I need Netflix to pick this one up as a holiday romcom 🙌🏽 This was the one holiday/seasonal book that I was able to squeeze in this year (I started and finished it during Hanukkah!) and I really truly enjoyed it. An enemies-to-lovers and second-chance romance story that quickly won me over.

Meltzer does SUCH a great job developing these characters and adding layers upon layers of nuance and emotional complexity. Getting to read from both main character’s (Rachel and Jacob) point of view, I wanted to bang my head against the wall sometimes because gosh they were holding themselves back for what felt like the stupidest reasons and littlest bits of miscommunication. But that’s what made them as individual characters and their journey to each other so relatable and human. Meltzer explores how the insecurities we harbor and life shapes us in a really honest and beautiful way.

I alternated between laughing out loud (picture a grown woman in a matzah ball costume fighting off small children) and really empathizing with characters. The balance between comedy/fluff and complexity (family dynamics, religion, and chronic illness) was done wonderfully.

I’ll be thinking about this one for holiday seasons to come (really rooting for it to be adapted into a movie 🤞🏽)!!