Author: Jean Meltzer
Series: None
Publication Date: August 29, 2023
Publisher: MIRA
Pages: 400
Obtained: publisher
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: I will read anything Jean Meltzer writes
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
Summary: Avital Cohen isn’t wearing underpants—woefully, for unsexy reasons. Chronic pelvic pain has forced her to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It’s all she can do to manage her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing. She needs hired help. And distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems the perfect fit. Except Ethan isn’t there to work—he’s undercover, at the behest of his ironfisted grandfather. Though Lippmann’s is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don’t have the charm of Avital’s bakery. Or her grandfather’s world-famous pumpkin spice babka recipe. As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets, especially as he helps her find the chronic pain relief—and pleasure—she’s been missing. But perfecting the recipe for romance calls for leaving out the lies…even if coming clean means risking everything. ~amazon.com
Review: I'm so happy that a friend turned me on to Jean Meltzer's books a couple years ago because each one of them has been an utter delight to read. I will say that now I'm hooked, I need her next book ASAP but no pressure.
Secrets are never good and will end up coming back to bite you in the arse in the most unexpected time and from the least expected person. Unfortuntely this is what happens to Ethan but luckily at this point Avital already knew. It does have consequences for them both though.
Avital and Ethan are both dealing with pain even if they are different types of pain. Avital's is the type of physical pain that stiffles any semblance of a real life and Ethan's is the type of pain that can destroy a person's emotional/mental capacities. Somehow they find each other and begin to heal. Throughout the book you see how both are struggling with their different afflictions but how they bring out the best in each other. How Ethan really does want to find relief for Avital as they go on their medicinal weed adventure(s). How that adventure ends up changing their lives.
The cast of characters that work at Best Babka are a hoot and provide some much needed levity for the novel. I also absolutely adored Ethan's brother Randy, who was a bit more than just a "drug" addict.
I also loved the focus on the Jewish teaching and traditions. I loved Rabbi Jason's speech on intimacy and love; it was one of the best passages of the novel.
If you haven't read Jean Meltzer, then go buy her three books because I promise you, you won't be disappointed.
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