This was fun but sadly was forgettable. I was super excited for a romance with a Jewish MC so I would still recommend but I was wanting more from the plot and romance

I really wanted to like this book since there aren't many holiday romances that are not about Christmas, but a lot of the premise just didn't make sense to me. It just seems strange for a character whose cultural and religious background is Jewish and whose father is an academic Rabbi to have to bulldoze her way into an invitation to a Hanukkah ball for research about the holiday. This and other illogical details took me out of the story and kind of ruined the romance for me.

I’m a sucker for a holiday read and I LOVED that there was a Hanukkah choice this season. A fun story with lots of heart. And matzah balls!

I work in a high school library, so I would be unable to purchase this for my library, but I did submit the review for Library Journal.

I didn't like this book. There were several problematic issues going on, but first off a Jewish book that is mostly about how much the Jewish mc loves Christmas is the first thing, and it just goes down hill from there. I just reviewed The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer. #TheMatzahBall #NetGalley

This was a sweet, albeit a bit bland, romance that offered some really nuanced chronic illness rep. The Jewish rep leaned a little too hard into stereotypes for my taste, but it's still nice to have a Hanukkah romance.

I canNOT stop thinking about this book. Absolutely cannot stop thinking about it. I loved the growth that both characters went through. Rachel and Jacob's second chance romance was *PERFECT* but all in all, the SIDE characters were my favorite part of the entire story. I love love loved Mickey with every fiber of my being. We all need a friend like him. It took me far too long to read this one and I am so glad I finally did.

This was a wonderful enemies to lovers, slow-burn romance. As a Jewish person who also celebrated Christmas, I really enjoyed this story, particularly the discussions of the similarities and differences of Christmas and Hanukkah. My one criticism would be that there seemed to be that the love interests' feelings for each other were not explored in-depth (feelings were there from the past and they stayed/grew through the story, even through their animosity). But this didn't really hinder the story at all. An enjoyable holiday-season read for all!

The Matzah Ball is a holiday romance following our main character who just happens to be a Jewish woman who writes Christmas Romance novels under a pen name. Her publisher wants her to write a Hanukkah romance novel and she feels completely out of her depth even though she is actually Jewish.

When she discovers there is going to be a Matzah Ball in the city she knows that she needs to attend so she can get inspired to write. The only downfall is it is already sold out, and she's going to have to get the organizer to let her attend. This might not seem like a big deal but the organizer is the man who broke her heart years earlier.

Can she write her novel, while maintaining her anonymity, get herself into The Matzah Ball and deal with the man who broke her heart all at once?

I feel like this book deserves ALL the LOVE! I’m not Jewish and realized I don’t know a lot about Hanukkah, so I appreciated what I learned within the pages of this book. This book is full of joy, second chance romance, a renewed sense of faith and healing!

Thank you @_mira_books_ @jeanmeltzer and @netgalley for my digital copy of the book to review!

This was fun, but lacked character development and believability for me. I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't recommend it.

One of my favorite recent romantic comedy reads, which is saying a lot since they've been a great pandemic survival tool. I am legit interested in getting a hard copy, an ebook isn't enough.

A fun holiday romance read for the Jews who spend every winter slogging through endless Christmas books... It's nice to be catered to a little bit!

Seeing myself in books is still a unique experience, even as an adult who has worked in book publishing for almost a couple of decades now. So I liked this book for several reasons, even if the Jewish experience in this book isn't exactly like mine. I really like the representation of someone living with ME/CFS too! Rachel, the main character has career goals, and wants to fall in love, even though her body limits what she can do sometimes.

Reading THE MATZAH BALL is akin to watching a Hallmark movie (purposefully!). More like this in the future please.

This book was a delight. I read it last year and loved the chronically illness representation, the Jewish representation. This book was just so good. Can't wait what she writes next.

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than a long overdue review about a book set during Hanukkah! I read Jean Meltzer’s debut novel back in December and it was a really fun rom com that celebrated a holiday other than Christmas – something we don’t see a whole lot of. There are mixed reviews of The Matzah Ball but I fell into the “enjoyed it” camp.

Here’s the book’s description:
Oy! to the world
Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach.
But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not Christmas. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg.



Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.
What this book excels at is diverse representation. Not only are readers being treated to a Hanukkah story but Rachel also has a chronic illness. Both of these things come from Meltzer’s own life so Rachel’s character was really authentic and that came through in the story. When are we going to get to a point where I’m not noting how great it was to be reading about character who aren’t represented enough in books? I think we’re getting closer but there’s a hell of a lot more work to be done.

Now. The actual romance of this one was…not as well executed as it could have been. I love a good second chance romance but the initial romance between Rachel and Jacob was so long ago and they were so young that the insta-attraction was confusing. Jacob acted like a complete ass and Rachel was so desperate to get to his big party that she just allowed it to happen. How is this a good foundation for a romance?

Speaking of desperate to get to the party – Meltzer didn’t quite manage to convince me that Jacob’s Matzah Ball was the ONLY way Rachel would be able to be inspired to write a Hanukkah novel. There had to have been another way. Say, realizing how biased she was and how much her personal upbringing, the daughter of a rabbi, didn’t allow her to see how Hanukkah could be just as special as Christmas. I could sort of understand it but, in the end, it was hard to buy.




I did really enjoy the “com” of this rom com. Meltzer is funny and I found myself smiling throughout the novel. I think that was part of why I did end up enjoying this book as much as I did. It was fun and amusing and I liked spending time in the world Meltzer created.

And this cover! How freaking CUTE is it?

The Matzah Ball was entertaining and I had fun reading Jean Meltzer’s debut novel. She has another book coming out later this year that I think I’ll have to check out. Hopefully she’s grown as an author and this one is even better than her first.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Harlequin, via NetGalley, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

I thought this was a great book to read over the holidays. I liked both characters and I liked that the book focused on a holiday besides Christmas, it there were some things about both main that just annoyed me.

Great book. I enjoyed reading a Jewish (Christmas) romance. I felt that it had great representation for a character with chronic illness. It had its funny moments and some cring-worthy ones as well but overall I enjoyed the read!

Oh man, this story. Where do I even begin? It was a cute holiday romance. I did love all the Jewish and Hanukkah references, the food descriptions were so well done, and there were a few things I learned about the Jewish culture that I never knew. Though I'm usually not one for a romance book with zero smut. Anyway, I digress, I will say, there were a few things about this book that bothered me, which is why it only got a 2.5 rounded down to 2 since half stars don't exist on NetGalley and I believe the things that bothered me about this novel deserve the three star deduction.

First: “Rachel wanted to tell people the truth about what she did for a living, but coming out wasn’t that easy. She couldn’t just stand up on the bima, like Mickey had done at his bar mitzvah all those years prior, and tell everyone the truth.“ --- In case you’re a little lost, though this does happen in the very first chapter, the main character is comparing her telling people she writes Christmas themed romance novels to her friend coming out as gay. I was honestly so taken aback by this comparison that I really had to push myself to continue. As a bisexual, the fact that coming out was compared to basically telling people Christmas is your favourite, really hurt. Coming out isn't easy. For some, its traumatically life changing - for the author to compare it to something so trivial, made me feel shame for Meltzer.

Second: The MC joked about being a part of IOF and killing Palestinians and it was supposed to be flirty banter. Nothing about IOF killing Palestinians is funny. The author deserves to take a good long look in the mirror and think before using genocide as "witty, flirtatious banter" SMH.

Those were my two biggest concerns, and why this book won't get recommended by me, or even purchased and added to my shelf. I refuse to support an author who can easily and without hesitation write these things.

Great choice for winter reading programs seeking titles that celebrate holidays other than Christmas, and for characters experiencing and successfully coping with chronic illness. It was a fun read that also explored serious themes in an approachable way.