My enormous thanks to Georgia Hester at Harper Collins for sending me a surprise copy of Only in New York by Melissa Hill. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.
Only in New York is published by HQ on 22nd May 2025 and is available for pre-order through the publisher links here.
Only in New York
LA Publicist Hannah is ready to put her broken heart behind her and start afresh. So when a celebrity client offers to lend her a luxury penthouse apartment in New York City, Hannah jumps at the chance.
But it turns out that balancing a new job and new neighbours is harder than Hannah imagined. With a troublesome – yet undeniably attractive – client making headlines for all the wrong reasons, and the secretive curmudgeon next door seemingly on a mission to get her out, Hannah has her hands full.
It’s going to take all her best PR tricks to win over each of these cynics. But it isn’t only their walls that begin breaking down. And as Hannah starts to open her own heart to all the possibilities the city has to offer, a chance at love might be closer than she thinks.
This is New York, after all.
My Review of Only in New York
Leaving a broken relationship behind, publicist Hannah is making a fresh start in New York.
Only in New York is a smashing read, just right for packing in your suitcase and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s romantic, pacy, witty and engrossing.
Of course Only in New York has romance as one of its themes, and throughout I was desperate for Hannah and her new client Wildcat Ward McKenzie to fall in love, but what Melissa Hill illustrates with such aplomb is that love is not a straightforward emotion and external events and pressures can impinge and affect it. I thought the balance of Hannah and Ward’s roles in this theme was sheer perfection, especially as we get to know them so intimately and possibly better than they know themselves. It’s rare in romantic fiction to get such an insight into both male and female roles.
The plot is brilliant. It speeds along, and I thought the way the reader has insight into the identity of P-1 (read the book) whereas Hannah does not, gave an added frisson of enjoyment and engagement.
But as well as being an enormously satisfying enemies to lovers narrative, Only in New York has other really interesting elements too. I found the insight into the world of public relations fascinating as Hannah attempts to rehabilitate Ward into both his ice hockey team and public opinion. The pressures of high powered jobs, being in the public eye and of the challenges faced by elite sports people are integral to the story and thoroughly engaging.
The New York setting is just perfect. Whilst the city doesn’t over dominate, there is an authentic sense of place that means the reader can experience some of it without leaving home. Equally important is the way Hannah makes assumptions about the person living in the apartment next door to her. Melissa Hill shows we shouldn’t judge others and that we never really know quite what is happening behind someone else’s front door.
Although Hannah does jump to conclusions and can be quick tempered, I thought these flaws in her personality made her incredibly realistic, so that the story feels as if it is about a real person even though her job in public relations for the rich and famous is beyond the experience of many readers.
I so enjoyed Only in New York. It felt like the perfect summer read, being completely absorbing. It’s packed with believable people despite their celebrity status. It’s entertaining, romantic and engaging. What could be better than that? I suggest you escape to New York with Hannah immediately…
About Melissa Hill
USA Today and Irish Times #1 bestselling author living in Wicklow, Ireland. Her contemporary novels of family, friendship and romance are published worldwide and translated into twenty-six languages. A Hollywood adaptation of her international bestseller Something From Tiffany’s, produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine in association with Amazon Studios, is streaming now on Prime Video.
Adaptations of A Gift To Remember and The Charm Bracelet were also brought to screen by Crown Media Productions USA, with multiple other film/TV projects based on her work currently in development.
Melissa’s brand new novel Only in New York is coming soon!
For further information about Melissa, visit her website or find her on Facebook and Instagram.
English (US) · 