The Matzah Ball by Jean Melzer stands out in a sea of standard Christmas stories and gives representation to some groups that don't often get a lot of visibility. Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a "nice Jewish girl" who has a secret in that she not only loves Christmas but has a covert life as a Christmas novelist. She also lives with a chronic illness.

As a person who also lives with chronic illness, so much resonated about trying to manage the world (and my spoons) while trying to meet job and life expectations.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed this wonderful novel about a devoutly Jewish woman who is secretly a famous author of Christmas romances. She also suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I learned a great deal about Judaism and about the misunderstood and seldom talked about disease CFS. Rachel absolutely loves all the hoopla and trimmings of Christmas but feels that she must keep this secret from all but her best friend because she believes it can't coexist with being a good Jew. A new love interest and complications from her illness plus her obsession with keeping secrets make for a humorous and enjoyable story.

The Matzah Ball was literally a Hallmark holiday special, where the rabbi’s daughter secretly longs for the magic of the twelve Santa-filled days that the eight crazy nights of Hanukkah just don’t fulfill. And growing up in a Jewish household, this was a sentiment that I completely understood! The author perfectly captured the feeling of being left out of the magic that the rest of the world seemingly was experiencing. I could sympathize with Rachel’s secret longing for festive trees and Christmas tchotchke, and the descriptions of traditions that reminded me of my childhood.

But, had I not been familiar with the Yiddish, the customs, I’m not sure if I would have found it charming or tedious that so many terms were thrown in that I would most likely have had to look up to understand what they were. We did not eat, sleep and breathe Jewish customs and vernacular, but perhaps Rachel’s family was just way more devout than mine ever was!

Regardless, I understood Rachel and her feelings towards Christmas. What I could not sympathize with, and what was new to me, was Rachel and her chronic fatigue. I thought that the author did a wonderful job of describing the challenges that Rachel experienced, having a disease that wasn’t visible. The fact that Rachel appeared to be healthy belied how she was feeling inside, causing the dreaded “but you don’t look sick” attitude of many, and I felt that Rachel’s condition was handled beautifully, and woven into the plot of the story as a necessary component of this character and her limitations. At times, however, I was beaten over the head by the concept. There was so much focus on this at points when I felt that there didn’t need to be. Almost as if I needed to be continually reminded about Rachel’s condition lest I forget. There was so much more to Rachel than her illness.

I did love Jacob and his bubbe. She was the typical Jewish grandmother, showing her love through food in a way that was so familiar to me. Their relationship was adorable and sweet and I could find no fault at all with it.

The issue I did have with this story was the entire premise on which it was built. These are two adults that knew each other when they were young kids and hadn’t seen one another since. No letters, no communication, no gossip about each other through friends, nothing. And yet they were harboring old longings and hurts and feelings that existed since summer camp when they were in middle school?? So much so that all of their relationships since, and all of their insecurities stemmed from this? I found this idea to be quite simply preposterous. Yet, it was the building block for the entire story. Jacob coming back and these two falling in love over the course of a week? I didn’t feel it. They knew each other as children ,not as the people they are now. They spent more time at odds during the week before the Matzah Ball than they really did getting to know one another, so how did they go from strangers to being in love in that short of a span of time?

I thought the premise was cute and the characters were sweet. I found that this being set against the background of summer camp memories and Jewish traditions to be charming. But I did have some issues with the fact that I felt the romance was a bit contrived.

So while I did enjoy reading The Matzah Ball reading some reviews like this one have brought to my attention some problematic dialogue. In one scene, the main character Rachel jokes about being part of the Israel Defense Forces and having killed 76 men in a childish headband. At the time I was reading it I did not see what was implicated here.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, however, if I'd known what the banter was and that it was not challenged in the book, that would have impacted my enjoyment.

The author does have ME/CFS which was what brought it on my radar by an Instagram mutual who has ME/CFS. The book learnt me something about the chronic illness as well as life as an Ashkenazi Jew in New York. But -- and this a big but -- there are probably similar books who do not have problematic jokes.

This one was okay for me. I THINK I would recommend it for its uniqueness alone, but I'm on the fence. I loved how much I learned about these characters' experiences with their respective thoughts on Judaism, and the theme of the broken vessel was beautiful.

I am always a fan of books that rep chronic illness, depression, etc, but it felt a little too on the nose here. I find it much more satisfying when these themes are better integrated into books. Here it felt like: romance romance romance medical treatise on CFS romance romance romance CFS textbook excerpt, etc, etc, etc. Just not a smooth inclusion here. Rep for me is more meaningful when it is presented more organically- "this novel tells a story of a person living with xyz" and less "please allow me to tell you in excruciatingly educational detail what living with xyz is like in the middle of a really cute story."

So- I still enjoyed this book. There are some really great characters. And I truly loved learning more about Judaism. Some room for improvement, depending on reader tastes!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!

A Chanukah romance? Yes please!!! I mean, I would have been happy read this book based only on that but the fact Rachel is a Rabbi’s daughter who is secretly a best selling author of Christmas romances hooked me.

Add in a splash of romance with Jacob, Rachel’s first kiss from summer camp/ arch nemesis and this book was the perfect light romance. I loved the humor and sweetness of this book. And I would not turn down food from Jacob’s Bubbie.

This is a perfect book for the holiday season whether you celebrate christamas, Hanukkah, both or neither.

Overall this was a cute book. I understand recognize other reviewers issues with it though because there were a few questionable phrases that were used and comparisons. But overall it was entertaining.

The miscommunication aspect got a bit ridiculous after a while and I feel that Mickey would have revealed what he did earlier on in their friendship rather than at the last moment. Because in actuality the miscommunication wasn't even from the main characters it was from outside influences influencing how they saw each other.

And I really feel that the whole hidden Christmas novelist thing was a bit of a stretch. I know a lot of romance readers and I don't think any of them would care that much that someone who wasn't a Christian was writing Christmas. Well I can understand the paranoia being a rabbi's daughter I really really feel that she was too obsessed with that.

Again overall with an enjoyable book I really enjoyed it I thought it was really sweet and that both the characters did a lot of growing throughout the course of the novel which was only 8 days which is pretty awesome to see. I am looking forward to more from this author because I really like her voice in the way she weaves a story.

Quick and easy read about rekindling your "love " with a childhood sweetheart gone bad. I enjoyed to quick read, it was quirky, fun and just like any cheesy romance it fulfilled a need after a heavier read before it. Being jewish myself I enjoyed the religious references intertwined in the throws of love

Lots of Judaism and chronic illness in this one. As someone who was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome at one point for my chronic illness, I felt like this was portrayed beautifully. I was less of a fan of the frenemies to romantic partners romance but it's never my favorite kind anyway. Lots of Hanukkah and Christmas magic happening here and I can't complain about that for the holiday season!

This is a holiday book, and I mentioned before that I have different expectations for holiday books that I do a normal “romance.” And yes, I put the Christmas Tree emoji to designated it as a holiday book, and I think Rachel would approve.

Rachel is a nice Jewish girl who LOVES Christmas so much that she has a secret job as a Christmas Romance novelist. When her publisher asks for a Hanukkah romance, Rachel realizes she must go to The Matzah Ball for inspiration - a Jewish music celebration that her summer camp love/enemy Jacob is throwing.

This was cheesy, but in the best way. The timeline for holiday romances is completely unrealistic, and there were too many things that felt too easy. With that said, this books was like a Hallmark holiday movie - you suspend disbelief and enjoy the magic of the holidays. It was a fun read!

Thanks to @NetGalley and Harlequin for my ARC!

I've been requesting eARCs of holiday books since July so this is your first warning. This is an actual Hanukkah romance with a heroine who also has a chronic illness.

Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is the daughter of a prominent rabbi but has secretly made a living from a career based on loving Christmas and writing Christmas romance novels and rom-coms. Her publisher wants her to use her lived experience to write a "more diverse" romance and in the process she reconnects with a boy from Jewish summer camp, her first kiss, of course.

At first I was a bit skeptical, was this author just throwing a bunch of Jewish stuff in to a typical romance? But I think she pulls it off for reasons I'll leave for the reader to discover. It went deeper and was more personal to the author than I might have expected, and that makes a difference.

This Hanukkah romance was a first for me. I’ve never read one but for the most part I enjoyed this one.

I like the representations that are in the story. Rachel has myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome and it is explained very well and I really got the sense of how it affected her whole life. I learned so many things about Jewish culture in this book, and it was kind of neat to see Rachel and Jacob’s different perspectives on observing certain rules and traditions.

The romance is very sweet – I mean, it started from when they were twelve! It’s a childhood camp crush that turns them into enemies somewhat but wow can these two hold grudges.

I liked that we saw Rachel finding the beautiful things about Hanukkah. She’s Jewish but is secretly in love with Christmas, obsessed with Christmas more like – and she works through some of that. As for Jacob, he has some family issues to deal with and I love his grandmother, such a sweet and fearless woman!

Random Notes:
Content Warning: parent abandonment, death of a parent, chronic pain

There are some phrases I found throughout the book that made me cringe. Maybe it was trying too hard with the humor, maybe it is Rachel’s personality? Whatever it is, it didn’t work for me.

Their “romance” started at twelve and they break each other’s hearts (as much as you can at camp when you are 12!) and still hold a grudge almost 18 years later – honestly?…that seemed pretty immature to me and unbelievable. I guess it’s supposed to come off sweet and innocent? But I wasn’t feeling it. Also, I felt like there was no chemistry between them until very late into the book, so yes this is a very slow burn. The miscommunication between them totally bugged me.

Jacob, no matter how handsome and rich he is, didn’t do it for me. I thought he was so clueless not only about Rachel and romance, but even about event planning! He’s supposedly this amazing party organizer but so many things didn’t work when he was planning the Matzah Ball – where are his work connections? He’s in NYC, I would think he’d know how to get the best decorations for a party. I was confused, he can’t mess up that bad, can he? But he did. I was not impressed. That wasn’t the only inconsistent thing in the book, Rachel has CFS but the ending was over the top with her running and climbing and sneaking into the event to make her grand gesture to Jacob. I mean…she must have tanked a lot of red bull to do that, but isn’t the consequences on her body going to be awful? I guess he was worth the pain to her.

FINAL THOUGHTS~~
Why you should read it:

*CFS representation, chronic illness
*learn about Jewish customs and Hanukkah
*you like sweet holiday romances

Why you might not want to read it:

*immature grudge between the couple
*lacking chemistry between couple

My Thoughts:

If you like Hallmark movies, you will like this book. It has a slow burn romance, some wild shenanigans, a man going through some emotional family issues, and a Jewish woman living with a chronic illness and secretly loving Christmas, and a heartbreak judge that’s been held onto for 18 years. I had a few issues with it, especially that the couple lacked chemistry and I want lots of it in a romance book. Also that the grudge between the two is really silly. The best parts of the story was learning about Jewish customs and chronic fatigue syndrome. The family aspects of the book really stood out.

The Matzah Ball is the perfect romance for fans of Hallmark and Netflix rom coms filled with heart and magic.

I adored this book. Rachel and Jacob are incredibly sweet characters who you root for the whole book. The way Meltzer discusses family, religion, community, love, chronic illness, and friendship is just stellar.

This was a beautiful romance to fall into, I loved the way Rachel and Jacob's story unfolded. The second chance is one of my favourite tropes in romance, so I was immediately hooked.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited by the premise of Jean Meltzer's The Mazah Ball. A Jewish author, Rachel, secretly writes Christmas romances. When she reunites with her first love from summer camp, sparks fly.

I found the book really uneven. There were passages I loved and made me laugh out loud (Rachel wearing a giant matzah ball costume for one) but there were other passages that made me groan (one character says without irony "Let's make Hannukah on fleek."

Ultimately, there was more of what didn't work for me than what did work.

I really loved this dual perspective, second chance at love book about Rachel, a Jewish girl living in New York who secretly LOVES Christmas and is a holiday romance writer. When her publisher wants her to pivot to write a book about a Jewish holiday romance she is desperate to find some inspiration.

Enter Jacob, her childhood first love who she hasn't seen in YEARS. When Jacob is the key to Rachel getting a ticket to the biggest Jewish holiday party of the year, she is forced to work with him. The problem is though, Rachel has a secret - not just that she's a writer of Christmas love stories - but also that she has Chronic fatigue syndrome, a disability that she tries to hide because most people just don't understand.

This book had SUCH great Jewish and chronic illness representation!! I have to give it top marks for those two things alone. The romance aspect was full of a lot of secrets and misunderstandings but Jacob was such a big hearted guy it was easy to get on board and root for these two to get together (even when some of his attempts to 'help' Rachel were a bit cringey and too ablest in my opinion - ie he bedazzles a wheelchair for her to use not taking into consideration she might not be comfortable using something that so openly singles her out as different).

Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy! Highly recommended if you're interested in learning more about modern Jewish life and the challenges of living with a chronic illness. I love that Jean Meltzer was able to write about a story so dear to her own life and help diversify the traditional holiday romance offerings!

I loved this sweet holiday romance!

Rachel Greenberg is a successful author of Christmas themed romance. She stashes all of her Christmas obsessions in her study, which is a glittering noel explosion, because she's Jewish. To admit her fascination to her family or community would be utter sacrilege.

But Rachel's publisher wants her to capitalize on the heritage she's been ignoring, and embrace her own voice. They want her to write a Jewish themed holiday romance. She's at a loss until she finds out her childhood crush turned foe is at the helm of planning a huge holiday event for Jewish singles- The Matzah Ball. She is determined to infiltrate the planning committee and use her experience as inspiration.

I'm a sucker for childhood nemesis turned irresistible love interest, and The Matzah Ball delivered!

The banter between Rachel and Jacob was fantastic, and watching him bend over backwards to show her how he truly feels was both gratifying and realistic. He groveled with amazing panache!

The cast of secondary characters and the depiction of the close-knit community was wonderful, and I loved watching Rachel fully embrace her heritage and stop hiding her chronic illness.

I was the producer for the segment/live interview on A Mighty Blaze. So, while I do not interact with the author on camera, I handle all the social media during the broadcast and monitor the chat/conversation with the audience. I loved this novel. It was a feel-good rom com about a segment of the population that is rarely seen in this light. I appreciate the Own Voices connection between the narrator and the writer. As a Jewish woman, I loved seeing this topic as part of the romantic comedy spectrum. Jeam Meltzer is a terrific advocate for not only the Jewish community but people with CFS. I already bought a copy for my mother and will be purchasing more for the holidays.

Super cute! This was less romance and more women's fiction, but I thought this was a great story and I appreciate the Jewish representation! Would definitely read another book by this author.

A sweet and hilarious Hannukah romance featuring a heroine dealing with chronic illness! I thoroughly enjoyed The Matzah Ball and would love to see it adapted into a feel-good rom-com film. This book is unapologetically Jewish while telling a story that still feels universal in many ways.

Rachel Rubensteain-Goldblatt is a good Jewish girl, the daughter of a prominent rabbi...but she has a big secret. She leads a double life as Margot Cross, bestselling author of Christmas romances! But now her publisher wants a Hannukah romance and she's desperate to find inspiration, even if it means working alongside her first love and childhood nemesis Jacob Greenburg. Because Jacob is throwing a high end Hannukah event known as the Matzah Ball, which seems like the perfect place to be inspired to write. But Rachel has another secret as well- she suffers from a chronic illness that severely limits her energy levels.

I really loved this book, more than I even expected to. I laughed, I cried, I shook my head at the wild antics, and I was really rooting for Rachel and Jacob to find their happy ending. This book deals a lot with family- both good and bad. And Rachel's disability is a big part of the story as well. I appreciate stories like this shining a light on the often hidden disability of chronic illness, and the author notes that she suffers from the same diagnosis as Rachel does in the book. It's a fabulous, entertaining story that is definitely worth your time this holiday season! And it just might make you hungry....

I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Added note after peeking at some of the other reviews. There is one point in the book where the heroine makes a joke about being a secret spy for the Israeli military. It's a one off, but yeah, it's kind of in poor taste and I can see why that would really bother some readers. So FYI, that's a thing in here.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed learning more about Judaism, and I really liked reading a book that included a character with CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I would love to see both included in books on a more regular basis. Chronic illness is underrepresented in fiction, and it's an area that is often misunderstood unless you're going through it. As someone who falls into that category, I can attest to the fact that things are well represented and accurate.

Overall, this is a cute romance set during Hanukkah. It's a solid debut, and I look forward to reading more from this author.