Last time Liyah and Daniel talked, their friendship came to an end. They bump into each other on a plane 14 years later, and Liyah soon finds out that the museum she works for hired Daniel's marketing firm and they have to collaborate.
This is a childhood friends to enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance with amazing representation. I have read amazing reviews for this book, but I don't think it was for me, I simply didn't vibe with the writing, everything felt flat and the FMC was annoying. The found family side of the story was sweet.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is kind of second chance romance, enemies to lovers.
While it took me some time to become fully engaged, the second half of the book flew by for me. Overall, I absolutely loved this debut and eagerly anticipate reading more from Katz.
I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the eARC

Am I the only one who loved this style of writing? There were of course 2 POV’s the main characters and I can’t explain how great it felt to see both of their own voices at the same time when something is happening in their lives….. I hope I’m making sense, but I adored this book. The enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, sort of second chance romance feel I got from this book was a huge YASSS!

I loved how the LGBTQ+ community being represented here, and I also love the biracial characters, Daniel is a DREAM!!! I was rooting for him throughout the whole book. Liyah at times was a little annoying and petty as hell, but I loved them together it was such a great balance. Overall, since I’m expressing more about how I feel about this book, the plot was awesome, loved the banter between the MC’s, and also how they opened up to each other, can’t wait for this book to launch so everyone can get their hands on it.

Rating ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ /5
Spice 🌶 🌶 .5 /5

I just finished this book last night and the characters are still at the forefront of my mind.

First and foremost I loved the characters in this book. They were real in the way that they weren't perfect. They were messy and they struggled with themselves, their jobs and the way the world reacted to their very presence. Liyah really resonated with me in how she processed her own trauma and the walls she built around herself because of it. Reading her journey as she worked through this and found help in spaces she never expected was beautiful.

Daniel was such a beautiful character. He had so much internalized pain from his own trauma but his approach to Liyah was beautiful and gentle. The safe space they created for each other was absolute perfection. This book made me laugh (the SSC should be mandatory for everyone) and cry throughout the story. Just absolutely beautifully written and fantastic debut for this author. I absolutely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for the ARC of Thank You For Sharing. DNF pretty early on, but I really struggled with the authors writing style and the tense this book was written in. For some reason, it felt very choppy and less storylike, but more like someone who has written a potential screenplay. I was so excited for the representation and plot for this one, but just couldn’t get into it.

I love childhood friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers! It sounds complicated but it’s not. Or is it? We’ll let our main characters decide that lol. I found Daniel and Liyah’s relationship in this book almost realistic. Mainly Liyah’s feelings. Was it realistic or relatable? To be determined. I actually liked this book. I always liked learning about different cultures through romance books in general and this book showed the the dynamics of being mixed race. It was also funny which I really loved. I love the SSC Meeting Notes, they were clever and funny. I love a funny rom-com, who doesn’t??? Also, this might be a weird thing to love but I loved that both of our main characters were commuters! As a commuter myself, I too share Daniel’s ongoing vendetta with our city’s transit. For a debut novel, this was great!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Liyah and Daniel meet as teenagers at camp and develop a connection, but things end badly. When they meet again as adults on a flight to Chicago it’s awkward to say the least. Especially when Daniel and Liyah end up having to work together to make Liyah’s possible promotion worthy exhibit as a curator a success. Slowly Liyah comes to learn more about adult Daniel and their relationship begins to mend and eventually turns romantic. But Liyah has never been one for relationships and that’s all Daniel wants but he is afraid to tell her. With the ghost of their teenage past lingering and communication as well as commitment issues to work through, will Daniel and Liyah make it? Or will they end up reliving the same messy past again?

This romance has so many layers! First off learning a few facts from Liyah the curator was so fun! Second, the kind of friend group Liyah and Daniel have I am extremely jealous of because they don’t shy away from those hard conversations. And lastly, the dedication and scope to mental health and sexual assault makes this book extremely powerful. What a wonderful and beautiful book!

This was an interesting read. I learned a lot more about the Jewish culture! I loved the dynamics of Liyah (leah) and Daniel. They were childhood friends and a first relationship (for one of them at least), then Liyah left without saying goodbye. About 15 years later, Liyah is on her way home from visiting a friend when who should sit next to her on the plane, but Daniel. Neither one of them recognize the other at first, but by the end of the flight, they both know, and she is pissed! They don't say anything to each other. What happens when their world collides AGAIN on a work project? Read this delightful book to find out!

This one just wasn't for me. The premise is cute. I LOVE the museum setting and that they knew each other at camp. It just wasn't the right book for me right now.

This one was difficult for me at first, because the tension/animosity between the characters seemed so contrived, but as the story developed and so did the characters, my love for this book grew immensely.

This book touches on the trauma that people face and how we adjust to it overtime, and can become a part of who we are, yet still not let it rule our lives. The way the main characters process their trauma and are not always perfect was so realistic and beautiful to read.

I loved following the development of the friendship, and then watching that blossom into something more. Friends to lovers just truly hits different when it's well done.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

M/F Romance For The Queer Theory / Traditional-Masculinity-Is-Toxic crowd. I've read a lot of books in a lot of genres with nearly every bent you can imagine outside of swords and sorcery fantasy - which I simply can't get into, no matter how much I try - and this one has some interesting things going for it. Our female lead is a museum curator - not usually shown in such books, male or female - and has an awesome career opportunity laid out in front of her. Our male lead is a digital marketing specialist - has there ever been a more "Millenial/ Zoomer" job? - who is unsatisfied in his own career, and this next project is make or break for him. So there's a lot of work angst here in addition to the history of these two together. Combine their friends into one common group, and you've got a solid story that at a high level, the Hallmarkie set can easily enjoy.

But then... then you've got the pervasive bigotry against virtually anything non-queer, traditional, and/ or white. To the tune that this line deep in the book gives a good indication without even being anywhere near the worst examples: ""I fully endorse lesbian country songs and murder ballads about abusive husbands if you want to play those. It's the I-like-guns-and-women-and-beer-and-trucks stuff I can't stand." (For the record, this reviewer has a problem with murder and domestic violence *no matter who is being attacked or why*.) So, Carrie Underwood and the Dixie - oops, I mean, just "The Chicks" - are perfectly fine, Brad Paisley (whom Underwood has worked *many* events with) and Alabama are out. Got it. But again, this is just a minor example that is concrete evidence of the overall problem. And to be clear, since readers of this particular review may not follow *all* of my reviews and may not know how I work this particular issue (and really, if you want a wide range of good books to read that you'd likely have never found on your own... you really should follow me wherever you're reading this :D), I look at bigotry by flipping the demographics involved. If [insert demographic A] was behaving this way or saying these things about [insert demographic B], would it be seen as a problem? If it would, and yet [insert demographic B] is behaving that way or saying those things about [insert demographic A]... *it is still a problem*.

But, as I also say quite frequently, there will *always* be someone out there who LOVES the book (or item, more generally) for the EXACT reason a particular reviewer HATES it (and vice versa), so the more you agree with the title and the line I quoted, eh, the more you're probably going to enjoy this book.

Overall, again, if you remove the pervasive bigotry here, it actually is a rather interesting tale that fully hits everything a younger Millenial/ Zoomer would expect in a romance and meets all genre requirements I am aware of. Combined with others sharing a similar political bent across the generations, and I'm sure Katz can still make quite a career playing into these same ideologies - we see both in books and elsewhere these days that what I once thought impossible is now a daily occurrence, so far as cutting out roughly half of your potential market and yet still having a wildly successful career goes.

Recommended, if you're open to the particular biases here. The more opposed you are to them... the more you're going to want to throw this book through the nearest window and DNF it, then leave a scathing 1* review strictly because you didn't like the politics/ biases at play. Spare Katz the drama and yourself the heart and headache, and just skip it in that case.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I loved every single second of it! The childhood friends to enemies to lovers was so perfect. And throw in a little workplace forced proximity! Their friend group melded together so seamlessly, I loved it so much.

I loved Daniel and Liyah so much. They both had a lot of heavy things from their past and they were able to open with each other in a way they had only been with so few people in their lives. And they were able to be vulnerable with each other. And Liyah used humor to cope, and that was SO REAL.
. Honestly I love when the title of the book is so obviously in book, especially when it is so SWEET. And in this case it was instrumental in their character development and I loved every single second.

And they were FUN together. They were able to sort of just become a unit (not that they were talking about a relationship ever!!!). They were such good friends, working together helped so much, they were spending so much time together!! And then they were doing other things! Their journey was so good. And the epilogue!! It was so SWEET!

There were so many things about Jewish culture in this book that I didn’t know about, and I loved getting to see that! All of the representation in this book was written with such care. I loved it all so much.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

There was a lot to like about this book! It was overall well written and had representation of various sexualities, gender identities, religions, races, body types, and cultures in a way that felt natural. I enjoyed reading this but found some parts pretty inconsistent, particularly the characterization of Daniel and Liyah. There were long stretches where I liked both characters but also several moments where I felt frustrated with one or both of them and had trouble understanding their motivations. I would definitely read more of this author in the future.

I was so excited when I first read the description for this book - childhood enemies to lovers romance between a former summer camp couple? Sign me up.

Liyah and Daniel "dated" when they attended Jewish summer camp as young teenagers, and then had a falling out over Maccabiah. I do not blame Liyah for holding a grudge over this, Maccabiah is very serious business! When they reunite years later, they find they've been missing each other all along.

I went into this book expecting a great Jewish romance, and came away with so much more. Both main characters are Jews of color, who are severely underrepresented when it comes to depictions of Jews in literature and other media. Additionally, Liyah is queer and survivor of sexual assault. I loved how all aspects of Liyah and Daniel's identities were woven into the book and really informed their feelings and actions (just like real life).

One other thing I appreciated about Thank You for Sharing is that it explained Jewish cultural terms and concepts to readers who may be unfamiliar without it being obvious or affecting the pacing of the book. I've read some books where a word is used, and then repeated in plain English in a way that just seems redundant to me as someone who understood the reference the first time. I think Thank You for Sharing balances this really while - it's clear that this book is for Jewish readers but also accessible to others.

There were, however, a few portions of the book where the narrative pacing seemed a bit off to me. Almost like I had missed some piece of information or there was a paragraph missing. However, it's very possible that this was an issue with my eARC copy and not the book itself.

Overall, this was a fantastic read, and I can't wait to see what else Rachel Runya Katz writes!

4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book.

Daniel and Liyah were best friends at summer camp as kids, until the summer it all went wrong, and she never went back. He never knew exactly what went wrong between them, or if he was the reason she didn't return. She never quite got past the hurt, especially once it was compounded by subsequent experiences. And then, wouldn't you know it, one day they meet again and have to find a way to work together (literally, they have to work together as part of their jobs) as adults.

As they're learning to relate as adults, and maybe put their childhood rift behind them, they and two friends form a small support group for young, professional minorities working for more traditional employers. Said support group consists primarily of discussing life, work, and dating, while getting drunk, squabbling, and taking turns scribbling snarky "meeting minutes" on bar napkins. These meeting minutes show up throughout the book, and were one of the highlights of the story for me. They were cute and funny, but also helped tell the story.

There's a lot of good humor, and I laughed quite a bit, but there's also good heart, and really likable characters. Katz's writing style is distinctive and fun to read. She keeps the story moving, but none of it feels rushed. I did sometimes have trouble understanding Aliyah's motivations, particularly in her agreeing to hang out regularly with Daniel in the early days when she was still angry at and hurt by him. And when she first explains to him what exactly went down at camp, I admit I rolled my eyes at her for how little a thing it seemed to be to hold a grudge about for a decade. And then I rolled my eyes about how easily she seemed to let it go after all that grudge-holding. However, I needed to be patient, as more information came out as the story progressed, which helped it all make more sense.

I will mention that at first I had some trouble adjusting to the writing style, and wasn't sure why, but then determined it was because the book is written in third person, present tense, a combination that is a little unusual. Romances are frequently written in present tense, but usually paired with first person narration. However, if you find this jarring also, just keep going. I got into the rhythm at about 5%, and then didn't notice it any more, and in fact I think it helped the book feel fresh.

The four members of the Speakeasy Survival Club (the support group) were great fun. Daniel and Aliyah were lovely and sympathetic, as people and as a couple. I'm hoping that Jordan and Siobhan will get their own story (or stories) next. I would definitely read that, or something else written by Katz.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book for the most part. The diverse representation was so wonderful. I loved that both Mc's in addition to being Jewish were also BIPOC. Liyah, the FMC was also bisexual, and her best friend Neen was non-binary. I loved the friendships throughout the story and the weekly happenings of the survival club genuinely made me laugh at loud. I also thought the Yom Kippur scene was done so beautifully and I loved seeing another important Jewish day represented in a book. I thought the conversations around grief were well done and important. Daniel was my favorite from the start. I loved his character and it was definitely a he fell first type of vibe. While I liked most of the story, the ending really got to me. There was a happy ending, of course, but Liyah was so adamant about being unlovable and it made me really angry. It took her most of the book to admit how she was feeling and even after certain declarations was made, she still didn't believe she could be loved which was frustrating. Other than that, I found this book funny, loved the representation throughout and overall really enjoyed reading it. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC to read and review.

Thank You For Sharing has fantastic Jewish representation and I think it’s the Jewish moments where this book truly shines. I particularly loved how Rachel Runya Katz included Yom Kippur in a way that incorporated multiple themes of the novel (racism, grief over the loss of a parent) all while highlighting one of the holiest days of the year for Jews and providing a window as to how some Jews might observe the day.

As far as the romance between Liyah and Daniel… I always love enemies-to-lovers and I think they had some great banter. But this is also a second chance romance and the “enemies” content was rooted in events that happened at Jewish summer camp when they were tweens. I did find it hard to accept Liyah’s continued hatred of Daniel about 15 years later.

The first half of the novel was pretty slow and I had to be intentional about picking up the book to continue. I do however think the second half was stronger!

In all, I loved the BIPOC Jewish rep (both MCs), bisexual rep (FMC), strong side characters (including a non-binary best friend) and the delicate treatment of heavy topics such as grief, parental loss, sexual assault.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

(3.5 stars)

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have read this one! This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it didn't disappoint. I love a good childhood friends to enemies to lovers romance with second chance vibes. I liked Liyah and Daniel's reintroduction scene, even if I did cringe. I wish we had a flashback for their last interaction at summer camp, so it was more "show" and less "tell." My favorite part about this book was the nuanced representation. Both Daniel and Liyah are bisexual Jews of color; Daniel is Korean and Liyah is Black. In M/F romances, I feel like it's rare for the male main character to be bisexual (and even rarer for BOTH to be bisexual), so I appreciated that aspect. There is also a nonbinary side character. The representation is very authentic and raw, and the characters are flawed but real (perfectly imperfect, if you will). It took me a little bit to get into the story and warm up to Liyah, but I think the second half really improved. The pacing, especially in regards to Liyah's character development, felt off. I could have done with fewer club meeting notes (again, more "show," less "tell"). I did LOVE the side characters, though. I hope I get to read more of them in a future book. I'm really glad this book was dual POV (even if it was in third, not first, person).

This was a solid debut, and I can't wait to read more of what Rachel Runya Katz writes in the future!

Thank you SO much to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest, voluntary review!

Rating: 4.5/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

After years of not talking to each other, after a horrible accident at a summer camp, Daniel and Liyah are now thrown back together for work. Can these frenemies work together to save/grow their careers or will it end back in disaster for both of them.

I thought this plot was well done; you see the romance of the book because yes, it is center stage but then you get so much from this book. You will see romance, grief and assault and the understanding of how to accept and overcome all the issues that have been haunting you. I thought the author did a great job with handling the sensitive topics in this book. This was my first book that had Jewish characters and the way that the author wrote it and handled the traditions of this faith was a nice refreshing lesson for me.

The characters were well developed in the book, I loved that they were kinda in the same place in life, but they handled their issues differently. I thought Liyah was a strong character, she had a lot of past traumas, but I like that the author showed that it’s okay to go to a therapist to help you get through the rough patches. I liked that she knows what she wants in life and is not scared to get it and that she is not scared to talk about how she handles sexual experiences.

Daniel, I really liked him right from the start. He is sweet, kind, caring and understanding. He also knows how it is to go through things and is there for people however they need him to be at the time.

I really enjoyed the characters have a great friendship with their group and then the two main characters it goes more into the depth with how they support, encourage before they dive into the more physical side of their friendship. I also liked that the book did have smut but it was done in a way that made it way more than just being physical attraction. It was about the intimacy of friendship and having that connection with someone that you can trust. This is a great blend of romance and friendships; it has steamy moments and heartfelt sad ones all wrapped up with a great ending.


I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the opportunity to review this book.

This was a fun read! I'm always a sucker for a reverse grumpy/sunshine trope, though Daniel wasn't quite as sunshine, but I did love his storyline with grief.
I LOVED all the supporting characters, especially Neen, when they were just giving it to Liyah the way it was because she really needed to hear it.
I liked Rachel's writing and I look forward to all her future books!