Love You a Latke — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Amanda Elliot
Published Year: 2024
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 368

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this book

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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 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.

First Impressions

I loved Elliot’s debut novel Sadie on a Plate and found her quickly added to my favorite author list. When I saw that she was writing a Hanukkah I was so excited. I am a huge Christmas movie fan, so seeing a book that was written about my culture and holiday was so excited.

What I thought

I LOVED this book. Elliot has such a great way of sharing Jewish culture in such a relatable way and it was so cool to see myself in a holiday novel.

Abby lives in a small town in Vermont where she is the only Jew. She is a café owner and every morning there is an over the top sunshiney man who comes in for coffee. When the town volunteers her to put together a Hanukkah festival, Abby realizes she needs the help of another Jew. Turns out, Mr. Sunshine is Seth, the only other Jew in town. He’s willing to help her, but only if she spends the 8 nights of Hanukkah in New York with his parents, convincing them that she is his girlfriend.

Sometimes fake dating can be very annoying, but this one is done right. They don’t fall in love too quickly, and build a nice friendship base. As someone who isn’t highly involved with the Jewish community, but grew up Jewish, it was cool to see Abby go through similar things. She hasn’t taken part in her Jewish faith in years, but slowly realizes how much it means to her. I also appreciated how Elliot pointed out the way gentile culture views Hanukah and Judaism.

I also adored all of the relationships. I liked Seth immediately and his friends were so fun. I was worried that his ex-girlfriend was going to be a bitch, but instead, Elliot makes her and Abby unlikely friends which I loved. There is a good balance of Christmas and Hanukkah and I honestly don’t think I could’ve imagined a better Hanukkah novel. I would love to see this as a Hallmark movie.