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.

This is a fun, holiday romance. Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl who loves Christmas. When she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, she had to find a job that she could do at her own pace. She loved to write and became a best-selling author of Christmas romances. The problem is that her father is a world famous rabbi and she has to keep this a secret. This year, the publishers want something different. They have requested a Hanukkah romance. As far as Rachel knows, there is no romance in Hanukkah, so she needs to find some inspiration. When she hears about The Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, she knows she needs to get a ticket. The organizer of the event just happens to be an old family friend who is spending Shabbat at her parents. Jacob Greenberg was her first love from summer camp that betrayed her and had become her arch nemesis. Can she get an invite to the party? Will her and Jacob be able to move beyond their memories of that summer?

This was an entertaining Enemies to Lovers story. Both of these characters, Rachel and Jacob are a interesting and great characters. Rachel has a lot of secrets, from her days at camp to her health issues and her job. Jacob is an overachiever with a huge heart. He keeps his past to himself and has a lot of baggage when it comes to his parents. Both he and Rachel have misunderstandings based back to their days at camp and that is one hurdle they need to get over if there is any chance of their relationship moving forward. I loved Rachel's resourcefulness and creativity as well. The secondary characters were all wonderful. They were well developed and played important parts in moving the story and relationship forward. This book had me laughing one minute, sighing the next and being close to tears at other times. I like that I learned some things about Jewish celebrations and customs as well. This is a magical, tender, emotional, Hanukkah romance, that I definitely recommend. I would love to see this one as a Hallmark Movie.

Sweet and not at all spicy, just about as wholesome as a romance gets! I don’t often read romance, but I requested a copy of this because it was refreshing to see a holiday romance that wasn’t Christmas and I knew I would want to order this for the bookstore! The heroine having Chronic Fatigue syndrome gave this a nice little twist, and the enemies to lovers trope with all the usual misunderstandings worked fine, I would just have preferred a bit more heat! But I’m not sure that’s a thing in holiday romances?

I’m finding this one really hard to rate. On the one hand, it was a blast to read and it’s so nice to see representation of holidays other than Christmas (even though I know Hanukkah isn’t as important in Jewish tradition) *and* representation of chronic illness. I actually have family members who suffer with CFS and I think the author really nailed the entire experience.

There were Yiddish and Hebrew words throughout and lots of Jewish traditions, and their explanations didn’t get in the way of the general atmosphere of the book. I also found both Rachel and Jacob’s characters to be very relatable, and not at all caricature-y. I also liked their relationships with their families and their communities.

The main reasons I only consider the story average are are purely plot-based:
-the ridiculousness of some of the plot points (the potentially magic Hassidic Jewish man who is only mentioned once and then never again, using a mall Santa as a therapist, breaking into a 5-star hotel)
-Jacob outright bullying Rachel when they first start working together (what was that, even??)
-Jacob trying to fix it by taking decision-making power out of Rachel’s hands when she has a medical flare-up (this could have been handled better).

I was a bit frustrated by these aspects because the writing is so pleasant and I wanted to love it. That being said, I’m aware that this is the author’s first book and I would absolutely pick up her next one. I also would still recommend this book to others because, if viewed purely through the lens of a lighthearted holiday romance, it’s pretty darn cute! I’d also love to see more books about Jewish holidays that are more important (where’s my Rosh Hashanah romance?? That would be super fun).