LOVE YOU A LATKE- This book made me miss New York City and the East Coast in general during the winter and holiday seasons. Strolling through the streets of Manhattan with a neighborhood coffeehouse coffee in my hand has this reader feel all the feels.
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.
A local Jewish guy, Seth makes Abby a deal. If she will fake date him by spending the week in New York City with him and his parents over Hannukah, he will give her all his contacts of Jewish friends and vendors that will make her Hannakah festival spectacular. Abby agrees and finds herself enjoying his parents more than she expected. Then she meets his friends and Abby enjoys being around them as well. She feels like she belongs for the first time in a long time and she knows it is due to being a part of a Jewish community again.
Being Jewish myself, this book really spoke to me. It had an incredible representation of how the Jews celebrate Hannukah, the fun games, the food eaten and the story of the festival of lights. It is very rare to see this much detail on how Judaism affects the lives of the Jews and their surrounding community. Allison goes into much detail that most authors don't bother with and I think it is great to finally be seen and represented properly. I also really enjoyed the love story of Abby and Seth. At first, Abby is very closed off and rude to Seth which made me dislike her but you quickly realize why she is like this. Their quirkiness just goes together so well and by the end of the book I was sold. These two belonged together. I can't wait to read more by this author.
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 café 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 other: 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.
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