Laura Silverman’s new novel Recommended For You is an absolute delight. I was in love with it from the moment I saw that adorable cover and my love only grew as I started reading. The story is set at Once Upon, a popular Indie bookstore, over the holiday season and follows Shoshanna Greenberg, a Jewish teen and veteran bookseller at Once Upon. When we meet Shoshanna, it becomes clear right away that she views the bookstore as her home away from home and her escape from the stress in her life. It also becomes clear that Shoshanna is dealing with some pretty major stress: 1) there are money issues and her car is on its last legs, and 2) there is a tension between her mothers that she has never seen before and she’s worried they may split up. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel with respect to her car when her boss announces a holiday contest – whoever sells the most books will receive a cash bonus. Shoshanna is stoked because she knows she can outsell everyone…that is, until Once Upon’s newest employee, Jake Kaplan arrives on the scene and throws a kink into Shoshanna’s plans. Shoshanna can’t stand Jake from the moment she meets him and the tension mounts the more they try to outsell each other. Who will be the last bookseller standing?

I really adored both Shoshanna and Jake. Shoshanna is a messy and flawed character who often acts without thinking. Even with her flaws though, she’s still completely lovable because she has such a huge heart. Nearly every impulsive thing she does is because she’s trying to help someone she cares about. Even though she sometimes does more harm than good, her heart is always in the right place. One of my favorite parts about Recommended For You was watching Shoshanna learn and grow as a person when she has to deal with the fallout from some of her more impulsive moves. It’s a very personal journey for her. Jake is also just an adorable character. Even though Shoshanna wants to hate him because he’s not even a reader and he’s standing between her and that cash bonus, he still manages to eventually win her over. Since Recommended For You is being advertised as a rom-com, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say there’s an enemies/rivals to friends/more than friends vibe going on between Shoshanna and Jake. I think the coming of age aspect of the book takes center stage over the romantic vibes, but it’s definitely still there as the sparks and witty barbs fly between these two competitive booksellers.

Recommended For You is a fun and heartwarming read about love, friendship, and personal growth. Everything Shoshanna goes through kept me fully invested in her journey, and the adrenaline rush of the book competition kept me fully entertained and chuckling to myself as I was reading. If you love coming of age stories with a side of romance and family drama, and of course Indie bookstores, Laura Silverman’s Recommended for You is the book you’re looking for. 4 STARS

Watch out Hallmark channel! This is the bookstore, LGBTQ, rom-com that everyone needs in their lives. Shoshanna is a lovable character who is always trying to fix everything for everybody else, which always seems to go awry. She has some great friendships with Geraldine, the budding YouTuber, and Cheyanne. Her co-workers at the bookstore are just as lovable. Having worked at a bookstore, I love the very realistic cast of characters that work at Once Upon. New hire Jake Kaplan is the ever charming, non-reader, who totally makes up for it with his other charming skills. I love that this holiday read includes both Christmas and Hanukkah. This was definitely a 4 out of 5 for me. I had to dock it one star because I wanted more of Shos and Jake!! This was a great start to the holiday book season and no better setting than a bookstore.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the advanced reader copy in exchange for a review.

This will be posted on my blog and on instagram on 9/7/20

I love a good book that takes place in a bookstore and where the characters are booksellers. This was an adorable read with a lot of heart. Shoshanna's passion for books and her store were tangible. The romance was cute and I liked how the characters developed. Overall this was a nice, light read.

4 stars - Great
Sweet story with tons of book/book store love. Shoshanna is over-the-top at times, and her eagerness and craving to make everything right for everyone else is at times endearing and other times causes her a lot of trouble. I loved the ways she learns from her mistakes, and makes an intentional effort to have better boundaries, asking people what they want/need rather than jumping in with her own ideas of how to fix everything/everyone.

The romance is a low-key enemies-to-lovers. Really, Shoshanna and Jake are more rivals who bicker than actual enemies. And the romance develops slowly across the whole story in a way that was satisfying, but also gave space for the other story threads to play out, too.

The cover doesn't show it, but this is a Christmas/Hanukkah story, so add this to your holiday reading list. (Some language, LGBTQ+)

The cute, Christmassy rom-com Recommended for You by Laura Silverman delivers on more than just a romance between rival teen booksellers, but also a heartwarming story of family and friendship: the trifecta of feels.

Shoshanna Greenburg has the rare privilege of working at her happy place: indie bookstore Once Upon. Home used to be a happy place, but now her moms fight constantly, making a place once warm and welcoming, now cold and tense. Money is also tight, and her precious car, Barbra, is in desperate need of repair. Shoshanna’s paychecks aren’t enough to cover it. Serendipitously, her boss announces that the employee who makes the most sales will receive a special holiday bonus, just the amount she needs. Nobody is more enthusiastic about books or has better recommendations, so she’s confident of a victory. Except… new employee Jake Kaplan is a better salesman than she anticipated. At first, she thought he was cute, but he quickly reveals himself to be rude and uninterested in being friends. Even worse, he doesn’t even read!

Shoshanna has more problems than Jake, however. Her moms show no sign of making up, even with holiday spirits in the air, and both are perfectly miserable. Her best friend wants to be a make-up YouTuber, but doesn’t have the confidence to get started. Worst of all, she and Jake overhear their boss saying that Once Upon will have to close! Shoshanna is determined to fix everything, and Jake insists on helping her save the bookstore. The more time the two spend together, Shoshanna finds that he’s not as awful as she first thought, and they might have more in common that they realized.

Shoshanna intrigued me as a main character. I’m a quiet, shy, introverted bookworm who enjoys reading contemporaries about other quiet, shy, introverted bookworms, and while they never get old, she was a welcomed change of pace. She still loves to read more than anything else, but she’s loud, bubbly, awkward, and honestly a bit much. She’s also very naive, and though she selflessly wants to help everyone, she ends up messing everything up. It’s frustrating, but I liked it because it felt realistic. The mistakes she made felt like mistakes I would have made five years ago, when I was her age.

One thing that bothered me about this book was the timeline. The story takes place in the week before Christmas, which makes sense, because the plot revolves around the rush of holiday shopping, but I wish it had taken place over a longer period of time. It felt like too much was going on at once. It also messed with the romance. I don’t like instalove, so I didn’t buy Shoshanna and Jake falling in love so quickly, especially since they started out hating each other. They thawed to each other too quickly, where I would’ve preferred something more gradual.

All the supporting characters came to life in this novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Jake was my favorite—even though I didn’t totally buy the relationship, I found him adorable. I devoured this book in three hours on a long car ride. It isn’t one of the great American novels, by any means, but it’s warm, fun, cute, and it made me really happy for those three hours.

Laura Silverman's newest release is a charming, coming of age story full of romance, friendship, and tough life lessons that is a perfect gift this upcoming holiday season for the book lover in your life. Shoshanna is a spirited, fun loving, if a bit impulsive, Jewish teenager trying to balance the conflicting demands in her busy life. Her job at Once Upon Bookstore picks up with the influx of holiday shoppers streaming to the mall in search of the perfect gifts. The addition of Jake, a new co-worker, who also happens to be male, good looking and Jewish, adds a bit more excitement to her life. With the upcoming holidays, Shoshanna is excited to celebrate family traditions with her moms, spend some quality time with her close friends, and help holiday shoppers find the perfect book. However slowly her world starts to crumble. Instead of holiday traditions, Shoshanna is lucky to get both of her moms in the same room without an argument starting. Shoshanna's boss adds a holiday book selling competition that pits her against the new guy and to make matters worse her car has decided it no longer wants to start. As the holidays grow closer, and the competition grows fiercer, Shoshanna learns that sometimes you can find support in the places and people you least expect.

Recommended for You is a perfect coming of age read for middle grade book lovers. Shoshanna is a strong protagonist that undergoes quite a bit of growth over the course of the story. Though she edges close to overzealous, many young readers will relate to Shoshanna and the challenges she encounters over the course of the story. Jewish main characters are a rarity among teen fiction novels that are not centered around World War II, so the inclusion of not one, but two Jewish main characters, as well as the LGBTQ side characters provided some important representation. Once Upon bookstore was a unique and charming setting, serving as a safe haven for teens just entering the workforce. The love story was a slow build, expertly paced to provide some lighter moments among the challenges and growth that take center stage in the plot. I recommend Recommended for You to those looking for a lighthearted, holiday read with a surprising yet satisfying amount of depth.

A quick feel-good read for younger teens.

In the week leading up to Christmas, Jewish teen Shoshanna Greenberg has a lot on her plate. Her moms are fighting, her friends are struggling with insecurities, and even her indie bookstore job isn't the haven it used to be thanks to Jake, her <s>hot</s> mean new coworker who doesn't even read. Shoshanna is determined to solve these problems head-on, sure that her enthusiasm and good intentions will save the day. Of course things don't always work that way, and it turns out Shoshanna has a lot of growing up to do.

As a teen librarian, I thought the protagonists were pretty realistically portrayed. Among teen book characters, they read quite young compared to Katniss or Clary or even America Singer. Shoshanna and her friends face a few difficult circumstances, and I was afraid that everything would be magically resolved by the end without any regard for reality. A lot of things do work out for Shoshanna and her loved ones, but not without a few lessons in taking responsibility and learning what you can and cannot control. Shoshanna is very immature at the beginning of this book, but she takes these lessons to heart without losing her characteristic energy and compassion. The ending is decidedly unrealistic, but I don't think it diminishes the significance of the issues at hand.

The romance between Shoshanna and Jake is very sweet. They grow closer while competing for sales at the bookstore, but a week is still a week, even in teenager time. Jake is also Jewish, a rarity in Georgia and a pleasant surprise for Shoshanna who doesn't have to translate or explain that part of herself. As Shoshanna learns more about him, she discovers a person with more depth and kindness than he initially lets on. (And he bakes! Swoon.) Be prepared for warm fuzzies during every scene with Jake's adorable mom, especially when all the moms hang out. So cute. It's also very, very tame, perfect for younger teens who want to start reading romance.

Finally, I appreciated the low-key diversity in this book. Shoshanna is a Jewish girl with two moms, her boss uses a wheelchair, one of her best friends is queer, and all her friends come from a variety of racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. The book strikes a good balance here: rather than ticking a diversity box or going into "issue book" territory, these qualities factor into each character's life in different ways. I can't speak to the authenticity of the Jewish references and language throughout the book, but it's clearly an important and positive part of Shoshanna's identity.

All in all, this book stands out among fluffy teen romances with a bit of hidden depth, and I'll be recommending it with confidence come the holidays.

I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This sweet, contemporary fantasy book features all the promised swooning and book nerd jokes, but it also has so much raw heart and depth to it that teen readers will absolutely connect with. From the imperfect ways we sometimes treat our loved ones to the anxiety we feel when the world feels stacked against us, this book makes you feel seen and understand in beautiful, genuine ways.

This was a cute book that I am sure will be loved by readers of all ages! Besides, what reader doesn't enjoy a book that's about readers/bookstores?

I think i have read and loved every Laura Silverman book. Her books are like a breath of fresh air on a hot day. Like all my reviews when i really really loved the book all i can say without wanted to spoil is; read it. Buy it, get it from a library, convince a friend you might die without out it, do whatever you can to get this book on your shelf. It's that good.

It was so fun that the bookstore was in a mall! I didn't even know those still existed, especially an indie! There are some unfortunate Harry Potter reference, which of course the author can make if she wishes, but aren't going to age well given the situation with JKR and her attitude towards...well, towards a lot of groups. This is ultimately a sweet, very innocent, and young story. It felt like it wouldn't take too many tweaks to have made it middle-grade.

Sweet coming of age romantic enemies to lovers comedy!

Shoshanna works at the mall in a cute bookstore called Once Upon and during the Christmas holiday of all times. 🎄

<my husband is Jewish and worked in retail for 20+ years and I'm lucky he lets my play Christmas music since he married a goyem☺️ He actually would volunteer to work during Christmas so others could take the time off.>

We get to glimpse a week in her life when she meets a new co-worker named Jake who does not warm to her easily.  A few other disasters happen one after another due to her meddling and interfering which in turn helps her to grow and learn. 

It's hard learning some lessons the hard way but she rallies and her relationships get stronger despite the mistakes. 

The romance that happens takes me by surprise and is super cute and I love how it grows. I'm a foodie and my guy cooks for me. ♥️😍

I personally have been going through some stressful work things this week and this quote helped me. Sometimes your health and your people mean more than other things that don't happen. 

"But Myra is right, and my moms are right. I am smart and caring, and I have incredible people in my life. And as long as those things are true, I’ll be okay. I’ll be more than okay."

Can I just agree with this thought Shoshanna?
"The music blasts even louder here, currently playing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,”which always gives me the urge to watch Love, Actually, which always makes me 10 percent bitter there’s not an epic Hanukkah romance movie." 🎄🕎

My sister in law and I always talk about this. I love Hallmark movies but any attempt at a Hanukkah movie is so white washed it's gross and offensive. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend for those who love coming of age romance. These characters are so cute and the whole staff of the bookstore is fun to get to know. 

#recommendedforyou #arc #laurasilverman #romcom #youngadult #latkepalooza #bookstore #onceupon #hanukkahbooks #Christmasbooks #bookreview #youngadultromance
#enemiestolovers #youngadultbook #almonds #pbj #mamaleh

Recommended for You was a delight to read. Read in one sitting and I was completely wrapped into the characters. Shosh is my kind of gal; spunky, a lover of books, and sometimes puts her foot in her mouth (can’t we all relate that that)! Shosh goes through the ringer in this one when her moms begin to fight, new employee Jake is rude, and the store she loves is in holiday trouble. From the moment I knew Shosh had judged Jake and Jake and been a tad too snarky; I was on a sweet ride of emotions. The setting of Once Upon is making me want to get hired at an independent bookstore to have the beautiful sense of community and family offered at a bookstores like Once Upon. Lover of books or spunky characters with grit Recommended for You is a winner!

Shoshana loves working at Once Upon, an independent bookstore at her local mall. She’s always loved reading, but lately, it’s become a place of refuge for her because her two moms are fighting a lot and her car needs expensive repairs that she can’t afford. But when Jake Kaplan starts working at Once Upon, Shoshana’s beloved bookstore becomes full of tension, and not because Jake is a total hottie.

Okay, maybe because he’s a total hottie, but he’s also a bit of a jerk who doesn’t even read, and when the owner announces a holiday sales competition, Shoshana is determined to win.

This book is adorable. First of all, I loved the Jewish rep. It’s not always easy to find books with Jewish protagonists that aren’t about the Holocaust or bar/bat mitzvahs. But both Shoshana and Jake are Jewish, and they’re just regular kids squabbling at work over petty concerns. So it’s nice to see representation in books.

The timeline is fairly condensed: everything takes place over holiday break, so there’s no school/work balance to distract the reader from the intense bookselling competition. Of course, Shoshana does have a life outside of the bookstore; she eats lunch with her friends in the food court and as I mentioned, she’s also dealing with her two moms arguing more than usual.

Speaking of Shoshana, she’s an absolute sweetheart. She’s very passionate about books, and she gets along well with everyone—which is why she’s so surprised when she doesn’t immediately click with Jake. Her hypercompetitive drive was relatable, especially considering that she needs the bonus money to pay for car repairs.

I would recommend Recommended for You. This is a cute YA romcom full of tenderness and heart. The tone of the book is light, but the more serious moments are treated with an appropriate amount of gravity. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from Silverman in the future.

Teens will like this bookstore romance but I found the main character a little grating.
I liked the inclusion of the parents’ storyline; so many kids see struggles in their own parents’ relationships without seeing them represented in literature.

I’m not typically one to read cutesy rom-coms, but once I heard this book took place in a bookstore I had to give it a go. The setting drew me in and made me nostalgic of my trips to bookstores. I enjoyed everything from the title and cover to the hate to love romance. I loved all the interactions with the customers and the chaos at the mall during the holiday season. There was plenty of humor associated with working at a bookstore and the drama that existed among the characters as they competed to sell books in order to win a bonus. There was a lot of diverse representation in this book as well. An adorable feel-good story perfect for book lovers!

“He’s probably the perfect height for my head to fit into the crook of his shoulder, which is not at all a weird thing to observe the first time you meet someone.”

Shoshanna Greenberg is in love with her job at Once Upon, the local indie bookstore in the mall. Once Upon is her safe haven, her home away from home. It’s the final week before Christmas and she’s ready to work some doubles, hang out with her friends, and celebrate Latkepalooza with her moms. But then her car, Barbra Streisand is dying, her best friends are mad at her, her moms are fighting, and she has to put up with the cute new bookseller who doesn’t even read! To make matters worse, her boss puts a competition in place to see which bookseller can sell the most books and the new boy, Jake, appears to be stiff competition.

Recommended for You was my dream YA book. It was light and funny (seriously, so many LOL moments) with some serious friend and family issues mixed in.

Shoshanna...oh my gosh. I feel like I AM Shoshanna personality wise. She was loud and quirky and a little immature and naive, but so unbelievably fun and just a good person and friend. I loved that her and Jake were both Jewish and that it was talked about frequently. I don’t know the last time when I read a book with a Jewish main character.

I really enjoyed that it took place during the holiday season. I didn’t know that going in so it was a nice surprise in the heat of summer.

The diversity of characters was well-thought out as well. Laura Silverman took time to describe all of the main characters. More often than not, I read books where authors go into great detail only providing in-depth physical descriptions for people of color and it can feel very forced. This book had characters of various races, religions, family structures, etc. and it just felt right.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick read (I read it in one sitting) and a good laugh.

Thank you, Net Galley for the eARC. I didn't want to do a star rating on this because I couldn't finish it. I liked the description, but the tone of the narrator or maybe it was the general writing style didn't pull me in. If anyone has read it and noticed a change in tone let me know. I think I was put off by how a Black character was introduced or described/acknowledged - which very well may contribute to the protags overall character buuuut...it seemed...cursory and I didn't really like it. Again, not saying it was bad, I just didn't feel compelled to keep going.

My first holiday book of the season! I’m picky about YA novels, but I really enjoyed this. Great diversity rep with white and Jewish MCs, queer moms, Black friends, and a disabled coworker. Shoshanna is a LOT, she’s high-energy, dramatic, sensitive and sometimes self-centered. Basically, my kind of teen.

The bookstore setting felt festive, and worked as a setup for lots of entertaining scenes with customers, although some of these subplots never got resolved. The book has a frenetic pace that matches Shoshanna’s energy and kept me reading.

Enemies romances aren’t my fave, and Jake and Shoshanna spend a lot of time hating each other. They have great tension and chemistry, it just isn’t my favorite dynamic. I actually enjoyed the subplots with her friends and family more.

I would like latkes now.

Recommended for You takes place over the course of just one week. Shoshanna Greenberg is a peppy, sixteen-year-old Jewish girl who works at her dream job: Once Upon, a local bookstore. When Myra, her boss, announces a storewide competition with the grand prize of $250 to boost employee morale during the holidays, Shoshanna thinks she’ll be the obvious winner. That is, until the new bookstore employee, Jake Kaplan—a hardworking sixteen-year-old Jewish boy—proves that he’s quite the competition.

More than just an enemies-to-lovers bookstore romantic comedy, Recommended for You touches on a myriad of issues. Shoshanna is portrayed as a very relatable, realistic teenager who struggles with recognizing boundaries and thinking through her behavior before acting. Though the book is thoroughly adorable and quick-paced, it also shows Shoshanna’s two moms having trouble in their marriage and the consequential effects that has on their daughter’s life. Besides Shoshanna, the novel also features a diverse cast of characters in which Silverman wrote with obvious care. Recommended for You is a fun and lighthearted rom-com full of book puns, bookseller antics, and a surprising depth. I would definitely “recommend it for you.”

(Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)