I really did not like the handling of PTSD in this book - the heroine constantly pushed at it and treated it like accupressure would make it go away. She also was insensitive to the death of her friend's husband. Hannukah was a very very minor subplot to this book, which was disappointing since the mennorah on the cover was why I picked it up.

Heat Factor: Let’s tryst on this ski lift!
Character Chemistry: My PTSD is incompatible with your hobbies!
Plot: They are planning a holiday party together, but really it’s about Caleb dealing with his PTSD in a place that triggers his PTSD
Overall: Diversity tokenism done wrong

Before I start ranting about diversity and representation in fiction, let me begin by acknowledging that this is a decent love story, mainly because the central conflict is interesting. See, Caleb was caught in an avalanche a few years ago, and now is triggered by things like going on big mountains or thinking about skiing or having a girlfriend who does backwoods Search and Rescue. Obviously, the solution to this problem is for him to move from Denver to… a small ski town in Montana. Garnet loves to ski, do other outdoorsy things, and is a member of the Search and Rescue team; furthermore, she has sworn never to change herself for a man again. So they are facing a tough dilemma, because a huge part of what makes Garnet tick triggers Caleb’s PTSD.

They have some stupid fights, and there were several moments where Garnet made me RAGE because of how rigid and unreasonable she was being. I get it about not wanting to have a complete personality makeover, but sometimes relationships are about compromise, and Caleb was doing PLENTY of compromising by doing things that were immensely difficult for him (like skiing!) because they were important to Garnet. Luckily, she does eventually come to that realization, but her path there was sometimes frustrating to read about.

My true frustration, however, stems from the way that “diversity” was shoe-horned into this book. Caleb is: Jewish, half-Japanese, and disabled, but none of these factors impact the story in any way. Let’s break it down.

Judaism
I’ll be honest, I got this book solely based on the cover: it was a Christmas Special with a Menorah on it! How would the magic of Hanukkah bring these two crazy love birds together??? Answer: it doesn’t!

Here are the “Jewish” things that occur:
- Garnet asks Caleb if they office Christmas party should be a generic holiday party, since he is Jewish. Caleb says, “Nah, I’m trying to fit in here. A Christmas party is fine.”
- Caleb hosts a Shabbat dinner for his friends. There is no challah. There are no candles. There are no prayers. It is just a dinner party on a Friday.
- Garnet looks up Jewish holidays on the internet.

The End.

Look, it’s fine to have a non-observant Jewish character as your hero! They exist and are sexy and should also have their place in fiction! But pushing this as a Hanukkah story is downright dishonest.

Half-Japanese Hero
Note the depiction of the hero on the cover. He definitely looks vaguely Asian, amirite? And this book is listed as an inter-racial romance.

Here are the “Japanese” things that occur:
- Caleb’s last name is Matsuda
- Garnet asks Caleb if he’d done acupressure, and he’s touchy about it, because “being biracial meant he got a lot of stupid questions”, presumably about “Asian stuff.”

The End.

This moment with the acupressure question happens at 15%, and then there is no other mention of any kind of Asian heritage or family or issues with being biracial for the rest of the book. In fact, the word “Japanese” appears twice, and the second time Caleb is thinking about whisky.

My conclusion: Caleb is about as Japanese as I am. Please note: I am not Japenese in any way, shape, or form.

Again, I’m sure there are plenty of bi-racial men who do not think about their heritage, and we should tell stories about them too. But the fact is that the only mention of his race occurred so he could be touchy about it - and then it disappeared from the story completely.

Disability
Ok, this was done pretty well, particularly if we’re counting PTSD as a disability. Caleb’s hand was also crushed, meaning that he could no longer perform surgery, and his hand pains him periodically throughout the book. Caleb and Garnet also repeatedly acknowledge that while Caleb may be able to eventually be on a mountain without having panic attacks, his PTSD is not something that will ever go away completely - this isn’t something that he can just fix through the power of love and mantras. But it is something that he can cope with and that he and his partner can work together to find ways to minimize the stress it puts on their relationship.


Given that Caleb’s struggle to redefine himself (because of his mental struggle, but also because he was forced to change his career after an injury) is the central component to both his character growth and provided the conflict for the romantic relationship, WHY were these other bits introduced? I am particularly peeved about the Jewish thing, to be honest, BECAUSE OF THE MENORAH ON THE COVER.

Yes, we need more diverse characters. Yes, not every character who checks a diversity box has to be all hung up about whatever it is that makes him different, because some people aren’t. And if every part Asian man in a romance novel was all hung up on being biracial, that would be annoying.

But in this case Caleb’s Judaism felt shoehorned in. Caleb’s Japanese ancestry felt shoehorned in to an even greater degree. Waving your hands and saying, “Look, my character is Jewish!” is not a thoughtful depiction of what kinds of conversations a (mostly non-observant) Christian and a (mostly non-observant) Jew would have about religion when entering a relationship.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.