Everyone knows I’m a sucker for sci fi and a recently converted romance devotee, so it felt right to kick off my Hanukkah posts with Nessa Claugh’s alien fake dating Hannukah romance Meteors and Menorahs. Yes your read that correctly. Alien. Fake dating. Hannukah romance.  Forget interfaith, we’re going full on inter species in this holiday romcom. 

This trope-tastic story follows Leah, a thirty something anesthesiologist as she convinces her colleague and secret crush Kenneth to be her fake date for Hanukkah so she can get her family, and her ex-boyfriend, off her back. It also contains about a million and one fun romance tropes. Alien romance? That’s kind of the premise. Fake dating? Check. Evil ex boyfriend? His name is David and he’s the literal worst. Only one bed? Most definitely. There’s even a bonus sexy sunscreen application scene. 

My one criticism comes when the book leans too heavily into one of the many fun tropes it uses: aliens failing to understand human behavior. In his job as a physical therapist working with disabled humans Kenneth swings a bit ableist. It’s a minor point, covered in a few paragraphs, but I wish our alien friend was given the chance to grow and more fully understand this human experience. Similarly there are a couple of lines that disappointed me as a religious person and I few I suspect will disapoint queer readers. They can easily be deleted without affecting plot or character development and the story would be more friendly to diverse readers from all backgrounds. 

This is a high heat book with some fun alien anatomy thrown in too (is that a trope? If it’s not, it should be.) Definitely not safe for work.

Overall, this was a quick read full of good food and fun. Easily devoured in one sitting much the same way Kenneth inhales sufganiyot. 

Note – I received a free e-copy of this book through BookSprout in exchange for an honest review.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.