Love You A Latke
by: Amanda Elliot
10/8/2024, Berkley
368 pages
It is the curse of the book blogger to read a book off season and then sit on it for a year while she waits for the right moment to come back around. At least, that’s what happened to me and Amanda Elliot’s hilarious grumpy/sunshine Hanukkah romance Love You A Latke. I started reading it last Hanukkah, but did not finish in time to post for the holiday. So I’ve sat here dying to tell everyone about it for an entire year. But now, Hanukkah is back and I’m posting my review on the very first day.
Love You A Latke has those small town vibes – our notorious grump Abby is drafted against her will into spearheading a Hanukkah festival to help the floundering town economy. Abby herself is a transplant to the town, having moved there for a relationship that didn’t work out, and then decided to stay. Her main qualification to run a Hanukkah festival seems to be that she is the only Jewish person anyone knows. She’s got lots of great ideas, but unfortunately, it quickly becomes obvious that Abby is running things only in name. What the real festival organizer wants is a Christmas market with the word ‘hanukkah’ slapped on it, and a token Jewish person’s nod of approval, so that it will look different than all the other local fairs without actually having to be different.
Abby, who runs a coffee shop, is pretty salty, yet somehow she finds it hard to stand up to this woman. Possibly because her parents were emotionally abusive towards her. Still, she keeps trying to imbue some actual Hanukkah into the fair. Which is how she finds herself fake dating her one true nemesis – Seth the local ray of sunshine who seems to get under her skin more than anyone else. He just so happens to have connections to a ton of Hanukkah vendors, and desperately wants to bring home a girlfriend to his parents in Manhattan to prove small town life is agreeing with him.
Turns out Seth has some confrontation issues too – rather than talk to his parents or his ex, he just kind of ran away. Except, unlike Abby, his people are the literal best. Including his ex, who quickly becomes Abby’s friend. Which is sort of awkward because feelings are starting to develop and the fake dating may not be so fake anymore.
Abby is a wonderful grump, and Seth is the shiniest of sunshines. They work really well together and the sense of humor in this book is delightful. As is all the Jewish food representation. The tropes used are on point, and I appreciated how Abby’s issues with her parents are not simply wrapped up in some platitudes, but instead acknowledged for something that isn’t just going to go away. Sometimes separation from toxicity is the only way to a happy ending.
Join me in screaming about this book – even if you don’t finish it until after Hanukkah. I have to wait for my posts to hit at the right time, but you can shout anytime! Happy Hanukkah to all the grumps and sunshines out there.