A flipped version of MY FAIR LADY features New York socialite Violet Townsend, who is trying to give New Orleans native Cain Stone a “takeover makeover” as he aspires to run his grandmother’s international corporation. Narrator Sura Siu gives Violet round, precise tones that reflect her controlled existence, even as her thoughts about the irrepressible Cain are anything but orderly. Siu voices Cain with a slight drawl and takes advantage of his playful, often sarcastic, humor as he fights with Violet to keep his identity. Siu successfully indicates their chemistry and Violet’s personal growth as she begins to question her long-held convictions. Siu’s enunciation, and the production itself, are not always crisp. But these are slight distractions in an endearing opposites-attract audio. C.A. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Made in Manhattan
Narrated by Sura Siu
Lauren LayneUnabridged — 6 hours, 53 minutes
Made in Manhattan
Narrated by Sura Siu
Lauren LayneUnabridged — 6 hours, 53 minutes
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Overview
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.
Editorial Reviews
11/15/2021
Layne (To Sir, with Love) brings a light touch to this delightful, gender-swapped My Fair Lady tale in which the city itself is a nuanced character. Manhattan socialite Violet Townsend occupies herself with charity engagements, volunteer work, and helping family friend Edith Rhodes, the soon-to-be retired CEO of a global conglomerate, to manage her daily affairs. It all fills her time, but it doesn’t fill her heart, something she only discovers after meeting Edith’s long-lost grandson, Cain Stone, who’s poised to inherit Edith’s company. Rough-around-the-edges Cain is already well established in New Orleans, and he’s not super interested in getting the polish Edith and Violet think he needs to please the company’s board of directors. As Violet takes him under her wing, she learns that under his gruff exterior lies sweetness and charm. Their growing connection combined with Cain’s kindness to Violet’s dog is sure to tug readers’ heartstrings. Layne has a skill for building unique heroines, and Violet, who has anxiety about expressing herself stemming from losing her family at a young age, adds depth to this contemporary. Layne’s fans are sure to be pleased. Agent: Nicole Resciniti, the Seymour Agency. (Jan.)
"A charming, swoony, funny, must-read delight of a book! Unexpected side-effect: I now crave a champagne tasting in Manhattan with an oh-so-handsome business rival."
For when your fave movie of all time is You’ve Got Mail...Don’t miss this modern version."
This book was absolutely amazing. Layne has a special gift with bringing to life Manhattan based romances... The best romance novel that I have read in months!... A brilliantly beautiful story that hits all the right spots... A definite must read!"
"With amusing minor characters and dialogue that’s both clever and steamy, Layne (To Sir, with Love, 2021) delivers a satisfying HEA with this standalone novel."
"To Sir, With Love would be a great introduction to Layne’s books if you haven’t already tried them already. What are you waiting for? Your next book boyfriend awaits!
"Crackling with humor and sizzling with romantic tension, this charming modern fairy tale sparkles like the best champagne. I couldn’t put it down!"
Perfect for: fans of You've Got Mail, Meet Cute, and The Wedding Party.
Praise for Made in Manhattan
"This lighthearted read includes witty banter, a "phew, that’s hot" romance, and the author's adept ability to bring her characters and their experiences off the page and into your life. New York’s never felt more real than it does in Layne’s Made in Manhattan."
"To Sir, with Love is a delight—as sweet and bubbly as a glass of champagne. I loved Gracie's fairytale take on the world, her wonderful friends and family, and her highly unusual romantic situation! Such a warm, lovely read."
"Fans of Nora Ephron will adore this ... Lauren Layne puts a fresh spin on a favorite classic, creating a charming, witty, heartfelt tale of hope and love and second chances."
As light and refreshing as a glass of champagne, To Sir, with Love will have you smiling from the first swoon-worthy page to the last.
“Lauren Layne proves once again that she’s the queen of contemporary New York City romance with To Sir, With Love. Her breezy dialogue and delightful characters will fully immerse readers in this dreamy and sophisticated love story... a wonderfully satisfying romance.
Remember the movie You've Got Mail? Think of this novel as an updated version, Tinder and all....It's the perfect read while sipping a Mai Tai on the sand.
Praise for Made in Manhattan
"With amusing minor characters and dialogue that’s both clever and steamy, Layne (To Sir, with Love, 2021) delivers a satisfying HEA with this standalone novel."—Booklist
A flipped version of MY FAIR LADY features New York socialite Violet Townsend, who is trying to give New Orleans native Cain Stone a “takeover makeover” as he aspires to run his grandmother’s international corporation. Narrator Sura Siu gives Violet round, precise tones that reflect her controlled existence, even as her thoughts about the irrepressible Cain are anything but orderly. Siu voices Cain with a slight drawl and takes advantage of his playful, often sarcastic, humor as he fights with Violet to keep his identity. Siu successfully indicates their chemistry and Violet’s personal growth as she begins to question her long-held convictions. Siu’s enunciation, and the production itself, are not always crisp. But these are slight distractions in an endearing opposites-attract audio. C.A. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172873195 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 01/18/2022 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
Chapter One One
Violet Victoria Townsend was plenty aware that she was the very epitome of a stock character for snob.
Ask any sketch artist to draw a pampered Upper East Side princess, and Violet would skip straight to the top of the suspect list. Shiny, bouncy hair? Check. Expertly applied yet barely noticeable makeup? Check. Pretty, but not in the “look again” kind of way? Yup.
Her nails were never chipped, her ends never split. Her outfits tended toward neutrals and were always paired with a strand of simple, understated pearls around her neck. Even her home address was eye-rollingly cliché. She’d lived in the same apartment off Madison Avenue since age eleven, when her grandmother took her in.
Did that make Violet a caricature? Perhaps. But a self-aware one. Violet had heard all the Blair Waldorf, Charlotte York, and Holly Golightly comparisons and had made peace with it a long time ago.
So, yeah. She could and often did rock a headband. She had a purse dog named after a luxury brand of handbag (Coco, as in Chanel). Did she sometimes summer in the Hamptons? Indeed, and she was guilty of using summer as a verb.
But Violet Townsend was also kind to strangers, considerate of others’ feelings, and generous with her time. She always brought the perfect hostess gift to a party. Her brunches offered bountiful mimosas with high-quality bacon and vegetarian options.
Violet was also heavily involved with a half-dozen charities, volunteered as a tutor every Wednesday afternoon, and was adamantly opposed to gossip, though still somehow found herself knowing everything about everyone.
Not that she expected a medal for any of this. It was just that she figured if she was lucky enough to be born a privileged heiress, she sure as hell better be a good and generous person to go with it.
Which was why, when her late grandmother’s best friend had commanded Violet’s presence on a Sunday afternoon, Violet hadn’t hesitated to reschedule her longstanding Sunday date with her best friend.
Edith Rhodes was a precise, specific sort of woman. Violet would know; she’d been serving as Edith’s right hand of sorts ever since graduating college. But while Edith was a demanding, high-powered CEO, she was no diva. She planned everything down to the minute, believed that urgent was synonymous with ill-prepared.
In other words, not the sort of woman to cry wolf. If Edith needed Violet now, it meant now. And that something was amiss.
The January afternoon was sunny but brisk as Violet made the short walk to Edith’s Park Avenue home. She was perfectly polished as ever, because if Edith had taught Violet anything in the few years since she’d taken her under her wing, it was that emergencies were best approached with lipstick and a great pair of heels.
Violet was dressed in burgundy pumps, gray slacks, a white blouse, and, of course, the ever-present pearls that had become her trademark of sorts, even if their legacy was a bit sad.
But Violet didn’t like to think about that.
“Good afternoon, Alvin,” she said, stepping into the foyer and smiling at Edith’s live-in butler, maintenance man, and all-around loyal companion.
He looked pointedly at Violet’s feet, where Coco was usually happily prancing around her ankles. “And where is my little lady?”
“At home, getting her beauty sleep. She hates the cold, and her best sweaters are dirty,” she said with a wink, though her little Yorkie really did have a pile of doggy-sized sweaters in Violet’s laundry basket.
She gave Alvin an assessing once-over. “How are we today?”
He took her jacket with one hand and patted his slightly rounded belly with the other, looking forlorn. “It’s the stomach, dear. Probably an ulcer. Could be much worse.”
“Mmm.” She made a sympathetic noise, even as she tucked her tongue into her cheek. “I’m so sorry to hear that. What did Dr. Howell say?”
He frowned at her, looking just the slightest bit sulky, closer to six than his actual sixty.
Violet waited. Patient.
His frown deepened a little as he huffed, relenting. “Gas,” he admitted. “But the doctor seemed off his game. I may go back in a week when he’s got his head on straight.”
“Of course,” Violet said. She pointed at his foot. “And the toe?”
Last week, Alvin had self-diagnosed a sore toe as gangrene, for which amputation was the only likely cure, even as Edith had reminded him he’d stubbed that very toe on the sideboard in the dining room.
He blinked, no doubt struggling to keep track of his many ailments, then a little sheepishly said, “Oh. The toe’s better.”
“Wonderful.” Violet smiled. “I’m glad you got to keep it after all.”
He narrowed his eyes, then waggled a scolding finger at her. “When you were little, you didn’t used to sass me.”
“Who’s sassing?” she asked innocently, kissing his cheek as she moved toward the parlor. He was an exhausting hypochondriac, but he was her hypochondriac. “Edith in here?”
“Yes.” Alvin’s playful demeanor evaporated, replaced with concern, and not for his ulcer/gas.
The door was open a crack, and Edith’s head snapped up when Violet stepped into the room.
“Violet.” Edith’s utterance was more breath than word, and Violet’s stomach lurched in worry. The Edith she knew was never rattled, but the woman in front of her now looked downright fragile.
Edith seemed to sense Violet’s thoughts, because she resolutely straightened her shoulders.
“Where’s Coco?” Edith asked with a frown, glancing around the floor where Violet’s dog generally ran in circles.
“Home,” Violet said, sitting beside Edith on the love seat, taking her hand, and getting straight to the point. “What’s wrong?”
Edith swallowed, her free hand lifting to fiddle with her necklace. Violet’s concern notched up to outright alarm. Edith Rhodes did not fiddle.
The older woman slowly, deliberately dropped her hand back into her lap, as though trying to regain control. “It’s about Adam.”
Violet squeezed Edith’s hand in silent sympathy. Edith’s only son had died just a few months earlier. The loss had been hard on Edith, obviously, but Violet suspected that even Edith knew she’d lost Adam to addiction and his hard-partying ways long before he’d overdosed on a toxic mix of alcohol and heroin.
Which was why Edith’s distress now was a bit puzzling. A delayed reaction, perhaps, though Edith didn’t seem the type. She dealt with everything in the here and now.
Edith swallowed, then cleared her throat, her eyes darting nervously to the far corner of the room, before coming back to Violet. “You know that Bernard and I hoped to leave the company to Adam.”
Violet nodded, carefully hiding her skepticism about how that would have gone. The Adam Rhodes that Violet had known had been in no condition to take over a lemonade stand, much less the Rhodes International conglomerate. Violet wasn’t technically an employee herself, but as Edith’s right hand and personal assistant for several years, she’d learned enough about the business to know that multimillion-dollar real estate investment deals were on the table daily; not exactly the place for a man whose primary concern at work had been keeping his corner office sideboard stocked with his beloved bourbon.
“Knowing that Rhodes would pass out of the family made Adam’s passing doubly hard,” Edith continued, swallowing. “I should have made peace with it long ago, with Adam being who he was, and an only child who never married...”
Violet nodded again, this time in understanding. Edith had lost a beloved husband just last year, then a son months later. Since Violet had lost, well, everyone, she knew all too well the ache, the sense of being unmoored with nothing—and no one—to hold on to. “What can I do? What do you need?”
Edith’s blue gaze searched Violet’s face affectionately. “You’ve always been so good to me.”
Violet gave her a gently reprimanding look. “Says the woman who helped raise me. You’re practically family. Tell me what’s bothering you. We’ll fix it.”
Edith’s fingers went to her temples, past the point of pretending she was fine. “It’s no secret Adam was always a bit wild.”
Understatement. “Sure.”
“Well, it would seem he had one particularly wild escapade during spring break his junior year of college. He went to... Cabo... Cancún... I forget,” Edith said with a wave of her hand. “He met a girl, and, well, you know Adam. He always liked women.”
Lots of women, Violet mentally amended.
“Is there... is this woman threatening blackmail of some kind?” Violet asked, trying to keep from begging Edith to spit it out already.
“She’s dead.”
Violet jolted, because the cold pronouncement hadn’t come from Edith, but from a harsh, masculine voice behind them.
Violet stood, the smooth motion belying her galloping heart as she searched for the source of the voice.
She stilled when she saw the man leaning against the mantel at the far side of the room. How in the world she had missed him when she’d entered was beyond her. Violet couldn’t make out much of him from his place lurking in the shadows, but his sheer presence seemed enormous. Looming and very male, especially when contrasted with the fussy Victorian decor of Edith Rhodes’s parlor.
For that matter, this man didn’t even look as though he knew what a parlor was. He was dressed in faded jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and scuffed boots, and one thing was abundantly clear: he did not belong here.
“Get out,” Violet said, taking calm command of the situation. “I don’t know who you are, but you can’t just come barging in like some sort of... some sort of—”
A very dark eyebrow lifted in insolent challenge. Some sort of what?
“Violet.” Edith’s voice was quiet.
Violet meant to look at the other woman, but she seemed to be locked in the angry, sullen gaze of the stranger.
“Violet,” Edith said, her voice a bit more steady this time. “I’d like to introduce you to my long-lost grandson.”
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