Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Review: Love You A Latke by Amanda Elliot



About the Book


Genre
Romance

Format
E-ARC

Publisher
Berkley

Release Date
October 8, 2024

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Love comes home for the challah-days in this sparkling romance.

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 cafĂ© 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 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.

My Review

Abby Cohen is not feeling particularly jolly even though it's the holiday season.  She is worried that her small town in Vermont won't do well with tourists, which means her cafe won't either. The town assigns her the task of putting together a Hanukkah festival since Abby is the only Jewish person on the tourism board.  However, the local vendors don’t have any experience with Hanukkah, so she needs to seek help elsewhere.

It turns out one of her customers, Seth, is also Jewish and has the perfect solution. His parents have been begging him to bring his girlfriend to their home in New York City for a week to celebrate Hanukkah.  Problem is, he doesn't have a girlfriend.  If Abby pretends to be his girlfriend for the week, Seth will help her find all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success.  

Reluctantly, Abby agrees.  She is mesmerized by New York City and everything it has to offer.  Thanks to Seth, she meets many vendors to help make her Hanukkah festival a success in Vermont.  The one drawback is continuing the pretense of being Seth’s girlfriend.  She loves his family and hates deceiving them. 

This book is the perfect holiday romance.  It put me in the holiday frame of mind even though it's very early in the season.  The mix of romance and Hanukkah is enough to warm anyone’s heart.  Seth and Abby are two characters I really found myself caring about.  I was cheering for them right from the start.  In fact, all of the characters are well written and truly come to life with each page.

The author does a wonderful job of creating a beautiful scenario for a romantic comedy.  This would be perfect as a Hallmark movie.  Love You A Latke is an uplifting, sweet romance.  I’m looking forward to reading more books by this author.

For reading challenges:

NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024


FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own.


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