Love You A Latke by Amanda Elliot is an enjoyable, reverse grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, forced proximity, Jewish romcom that is sweet, full of humor, heart, and holiday spirit. It’s a book that will warm you from the inside out, much like the best latkes do. Trigger Warnings: difficult family dynamics, emotional abuse.

Abby Cohen moved from New York City to Vermont with her boyfriend Connor. Following their breakup, she decided to stay and opened up a coffee shop; not wanting to move back to New York and her estranged, verbally abusive parents. The tourism board decided to host a Hanukkah festival to attract more visitors, as the larger neighboring towns already hosted Christmas events. Abby was asked to run the festival, scheduled to take place after the holiday. As Abby started planning the event, the recommended vendors viewed it as a Christmas event with only minor tweaks, such as adding blue and white decorations; which Abby knew wouldn't do. She found help from one of her customers, Seth Abrams, the only other Jewish resident of the town, her annoying customer during his daily coffee visits.

Seth agrees to help, but only if Abby will go with him to his parent’s house during Hanukkah and pose as his girlfriend. In exchange, he will introduce her to all the vendors to help her make the festival a success. Over winter adventures in Manhattan, doughnuts, latkes, and a warm, loving family atmosphere, Abby slowly realizes that Seth, her fake boyfriend, and his family, are opening up her abused, shuttered heart; as well as reconnect with her Jewish heritage and the traditions she once loved.

The food descriptions made my mouth water, but the slow burn, fake dating story was delightful. I might have shed a few tears watching Abby open her heart. I enjoyed all the fun references to the delicious and calorie-rich foods of Hanukkah. As a Jewish person who has spent much of her life in distanced from other Jews, this book made me feel seen in ways I hadn’t even realized I’d been missing. While Abby's backstory adds some seriousness, this is a light, sweet book that can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter which holidays you celebrate.

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

My current favorite latke topping is accomplished by treating it like a bagel: a dollop of whipped cream cheese, an ounce of homemade gravlax–sweet, salty, and tinged with lemon, pepper and and juniper, crunchy with scallions and tangy dill, and popping with the surprise of the occasional briny capers. Love You a Latke is that perfect tasty bite with a rich Jewish foundation (the latke), a contemporary twist on traditions (the gravlax), a complex and prickly protagonist (the capers), a traumatic past (the dill), and fluffy romance with a closed-door consummation (the whipped cream cheese).

Grumpy coffee shop owner Abby is beleaguered by her struggling business and mounting bills, a too-sunshiney patron, her estrangement from her family, recovering from a painful breakup, trying to fit it as the only Jew in small-town Vermont. It’s a lot, and when Lorna, the president of the local small business association, saddles Abby with organizing a Hanukkah festival to drum up tourism, she can’t find a way to say no; to add insult to injury, the event is scheduled to take place the week between Christmas and Hanukkah, which isn’t even when the holiday will fall in the story’s timeline (note for those not in the know: the Hebrew calendar is lunar/solar, which means Hanukkah's date shift every year; in 2024, Hanukkah begins on December 25).

Desperate to find event-planning assistance from other local Jews, she registers for a Jewish dating app… only to match with Seth, her annoyingly positive daily customer. He agrees to help–if she’ll come home to New York with him over Hanukkah to pose as his girlfriend. She enlists the now-retired previous owned to cover the shop, and heads to New York with Seth, only thinking as they near the destination to determine his parents live in a different neighborhood (and attend a different synagogue) than her estranged parents.

The city is a whirlwind of bar crawls, mouthwatering Jewish and Israeli fusion food, inventive cocktails, a synagogue cookie decorating contest, a photo scavenger hunt, warm family time and building relationships with Seth’s loving parents, who are thrilled he’s with someone, and more importantly, someone Jewish-both Seth and Abby’s last partners were not Jewish, and Bev, Seth’s mother, defines very concretely why that’s something she wants for her son. In a funny scene, Bev insists it’s not a problem at ALL for them to share Seth’s childhood bedroom, a privilege not afforded to his previous partner; he’s secretly relegated to the floor… until he isn’t.

Abby suffers from headaches that intensify or recede dependent on her stress levels (not identified as migraines). Details about her childhood emerge slowly, building suspense while demonstrating how something she thought she got over simply by leaving it behind affects all of her relationships. Seth, who has his own baggage, is instrumental in helping her work through her shit and loves her in spite; in turn, she helps him get closure with his ex-girlfriend. Abby is warmly accepted into Seth’s group of friends, and they grow to become friends, and then maybe something more. Abby leans in and pulls back, unable to be vulnerable due her trauma.

Abby falls in love with Judaism as much as she falls for Seth while getting back into a more culturally observant groove. Elliot conveys the realities of being a Jew as Abby looks for the emergency exits in every Jewish space she enters, corrects well-meaning people that she can’t invent a Hanukkah mascot for tourists to take photos with, and stands up to Lorna, who wants to culturally appropriate Hanukkah for tourist dollars, without actually honoring the minor holiday “Can’t we make it less … Hanukkah?” asks Lorna, when she really means, less Jewish. Scenes like this shine over the occasional didacticism that prevented this from being a five star book for me–I’d rather read a conversation about why non-Jews are cast to play Jews than have Abby wax on about it as an aside. (I get it, and agree, though!)

The setting and descriptions, especially of the food, from creative holiday-themed lattes to decadent fillings for sufganiyot (fried munchin-like donuts, sometimes filled with jelly or Nutella, then rolled in powdered sugar) and toppings for latkes (sadly, no recipes). If Amanda Elliot wrote a cookbook, I’d totally buy it. Pick this one up for Hanukkah gifting, or a stocking stuffer to give a non-Jewish friend an eye-opening look at the Festival of Lights.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #LoveYouALatke via #NetGalley, courtesy of Berkley Press.

“Therapy doesn’t mean you’re broken.”

Cranky small town Vermont coffee shop owner Abby Cohen is a transplant from the big city. And Jewish. So when she’s nominated to design and plan a Hanukkah festival for her town as a way to attract tourists, she runs into the familiar problem of people thinking simply putting up a tree with blue lights on it makes it Jewish. Wanting to find authentic vendors with kosher options, she plans to head back to the city…and would you just look at that. The ever cheerful and annoyingly optimistic Seth, who frequents her coffee shop, needs a fake girlfriend to bring home to his Jewish parents in said city. Let the drama begin!

This fake dating romance also hits on some heavier topics dealing with religious feeling, familial drama, and past traumas. But it does it in a tender way that flows organically with the story. I feel like I have learned quite a bit about the Jewish religion reading this book, making it both an entertaining and educational read.

As someone who has suffered from migraines for decades, I loved the “Category” portion for Abby’s headaches. A slight annoyance…tension Category 1. A devastating freak out?? Category 5! I want to use this scale going forward. 👏🏻👏🏻😆

“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.”

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I will always read a holiday book, no matter the holiday. As soon as I started this one I knew I would relate to Abby. Abby lives in Vermont and is struggling to keep her coffee shop afloat. The last thing she needs is Sunshine Seth coming in everyday and trying to make all kinds of conversation. This grumpy/sunshine reversal was exactly what I needed.
When Seth and Abby strike a deal that she will pretend to be his girlfriend for Hanukkah and he will help her plan a Hanukka festival to help her business, she didn't realize just how much she missed her community. Being back among other Jewish people and having that sense of home is something she hasn't felt in years. So, maybe Seth is joy personafied but maybe he will bring joy back to her life.
I thought Seth was the sweetest and even if we didn't get his POV, it was clear that he was half in love with Abby as soon as we meet him. For me, it is the little things that really set your person apart from all the others that come along and these two just fit. I thought there were a few instances I really would have liked his POV, but I also did enjoy watching Abby open up.
Thanks to Berkley, Amanda Elliot and Netgalley for an early copy.

Love You a Latke is a cute Hanukkah-themed holiday romance. Amanda Elliot creates a story that focuses on identity, with fake dating and amazing food descriptions thrown in.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Abby loves running her struggling coffee shop in small town Vermont. Sure, her customer Seth is always annoyingly cheerful, but she can get past it. Until the town’s tourist board volunteers her to put on a Hanukkah festival, since she’s the only Jewish member. While searching for other Jewish assistance in the area, she discovers that Seth is Jewish too. He agrees to help her if she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend and come home to his parents’s home in New York to celebrate Hanukkah. No problem. But as Abby and Seth get to know each other better, and Abby gets caught up in his family’s traditions, can they keep this dating scheme fake?

The romance between grumpy Abby and sunshine Seth is adorable. It’s clear to everyone except Abby that Seth is really into her at every point in the story. But Abby’s hesitation, and difficulty with trust and vulnerability make sense as readers get to know her history. This story is a closed door slow burn, which makes sense for these characters.

I really like the way Jewish-ness is incorporated into the story. Being Jewish represents different things to different people, and Abby’s Jewish journey is relatable. And, it’s always refreshing to read a holiday-themed book that doesn’t revolve around Christmas.

If you are a fan of Hallmark holiday movies, but want some Jewish rep too, Love You a Latke is a holiday treat. It has grumpy/sunshine fake dating, with entertaining family moments. Amanda Elliot is a new to me author, and I’m looking forward to reading some of her earlier books.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First thank you to Berkeley and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Synopsis: Abby moved to Vermont several years ago and runs a little cafe. Seth is her customer who comes every morning to get his coffee full of sunshine. She is put in charge of the Hanukkah festival in town but she doesn’t know what to do. She puts out a call for help and Seth agrees to help. However she has to agree to be his nice Jewish girlfriend for Hanukkah in exchange.

What I liked: I liked that this romance has so much depth to it. Abby isolated herself in Vermont which worked but limited herself. When she has to take over the festival she feels overwhelmed. I did love how Abby and Seth work with each other. There is a great scene towards the end of the book that really explained it. I also loved how she fell in love with her community again through spending time with Seth and her family. I also thought it was important that the author did not shy away from the hatred and violence that the Jewish community has been experiencing. As I was reading this there were threats made against the temple in the city I live in during high holidays.
I love all the events that they went to and did for Hanukkah. I could see that being a great montage scene in a movie.

Overall a great holiday book with additional depth and recommend it especially to understand all holidays

One of the biggest things I love in books that I read, especially in the genre of romance, is diversity. I loved the diversity that this book offered, and it made it really special. In a world where we are experiencing so much Jewish hate, it felt really special to get to read a book about Jewish culture and holidays. While it’s still early to start reading holiday romances for most people, I will recommend this book to everyone I know in real life, my followers on social media, and the customers at my store.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Jewish Fiction
Spice Level: Door mostly closed
Language: Some swearing
Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, One Bed

There was so much I loved about LOVE YOU A LATKE! The opening with this grumpy woman (Abby) having to deal with an overly bright and cheerful customer (Seth) at her coffee shop—and I just knew I was going to enjoy both of them. Once Abby gets roped into heading a Hanukkah festival, all stops are out on what's going to happen. She sort of left her Jewish-ness behind when she left New York, and now she's facing her demons. Then Seth is also hitting up against traits that are blocking him from progressing.

Relationships that grow out of hardship are some of my favorites. Abby and Seth are in their individual crucibles, and I loved to see their transformation.

Other things to love:
- Latke and other food!
- Lighting candles
- Family (and found family)
- Sights of New York City
- Friends
- A ball!

If you love romance books, this one is for you! (I'm not Jewish, and I loved it!)

Happy reading!

Love You a Latke is a cute and wintry romance! It was a quick read and I enjoyed the stories perspective on the holiday season, and how “holiday” seems to default to “Christmas.”

I enjoyed the banter between Abby and Seth, but the pacing of their relationship felt too fast, so the ending felt a bit cheesy and unearned to me, but the author really nailed the grumpy-sunshine element.

The writing style was simple and felt a little too conversational for my personal taste, but the fake dating trop was definitely enjoyable.

Not my favorite, but overall a cozy and festive romance!

This book was so beautifully Jewish and cozy! I loved it so much. A Hanukkah romance with enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, and only one bed? SIGN ME UP!! I appreciated the Jewishness of this book and how Abby incorporated it into her identity. There's no right way to be Jewish; I think this story demonstrated that well. I also loved how the myriad of Jewish events, from the pop-ups to the food to the dances and everything in between. This was such a quick read, and I wish I could savor it longer. I loved Seth. He was so incredibly understanding and warm, and I thought he was the perfect contrast for Abby. He was also exactly what she needed at the same time. This was a slow burn, and I appreciated the time it took for the relationship to form. I also appreciate that Abby found more of herself before diving into the love story. I think I needed this book and I couldn't have read it at a better time. Thank you to Berkley for providing me with an ARC to rea and review!

Holiday romances aren’t my favorite but if I’m going to read one, I want coziness and heartwarming Hallmark movie feels (super bonus points if it has spice!). LYAL was adorable. A perfect slow burn with just enough emotional depth to tug at my heart strings without overpowering its billing as a cozy holiday romance. I especially love seeing Jewish representation done well and it’s a lovely break from the same Christmas stories we get loads of every year. Loved!

Being the only Jew on the tourist board in her small Vermont town, Abby Cohen was appointed to plan the Hanukkah Festival. As the surrounding towns focused mainly on Christmas the group decided it would draw more attention and a larger crowd by creating something unique to the area. With her coffee cafe barely making ends meet Abby could not resist the opportunity to improve her bottom line. Seth, one of her most annoying but loyal customers offers to help her find the best vendors if Abby would do him one little favor. Come to NY and pretend to be his girlfriend for one week. Apparently - because they worried about him constantly - Seth had quietly led his loving parents to believe he was in a serious relationship with a nice Jewish girl. Even though his overzealous kindness tended to be annoying, he could prove very helpful with the festival, so she agreed. Exploring New York City, Abby is reminded of the community she used to love at the same time terrified of bumping into her past, namely her parents whom she hasn’t had contact with for years. Devouring delectable latkes and sugary holiday doughnuts, Seth’s friends and family turn out to be a warm welcome to a challah-day she had almost forgotten. A delicious romp through the eight nights of lights.

I loved this book a latke!

Such a fun, joyous, proudly Jewish holiday romcom! In typical Amanda Elliot fashion, the food descriptions made my mouth water, but the slow burn, fake dating romance made me swoon! I might have shed a few tears watching Abby open her heart!

𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗞𝗘 is a cozy grumpy-sunshine romance that focuses on a Vermont cafe owner who's tasked with planning a Hanukkah festival to save her business and the small town where she lives. At a time of the year where Christmas books are everywhere, it was refreshing to read one about the Festival of Lights.

Amanda Elliott does a wonderful job of explaining Jewish traditions and the Hanukkah holiday for those who aren't familiar, and sprinkles funny and touching details throughout that will resonate with those who are. And most importantly, the story shows the beauty and community that comes with being Jewish, and how we're all looking for a place to belong and be seen, no matter what religion we practice.

This is our Read Spin Repeat Book Club pick for October and I'm looking forward to discussing together.

Thanks to Berkley for the copy to review.

Love You a Latke was a surprisingly emotional holiday read.

Abby Cohen is not a fan of strong emotions, struggles opening up, and considers herself a realist; honestly, she’s a grump. Seth Abrams is (seemingly) never in a bad mood, idealistic, and frequents Abby’s cafe every single morning; honestly, he can be a bit annoying.

When Abby is tasked with organizing her small Vermont town’s first ever Hanukkah Festival, she quickly finds herself overwhelmed. It’s especially difficult trying to explain to non-Jewish people that Hanukkah is a vastly different holiday from Christmas. In a moment of desperation she goes online hoping to find another Jewish person within a hundred miles radius, and she finds Seth.

Seth is willing to help, but in exchange for his list of contacts he asks Abby to travel with him to NYC for Hanukkah and pretend to be his girlfriend while they stay with his parents. The city does not conjure up pleasant memories for Abby, but desperate times call for desperate measures and she agrees.

While pretending to be in a relationship, Abby and Seth struggle with their attraction to one another, and the fact that they may have more in common than they realized. Abby’s past emotional trauma has led her to shield her heart from potential heartbreak, but Seth is patient and slowly becomes her safe place.

Abby and Seth’s beautiful story about finding oneself, Jewish identity, and the healing power of love.

I haven’t read many holiday books that embraces Jewish traditions, so this was a nice surprise. It was a cute story but definitely more of a slow burn. It did take me a while to get into the characters and plot. Cute book!

Thank you NetGalley, Amanda Elliot and Berkley Publishing Group for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a delightfully cozy and wonderfully heartwarming holiday romance!! The story masterfully blends the reverse grumpy-sunshine and fake dating tropes with heartfelt Hanukkah representation and mouthwatering food descriptions. The strong sense of found family adds to the uplifting tone, making it both comforting and inspiring. I also loved how it delves into themes of self-empowerment, personal growth, confidence, and healing, giving the story emotional depth beyond its charming premise. I absolutely loved this novel and wholeheartedly recommend it!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A contemporary Jewish romance, Love You a Latke, educates the reader traditions of the religion.

Abby finds her roots back to her faith after leaving her life after a horrible upbringing. She finds herself in Vermont, broke hearted after following her boyfriend who dumps her. Determined to make a go of it, she opens a coffee shop. A patron who visits her everyday, but also aggravates her daily, Seth brings her back to her roots and opens her heart again to love.

This is a cozy winter romance.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley

A Hanukkah fake dating romance? You had me at Hanukkah. Abby is charged with putting together her Vermont town's first Hanukkah festival. It is difficult because the people in her town do not understand putting blue lights on a Christmas tree does not make it a part of the Hanukkah story.

When Abby goes on a dating app to find someone Jewish nearby to help her, she find Seth, who has been coming to Abby's cafe every day. She had no idea he was Jewish. He offers to introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make her festival successful if she comes home to New York City with him and pretends to be his girlfriend.


Along the way, Abby finds herself and her connection to her Judasim. We learn a lot about Abby and I loved seeing her character development. The story was sweet without being sappy. While this is not a trigger warning, Abby's parents display disturbing behaviors that may be upsetting.

This was beyond adorable! I loved the way Abby and Seth both grow so beautifully throughout this book. I adored Seth's parents and loved seeing Abby make more female friends. This was a sweet romance about Hannukah and I loved the way it showed how Hannukah and Christmas get lumped together. I loved how easily Seth's friends brought Abby in. I loved the ending with the Hannukah festival and how Abby put Lorna in her place!