When you decide to bring a plus one to Passover Seder to avoid the Spanish Inquisition with your family and you find out the fake boyfriend might be exactly what you've been looking for.

LOVED this story that fused ASL and spoken word into a story, it was seamless.

First impressions, assumptions, expectations and desires. A fabulous story about finding yourself, love, and figuring out what other think isn't really important.

The characters have great chemistry and it lends itself to some fun situations throughout the story.

Absoultely enjoyed!

Two Jewish characters - sign me up! The ending fell short and felt rushed. In the end, there wasn’t enough character development and they didn’t know each other for long enough for me to buy the love story. But the story was cute and the characters were lovable.

Ahhhhh this was just such a great read. I just didn't want this book to end and I was sad to turn the last page. I'm so excited to see what's next from this author.

I really enjoyed this book!

I love a good fake dating trope and this one was a hit. I enjoyed their chemistry, learning more about Jewish traditions and I'm a huge fan of books with deaf characters. You can learn so much more from those characters, their thoughts and how they view the world.

These characters had such great chemistry and it was a fun read.

While I appreciated getting to read a romance novel with this rep (hero is deaf, both are Jewish) and the tropes were cute, the lack of freshness and the instalove brought the story down. By the end I was kinda bored.

Having grown up experiencing the Jewish culture firsthand and attending my fair share of Passover seders, I was interested in reading a story that reflected some of the traditions of my childhood. And in that respect I was not disappointed. The well meaning yet tactless questions, the loud and dramatic family interactions, the gossip, the Yiddish sprinkled in like seasoning to give everything a distinct flavor, this was all familiar to me.

Coupled with the unfamiliar life of a deaf man who lives in a hearing world, I was looking forward to reading this unique romance.

While I found the premise to be a novel one, I couldn’t put my finger on just one thing, but this story just didn’t hold my interest the way I had hoped it would.

As the heroine, I found Gaby’s utter lack of self-confidence to be frustrating. On the other hand, as the imperfect hero, Levi was a bright spot in the story. The nice, hot guy from the gym, patiently teaching Gaby to sign while he is thrust into the fake role of boyfriend to keep her family from asking her uncomfortable questions about her love life. He’s calming, sweet, and I really enjoyed him.

Unfortunately, I found him carrying a story that was otherwise rife with a plot that was just too contrived. For a whole host of reasons, who asks a stranger to attend a family dinner, much less travel out of town with them overnight to do so? I’m not talking about someone you don’t know well…I’m talking about the first conversation you have with this person being an invitation?? Isn’t it easier to deflect questions on dating status than to go through the charade of bringing a total stranger home to mom? And the storyline of Levi and his fake fiancé who was still pretending to his family that they were engaged? When combined, the improbability of it all was just too much for me.

The idea for this book was certainly cute and the writing sweet. However, much like Passover bagels, I just found the premises underlying this story a bit too hard to swallow.

This book completely lost me when what appeared to be a huge conflict - Levi not telling Gaby he was Jewish, letting her awkwardly explain things over and over (a totally valid, if weird, conflict!) - was resolved by... not actually being a conflict? Two-thirds of the way through the book, as I was waiting for the resolution to this, she finally confronts him about it and he, baffled, says that he ALREADY TOLD HER HE WAS JEWISH. She goes and looks through the text messages they have been exchanging and remembers that oh, yeah, he did. In a text message that was NEVER mentioned in the narrative. WHAT??? This felt like a bizarre trick being played on the reader, and I absolutely hated it. (It also made Gaby look unhinged, which she isn't. It's not a good treatment of your protagonist.) The characters in this book were charming, and I was so excited to have both Deaf and Jewish representation, but the story's structure needed a much closer look. It felt like it was written in two pieces - one where the author intended to have one primary conflict, and one with a completely different one. The treatment of Levi's ex felt the same - she was a complete and absolute villain, and at the last minute she was fine, actually. I would much rather have had her complicated character - a legitimately good one, with an interesting background that explained some of the reasons behind the issues she caused for Levi - addressed at the beginning. Instead, once again, for three quarters of the book, she's an irredeemable villain (also fine, if not as satisfying), and then inexplicably is given a complete change in character. It's like the last 25% of this book was written by somebody who had a really good grasp of what would be a great story, only they forgot to go back and edit the first half to match up. It made for a frustrating experience of what could have been a really good book.

It's such a joy to read about Jewish characters written by a Jewish author. I loved the twist on fake relationship and only one bed. It's also exciting to see representation of Deaf culture in romance. I found a few points of the plot too convoluted, but overall a solid romance.

Being Jewish, I wasn’t wild about the Jewish aspect of the story. The story wasn’t something I would rave about. I can’t recommend To buy the book. Skip it and read something else.

This is the first book that I have read from this author and I chose to read it mainly because it is a romance between two Jewish characters, something very rare- at least in English. Most authors seem to pair Jewish characters with a goyim, pushing for intermarriage leading to dimensioning the Jewish people. This is a well written story, with well developed characters and a very unusual scenario, a fake date for a Seder. This was an especially poignant read this year, the year of Covid 19, when families could not be together for this very family oriented holy day.

I really like Gaby and Levi together. Gaby has recently broken up with her boyfriend, Tom, who seemed to have been verbally abusive and has affected her self esteem. She doesn't want her family to feel sorry for her, or have her mother set her up with a surprise man, so while she and her BBF Riley are at the gym, and Gaby is ogling "Mr. Free-Weights", Riley pushes her to ask him to be her fake date for the Seder. Surprise, he is deaf, but while trying to talk to him, she saves him from Monica, his ex. He doesn't want to go home to his family's Seder because Monica will be there and she is still pretending that they are engaged, so she can get a loan for her business. So he agrees to help Gaby out. Dating is hard enough, fake dating just as hard, but a language barrier mixed in, creates a real challenge. To make it look real, they spend time together, so he can teach her some ASL and they can learn enough about each other to make it look real. And somewhere along the way, it does become real. But Levi has a secret. He had promised Monica he would not tell their families that are no longer engaged, until Monica can secure a loan. But keeping it a secret could cause a misunderstanding that would break Gaby's and his romance apart before they can really get it together.

What I didn't like about the book, was that since the two families are so secular, they are ignorant of
their Jewish heritage and Halacha, Jewish law, so what is portrayed to the non-Jewish reader is false. Chametz is not yeast. It is any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats or spelt (the 5 grains) that has been allowed to ferment. Jews may not eat, own or benefit from chametz during Passover. So not funny that Gaby's father would hide bread in the house. The use of condoms is also forbidden. Spilling seed was the reason that Yehudah's two older sons and Ruth's sons died prematurely. Lastly, the family seems to have forgotten someone at the Seder- our Creator. But aside from disinformation, I really did enjoy the story.

I read an ARC from NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

As someone who is hard of hearing, this title really interested me. However, I found several of the key plot points really hard to believe and it really threw me out of the story. First, a holiday weekend pretending to be someone's date is a much bigger favor than a water fountain deception. Second, he was so dishonest about having a (fake) fiance WAY past the point of no return (for me.) The hard of hearing/ deaf aspect was still really interesting, but I can't give it high marks for the rest.

This is my first romance novel or really any book where the main character is deaf or hearing impaired, and it was so interesting. I had not thought that much about how to communicate when two people have to find an alternative way. This book also prominently features Jewish culture and Passover which is a nice change as well.

The story itself was so fast, the romance built immediately and without a lot of backstory. I liked it, it was cute but I was more interested in the communicate style and cultural aspects. I would read another by the author.

Passover starts this evening, which is why this review is scheduled for today. I’d say to just call me Captain Obvious, but a romance wrapped around one of the Jewish holidays isn’t all that obvious at all – or all that common – so I wanted to celebrate that this story exists at the time when it seemed the most germane. Especially since it’s a light and fun romance that is just perfect for this holiday season.

The story in Matzah Ball Surprise is a lovely little romance that combines the ever popular “fake boyfriend” trope with a little bit of insight into living with a disability (the hero is deaf), the celebration of one of the major Jewish holidays and the trials and tribulations that revolve around a large family gathering, particularly a family gathering that occurs in the wake of a family tragedy.

It’s also a story that feels a bit nostalgic right now, as most of us are remembering other holidays with family and friends and wondering how this holiday season (Easter is this coming Sunday) will be when we are all sheltering in place and away from the people we would normally travel to see.

But Gaby Fine is definitely of two minds – if not more – about her imminent trip back home to spend Passover with her family. Because reasons. Lots and lots and LOTS of reasons.

In her early 30s, Gaby is newly unattached after her recent breakup with her latest boyfriend. Tom was basically a judgmental asshole who did his best to ridicule everything Gaby said and did. His whole purpose in the relationship was to sap her self-esteem, and he did an unfortunately good job of it.

But that means that her mother, and the rest of her family, will spend the holidays making extremely unsubtle digs at her unattached state – especially as mom seems to have liked the asshole and blames Gaby for the breakup. Anyone who has ever shown up to a wedding or family function under these circumstances will know all too well just how constant the digs are and how terrible they make a person feel.

So Gaby, with the encouragement of her friend Riley, cooks up the idea of taking a fake date to Passover. When she gets up the nerve to ask the hottie at the gym she’s been eyeing up for months, she’s flummoxed when he tells her that he is deaf, astonished that he agrees, and bowled over by the fact that her need for a fake date meshes with his need to get his pushy ex out of his life and space.

Gaby and Levi Miller come to a mutual accord over an intense round of in-person texting. He’ll come to Passover with her, for two days in Connecticut, giving him the perfect excuse for avoiding his own family gathering that weekend in Maine.

She gets her mother off her back, and he gets the space for his ex-fiance to finally admit to both their parents that their relationship is over.

Of course, nothing is remotely that simple, and neither situation was exactly all that simple to begin with. Because neither Levi nor Gaby expected to fall in love with their “fake date”. And Levi didn’t expect the house of cards he was holding up to collapse in the middle – and all around the edges. And break both of their hearts.

Escape Rating B: For the most part, I really, really liked Matzah Ball Surprise. Especially because I was certainly surprised to see a mainstream romance that was wrapped this much around Jewish holidays and Jewish culture. I really liked Gaby and Levi as characters, and loved watching their relationship blossom.

As much as Gaby’s mother reminded me of my own, and as much as that drove me crazy, I could understand EXACTLY where Gaby was coming from about that whole side of the equation. I don’t have quite the need that Gaby does for things to stay in place, but the unrelenting familial pressure – been there, done that, still have some of the emotional scars.

The struggle that Levi and Gaby went through just to communicate felt like it was right on target. It’s not something I would know but the author certainly would as she herself is hard of hearing and many of her previous books feature characters who face similar challenges to Levi, so she knows whereof she speaks – or writes.

But there was one part of this story that didn’t work for me, and it was enough of an issue that it keeps the story from being an A or even A-. A reason that is wrapped up in all the secrets that Levi is keeping, and the reasons for those secrets.

Levi’s stuck in the middle of a small problem that he makes into a huge dilemma, at least as far as Gaby is concerned. He broke up with his fiance, Monica, but she is sorta/kinda blackmailing him into not revealing that they broke up to their parents because she is trying to get a business loan from her dad and he doesn’t trust her. Multiple problems on that front, because she’s not trustworthy in the truth-telling sense, and hasn’t gone into detail about her business plans, which might actually be trustworthy.

And Monica comes off as a manipulative bitch – only because she is.

Levi promised her he wouldn’t tell ANYONE, which means he appears to be an engaged man cheating on his fiance with Gaby. Or, at least it sure looks that way, especially when their fake date starts to turn real, and he STILL doesn’t reveal what’s going on.

That whole piece of the puzzle felt like one giant, contrived drama-llama. It didn’t seem like a big enough secret to keep under the circumstances – and probably one he shouldn’t have promised in the first place. So the revelation of his lie was appropriately devastating, but the lie itself seemed like small potatoes that should never have been baked in the first place. I’m mixing metaphors but the lie didn’t make enough sense to become that big of a deal.

So come to the seder. Drink the wine and stick around for the family drama. The couple are a terrific match, the romance is lovely, and there aren’t too many bitter herbs mixed into the charoset.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
This book was addictive! From the very first page I was intrigued. I've read my share of romance novels and never have had one about a Jewish Deaf MC. I am always delighted to find a new spin in this genre.

This story starts out with our MC Gaby and she is getting ready to go home for Passover.
Gaby recently broke up with Tom, who was not a knight in shining armor on the best of days.
Gaby dreads going home to see her family, especially her mom, without a date.
So she decides to try and get the very buff and good looking guy (Levi) she has been eyeing at the gym to go with her.
Turns out Mr Free Weights is deaf, but totally willing to help a gal out.
The story takes entertaining twists and turns with her quirky and funny family.
I thought this story would be more character driven, but it is definitely more plot driven.
Even though I would've liked more in depth looks at the characters, I still enjoyed this story
immensely. Gaby and Levi have a tremendous amount of chemistry. There were a couple of issues I found with the story. One being Levi's desire to 'help' Gaby. I personally am not a fan of the 'Damsel in Distress' trope.
That being said, the pros of Levi's character and personality outweigh that issue.
The one other thing I was not crazy about was how quickly the book ended. It felt like the wrap up was very sudden. I would've liked a bit more time with the ending.

All in all this is definitely a 4 star read for me. I will be searching out more books from Laura Brown in the near future.
This book made me smile from start to finish. I will be recommending this to all of my friends.
Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this advanced copy.

This was a cute fake dating story. I loved learning about Jewish tradditions and the challenges the hero faced as a deaf person was insightful.

The romance was enjoyable starting with great flirtatious banter that slowly built with growing attraction. This book had some great steamy moments and while this couple obviously had certain challenges, the sexual tension was always lingering.

Gaby takes Levi home during Passover as her fake boyfriend to appease her meddling mother who always wants to set her up on a date. Of course the lines between pretense and truth start to blur as they both realize they have feelings for each other. The author played out the whole fake dating trope so well. Levi was such a charismatic character and being deaf didn't interfere with his charm and his ability to win over Gaby and her family.

I did have some issues with the fact that Levi did not tell Gaby that he was Jewish. This seemed like such a simple thing for him to communicate with her. When she finds out it sparks the beginning of a big fight and the whole drama just seemed so unnecesary to me. There is also the fact that Levi has just ended a relationship with someone else but his ex-girlfriend is forcing him not to reveal the truth to their family or friends. Some may say he was just aptient and understanding (some expalnation is given as the story progresses) but I found it a bit frustrating.

Overall this story had some hiccoughs along the way but it was an enjoyable sweet romance that was unique in exploring both the Jewish and deaf culture.

3 Stars
Contemporary Romance
POV: Dual
Heat Level: Mild to Moderate
HEA: Yes

matzah ball surprise is a cute fake relationship story, with relatable characters and very relatable family dynamics. gaby and levi are sweet together, she needs a date to bring to her family's seder, and he has an ex-fiancée who has him avoiding his family's seder.

he's also deaf. there's a lot in the story about how communication is a struggle, and some of it is related to the fact that the characters don't speak the same language, but there's also some not talking to the other person for #reasons going on too.

on the whole this is a solid debut, but there are sections in the arc that could have used some improved editing. there's a dinner scene where a secondary character appears and disappears out of the scene, i literally read back a whole chapter to see if i could figure out who "charlie" was, then kept reading because i couldn't find it and figured it was a missed edit, only to have "charlie" reappear later an after thinking about it, put together that it was gaby's cousin who maybe had sex in a bathroom.

there were a couple of other moments like that in the text. and i think there could have been some additional work done in shoring up the characters motivations.

**matzah ball surprise will publish on march 16, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (lovestruck) in exchange for my honest review.

4 Stars
It was with such pleasure to see something like this. It covered the holidays for a group of people usually ignored and gave a significant story with heart and care.

3.5****
I think this is my first story where one of the lead characters has been deaf. I loved the interaction with Levi signing and texting with not only his friends, but with teaching Gaby as well. I have always been fascinated with and wanting to learn sign language, so this was just a really cool part to the story. The familial interaxtions, on both sides, were similar - both loving and welcoming, but drove Levi and Gaby crazy with the constant prying - quite entertaining. I liked the way it ended, both Levi and Gaby wanting more, but felt a little too soon to be quite so sure of their feelings. I get it, when a connection feels right, but to put a certain statement there after initiating a real relationship was a little sudden for me.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher through Netgalley.

Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown
Grade: C

[spoiler spoilerwarning=“Content Warning”]
Content warning: Sexism, fatphobia, misogyny, emotional abuse. There are also mentions of food in the book and my review.
[/spoiler]

This book knocked me sideways with its charm, but nuts and bolts were falling apart for me from the second half. By the end I was infuriated with how some things were mishandled and other fucked up things were shoehorned in. A lot of what’s good about this book was really good, but the things that didn’t work for me downgraded my experience a lot.

Matzah Ball Surprise is about Gaby and Levi who both have Passover blues for different reasons. Gaby is constantly pressured to have a boyfriend by her family. Her mom blames Gaby for being dumped by her toxic and emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend, and even encourages Gaby to get back together with him. Levi is having boundary issues with his ex because she wants them to continue pretending to still be engaged so her father will lend her the money she needs to start her business. Levi hates lying, especially to his family, and reenacting the Loving Couple skit for his and his ex’s families had really worn him down. He had already decided to skip Passover at home, so when Gaby, a hot stranger, invites him to come over to her place for Passover as her fake boyfriend...well. In the immortal words of Levi’s friend, “Go. Hot chick. Always hot chick.”

There was a lot I liked about this book, including the style of writing, Gaby and Levi’s personalities, and the humour. Gaby and Levi’s chemistry was sizzling almost from the start, the sex scenes were really hot, and the funny moments and characters’ sense of humour were great. Both Gaby and Levi are Jewish, and Levi is deaf, so I got to learn more about Jewish culture and Deaf culture, which I really enjoyed.

Gaby was well intentioned but imperfect in her interactions with Levi. That was great to see, because she’s a hearing person who has never interacted with people who are Deaf or learned about their culture. It would have been unrealistic for her to magically do all the right things. We get to see Gaby learn instead, which I think is much more valuable than seeing her be a paragon of sensitivity from the beginning. There were also adorkable moments when Gaby and her mom tried to include Levi and make him feel welcomed, but were awkward and unsure of themselves. Levi gives Gaby a leg up not just by educating her on how to interact with him, but also teaching her some American Sign Language (ASL), something he does professionally as a professor in Deaf Studies.

Levi was organized and patient about teaching Gaby, and I really liked that this was a logical part of his character. He wasn’t some Magic Token who just ‘happened’ to have inexhaustible patience, vast knowledge, and knew how to teach. Teaching hearing people how to sign for the first time and knowing what resources would be helpful is part of his job, that he’s trained and experienced in, not something he’s just ‘naturally’ perfect at.

Other Deaf representation in this book includes Levi’s friends, who are also Jewish and Deaf. This story includes both Deaf and hard of hearing people, and shows how their experiences might differ because of this distinction. I loved that Levi wasn’t the only person in his intersection in this story. When Levi is with his Jewish Deaf community or Gaby, we see the nuances of how sign language connects people. There are moments like Gaby struggling to get the correct sign, Levi being cheeky with Gaby, or Levi’s friends being punny, all of which were really fun and fleshed out ASL as its own language and highlighted the intricacies of Deaf culture.

That said, I wish the challenges of a Deaf and hearing couple were explored more. Levi’s best friend kept asking him if he was sure he wanted to date a hearing person. While we see some issues like being in a family gathering where everyone except Levi is hearing, I wish there was also more exploration of why Levi’s friend would be concerned for him.

On the flip side, in Levi’s relationship with Monica, his ex, we see how two people should not be pushed into a relationship together, just because they’re both Jewish and Deaf/hard of hearing. Their families had shoved them together because they had been classmates, and assumed they’d make the perfect pair. What they actually did was pair a floofy dog with a shark. Monica has a take-no-prisoners attitude towards the world and achieving her goals, while Levi only gets hard edged when he feels pushed. Relationships can be hard in the best of times, and the book did a good job showing that sharing key similarities isn’t a promise for a happy ending.

I loved seeing two Jewish-American families celebrate Passover, and how what’s normal in one family may be new to another. For example, Gaby’s family has two cups out, one for Elijah the prophet, the other for Miriam, another prophet. Levi’s family leaves one cup out for Elijah, and he hadn’t learned about Miriam before spending Passover with Gaby’s family. It made my heart happy to not only learn about Jewish culture, but some of the nuances within it.

The long term effects of grief, and how losing a family member you depended on can shape you, is layered beautifully into the story. Gaby had lost her dad a few years ago, and wants her parents’ home to stay just as it was. Her mom, Anne, still lives there, and would change things here and there. It upsets Gaby every time she goes back to see something is now different from how it was when her dad was alive, but she doesn’t want to police how Anne deals with grief.

Besides coping with grief, Gaby is also trying to build herself back up after her toxic and emotionally abusive ex knocked her self esteem. She struggles with her self image, but also with trusting herself and her own decisions. I know lots of Gabies, and I think many women do too: complete babes who are smart and funny that we love to be around, but have a hard time seeing it in themselves. Levi sees this in Gaby as well, but, well, this is where things get gross. Compassionate, emotionally competent Levi has...a saviour complex.

Yup.

It’s every bit as BLAH as it sounds. It was like there was Levi and Evil Levi, and we’re supposed to believe they’re the same person. He keeps talking about how he wants to ‘fix’ Gaby, and the words he used to express that wish were creepy and rage inducing:

<blockquote>
Gaby needed to be on a pedestal. She needed a chance to shine and needed to see herself shining. And he knew once he got her up there, he wasn’t letting her down. He’d pick her up to a healthy level and keep her there.
</blockquote>

THAT’S NOT HOW ANYTHING WORKS!

[spoiler spoilerwarning=“Spoilers”]
Levi also apparently only dated girls who he felt he had to ‘fix,’ and would lose interest in them after he felt like he had done so. He has this whole thing where he wants to figure out what made people “tick,” “flip their switch,” and wave them on in their “happier state.” His ex is the only person who kind of calls him on this. But rather than telling him how fucked up it all was, Monica only points out that Levi’s worried he wouldn’t be interested in Gaby after he “flips” her “switch.”

No one in the book ever checks him on that. They encourage him. Izzy, Gaby’s sister, actually tells Levi that Gaby won’t see her own worth unless Levi “makes her.” Worst of all, Gaby says he “healed” her, which is bullshit on too many levels. Levi is not a licensed therapist, and someone who is will tell you Gaby’s the one who needs to put in the work if she wants to improve her self esteem. At no point in the book do we see Gaby doing this work, or getting support in this area beyond Levi saying nice things to her. GAAAAAAH!

Levi’s fixer mode also comes out when he tries to solve the issue between Monica and her dad. He makes Monica tell her father about her business plans while their families were still celebrating Passover together. As much as Monica’s dad loves her, he is sexist and emotionally abusive. He thinks of her ambition to open her own clothing shop as a “little dream” that can never materialize without a husband to take care of everything for her, and assumes she only cares about what the shop would look like.

It really bothered me that the book made it look like communicating with your emotional abuser is a simple thing, and that sexist beliefs can evaporate in the span of a conversation. An emotionally abusive parent that loves you and you love as well makes for an incredibly complicated relationship, and Monica’s relationship with her dad is further entangled by the power dynamic of his financial power over her ambitions. Monica had been pretending to be a sweet airhead to her dad for who knows how long. A fake fiance had just been the icing. Nothing about her situation or their dynamic suggests a simple conversation would be possible or get Monica the results she wants. Levi didn’t even get them into a private space, just told her to let it all hang out while their families were together in his parents’ living room.

No one in the book ever acknowledged emotional abuse for what it was, even privately, and I wish that wasn’t the case. It’s reasonable for a person to not want to confront their abuser directly, especially when their abuser is also a family member who they love. Realizing an ex partner was abusing you is also incredibly hard. I wish the emotional abuse would have been identified, even if only in some characters’ private thoughts.
[/spoiler]

Levi was also a dick to Gaby when he pretended not to be Jewish. Like his obsession with ‘fixing’ people, it didn’t fit with how Levi was characterized in the rest of the book and was entirely unnecessary to the story. A lot of Levi’s thoughts and actions throughout the book underscore how thoughtful and caring he is, but then he knowingly adds to Gaby’s mental load during a time he knew to be stressful.

Even though Levi hates lying, because he feels beholden to the promise he made to Monica to keep their pretend relationship going, he shuts down all conversations about his family, and lets Gaby go on assuming he wasn’t Jewish. Gaby, thinking he didn’t know what was happening or what to expect, and knowing he was the only Deaf person there to boot, kept worrying about him, hoping he was okay with the food, didn’t feel too lost or overwhelmed. So there he was, committed to fully supporting Gaby as he watched her struggle under the mental load of trying to be a good daughter while trying to acclimate someone to your culture while coping with her grief WHILE trying to be a good host WHILE it’s a major holiday. And when the ‘secret’ of his identity was resolved, it turns out it didn’t even matter. I found their exchange at best unempathetic, and at worst gaslighty on Levi’s part:

[spoiler spoilerwarning=“Spoilers”]
Gaby had missed a couple texts from Levi where he said he was familiar with Passover food, and implying he was Jewish. The focus on the technicality didn’t work for me, because he still chose to lie by omission when it was clear Gaby wasn’t on the same page. Those texts don’t excuse him from knowingly stacking up her stress tower, and insisting that it was Gaby’s fault for not knowing is just aaaaaaaaarrrrgh. It also begs the question that if telling her he was Jewish is no big deal then why didn’t he make himself clear? The whole thing felt like stupid, contrived, unnecessary angst that just made me want to punch Levi.
[/spoiler]

This was one of the things that made the story start to fall apart for me, and similar types of inconsistencies kept stacking on. Characters would behave inconsistently, acting in ways that contradicted their personalities, and sometimes seemed like they were only there as plot paddles or angst manufacturers.

Then there was an emphasis on “health” that I felt were decidedly the opposite, and I took a hefty umbridge with the way characters described one another.

Exhibit A:
<blockquote>
She had a healthy body, not over-worked, not under-worked, and he bet she enjoyed food.
</blockquote>

This was Levi’s internal voice describing Gaby’s body. It was only one line, but it was judgy, creepy, and packed with fatphobia and sexism. There are no under-worked bodies, just different fitness levels. I can only tell who loves to eat based on who’s willing to swap food and recipes with me like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. The idea that there’s a visual ideal for women’s bodies wherein it can’t be too muscular or too big is a shitty one constructed by sexism and capitalism. Instead of indicating that Gaby is his type, it felt like Levi was somehow justifying his attraction. In the Super Scientific Study of Sneezy’s Life, anyone who has ever tried ‘qualifying’ my attractiveness is a pedantic asshole, and Levi is characterized as the opposite of that for most of the book.

It’s also another instance where Levi uses “healthy” to describe what he thinks of as ideal. I feel like there's this idea of 'health' in this book that's code for acceptable femininity or justification to make Gaby into something her partner likes more. In Gaby’s ex, who was described as a judgmental health nut, it was a negative trait, but it's supposed to be a good thing when Levi does it? It’s not. Levi doesn’t get to decide what’s a ‘healthy’ pattern of self esteem for Gaby. To conflate the word ‘healthy’ with what someone desires in their partner is toxic. The connotative moral value in the word is used to judge one partner as ‘wrong’ in their ‘unhealthiness,’ while holding up the other partner’s toxic behaviour as somehow just and commendable.

Exhibit B:
<blockquote>
Gaby: My Uncle Harry is dating a much younger woman. We call her the new toy. She broke up his marriage, so we weren’t expecting her to be brought for Passover.
</blockquote>

We don’t find out if the young woman began dating Harry when he was married, if she chose to date him knowing he was cheating on his wife by getting involved with her, and you know what? None of that matters. Harry was the one married to his ex partner, not his girlfriend. Even if she made bad choices, Harry was the one who broke up his marriage. Referring to a woman as a ‘toy’ outside of consensual, fun kinky times is very misogynistic. Gaby makes a big deal out of trying to tell Levi about each member in her family, their names and quirks, but she doesn’t even mention the woman’s name. The only other time the woman comes up in the book again, she’s still referred to in a variation of ‘Toy,’ and is only there as a prop to how shitty Harry is. For that matter, Harry is the only one named in the soapy triangle.

It wasn’t so much that these lines were in the story as much as they were left unchallenged, and framed as the default. I get that there are people who think and say these things and it’s honest to show it, but there was no suggestion in the text that these things were wrong. It upset me to see fatphobia, sexism, and misogyny reproduced so casually, especially under the guise of ‘morals.’

The ending also felt too abrupt for me. It chopped off right when Gaby and Levi came to an understanding and decided to give dating a shot. It was at the most intense moment of emotional resolution, and the moment didn’t get any room to breathe. I need to wind down with the characters for a story to feel complete to me. Only seeing how the peak resolved wasn’t satisfying. I needed more, especially after all the drama.

The story charmed me from the beginning, but too many aggravating inconsistencies and an unsatisfying ending pulled the story apart for me. There were a lot of toxic ideas that were presented as good or normal, but also a lot of really charming, funny parts I enjoyed the hell out of. I loved that there was a whole community of Deaf and Jewish people, and even when plot paddles were a-paddling, their Deafness and Jewishness were all just parts of them, and not what defined them. The things the book did well on made me want to cuddle with it, and the things it dropped the ball on made me want to rip my eyebrows out. I had a hard time grading it, but all things considered, I think it’s a C for me.

3 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy contemporary romance.

Ah, this book was so cute! I've been wondering for the longest time where all of the holiday books about non-Christian holidays are. Here we go. I love love love the diversity in religion as well as in ability. I also love, that this is an own voices novel for both categories. Overall I thought this book was super cute, and I loved the story, Gaby's family, and her chemistry with Levi. I thought it was great to learn more about Passover and daily issues facing Deaf or Hard of Hearing people. I thought that the holiday plot was very fun, the family aspects were delightful, and the tension between the MCs was fantastic. I wasn't crazy about the conflict and how it played out, there were a lot of people involved, and it seemed a bit unlikely, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the characters. I'm so excited that this book exists, and am excited to read more books by Laura Brown soon!