manganews.net

Florist Dan "Diamond" Loving lives in New York City, running his own shop. He's a busy man, selling pretty bouquets left and right. Somewhere in between all the flower-arranging and the business-handling, he finds time to maintain a secret love affair with CEO Rock Melville. Rock himself is often busy, too, so their meetings are somewhat infrequent.

The volume is made up of self-contained stories, most of them focusing on Rock and Dan/Diamond (oi, what names) though there are side couples. Dan's assistant, Kanan, and a Japanese boy named Kenji also get a few chapters, as well a very creepy pedo-tinged chapter about Kenji's nephew Raphael and his teacher. Rock's assistant Jessie also makes an appearance in a one-shot about him and his writer lover, Lou.

Aside from the very, very silly names of the two main protagonists (Rock and Diamond, really?) the volume is rather satisfying. Nothing too deep here, but the couples seem balanced and their romances believable. My only major issue with the main couple would be that it's never entirely clear why their love affair has to be a secret. Presumeably having a gay lover would negatively affect Rock's career, but this is never mentioned. All of Dan's concerns seem to center around how Rock is too good for him, too important to be with a pauper midtown florist. This is one of those rare yaoi volumes where the main couple is actually my favorite, as well.

The one shota story in the entire book, "The Angel and the Hydrangea", seems particularly out of place in Manhattan Love Story, considering all the other stories are for the most part about working adults. (Though Kenji is a highschool student.) It was awkward for me, because the back cover blurb makes no mention of it and nothing about the main story would lead one to believe that kind of content is in there. For someone who is pretty repulsed by that kind of stuff, it was an unpleasant surprise after two rather enjoyable chapters. If you skip that one story and just read all the others, it's an enjoyable, fluffy read, and one I would recommend picking up if you're looking for that.

Now the artwork is pretty standard. Nothing stunning, but nothing that'd immediately turn you off, either. Perfectly competent and average, much like the publishing quality. If you've seen a Momoko Tenzen work before, you probably know what to expect. If you haven't, it's very much in the realm of vaguely masculine pretty men, which is pleasant enough and doesn't detract from the story. (Sadly it doesn't ever really add, either, and her ability to draw cats? Somewhat suspect.) Overall it just adds to the impression of Manhattan Love Story as being one of those "read, enjoy, forget" sorts of titles.