First off, I must admit that I did not realize The Man Ban by Nicola Marsh was a sequel until I reached the acknowledgements… so shame on me for not paying attention. I don’t know that reading The Boy Toy would change my thoughts too much since they follow different characters, and the main person in The Boy Toy is hardly mentioned in The Man Ban, so maybe you’re safe too.
Now that I’ve got that admission off my chest, here we go.
The Man Ban centers on a food stylist named Harper and a doctor named Manish (aka Manny). Harper has been on a self-imposed ‘man ban’ for a year following a bad breakup, while Manny swore off relationships beyond a date or two for the last 15 years due his own set of issues. They meet each other at an Indian wedding in Australia, but I’ll let you explore that hilarious meet cute yourself. TBH, it sounds like something I would do too, but maybe Harper and I are just too immature and feisty for our own good. Haha!
After their unusual meeting, they run into each other again at a hotel in New Zealand. Harper is in a frenzy because her food styling assistant for the hotel’s major menu photo shoot bailed. Manny sees her and decides to help her, but doesn’t understand why he’s spending is rare vacation taking orders from a woman he barely knows. Needless to say, the couple of days together leads to sparks, but the challenge is figuring out how that fits in with their prior stances against relationships and combining their busy lives.
The thing that makes Harper’s character more unique in the grand scheme of romance novels is that she has an autoimmune disease. The stress of her parents sudden separation sparked a condition called vitiligo, which shows up as patches of discolored skin. Harper struggles to keep it covered up while she’s having fun with Manny and believes he will leave her if he knows the truth. I appreciate that this character gives us a look inside the mind of someone with that condition, especially since Marsh has it herself. That unique slice of representation is probably my favorite part about the book.
On the other hand, the pacing of this novel did not vibe well for me. Parts felt too rushed and others dragged. Yes, the rushing is part of the overall story, but it still felt so awkward as a reader. It was kinda like whiplash, from being bored to wtf territory and back again a couple times. I’m not sure how I would fix it, but it made it harder for me to read.
The Man Ban has its highs and lows for me, but I could see others enjoying it a lot more. I’m incredibly picky when it comes to romance novels since there are so many great ones out there now.
Now the question is: should I go back and read The Boy Toy? Sound off in the comments/DMs if you’ve read it!
Literary HypeWoman 