"Wake Me Most Wickedly" is a Regency romance set in the East End of London - it is the second in a series, but it can easily be read as a standalone. Hannah Moses is the older sister who is doing everything she can to ensure a better life for her younger sister, Tamar, after their parents' arrest for dealing in stolen items at the family pawn shop which Hannah is still running.

Sol Weiss is a banker, working to restore his family business, so he is trying to get more respect (and thereby earn more business) in the Jewish community meanwhile his older brother is courting a gentile lady of the Ton after getting baptised to distance himself from his Jewish roots..

I loved the meet cute of Sol & Hannah which was unexpected and fun without being typical! I also loved the older woman-younger man trope, as it is not done often enough and it is perfection in this romance! Both Hannah and Sol want the best for their siblings even when they sometimes don't seem to want the best for themselves.

I enjoyed the historical Jewish aspects of this novel and appreciated the earnestness in which it is portrayed and the fact Grossman doesn't skip over the less desirable aspects of how difficult it was to be Jewish at that time. I look forward to more romances from this wonderful author!

I received a free ARC in exchange for my honest review. I just reviewed Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman. #NetGalley

In this book, the main characters are facing obstacles in their lives when they met each other. The hero wants to repay his older sibling by being respectable in everything with his life. The heroine is a pawnshop owner that wants to make her younger sibling have a comfortable life free from their parents' reputation in their Jewish community. When the heroine saved the hero, consecutive meetings brought them closer together. Yet the couple must face all the obstacles that are in their lives before they could have a happy ending with each other.

This is my second book in the ONCE UPON THE EAST END series. This entertaining read brought the Jewish culture to the forefront in historical England. It also has an endearing romance between strong yet unique characters that deserves their happily-ever-after. There was also a good set of secondary characters surrounding the main couple, including the couple from the first book in this series. There were also times that the story needed a bit more details in certain areas of the book for better transition, but they weren't that detrimental to the reading enjoyment. Overall, a solid addition to this particular Felicia Grossman series.


** Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own. **

2.5 stars

I was incredibly excited to receive an ARC of this book. Finally, Jewish historical romance is having its moment!! And the cover is sooo gorgeous!! But I ultimately found it quite disappointing. I'm trying not to be overly harsh in this review, but I want to be honest about the issues here.

I know ARCs are "uncorrected proofs" and not the final final version of the book that will make it to the shelf, but in my experience they usually are pretty finalized, and not very much changes between an ARC and the actual published content beyond fixing up stray typos. The problem is that this book reads like it hasn't had a single copy edit, let alone a developmental or line edit, all three of which it desperately needs. Genuinely, what happened here? I don't want to be conspiratorial, but my brain couldn't help drifting to what I know is a common problem in traditional publishing--that big publishing companies don't truly invest in the works they've aquired that are written by and catered to marginalized groups. Whether or not that's actually the case with this book, I can't say. But it felt incredibly unprepared for publication, and I believe the author and readers deserve better than that.

When it comes to copy and line editing: besides the many errors which will hopefully be caught by a proofreader before publication, there are tons of writing tics from the author that should have been culled. The prose left much to be desired and often felt choppy and uneven.

Many many scenes in this book move so quickly when they really should be lingering and deepening, which leaves the reader feeling disconnected from the action. The characterization feels inconsistent, particularly with regard to Sol, so it was hard to feel invested in him or his relationship with Hannah. The plot and pacing are also choppy and uneven. The romance between Sol and Hannah moves super fast and has very little build-up, so when romantic moments happen they feel totally unearned.

This book has explicit sex scenes, but they move very quickly and are not very detailed. I was not interested in them one way or another.

To top it all off, the villain is incredibly evil and yet gets barely a slap on the wrist. The climax is not at all climactic.

My favorite part of the book was actually the Author's Note at the end, in which Felicia Grossman discusses the history of Jews in England and Europe and the antisemitism they've faced throughout history.

There were some other things I liked about this book--the heroine is older than the hero, they discuss pregnancy prevention before having sex, and of course, there's the fresh historical perspective of a romance novel centered around Jewish characters and Jewish community. But it's difficult to recommend due to the problems I've mentioned, and I blame that entirely on the publisher.

Wake Me Most Wickedly 🍎

It’s a histrom, genderbent, Snow White retelling, y’all! 👏 I feel like this is all I need to say to get you to read the book, because that’s all I needed to hear before reaching for it, but I’ll give you some more information! 🪞

Hannah Moses does all she can to take care of her younger sister and keep her disgraced family’s shop running, even if it means doing some not so legal things.

Solomon (Sol) Weiss is a young man trying to live up to the expectations of his strict, older brother, that is often at odds with his own wants and needs.

The two meet when Hannah steps in to save Sol’s life. The attraction between the two is immediate, but class differences and family expectations won’t allow Hannah and Sol an easy happily ever after. When Hannah is pulled into a plot involving Sol, they must figure out how trust each other in order to survive a devastating betrayal.

🍎grumpy/sunshine
🪞age gap (she’s 32/he’s 26)
🍎class difference
🪞forbidden romance
🍎fairytale inspired
🪞she’s the hunter and he’s the damsel
🍎strong community ties
🪞Jewish MCs

I loved Wake Me Most Wickedly!! Something about the fact that Hannah is the older, disgraced figure and Sol is the innocent, hopeful one just really did something for me! Both characters were strong and complex and stood alone without the other. The story kept me guessing, and I genuinely wasn’t sure who the villain was until it was revealed! I am definitely going to check out Marry Me by Midnight, the first in the Once Upon the East End series! I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for the next installment. Thanks to the publisher for the arc. All opinions are my own. 🍎🪞

3.5 Stars, rounded up to 4

I am such a fan of historical romances and it's been a while since I last read one so I was very excited to dive into Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman. I thought the Jewish rep was well done - it didn't feel performative or mentioned to check a box, but was such an integral part of who Hannah and Sol were.

Hannah is a survivor. She has been through so much and still finds the courage in herself to run her family's shop and try and earn as much as she can towards her sister Tamar's dowry. I loved that Sol was able to bring out Hannah's playful (and passionate!) side, it was nice to see her let down her guard to trust - even though at times this was very brief.

Wake Me Most Wickedly was a fresh take on historical romance. Usually if one character is lower in status, we don't see the actualities of their day-to-day experience. I liked that Felicia really brought readers into Hannah's world and that she was unapologetic about what she had to do to survive. In true historical romance fashion, there is a bit of suspense that runs through the story which I also enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Felicia Grossman for a review copy. These are my honest thoughts.

Let me start by stating that this cover is gorgeous! I mean like holy moly this cover is hot!

I think the story here was unique and exciting. I love that this author incorporates Jewish experience in historical romance while also mixing it with well known fairytales. I think it’s such a great way to explore themes and characters. This time around we had a Snow White reimagining.

I think the fairytale inspiration was good. It’s a twist on the original tale (much like book one in the series) but it works. I loved the characters and the plot. I liked that the heroine was older and the hero was younger. We don’t see this often enough in historicals!

The romance is romantic and exciting. I loved their dynamic and development of their relationship.

A wonderful romance with a great story!

Hannah Moses has one thing on her mind. To secure her sister with a respectable match. With her parents' past always at the forefront of her mind, she takes risks to make sure her sister gets what she never had.

Sol Weiss doesn't care about power like his half-brother does. But he will do anything for him since he raised Sol after his parents died.

When these two meet in the "bad" part of the city, Hannah saves Sols life. And to be honest, I think she stole his heart then and there.

But they are on very different paths. Sol's brother wants to marry into nobility, and Hannah's taint would definitely hinder that. Sol is definitely a cinnamon roll who can't seem to stay away.

There's a lot more than just Hannah's past and Sol's brother between them. In the Jewish community, Hannah's family is not held in high esteem. There's a ton of factors keeping the two of them apart. Especially when it turns out Sol is in huge danger. And it could be someone he knows.

I so appreciate Felicia Grossman's Once Upon the East End series, and Wake Me Most Wickedly, for the Jewish representation. I love books that have Jewish rep where 1) the characters' Jewishness is an integral part of their identity, and not just a throwaway line, and 2) the characters are doing things other than just being Jewish. It's also so cool to have the historical element here, which is also important rep (because most other Jewish historical rep is Holocaust-related) -- these are Jewish characters living their lives and being Jewish but being whole people. I also really liked the story, and the genderbent Snow White retelling. I'm excited for what comes next for Felicia Grossman (and I'm definitely going to read Marry Me By Midnight!).

Oy. I had difficulty getting into this book. It seemed the beginning was mainly about the machinations of society since it seemed the focus was on the people, in both Hannah’s and Sol’s separate worlds, and their wheeling and dealing. Maybe because I am not Jewish and am not knowledgeable with the customs and vernacular but I was overwhelmed with so many references. Someone more familiar with this would probably understand better. I really liked Hannah’s character. She was a business person in a world where women were not accepted as such. As a pawnshop owner, she was savvy enough to interact with customers of dubious backgrounds. Sol, on the other hand, seemed very young and naïve. I just did not feel the chemistry between them. I could maybe understand the initial spark/interest because of their differing socioeconomic levels but from where I read up too, I felt Hannah was too mature and cynical for Sol.

Another excellent historical, Jewish, gender-swapped, fairytale retelling, romance from Grossman. I loved it! Just as fantastic as the first in the Once Upon the East End series (Marry Me By Midnight) with plenty of cameos from Aaron and Isabelle and the other cast we love, this one is a twist on Snow White (loosely, but plenty of easter eggs throughout).

It’s a great story with our main character Hannah raising her sister after her parents were “sent to Australia” (basically for being Jewish in a time that was a bad thing, for a small infraction), and after serving time in jail herself, she returns to running the family pawn shop and also various shady dealings in the underworld just to survive. Solomon (Sol) is newly returned to London and his family (aka, he and his brother Frederick) is slowly returning to social good graces. His brother has converted from their Sephardi Judaism and is trying to find a match with a good gentile family. Sol just has to behave so his brother can get married and get money infused into the family banking business…. And befriending an Ashkenazi Jewish girl with a bad family history is definitely not what Frederick has in mind.

In line with the Snow White story, we have the mirrors, the evil queen (who, swapped, is one of the men, but not telling who!), we have female dwarves but they’re not little people, just helpful and hide Sol at the right time, and we have a “poison apple” and lifesaving kiss right when it’s time. Perfect timing for all the parts!

I loved it, the similarities to Snow White plus how it was its own unique plot, which was excellent, and how the pair had such an interesting relationship throughout. The Jewish storyline was also great to learn about the history from the time period and how they were truly treated - author notes at the end give more of their insight into how it was (I still cannot understand why these incredible people have been persecuted through history and still are! Why!!). I definitely recommend this to all - such a great, and super steamy, read!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

Snow White retelling with a twist....

I enjoyed the twist. Solomon Weiss is the Snow White in need of rescuing when he is being robbed. Hannah is the huntsman. She runs a pawn shop and hunts down information and pieces for shady characters. There is a villain.

Sol is good natured and sweet. In some ways he's very innocent and sheltered.
Hannah, on the other hand, has had to survive by her wits for crimes not perpetrated by her but she's dealing with the consequences.

I do like this look into historic Jewish life. There isn't nearly enough representation in this area, so I really enjoy the author's writing.
Recommend.

Hannah spends her days running her family’s pawn shop and her nights tracking down whatever her clients want her to find. One night she comes a mysterious man being robbed and saves his light. Several months later she is surprised to run into him at the synagogue. Solomon has been intrigued by Hannah since she saved his life, but he knows he needs a rich and proper wife, two things Hannah is not. Each encounter leads to sparks and eventually an affair that leads to love between the pair.

I really liked both Solomon and Hannah and their fun story.I am always entertained by how authors choose to adapt fairy tales, especially the less common ones like Snow White. It was fun to have Solomon be the Snow White character and Hannah be the Huntsman and be able to identify several of the other characters from the fair tale as well. I absolutely love the cover for the book and kindly ask that all romances have hot covers especially when they match the heat level of the story. I really like that this series centers Jewish characters and culture in a historical romance. I will happily read the next book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one is a Snow White retelling, where Solomon Weiss is the innocent dandy who needs rescuing. He’s trying his absolute darndest to help his older brother achieve his ambitions, while also working at a new job with the prominent Jewish families in town, and also flirting with the rogue of a woman who saved him from being robbed. The infamous Hannah runs a pawn shop and also is an informant-for-hire to the thugs of the night. Despite her unsuitability for Sol, he pursues her anyway because he can’t seem to get her out of his mind. She’s determined to keep Sol safely away from her because her reputation will ruin his, but he’s an incorrigible flirt and succeeds in at least seducing her into a physical relationship. Things take a dangerous turn for Sol though when he gets chased into the night in what feels like more than just an ordinary robbery. While we have initial suspicions of who the villain could be, it’s still a huge let down for the ever loyal Sol.

After loving the first book in this series, I was really disappointed with this one. For one, it’s described as a Snow White retelling and the only parallels happened around the 60% mark, which I was bummed about. I was bored with the first half of the book and I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two MCs. By the time the story actually got somewhere, I just wasn’t invested in the rest of it. Just ok for me. Would read the author again though.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley. I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

I love to find a good book with Jewish representation- so when he lovely ladies @forever reached out with asking for Jewish Readers I was all in. I am all about trying out new authors and writing styles too!

Wake Me Most Wickedly is definitely a different type of historical fiction, set in 1830’s Jewish Community in London. Hannah, the FMC, has taken over the family pawn shop and the care of her sister, after both their parents have passed. Hannah lives on the fringe of society and will stop at nothing to better their life, specifically for her sister.

While out at night, Hannah helps to rescue Sol from attackers, but what is unexpected is an instant attraction between them, two people who come from vastly different lives. Interesting plot twist is this story is actually a Jewish Regency retelling of Snow White, but in a very subtle manor.

There is great chemistry between Hannah and Sol, lots of twists and turns and even though it’s book 2 in a series it can be read as a standalone novel.

Wake Me Most Wickedly was a delight!! This was my first Felicia Grossman novel and I am charmed. I love an adult, independent women as the romance lead. Plus it was so interesting to lean about Jewish culture in England. I’ve added her backlist to my TBR immediately.

Thank you to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable historical romance. I liked that our main character Hannah is running her family's pawn shop, and maybe doing a few shady under-the-table deals to give her sister the life she deserves. Sol was interesting, and while I'm not sure I felt them as a couple I did like them separately. I loved the first couple of times they met, and I enjoyed the little bit of mystery involving Sol.
While this one didn't completely work for me in the chemistry/couple department, I would like to read more by this author.

While I enjoyed "Wake Me Most Wickedly," especially with the integration of Jewish romance (which I have not seen enough of!) The ending grew a tad repetitive, especially with Sol's decisions. I also felt we weren't given enough insight into Hannah's sister, despite the fact she is supposedly an important character, However, the grumpy sunshine trope, the MMC's transparency with how he felt about Hannah, and the Snow White themes (one of my favorite fairytales) merged quite seamlessly to create a book I adored reading! While Sol was a little bit naive, especially for his period, I loved him, and I admired the way the author even put in the "dwarves," apples, and the mirrors, drawing back to the original tale while also showing this to be entirely new and entirely wonderful. Felicia Grossman is an author worth reading again and again, and I can't wait to re-read Wake Me Most Wickedly.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of this book, and this is my honest review.

Solomon Weiss has little interest in power, but to repay the half-brother who raised him, he pursues money, influence, and now—a respectable wife. That is, until outcast Hannah Moses saves his life, and Sol finds himself helplessly drawn to the beautiful pawnshop owner. Forever tainted by her parents' crimes, Hannah sees only a villain when she looks in the mirror.
The first book I’ve read by the author & it won’t be the last. It was different as both Solomon & Hannah were Jewish & I enjoyed the customs & history included in the story. I really liked both Solomon & Hannah & was drawn in from the beginning & engrossed until the end, life in the East end of London was well described & it was chilling at times. I well written book, which I thoroughly enjoyed
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

GENERAL INFO

Wake Me Most Wickedly- Book #2 Once Upon the East End

Publication date: 4-9-24, Read 4-6-24

Format: eBook, 358 pages kindle

Source: Thanks to NetGalley and Forever/ Hachette Book Group for this ARC💛 !  I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Setting: London 1832

Genre: Historical Romance, Adult Fic

Tropes: fairytale retelling(Snow White), Jewish rep, , forbidden romance, age gap

 HEA/HFN ending: HEA

Epilogue Included: yes
 
BOOK DESCRIPTION

Synopsis/Plot Summary: Hannah has raised her younger sister Tamar outside London's underbelly. She runs her family's pawn shop but has been shunned by the Jewish community. Her family was arrested and tried for stealing, which caused a stain on them in the eyes of the Jewish community. Solomon Weiss didn't marry the heiress Isabella Lira, so his half brother Frederick wants them both to marry well. Unfortunately he can't get Hannah out of his mind after she saves him from a robbery. He is torn between his loyalty to his brother who pursues wealth and acceptance, and his deep attraction for Hannah.

M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc: M/F

Flashbacks: Hannah remembers all the sacrifices, her time in jail, and her parents' trial.

Amount of Sex In The Book: a few scenes, neither h/H virgins

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Solomon "Sol" Weiss-26, a Jewish male banker. Torn between loyalty to his brother and attraction to criminal outlier Hannah.

Frederick Weiss-Sol's half brother who raised him after their parents died. He wants money, power, and influence by distancing himself from Jewish culture. He wants Sol to be on his best behavior in his quest to marry Viscount Penrose's daughter Drucilla-a gentile.

Hannah Moses-32, works in her family's pawnshop and steals objects to sale for her sister's dowry. She also does information hunting, but hasn't heard from parents in 12 years, believes they are dead.

Tamar Moses-20, Hannah's younger sister. Hannah wants her to marry well

The Berab brothers-Roger + David both business partners w/ Isabella

Isabella Lira and Aaron Ellenberg-a wealthy heiress and custodian who marry for love. MC from book #1

H /h RELATIONSHIP INFO

OW/OM/Exes: Sol wanted to marry Isabella Lira from book #1, Hannah had a lover and was made to trade sexual favors to Ned.

AUTHOR OVERVIEW-Felicia Grossman- I read book #1 and gave it 4

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Overall Rating: 5/5

Do You Recommend This Book: yes

Will You Re-read This Book: yes

Would You Read More Books by this Author: yes

COMMENTS/NOTES

I loved the gender reversal again in this Snow White retelling. Solomon is betrayed and Hannah has to rescue him. I loved Hannah's devotion to Tamar but she should have told her what was going on. Tamar had the right to decide if all the danger was worth it.