Thank you NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review. I am so thankful for holiday books that are Hanukkah themed. I appreciated learning more about the religion, traditions, and foods related to Hannukkah and the sense of community. Abby was "volun-told" to put together a Hanukkah/Jewish festival in her town since there are limited townsfolk that are Jewish in her community. Trying to come up with ideas, she seeks Seth's help, the only other person in town she can find who is Jewish. Seth takes Abby home with him for the holiday's to celebrate Hanukkah with his family as his fake girlfriend and takes her to events that are for the Jewish community. Abby also finds vendors and bakeries that sell specialty cultural food including latkes, donuts, and themed coffee. She is able to put together a special festival celebrating Hanukkah and was able to find love and community in the process.

This is my first read by the author and I enjoyed the book so much that it won't be my last.
So many books are about Christmas and all it entails including the faith representation. While this is fine, I think this book was marvelous in its representation of Hannukah and the Jewish faith. When a character tries to make a Hannukah festival more generalized towards Christmas and the general public it is not allowed to happen, and they stand up for themselves and their beliefs. Bravo! A grumpy sunshine romance and a fake dating trope that naturally turns into the real thing kept me interested and laughing out loud.
Really enjoyed this one.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

As the only Jew on her town’s tourism board, Abby is tasked with planning their new Hannukah festival. However, no one she contacts seems to understand why they can’t just use things from Christmas festivals for a Hannukah festival. She downloads a Jewish dating app to look for support. The only other Jew in town is Seth, her annoying customer who visits her coffee shop daily. He agrees to help her with the festival if she agrees to go home with him for the holidays pretending to be his girlfriend.
A fake relationship holiday romance? Yes, please. This book might be my favorite holiday romance of the year. Seth and Abby were incredible together and the perfect grumpy sunshine combo. Their relationship trajectory was perfect as they slowly morphed from acquaintances to friends to lovers. Abby’s path to healing and reconnecting with her Jewish culture and finding her own family was beautiful. I loved learning more about Jewish culture and Hannukah through this story! This heart-warming story made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.
Thanks to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the advance copy.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the fall! Although it took me a little longer than planned to get to it, I was determined to finish this book in December. So I grabbed my kindle and flew through this one. Mainly because it was so good that I couldn’t put it down.

I quickly realized that this book came with some of my favorite tropes—grumpy/sunshine (she’s the grump), fake dating, enemies to lovers, and only one bed. And I was thrilled with the idea of reading a Hanukkah romance this month, featuring Abby, the one Jewish person on the tourism board, being put in charge of planning a Hanukkah festival. The rationale is a good one: too many Christmas markets in the area, and the novelty of hosting a Hanukkah festival in hopes of bringing more tourism to their sleepy town.

However, Abby is fighting an uphill battle trying to explain Hanukkah to the rest of the vendors, who keep trying to shoehorn Christmas into a Hanukkah festival, and the two holidays are fundamentally different. In desperation, she casts a wide net to see if she can find any other Jews in the area. And finds exactly one: Seth, the most optimistic cafe customer she has. Of course, he’s the one who consistently grates against her nerves with his overwhelming sunshine. And they obviously strike a deal—he will introduce her to all the vendors she needs for the festival if she joins him as his ‘Nice Jewish Girlfriend’ for Hanukkah with his parents.

The tropes are done beautifully in this story. The enemies-to-lovers fake dating was something I really enjoy, and I especially loved the amount of Jewish representation in this book. Abby moved to Vermont for a relationship, fell in love with the place, and decided to stay. She isn’t exactly connected to her Judaism, but she wholeheartedly embraces the idea of a Hanukkah festival and has a pretty solid understanding of the holiday and her own culture. However, as the grouch that she is, she doesn’t exactly have a lot of holiday cheer to spread around. It doesn’t help that she constantly has to explain to people that Hanukkah is not a Jewish version of Christmas.

There’s clearly some kind of connection between Abby and Seth, especially since she gets so irritated by him and his constant cheer. Abby is really grumpy at first, to the point where her ever-present negativity became grating. But I had faith that she’d come around, and I wasn’t wrong. Despite her irritation with Seth, once they get into the fake dating portion of the book, they start to have fun with each other and get to know more about themselves and each other.

My personal version of catnip is seeing characters grow in a story, even if it’s a cozy read like this one. It wasn’t long before we started to see more of Abby’s and Seth’s unresolved issues and learn more about who they really are underneath the persona that they project. Abby shows phenomenal growth in this story—opening up about her childhood trauma, reconnecting to her faith and heritage, and becoming vulnerable, although I would have liked to see more growth in Seth, who is such a nice guy that he struggles to be direct. This leads to the appearance of one of my least favorite tropes in a book, miscommunication. I had a hard time with both of them about this—Abby is so caught up in her own negative thinking spiral that she misses plenty of hints that his feelings might actually be genuine, and Seth really has a hard time speaking up for himself.

Although this is a really cozy, low-stakes, closed-door romance, there are much deeper themes in the story. There’s the constant microaggressions that Abby confronts, always having to explain what the holiday is, how it is celebrated, and that no, Hanukkah bushes aren’t actually a thing. There’s Abby’s childhood trauma, which leads to her currently having such high walls around herself. But what I loved especially hard was the way that not only did Abby learn more about who she is by opening up, she also found her way back to Judaism. This leans into the Jewish belief that a Jewish soul (neshama) will always find its way home to Judaism, whether that involves reconnecting with Judaism or going through the conversion process, along with the way that there really isn’t any wrong way to practice Judaism (other than converting to another religion). The representation might not be exactly how you practice, but it allows people to see inside such a small group of people around the world, where so many people have never met a single Jew. It also reinforces the fact that despite all of the differences between Jews around the world, we can all find some level of commonality—and one of those things is how Hanukkah symbolizes the light we have to offer, and the reminder that the light of a single candle is never diminished by sharing it with another, it only grows.

It’s basically a love letter to Hanukkah, NYC, and family traditions. I loved how Elliot managed to write the story around the Jewishness, as opposed to the other way around. The plot was a smooth one that I really enjoyed, but the thing I loved the most about this book was watching Abby grow. I would have liked to see more of Abby and Seth falling for each other, although the fact that they see each other daily breeds some familiarity. I have to mention the funny little Jewish references that are explained beautifully and succinctly, like what ‘Jewish Geography’ is and how any two Jewish people who come into contact will inevitably have at least a little common ground, and often discover people that you’re both already connected to. Seth’s parents were hands-down my favorite characters, with their quirks and hilarity. It felt so natural, like I was spending time with my own NY Jewish family, and I’ll forever be a sucker for books that have me seeing myself within their pages. This is an easy add to your TBR if you like the tropes mentioned above, are looking to learn a bit more about Hanukkah traditions, love reading books set in NYC (with fun winter activities), or just love a good holiday/winter romance.

This is the perfect holiday romcom! Amanda Elliot shines! I hope we get more romcoms from her soon! Also, this has to be the prettiest holiday romance cover of 2024!

Thank you Berkley Romance for my copy. All thoughts are my own.

As someone who loves Christmas and holiday reads, I always find it important to make sure I’m reading about holidays besides Christmas and the traditional western holidays. I was excited to come across this Hanukkah centered Romance and really enjoyed reading it. I did the audio and thought it was a great performance.

Synopsis:

“Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her café every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby's been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don’t understand that the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene, even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes.

Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There's one other: Seth.

As it turns out, Seth’s parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah, and if Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he’ll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart.” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Festive Nature—I love the holidays in New England and NYC, so I was excited to be immersed in both in this book!

The Characters—I really liked the characters. Abby is the grumpy and Seth is the sunshine. From other reviews, I’ve seen some readers not like just quite how grumpy Abby appeared in the book. I did the audio and wasn’t bothered by it, I could tell that she really went through something and was working through it.

The Theme of Community—While I celebrate Christmas, I really appreciated how deeply this book emphasized the importance of community. I think in today’s world, we need to lean on people who share similar values and lifestyles to us more than ever in order to stay sane.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

Wanted More of Abby’s Backstory—I wanted to dive a bit more into this. It felt like a shocking reveal rather than part of her character. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it was such a heavy part of her story, I thought it deserved more time.

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 1/5 Overall Rating: 3.75/5

Content Warnings:

emotional abuse, religious bigotry, gaslighting, anti semitism

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.
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I love a diverse holiday read! This book revolves around a Hanukkah festival. Abby is running the fest but is discouraged that no one actually understands be concept of a Hanukkah festival and she realizes she needs some help and she finds it in Seth. There’s fake dating, holiday cheer and of course a love story!
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Love you a Latke was a wonderful read! As someone who has mainly celebrated Christmas most of my life, I appreciated how the story centered on the experience of someone raised in the Jewish Community. Not only did I learn more about the celebration of Hanukkah, but Elliot does a great job of showing how even when using inclusive terms like "holidays" for celebrations, the uniqueness of Hanukkah can often still be conflated with Santa and Christmas trees and lose it's uniqueness. Reading Love You a Latke allowed me to better understand and empathize with with how this feels from a Jewish perspective- "When they say 'Holiday' they really mean Christmas" made me have to stop and think about it.

As to the romance- this is a she's grumpy, he's sunshine, story and I am here for this match up! For all the girlies out there who identify more with the realist than the ray of sunshine this is for you! Abby is just trying to keep her coffee shop afloat when she gets pushed into planning a Hanukkah festival for her community, only the organizer is just looking for a different "take " on an holiday festival that will bring people in and raise money. Since Abby is the only Jewish shop owner in the community, she is delegated the responsibility and she is not into it. Large group gatherings are not her thing. Well, people are not her thing. Add to that her most annoying customer, Seth, is in almost every morning and attempting to spread his cheery sunshine to her, but she isn't having that either. That is until Seth needs to bring home a fake date "nice Jewish girl" to get is parents off his back for Hanukkah and Abby needs help planning festival. Need I say more?

I connected with both of the main characters and loved the way their relationship developed. The "he falls first" is pretty obvious from the start, but still sweet, and Abby has a lot of family baggage to unpack herself. As with most "Fake dating " stories, her mantra of "it's just pretend" gets a bit old by the end, but you really understand why she has to cling to that as opposed to opening herself up. For a romcom, there are some pretty deep subjects in this one, including Abby's toxic parents relationship and her coming to terms with her Jewish identity and rediscovering her Jewish community after severing ties with her parents. There are even a few somewhat casual references to the anxiety she feels at Jewish gatherings as potential targets for violence- again not a focus, but a great reminder to those privilege enough to not have to consider this often that many people from a variety of backgrounds do not have the luxury to assume safety.

Whatever holiday you celebrate, whether religious or cultural or some combination, Love you a Latke is a sweet cozy and funny romance that delivers a satisfying HEA along with a better sense of community and belonging we all need.

I had been hearing good things about Love You a Latke and I enjoyed Best Served Hot when I read it last year, so I was excited to check it out in anticipation of Hanukkah. This was a great story for getting into the holiday mood!

While this novel has some of the typical rom-com tropes (grumpy meets sunshine, fake dating), I still enjoyed where the story went. Things aren't going well for Abby. Her café is barely making any money, she has a horrible relationship with her parents and has not spoken to them in years, she constantly gets headaches, and to top it off, she was asked to plan the town's Hanukkah festival while having to work with people who are still trying to make it about Christmas. What's a girl to do but search on a dating app only to find out that the only other Jewish person nearby is the guy who has been annoying her every single morning with his cheerful positivity? Why, go with him to New York and pretend to be his girlfriend to please his parents while also sourcing businesses for the festival, of course!

What happens next is a whole lot of fun, between spending time with Seth (the "annoying" guy) and his parents, meeting his friends and doing various holiday activities, trying out gourmet twists on Hanukkah foods, etc. And then Abby starts developing real feelings for Seth...

I really liked this novel a lot. It speaks volumes about Jewish community, traditions, and values. There is some drama along the way, having to do with Abby's upbringing. That raises the stakes for whether a relationship with Seth will really happen or not. I also loved seeing her entrepreneurial side come out when she talked about new ideas for the café. And Seth is such a sweet guy. I loved his interactions with Abby.

Overall, well worth checking out and you'll even get an armchair adventure to check out New York City during the winter holidays!

(Trigger warning below.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Abby: Hailee Steinfeld
Seth: Asher Grodman
Bev: Julie Kavner
Benjamin: Ken Olin
Freya: Julia Schlaepfer
Lorna: Kathy Bates
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TW: Child abuse (emotional)

✨ Review ✨ Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot; Narrated by Kelli Tager

Thanks to Berkley, PRHAudio and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Abby expresses her annoyance with Pumpkin-Spice Seth from the first chapter, frustrated with his endless positivity and need for whipped cream. When the small town she lives in designates her to head up the creation of a Hanukkah festival, she teams up with Seth, seemingly the only other Jewish person for miles, to plan the event. Seth says yes if she'll go back to NYC with him for Hanukkah and pretend to be his girlfriend to get his mom off his back.

This has so many things I loved:
🕯 I love a grumpy-sunshine romance with a woman grump. It just hits the spot for me!
🕯 Fake dating and everyone realizes their attraction for each other - yes please!
🕯 Small town AND big city! The literal best of both worlds

But the way this book integrated Jewish cultural representation made this a joy to read. Incorporating traditions as well as discussion of how this representation made Abby feel after years of feeling isolated from her family and a Jewish community. This book brought the feels, but also I learned things about Hanukkah and the Jewish community that I didn't know before.

🎧 The audio narration was so lively and fun. When Abby was drunk, the character adopted this persona and it made me laugh a little, putting myself into the moment. She did a killer NYC Jewish mother accent for Seth's mom, but in general had enough voices/intonations to differentiate between characters. Loved this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: contemporary f/m romance
Setting: small town Vermont and NYC
Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
Pub Date: Oct 08 2024

Read this if you like:
⭕️ small-town and big-city romance
⭕️ Hanukkah traditions
⭕️ fake dating and grumpy-sunshine tropes
⭕️ latkes, donuts and other delicious food descriptions

Thank you to PRHAudio for the ALC and Netgalley and Berkley for the ebook! I switched between both formats, and I loved them both!

This book is SO sweet. It’s got Jewish representation. It’s got a touch of “enemies” to lovers, but it’s more grumpy sunshine than that. It’s got fake dating. It’s got a LOT, and I mean a LOT, of sweet treats and mentions of specialty coffees. It’s got friendship, romance, and love.

I loved this book so much. It’s such a great holiday read that everyone should add to their TBR! Remember, Christmas is not the only winter holiday!

Thank you for the free book @penguinrandomhouse and @berkleyromance #penguinrandomhousepartner #berkleyIG #BerkleyBookstagram.

Ahhh this book just combined two of my favorite places for the holidays: NYC and Vermont!!

Okay basically Abby has a small cafe that desperately needs new customers. Their town (to be different from other towns) decided to host a Hanukkah festival instead of a Christmas one for the holidays. Abby needs to find vendors for their Christmas market, so enter Seth - her one and only loyal cafe customer. Seth is willing to introduce her to all of NYC’s Jewish community but she has to pretend that she’s dating him to ward off his mom’s matchmaking schemes for the holidays.

I actually found this one super cute! The holiday vibes in NYC and Vermont is strong in this one. There’s a Christmas bar crawl, standup comedy nights, and all the major Christmas NYC activities.

Romance tropes are reverse grumpy x sunshine, fake engagement, friends to lovers, one bed.

But most of all, I really love this is about Hanukkah. I love it when books teach me new things and I learned a lot about Hanukkah from this book. Including the food!!! All the holiday coffee drinks from this book make me crave one too!!

I just recently finished Nobody Wants This on Netflix, and this reminds me of it but just of the holiday version!! Definitely a must add to your holiday list!!

💭 Have you had a latke before??
☕️ I think I did but I dont think what I had was legit hahah.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4.5 hearts

I loved the first book from this author, Sadie on a Plate. In fact, I have enjoyed everything I've read from this author. Love You a Latke is definitely a Jewish holiday story and all the books I have read highlighted Jewish food and traditions. I have zero knowledge or experience with these customs but I've loved the books.

Our main characters have moved to a small town in Vermont to avoid personal issues in NYC. Abby has long-standing issues with her horrible parents and runs a cafe in Vermont. Seth couldn't commit to what seemed like a perfect woman and abruptly moved and works remote. They are a grumpy (Abby)/ sunshine (Seth) fake couple.

"Your mother is lovely." I said. "I like her more than you at this point."

He touched a hand to his chest in mock pain. "You wound me." He cocked his his head, considering. "Though to be fair, she probably likes you more than me right now, too."


Abby's cafe isn't doing well and the rest of the town needs to increase holiday business. Every town around has a Christmas festival so they decide to do a Hannukah festival. Since Abby is the only Jewish person on the council, she is asked to plan it. She reluctantly asks Seth to help her with connections and he asks her to come with him to NYC for a week as a fake girlfriend to stop the relationship questions. Abby agrees since that will allow her to do a much better job with the festival.

I was introduced to four guys and two girls. Names were shouted at me over the noise, but, even after asking them to repeat themselves one or two or three times, I was left only reasonably certain that the guy with the scruffy brown hair was Dan and the girl who wasn't Freya was Kylie. The other three guys might have been named Mike.


The week in NYC is a joy as Abby loves Seth's parents, finds good festival vendors, meets Seth's friends and even befriends his ex-girlfriend. Of course, Seth and Abby get to know each other much better and connect in spite of their hesitations.

Okay. Even if it was terrible, I could do anything for fifteen minutes, as I'd learned at the dentist.


I enjoyed this so much! The humor was awesome. The foodie and business aspects of the festival engaged me also. I'll continue to read everything from this author.

This was the perfect cozy, holiday read with all the right ingredients: winter vibes, a dash of Jewish culture, and a super sweet romance.
Abby, the grumpy yet relatable café owner, is tasked with planning her town's first-ever Hanukkah festival, but things go very sideways when her annoying (yet annoyingly cute) regular customer, Seth, offers to help.
Cue the fake-dating trope, holiday adventures, and Abby learning to heal from her past while falling for Seth's endlessly charming smile.

Honestly, the romance is low-key heart-melting and super soft, and I live for the New York winter vibes. Also, Seth is just a major green flag. The story is a great mix of personal growth, family feels, and a fun holiday setting.

Totally recommend if you’re in the mood for a wholesome, closed door, feel-good read.

You know I love a latke so how could I resist reading this book? I also love reading books that aren't traditional christmas read to help myself feel more informed about other cultures celebrations! I really enjoyed this one it was full of heart and great characters and happy ever after so what's not to like! I look forward to reading more from Amanda Elliot in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

Overall I loved the found family and community aspect of this story. I love that she falls back in love with her identity and because of that learns to live her true life. The romance was a little lack luster, I thought there would be a little more depth. Maybe if we had his pov it would have helped. I also wish there was more depth with it came to her parents. But overall it’s a cute holiday book and I will recommend it on. 3.75 stars rounded down

TY for the free book @berkleyromance @netgalley #berkleypartner #berkleybooks #berkleyinfluencer !!

@amandapanitch has never let me down, bringing me a little bit of Jewish joy in the form of a bit of a grump. Or, Abby Cohen *would* be a kvetch, if she had somebody to talk to. Abby fled NYC for Vermont and a guy, and they broke up. Now, she’s got a struggling little coffee shop. One of her regulars, Seth Abrams, drives her crazy because he’s always sunshine even when it doesn’t make sense.

The community commerce board ropes Abby into coordinating a Hanukkah festival in their picturesque town, and Abby has to juggle her feelings of loneliness after being mistreated by her parents her entire life and her current lack of community with her annoyance at the other coordinator’s insistence that this secretly be a Christmas festival in blue and white. She enlists Seth’s help (via dating app, of all places), in exchange for a favor.

The favor is fake dating in front of his parents in NYC, naturally. There’s bed sharing and blurred lines, of course, but also finding community and care again with his friends and his parents, a VERY dangerous road.

Of course, Abby does let her guard and her hackles down, and Seth isn’t always so sugar pop nice. There are some blink and you’ll miss it cameos of some previous @amandapanitch characters. I liked this book because I am a bit of a kvetch myself, and I think happy endings are for everybody, even the disgruntled.

Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
Standalone Hanukkah Romance
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy for review purposes. Ana’s Attic accepts no compensation for reviews, and all reviews contain my honest opinion.
*Visit my full list of Hanukkah Novels for 2024

Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot would make the perfect Hallmark Hanukkah movie. Abby runs a struggling coffee shop in a small Vermont town. As far as she knows, she’s the only Jewish person around. She’s also a total grouch, especially in the morning. One customer in particular drives her crazy—he’s always so cheerful, and she just can’t stand it.

The town’s main street is also struggling, with nearby towns drawing in tourists with their Christmas festivals. The town planner decides to be different and host a Hanukkah festival (during Christmas week) and asks Abby to run it since she’s the only Jew in town. Abby reluctantly agrees but needs help finding Jewish suppliers, so she turns to a Jewish dating app, hoping to meet someone with connections.
“Hanukkah festivals are different. We need different things, different foods, different setups. You can’t just put blue and white lights and a Star of David on a Christmas tree and say it’s for Hanukkah.”

Surprise! Her annoyingly cheerful customer turns out to be the only other Jew in town. He offers to help but has a favor of his own—he needs Abby to be his fake girlfriend when he goes home for Hanukkah.

Abby is estranged from her family after an awful childhood, but she did love the Jewish community she grew up in. When she returns to New York with Seth, she’s immediately embraced by his family and the Jewish community. It makes her realize how much she misses that sense of belonging—and she may be falling for the guy who introduced her to it.
“Whether or not you choose to be part of your family, or whether you’re part of my family, you’re always part of this family. The Jewish family. You can never lose your place here. You can’t get rid of us. You’re home.”

New York during the holidays is magical, but I especially loved reading about the Hanukkah activities happening around the city. Many of the events featured unique takes on Hanukkah food, which made this book a perfect treat for foodies. The nod to Sadie on a Plate was an extra bonus for fans of Amanda Elliot’s other work.

I was so excited to find a Hanukkah romance that I didn’t even check if there was an audiobook. Turns out, there is one, narrated by Kelli Tager, and it sounds amazing! Since there are so few Hanukkah romances on Audible, I’d recommend going with that if you have the option.

Likes:
•Jewish representation without relying on stereotypes.
•All of the fun and unique Hanukkah pop-ups.
•Abby had so much character growth.
•How well it depicts the idea that you find your people when you’re free to be yourself.
•The holidays in NYC.
•Tackled moments of fear of anti-semitism.
•It would be a great read for non-Jews to learn about Jewish culture and Hanukkah in a fun, accessible way.
•Easter eggs (well, maybe Matzoh balls?) from other Amanda Elliot books.

Dislikes:
•Abby was pretty unlikeable for a while, while Seth was nothing but great to her.
•Not enough time with the couple alone and falling for each other.
•We really needed his POV.
•The ending wrapped up too quickly—I wanted more of the festival!

The Down & Dirty:
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot is a fun Hanukkah romance with a Hallmark movie feel and a reverse grumpy/sunshine trope. The characters feel realistic, and while it tackles heavy family topics, it never becomes too serious or depressing. From a small town in Vermont to a Hanukkah-filled NYC, the book provides a great depiction of Jewish life—or the lack of it—in different settings.

While I wished for more couple time and a stronger romantic arc, I still enjoyed this book and appreciated its representation.

Rating: 4 Stars

Loveeeeed the plot. Eight nights of faking it to fall in love? Oh yes!! Sweetie pie male love interest??? Sure! A hanukah festival?? Okayyy!! But Abby kind of ruined it all for me. I found her irritating and unlikable. She would really benefit from therapy and medications and actual healing instead of repressing. It was hard to enjoy the fun story when I just kept hearing all of her negativity.

I’ve really enjoyed each book I’ve tried from Amanda Elliot so far, so knew I had to try her newest romance.

I always love seeing romance reads that give representation - it was lovely to find this was a holiday romance with Jewish representation and gave some insight into Hanukah customs. The food descriptions (as with all her reads) made we feel like I was there and wanting to try things.

The story itself had some great tropes - I’m a sucker for a fake dating trope and always appreciate a grumpy sunshine. It was fun to see a book that also was set (at least partially) in small town Vermont 😊 Overall, a fun and festive read with some hallmark type vibes.