As someone who is not at all familiar with the Jewish lifestyle and the only things I do know are from different TV shows (the latest being The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for which I have so much love for), this was quite an interesting read. It definitely made me want to research the subject a bit more as those things mentioned in the book seem SO insane! I'd definitely pull an Aliza and get the f*ck out if I had to live a life like that! 

There was something that bothered me about the writing of this novel in the first quarter of it, but I still can't put my finger on what it was. But thankfully that feeling left me as abruptly as Eliza left Nathan and I quite enjoyed the rest of it. It was pretty shocking at times, yet lovely and heart-warming as well. 

Reading it I did wonder if the author had watched the aforementioned Mrs. Maisel or are there certain names that are so common in the Jewish culture? Such as Joel, Nathan, Miriam... Those are all characters in the TV show. At first it bothered me, later it was a nice familiar feeling, though.

All in all, it's a nice and easy read which definitely taught me something new!

I enjoyed reading most of this book.  It is about a young woman torn between two worlds. She is conflicted between honoring her family or being with a man she loves. I thought the storyline was good and I like the characters. I found the plot to be reasonably realistic. However 3/4 of the way through this book I started to become a bit bored. Way too much meaningless conversation going on.  The sexual encounter she had out of wedlock just did not ring true to me. That being said it was an enjoyable book and I would like to thank you for my  Advanced copy. I will continue to follow this author.

Hmmm, I really don't know how I feel about this book! On one hand, I liked Eliza; her relationship with her family was interesting and the bond between her and her grandfather was touching. On the other though, I didn't like her relationship with Alex. For someone who supposedly loved Eliza, he sure wanted her to change an awful lot and give up her heritage. Is that love? I found some parts of the book uncomfortable to read-it felt like Alex was inflicting emotional abuse on Eliza. I think the book is marketed incorrectly too, it's nothing like Eleanor Oliphant and I think fans of that book might be disappointed. Sorry.

Read my review here to support me: https://3mmakatariina.wordpress.com/2019/03/13/review-the-two-hearts-of-eliza-bloom/

e-arc provided by netgalley and the lovely publisher for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review

Eliza Bloom has lived her entire life in an Orthodox Jewish family and is about to get married and start a Jewish family. However, just after her engagement, she meets Alex - a man from the "real world" from who she cannot get thoughts and eyes off. She decides to act against her parents wish and runs away with Alex on her wedding day. 16 years later, Eliza's and Alex's daughter finds out what exactly happened 16 year ago and what exactly were her parents' secrets, they hid from her. 

Before i'm going to talk about my thoughts, one of the first lines in the goodreads synopsis was the following: "‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette meets Britt-Marie Was Here… " and i'm just going to say 1 thing, it was nothing like Where’d You Go, Bernadette which i adored and was really excited to finally find something similar, but let's just say i was quite disappointed. 

But let's get to my thoughts. I was quite disappointed still. I think i read the synopsis of a wrong book before requesting this one from Netgalley so when i started this one, i was a bit confused at the beginning. The story itself was quite interesting also at the beginning but it started to drag, because i wanted to read more about the present, not the past.

for more visti: www.3mmakatariina.wordpress.com

This is the story about Eliza Bloom, an orthodox Jew who is set up marry a man named Nathan, but ends up falling for another man and pulling away from her religion. This was the story about love and a dysfunctional family, with a heartwarming storyline.

I am of two minds in terms of my thoughts about The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom. The overall story is about Aliza/Eliza Bloom, a very young Orthodox Jewish woman who is on the verge of an arranged marriage with Nathan when she meets Alex, a secular man who would be a step towards the "real world." Eliza is torn between these two worlds and makes a series of rash decisions that she is still coming to terms with many years later. 

In terms of my feeling torn about this book.... Note that there are SPOILERS ahead. 

On the one hand, I had some issues with the content. Alex creates a "re-education" guide that is designed to introduce Eliza to the "real world." First, I don't know that it's fair to represent Alex's secular world as the real world and thereby "other" the lives of the Orthodox Jewish people in Eliza's family. Also, Alex pushes Eliza to throw away all of her beliefs at a rapid pace that the is clearly not comfortable with. Although it is meant to be humorous, I felt uncomfortable with Eliza feeling forced to eat bacon, meat and dairy together, and coerced to indulge in various sexual behaviours based merely on Alex's desire to strip her of her old life. 

On the other hand, this book was really easy to read and I just flew through it. For those who don't mind the issues mentioned earlier, I think that they will love this book. Also, it was interesting to be introduced to various cultural aspects related to the Orthodox Jewish way of life (e.g., sheitels, etc.). I don't know how true to life or fair that representation was, but it was interesting and I felt like I learned a few things. 

Thanks to the author, Bookouture, and NetGalley for the chance to read an advance copy.

I found this quite a confusing book to read, to be honest. From the descriptions of the book in the blurb, it seems I almost read a different book altogether.

Eliza is Jewish, from a strict Orthodox family, in fact. This dictates everything from the clothes she wears to what type of man she is allowed to marry. She makes a major decision and ends up with Alex, which throws her life, and that of her family, into turmoil. I enjoyed learning more about the Jewish Orthodox faith, I had no idea it was as restrictive as it is. I would imagine that going from that kind of life to life in the "real world" to be a bit of a shock to the system. 

And that is where I have the major issue with the book. Alex sets out to change Eliza, in a way that even I would not be comfortable with, and I don't come from a strict religious background. They could not be two more opposite people and at times, this very much felt like an abusive relationship. Eliza declares several times that she loves Alex, but I just didn't feel it. Eliza needed to take some responsibility for her behaviour as well though, and the whole thing just felt wrong, to me. I didn't particularly like either Alex or Eliza although I loved Eliza's grandfather and her brother Dov. I read the whole book, hoping for something uplifting to happen, but I seem to have missed it somewhere along the way. 

Shame, this could have been a really good read. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

This one snuck up on me a bit, because nothing in the blurb prepared me for a story that revolves hugely around religion - in particular Orthodox Judaism. It's probably a good thing, as I might have avoided it otherwise (I'm not massively into religious fiction) but actually this was quite an insightful read.

Eliza knows nothing outside of her strict Jewish upbringing. She has turned down several suitors presented to her by her parents, but finally agrees to marry Nathan, on the basis that he's the least offensive of the lot (always a bonzer reason to marry someone, I think). Then she meets Alex. Definitely not a jew. And definitely not someone her family would consider even letting her near, let alone have a relationship with. I have really strong personal feelings about any types of arranged marriage, however I'm putting these to one side as a) I'm very influenced by my secular upbringing, and b) the author actually deals with this quite sensitively - i.e. sometimes this can result in hugely happy and fulfilling relationships. (Emphasis on the sometimes)

This was actually quite a complicated story about families, expectations, rebellion and clashing cultures. When Eliza makes the decision to follow her heart, this also means cutting herself away from everyone and everything she knows. It asks the question, 'can love really conquer all?'

I really enjoyed learning more about the Jewish religion and their rules and customs. It was fascinating to realise how much of 'the real world' as Eliza puts it, she was unaware of, before she leaves the insulated confines of her culture. Although, Eliza is actually a really frustrating protagonist - at times she almost seems willfully selfish, rather than just confused.

I wanted to like this a lot more, but for one thing. Alex writes lists of all the things that he wants Eliza to try, that before her faith would have forbidden. On the one hand this was sweet, as he was introducing her to all the things in popular culture that he loved. However on more than one occasion, it felt uncomfortable, and actually a bit oppressive. I'm not convinced if the author meant to write it this way, but it felt like Eliza was being forced into doing things she wasn't keen on and that does not sit well with me. Especially as this is clearly billed as being a 'healthy and loving' relationship. I really wanted the male character to pick up on the cues she was so obviously emitting...but he never does. I would love to ask the author her thoughts on what she meant to portray in this relationship. Had that issue been addressed this would have been a solid 4 star read.

The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom was released on 1st March 2019 by Bookouture.

Big thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Eliza Bloom meets someone and against all the odds fall in love, but from the very start of this relationship everything seems stacked against them, and yet, the very differences between the couple is what makes their combined stories so fascinating. As we all know, relationships are so often fraught with insecurities, and as Eliza discover to her cost, that if a relationship is worth having, it’s worth fighting for.

I enjoyed how the story unfolded, particularly the back story which gives more of an insight in Eliza’s background. I won’t spoil the story by giving anything away, as this is one of those stories which is better read with no idea of where the story is leading, that way you can appreciate just how much thought and preparation has been done by the author in order to make everything feel so exactly right.

I enjoy stories which, although light hearted, have the ability to inform as well as entertain and, as I read through the story, I learned such a lot about Eliza’s religion that I didn’t know anything about. The reasons why she acts as she does is explained in such a lovely way that you can’t help but be sympathetic to the situation she finds herself in.

The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom is a really lovely story which is written with all the warmth and intricate detail which is so characteristic of this author’s wonderful storytelling technique. The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom had me captivated from beginning to end, it made me laugh, made me smile and I even shed a little tear or two along the way. Lovely

I thought this was a book I was going to love, but I found myself having to drag through nearly every page and was so close to putting it down. I think it was my own personal opinion of dnf'ing books that stopped me from putting it down quite early.

The main reason I didn't like this book was the cheating. Again this may be a personal preference in books but whenever a plot includes cheating I just don't feel the need to read anymore.

The love interest and the whole romance just annoyed me to no end. Alex and Aliza were not a good mix, I feel like she changed every little thing about herself, to the point where she could have easily been a different character, just for a man.

So this was overall disappointing and I don't think I will be recommending it, especially not to fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine like the blurb says.

EXCERPT: What happened next, Leah used to ask. 

It's a good question. 

It was adorable, how fascinated she was by our love story when she was little. She still is fascinated in a sense, if last night was anything to go by. Maybe horrified is a more accurate description. Anyway, I don't want to think about last night. I don't want to think about Leah's face as she stood in the doorway, the black eyeliner she favours making her seem even less childlike, looking at me with that cool, clear way she has. I prefer to think about Leah when she was little, and I could do no wrong as far as she was concerned. Not now, when she is fourteen, and angry, and has been missing for five hours. 

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Meet Eliza Bloom: She likes to live life by the rules: long, blue skirt on Thursdays, dinner with mother on Fridays and if someone tells you a Valentine should be anonymous, give your new husband a blank card. Nothing is out of place in her ordered life… 

But last night her teenage daughter found something in a hidden shoebox that no-one was supposed to see and started asking questions. Questions that might just change everything in Eliza’s carefully constructed world. 

Join Eliza as she shows you how to run away with the love of your life (quite fast actually, as your family are coming after you), how to make your grandfather happy (this might involve a little bit of lying), how to let someone you love go (actually, this never gets easier) and how (now, this is a bad idea) to keep secrets from your new husband. 

The only way to truly live is to learn how to open your heart. 

MY THOUGHTS: I. Loved. This. Book. 

I didn't want it to end. Ever. 

I wanted to stay with Eliza, the Scarlet Woman of Hackney E5, as she muddled her way through life. She made me smile. And laugh. And shed a few tears. And Alex? ('My name is Alex Symons and I'm an idiot. It's been a few weeks since I was last a complete idiot.') Lord, I love that man! I want a friend like Deborah. One who is not afraid to call it like she sees it, and who loves you no matter what. And Leah? The glue that holds the package together, the tsunami that tears it apart. 

Six hours after I finished reading The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom, I am still not ready to say goodbye. I want to stay immersed in the world of this unconventional family. I am not ready, nor willing, to return to the 'real world'.

More please, Beth Miller!

THE AUTHOR: Beth Miller’s first novel, When We Were Sisters, was recently published by Ebury Press. Her second novel, The Good Neighbour, will be published in September 2015, also by Ebury. She is currently writing her third novel, The Privacy Room, and is also working on a book about the world’s greatest radio show, called For The Love of The Archers. She is a columnist for The Chap magazine, and the rest of the time she runs courses about writing, works with fellow writers as their book coach, and drinks tea while staring vacantly into space. She has been a sex educator, alcohol counsellor, and inept audio-typist. She has a PhD in psychology, which has yet to come in handy.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you, thank you, thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom by Beth Miller for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. 

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my webpage

I really enjoyed The Good Neighbour by Beth Miller so I was thrilled to be asked to read her latest book The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom.


Eliza Bloom is an Orthodox Jew and her family have been trying to arrange a suitable marriage for her but she keeps turning down the prospective partners for various reasons. Aware of the pressure heaping on her, when she meets Nathan she can see qualities in him that she thinks she could live with and so she gives her parents the thumbs up for the marriage. What she hasn't bargained on though is meeting Alex, who isn't Jewish, and after a few illicit meetings with him in a coffee shop she finds her thoughts and dreams returning to him night after night, which raises questions about her impending marriage to Nathan.


Fast forward 16 years and Eliza's daughter, Leah, has found a shoebox full of secrets which could potentially destroy everyone involved, but just what has Eliza been hiding?



Beth Miller has a real talent for bringing her characters to life but I must admit it took me a little while to warm to a few characters and I even changed my mind about a few of them along the way.  Eliza was a complex character who one minute I felt immense sympathy for, but the next I would quite happily have given her a good shake!


I found the insight into the Jewish Orthodox way of life to be truly fascinating. I had no idea of the extent of rules, traditions and customs that are involved in this culture. It was a real eye opener for me and I could see how transitioning from one culture to another is far more intricate than it would appear on the surface and from the point of view of an outsider.


The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom is a thought-provoking and somewhat cautionary tale of family, love and friendship and the consequences of trying to build a life outside of what's expected and familiar.  I don't totally agree with the statement that this is a 'laugh-out-loud' book and I feel that some readers will find this misleading - but, that said, I thought that it was a highly enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend and I hope that I'm looking forward to reading more books from this talented author.

The blurb of this book doesn’t really give you a clue what to expect between the covers and gives very little hint of the main plot device of the novel, so it is going to be quite difficult to write a comprehensive, spoiler-free review. Still, I’m up for a challenge so let’s give it a go.

This is a ‘two worlds collide, fish out of water’ story about a couple falling in love from opposites sides of a divide that throws up a multitude of problems in their relationship. If you scout other reviews, you will probably find out what the differences are that divide them without reading the book, but I think that will be a shame for you and I would advise you going into the book naively and discover the secret for yourself as you read. For me, it was really eye-opening, as the world Eliza comes from is one that I know nothing about, and learning about the conventions and rules of the society in which she lives was fascinating and humbling; I’m embarrassed that I have never taken the time to learn more about it before.

However, aside from the particular issues Eliza’s background presents to the relationship, there is a lot in this story that rings true for anyone who has ever been in a relationship, especially one that has been entered into at a young age when, whilst we might feel we are adults, we are largely unformed and uninformed as people, and we are making life-changing decisions joining ourselves to other people when we don’t really know who we are ourselves. Through the book, the author explores all kinds of relationships that shape all of our lives, not just romantic ones. The bonds of family – spouses, parents, children, siblings, friends, extended family, wider community- their needs, expectations, ideologies, personalities, dynamics, all of these things affect each of us in different ways and impact our behaviour and decisions and part of life is learning where we fit, how to manage these things, when we should comply, when we should rebel, what is important and what isn’t. The arts of empathy, understanding and compromise are something we all need to learn, whoever we are and wherever we come from.

The author writes with sensitivity, warmth and approachability. Her characters felt so real to me, even though the world she is writing about is so alien in many ways, I was totally drawn in. The main character, Eliza, could be me, you, or any of us because, as humans, we have more similarities than we have differences, no matter who we are or where we come from, if we choose to see them and focus on them, rather than our differences. Given some of the current things going on in the world today, I think this message is an extremely relevant and important one to be getting out there, and this book does it beautifully.

This is a gorgeous story, the writing pulls you through with ease and pleasure. There was nothing but joy in the reading of it for me, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Pretty close to reading perfection.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

The Two Hearts Of Eliza Bloom is a beautifully told story which manages to put a fresh twist on the traditional love story.

The story is told is two timelines, one detailing how Eliza and Alex met, the other showing how life is now for Eliza. This is very effective as it creates a sense of anticipation as the reader quickly knows the end outcome in the early timeline so wonders what happens to get there and simultaneously hopes for a happier ending for Eliza in the later one.

I loved the main character Eliza! The fact that she’s a bit of a rebel made me instantly warm to her and I found her humour very funny. I was immediately on her side and felt for her with everything that happened after her elopement with Alex. It was very touching to go on such an emotional journey with her to discover the importance of family and I found I had tears in my eyes whilst reading.

The book describes a little bit about Orthodox Jewish beliefs and practices which was fascinating to learn more about. It sounds daft but I had no idea that they were quite so strict! It was especially interesting to see how the religion had changed over the years as the world became more modern.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m now eagerly awaiting her next book later this year. If you like emotional but uplifting books that make you laugh and cry then you’ll love this book!

Huge thanks to Kim Nash from Bookouture for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley which I received in exchange for an honest review.

The cover certainly didn’t present any clues, and neither did the book’s description – although you might well pick them up from the name “Eliza Bloom” and mention of the list of rules – but this book did present me with a bit of dilemma on what constitutes a spoiler. So I’ll (slightly reluctantly) gloss over the reason why Eliza’s always needed to wear a long blue skirt on Thursdays, and simply say that I did find the cultural context for this story a fascinating introduction to a lifestyle and upbringing I knew lamentably little about.

Eliza’s dramatic choice – leaving behind the familiar and entering “the Real World” – did initially seem to be exchanging one set of rules for another, and it raised a whole raft of issues for me around when love might become a tad confused with control. But I think I read the “re-education” situation entirely wrongly, and really did like the changed perception over the years of “the book” and its meaning and purpose. The whole process of trying the new, unfamiliar and previously forbidden – and sometimes the downright frightening and unacceptable – was really well handled, although I did sometimes wonder why the lion’s share of change and trying new things fell only to Eliza.

I will admit to failing to understand Eliza’s overpowering urge to return to her past – I could understand the pull of family and the familiar, but not why she felt the need to put her new life at such risk by doing so much more than simply “going home”. And while I’m admitting things, I’ll also confess that I didn’t entirely take to the younger Eliza – her choices made me a little uncomfortable, and rather than brave and daring I found her rather selfish and self-centred. But I did very much like the way the story unfolded – and I particular enjoyed the way the story was structured and moved between 1999/2000 and the characters’ lives in the present day.

The characters and their interactions were wonderful – the visits to Zaida at the nursing home filled with intrigue and deception, Eliza’s relationship with her sisters and friend Deborah, the steadfast support of brother Dov, and so much more. I also liked the portrayal of Eliza’s father – always the bully, anger growing with his daughter’s defection, then visibly crumbling with the erosion of his power and control. The emotional content is particularly strong too – and I found Alex’s unexpected fragility particularly touching and realistically handled. And there was a nice circle within the plot – while Eliza chose one path, her daughter Leah begins to choose the opposite, and I thought that was particularly well done.

Balancing the drama in the earlier storyline, there’s considerable drama in the present too. The relationship between Eliza and her daughter is in stark contrast to her own family relationships – and if I didn’t entirely take to the young Eliza I most certainly didn’t like her spiky and foul mouthed daughter, although I thought the way she swung between vulnerable small child and all-knowing adult was really well done, and she was unquestionably a very realistic teen.

But enough about the story and characters – I loved the themes too. There’s that whole area of making decisions and choices, with the expectation that the new and different will be somehow better – only to find that what you really want might just be something you already had. There are questions too around love, honesty and loyalty, and the meaning of family – and the fact that you sometimes need to find yourself before you can think about making such life-changing choices.

I always think it’s a really good indication that you’ve enjoyed a book when you have strong feelings about its characters – it’s an acknowledgement that you’ve entered the world they occupy, that they’re entirely real to you even when you might not always agree with their actions, decisions or behaviour. And this certainly is such a book – although to get the full impact, I would suggest that you try to avoid the reviews that mention the story’s context and experience it for yourself. Highly recommended.

The path of religion and love can find many bumps in the road and this book beautifully highlights the joys and losses one can face when following your heart. Beth Miller creates a heartwarming story that envelopes you into the world of Eliza Bloom and allows you to quietly observe her trials and tribulations to be with the one she loves.

Judaism is not just a religion but a way of life and with that comes many responsibilities which to the outside eye may seem strict and restricting. Eliza has to make the hardest decision of her life and this book portrays the importance of love, family and the bond that ties the two together. This is a moving piece that will open your eyes and your heart. I loved taking this journey with Eliza and feel enlightened and privileged for the experience.

Such interesting and timely subject matter. I think we all know or know of someone who has been tossed from their family for some reason be it religion or just who they are or at least have heard of it happening.  It was and yet it wasn’t. Possibly it was because it hit close to home and brought back memories of a friend planning her wedding alone and no one in her family being there and walking her down the aisle or because the the 2 main characters were so flawed and immature. I cannot imagine for any reason, religion, belief that a parent would sit shiva for their child and consider them dead.  She didn’t do anything other than fall in love and every parent should want what makes their child happy and be loved. To force a child into an arranged marriage when it is not one she or he wants is abuse. Her dad is a mean nasty unforgiving man and her mother has never had any power so goes along with him. So sad and shameful. Regardless of the religion this scenario happens more than it should.  Once is more than too many times for a family to toss out their kids. There is no excuse for that.  EVER.   
The couple may be in love, but boy do they have problems.  The wife is trying to navigate the “real world” with a husband who is so judgmental, unbending and at times unforgiving.  He wants her to give up everything and has a list.  He wants her to do everything he deems as normal NOW and gets more than a little pissy and obnoxious when she has a difficult time. Too much too soon for her and slowing it down is not his way and yet he does absolutely nothing help her gently assimilate.  Throwing someone into the deep end of the pool does not usually end well! He wooed her, but once he got her it was all about him all of the time.  She went from frying pan into the fire.  She is so uncomfortable that she starts sneaking around, reconnecting with her brother and her Zaida and hiding it.  It is a terrible choice and yet she doesn’t want crap from her husband. She should not have to sneak and yet I understand why she opts to do so.  Secrets are so unhealthy and as they fester they can slowly and quietly destroy the foundation of any relationship.  Their daughter is a spoiled rotten kid who has grownup not knowing the secrets, but knowing that there were plenty.  No surprise she went behind her parents backs and came up with crazy conclusions.  The cousins were like the main characters dad.  Mean spirited and unlikable.  
All of that said, it was a really interesting read that was well written and realistic. Not an easy read, but worth it.  It is about an Orthodox woman and family, but could be interchanged with any deeply devout group. This offers a window into what can happen when you choose religion over love of family.

I don't know what I was expecting with 'The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom', but this wasn't it - and no I don't mean that in a bad way! I guess I just assumed that the storyline was going to be the slushy romantic kind, and it wasn't like that at all. In fact it couldn't have been more different.

I'm not a Jew, nor do I practice any type of religion, so reading a book where the main theme of the storyline was centred around a Jewish woman and her faith, was quite eye opening. It's not that I have ignored the faith over the years, it's just that I have never had the need to find out more about it in my own personal life. I had no idea how many rules there are for women regarding their love life, food choices, clothing choices, association with other faiths. I also had no idea just how much of a divide it could cause if someone were to go against their faith and choose a different path in their own life. I'm sure you know where I'm going with this - yes, Eliza Bloom was the rebel, the one who chose to start a new life after listening to her heart and not the opinions of her parents. 

Brave? Yes, I thought she was. I mean, I can't judge someone who lives a different faith to me, nor can I comment in depth on something I don't fully understand due to not living that lifestyle myself. So yes, I thought she was brave as she put her life on the line with no guarantee of a happy outcome.

I actually really enjoyed following Eliza's journey as well as meeting some rather unsavoury and colourful characters along the way. It was clear to see that Eliza loved her family, but on the other side of the coin I could see why her loved ones were upset. Now, as for Alex, I'm sitting on the fence with that one I must admit.

'The Two Hearts of Eliza Bloom' was such a life affirming, eye-opening and often humorous read which allowed me to see how different lives are lived. I thought that Beth Miller captured the essence of her characters wonderfully, and I loved how she was able to convey the Jewish faith in a way that people like me would be able to understand. This book is definitely an unexpected little gem.

A thought provoking story packed with culture, family, and choices.

This was a well told story about an Orthodox Jewish Woman struggling to find where she truly belongs. Eliza has lived her first 20 something years sheltered by the Orthodox Jewish religion, no television, no cell phones, strict rules about food and dress and ultimately an arranged marriage. I found this to be a terribly interesting and unique premise. I loved getting to know Eliza and I found the orthodox Jewish culture and customs fascinating. This is a complicated story with no easy answers, it was about life, choices, and how no matter how hard you try things can get very messy. Now if you are taking another look at the cover and the blurb and wondering if I am actually talking about this book, the answer is yes! This book in my opinion was done a disservice by the blurb and cover. Both the cover and blurb imply a fun fluffy lighthearted read that will make you “laugh out loud“. Now there are some humorous moments in the story but I found this to be a much more serious story than I anticipated based on blurb and cover. Additionally the books that the book was compared to were confusing, this is a good book that I don’t believe can really be compared to any previous book.

A complicated tale with a dysfunctional Love story. I would certainly not classify this as a romance, the love story in this book is a mess. Both Eliza and Alex do some pretty questionable things. Eliza ran away with Alex on the day she was supposed to marry Nathan, see it is complicated. Alex is not an Orthodox Jew and he is eager to show Eliza the ways of the “real world“. Alex’s methods are sometimes a little interesting borderline creepy, and Eliza is not quite sure what she wants. The book jumps between present and past so when Eliza and Alex‘s teenage daughter finds a picture Tucktaway in a shoebox it leads to many questions.

This was an engaging heartwarming story. The characters weren’t always likable, and they don’t always make the best choices, but they are real. Life is messy and some choices are more difficult to make than others. This book really made me think what would I do in this situation?  Also made me look back on some choices I have made in my own life. I truly enjoyed the story, and that ending was perfection, absolutely loved it!

<h1>🎵🎵🎵Song Running Through My Head</h1>

<i>Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated
Life's like this you
And you fall, and you crawl, and you break
And you take, what you get, and you turn it into
Honesty and promise me I'm never gonna find you fake it
No, no, no
You come, over unannounced
Dressed up, like you're something else
Where you aren't where it's at you see
You're making me
Laugh out, when you strike your pose
Take off, all your preppy clothes
You know, you're not fooling anyone
When you become
Somebody else
'Round everyone else
You're watching your back
Like you can't relax
You're trying to be cool
You look like a fool to me
Tell me...</i>

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5NPBIwQyPWE

*** many thanks to Bookouture for my copy of this book ***