When Franny woke up, she was ready to take on the day. She had a small but comfortable apartment in Brooklyn, she had a job in a field she loved, she could pay her bills, she had two great friends, and she had a silk dress that she could throw on and feel confident in. It only took a few hours for most of that to go up in smoke.
Working at the interior design startup Spayce, Franny had loved getting to design spaces for clients but did wish for a similar job where she could be more hands-on. So when the Spayce team announced that they were needing to downsize a big chunk of their staff, Franny packed her belongings into a box and left, hopping on the subway back to Brooklyn. She texted her two best friends about what had happened, and jumped on the train.
She felt something strange behind her when the doors close behind her, but she shrugs it off. She has more on her mind, until she realizes that somehow the doors ripped her dress and at the next stop, she’ll be mooning everyone waiting on the train. She asks the entire Q train for help, which is unheard of in New York, but miraculously, people respond. Most have no way to help her, but a mother finds a hair clip that she could use to hold her dress closed. Franny appreciates the gesture, even though it won’t really help her.
But the gorgeous guy right in front of her offers her his suit jacket. She wants to refuse, but she sees no other option. It’s accept the suit jacket or go home half-naked. It’s not until she gets home that her two best friends tell her that she is part of a viral social media story, the #SubwayQTs. Someone on the train had shared everything that had been happening with Franny and the handsome stranger, and they made it look like there were some serious sparks happening between Franny and the man she’d come to think of as Hot Suit. And suddenly, Franny’s phone is flooded with interview requests. She finally decides to go on a New York City morning show, so she can return Hot Suit’s jacket and maybe find some work.
Meanwhile, “Hot Suit,” aka Hayes Montgomery the Third is a partner in an environmentally conscious investing company that is expanding, so his business partner is insisting he do the interview with the morning show. What he doesn’t know is that he will also be asked to sit with Franny for a fake coffee date through part of the show, or that the producer would decide to embarrass her by calling her mother and having her appear on the show also. Hayes is naturally nervous in many social situations, and he doesn’t respond well when he’s put on the spot in this interview.
The two Sunway QTs depart the studio friendly but not thinking they’ll ever see each other again. But when Hayes’s designer for their new office space cancels their contract at the last minute, he needs an interior designer fast. Franny agrees to step in and help, knowing it will help her get her new design business started also. And as the weeks go by with casual contact and their mutual respect and kindness, they find themselves drawn together as friends, and maybe more.
But Franny’s life is still in chaos, and she’s afraid to let anyone get too close. Hayes, meanwhile, is trying to figure out how to be in a relationship, since his divorce left him feeling awkward, like relationships weren’t meant for him. Will they be able to find a way to work out their feelings for each other, or will they let their fears and insecurities get in the way of love?
Author Kate Spencer has written In a New York Minute not just as a love story between two individuals, but also as a love letter to New York City. She was changed as a young adult by her time in Manhattan, and these scenes are imbued with a genuine respect for the city, both for its chaos and for its unique magic. The love in this story is strong, whether it is for friends, for lovers, for movies, or just for bagels, and pretty much everything about In a New York Minute is beautiful and inspiring.
There are a lot of things I like about this book, but the thing I loved most is that this is a love story between grown-ups. As much as I love reading a frothy rom com where it’s all about hot people with crushes, Franny and Hayes are adults, dealing with their burgeoning feelings by talking and thinking and taking things slow and being respectful of each other’s boundaries. This is a love story that is slow and considered, not completely cerebral but not completely physical either. This story has depth and thoughtfulness in a way that few romantic comedies do, and it’s just as satisfying as the best slice of true New York pizza.
Egalleys for In a New York Minute were provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) through NetGalley, with many thanks.
