Cover Image: Mismatched in Manhattan

Mismatched in Manhattan

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Member Reviews

My thanks to the Publishers via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this a 3 stars or 6/10. I found this a read that at times held my attention and at others I felt quite ambivalent about. After having looked at a few other reviews and the ratings given for it, I have noticed that I am not the only one giving this book the same rating.

This book is also known as 'Ghosting' apparently, due to the fact that the two main characters act as ghostwriters as a job. Telling the story of Miles and Zoey two ghostwriters that work for competing online dating services, as they form an online relationship with one another as other people, they eventually find out that their real lives crossover too unknown to them, they have known one another for some time. Similar in some ways to other modern stories that centre around other ways of having a relationship in modern times when online and virtual lives feature so heavily in everyday life.

Will the real life connection they have be the real thing or will their relationship be doomed? If you feel that this is a book that you could immerse yourself in, then grab a copy from all the usual retailers.

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I didn't finish this story due to the writing style. I couldn't even begin to focus on the characters or the plot line because of my constant attention on the writing style that I personally didn't mesh well with at all.. There was a lot of pop culture references and I was rolling my eyes with how many there were straight from the beginning. I thought the emails at the beginning of each chapter were unnecessary and provided no entertainment value but if anything drew away from the story. If you don't hate the writing style then this would probably be a great read for you.

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This book was full of enjoyment, fun, and a wonderful array of characters. The storyline had genuine laugh out loud moments, and I found that following the romance as it began to unfold throughout the story truly added to the beauty of the book. I really enjoyed this read!

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Fun, enjoyable and overall a sweet slow burner romance. I enjoyed it but it was slow ti pick up pace - I enjoyed the middle and ending far more as it took a while to get to know and really like the characters. Good supporting characters and some genuinely funny exchanges between characters too (which are hard to find in a lot of romances these days!).

Look forward to reading more of Tash Skilton's books in the future!

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Mismatched in Manhattan by Tash Skilton.

The book is set in New York, Zoey and Miles are working for rival dating app companies.

I really thought I would enjoy this book as have read similar books in the past but I felt this book took a really long time to actually get going. I felt it gave you a lot of needless dialogue that in turn deviated from the plot. Didn’t really do it for me . Sorry

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Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm so glad I got to read it.

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While I don't class myself as being a "millennial " , my age means , apaprently, that I do fall into this category! This book is about dating apps, and trying to date in the current world. I enjoyed it - it's a bit flamboyant and fun, colourful would be a better word. It has all you want from a Hallmark Movie in a book and it was girly and a lovely read for a cosy weekend.

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Mismatched in Manhattan hooked me in with the title. I love anything to do with New York City. This book did not disappoint me and I loved it. Based on two ghost writers for two rival dating agencies it was a great laugh out loud book. I devoured this book in one sitting.

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Unfortunately, I was slow in downloading this story and it was archived before I had the chance. I'm sure it is a wonderful read.

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I adored this. Such an easy read, likable characters and was able to identify little bits of my own life in it as well.

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This was edgy and current but took a while to get into. It reminded me of You’ve Got Mail. I enjoyed the inner monologues but found the emails from prospective bosses as chapter starters a little irritating. The book was very wordy and quite slow. A large chunk of the book concentrated on their careers and daily lives. Zoey was a much more likeable character but towards the end Miles I did warm to Miles. The second half of book was a great improvement with more physical interaction but the ending was predictable. A sweet romance which was pleasant to read.

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As usual this book had me at "set in New York" and I was not disappointed one bit by what I read. There's a wonderful part where Zoey goes on a walk on the High Line and it was so descriptive that I really want to go and do that walk too. It also happens to quote one of my favourite films "You've Got Mail" and references the original film that it was based on "The Shop Around the Corner", so for me this was just a win win.

To begin with the book has a slow start and is punctuated throughout by emails from the owners of two rival firms that Zoey and Miles work for. The language is definitely that of late/early 20 somethings and I did have to google two acronyms! But I figured it was only like the days when I used to have to look up words, these are just new ones to me.The language is very American and by that I mean it's not been edited for a UK audience, so if you don't know contemporary US references you might be a little baffled by some of the remarks or different meanings for words. For me it just made it all the more real.

So in the tradition of the two films I mentioned, Zoey and Miles don't know each other, except that they actually do because they have been communicating online with one other but as someone else. This cat and mouse routine takes over most of the book but for me it was wonderful. Will they won't they find out who the other is and if they do what will happen? Alongside this is a really sensitive backstory to Zoey and the way Miles dealt with it just melted my heart. Miles too has a backstory that comes back with a bite near the end.

I read the whole book almost in a day because once I was hooked I could not put it down. The writing is really funny and had me laughing out loud at some of the lines. The dialogue is fast paced - my only gripe there is that Zoey is from LA and I've never met anyone who talks that fast from the West Coast, but she certainly keeps up with New Yorker Miles. and give him a run for his money in one liners.


It wasn't until I finished the book that I realised the author is in fact two people and I have to say that I never picked that up in the writing as you sometimes can with a collaboration novel.

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This book shows two characters from two different dating agencies butt heads with each other. The tone of the book was a bit too high octane for me and I couldn't engage with the characters so I couldn't read on and lost interest.. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book for my honest opinion.

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A great romcom, a bit slow to start but picked up in the second half of the book. Zoey and Miles chemistry was great however it took a little too long for it to develop in my opinion, but I enjoyed it just the same as enemies to lovers is one of my fave tropes.

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Mismatched in Manhattan is unique in its depiction of a modern day Romance that incorporates online dating seamlessly. The emails, the notifications, the technology that ripples through our lives are depicted in the story and add to its realism.
The story follows two creative writers working for a dating-style agency who's aim it is to support with online dating dialogue and get people matched and to fall in love. It is a fitting title in this regard.
The characters of the novel and their thoughts and insight are what propelled me to read on as I was keen to find out what happened to them. Both Miles and Zoey were quite realistic as they had flaws and ambitions and this resonated with me as a reader.
I wonder if the modern day digital aspect took over the city as a character. I would have liked to have seen Manhattan as it is a book that suggest it is about Manhattan. I can see why others feel it did go on a bit as it did feel like it took a while to get into it but then it was more time spent with the characters which I loved too.

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Where to start? I enjoyed it. It was swoony and fun and the perfect rom-com read. I loved Miles and Zoey instantly, they were fun and awkward and brilliant. Hell, I liked Miles immediately and I knew I'd connected with him when I was cringing when he made a rookie mistake at his job. And Zoey? When she was ready to argue and pay for a free day-old biscotti at the coffee shop? That's how I knew she was my kind of girl, she was competitive and never willing to give in, even when she knew she'd lost. The person she was arguing over a day old biscotti with was obviously Miles and when he took the best seat in the coffee shop as well? Well, that just meant it was war for Zoey, she had to make sure she got that table and beat him. She was my level of petty.


So the premise is simple on this one. Both Zoey and Miles work at competing ghostwriting dating agencies. They help their clients draft their online dating profile and even help them with those awkward initial first contact to help them make the best first impression and weed out the duds. It actually sounds perfect, why can't I have someone do this for me it would definitely make dating sound way more appealing if someone took half the work away from me. I think it's obvious that Miles and Zoey will start working for client's who start dating each other, right? It gives this You've Got Mail type premise a slightly different take as it's almost like a love square as each Miles and Zoey fall for their client's date without realising they weren't even speaking to them.


I want to get my negative out of the way and it ties in with the above. This book dragged in the middle, it felt way too long even though it wasn't that long and the reason? I got fed up of the pair mooning after the wrong person. I wanted one of them to catch on to the other or for them to start speaking more in real life which wasn't them glaring at over a table. It got a little dull for a while. I told myself at 50% I would give myself another half an hour of reading and if it didn't pick up I'd have to DNF. Thankfully, it got moving not too long after that so it was worth it, but no book should have you contemplating giving up on it, I hate when you notice how long you've been reading, that shows the book hasn't grabbed enough of your attention.


Now on to the good stuff because I really did enjoy a lot of this book. If it hadn't had some squiffy pacing issues towards the middle I would have been able to push the rating up a touch higher. I had a great time bouncing between the perspectives of Miles and Zoey. As I said, they were both easy to like from the beginning. They were flawed, but I got them. Miles was a die-hard romantic who was coming off an awful breakup. It left him a bit jaded and rough around the edges but he comes back from it. And Zoey's an LA transplant who hate New York, and change... and is also too scared travel than a few blocks away from her apartment. She was forced to move to New York by her ex-boss (who she was still friends with) and is being slow about adjusting. I actually thought Zoey would be one I would struggle with liking but she's just hella stubborn and I respect that. I quite enjoyed seeing her slowly discovering there were good things in New York and when she finally rode the subway (she has legit reasons of being scared of it ok) and she was with Miles when she did? Honestly, it was so cute. Those are the moments which made this book worth reading.


I think I read it at exactly the right time for me to enjoy the rom-com vibes of this one. It transported me back to the streets of New York where cars never seem to stop at the lights (seriously, US traffic lights confuse me, what is this whole turning on red business?) and it made me want to walk the streets again and discover new things to love there. I don't know if lockdown has just made me more susceptible to wanting to travel after reading books are what but it definitely had me wanting to book a ticket to New York… except there's a global pandemic. It was good, it wasn't a perfect book but it was good and I am glad I read.

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I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mismatched in Manhattan for a number of reasons. Firstly, this novel is so easy to read & I completed the book in 5 days (this is quick for me as I have a very busy schedule!), I honestly couldn't put it down! I was especially invested in Zoey's character, finding I was surprised by some of her reactions to situations and loved following her bloom in personality and confidence as the story progressed.

I liked the layout of the chapters, but sometimes found myself getting confused between the two companies and who worked for who, but this is probably just me. As I said, the story is generally really easy to follow and read.

As far as romantic comedy books go, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a uplifting, relatable and easy to enjoy book.

As a side note - I enjoyed the layout of the acknowledgements at the end between the authors! It followed the style of the book and usually I don't bother reading this part of a book but I did this time! Cute.

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Zoey is forced to move to New York by her famous boss who has decided to sack her after 8 loyal years of service. Despite being a talented writer she struggles to find work so to make ends meet she becomes a ghost writer for a dating website. She has no life and hates New York but when fate takes a hand in her future she starts to enjoy life. Did Mary make the right decision for Zoey?

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I went into this expecting a cute quick read. Something I needed to help get out of my slump. This started pretty slow. Which didn’t help my mood.

I don’t mind a slow burn romance but this was too slow. I found it hard to get through the first half of the book. I needed something to get me to care.

Sadly the characters themselves were annoying. I didn’t care if they ended up together or not.

Zoey was petty and honestly sad how she acted when first meeting Miles. Maybe be a little mature? Is that hard? Meanwhile Miles gave off the snob vibes. Like he was better than others.

At times I felt like quitting but I noticed some people say the second half of the book was better. So I carried on hoping it was.

In the end I did DNF at 63%. I wasn’t retaining anything. The characters were childish. Who acts like that over a table? It’s not cute. It’s annoying.

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This book was very cute and the concept interesting, and perfect for a rom-com. However I felt like it dragged out a lot and was a bit predictable.

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