Love in the City

Love in the City #1

by Jen Morris

Find out what happens when a Kiwi girl ventures into the big city in this sexy and funny slow-burn romantic comedy about going after your dreams.

Turning thirty has a way of making you take a good, hard look at your life. And I think we all know what any sensible adult does in that tequila shots. Lots of them.

It’s okay, though, because I’ve finally escaped my tiny New Zealand home town and my negative parents. And New York is better than my wildest fantasies.So is Michael, the sexy single dad who lives in the apartment upstairs. And he’s featuring in my fantasies more and more—even if he’s a grump and I only ever seem to make a dork of myself in front of him. Ah well, a girl can dream.

Anyway, I’ve got a writing career to build, and writing about being single is fun. If that means swearing off men for a bit, that’s fine. I can totally do that. It’s just a tiny crush.Besides… happily ever afters aren’t real. Are they?

Here’s what you can expect from Love in the ♥ Slow burn, sexy romantic comedy♥ Kiwi girl moving to the big city♥ Bearded single dad♥ New York City vibes♥ Fun and endearing secondary characters♥ Gorgeous happily ever after

Please note that this book contains sensitive topics such as difficult parental relationships and divorce. It also contains cursing and sex scenes, and is intended for audiences 18 years and older.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Slow Burn, Enemies To Lovers, Rom Com

394 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2020

About the author

Jen Morris writes steamy escapist romance with imperfect heroines and tall, bearded heroes. She believes that almost anything can be fixed with a good laugh, a good book, or a plane ticket to New York.

Her books follow people with big dreams as they navigate life and love in the city. Her characters don’t just find love—they find themselves, too.

Jen lives with her partner and son, in a tiny house on wheels in New Zealand. She spends her days writing, dreaming about New York, and finding space for her ever-growing book collection.

Reviews

[Aoife - Bookish_Babbling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slow burn steamy'ish debut story of a small fish moving to the big city with a dream of writing. It felt at times like a mashup of Carrie from Sex & the City with a dash of Andi from How to Lose a Guy in 10 days...but that might just be the writing slant. Alex is nothing like those leads and the storylines aren't really all that similar either so I dunno why they kept popping into my head 😅

Although this did feel a bit like a movie at times as the book starts with the MC making a rash decision, moves around the world and despite little struggles & hiccups here and there ultimately lands on her feet rather quickly. She feels a little young/naive/sheltered for someone who just turned 30 - I get that she's lived her whole life in the same place but she read more like someone just out of college than someone leaving their 20s 🤷‍♀️
I did enjoy her learning to strive & fight for what she wants as the story develops, I also loved the early drunk text exchanges with typos that immediately got my ear in for her NZ accent...deck 😂🙃🤣

Her parents are awfully unsupportive and 2-dimensional...I couldn't with the mom especially 🤬 the dad doesn't make much of an appearance although the bookcharm necklace was a sweet touch.
Her sister Harriet, Kiwi bff Emily and the doors she opens for her with new NYC friends in Cat, Geoff & Agnes were all sweet and I would not be mad to catch up with any of them if there were to be spin offs...in fact either Cat or Geoff finding love next could be interesting. Especially for Cat who's dating life lead our MC to make interesting musings that I for one would've liked to see explored a bit more.

I liked that Michael was older & is a single dad, Henry is absolutely adorbs 🤩
I know M is supposed to be sweet and understanding, but he's almost too perfect until he's not and then the "weakness" revealed isn't really resolved or examined and the instigator "villain" of the piece is vicious for no real reason and also faces no comeuppeance for their actions *sigh*

This is not a bad book at all & we all know the cover played a large role in reeling my superficial af @$$ in. There is deffo an audience for this type of read, I am just not it 🤔 It is just a little too easy/contrived and Hallmark'y with a smidge of steam which doesn't really tick enough boxes for me. It was just a bit too superficial to properly suck me in to worrying for them which I feel awful saying, but everything was a bit surface level and predictable - yes I know I picked up a romcom but I can't explain the depth I was missing 🙁

Solid 3* debut in a similar vein to The Catch & The Rules which having read the authors acknowledgements makes sense. I am curious to see what other stories Jen Morris has to share with us 🙃

[Chloe Liese]

Love in the City is the perfect intro to the romance genre. Featuring a woman on the quest for self-discovery, moving across the world, pursuing her dreams, and finding love, this romance is delightfully meta-aware, asking the question through humor, heartfelt inner monologue as well as dialogue amongst friends: is romance real? is happy ever after possible? or is it all just a fairy tale...?

While grappling with some difficult subject matter such as unsupportive parents, heartbreak, divorce, and self-acceptance, Love in the City keeps it light, sweet, and delightfully fun. I highly recommend this to lovers of Sophie Kinsella who want a dash of sexy slow-burn steam thrown in.

Thank you to Jen for the ARC of Love in the City. All opinions are my own. Love in the City is out October 7. Pre-order today!

[anna ✩ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars!

I don't exactly know how to start this review because I am just so in awe with this book and I just want to shout about it from the rooftops.

I tend to be very picky with romance novels and I’m definitely very stingy when it comes to rating them. And the reason is because I don’t want to be reading a romance novel about a man who is abusive and toxic but that somehow is romanticised. I don’t want to reading about lost women who are nothing without their men. I don’t want to be reading drama after drama after drama. With Love in the City, we get none of that and that’s why I loved it so much. We get a healthy romance about people who aren't perfect but are looking to better themselves.

Michael is a wonderful male character who, of course, isn’t perfect, but works to rectify his mistakes and better himself as a person. Alex is independent and strong willed and has literally uprooted her whole life just to follow her dreams.

This book is dreamy, and funny, and incredibly well paced. There wasn’t ever one moment where I was bored reading this and I absolutely loved all the characters in it. Even the secondary characters have so much depth to them and such a wonderful aura.

This is a wonderful enemies to friends to lovers story and I hope it gets all the recognition it deserves. Anyone who loves healthy romantic relationships, dreamy characters, fluffy romance and witty banter will have a great time reading this book!

Thank you so much to Jen Morris for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was super disappointed by this book, maybe because I’ve seen raves about it so I had high expectations / hopes?

From the beginning, I could not stand Alex. I don’t mind an imperfect heroine, but the things that bugged me about her were never fleshed out or given meaning. For example, she gets so drunk she blacks out and completely changes the course of her life - the night before the first page she quits her job, books a plane ticket, and reserves an apartment in New York City. Later in the book she again gets so drunk she blacks out. Over and over again, she’s just an irresponsible person. And it’s never talked about, it’s never discussed, it’s never remedied. In other times, she’s shockingly coherent. So why at these key moments is she such a mess? For the sake of the story? Eh.

I don’t drink and haven’t since 2019 (and before then, since probably… 2014?) so maybe my reaction to binge drinking is harsher but I just thought it wasn’t the cute funny silly moment it was supposed to me.

I feel like anyone with half a braincell will do a Google search before moving to New York. “How much money do you need to move to New York” perhaps. And while Alex was blackout drunk when she made the decision, maybe she could have checked the next day. Or like… any day before leaving. Every part of this story set up was painfully privileged. I understand Alex didn’t have a lot of money but she had enough to get to New York and put that apartment payment down. It kind of felt like she was a romance book version of Axel Webber - that kid on TIkTok who went to New York to live in purposeful poverty. (I hate him, so maybe the resemblance to him made me hate her more.)

This is a single point of view story and I think it’s needed because of the “twist” BUT it really suffers from a lack of emotions. I felt nothing for Alex except disdain, but I don’t think we got to know Michael either. He wrote a book about the Appalachian trail… he wants to be a historical fiction writer… he’s a New York native… he’s divorced… he has a son. Oh, and he’s a total dick sometimes but it’s okay, he’s a lovable grump.

Also, a reason I love single parent romances so much is that we get to see a devoted parent and their partner who learns to fit into their family. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case here. Michael was never shown to be a GOOD dad. Maybe some of the time he was with his mom but every time they were on page together or Henry was mentioned, it was crap. Henry being sent with Michael’s brother to trick or treat. Henry being home early and alone without dinner (wasn’t he a kid?? like under 10? and he’s alone outside a locked apartment??). Michael realizing he has never taken Henry the places he took Alex.

I’ve only been to New York once so I’m not going to pretend to be an expert, and I love a “love letter to New York” story as much as the next person, but this was ridiculous. She fell into a living arrangement with a friend of a friend, who her friend from New Zealand only met once? Fell into a tight group of friends in 3 months? A good job, and a dream job? A romance? AND wrote a book? (AND got it picked up by an agent……) … I don’t think so.

[Preri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I'm generally a nice reviewer. Even if I don't particularly care for a book, I'll give it three stars, or maybe maybe if it's really not that great, a two.

The sad thing is that this book wasn't even jaw-droppingly terrible. I've read much, much worse books.

There was just something about this whole novel, though, that didn't sit right with me.

First off, I didn't care for Alex. She was optimistic, and stuck in her dreams, and living in a fantasy world, and blah blah blah. Everything that the other characters said about her was true honestly. And I could not bring myself to care about her. People in the book called her immature and sensitive and ridiculous and naive, and yes, they were objectively rude about it. But I mean, it's not like I'm going to deny it.

Second, Michael was useless. What was this back and forth with oh wow, he's a terrible, horrible jerk, and oh my god, he is the most perfect man alive? It didn't make any sense, and his whole characterization was useless.

Third, I didn't like the meta aspect of this. I didn't like that both Alex and Michael were writers, primarily because it made for a stupid novel. There are other romance novels that have done this better (see: Beach Read), and this one was just bad honestly. Mostly because I didn't particularly care for Morris's own writing, which bled into Alex's terrible writing.

Fourth, she was too sex-obsessed? Is that a thing? I don't mean it in that way. I am all about the sex-positive life. Go off. Sex for everyone. I'm a huge proponent of living your best life in whatever way that means for you. I just mean that I don't think Alex saw Michael in a not-lusty way until way way into the novel. And even then, the lust really jumped out at me.

Fifth, the plot twist was stupid as fuck and really ruined the whole thing for me. I was already mad at the stupid characters and the stupid plot, but the abrupt characterization shift and corresponding plot twist angered the fuck out of me.

Sixth, they yelled at each other, had a whole fight, and objectively handled that whole situation poorly. Then, one day they just kiss and make up because they're in love? Shoot me.

Seventh, the age gap didn't bother them, but it sure as hell bothered me. I'm normally not too mad at big age gaps once you're in your thirties and forties. By then, you've both lived long enough lives that the difference in maturity won't be that stark. Here, though, the difference in maturity was real. And glaring.

Eighth, there was nothing that was really cute about this. There was supposed to be two tropes that I loved, annoying/hot neighbor and single dad. Neither delivered. There wasn't any scene in the whole novel that I read and thought to myself, wow that was cute.

Ninth, so many people were just bitches. Honestly, only Geoff wasn't a bitch. And he didn't have any purpose in the novel other than existing to help out Alex in her times of need.

Tenth, I really had to skim some of the bad dialogue and all of the sex scenes. I just couldn't do it. Something about this book just rubbed me the wrong way.

Final conclusions: I think a lot of my dislike for this book comes out of personal preferences. I think people might connect to this if they happen to care for these tropes more or care about sex or whatever blah blah blah. There were some things that were objectively terrible and others that were just not for me. I am disappointed, though, that I just wasted an hour of my life.

And I'm out.

[nick (the infinite limits of love) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute overall but I admit to having a really hard time with how easy it was for the MC to move to the US and finding a job without a work visa (which illegal 🥴). It's a very romanticised view of immigrating to the United States and while I realize that it's fiction, it was just hard for me to completely ignore.

[RateTheRomance · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two chapters of this book had me snort-laughing! Alex wakes up the morning after a tequila binge and realizes she has completely upended her life while drunk the night before! As the events of the previous night come to light I was laughing out loud (something I don't do often while reading).

This book is filled with so many of the best things: good girlfriends, crap ex-boyfriends, wise sisters, risk taking, hilarious awkwardness, a hot and sometimes grumpy Hero, a curvy and optimistic heroine, the city of New York, and plenty of swoony moments.

If you love books (you love books, right? otherwise why are you here?) you will fall in love with so many moments in this book that celebrate bibliophiles and the crazy things that make us happy.

There were a few minor drawbacks for me. Our H is a single dad and I wish we had gotten to know his son a bit more. We get glimpses of him, but not many. I would have loved some more interaction between the main characters and this kid. Also, I love character growth, but there were a few times when I just wanted to smack some sense into the heroine! Maybe I wanted her to be a slightly more mature 30yo than she was.

Now, what's REALLY important. These two had amazing chemistry, many sweet moments, and some seriously steamy scenes that will make you perfectly hot and bothered. Some spectacular smut!

This book will make you laugh, cry, swoon, sigh, and cheer! Michael and Alex are an epically swoony couple that you can't help but root for! This is a wonderful first book and I can't wait to read more by this author.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

[Nainika Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Kiwi girl was so cute! Loved these two and their story!

[Cressida McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to get to read this brilliant book early, and I finished it with a massive grin on my face and tears in my eyes.

It has all the elements of the perfect romcom. A loveable, flawed heroine who is, above all, relatable; a cast of supporting characters that you WISH you could be friends with; a setting that you can imagine yourself being both awestruck by and fitting right into - I am so desperate to go to New York after reading this.

And then there is The Hero. The hero in this book ticks ALL the boxes. Oh yes. I am *almost* convinced beards are a good thing. Almost.

There is so much to love about Love in the City. All the characters are real, and they all make mistakes. There are some beautifully touching scenes, some hilarious scenes and some seriously sizzling scenes. There is some GREAT stuff about romance books and their validity, and so many times I just wanted to shout “YES!”

I went through all the emotions while reading this and know I’ll be thinking about it - all the funny bits and romantic moments - for a long time to come. It is a properly wonderful book.

[Beenish]

Ughh okay I want this now.

[Ruth]

Bei 18% abgebrochen.
„But that’s the problem. You women all think that if you’re beautiful you can get away with anything.“ aus dem Mund des Protagonisten. Uuuuund ich bin raus 🙄

[Vered (Taylor's Version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay I was SO excited to write this review because I can say with utmost confidence that this is my favourite book. Not only was Alex's narrative completely entertaining- but the characters were all brilliantly fleshed out; the relationship was so healthy- consisting of two people just trying to love and better one another. Every chapter I either swooned, laughed, cried, or experienced pure joy at this masterpiece of a novel. Dare I say it was even a little inspiring. I am extremely looking forward to read the other books in this series. I am in awe of you Mrs Morris!!!

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

After her boyfriend dumps her on her birthday, 30-year old Alex gets wasted and not only quits her job, but buys a plane ticket to NYC. When she comes to in the morning, she instantly wants to take back her drunken choices, but she knows there was some truth behind her actions. Alex isn’t where she wants to be at 30 and she finally wants to pursue her dreams. And NYC is the place to do it.

Alex stays with her best friend’s buddy in the City named Cat and that’s how Alex meets her upstairs neighbor, Michael the single dad. They get off on the wrong foot—Michael is nothing but rude and grumpy toward Alex. But when she gets to know Michael behind his gruff exterior, she learns he’s nothing like she assumed. In actuality, he’s also a writer and pushes her to pursue her dreams.

But when Alex’s first opportunity as a writer is to write a column about being single and Alex finds herself wanting to be anything but single with Michael, she is forced to make a decision she never thought she’d have to. Will she pick love or her career? And who’s to say she can’t have both...

Love in the City by Jen Morris was such a fun rom-com! Alex & Michael’s romance was cute and Alex was hilarious. I found the two main characters to annoy me at times, but not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the story. I liked that this wasn’t just a romance; it also focused on Alex’s metamorphosis. As she entered her 30s, she truly found herself and learned to believe in herself once and for all. I’ve heard a lot of people tout this is ultra steamy, but I don’t particularly agree with that. There were a handful of mild sex scenes sprinkled after the 70% mark. This is a slow-burn, low-steam romance, but that didn’t bother me at all. I think I was just surprised based on all the reviews I’ve seen about that aspect. I had such a fun time reading this book and can’t wait to read Jen Morris’ latest release set in the same world. 4/5 stars.

[mrsljgibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, what can I say, except that there are definitely not enough stars to be able to rate this book. In fact I have to say that it is the best book that i have read so far this year and I would definitely put it up there as one of my all-time favourite reads.......ever!!
I was extremely lucky to be involved with this amazing book right from the Beta read and then again with the Arc and as soon as I read it, I fell in love.
All-in-all it’s a perfect rom-com, with just the right amount of laughs, romance and sexiness!
The hero and heroine are both very relatable and I really wish that I could be friends with Cat and the very funny Geoff - he was just wonderful!
I love it when you read a book and the characters begin to feel like real people that you know - and this book did just that.
And lets just take a few moments to appreciate Michael!! He is the epitome of a romantic hero and every time he was mentioned my heart did a little happy dance!!
Alex was the perfect heroine and even though she was riddled with insecurities she still knew how to go after what se wanted.
With a perfect setting of New York, this book is wonderful from start to finish and I absolutely loved everything about it.
I now can’t wait to find out what happens in book two and see if that one makes me cry as well.....

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Jen Morris for allowing me to read this early!

For her debut novel, @jenmorrisauthor knocked the ball out of Central Park (see what I did there 😉)

We meet Alex, a New Zealander who is ready for a big change in her life & flies across the world to NYC to live out her dream of writing & finding true love. When she arrives, things don’t go as planned, including a hot & steamy (literally) encounter with a grumpy sexy guy, Michael.

I loved that this wasn’t only about Alex & Michael, but also about finding out what you love & going for it, even if it’s not someone else’s vision.

While I received this as an electronic ARC, you better believe I will be adding this to my shelf!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Lauren Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

You're going to want to grab this one as soon as it comes out. Love in the City is a laugh out loud Rom Com with some amazing chemistry between the hero and heroine, and a fun cast of characters--Geoff, I'm talking about you. Full of adventure, a bright voice, and swoony moments, this book will delight romance lovers and also appeal to women's fiction readers who like a little heat. Add it to your TBR today!

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love in the City is a fantastic book! The start of the book was hilarious and you really can’t help rooting for Alex as she goes after her dreams in New York. It was a great romance between Alex and Michael, with a lot of both sweet and hot moments.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Mae Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a romance, a love letter to romance books and New York City all rolled into one

I would recommend if you're looking for:

-frenemies to lovers
-a grumpy single father hero
-a heroine who risks it all moving to NYC for her dream to become a writer
-great tours of NYC
-close proximity
-a snow storm
-slow burn
-the sexual tension is real here
- messy coffee related meet cute

Alex is a lover of romance novels getting over heartbreak. I loved her from the outset, her bravery and guts moving to NYC, leaving her family behind in New Zealand (her parents are terrible and unsupportive of her dreams). She deals head on with the prejudice that the world has with romance novel lovers and it was so enjoyable to read. Alex is not a pushover and I appreciated how strong she was throughout the book, working hard to get everything she wanted.

Michael is a bearded grumpy dad. He grew on me so quickly. Two words: bearded hero. The sexual tension, the sweetness. I can't wait to read more in this series. I need Geoff to get his happily ever after.

Rating: 4.5 stars
Steam: 3

[Wendy(Wendyreadsbooks) Robey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read with really relatable characters, some steamy scenes and great ending.
I enjoyed getting to know more about the characters, and really liked Alex, as she fought against the constant criticism from home to achieve her dreams.
Looking forward to seeing what's next in this series.

This is an honest review in exchange for a free copy of the book. Many thanks to Jen Morris.

[Stephanie (read_with_steph) · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Alex's boyfriend dumps her on her 30th birthday, she drunkenly books a one-way ticked from her home of New Zealand to New York City. She's always wanted to be a romance author, but at every step of the way her parents' belittle her and her new life in the Big Apple seems to take a turn for the worse. Especially when she starts her stay by dumping coffee on who ends up being her super-hot new neighbor...

This book had everything: a romantic picture of New York City, a #swoonworthy single dad male hero, hilarious drunken escapades, and steam for days. I really enjoyed the new take on the fish out of water story, and loved some of the twists and turns both Alex's personal and professional life took. Some characters and moments were a little bit over-the-top (such as the male lead's ex wife), but it made me chuckle and I can't wait for the next book!

5 stars - 9/10

I won this book in a giveaway hosted by the author, but all thoughts and opinions are my own!

[Betts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 🌟

This is a great debut novel, I was laughing and smiling for almost all the book.
I felt like Alex was a relatable 30 year old women, with all the insecurities that that include, really funny and strong enough to move to a new country and work in her dreams.
And Michael... He is the mature, handsome (and bearded), single parent, cinnamon roll hero that I love in romance books. He started being a grumpy guy but then, he became so sweet and caring.💓
Love the chemestry that they had and the relationship that the built.

I loved the tour in all the lovely places in NYC and the way the city was portraited.

Also,the supporting characters were awesome, love the friendship that Alex constructed with Geoff and Cat.


Can't wait to read future books by Jen Morris.

[Sam I AMNreader · Rating 1 out of 5]

At first, I thought that this could be entertaining, but by 60% the heroine had reduced herself to a one-dimensional love-obsessed heap of boring. Instead of letting the conflict remain (somewhat) internal, it shifted in the last 20% or so to a list of crises. Ultimately, it ended up feeling inorganic and forced,as if the author lead the slow burn to its ultimate conclusion but had to fill the last few pages. And I could go on about the luckiest land in NYC to ever be conceived with these minor barriers as conflict, only to end up living the most charmed city life of all time, but I really won't.

I think this may be a debut but I don't think I'm going to try the second.

[Maura Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book, and there were some parts that I liked—the descriptions of New York definitely made me nostalgic for the time I lived there! A major scene is set in Strand Bookstore and I loved being able to picture every minute of the action. But ultimately, there were, like, two and a half elements of Love in the City that really downgraded the book for me:

1. Alex, the heroine, feels so much younger than 30. I understand that she’s supposed to be in a rut and unhappy with the lack of direction in her life, but she comes across as so uncertain and immature that I kept picturing her as a new college graduate.

2. Michael, the hero, admits to fabricating most of his travel memoir and it’s … no big deal?!? Alex brushes past this confession and it’s never mentioned again, but WTF? I guess it doesn’t matter because the book was a flop, but if Michael had written a bestseller then the fact that he did not *actually* hike the Appalachian Trail would have definitely mattered a great deal to his publisher if that news had gotten out. I hadn’t really clicked with Michael through most of the book, so this detail (which also felt unnecessary) just sent me over the edge with him.

2.5 I know this is always a thing, but the timeline of this book … OMG. Alex is yet one more leading character who comes to New York with nothing and three months later has stumbled into both a successful career and a romantic relationship. I just don’t get why so many authors rush these timelines; what difference would it make to spread out the story over even six months instead of three? My attention wouldn’t snag on a longer timeframe, but the short ones affect my ability to suspend disbelief and enjoy the book.

I kept going until I finished the book because I read some positive advance reviews of Love in the City (and I see so many of them here!) and was really hopeful that I would enjoy it in the end, but clearly this just wasn’t the right book for me.

[Melenareads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex moves from small-town New Zealand to New York City after a bad break up. She's determined to work on her writing and start fresh, but from the very beginning things don't go as planned.

Almost immediately she finds out the apartment she leased is a scam and she spills coffee on a good looking, grump of a guy. Things begin to look up, though, when she finds a group of friends - including one who lets Alex crash at her apartment - and finds out grumpy guy is actually Michael who lives in the same building with his son.

It was hard to believe this is the author's debut book! I really enjoyed Alex's adventures in New York as she spends time writing, working, and figuring out what comes next. She and Michael were sweet together and it was fun seeing their relationship develop. The secondary characters added a lot to the story and I am looking forward to seeing more of them as the series progresses.

Thank you to the author for providing an ARC for an honest review.

[Lisa Whittaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Alex wakes up with a hangover the morning after her 30th birthday. She’s been dumped by her boyfriend and in her drunken haze, she spends all of her savings on a flight to New York and the deposit on an apartment there to follow her dream of becoming an author.

Alex arrives in New York, gives the address of her new apartment to the taxi driver and off she goes. Unfortunately for Alex, she’s been scammed and the apartment block doesn’t exist. She is homeless in the big apple.

Luckily for Alex, her best friends, friend, Cat saves the day and let’s Alex stay with her. While she’s waiting for Cat to arrive at the coffee shop, Alex bumps in to a moody, handsome stranger and ends up knocking coffee all over him! He’s not impressed!

Alex soon settles into life in New York and bumps into the handsome stranger in Cat’s apartment block. He lives upstairs!

Alex is hugely attracted to the drop, dead gorgeous Michael. She starts writing a romance novel and lives out her secret fantasies about her and Michael on paper.

They soon strike up a relationship and the book follows their story. When Alex is in the running for a job to write a weekly column for an online magazine about being single in New York, will she follow her dream or choose a relationship with Michael?

I absolutely loved this book and if I’d still been on holiday, would’ve read it probably in a couple of days.

A definite ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read from me.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars well deserved. Why does Goodreads not get on board with half stars already? Anyway......
I loved this one. It was cute, and such a perfect Autumn romcom situated in my favorite city, New York.
Alex wakes up after a drunken birthday night and comes to find out she's been dumped by Travis the guy she thought was the one again. She's also quit her job as assistant manager of the town bookstore and bought a ticket to New York City to become a writer.
Laugh out loud hilarious, the journey begins with so many bright spots and so much disappointment for Alex but she's determined to make this work even if kills her.
There are so many delightful moments in this book that it would be so hard to explain how amazing and hilarious this read is. If you enjoy romcoms, sexy hero's and New York city as a side character you'll enjoy this one. I definitely recommend any romance fans to pick this up immediately.

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book *sighs whilst clutching kindle to chest* It had everything a brilliant romantic comedy should have: romance (obvs), gorgeous characters, perfect moments of hilarity and to top it all off, it's set in my favourite city, New York.

You're introduced to Alex as she embarks on a life changing move to the city that never sleeps. There she meets the lovely Cat, fabulous Geoff and of course, the romantic hero to end all romantic heroes, Michael (this guy gave me serious heart eye emoji's I'm not gonna lie). With the perfect mix of humour and heat, Love In The City will from this point on be referred to as my top book of 2020 (yes I know it's only September, but I don't care).

If I could give 6 stars I would but sadly I'm limited to 5, so all I'll say is read this fabulous novel, you won't be disappointed.

[Abi Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to be given an advanced reader copy of this amazing book and it did not disappoint! I was hooked from the first page and found myself slowing down on the final few chapters as I did not want it to end. Alex, the heroine is so relatable - I saw a lot of myself in her. And her love interest Michael is the perfect, sexy hero we all wish we had! Jen has such a way with words, I felt like I was in the book. Cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

[Oriana Blyth (_head_in_a_book) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jen’s debut book is absolutely brilliant!!

It had everything I love about a romance novel!! Amazing setting ✔️ gorgeous leading man ✔️ brilliant main female character ✔️ and lots of humour ✔️

I adored it so much! Michael and Alex are so believable and lovable and I just couldn’t put this book down!!

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't get over the fact that this is a debut novel! It was such an amazing book that literally my only complaint is that I wish the epilogue were a little bit longer because I can't get enough of Alex and Michael.