Hello and welcome friends, to another book review post! I’m always happy to partner up with the lovely people at Lone Star Lit, and my latest read is no exception.
Before we dive in, have any of you seen Nic Cage’s fantastic and underrated The Family Man movie? The premise of The New Year’s Man gave me similar vibes, and drew me immediately to the story. (If you haven’t watched that movie, please do sometime this holiday season!)
While I was expecting a heartfelt, fun read, I wasn’t expecting to laugh out loud in the pickup line to get my kids. And I wasn’t prepared to be immediately sucked in by Michael Scott Clifton’s excellent writing.
Curious yet? Keep reading for my review, plus an excellent giveaway!
THE NEW YEAR’S MAN
By Michael Scott Clifton
Romantic Fantasy / Romantic Comedy
Publication Date: September 11, 2026
Landry LeBlanc has everything he wants: a luxury condo, a fast-rising legal career, expensive taste, and an ironclad rule against falling in love. Relationships, to him, come with expiration dates—and New Year’s Eve is his favorite time to end them.
But when Landry takes his latest girlfriend to the mysterious Fairy Lights Brasserie, his perfectly controlled life comes apart in spectacular fashion. One brutal breakup later, he finds himself face-to-face with Stella: a cigar-smoking, wand-wielding fairy godmother with questionable fashion sense, a faulty temper, and a mission to thaw his hardened heart.
Stella has one simple plan: make Landry fall in love.
Landry’s plan is simpler: get rid of Stella.
Then he meets Allie Beck—brilliant, fearless, unpredictable, and every bit his equal. As legal games become personal and magic keeps crashing through his carefully ordered world, Landry must face the past he buried, the heart he protected, and the possibility that love isn’t a weakness after all. Funny, romantic, and touched with fairy-tale chaos, The New Year’s Man is the story of a man who breaks hearts every New Year’s Eve.
This year, magic will break his.
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Are you ready to laugh out loud and fall in love?
Meet Landry LeBlanc: young, rich, successful in everything but love. From the get-go, we know Landry’s pride is due for a big fall. In every way, he is the villain of his own story, the architect of a meaningless life. He doesn’t have much in the way of real friends, let alone lasting relationships, and he likes it that way. That’s why, after cutting yet another million dollar deal, Landry plans to take his girlfriend out for New Year’s Eve: and dump her. Luckily for Landry (and us), fate has other plans in the way of a mystical antique store owner and one hilariously grumpy fairy godmother.
I adored this book from start to finish, a true rarity after finding myself unable to finish many recent reads this year. For whatever reason, most books haven’t quite held my attention, or have been a slog to push through. But every now and then, I find a perfectly crafted book like The New Year’s Man. Michael Scott Clifton has written a true gem, utilizing excellent pacing and dialogue that offers a fun yet meaningful read just in time for the holidays.
Every chapter led perfectly into the next and kept me reading long after I should have turned off my phone. A few things that had me cracking up, not necessarily in order: the senior ladies enchanted into love with Landry’s unlucky friend, Creigh, the gremlin-esque grollocks heist, and Stella the cigar-smoking fairy godmother in all her unapologetically sassy glory. Magic engineers Landry’s quandary, but it doesn’t exit stage left after his fairy godmother’s magic spell. This jaded fairy not only flits in and out of the scene (at the most inconvenient times), but we’re also introduced to a whole magical world working right alongside ours.
The romance Landry has been running from all his life is perfectly on par as, thanks in part to Stella’s fairy shenanigans, our antihero comes face to face with Allie. Allie may be just as successful as Landry, but unlike him, she doesn’t shy away from feelings, or living life to the fullest. And even though they’re on opposite sides and legal teams, neither can stay away from each other. If only Allie had listened when he warned her he would disappoint her. But will Landry find the courage to fight for what he wants and the kind of person he could be? Read and find out!
The perfect holiday season read for fans of romantic comedies with a magical twist like The Family Man and Scrooged, don’t miss Michael Scott Clifton’s The New Year’s Man.
MY FAVORITE QUOTES
- “Love comes from the heart, a magic that can’t be produced by wands or charms.”
- You can dress in fine clothes, Counselor, drive an expensive car, and live like a prince, but it still doesn’t change who you really are. A part of you will always be that abused and battered trailer park boy.”
- “Love isn’t about the mistakes that are never made, it’s about the mistakes that are. Love survives blunders. It can grow even stronger, but only if you’re willing to try to repair the damage.”
MEET THE AUTHOR
Michael Scott Clifton is an award-winning author celebrated for conjuring tales where magic and mystery collide, including the 2024 Reader’s Favorite Book Award winner Pringle Prawn and the 2026 Reader’s Favorite Bronze Award winner The End Game. His diverse body of work whisks readers into fantastical worlds and across genres, from the enchanting Conquest of the Veil series to gripping stand-alone novels like The Treasure Hunt Club, the haunting The Janus Witch, and the acclaimed sports romance The End Game. Recognized for imaginative plots, compelling characters, and heart-pounding adventure, Clifton invites readers to explore more at michaelscottclifton.com.
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