Mr. Perfect on Paper

When I was single, and in my twenties, I used to keep a mental *shopping list* of the attributes I hoped to find in my ideal partner. My friends and I used to discuss our individual shopping lists; the longer we stayed single, I decided that realistically some of the items on my list could be re-ordered or even eliminated. But some of the people I know were sticklers and did not want to change the order of the attributes they were seeking; they actually stayed single for several more years!

In Jean Meltzer’s latest novel, Mr. Perfect on Paper, releasing in August, heroine Dara Rabinowitz also has a shopping list — in her case, a checklist — for what she is seeking in “The Perfect Jewish Husband.” As creator and CEO of the very popular Jewish dating app J-Mate, Dara is a third-generation matchmaker who has had great success in creating matches for countless young people worldwide. She has helped others but hasn’t found anyone to call her own. In truth, she hasn’t made a great enough effort to even look.

But that might soon change. Dara and her beloved bubbe, also a successful matchmaker, go on the TV show “Good News New York” to talk about matchmaking and J-Mate, and while talking, her grandmother happily reveals Dara’s criteria for the ideal Jewish mate. Outed on national TV, Dara simply wants to hide away forever.

But that episode proves to be very popular with host and news anchor Chris Steadfast and his audience. He and his production team get permission — albeit reluctant — from Dara to try to help her find her love match, then follow and film her as she goes on dates. TV ratings are everything, after all.

As Chris and Dara become friends while on a mission to find Dara her bashert, the non-Jewish single father and widower can’t help but recognize his attraction to her. And vice versa. But he doesn’t meet her criteria, and both he and she know it.

This book also features GAD, an acronym that was new to me. It stands for General Anxiety Disorder. Successful, wealthy, organized,  heroine Dara suffers from GAD, and the reader learns about its symptoms and Dara’s ways of handling this disorder.

Join Chris, Dara, her bubbe Miriam, along with Bubbe’s buddies aka the ChallahBack Girls, and others in “Mr. Perfect on Paper” as they look for love, fun, a sense of belonging, calm, understanding and acceptance. You will laugh, you will cry, you will smile, you will cheer from the sidelines.

Note: The reviewer received an arc from the author’s agent

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