Enjoyed this debut from Heidi Shertok, rife with Jewish representation - I had so much fun reading this as a Jewish woman and I look forward to more from Shertok in the future!

Cute, fun and heartfelt romcom. The chemistry between Sam and Penina steamy and not overkill. The banter between them was fun. Enjoyed reading this one and learning about Jewish cultures.

Title: Unorthodox Love

Author: Heidi Shertox


Ch: 30 plus epilogue


Pg: 33


Genre: Jewish rom com


Rating: 4 stars


Publisher: Alcove Press


Thanks to Jean Meltzer I’m hooked on Jewish rom com and romances and any books that focuses on Jewish joy. And Unorthodox is the debut novel by Heidi Shertox. The heroine Penina is an Orthodox Jew who match makers send her on dates with not best pickings because she can’t have kids. But then her boss Sam Kleinfield comes into the picture. Sam is Jewish but he’s not Orthodox.


Sam starts out as a bit of a jerk but then Penina isn’t exactly the friendliest to him. But for me he quickly grew on me and became one of my favorite fictional heroes. And he delivers one of my favorite lines in chapter seventeen of the book. Why does it seem like all the best guys are fictional?



I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Matchmakers think of twenty-nine-year-old Penina as past her best-before date due to her infertility, since being able to bear children is important in the Orthodox Jewish community. She seems to be consistently matched with men who are considerably older or ones who have issues, never with first-rate matches.

Penina finds out that her sister, Libby, may lose her home due to her husband’s poor business decisions. Penina can’t fathom her sister’s family not living in their home, and wants to do whatever she can to help, even if it means a fake marriage for money.

To top it all off, she has a new boss, Sam Kleinfeld. Penina finds him arrogant and attractive but he’s also secular and not looking for a relationship. They spend more and more time together under the guise of work, the attraction continuing to build. Will Penina follow her heart, marry for money for the sake of her sister or stick with tradition?

I really enjoyed this novel and learned a great deal about Orthodox Jewish traditions. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel. #NetGalley #UnorthodoxLove

This book was a hit for me - I love the Jewish rep, Penina's need to make the world a better place, Sam's cheekiness, and the hilarious, witty banter between the two. The only thing about Penina that I didn't love was how oblivious she was to glaringly obvious things that were going on. I get that the author likely did this to draw out the story, but her lack of awareness of what Sam's actions meant was almost insulting. Penina is smarter than that and sacrificing her intelligence for the sake of drawing out their love story wasn't worth it to me. Otherwise, I loved the book and enjoyed reading it. If there was a sequel following the next stage of their relationship, I'd read it.

One thing about me is I will enjoy every romcom I come across. This is most definitely one of them! Couldn’t get enough of these two.

Heidi Shertok's 'Unorthodox Love' is a captivating read. The book expertly explores themes of love and self-discovery, weaving a touching love story with unexpected twists. The vivid setting and sincere exploration of human emotions make it a memorable read for both romance enthusiasts and those seeking deeper insights.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

Oh what an excellent book. I don’t know much about Judaism, let alone Orthodox Judaism. The characters were wonderful. I really enjoyed this one. Penina and Sam were rich in detail. Actually, most of the characters were well-thought out. I liked the setting and the storyline. I will certainly read more from this author.

Unorthodox Love is a compelling romance and a win for Jewish love stories in fiction. This delightful romp handles some serious issues with grace and compassion. While the characters may be wildly imperfect in the choices they make, they’re no less easy to fall in love with. The compelling romance may be what the story is based around. However, there’s a lot more to love within these pages.

Full review linked below.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me this Advanced Readers Copy of Unorthodox Love by Heidi Shertok!

All Orthodox Jew Penina wants is to fall in love, get married, and have a baby, but infertility issues have prevented matchmakers from finding her a husband. When a secretly gay Orthodox Jew offers to pay her to get married, Penina agrees in order to save her sister’s home. However, her attraction to her new boss Sam is getting harder and harder to ignore.

I liked this, and I enjoyed learning more about Orthodox Jew’s faith. However, I felt like this was a lot of stereotypes - but maybe that’s because I lack background knowledge and the things I thought were not okay are normal? It was fine, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it.

I love reading books that have a Jewish Main
Characters. Unorthodox Love is fun story following Penina a devout 29 year old Orthodox Jewish woman who is battling being single and infertile - both putting her in a tough spot in her community. Penina's life has become very complicated between some seriously failed matchmakings, a new grumpy but attractive boss, her sister losing her home, and a proposition from a gay Jew for a fake-ish marriage she’s not sure if ever finding love and a family is even in the cards

This book is whitty but emotional, Penina is a likable character and you find yourself rooting for her; her dedication to family is also very heartwarming. I did enjoy how the religion is represented, a great educational aspect to the book.

If you’re looking for spicy this isn’t that book, but what it lacks in spice it gains in a story that that feels very human and real. Overall, I highly enjoyed this book. I will certainly be on the lookout for anything more that this author writes. Definitely recommend it to all my rom-com lovers!

3.75- Normally when I listen to books I rate them solely on the writing and not the narration, as it’s the author’s words I am rating. However, in this case I’ll be rating both, so if you’re planning on listening to this, you’ll definitely want to hang around for the last part of this review.
Penina is a 29 year old Orthodox Jewish woman and she is still single. Due to a condition she cannot have children and thus is not as appealing to Orthodox men as other women are. After discovering her older sister is having financial problems, she agrees to marry a rich Orthodox man even though her heart belongs to her Secular Jewish boss.
This is your typical cutesy rom com book. Being Jewish myself, I greatly appreciated hearing about Penina’s family and all of the cultural references. The book is a bit predictable, but such is the RomCom genre. I found myself only mildly liking Penina. While I loved her big and caring heart, I hated how she allowed her medical condition to define her and I especially hated how absolutely clueless she was when it came to dealing with her boss. It was to the point where I was actually yelling in my car that she was being totally stupid.
Ok- now we get to the nitty gritty. Caitlin Thorburn narrated this and she turned what was a cute book into an auditory nightmare. I don’t think she’s Jewish, which is ok, but she didn’t bother to learn the pronunciations of any of the Yiddish and Hebrew words. Hearing her pronounce “Challah” with a cha sound instead of a huh sound made me cringe every time she said it. I don’t know if this is a narrator issue, an author issue, or a publisher issue, but regardless, it was an issue that never should have happened. My star rating is for Heidi Shertok’s words. My rating for Courtney Thorburn’s narration is 1 star, because it’s offensive that she didn’t bother to learn the proper pronunciations of these culturally Jewish words.

Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

Publication Date: July 11th 2023

Author: Heidi Shertok

Review: I am very out of touch with anything related to Jewish religion and the way they date so this book was hard for me to get into and understand. I wasn’t able to relate at all to the MC. The book writing style was fine for me . But it wasn’t something I easy dying to pick up and read everyday.

Thank you netgalley and Alcove Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review #NetGalley #bookstagram #kindle #kindleedition #eread

I wasn't able to connect to this MC due to living in very different circumstances. I think this would be a wonderful book for someone who understood Jewish culture and dating practices.



I received an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Nice one!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Unfortunately Unorthodox Love wasn't for me. The writing was good, and while I am not Jewish, I do follow a few Orthodox Jews on TikTok and I felt that the representation was in a similar fashion to what I see there. These books are needed in the world, I just couldn't connect with the characters.

I received an advance review copy for free from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Unorthodox Love is about a twenty-nine-year-old Orthodox Jew named Penina who has the misfortune of being set up with men who are less than ideal because of her medical condition. A condition that does not allow her to bear children.

She then meets a man named Sam with whom she had instant attraction to but they are constantly at odds with one another.

"My guess is that it means a strong marital foundation. A rock-solid relationship that can weather good times and bad. And it's the everyday things that matter; small acts of prioritizing your partner's needs over your own. Something as mundane as doing a load of laundry for example or running to the store late at night helps to strengthen that edifice. Then there will be times when stronger action is called for. Maybe you have to defend them to a family member or stay home from a party because they're sick. That is to me, an everlasting edifice."
Sam Kleinfeld - Unorthodox Love

Would I recommend this? I would definitely recommend this to readers. Elements of Orthodox Judaism are present but not to the point where it preaches about right and wrong. Loved the chemistry between the main characters.

We get to experience Penina’s awkward dates as she is now too old for the best matches and unfortunately she has a condition that would make it impossible for her to carry a child (Be aware if that is a trigger for you). I only mention the trigger since she is pretty hard on herself and her view of her worth because of it in her community. But as she grows and makes some decisions that are more sacrificial to save her family she realizes that she is worthy of more than she was expecting of life. Not all doors are closed when you get bad news. You can still be a parent even if you have fertility struggles (watching the last season of Ted Lasso and keep telling my husband this).
There was a bit of miscommunication as things seemed a certain way but they really weren’t. Feelings got hurt when she thought he was done but he was just prepping his grand gesture. Which was a thoughtful and meaningful gesture! Also, loved the way that she ended up getting her chance at a family. That's the best case scenario all around. Maybe spoiler idk.
It is great to see rep from the Jewish community that is more Orthodox than Reform. There is so much more than the awesome food and vocabulary there are also rules that they live by to protect themselves and their reputations and their hearts and souls.

Thank you alcove press for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

I adored this story. Pennia is a trip, and I love her. Her inner dialogue was spectacular, but Pennia is a sweetheart with a big heart. She cares about her family so much she is willing to put herself lst at all times.

Pennia has had difficulty being as she can't have kids, although she puts up a good front. Meanwhile, she has serious feelings for Sam, but he isn't Unorthodox.

But she is getting married so she can't think of Sam - she needs to get married to help her sister - it won't be that bad.

I devoured this book and loved it.