Welcome to New York by Luana Ferraz

The Synopsis:

Harry has a secret.
He led a well-planned life and knew exactly what he wanted. Until…
Something chased him away from his hometown in England. He arrives in New York wishing to erase his past, eager for a fresh start. A new life. Everybody here was someone else before.
Alana has a secret.
She left her small town in the Midwest chasing a dream. She arrives in New York determined to see her name flashing in bright lights on Broadway billboards. Everybody here wanted something more.
She was in the right path, but then…
When Harry and Alana meet, they recognize each other’s scars. They bond over the things they don’t say. They find comfort in long silences. But as they learn how to deal with life’s plot twists, they find out the Big Apple has its own plans for them.
For how long can they hide? How long can they keep everyone else at a distance? How long until their past catches up with their present?
Their lives are about to get irreversibly intertwined. Do you want to know how?
First of all, welcome to New York!

I received this book from the author via Booksirens for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

If this book was not at least a little *a teensy tiny* bit inspired by the movie La La Land, then I am extremely surprised by their similarities! Almost throughout the whole book I found myself low-key fangirling like I had when I first watched La La Land. I absolutely loved Welcome to New York!

The cover was the first thing to hook me– it’s nostalgic, original, and when I look at it after reading the book, I think I love it even more because of how significant each of those buildings are to the story.

Welcome to New York takes two characters who are running from their past, plops them into a coffee shop in New York, and simply allows fate to take its course. Alana and Harry are an unlikely pair, but through their struggles, triumphs, adventures, and bonding, they not only help each other to succeed in following their dreams, but they discover that being successful together is a more desirable achievement.

There is, however, some cursing present, including a couple uses of “gd” and the “f” word, and many uses of the smaller curse words. With this being primarily a romance, I was pleased that there were no sex scenes, however there are implications of premarital sex. But the kissing scenes themselves never get really detailed.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Alana and Harry’s story and had the cursing not been so high, I would have likely given it 5 out of 5 stars, but because the cursing was so strong and I particularly dislike the choice of words used, I am only giving Welcome to New York 4 out 5 stars.