Review: 'Miracle on 5th Avenue' by Sarah Morgan (2016)

Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she’s given an opportunity to housesit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn’t expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous–and mysterious–owner.
Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife’s death looming, he’s isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn’t appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist?
I usually prefer to only read Christmas-themed novels at the end of the year, but when I received this particular review copy several days after Christmas I knew I would not be able to just leave it until October! 'Miracle on Fifth Avenue' is the third part of author Sarah Morgan's fantastic romance series 'From Manhattan with Love'. I loved the first two parts of the series: 'Sleepless in Manhattan' (click here to read my review) and 'Sunset in Central Park' (click here to read my review), and have been waiting to finally check out Eva's story. So, this novel gave me the opportunity to step back into Christmas (and not just any kind of Christmas, Christmas in New York City) for a few days, and I have to admit; I was pretty excited...!
Eva Jordan is keen to spread Christmas joy wherever she goes, and Urban Genie, the events company she and her two best friends set up together, gives her the chance to do just that. With the prospect of spending the holidays alone, and the memories of her beloved grandmother who passed away over a year ago still making things a bit difficult, Eva says 'yes' straight away when she is asked to decorate and housesit an amazing apartment in the heart of New York. However, the owner of the apartment, crime author Lucas Blade planned to spend the holiday season without any interruptions, especially since he has a strict deadline. When Eva ends up stuck in the apartment because of a snow storm outside, the two are forced to spend some time together. Will Eva be able to convince Lucas Christmas isn't all bad and that there is also some good in the world, or is this a mission destined to fail?
I'm really sad that Sarah Morgan's 'From Manhattan with Love' series is coming to an end with this third and last instalment, but luckily she decided to go out with a bang because 'Miracle on Fifth Avenue' is another amazing read I couldn't get enough of! After reading more about Paige and Frankie in the first two books, it is now time to step into Eva's life and I have to say I was really looking forward to that. Eva is a hopeless romantic who always tries her best to stay positive, and I loved her character in the previous novels and was curious to learn more about her. She's also struggling with a few things, and I was really happy with this chance to read more about Eva and the possibility of love that comes her way. Lucas is a fascinating male main character, and I really enjoyed how we slowly got to know more about him and his background, and his reasons for doing and feeling certain things. 
While this is the third part of a series (and a series I can highly recommend), you can read this as a stand-alone novel without too much difficulty, I think. Sarah Morgan's writing is a true pleasure to read, as always; easy to get lost in, well-paced, and with a great dose of romance. As a reader that is familiar with the series and the other characters, I personally would have loved it if Frankie, Paige, Jake and some other secondary characters would have made more appearances in this last instalment, but I also understand the focus on Eva, because this is her story, of course. Yet, this is just a tiny little thing, and one that definitely doesn't make the novel any less good. All in all, 'Miracle on Fifth Avenue' is an amazing and sparklingly festive and romantic read by author Sarah Morgan; a great novel and a worthy ending to this fabulous series!

Rating:9,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.