I write fairly often about how being Jewish impact my life, but never is it more apparent than in the days after Thanksgiving. Christmas messaging is now unfurling its way across the country and the hashtag #JustSayXMas makes a regular appearance on my social media feed. Yet never in my community did I doubt that when someone wished me a ‘Happy Holiday’ they meant Hanukkah. Which is why I was excited to read Love All Year 2021 an anthology featuring non-christian holidays.

Holidays are a time for family but also a time for reflection, when we think about our heritage, the traditions passed down to us, and the legacy we want to leave for future generations. It is a kind of thoughtfulness that you wouldn’t typically expect in a romance, the grand fate of ones people can be a bit of a mood dampener, but every single story in this anthology skirts that line easily. These stories are rooted in culture and sensitivity. Love grows because the pairs featured participate in these holidays together, honoring age old traditions while incorporating modern twists.

Speaking of growth, one of the two Jewish stories, The Koufax Curse by KD Casey, is a queer Tu B’shvat story. The New Year of the trees is one of my favorite holidays, but I have never held a Tu B’shvat seder quite like the one experienced by the pro ball players in this story. Let us just say Manischewitz makes a significant appearance. The second Jewish story, Spiraling Closer, by Elsie Marrone, features the Jewish High Holidays in a pandemic and kicks off with our heroine accidentally lobbing a piece of bread smack into the face of our soon to be love interest during Tashlich. It is both hilarious and poignant, a testament to the confusing times we live in right now.

While the other stories are not Jewish, I still highly recommend checking them out. I had never heard of Durga Puja until I read Soumi Roy’s fake dating story, A Tangled Truce, yet the vivid descriptions made it come to life for me. Another holiday I have never had the privilege of experiencing first hand is Black Love Day, featured in October Rhea’s bisexual Heart and History, the story of two art teachers finding community, and each other, in Harlem.

Several of my friends celebrate lunar New Year and Jasmine Luck’s story of love found through cooking lessons, Yes Chef, has me itching to email them for some recipes. Kosoko Jackson’s story, Kwanaza Kiss, employs one of my favorite tropes – time limited adventure/challenge – to bring its two protagonists closer. It also has a voice to die for. Seriously, I read this one twice for the craft alone.

I’m probably not supposed to pick favorites, but I will anyway, Hudson Lin’s Their Dragon Boat Featuring an enby leader of a dragon boat team and the OBGYN brought in as a last minute replacement for one of their paddlers before a dragon boat festival regatta, this is exactly the kind of story that makes readers go weak in the knees. Plus the medical aspects of the protagonists job were actually fairly accurate!

As I prepare to light my menorah tonight, I find it fitting that I spent some time getting to know other cultures and holidays. Living in a Christian dominated country it can sometimes feel like outside of our little isolated cultural enclaves nobody else appreciates our holidays. This anthology, with such a diverse representation of holidays, as well as romantic orientations, proves that is not true. We exist, we are here, and just like the candles on a menorah we shine brightest when we are together.

Note: I received a reviewer e-copy of this book from one of the authors after I expressed interest in reading it. No string were attached.

This anthology included an open call for submissions, a process which I believe improves equity in publishing.

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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.