I read The Matzah Ball a few years ago and liked it! And the cover is so cuuuute, so I was happy to request this one! I loved the little parts of this book: Scrabble, her pottery. Greg reading all the books she owned (even her romance books), and Nelly <3

I feel that this book was more a lesson on Jewish history and Jewitchery and anti-Semitism and golems and overcoming the trauma from your past first and romance second. I felt like the author putting this story out in the midst of the current political climate was similar to Faye's new window decal during the Paper Boys' anti-semitic attacks: a stand of bravery and pride of her heritage!

Some stand-out quotes:
"You deserve to be with people who bring out the softness in you, not the survivor in you. You deserve to be in relationships where you are safe, where you have clear boundaries, and they are respected. You deserve to be in relationships where your needs are met. But first, you must untangle the unhealthy knots that have bound you to these patterns."

"Language. The thing that separates us from all the other creatures. The ability to name. The ability communicate, tell stories, transmit those stories to others. For Jews, language is creation.”

"He read all my books… which really, when I think about it today, is its own special and unique type of love language."

"It was the most remarkable type of magic—falling in love, finding your person, crafting your own life, writing a story where you deserved to be valued."

When I tell you I freaked out upon finding out I was approved to read this ARC...it's not an understatement. When I tell you that this book seriously disappointed me...it's also not an understatement, unfortunately.

This book had so much potential - but I'm honestly not sure why this is considered a "romance" novel. The amount of "romance" in this book could have filled a chapter, and that's about it. We are supposed to be convinced that the connection between Greg and Faye is deepening with every page (along with the tension)...but I'm not buying it. It felt forced, and unrealistic.

Another thing that I wasn't sold on was Faye as an FMC. For someone who had been an attorney, she felt really gullible, and insecure. I understand that she went through some SERIOUS trauma when she was younger (and really, no one should ever have to go through something like that), but it almost became her entire personality. The amount of times we went from "Greg is definitely a Golem, and I must destroy him" to "Greg might be a golem, but I really like him" - it gave me whiplash. And the "romance" with Eric - what was the point?

I don't know; I appreciate Jean's books and the history of Judaism and culture of the Jewish people, but this particular book felt like that was more the focus of the book than anything else. This wouldn't have been a big deal except for the fact that this is supposed to be a book about romance, and there was really none of that to be found. Honestly not sure if I'll be recommending this book to any of my friends.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Jean Meltzer for giving me the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I don't know if running someone over with your bike can be described as meeting cute but that's what happens to Faye and the man she names Greg. Faye's a Jewitch ceramic artist living her best life-or the best life she thinks she can have- in Woodstock when the anti-Semitic Paper Boys come to town. Is Greg, who has amnesia as a result of the accident, the golem she made and buried in her rose garden after a drunken night? Or is he someone else? I'm a fan of Melzer and while this isn't my favorite of her books, I do like how she blend topical themes (including the lingering trauma of abuse) with Jewish history and culture with a love story. She also writes great friends for her characters (Nelly is a hoot). And, best of all, I was surprised at the end. Thanks to the publisher for the arC. A good read with a bit of spice.

Faye was a successful lawyer, engaged to her longtime boyfriend Stuart who shy months from their wedding day, called off their engagement while on a snowmobiling trip. Now Faye owns a ceramics storefront where she displays her pottery. And she practices Jewish Magic. Her town becomes littered with antisemitic flyers, naming Jewish business owners. To deal with the stress Faye turns to her pottery, and creates a golem to protect her and the town.

A seemingly perfect red-haired beast of a man, Greg, gets hit by Faye as she was riding her bike and now has amnesia.. He seems too good to be true and Faye begins to wonder who or what he really is! Could Greg be the result of her Jewitch Magic!?

This was a funny read that focused on some very serious notes including: fighting antisemitism, real journalism and not spreading propaganda, and discovering your worth.

Read if you love:
Jewish Representation
LGBTQ Representation
Diverse Reads
Allyship

Thank you @netgalley and @harlequintradepublishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Magical Meet Cute is set to be published August 27, 2024.

3.5 Stars. There were many things I liked about this book. Faye had a lot of growing and understanding of herself to do, plus gaining back her confidence. I do think there are many a trigger warning for parts of this book, so be sure to look those up. Overall I liked the main love interest and the idea she thought she created him since he kind of showed up out of nowhere. The ending was cute. For a rom com there were a lot of heavier themes that I think were done well.

I thought this was really cute! I loved the idea of the golem and creating your perfect man from scratch. The characters were well developed and had good chemistry, and I enjoyed how the plot unfolded related to the amnesia. I struggle in books both when characters seem to be unable to talk to one another and can’t seem to get out of their own way (just talk to each other people!) and this book definitely had both of those issues for me. I felt that the pacing was off and that some things were really drawn out and others resolved too quickly. Overall, I thought it was a solid romance and I enjoyed. I have not read a primarily Jewish focused story before in a romance and really enjoyed that aspect as well

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis: After Faye’s broken engagement, she has sworn off men, and she is happily living on her own in Woodstock, NY, running her own pottery shop. When antisemitic fliers start appearing around town, though, she begins to feel unsafe and drunkenly created a golem out of clay, giving it all the characteristics of her perfect man. When she just so happens to meet the perfect man the next day, it seems too good to be true - is it a coincidence or did she really magic him to life?

Thoughts: I always enjoy how Jean Meltzer has a talent for combining sweet romances with more serious issues. She tackled the relevant and timely topic of antisemitism well, and the Jewish representation was great. I adored the characters in this one - Faye is delightfully charming and chaotic, her friends are lovely, and Greg is such a hulking golden retriever of a man. The romance was lacking a little chemistry for me, but honestly that made sense within the story so it’s fine. I flew through this one with its surprisingly suspenseful storyline. Definitely recommend!

Read this if you like:
🧙 learning about Jewish culture
🧙 folklore
🧙 badass female main characters
🧙 magical elements
🧙 self-discovery and character growth
🧙 contemporary romance
🧙 low spice level

There was many aspects of this book that I really liked. I liked the MC reinventing herself by doing something she is passionate about. I love that she finds comfort in her religion and is exploring that openly. The plot of the story is fun. The main character Faye hits Greg with her bike and he hits his head causing him to have amnesia. Faye feels guilty that no one has claimed him and takes him home to nurse him back to health and hopefully figure out who he belongs to.
I felt like the Golem aspect was strange and didn’t fit well. I like a magical aspect to a story, but thought it took away from the meet cute romcom.

Sweet story blending Jewish folklore & magical elements. But beware -- A big focus of the plot is around anti-semitism acts in the FMC’s community. If anti-semitism is triggering for you, be careful reading this book.

Well-written but slow paced until the end where everything comes to a huge climax! I loved the message in the book about how you don't have to be perfect to be loved or to give love. I love the development of the characters!

I loved the mystery of who Greg (MMC) was and who was behind the anti-semitism acts! I had suspiciousness toward the discovered leader of The Paper Boys way before the mystery was solved in the book.

With the heaviness of the book, low spice/closed door/low chemistry between characters is understandable -- but I really wish there had been one spicy scene at the end.

After a troubled childhood and a traumatizing breakup Faye has finally found happiness asa ceramicist in Woodstock NY, even if she is alone. She also enjoys dabbling in Jewish magic and mysticism. Then antisemitic flyers are distributed around the town, and target her and her store making Faye feel vulnerable so one night she drinks (quite a bit) of wine and creates her own perfect man out of clay (and uses a bit of magic). When she accidentally hits a man with her bike the next day and takes him home to heal, he just seems to be too perfect - could Faye have created a golem the night she created the clay man? Did Faye create her ideal man, did he walk in front of her bike and is he now living with her?

This slow burn romance went into deeper topics than most, it touched upon Faye’s childhood trauma and also present day antisemitism. I think Jean Meltzer did a great job addressing antisemitism (not surprising, her account often addresses Jewish history and antisemitism) and I loved that the seriousness of the topic was mixed with the lightness of a romance. As for the Jewish magic and mysticism - I would love more of this in novels - it’s such a rich topic and I’m so glad Jean went there in this novel (and I am a sucker for a golem). Basically this novel will give you the romance you want but in the end you’ll learn something along the way.

Thank you to Mira Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review

The main character of this novel, Faye, is a ceramic artist who survived a difficult childhood but has now established herself in small town Woodstock, NY, where she also is interested in Jewish magic and mysticism, calling herself a “Jewitch.” One morning she literally runs into a handsome guy with her bicycle - is Greg the perfect guy, albeit with amnesia - or could he be a golem come to life that she drunkenly made the night before?

This certainly was a unique plot for a slow burn romance, and it was a fun one. But the book also gets pretty deep, both about all the trauma Faye has experienced and how it has affected her, but also about antisemitism. Plenty of books deal with historical antisemitism, but few address it in the present day, so I really appreciated how this book dealt with it, especially now when antisemitism is really on the rise. But yet, the book was also a fun read which I appreciated - the way it balances the darkness with lightness. But I guess it shouldn’t surprise me because author Jean Meltzer herself does so much to spread Jewish joy and light in the world. So read this one and you can know you’ll both be getting a good story, and also reading and supporting a truly nice author.

Enjoyable and Informational - I will start by saying that I do not have extensive knowledge about jewish history. I learned a bit and researched a little more as a result of picking up this book. The various characters bring a bit of laughter and levity to the story and overall it is worth the read and am glad that I read it.

ARC Review: Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA books for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Faye Kaplan accidentally hits a handsome stranger with her bike, she doesn’t know how her world is about to change. An avid member of the Woodstock, NY Jewish community and owner of Magic Mud Pottery, Faye has been content in her solitary lifestyle.
Faye decides to take the stranger under her wing when he wakes in the hospital with amnesia. As he heals, the stranger begins to develop the traits of Faye’s dream man. Or at least, the one she wished for when she got drunk and performed a Jewitch protection ritual. Faye is torn between falling in love with the man of her dreams or believing that this mysterious stranger is born of her own magic and could have devious intentions?

Magical Meet Cute is exactly that - cute and magical! Faye is a fantastic FMC, she is dynamic and relatable and learns the important balance between strength and vulnerability. I loved the small town feeling of Woodstock, NY and the close-knit feeling of the Jewish community there. Meltzer’s discussion of how antisemitism affects reach into everyday life was conveyed with emotion, and it was clear that the anxiety and fear on the page wasn’t just fiction.

My struggles with the book came with the handsome stranger, Greg. I learned that the amnesia trope is not my cup of tea. I couldn’t find Greg attractive with no memories or personality, he seemed child-like and I got the ick in a major way.

Please check trigger warnings and take care of yourself while reading, this book discusses themes of antisemitism and depicts crime/derogatory speech. There are also discussions of child abuse and disability resulting from that abuse.

Magical Meet Cute will be published August 27th 2024!

The writing in this book is excellent, and it's my own fault that I had to DNF. I didn't read the description of the book carefully enough and missed the fact that it involves amnesia. Amnesia is one of a very few romance tropes that I just can't tolerate. But already in just the short part that I read, I fell in love with the character, I thought the description of the town of Woodstock was true to life, and I loved her pottery business. Fans of this author who are unbothered by amnesia will love this!

It didn’t take me very long after starting this book to draw a connection between it and a 2023 Hallmark movie named ‘Made for Each Other’. Thankfully, because of that movie the idea of golems was not a foreign concept.

I enjoyed the characters and the setting. Probably the most well-done aspect of the story, in my opinion, was the portrayal of Jewish characters and how each one was both affected and coped with antisemitism. Jean did a wonderful job of portraying this very current topic and putting the reader (no matter their own background) into these character’s shoes.

Where I struggled was the vehicle that theme was shown through. At times it was hard for me to get into the love story part of the book. I also felt a lot of the emotions/feelings were told rather than shown, making Faye and Greg’s relationship one I couldn’t relate to in a lot of ways. I also felt a few scenes/topics could have been removed to help with pacing issues (especially experienced in the first 25-30%).

Still, it was a solid book and my first in Jewish romance. I’ll be back.

The story follows Faye, a former lawyer from
NYC who has uprooted her life, moved to the small town of Woodstock and opened her own pottery studio after being dumped by her long time fiancé. Faye considers herself to be a “Jewitch”, and one night following an anti-Semitic attack on her town she gets drunk and creates her own Golem to match what she considers to be the perfect protector….

I struggled to be drawn into this story, I made it to 18% before deciding it wasn’t for me and DNF’d. I do think it has its place for a particular audience but I didn’t fit the bill.

Although I am not Jewish and know very little about the religion/culture, I was intrigued to read a story with this background, the problem for me arose when there was a constant use of “Yiddish” terminology. It took me out of the story every time I had to google a term to understand what it meant. I also felt as though Faye was a difficult character to connect with. She clearly had suffered a lot of trauma at a young age, and the hits just kept coming, but I felt she was going to continue playing up her “victim” mentality to a fault. I thought the golem could be a fun, whimsical premise, but as soon as we met Greg I was quickly distracted by his lack of personality and primary focus on Faye’s physical attributes. I didn’t feel a spark between them and just felt I wouldn’t enjoy continuing this story.

I sincerely hope others can read and find enjoyment from this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to share my honest opinions on this ARC.

I wish this book had had a content warning for child abuse. I wasn’t prepared for that. This book is not for me.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

When Faye is dumped by her fiancée, she sells her law firm and moves to Woodstock, NY to start a pottery store. Unfortunately, a wave of antisemitism in the town causes Faye to feel unsafe, so she creates a golem with features she is attracted to, including red hair. The next day, when Faye mows down a hot red-head who gets amnesia from the accident, Faye takes him in and promises to take care of him and help him figure out who he is. He ends up staying a lot longer than expected, and the two form a bond that they both know can't be anything more than friendly for various reasons. Eventually, the antisemitic acts escalate and Greg vows to keep Faye safe at any cost.

This was my first time reading something by Jean Meltzer, and from other reviews I'd read, I thought I was really going to enjoy Magical Meet Cute. I was surprised by how many heavy topics were covered in what looks, by the cover, to be a light-hearted rom-com. There were a few funny moments, but a lot of the humor felt forced and cringy. I didn't love the book excerpts thrown in and found myself skimming a lot of the book.

I loved the setting (Woodstock is such a fun little town), Faye's back-story was interesting and complex, and Greg had big golden retriever energy - I could understand why Faye thought he wasn't a real man because the things he said were so sweet, understanding, and delightful.

The plot had a lot of potential but it didn't quite live up to the promise. I was interested enough that I'd like to go back and read Jean Meltzer's previous titles.

Thank you Harlequin for the ARC. I received on Netgalley.

The story follows Faye, who has been operating the Magical Mud Shop, a pottery store in Woodstock, where she is surrounded by wonderful, supportive friends. Faye moved to Woodstock after a traumatic breakup with her fiancé. One day, while cycling to an event, she accidentally knocks over a man who ends up with a concussion and amnesia. Feeling guilty and concerned for his well-being, she decides to invite him to stay at her home for a few days to help him recover his memory, rather than letting him end up in a shelter.

This book is more than just a romance; it delves into serious topics, such as the increase in antisemitism that Jews have been facing over the past few years. This troubling trend has escalated, making many people feel uncomfortable within their own communities, both in person and online. The book also addresses childhood trauma and its lasting impact on individuals later in life, exploring these issues with care and depth.
I particularly enjoyed the book's exploration of Jewish mysticism, especially the intriguing concept of golems, which I've always been curious about. The banter and friendship that develop between Greg and Faye throughout the story are delightful, and the elderly neighbor, Nelly, is such a wonderful character—she truly deserves her own story.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it. It offers a touch of romance, a bit of magic, and plenty of humor.

2.5/5 - Felt kind of long. I really appreciated the discussion on anti-semitism, but outside of that, it just wasn’t my favorite story overall.

Note: I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.