Barbara Rachel's Reviews

Light It Up by Evie Blum My rating: 5 of 5 stars In a few words: Loved and surprised by the spice level. Please note, I did receive this ARC for free; I am writing this honest review voluntarily and appreciate the opportunity provided by the author to review this book. So, Gabby and Ben are lifelong friends and right off the bat sex complicates everything. I loved how Gabby is not a swooning, weak willed heroine: she is sassy, sometimes in the wrong, stubborn and lives out loud. I enjoyed cheering her on. I felt the story was as much about figuring out if two people are any good for each other let alone going to get that happily ever after. There are no guarantees here—anything goes—and I really enjoyed that about this story. It was a roller coaster and I was totally here for it. I loved the Jewish and Israeli representation. It was timely, current, with some real poignant moments. I will say I was surprised by the spice level — ju...

Miracles and Menorahs by Stacey Agdern My rating: 4  of 5 stars A girl that loves Hanukkah and a boy who loves it too, what could go wrong? She loves the small town she grew up in and its annual Hanukkah festival, but some of the town wants to change it to a holiday festival. Meanwhile the boy does not like the commercialization of holidays, hence the conflict between them. I love a Jewish themed romcom as much as the next person — this was a sweet story and for the most part I really enjoyed it. I loved the main character and the grandmother of the male MC - they were my favorite parts of the story.  Another thing I did love was the idea of a small town with a Hanukkah festival. That was a really fresh idea - build the world you want to see, even if it is for a novel One problem I had was that the main female lead had a best friend who was horrible. She was whiny, demanding and self centered. The whole book I wanted a reveal on how Sarah, our MC, ...

Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer My rating: 4 of 5 stars As the creator and CEO of the popular Jewish dating app J-Mate, matchmaker Dara Rabinowitz knows the formula for lasting love—at least, for everyone else. When it comes to her own love life, she’s been idling indefinitely. Until her beloved bubbe shares Dara’s checklist for “The Perfect Jewish Husband” on national television and charming news anchor Chris Steadfast proposes they turn Dara’s search into must-see TV. As a non-Jewish single dad, Chris doesn’t check any of Dara’s boxes. But her hunt for Mr. Perfect is the ratings boost his show desperately needs. If only Chris could ignore his own pesky attraction to Dara—a task much easier said than done when Dara starts questioning if “perfect on paper” can compete with how hard she’s falling for Chris. I loved this book and the representation of a young Jewish woman with a severe anxiety disorder who has her world turned u...

Kissing Kosher by Jean Meltzer My rating: 5 of 5 stars Avital is a worn-out family bakery manager with chronic pain who has her world turned upside down by her new hire, Ethan. Ethan, meanwhile has his own struggles as the orphaned heir to a bakery empire; he has taken a job with Avital - not to learn his way around a kitchen - but to steal a secret recipe from a rival family. What is already complicated becomes next level due to their mutual attraction.  At first, I was taken aback by the transparent description of Avital’s struggles to get from one day to the next. I read this in one day because I could not put this book down. It is a romance, between two unlikely heroes but there is so much more. There is chronic illness, emotional abuse, grief and loss. And there is marijuana. A surprising amount of discussions revolving around cannibus, that I was not expecting.  I loved this book. It was honest, painfully so at times. I laughed and smiled but...

Unorthodox Love by Heidi Shertok My rating: 4 of 5 stars When the expectations you have for yourself cannot realized, how do you find your happy ending? This was a delightful story about 29 year old Penina, who is facing some unbelievable choices, trying to keep her head up while facing her own, self-described, shortcomings. How can she be true to her faith and beliefs and ever expect her life to become more than it is? I loved the story, the twists and plot lines. Penina’s character seems to glaze over and have some rather hilarious moments when faced how she superficiously feels about her new boss, Sam Keinfeld, juxtaposed with how she internally and involunatarily reacts to him. I was drawn to this book because of its Jewish themes and I was not disappointed.  The book has all of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, love epiphany and different worlds. I loved seeing my people, as an Orthodox woman, on the page. From the little things...

Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Read by Justine Erye The premise is fantastic: a gender-swapped Cinderella story set in Regency England’s Jewish community. TBH, this selection was a must for me based on the cover alone. The fact that a hero is dancing on the cover with a kippa on his head was hook enough for me. I adore a historical romance, and this is so well researched and intricately written. I could picture the costumes, the people and the community around them in my minds eye. It provided a really rich background for the story. Particularly interesting, to me, was the dynamics between the Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities. Of course, better known to most people would be the tension between the non-Jewish community and the Jewish community, and while it had to be mentioned, I’m glad not too much time is spent on this. It did seem to me the two MC’s came together more in lust than love. Also I was surprised by t...