Like the song says, in a New York minute, anything can change. In Kate Spencer’s debut novel of the same name, a New York minute is all it takes for Franny Doyle’s life to be completely turned on its head. After being fired from her job, Franny finds herself in the world’s worst meet-cute on a subway train. Her dress gets caught in the door and rips, exposing her entire backside to the subway station, and she ends up falling (literally) for a very handsome, and very expensively dressed stranger who lends her his Gucci suit jacket to cover herself up. Unfortunately for Franny, a fellow subway rider records the entire encounter and posts it on Instagram, causing Franny (and her exposed behind) to go viral.

Like many romantic comedies, Spencer’s debut novel relies heavily on common cliches and tropes. From the meet-cute to the modified enemies-to-lovers plot, even the rich guy/poor girl romance, just about every major plot point in this book is predictable. Thankfully, Spencer’s take on these tropes manages to be rather endearing. I’ve read more than enough stories of quirky women embarrassing themselves in front of a cute, well-dressed man in romance novels to last several lifetimes. Having their meet-(not-so)cute go viral not only modernizes the exhausted trope, it also brings something new to the genre. For a generation that has just about all of our relationships and experiences documented on social media, the huge role Instagram plays in Franny and Hayes’ budding relationship adds some really nuanced commentary on how public even our most private moments have become.

The weakest point in the novel for me were the supporting characters. While Spencer does an admirable job of revitalizing worn-out romance tropes, she fails to do the same for her protagonist’s friend group. Aside from the occasional sprinkling of details regarding their own love lives, Franny’s friends appear to do little else than listen to her problems and tell Franny to go after her knight in shining Armani. Even Franny’s mom seems to be nothing but a stereotypical nuisance, only there to compare Franny’s chaotic big city life to that of her friend’s daughter — a registered nurse with a baby on the way. Somewhere out there in rom-com land, there has to be a mother who doesn’t solely exist to compare her daughter to other women, right? Right??

In contrast to Spencer’s stereotypical portrayal of secondary characters, one thing that pleasantly surprised me about In a New York Minute was the complexity of the novel’s male lead, Hayes Montgomery III. In what I find a delightful change of pace from the traditional rom-com structure, several chapters are written in first person from Hayes’ perspective. Not only do we get to see his own response to his and Franny’s viral meet-cute, but we also get a far stronger understanding of his character and motivations than we often do in romantic comedies. Being able to read Hayes’ thoughts while he’s explaining to his cousin why he gave his Gucci jacket to a stranger on the subway gives us insight into his own initial feelings towards Franny. We get to see how he thinks she feels, “deeply familiar, like slipping into a favourite old sweater.” It’s nice to see pivotal moments in a romance like this from the other’s perspective, if only to prove that the protagonist isn’t just projecting her desires onto the stranger on the subway. 

The thing I enjoyed most about Spencer’s novel is the way she describes New York. I’ll admit, I’m not much of a romance reader outside of Valentine’s Day (or the occasional festive story at Christmastime), but I am very much a lover of New York City. The way that Spencer webbed the story through the streets of New York City so intimately is quite near magical. My favourite passage in the book, and one that I’ve come back to several times, is this one: 

“When you live in New York City, there’s a magical feeling you get whenever you run on the steps out of the subway, spin through the revolving door out of your office building at the end of a long day, push open a window to let in the spring scent of blossoms. There’s a split second where the city hits you, greets you, slobbers a kiss on your face like a puppy. It’s a jolt, and a shock, and then you move on. But there’s a part of you, somewhere, that marvels at it every time.”

With beautiful quotes like this that read as if they could be used on a postcard, New York becomes not just a setting, but a character in the story itself — one that is integral to Franny and Hayes’ love story.

Despite its flaws, Kate Spencer’s fiction debut is a relatively fun, occasionally charming novel that follows Franny on a whirlwind adventure that takes her from the worst day of her life to her happily-ever-after. Spencer’s ability to cleverly play with overused tropes and offer a fresh new take on a common plot makes In a New York Minute an enjoyable read for fans of romantic comedies.