Made in Manhattan

Lauren Layne

Jan 2022 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Central Park Pact comes a reverse My Fair Lady for the modern era about a pampered and privileged Manhattan socialite who must teach an unpolished and denim-loving nobody from the Louisiana Bayou how to fit in with the upper crust of New York City. Perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne.

Violet Townsend has always been a people pleaser. Raised in the privileged world of Upper East Side Manhattan, she always says the right things, wears the right clothes, and never rocks the boat. Violet would do anything for the people closest to her, especially her beloved grandmother. So when she asks Violet to teach the newly-discovered grandson of her friend how to fit in with New York City’s elite, Violet immediately agrees. Her goal? To get Cain Stone ready to take his place as heir to his family company…but to say he’s not exactly an eager student is an understatement.

Born and raised in rural Louisiana and now making his own way in New Orleans, Cain Stone is only playing along for the paycheck at the end. He has no use for the grandmother he didn’t know existed and no patience for the uppity Violet’s attempts to turn him into a suit-wearing, museum-attending gentleman.

But somewhere amidst antagonistic dinner parties and tortured tux fittings, Cain and Violet come to a begrudging understanding—and the uptight Violet realizes she’s not the only one doing the teaching. As she and Cain begin to find mutual respect for one another (and maybe even something more), Violet learns that blindly following society’s rules doesn’t lead to happiness…and that sometimes the best things in life come from the most unexpected places.

Ratings and reviews

Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne is a fun, My Fair Lady retelling, but in reverse. I enjoyed this lighthearted, enjoyable book. Violet Townsend grew up in the privileged world of the Upper Eastside of Manhattan. Although she grew up in a life of excess and privilege, her life isn’t all parties and balls. Her parents passes away when she was a child, and she went to live with her grandmother. When her grandmother passed away, she was left without any family, except for her grandmother’s best friend Edith, who treats Violet like her own granddaughter. Violet spends most of her time running errands for Edith who is the CEO of a huge family business and going out in the evenings with her boyfriend Keith, who is hoping to take over that family business one day. When Edith discovers a long-lost grandson, Cain, she insists he learns the ropes of the family business so she can leave it to someone in her family. The problem is that Cain is a bit rough around the edges as he’s spent his entire life in New Orleans, building his distribution business. Edith tasks Violet to show Cain around New York, and teach him how to fit in with Manhattan’s elite social crowd. Violet agrees to the task only to please Edith. When Violet and Cain spend time together sparks start to fly. But, can perfect socialite Violet ever be compatible with the rough, cursing, and resentful Cain? I enjoyed this reverse My Fair Lady story and was rooting for Violet through the entire book. The story is fast-paced and enjoyable from cover to cover. I don’t usually like to read about the privileged and elite, but I found Violet to be a very engaging and likable character. Her grandmother’s friend Edith was delightful and so were the other side characters in this book. I also enjoyed the banter between Violet and Cain as they worked together to make him more palatable to the snobby elite crowd in New York. The author does a great job mixing the dialogue and description so the book moved quickly, but I still had a good sense of the surroundings. Lauren Layne’s love of New York City shines through in this fun novel and it’s always fun to travel around the city through her eyes. I did want to learn more about Cain and know more about his backstory. I think knowing more about Cain would have made this book more complete and given it some depth. But, it was still very enjoyable. I recommend this book to anyone who loves NYC and romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

MADE IN MANHATTAN by Lauren Layne is a contemporary, adult, stand alone romance story line focusing on Manhattan socialite Violet Townsend, and New Orleans’ businessman Cain Stone. Told from third person perspective (Violet) MADE IN MANHATTAN focuses on Violet Townsend’s assignment to turn New Orleans businessman Cain Stone into a civilized and respectable Manhattan heir. With the death of the father he never knew, Cain Stone discovered he was the sole heir apparent to the billion dollar Rhodes Industry, a company currently controlled by Edith Rhodes, the grandmother he never met but Cain has not been raised in the finer points of society’s upper crust, and Violet Townsend, Cain’s grandmother’s ‘helper’ has been tasked with ensuring Cain is presentable to the Board in control. Constantly at odds with one another, their barely veiled, palpable sexual attraction finds Violet reconsidering her own future, a future that may or may not include the man with whom she is falling in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Violet and Cain, and the potential fall-out as Violet wants something more than Cain is willing to give. Cain Stone never knew his father,in fact, he never met the family that now wants our hero to take control but Cain’s lack of refinement, and rugged appearance does not bode well for his future prospects. Violet Townsend is a socialite, a snob who is used to the finer things in life but a woman who has suffered many losses along the way. Struggling to remain neutral in the face of her attraction to her mentor’s grandson, Violet will find herself falling for a man whose future may not include our story line heroine. The relationship between Violet and Cain begins as a reverse ‘My Fair Lady’ in which Violet has been tasked with making Cain Stone presentable to the rich and powerful of Manhattan society. Already in a committed but lacklustre relationship, Violet must come to terms with what she wants, and whose heart she is willing to break along the way. Cain Stone never wanted to take control of his absentee father’s business but learning the ins and outs of Rhodes Industry finds Cain reevaluating and reassessing his long term goals. Keeping his distance from our story line heroine proves to be more difficult than Cain could have imagined but falling in love was never in the cards. The lone $ex scene is passionate but mostly implied. We are introduced to Cain’s grandmother Edith Rhodes, as well as Violet’s boyfriend Keith, and Violet’s friend Ashley Shores. MADE IN MANHATTAN is a story of family and relationships, perception and love. The premise is charming and engaging; the slow building romance is seductive; the characters are determined, desperate and dynamic.

Violet Victoria Townsend was the perfect example of a privileged, Upper East Side Manhattan lady. She always looked perfect and did everything that was expected of her. When her adopted grandmother, Edith, ask her for a favor, Violet readily agrees. It seems that after Edith's son, Adam unexpectedly dies, she finds out that she has a grandson, Cain Stone living in New Orleans. Edith was planning on retiring and leaving the family company for Adam to run. Since that can't happen, she wants Cain to take over the job to keep it in the family. The only problem is is that Cain does not have the appearance of a man running a multi-million dollar company. If Violet could change Cain's image into that of a proper East Sider, he could then run the company. Too bad Cain doesn't want the job. He likes his laid back lifestyle and the company he runs in New Orleans. Of course the more time Violet and Cain spend together with his "lessons" the more those thoughts seem to change. At the same time Violet is starting to realize that she quite enjoys not always being the perfect lady. These two together bring out the best in the other. When it comes time for the Board of Directors to decide who should take Edith's place, a surprise twist happens, but it won't be long until everyone has their happy ending. I just loved this charming opposites attract story! I adored Cain. It was fun watching him interact with Violet. He loved to push her buttons....then she finally started pushing back. I loved watching the chemistry build up between these two until they just exploded. I also really enjoyed how both Cain and Violet changed overall to make them better people. These two had such fun banter. I also loved all of the other characters.....Coco, Alvin and Edith. Overall this was another wonderful story from Lauren Layne and I highly recommend it.

About the author

Lauren Layne is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than three dozen romantic comedies. Her books have sold over a million copies worldwide. Lauren’s work has been featured in Publishers Weekly, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Inside Edition. She is based in New York City.