Raymond Lee and Tyla Collier narrate Rachel Runya Katz’s Thank You For Sharing, an interracial romance about Chicago Museum junior curator Liyah Cohen-Jackson and marketing executive Daniel Rosenberg, childhood summer camp BFFs whose friendship abruptly and bitterly ended 14 years ago who get a second chance through a work project. Liyah and Daniel’s lives reconnect when they’re seated next to each other on a flight home. Neither expects to see the other again after pushing each other’s buttons during the tense, turbulent flight. Unexpectedly, Liyah’s employer hires Daniel’s marketing firm to help improve their membership/subscriptions and attendance by forcing them to work together on a project that could potentially land them career-changing promotions.

The lingering tension from their broken friendship and their surprisingly intense chemistry and connection intensify as they work together on the project and attend post-work social gatherings with colleagues. Daniel and Liyah must resolve their issues and face why their friendship/relationship ended all those years ago. They’re each biracial with a Jewish parent, giving them a shared experience as Jews of color and a common ground/foundation for rebuilding their friendship. Can they ignore their growing feelings and passion for one another, or will they surrender and take a chance at love?

Lee and Collier’s lively dual-POV narration perfectly captures Daniel, Liyah, and the secondary characters, providing distinct voices for each by using intonation, dialects, accents, and pacing to differentiate between the characters. I love that Collier and Lee’s narration is consistent for Liyah and Daniel and how Lee’s narration for Liyah captures her even though his voice isn’t quite right in pitch or tone. Their narration especially shines during intimate and emotional scenes. Collier’s Irish accent is lovely.

Katz’s vivid description, dry wit and humor, active writing style, and dynamic and natural-sounding dialogue and language use help make her debut a charming romance. Her emotional and original story, skillful worldbuilding, and colorful storytelling kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. Katz’s diverse cast of well-developed and fascinating characters are fallible, likable, and easy to care about and become invested in their lives. They vary in race, ethnicity, gender, cultural background, sexuality, and body type, reflecting the diversity that makes our lives richer.

Daniel is sweet, kind, funny, gentle, thoughtful, patient and still harbors feelings for Liyah. However, he’s clueless about what led to the end of their friendship. Tough, self-protective, independent, strong, intense, and emotional, Liyah is still bitter about events during the last summer camp she attended with Daniel SPOILER, which was only reinforced by a traumatic experience with another friend in college. SPOILER. Liyah is so mean to Daniel. But I love how he just rolls with it. She has intense, negative feelings about love and relationships. Because she fears being hurt, Liyah doesn’t believe in romantic love and only has sexual relationships—especially when friends are involved.

Katz deftly develops Liyah and Daniel’s relationship from former friends turned foes/enemies-to-lovers to friends-to-lovers with sexy, sarcastic, witty, funny, steamy, emotional, sweet, and intimate banter, interactions, and love scenes that contribute to their character development and evolution. Unable to resist their fiery attraction, Daniel and Liyah agree to a friends-with-benefits-only sexual relationship. But of course, Daniel catches feelings, and Liyah has no idea what’s up with her.

I appreciate how Katz develops Liyah and Daniel’s relationships with others outside of their relationship that are nurturing, intimate, and genuine. Liyah’s relationship with her BFF, Neen, and Daniel’s relationship with his sister, Kayla, is essential to developing their characters. They also give them vital emotional support and advice. Furthermore, Liyah’s relationship with her family and Daniel and Liyah’s relationship with Jordan and Siobhan, with whom they form an after-work meet-up group, help reveal their characters and contribute to their evolution along with the story. Their humorous banter, dialogue, interactions, and fascinating discussions are entertaining. I love when characters in novels talk to each other about life and what’s on their minds and hearts. Katz incorporates the group’s texts, emails, rules, and meeting notes into the novel.

Fast-paced, emotional, sexy, funny, and angsty, Thank You for Sharing is a sweet romance exploring themes of dating, romance, falling in love, friendship, biracial identity, Jewish faith/tradition, biphobia, sexual assault, grief, racial microaggressions and stereotypes, and emotional healing and recovery. It’s an audio listen recommended for fans of childhood friends-to-foes, enemies-to-lovers, second chance, first love, and interracial romances.

Content warnings – discussions of sexual assault and parent death (both occurred off-page).

Macmillan Audio provided an advanced listening copy via Netgalley for review.

I appreciated the fact that this story had Jewish characters, as well as a biracial rep, and LGBTQ, and showed representation this way, but for me I struggled with the writing style which was written in third person. The audiobook narration was enjoyable, and I loved the character development.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-friends to lovers
-childhood friends to rivals
-summer camp references
-Jewish rep
-queer rep

*many thanks to st martins press, and Macmillan audio, and Netgalley for the gifted ALC to review

I didn't care for this. The conflict was a boring and something out of highschool. The characters were meh. The best parts of the book were the background pieces, the girls job at a museum currating exhibits, the friend group that met at the speak easy.

I adored the concept of this story, all that it was about and was excited to listen. Daniel and Liyah meet at Jewish summer camp. They became more than Bff’s and bonded over the fact they were both considered “other” as they weren’t the typical idea of what a Jewish person is and looks like. Teenaged attraction is a powerful thing given all the emotions and hormones. They are having the time of their lives until what is seemingly a misunderstanding tears them apart. Daniel has no idea what happened as he was innocent, where as Liyah, who wasn’t a happy person and held onto the misdirected anger and hatred and wore it like a suit of armor. Years later, though a twist of fate, they wind up working together on a work project that’s important to both of them. Daniel is happy to see her, while Liyah is less than amused and is outwardly hostile and pretty awful to him. What I adored about this story was the concept of a second chance romance, the inclusivity, the amazing friendships, the humor, the happily ever after and that it was about and embraced the Jewish culture. I also loved the secondary characters. Liyahs BFF was amazing. I personally didn’t find there to be much positive chemistry between Daniel and Liyah and didn’t find her to be terribly likable, so it was a bit tough for me at times, but overall I love a HEA so this mostly worked for me.

There were a few things about this book I liked: the Jewish representation, the found family, and the mental health presentation.

Mostly I found this book to be a challenge to stick with. The female character is unlikeable - clinging to something that happened in middle school and never really evolving or growing in her relationship with the male character. Both characters are horrible communicators so there were plenty of times I just wanted to force them in a room together (and I’m apparently not alone because their friends are telling them to communicate better all the time!)

I listened to the audiobook which I thought was well done by both narrators. The dual POV worked well for this story.

I voluntarily read an early version of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank You for Sharing was a wholesome and realistic modern day love story. The characters were so lovable and I found myself rooting for them the entire time! I loved that it focused not only on romantic relationships but friendships as well. Being in my mid-late 20's myself, having the story focus on the struggles of people my age was so lovely and allowed me to feel more attached to the characters. The only con I have was the amount of miscommunication between the two main characters...not my favourite trope! Otherwise this was a very enjoyable romance that was much deeper than surface level. The audiobook was also very well done!

Narrators Raymond and Lee; Tyla Collierdid a great job bringing these characters to life especially those extra accents they had to master for some characters. I do wish the man's voice was used all around and visa versa but that is a personal choice and didn't change the beauty of the story

I love a lot from this book: the humour, the friends to lover troop. A second chance at love trope, but the main thing I love is that this book shows us the Jewish people of colour and their experiences.

The story has many levels to Daniel and Liyah's journey. They went from enemies, friends to lovers to enemies to lovers for life,
I loved this journey for them, and I was happy to be along for the ride.

The supporting characters were also very well written and added a nice cherry on top; I wouldn't mind a story with them as main characters.

Anyway, this a great romance that gave me everything I was looking for

When Liyah runs into an old friend some summer camp on a plane, the way their friendship ended all those years ago makes things pretty uncomfortable. Things devolve further when they learn that they'll be working together for the foreseeable future. Liyah and Daniel will have to move past their history in order to have a productive working relationship.... but that might not be the only thing that comes out of their chance encounter.

I struggled a little to get into the e-book version of this book, but the narration for the audio was great and I was hooked right away, so I continued bouncing between the two versions based on what I had time for that day.

I loved that right off the bat this book had a diverse cast of characters, though I do feel like maybe they mentioned a few too many times that Liyah is both black and Jewish. If her name (Cohen-Jackson) didn't give it away, I got it after the first mention :) I also really liked the seamless inclusion of a person with they/them pronouns. Sometimes I find that when those characters are in novels their gender identity. it's often the primary focus and makes a spectacle of it when the whole point is to include them as part of everyday life, but this author did an awesome job making the characters feel authentic.

My only hesitation with this book is that based on the description I thought it was a second chance romance, and while I guess technically it is since the characters had met before, it definitely lacked the uncomfortable getting-to-know-you-again vibe that makes me love SCR. It was however a very cute, compulsively readable enemies to lovers situation that so many romance readers love. I would definitely read more from this author!

Thank You for Sharing is heartfelt a childhood friends to enemies to coworkers to friends to lovers romance filled with loss, strife, struggle, growth and love. Sweet & swoony second chance romance and a great debut! Looking forward to reading future works by Rachel Runya Katz.

Method Read: 🎧
Raymond Lee & Tyla Collier did a fantastic job bringing the story to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy.

Thank You for Sharing by Rachel Runya Katz
Narrators, Raymond Lee and Tyla Collier
I enjoyed this so much that I hated for it to be over. Cute, sweet, slightly steamy. Two mixed race late 20’s adults who first met in Jewish sleep away camp as preteens. Of course there are problems and a long complicated road to the HEA but it was such a good story of friendship and romance. I also liked that their friends and family are included and there are some serious issues such as grief and emotional damage from a sexual assault in college.
The narrators were okay but not fabulous and there are some email exchanges which are a bit annoying to listen to when the email address is read every time. You could skip that when reading but not in an audiobook.

I don't feel like this book will be super memorable for me. It wasn't bad, but I was hoping for more emotion from the main characters that felt real.

This was decent. Didn’t love it didn’t hate it. I just never got attached to the characters. I did like the Chicago setting and Museum content! The book is dual POV and there are two narrators. Solid audiobook.

Rachel Runya Katz!!! This was wonderful!! The audiobook was great I really enjoyed the narrator, it really enhanced the story for me. This book was fun, romantic, and filled with so much chemistry! So good!

4 stars!

I enjoyed "Thank You for Sharing" by Rachel Runya Katz, a childhood-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers dramatic romance layered with representation, reconnection, and growth. I love the bisexual representation, the Jewish representation, and the BIPOC representation here. You can feel each of these things represented in each and every fiber of this story through and through. They are not merely used as plot devices or checkboxes ticked off for one reason or another, they shape the main characters, Liyah and Daniel, and who they are, through and through. This book mixes Jewish religious practices with more modern sensibilities and attitudes. I learned a lot about the Jewish culture from reading this romance. I found this book to be pretty delightful. There is some good banter here, which adds some much-needed comedy to the mix as the subject matters of this story can get pretty heavy at times. Liyah copes with her trauma through humor, and I definitely saw myself in that aspect of the story. I was invested in Liyah and Daniel's relationship, both past and present. I yearned for them to see past their childhood traumas, to overcome their deep-seated anger and grudges in order for them to grow together, and separately, as people. I also adored the found family aspect of the story with Siobhan and Jordan and the speakeasy survival club. The SSC notes at the end of most chapters were a really fun touch! At first, I thought the reason for Liyah's teenage anger towards Daniel was a bit unnecessary. The more she explained the fallout she experienced from that event, however, the more I saw her side, identified with her, and understood it entirely. This book has a bit of everything for everyone. It's a little spicy, but that's not really the point of the story. It's more about the exploration of these two people as they attempt to overcome their pasts and current messiness and move forward as friends and potentially more. I loved Raymond Lee and Tyla Collier's audiobook narration here. They really enhanced the story and brought Daniel and Liyah to life in a way that felt authentic and lived-in! A really terrific debut, I can't wait to see what Rachel Runya Katz comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley, Rachel Runya Katz, and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the free ALC in exchange for my honest review. This was a great debut romance. I loved the charactersn, the story and representation. Definitely a phenomenal read for #23for23

I enjoyd this book, it's a romance and also I think thoughtfully reflected the challenges of your 20s in making friends, finding love and dealing with work challenges, espcially for folks of color.

This was such a heartfelt, layered debut full of emotional depth!! Maybe my new favorite trope, this book sees childhood friends, Daniel and Liyah, turn enemies, reunite years later when forced together for work and eventually becoming friends again and later lovers.

With a unique shared experience being Jews of color, Korean American Daniel and African American Liyah, bonded at summer camp, only to have Daniel blow things up after their first kiss. Still bitter, Liyah holds a grudge from the past and resents having to work with Daniel on a campaign to help promote the Chicago museum where she works.

I really enjoyed that this was a slow burn where we really see the relationship between Daniel and Liyah grow organically. They each have emotional baggage to work though, Liyah, especially is still trying to get over sexual trauma (rape) from her time in college and Daniel recently lost his father. The therapy rep and found family in this book was top notch!!

Great on audio narrated by Raymond Lee and Tyla Collier, this marks a new author to watch for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!

a heartfelt and thought-provoking read that combines romance, self-discovery, and cultural identity in a compelling way. The characters are well-developed, with their flaws and vulnerabilities adding depth to the narrative. This is an engaging novel that is perfect for fans of friends-to-lovers stories seeking a deep emotional connection and a satisfying journey towards forgiveness and love.

the audiobook version narrated by Raymond Lee and Tyla Collier, enhances the reading experience. Both narrators bring the characters to life with their expressive voices, capturing the emotions and nuances of the story.

Fourteen years ago, Daniel and Liyah were at the same Jewish summer camp, and have not spoken since. They reconnect after being seated next to each other on a plane, and even that interaction goes badly. But it seems the universe is determined for them to be in each other’s lives when the museum Liyah works at hires Daniel’s marketing firm, and they are forced to not only confront their past, but try to rebuild their friendship as they work together.

This was such a sweet story. I loved watching Daniel and Liyah rebuild their relationship - first becoming friends and learning to trust each other again, continuing to bond over their experiences being both BIPOC and Jewish, helping each other through grief and trauma, and ultimately falling for each other. This love story was beautiful in so many ways. I look forward to reading more from Rachel Ruyna Katz.

The audiobook was narrated by Raymond Lee and Tyla Collier. I thought both did a wonderful job bringing this story to life. I enjoyed listening to their narration.

Thank you to SMP Romance, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advance copies.

I really enjoyed this book so much. There was just something about these characters and their friend group that really worked for me. The main characters in this book are Liyah and Daniel, who were childhood friends turned enemies after a summer camp incident. They have a work project years later together and start to rebuild their friendship by bonding over their shared bipoc Jewish heritage and experience feeling left out and not fitting into religious and cultural boxes.

This book felt like a warm hug for me; there are not a lot of books about black Jewish fmc's so I really felt seen while reading this. The main characters were so relatable, and I loved their little friend group and their get-together and meeting minutes. Liyah is the bisexual grumpy fmc that doesn't believe in love, while Daniel is the soft and sensitive mmc. I especially loved that this is a story that has Korean and black Jewish representation stories like this especially for me as a black Jewish woman is so important.
I liked seeing the main characters develop, grow, heal, and grieve in authentic ways. I wasn't even annoyed by the conflict that happened towards the end because I thought it was necessary for the stories and character development. The romance was a slow burn, it was also sweet and a little steamy. Overall this was a good comforting read.

I got approved for an ALC and I thought the narrators really did a great job. The audiobook is a dual narration with different marries for both main characters and and their voices really fit with the characters and were very distinct. The narration flowed smoothly and made for a really good listening experience. Thank you Macmillan audio for this audiobook arc for an honest review.