Abby runs a small cafe in Vermont and is asked to put together a Hanukkah market. She recruits the help of Seth, a frequent visitor of her shop, with one condition: she agrees to be his fake girlfriend for the holidays.

Amanda Elliot did a great job integrating Jewish cuisine, traditions and culture into a very fun story premise set during the holidays. I related to Abby so much throughout the story and found her to be such a lovable FMC. Alongside this being a romance story with fake dating, NYC adventures and an only one bed situation, I loved how Elliot emphasized the role of community and the importance of finding people to share that community with. Kelli Tager made listening to this one a true delight.

Read if you like:
-Holiday reads
-Hanukkah and Jewish rep
-Fake dating
-Only one bed
-NYC setting

Thank you Berkley and PRH Audio for the ARC/ALC!

Love You A Latke is a holiday rom-com that’s as warm and delicious as a freshly fried latke! Abby Cohen is not here for Seth's relentless charm—or so she thinks. Their banter is as sharp as a dreidel spin, and watching Abby’s frosty exterior melt under Seth’s sunshiny persistence is a total treat.
The Vermont Hanukkah festival adds a festive twist, with plenty of laughs as Abby tries to explain that yarmulke-wearing Wise Men don’t quite fit the bill. Throw in some fake dating, a trip to NYC, and Seth’s endearing family, and you’ve got a sparkling romance that lights up brighter than a menorah on the last night of Hanukkah.
A little predictable? Sure. But in the best, most comforting way possible. Grab this book, a plate of doughnuts, and get ready to fall in love with Abby and Seth’s sweet and snappy love story!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Charming and clever, I'm so happy to see more Jewish Romance/chick lit books being published. The author is completely on target with the mixed up feelings Jewish folks have about Christmas and the frequent and often hilarious attempts to slap a star on an Xmas symbol and called it a Hanukkah item. All the feels.

This book felt like watching a hallmark movie in the best way. I didn’t know much about Hanukkah going in and learned so much. I loved the grumpy x sunshine trope in this book and felt it played in well with the fake dating. I liked how the author approached tricky family dynamics on both sides and having the characters strengthen each other. I look forward to reading more from Elliott in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for access to an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Abby is living in Vermont and trying to run a small cafe with basically no support system or community. She gets voluntold to create a Hannukah Festival for her small town with almost no lead time. She tries to find someone Jewish through a dating app to help her plan this Hannukah Festival and ends up in a Fake Dating Scheme with Seth, the annoying customer who comes into her cafe every day.

Most of the story takes place in New York during Hannukah. I loved the different events Seth and Abby go to and the descriptions of Hannukah traditions, new and old. I'm not a New York Jew, but there's a lot in Abby's Jewishness that feels universally Jewish and tons I was able to connect my own quasi-Jewish upbringing to.

Abby struggles with Lorna, the creator of the Hannukah Festival who really wants it to be a Christmas Festival thinly disguised as a Hannukah Festival. This is compared to the Hannukah story of the Maccabees and the attempt to celebrate Jewishness while living in a predominantly non-Jewish world. Jewish community is celebrated in this story.

The romance is sweet, but I would have loved a bit more depth from Seth. It felt like Abby was falling more in love with Seth's parents and the Jewish community rather than Seth himself.

A refreshing take on the Hallmark Holiday story.

Well-written and cute romance with relatable characters and a nice "Hanukkah in Vermont" theme. It's rare (and fun) to find Latke in any title. Lives up to its description.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
I jumped into this book, knowing very little about Hannukah and Jewish Traditions, so I was able to learn quite a bit.
This book was just adorable and I loved Abby and Seth. Very well written with such a cute plotline. I look forward to reading more from this author and will highly recommend this book!

Thanks to Berkeley Publishing Group and #NetGalley for letting me read this in egalley in exchange for my honest review. #LoveYouaLatke

Our heroine, Abby, is struggling to make a go of her coffee shop in a small Vermont town. She moved there with her now ex, but loves the town -- even if the head of the chamber of commerce calls way too many emergency meetings. She's managed to mostly avoid her ex, but is plagued by the "most annoying customer ever" who greets her and each morning with happiness and good cheer. Abby isn't a morning person, but she's also too busy worrying about her business to focus on anything else.

When Lorna decides they should do a Hanukkah festival to draw crowds to town between Christmas and New Year's, she appoints Abby to be in charge. Abby figures she can't be the only Jew in Vermont and her profile on J-date turns up one in her very town --Seth, her most annoying customer.

Turns out his motives are also not in line with the app --he needs a fake girlfriend to take home to NYC for the actual holiday, to keep his mother from plaguing him with questions about when he's going to leave Vermont. Can they help each other?

This is a very well written romance, with very believable characters, and an almost believable plot line that showcases NYC in all its holiday glory as Abby, the "good fake girlfriend" ends up attending all kinds of festivities...but has Seth really told her the truth?

Everything you could want in a fake relationship story as well as lots and lots of holiday cheer! I will look for more from this author, and I highly recommend the story, which is romantic but not steamy.

Recommended.

p.s. I read it in a day -- couldn't put it down!

STUNNIN'

I absolutely ate this romance up and am so excited to find a new to me author. I highly recommend this and think all the romance and Berkley babes will love this one.

This was a cute Hanukah romance with a good storyline and interesting characters. Good protagonist chemistry and just the right blend of humor.

I want to express how much I appreciate a romance novel centered around Hannukah, particularly with the flood of Christmas themed books come Holiday season. Overall, I really enjoyed this light and fun romance. The humor really resonated with me, and I appreciated the overall nostalgic feel of the book. The romance aspect was cute and sweet, and I would have enjoyed even more spice but that's just a personal preference. I would definitely recommend this one to any lover of light and run romance or romantic comedy.

This book was amazing and I devoured this book in just a few sittings! I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

I absolutely loved Amanda Elliot's Love You A Latke. It's time for some Hanukkah (or at least Jewish) romances. The story surrounds the trials of putting on a Hanukkah festival in a small town, but also, of course, romance. There are some off notes--largely a lot of the religious hand-wringing. But I found the romance interesting and believable. And, again, it is just time for these sorts of romances.

I really adored this book and all the Jewish representation.
I liked Abby and how she opened up to Seth and how their relationship developed and grew.
I liked seeing all the fun Hanukkah activities they got to experience together.
I also liked Seth's friend group and his family and how they were all so welcoming to Abby.

A really cute read for the Hanukkah season!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Love you a Latke by Amanda Elliot.

This was the first Jewish contemporary fiction book that I have read. I learned quite a bit about Hannukah and the Jewish traditions. The book follows Abby, who is a struggling coffee shop owner. She moved away from everyone she knew to live with her boyfriend Connor. When they broke up Abby stayed in Vermont not wanting to move back to New York and her verbally abusive parents.

One of the shop owners wants to hold a Hannukah Festival instead of a Christmas Festival in an attempt to bring customers to the town. Abby is the only Jewish shop owner, so she gets put in charge of the festival. Unfortunately, the other shop owners/vendors don't understand why you just can't use Christmas decorations or traditions and play them off as Hannukah traditions.

Throughout this journey to get back to her roots she goes back to New York with the only available single Jewish guy in her town. She stays with Seth and his family over Hannukah. She realizes how much she misses the Jewish community. You will have to read it to find out how the festival turns out....does it have random Christmas things thrown in??? Or does it follow Jewish traditions.

Snacks are a must for this read. She makes all of the food sound so delicious with such vivid descriptions. Do not read on an empty stomach or when you are unable to get snacks.

The bitter outlook on life that Abby had is very relatable. Her frustration with Seth's sunny disposition is amusing. Their banter is cute, and their fake dating makes for a comedic experience.

This book has all the rom-com tropes; fake dating, meet the parents, ex encounters, one bed, holiday romance, small town conflict, and much more.

Learning more about Hanukkah and the Jewish community in a lighthearted way was very enjoyable. The sense of community that is represented is beautiful, and seeing the sharing of that community with others was inspiring. If everyone was so open to sharing and learning about others' life experiences, the world might be a better place.

Wow, did I ever forget just how hungry an Amanda Elliot @amandapanitch book makes me!! Her food descriptions, as well as the romance, are delectable, and she truly does an incredible job of crafting descriptions that not only have me picturing the food in my mind, but also tasting and smelling it.

I also love how much I learned about Hanukkah through this book! Experiencing and learning more about cultures and religions outside my own makes my heart happy, and I gleamed so much new information from Love You A Latke! I also appreciated how Abby stood up for herself and her culture in the end.

And of course, the banter in this grumpy vs sunshine Hanukkah romance was top-notch. Readers, get ready for October because you’re in for an absolute delight this holiday season!

I absolutely loved this book. Abby is such a relatable Jewish female main character to me. I have experienced so many of the thoughts about being Jewish that she did- it felt so nice to see myself and my Jewish identity represented in this book. The relationship between Abby and Seth was so perfect. I cannot wait to read more from this author

Chapter 1 gave me butterflies, an absolute delight. The prose is top-notch, the hook is hooky, the grump is endearingly grumpy, the sunshine will not be put out by the snow falling outside, and all is right in the world. Adorable. Perfect set up for a delightful romcom that definitely seems like it will deliver.

And it did in fact deliver. I loved the layers of finding yourself and fighting for what you feel in your heart.

This is a solid 3-4 stars with 5 for the right readers.

Thank you the NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

- STORY -
Abby is a grumpy young woman running a coffee shop in a Vermont small town. She’s also the only Jewish person in the community… or so she thinks! Enter Seth, an optimistic, sunshine ray of a man, and Abby’s biggest fan.

After Abby is tasked with the job of planning a Hanukkah festival and finds herself lacking in Jewish connections, she recruits Seth to help. In return, she agrees to go home with Seth to celebrate Hanukkah with his family, as his fake girlfriend!

- STARS -
This book was a delight to read! I loved Abby’s transformation from pessimist to happily in love, despite her familial challenges. Her parents were complete jerks, and I loved how Seth helped her navigate that tricky situation.

Seth really was a swoon-worthy book boyfriend. He was endearing, funny, and sweet! I laughed out loud multiple times while reading.

This book has a great deal of Jewish history, particularly the story of Hanukkah. I learned so much and was grateful for the education I gained while reading. I also found myself searching for nearby Jewish delis and restaurants because I wanted to try a latke very badly! This book made me hungry. 😋

- SPICE -
This book is squeaky clean! No spice.

- HAPPY ENDING -
We do get a happy ending! Abby and Seth are darling together. I’m so happy Abby gets her found family. ❤️

- FINAL THOUGHTS -
Add this book to your holiday TBR immediately. You won’t regret it!

Love You a Latke publishes October 8, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley & Berkley Romance for this Advanced Reader Copy!