Author: Jean Meltzer
Series: None
Publication Date: August 9, 2022
Publisher: MIRA
Pages: 416
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: For me it wasn't about the romantic love for Dara but the love for her Bubbe
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
Summary: As the creator and CEO of the popular Jewish dating app J-Mate, matchmaker Dara Rabinowitz knows the formula for lasting love—at least, for everyone else. When it comes to her own love life, she’s been idling indefinitely. Until her beloved bubbe shares Dara’s checklist for “The Perfect Jewish Husband” on national television and charming news anchor Chris Steadfast proposes they turn Dara’s search into must-see TV. As a non-Jewish single dad, Chris doesn’t check any of Dara’s boxes. But her hunt for Mr. Perfect is the ratings boost his show desperately needs. If only Chris could ignore his own pesky attraction to Dara—a task much easier said than done when Dara starts questioning if “perfect on paper” can compete with how hard she’s falling for Chris…~amazon.com
Review: Just because you are good at something professionally doesn't necessarily means it translates well personally. This is the case for Dara Rabinowitz who runs a successful dating app but hasn't had much luck in the love area herself. To be fair, it's not like she's really tried. I mean she's super busy running a successful company, taking care of her Bubbe Miriam and managing her anxiety. Dara is a type-A personality and that means she's very organized, particular and kind of likes being in control. Also, because of her generalized anxiety disorder, these things are really important for her mental health. It takes a lot for her to even prepare and do media for her company. So when her Bubbe Miriam joins her for a live interview on a local tv show and things go sideways, Dara is not at all prepared for the spiral it will send her life in.
It's pretty obvious how the romantic love part of this books ends but for me it was more about her love and relationship with Bubbe than whom she would end up with in the end. It was so evident that Dara and Miriam had a pretty special relationship and some of that is because of their connection with being matchmakers. I loved how Miriam slyly pushed Dara out of her comfort zone to pursue happiness and love.
Ms. Meltzer does a fantastic job of highlighting the difficulty of managing and living with a mental health issue. How it causes stress and anxiety in seemingly normal, every day tasks or situations. Years of therapy and medication have helped Dara manage it but she'll never be rid of it. I think that's an important statement.
I also really enjoyed learning about the Jewish holidays and how many there truly are other than Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur that I was familiar with for a variety of reasons.
If you are looking for a strong female protagonist and a novel about family, traditions and love, then look no further than Mr. Perfect on Paper.
No comments:
Post a Comment