Thank You For Sharing is a brilliant debut full of longing, healing, delicious banter, and beautiful rep. Written from dual POV, we get to see these 2 navigate a complicated relationship that started out in a sleepaway camp, ended in tragedy, and started anew due to being paired at work. Sexy, sweet, and funny, this is a must read!

DNF @ 13%, I did not vibe with the way this book is written at all. Just something about the writing style really prevented me from engaging in this book, also I don't like the FMC. She is (justifiable) in some of her anger given the deep history racial/religious/gender inequality against her, but at some points it gets a little overwhelming. The MMC seems like a pushover and a simp, and overall way too vanilla and boring. It was really hard to care about this relationship

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit, I wasn't sure going into this one. I feel like sometimes romance books like this can be hit or miss for me, but I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this one. This book has some good representation, and the characters felt fairly well developed and enjoyable. There were some places where the pacing felt a little slow, but overall it was a fairly fast and fun read.

3.5 stars, some mild spoilers ahead.

I was really excited to see this on NetGalley, since I really can’t resist a romance with Jewish leads. I definitely liked reading about Liyah and Daniel’s winding path friends to lovers to enemies to friends to friends with benefits to lovers. Even though they didn’t actually get together until the end of the book, I did kind of feel like them becoming friends with benefits did take away from some of the fun to read tension between them so I wasn’t super into that. However, I did enjoy reading the (first) love confession scene, even if I did feel a bit of second hand embarrassment.

As for the characters themselves, I loved that this book was dual POV so I really felt like I got to know them. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of Liyah’s character development. Although it was great to see her actually getting in touch with her emotions and overcoming past fears and stubbornness, I felt like it didn’t happen at all throughout most of the book then was kind of speed run at the end. As for Daniel, I also didn’t feel like I really saw him learning how to work through his grief about his dad. It felt like that plot point was brought up and just dismissed super easily through one therapy session.

I feel like I’m complaining a lot in this review, but I actually did like reading this book. I think a lot of the stuff I didn’t like is more subjective. Overall I would still recommend it, and I want to read more from this author in the future.

Katz's writing is witty and charming, making it easy to root for Daniel and Liyah as they navigate their complicated history and figure out their feelings for each other. The novel touches on important themes such as identity, race, and culture, and does so with a deft hand.

Overall, Thank You for Sharing is a heartfelt and engaging novel about love, friendship, and forgiveness. It's a must-read for fans of contemporary romance and anyone who loves a good enemies-to-lovers story.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Liyah Cohen-Jackson is a guarded and ambitious museum worker who finally gets the chance to be a curator but there is one problem: she has to work with Daniel Rosenberg–her childhood best friend that betrayed her trust once. Daniel works in a marketing firm that gets hired by the Chicago Museum. After 14 years of not talking with each other, they find themselves in a position where they are practically forced to work together, which constitutes a big problem for Liyah, but as time flies and they get to relearn each other, their dynamic shifts.

From the very first scene at the plane, I knew this book would be absolutely amazing, however, I wasn’t ready for just how good it was. From the tropes, and the romcom cliches, to the amazing representations, this book was a reader’s dream. This book is filled with fantastic representation, with a BIWOC Jewish main character and a Korean POC Jewish main male character. The Queer representation was also executed perfectly. Aside from the main characters, the side characters were so detailed and lovely. The found family in this book gave me life.

Liyah is a very strong-minded heroine and she is aware of her stubbornness or prickliness (even though she will deny it). She’s had a life-long trauma to cause her to create these walls around her–with Neen being the only one she lets in. However, as she becomes closer and closer to Daniel, she finds that lowering her guard isn’t as bad as she expected it to be. I loved how the story wasn’t rushed and it was a very good slow-burn, the pacing of the book felt very realistic. Some decisions aren’t as easy to make as they make them seem in the movies, and in this book, it took a while for Liyah to figure out and make sense of her true feelings. I loved the fact that therapy was very common in the book and that the characters weren’t afraid to reach for help and it was normalized. It broke my heart reading about what Liyah had to go through in college but it’s unfortunately very common, thus as a woman, I appreciated the fact that such an important topic was brought to attention with Liyah going to therapy to heal (and not left to deal alone). Liyah’s trauma was handled in such a delicate and down-to-earth matter. It was very important to see how she tried to find blame for herself even though she had done nothing wrong. I loved how her therapist guided her throughout the book and I just wanted to give Liyah a hug at the end of the book. Daniel’s trauma was also handled very well. Loss of a parent is never easy and his emotions were so raw and vulnerable, and I loved his relationship with his sister. The way they both had different coping styles was an important detail.

I can’t not talk about the friendships. I loved every single one of the side characters. It felt like a real group of friends. I need a Neen in my life, they were the sweetest character and I loved how honest they were with Liyah. They spoke their mind and they were always there for Liyah. I was really curious to see what would happen between Siobhan and Jordan and honestly, I was surprised at the end. I loved how Alex just let the Survival Club come to his bar every week and just drink for free. These scenes allowed these side characters to be more than side characters. The weekly recap they did allow the reader to learn more and connect to these characters.

Liyah and Daniel. They were absolutely amazing. Bounded by their shared experiences as members of marginalized groups and their childhood experiences, they were lucky to find each other again. I loved the talk between the characters about the summer camp and their different point of views about the same incident. I loved the feminism and how Liyah talked about how the world treats girls and boys differently for the same action. I loved seeing Liyah and Danielle find their rhythm again and become each other’s person. If you’re looking for a real, heartwarming story about love and trust with amazing representation, this is the book for you.

Because who doesn't love a second chance love story. Thank you netgalley and St. Martins Press for sponsoring this review. The cute second chance love story of Liyah and Danile. I loved the character development in this book. Their love story was slow but gave you all the feels and took you for a ride. It kept me in anticipation. A page tuner for sure. A great read. A must read!

Let’s talk about third-person, present-tense writing. I hate it, there, I said it. I hate it, even though some of the best books I’ve ever read are written in this style (RWRB, Beartown, Thrown of the Ice). Okay, I might not always hate it, but at least 80% of the time.

In my opinion, there’s a controversy in this type of writing which makes it difficult to connect to a story and its characters. Third-person writing is somewhat distant and tends to be more telling, while present-tense writing makes you feel like the events are happening in real-time. And that’s where the controversy lies for me—distant but real-time. I don’t want distance when I also feel immediacy! According to Google, distance and immediacy are even antonyms.

But I suddenly adore third-person, present-tense when I can really feel the main character's emotions like I’m inside their head. Sadly, that was not the case with Thank You for Sharing. I struggled with the writing from page one. Therefore, I decided to DNF after repeatedly trying for two days to get into the story. It’s definitely on me, and the premise is really good, so give this one a try if you’re not like me and don’t mind the writing style!!

unfortunately this one didn't really work for me. i went into it hoping for fun banter and great chemistry, but what i got instead was "banter" that was trying too hard to be banter and a romance that was, in fact, very lukewarm. i wish we'd gotten more development of the characters, and more time for them to *be* in the relationship rather than just lead up to it.

thanks to St Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of this!

What first drew me to "Thank You for Sharing" was definitely the title. After reading the summary, I was intrigued. I couldn’t have expected the whirlwind of emotions that would follow as I was immersed in this beautiful story.
First off, the tropes! Second chance, enemies to lovers, misunderstandings, forced proximity, LGBTQIA+, slow burn, and one bed.
This book was a rollercoaster that had me laughing and crying from laughter! The chemistry and banter between Daniel and Liyah are top-notch. The relationship between them is very relatable to how people find each other these days, but they work marvelously together. Liyah is undeniably relatable, speaking to every woman's thoughts about love. I found myself relating to her struggle to understand why people enjoy her company. Every heavy topic was written in a way that didn't make me feel weighed down. Though I only have vague knowledge of Judaism, I really enjoyed the inclusion of holidays and explanations of why they celebrate them. I loved Neem and their unwavering support for Liyah. The supporting characters were interesting and made me want to learn more about them! I really enjoyed the read and the ride this took me on. Maybe there will be a nice sequel to see more of these two lovebirds.

I rooted for Daniel and Liyah the whole book! Love the characters- especially Daniel. Their love is a slow burn and when the realization happens, it is very satisfying (I said, 'Come on, girl) about ten times by the time the book ended. The first half meanders through their daily lives while the second half is very stomach-in-knots emotional. The multiculturalism woven through the book is well done and I loved that I got to see the world through their eyes. Overall, it was a great read! Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book and tore through it in a day. Loved the Jewish rep and especially the exploration of biracial Jews and their experiences as Jews of Color in predominantly white Jewish settings. Loved the Jewish sleep away camp references.

A cute enemies to lovers, with BIPOC Jewish characters. I loved the museum setting, but it almost seemed too slow of a ploy to keep my interest.

This was such a thoughtful and layered read, with a dual POV deftly employed to tell the story of two twenty-somethings sorting out life as young Chicago adults while falling love. Daniel has loved Liyah since they were at summer camp as thirteen-year-olds. Liyah has been holding a grudge against Daniel for just as long. When the two are partnered up on a months-long work project, defences come down, they turn to each other for much needed support, and they begin a friends-with-benefits relationship that's a slim disguise for love. While the romance is center stage, Katz also weaves in nuanced subplots about the lingering impacts of grief and assault, and how those life experiences shape who we become and how we relate to others. I loved the Chicago setting after so many years of calling the city home, especially the use of the Field Museum, where I did one of my most memorable freelance projects. I also appreciated that while there's plenty of lust in the book, the relationship goes well beyond physical attraction, diving deeper into the ways each main character grows with the support, encouragement, and sometimes even simple presence of the other. The friendships are also fabulous, balancing out the central cast of characters with the kinds of people we all need by our sides, the ones who challenge us to be better when we make mistakes, but who never stop wanting the best for us. The title is perfect, the dialogue sharp, the romance a fantastic blend of swoony, steamy, and sweet. I really enjoyed this one, and I look forward to seeing what Katz follows up with in years to come.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I always love to see Jewish romances! Thank you to Rachel Runya Katz for sharing (haha) this one. I definitely appreciated having dual POV for this book, as I felt like I got to know both characters very well. Oftentimes, I’ll finish a romance book and find I know next to nothing about the love interest, so I’m glad that didn’t happen here. I generally liked both Liyah and Daniel as characters, and I also thought they clearly had good chemistry. I also thought they had a good introduction scene (even if the secondhand embarrassment was real) and I liked the plot reason for why they had to keep seeing one another. There were a couple aspects of the book that were things I personally didn’t enjoy. I would have liked MORE of a plot, as sometimes I felt a bit bored with the storyline. I also thought that Liyah’s character development was slow for a while and then seemed to happen very quickly. The pacing just felt a bit off to me. I was also surprised that some reviewers called this a slow burn, when it didn’t seem like one to me. I will say it takes a while for the main characters to properly get together, but they did at least get involved with each relatively early on in the book. I will say that the love confession was good. It got a gasp out of me! I’d say that overall the book is a solid 3.5 stars, but I admit that some of my reasons for taking it below 4 stars are because of personal preference. I hope I get to read future books from Rachel Runya Katz!

Absolutely loved this debut! As a twenty-something myself, I felt like Rachel wrote a novel true to people of the age and penned an incredibly realistic tale of what it looks like to fall in love nowadays. The banter and quips were unreal and there was a beautiful balance to the softness and sharpness of Daniel and Liyah's relationship. The side characters shone and I am just so pleased that I got to spend so much time with these characters.

Note: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

By far the most refreshing part of this book is the realism put into these characters, their maturity (and occasional lack of), and their emotional depths. As someone who fits into some of the target demographics (mid 20’s Jew here :)), I very much enjoyed the callbacks to Jewish sleep away camps, from Maccabiah to sneaking out at night.

The one part of this story that I disliked was how the passing of time was often ambiguous and hard to follow, aside from when SPOILER chapters included meeting notes END SPOILER or holidays occurred. While I believe this may have been intentional by the author, it is not a choice I personally like which is why I give this book a 4.5.

I would recommend this book to those in their mid-20’s who want a romance story of childhood lovers to enemies to friends to lovers. While there is a dollop of angst along the way, this is ultimately a story of two beautiful souls finding each other again.

Such a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

This book had stellar representation. I was roped into the plot. The characters had great chemistry. I had a good time.

5 stars
I can already tell this will end up as one of my favorite romances of the year. Two biracial Jewish characters straddle various cultural divides when they meet as adults for the first time since their decade-prior summer camp breakup, thrown together on a project for the Chicago Field Museum. They are in some ways as different as night and day: Daniel a Korean-American finance bro, a simp for public transit and still mourning the recent death of his father, and Liyah a Black bisexual anthropologist devoted to her museum work and too scarred by past experiences to believe in love. Despite Liyah initially hating Daniel’s guts over their childhood romance gone sour, the two over time develop a believable and compelling friendship, that morphs into a friends-with-benefits situation masking all-out love.
The romance between Liyah and Daniel, and their diverse friendships and family relationships, are moving and feel true-to-life. I saw my own friends and relationships reflected in these characters and in Katz’s Chicago, and applaud the author for writing a diverse cast that really felt like unique individuals and not a collection of one-note stereotypes. I will be keeping an eye on Rachel Runya Katz, and snapping up her next book the minute it hits the shelves. I’ve already pre-ordered this one for friends I know will love it.