⭐⭐⭐
0.5🌶️

I liked the idea of this book more than I liked the book itself. It was too long and not enough happened, so I got bored. Even the writing was repetitive; I fell asleep multiple times while reading this book which is *rare* for me. I also didn't like that once she decided he was a golem, she solely focused on destroying him. I was disappointed she didn't even attempt to think of a way to save this person for whom she supposedly had feelings??

3 stars because while I did get bored at points, I liked the overall story and I liked both of the main characters.

Thanks to netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers, and Jean Meltzer for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m very torn about this book, and I think 99% of my issues with it come from how it was marketed. Based on the summary I really expected this to feature far more romance, but it honestly felt like the romance took a backseat to everything else in the plot. Faye and Greg didn’t have a lot of time to really get to know each other, but it also didn’t feel like a good case of insta love either. I just didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters, and I think that really dampened the reading experience for me. The golem of it all also threw me - it’s hard to root for a romance when one of the parties might be a newly created mythological creature. The infantilization of Greg during his “beginnings” really didn’t help either. Not only did it make their relationship feel weirdly imbalanced, but it also made no sense! Amnesia just doesn’t affect motor skills like that.

Other than that major complaint, I did really appreciate the representation and message Meltzer was able to present here. Antisemitism is something that needs to be addressed, and she did a great job of showcasing just how insidious it can be, even in idyllic small towns. The mystery related to the antisemitic messages wasn’t the most in-depth, but it fit with the tone of the story. She also did a fantastic job of addressing some serious topics like childhood trauma, and I appreciated the empathy other characters have Faye throughout the story.

All that to say, this story touched on a lot of important topics, but it did so at the cost of the romance. Since I primarily read this for the romance, I was sad to see that aspect suffer, but I’m happy to see these discussions being had in a novel. 3 stars.

Another great read from Meltzer! I went in completely blind (I didn’t read the synopsis at all), just knowing that whatever she writes I’m going to love - and I did. This one was very, very different than her previous releases, though, as it’s very heavy and emotional. Some parts definitely felt as though they really dragged down the flow of the storyline. The subject matter and those dragging parts is the only reason I’ve rated it 4 and not 5 stars…

Faye (Faiga) is a Jewish witch, a Jewitch, trying to live a peaceful new life in Woodstock. She’s left her NYC lawyer life behind for the slower pace of a potter in the small town. It’s generally been a good life with her small community of close-knit, mostly Jewish friends as well. Then one day, a group comes papering the town with anti semitic flyers and trying to run them off. Faye is so distraught and distracted that she accidentally mows a man down with her bicycle and causes him to have a case of full-on amnesia!

While caring for this unknown person who seems to have no family or friends looking for him, they become great friends and she teaches him all about their Jewish community, and he “finds” himself there. She’s unfortunately got a secret idea about who she thinks he might actually be… and it’s got something to do with a bit of magic she was doing before the accident.

I had a blast reading this book and learning so much about the current and long-term trials the Jewish community has been facing. I knew only a little about it and some of what the media has been putting out. It was very good to get this first-hand take (I’ve seen some of what she’s posted on social media but know there is a ton more). As a non-religious person, I’m always horrified to see these things happening for what I consider to be completely unfounded reasons. Everyone is the same and there is absolutely no reason any of this should happen because of a person’s beliefs or what god they pray to! I’ve never been able to wrap my head around any of this, and it’s been going on for such a long time… Anyways! I absolutely recommend this one because it’s a great read plus some great lessons. It’s a clean romance and very classy, so it is definitely good for everyone. It is a far more emotional read than I was used to from her previous books, dealing with the anti-Semitism as well as quite a number of internal conflicts within the characters.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing MIRA, and this is my honest feedback.

I always enjoy Jean Meltzer’s books so I was excited to receive a review e-arc of her latest release, Magical Meet Cute, from Mira Books.

The story follows Faye, the Jewish owner of a pottery shop in Woodstock, NY. Faye is usually pretty content with her life, but after someone leaves anti-semitic fliers all over her town, she is distraught and looking for comfort. She turns to her pottery, and in a drunken haze, decides she needs to create a golem to protect the town. She takes some creative license along the way, infusing the golem with characters she finds attractive in a man. The next day, too hungover to properly function, Faye accidentally runs into a handsome man with her bike. He has no memory of who he is and no idea what he is in her town. Faye becomes determined to help him find out who he is. The more she gets to know him, however, the more she finds herself incredibly attracted to him and also a little fearful that instead of being her dream man, he may, in fact, actually be the golem she crafted.

I really enjoyed this story! It’s the perfect blend of adorable romance and magical realism, while also tackling the very serious topic of anti-semitism.

Heat Factor: We never get beyond removing shirts, and even that happens quite late

Character Chemistry: Greg is the perfect man for Faye

Plot: After an anti-Semitic attack, Faye makes a golem representing her perfect man. The next day, her perfect man shows up—and he has amnesia. Did she make a golem…for real?

Overall: This was a weird book

When I say this was a weird book, I meant that it was like two very tonally different books were smashed together.

On the one hand, there’s Faye’s angst about whether Greg is a human or a golem. That plotline has a very manic, madcap caper vibe to it. When Faye goes from half convinced to fully convinced, we go full slapstick, with her doing all kinds of rituals to make him vanish. (Hillel the pooping Chinese crested is similarly treated like a madcap joke, even though a dog repeatedly pooping in your house signals an actual problem.) The question of whether Greg is a golem is not resolved until the very end, and there are enough coincidences that I wasn’t sure either. Maybe this is actually a paranormal romance!

On the other hand, this is a book that, at its core, is about the intersections of anti-Semitism and intergenerational trauma. Faye’s mother was abusive and Faye’s father failed to protect her, and so Faye is carrying a lot of trauma around her childhood—in her mind and in her body (her mother broke her wrist when she was a teenager and her hand and wrist are permanently disabled). Stacked on top of that background of feeling unsafe is a surge of anti-Semitic actions in their small upstate New York town, which brings all of Faye’s buried trauma back to the surface. So this side of the book is heavy and serious.

In terms of the characters, Faye is very well-developed. Greg is not. Now, Greg has amnesia (and, initially, aphasia) and may or may not be a golem, ie, nothing but an empty vessel for Faye’s intentions. So the imbalance makes sense from a plot development perspective, but it does make for a different kind of romance reading experience.

Honestly, after closing the book, it’s not the romance that sticks with me. It’s all the other stuff that’s going on in the book. Faye’s Jewitch rituals. The metacommentary about AI and storytelling and baked in anti-Semitism. Nelly the octogenarian building a Nazi-hunting bunker in her basement. (Obviously, Nelly is #goals.) Faye’s repeated recursive musing about the nature of clay. Greg learning how to be in the world post-amnesia by reading all of Faye’s books (self-help, Jewish mysticism, thrillers, and some truly egregious sounding romance novels). Which is to say, there’s a lot that sticks with me, that is interesting about this book…but the romance between Greg and Faye isn’t one of them.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Faye Kaplan used to be engaged and run a successful legal practice, but she has acclimated to a slower pace of life as a potter and she likes it - apart from the fact she is single - not that she minds, but she wouldn't mind meeting the right guy.

One day she finds her town has been blanketed in anti-Semitic flyers after she had no luck meeting someone at her local synagogue. She drunkenly decides to create a golem protector out of pottery for her town and bases him on her ideal man. The next day, she hits a guy with her bike who seems to check off every wish she has. This stranger is handsome and has no memory after their accidental meet-cute.

It is a delightful, engaging read with some scenes that made me laugh out loud. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of magical and practical Jewish elements and the representation of disability in this romance - more of this in Romance books, please and thank you!

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Magical Meet Cute
Author: Jean Meltzer
Romcom

Thank you so much Netfalley for this ARC! This was the perfect, cute read to kick off the beginning of spooky season! I love magical romcoms.. this one was also super unique because the main love interest is a friggin golem 😂. Faye used to have a legal practice but now is living life as a cozy potter in New York. When her tower is targeted by an anti-Semitic movement she summons a golem on accident to protect the town. This golem turns out to be a hot guy that has memory loss and she has to take in to her home. It was super cute and I loved the fact that there was a bit of a mystery side story going on at the same time. It was the perfect balance of spooky cute romcom with plot. I will definitely be checking out her other books. This just released on 8/27/24!

I dnf'd this book. The writing style just wasn't for me and the beginning, in media res, didn't play out very well. I don't feel comfortable giving a full review without getting farther into the book, but I just can't make it.

I love Jean Meltzer and this book was so beyond needed during the current climate for Jews around the world. I enjoyed the characters, the writing and the different sensitive themes that Jean touches upon throughout the book. I did feel that at 60% mark I was reading two separate books once we started wrapping things up. I still really enjoyed this book!

I have mixed feelings about this novel. While the writing style is great, the story didn't exactly convince me and I didn't particularly enjoy the characters. Would recommend it, but it just isn't my cup of tea.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

I love reading RomComs by Jean Meltzer. While featuring all the characteristics of romance, there is just a little extra sparkle when she writes. Maybe it's that we have a common type of humor and so I find myself giggling out loud when I read her books, I'm just not sure. This one definitely left me smiling! This is a fabulous book for all RomCom lovers!

Faye is a proud Jewitch, she was a fiancee and a lawyer but neither of those things were for her, so she now owns her own pottery story in upstate New York.

Just recently she has found her city, and outside her store to be littered with anti semitic flyers. She creates a golem out of clay and imbues him with all the characteristics she wants in a man. The next day she hits a man with her bike, he ends up in the hospital with amnesia, and she takes him in. only she is convinced he is the manifestation of her golem, and isn't a real person.

This book was so outrageous I could not get enough. The amnesia trope brought me back to my teenage fanfic days, and it could not make me any more happy. I felt the chemistry between the characters. It had a nice balance of fun, light heartedness, and serious topics. Right now we live in a time where topics are very hard and nuanced, and although I am not diminishing the struggles of the Jewish experience it is hard for me to fully sympathize with the struggles of the characters when the harm being done to other peoples is harrowing. Overall this was a really fun book.

Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer is a fun, romantic story, infused with a touch of magic, this novel weaves together well-drawn characters, a unique premise, and a cozy setting. Whether you're a fan of romance, intrigued by Jewish folklore, or simply seeking an uplifting read, Magical Meet Cute promises a delightful escape into a world where everyday moments hold hidden enchantment. I wish there were more magical elements throughout the story, but I still appreciate the author's approach in taking readers on a historical journey through Semitic history and addressing the attacks against it, intertwined with the characters' traumatic yet self-healing experiences.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
#NetGalley #HarlequinTrade

Unfortunately I think the premise and the Jewish folklore/ Jewish experience of living in America wasn’t done justice.

I don’t know if it was just a narrator problem but that didn’t help. The narrator was VERY emotional for the whole 11 ish hours… but overall I was just bored. I wanted more from the golem aspect and less repetition of this lady’s hang ups…

I loved this authors other books so I’d give her another chance.

Thanks to netgalley and harlequin for an eARC

This is my third Jean Meltzer read and, yep, should have listened to my instincts after each of the previous first two and skipped this one.

I’ll keep this short to prevent myself from ranting but I found the FMC, Faye unbearable (her behavior somehow both unhinged and predictable), the treatment of antisemitism to be unhelpfully heavy-handed (and the reveal of the perpetrator to be entirely unsurprising), and the writing style… not to my taste. I didn’t mind the MMC, Greg, who is unfailingly kind and supportive, even in the face of behavior that, frankly, should have sent him running. Faye’s friend (frenemy?), Nelly – an irrepressible, naughty septuagenarian anti-antisemite crusader with a penchant for sneakily sweet gestures – to be one of the few characters I enjoyed.

I so badly want there to be good Jewish romances out there but so far they seem to be afflicted with the same chet as the attempts to do a Hallmark Hanukkah movie: they just kinda suck.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade/MIRA for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another sweet and engaging read with magical elements from Jean Meltzer, blending Jewish folklore with self-explanatory inspirational elements.

I wish there were more magical elements throughout the story, but I still appreciate the author's approach in taking readers on a historical journey through Semitic history and addressing the attacks against it, intertwined with the characters' traumatic experiences.

The story centers around Faye Kaplan, once a successful lawyer in New York, happily engaged, but now the owner of a pottery shop in Woodstock. The only thing disrupting her fresh lifestyle is the antisemitic attacks in her new small town, manifested through hateful flyers scattered around random places.

One night, after drinking too much wine, Faye creates a list for her dream guy and molds all those attributes into a clay man she names Greg, formed by her own hands.

The very next day, still reeling from her drinking stupor, she accidentally collides with a man while riding her bicycle, only to discover that this gorgeous redheaded man is also named Greg and has no memory of his past. Could she have given life to a gnome and literally manifested her dream man into reality?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This is a delightful read that will make you want to break out the pumpkin spice latte and apple cider. I loved the chemistry in the romance. I thought this book was super swoonworthy and romantic. Reading this book was like getting a big hug.

I was granted access to this book because I am a member of the Harlequin influencer program.


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

********


If you are interested in seeing more of my reviews and other content feel free to connect with me here <3:

https://linktr.ee/bookreviewsbyjules (links to my Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, Storygraph, My blog and Substack newsletter, etc)

If you are a publisher or author who has questions about my reviews (as well as questions about my stats, reach or engagement), please free to email me. I am also open to requests for book reviews from authors or publishers. Thank you again for taking time to read my review, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

⭐️: 3

💛 slow burn
🧿 forced proximity
💛 magical realism
🧿 small town
💛 Jewish representation

I learned something about myself while reading this book, and it’s that I really enjoy the amnesia trope. This was also my first introduction to golems and I absolutely loved the jew-itch fun, I do however wish there were bit more magical realism.

Now as for the heavier topic of this book; antisemitism. As a Jewish woman myself, I thought the way this was a part of the greater plot was very well done. Anyone of any religion or background could learn from Faye’s story and especially the fear and uncertainty that many Jews find themselves faced with daily.

I will say, I am not sure a non-Jew would appreciate the Jewish and Yiddish references in this book, but I could certainly hear my mother’s voice many times while reading!


♥︎ Thank you NetGalley, HTP / The Hive and Jean Meltzer for the eARC of Magical Meet Cute.

The romance aspect of this book is really quite lovely. I loved the pairing of Faye and Greg, who bring out the best in each other even when he has amnesia. Which, admittedly, is not my favorite trope but it’s done so so well in this book. Faye is independent and well rounded, but she’s got some issues to work through (don’t we all??). and Greg is exactly the right combo of supportive and protective, understanding and curious, and I couldn’t wait to uncover his real identity. (I made a decent guess, but I wasn’t 100% right.)

But this book is so much more. The pervasive fear of experiencing anti-semitism is a running theme, as well as discussions of how to possibly live with it, stand up to it, fight it head on. The characters experience hate crimes perpetrated by anonymous white supremecist nazis, and those moments were anxiety inducing for me as a reader who isn’t Jewish. I could completely understand how some readers might need to avoid this topic, but I also think it was handled with care, with sincerity, and felt fraught with lived experiences and emotions. I think representation of this issue is important, and so is reading outside our own experiences because how else do we see past our own neighborhoods?

Overall, the serious parts of this book and the romantic moments were both so well done. I think people need to
read this book.

This was an interesting book. It was a lot deeper than I thought it was going to be. I will say I think the title is slightly misleading. It is a Meet Cute, but the book does deal with heavy themes. I did enjoy the book and would definitely read more of her work.