace, the shy single mum who moved in upstairs, made him long to protect, honour and love her forever....

Dual Image
Ariel Kirkwood wanted to be sexy Booth DeWitt's leading lady - in real life as well as at work. But her role as his ex-wife seemed to be pushing sexy Booth away. How could she convince him to see her for the woman she truly was?

475 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

33 people are currently reading
1923 people want to read

About the author

Nora Roberts

1,210 books59.8k followers
Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 -- The Becoming -- the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

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5 stars
1,184 (29%)
4 stars
1,196 (29%)
3 stars
1,292 (32%)
2 stars
298 (7%)
1 star
45 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
Profile Image for Kelsey.
24 reviews52 followers
January 31, 2009
I got stuck waiting in a doctor's office (running two hours behind schedule) and picked this up from the table. I normally disdain the romance genre but this was surprisingly well written for a light fluff read. A delightful low-calorie snack in the bakery of literature- nothing earth-shattering or thought-provoking, but exactly what was promised, a simple relatively well-written romance between mostly believable characters.
Profile Image for Chanelle.
59 reviews40 followers
May 19, 2013
This 2-in-1 book contains the stories Local Hero and Dual Image which are set in New York.

Both stories are indicative of Roberts’ usual focus on forming positive and beneficial relationships with that added emphasis on the family unit. This theme is the reason I keep coming back to her novels as she shows that a family is formed by not just blood relations, but through the deeds and actions which demonstrate the care and love the characters have for each other.

The first story is the more enjoyable of the two to me. It’s always been one of my favourite re-reads and I admit to just picking up this edition to read Local Hero only.

I’ve come to appreciate Dual Image, but it reminds of another story with a similar premise and with an actress as the female protagonist. It annoys me to no end that I can’t remember the name of that one.

Either way, this another good example of the heartwarming literature that Roberts’ often produces.
Profile Image for Maria.
189 reviews14 followers
February 17, 2018
I Simply Loved This 📖. I Love All Her 📚S. Highly Recommend It. 😇
Profile Image for Sue.
400 reviews
October 14, 2021
This was a cheap beach read, so I didn’t expect much and wasn’t disappointed. Very trite, predictable. Not Nora’s best IMO
Profile Image for Ilean.
211 reviews57 followers
September 20, 2008
This is a two story in one book. The first story Local Hero I had read before and it deserves all four of the stars. Even though I have enjoyed every Nora Roberts book I've read in the past the secon story Dual Image I had to force myself to finish. I don't know exactly why but I only liked the part of the relationship of the little boy with the actress without all the rest of the story.
134 reviews
August 30, 2010
I don't know if it was just my mood, but I loved this light romantic reading. Nora Roberts has an inviting way with words and certainly makes her characters real.
Profile Image for SonnyVeNe.
140 reviews
December 11, 2024
Contiene 2 novelas publicadas originalmente en los años 80, bastante entretenidas sin más
17 reviews
September 27, 2019
O livro conta a história de dois casais em histórias separadas.É o meu primeiro livro da autora e eu gostei muito, mas nem tanto da história, e sim da ambientação.Quando terminei de ler, já percebi que a autora meio que faz as histórias muito parecidas, e até o romance é do tipo à primeira vista, com um dos personagens com um passado sombrio e que tem medo ou um pé atrás para se relacionar.
Apesar disso, eu gostei bastante da ambientação e descrição dos cenários, principalmente no casal da Ariel e Booth, que se passa nos bastidores de uma gravação de um filme e uma novela.Enquanto lia, me senti como se estivesse assistindo a uma novela e ao mesmo tempo, o "por trás das câmeras ".
Já o outro casal, me encantou mais, e me senti muito mais emocionada quando o cara a pediu em casamento do que na primeira história.
Eu achei esse livro fofo;as ambientações, a melhor parte do livro; os casais combinam, mas foi um pouco repetitivo e enrolado, porque desde o começo queriam se beijar, na página 50 se beijaram e o resto era um dos personagens não aceitando o casamento, que gerava discussões.
511 reviews4 followers
May 6, 2022
This book is 2 separate stories:
The first is titled Local Hero. Mitch Dempsey is a comic book illustrator and and his new neighbors are Hester and her young son Radley, in an attempt to meet this beautiful intriguing neighbor Mitch pays for the pizza that is incorrectly delivered to his apartment 406 instead of Hester’s 604.
The more I read the I felt I was a part of the story, the characters are very believable and although Hester is resistant and Mitch very easily becomes Radley’s hero but it takes much more work to be accepted by Hester.

The second story is titled Dual Image. Ariel is an actress who plays the part of Amanda in the soap Our Lives, Our Loves. Booth DeWitt is a writer whose actress wife Liz Hunter was a controlling individual who constantly played a role using Booth to climb the Hollywood ladder. When Booth writes a semi autobiographical script made for TV he seeks an actress to play the female lead and Ariel fits the part perfectly. The question is can Ariel separate the character Booth created from the person Ariel wants him to see.

Profile Image for Donna Schwartz.
730 reviews
June 7, 2020
This is a combo of two books. one written in 1985 and the other written in 1988. They are good stories but do not measure up to her later books. It's evident that her writing style and her ability to weave stories has improved over the years.

Both stories are good, but the second one, Dual Image, seemed to be the better of the two, as it involved the acting career of a soap opera actress, Ariel and a writer who has gotten burned badly during a former marriage. I loved the way the author describes how the actress worked on the part she was playing in a movie. I liked the information I learned about the process.

The first story involved something new to me also, where the main character meets a comic writer/artist. Again, something I had never thought about.

It was interesting to read as it showed the development of her style over the years.
77 reviews
October 3, 2019
O livro conta a história de dois casais em histórias separadas.É o meu primeiro livro da autora e eu gostei muito, mas nem tanto da história, e sim da ambientação.Quando terminei de ler, já percebi que a autora meio que faz as histórias muito parecidas, e até o romance é do tipo à primeira vista, com um dos personagens com um passado sombrio e que tem medo ou um pé atrás para se relacionar.
Apesar disso, eu gostei bastante da ambientação e descrição dos cenários, principalmente no casal da Ariel e Booth, que se passa nos bastidores de uma gravação de um filme e uma novela.Enquanto lia, me senti como se estivesse assistindo a uma novela e ao mesmo tempo, o "por trás das câmeras ".
Já o outro casal, me encantou mais, e me senti muito mais emocionada quando o cara a pediu em casamento do que na primeira história.
Eu achei esse livro fofo;as ambientações, a melhor parte do livro; os casais combinam, mas foi um pouco repetitivo e enrolado, porque desde o começo queriam se beijar, na página 50 se beijaram e o resto era um dos personagens não aceitando o casamento, que gerava discussões.
Profile Image for Jessica Lee.
61 reviews
December 20, 2024
I didn’t love the stories. The first wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t like the back and forth and way the main couple spoke with one another. Second story was better. Both were written in 1984 and 1985. They do come off as from that timeframe. I didn’t like that you switch character povs in the same chapter/paragraph. Wasn’t a fan of her writing style. No spice. It’s funny that this is suppose to be the steamy romance of harlequin but there isn’t any. They talk up to it and then nothing is described or happens on the page. Not mad at having read it but not a must read or a recommend.
230 reviews
February 20, 2020
This book contains 2 novels Local Hero spins the tale of Mitch Dempsey a wealthy, comic book writer and his new neighbor Hester Wallace, a banker, and her son Radley. Typical- they meet and with a few twists and turns- fall in love and live happily ever after.
The second novel, Dual Image, revolves around Booth, a writer, and Ariel an actress. She auditions and get the part of playing his ex-wife in a tv movie. Their life takes many twists and turns, but the ending is happy.
Profile Image for Paula.
143 reviews7 followers
January 7, 2021
Official rating: 6 out of 10 dates
Full review: https://www.storybookem.com/post/book...

Truly Madly Manhattan is a double feature of love. The first story, Local Hero, was my favorite of the two. I really related to it. While I did enjoyed Duel Image (the second of the two stories) I didn't love it. It was defiantly a fun read and worth the time!
Profile Image for Wanda Hartzenberg.
Author 5 books73 followers
August 27, 2020
Book one deserves one more star and book two one less so I settled on an unhappy middle. Book two made no sense. The hero is a .... ah..... I am not allowed to say that and Ariel falls for him because she can. Nah. Not her best work. But I know a lot of other people will simply adore it.
184 reviews
February 14, 2018
Great stories, both of them. Even though they are older Nora, they are the best.
Take a minute and go back in time, it will be worth it.
Profile Image for Rainelle.
2,198 reviews124 followers
May 6, 2019
I loved the first story. The second was a run on story that seemed to be dry.
471 reviews2 followers
December 16, 2019
Two very entertaining stories, Local Hero, which I read previously and Dual Image. Nora Roberts never disappoints!
Profile Image for Miss J C Rowe.
252 reviews1 follower
March 25, 2020
I've just read this whilst 'social distancing' so loved the description of New York and the lovely happy ever after stories. Life's too short for literary criticism
35 reviews
June 7, 2020
The first story is fantastic, but the second one is just so hard to get through. Honestly if the book was just about the first story it would have been better.
343 reviews1 follower
February 6, 2021
Two great books in one, Local Hero and Dual Image. Both complicated love stories but fun to read. Good character building. You either love or hate the characters!!
449 reviews1 follower
October 30, 2022
As always 2 amazing stories from an awesome woman
Profile Image for Tammy Destefanis hopgood.
79 reviews
January 2, 2023
Almost didn’t finish this one. Forced myself to trudge on. Very disappointing. Predictable. Two shorter stories in one book so just felt rushed and cringingly (is that a word?….it is now) cliche.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews

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