Sadly, this one wasn't for me. I loved the Jewish representation, but I couldn't get into the story. However, I think many will still like this one!

Marry Me by Midnight is a solid read! I enjoyed that it was a little different than my usual HR reads. Although the Cinderella trope is my least favorite trope, the fact that it was more of our hero that was the one with less power was refreshing. It was a good read! I loved Aaron, he may be one of my favorite heroes in this year of book reading! I also liked a little background into what people of the Jewish faith went through earlier than in the 20th century, something that I did not know about.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I was deeply intrigued by a historical romance centering Jewish characters in 1830s London, but the execution was not quite as successful as I wanted it to be. I found the pacing to be inconsistent. The first 70ish% was very slow and I found myself skimming because I did not care about entire plot points. The last 30% felt like an entirely different book with new characters and plot points instead of wrapping up what was already there. I was also very very frustrated that the book was closed door. I want my historical romances to be steamy and everything was looking like it would be until the very last second, which left me annoyed.

I enjoyed this one. I'm a sucker for historical romances retellings. And reading one with Jewish characters makes it even better. However I didn't love it. It has nothing with the writing or the even the characters and I will read more by this author and in this series. It was just the fact that this one was a CInderella retelling that kept me from loving it as CInderella has always been my least favorite fairy tale. But this book but a twist on the story that made me enjoy it.

If I hadn’t enjoyed Grossman’s romances in the past, I would’ve read Marry Me By Midnight on the cover’s beauty alone. (I’ve never seen a waltzing hero wearing a yarmulke/kippa; it’s terrific!) As it was, I had read Grossman and she proved once more to be writing intelligent, original romance. To start, I loved Marry Me‘s premise: a turning-on-their-heads of the tired ole Regency romance and Cinderella fairy tale. Two tropes, one stone. The publisher’s blurb will fill in the details and the cover too tells you much of what to expect:

London, 1832: Isabelle Lira may be in distress, but she’s no damsel. Since her father’s death, his former partners have sought to oust her from their joint equity business. Her only choice is to marry—and fast—to a powerful ally outside the respected Berab family’s sphere of influence. Only finding the right spouse will require casting a wide net. So she’ll host a series of festivals, to which every eligible Jewish man is invited.

Once, Aaron Ellenberg longed to have a family of his own. But as the synagogue custodian, he is too poor for wishes and not foolish enough for dreams. Until the bold, beautiful Isabelle Lira presents him with an irresistible offer . . . if he ensures her favored suitors have no hidden loyalties to the Berabs, she will provide him with money for a new life.

Yet the transaction provides surprising temptation, as Aaron and Isabelle find caring and passion in the last person they each expected. Only a future for them is impossible—for heiresses don’t marry orphans, and love only conquers in children’s tales. But if Isabelle can find the courage to trust her heart, she’ll discover anything is possible, if only she says yes.

While the first half of Grossman’s romance wasn’t easy to get into (I have an idea why, but more later), it established a thematic contrast between a status-focussed heroine and a hero who is a social “nothing,” a “schlemiel” as he calls himself, the lowest of the low, a failed young man living on the Jewish community’s charity as a synagogue custodian, a “Cinderfella”. Because much of our view of London’s 1830s Jewish community is seen initially through the hero and heroine’s eyes, we have the impression the community too is driven by status and social hierarchy. One of the romance’s delights is how mistaken Isabelle and Aaron are: enter the fairy godmothers among others. Our and their perception is dictated by how Isabelle and Aaron see themselves as measured by their perceived value, or lack of, to the community.

Isabelle is a wealthy, privileged, powerful heiress, but she is limited in controlling her inheritance, her father’s influential, successful surety business, because she is a woman; therefore, retaining power lies in her choice of husband. She understands she is defined by power and wealth; any man who marries her will see these aspects above any worth and beauty. Aaron sees his status as nil because he cannot marry without wealth and he cannot, this pains him, contribute to the community. When they meet and fall in love, their perceptions of social value and worth dictate their future. Isabelle needs a powerful, business-savvy husband. Aaron is an orphan, a young man who failed every apprenticeship offered him by his community; his sole talent lies in cleaning, storytelling, and caring for vulnerable people and animals. Indeed, this is the most charming detail of his characterization: his nest of mice with button-plates and thimble water-buckets, his milk for the cat, Mr. Sleeps-A-Lot, ostensibly to keep him from eating the mice.

From these few details, it’s easy to like Aaron; as Isabelle realizes, he’s kind, thoughtful, a great storyteller, funny, charming, and beautiful to look at, a sexy, attractive, humble sweetie-pie. Isabelle, on the other hand, isn’t easy to like: she comes across as ambitious and concerned with retaining status and wealth. But another of the novel’s strengths is how we come to sympathize with and like her. Isabelle is grieving: her world was her father and their family, the business, and their place in society. She is, as we come to learn, not as concerned with status as she is with preserving her father’s legacy. Psychologically, it is her way, as she too realizes, of holding on to her father. When she realizes she loves Aaron, who sees her as a whole person, not a conglomeration of privilege, status, and wealth, she is always on the brink of tears. Her vulnerabilities and humanity come through, a young woman trying so very hard to hold on to her world.

The first half of the novel took a while to capture my affection, maybe because it had so much to do with Isabelle’s machinations? Mainly because Grossman’s prose is mannered. However, when Isabelle and Aaron banter, when Aaron recognizes his worth, as Isabelle understands that love is more than place, more than hierarchy, more than power, Grossman soars. Isabelle is witty and Aaron exhibits a gentle masculine bravado in response: it’s fun to read. It is at this point I especially like how Grossman saw her Isabelle figure out how to have a place in her father’s company, to make room for others, compromise, negotiate, and build community. (It’s rare that Pamela Regis’s “community redefined” through the central couple is enacted in romance, but it is here.) When Grossman’s narrative reaches into her heroine’s emotions and her hero’s self-concept shifts, the mannered prose of the romance’s first half gives over: it’s finally possible to immerse oneself in Isabelle and Aaron’s romance “proper” and its improper bits too. 😉

As a Cinder”fella” telling, what about those fairy godmothers? This too is one of the romance’s delights and reinforces Regis’s notion of society “redefined”, or in this case, a society’s true self emerges, like the hero and heroine’s HEA depending on recognizing the other’s true self, the whole person, and seeing themselves as more than their notions of worth and status. I cannot reveal the fairy godmothers, but they are myriad for Aaron, the orphan, the “schlemiel”. The community wants Isabelle and Aaron to be together: they nudge them along until they too see they should be, that they love each other. At first, for Isabelle and Aaron, being together means they and their community will “lose”. But the wise fairy-godmothers help them see that their community is built on kindness, laughter, and love; add some hot love-making and it’s the makings of Isabelle and Aaron’s marriage. (Unfortunately, Grossman also tacks on a last-minute villain that reads contrived.) Overall, Miss Austen would approve; she too saw a redefinition of society from her couples’ love marriages. With Miss Austen, we’d agree Felicia Grossman’s Marry Me By Midnight offers “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Felicia Grossman’s Marry Me By Midnight is published by Forever. It was released on Aug. 8th. I received an e-ARC, from Forever, via Netgalley, for the purpose of writing this review. This does not impede the free expression of my opinion.

Felicia Grossman is a new to me author and I’m so glad I received a review copy for this charming HisRom!

Anytime a gender swapped fairy tale is the bases for a romance, I’m all over it. It freshens up the source material and if the author does it right, it can be a good way to play with gender norms and stereotypes. This being a Cinderella retelling, Grossman absolutely nailed the retelling aspect while still making sure that Aaron and Isabelle didn’t get lost in the fairytale mire.

The Jewish cultural moments and the way Grossman wrote about the trials and triumphs of Jewish society in London was so well done. I read a post of Grossman’s last year on Heyer’s influence and I’m so thrilled that she’s here to write absolutely delightful romance with Jewish representation in a genre that has been without adequate rep for too long.

What didn’t make this a full 5 star read was ultimately the pacing. The first 50-ish percent was very slow and I wanted more focus on Aaron and Isabelle. Although I loved the characters, it somehow felt like we didn’t get enough time with them together on page.

Added bonus points because the slice was spot on and deliciously written.

3.5 stars overall! Recommend!

Miss Isabelle Lira would be perfectly happy running her late father’s business on her own, but she must marry the perfect partner to protect his legacy and her family’s future. To find the perfect Jewish husband, Isabelle is hosting three festivals, and she has enlisted Aaron Ellengburg to assist her. Aaron is the synagogue custodian, far below Isabelle’s station, and he dreams of having his own family and a place in the community. If Aaron can help Isabelle select the best husband by ensuring they have no hidden loyalties, Isabelle will give Aaron the funds to secure the life he dreams of having. Along the way, Aaron and Isabelle share more than simple information, as the two are constantly drawn to each other, however a future together could never exist without sacrificing Isabelle’s overall goal.

I found many aspects of this story incredibly interesting, including the focus on the Jewish communities of London during the mid 1800s. Isabelle’s hunt for a spouse is not just about love or maintaining her family’s business, it is also about securing a relationship with the gentile community that is inevitably going to decide the fate of all Jews in England. I also loved Aaron’s character, and I wished for more of him whenever his chapter’s ended! This was a fun gender-swapped Cinderella retelling, and it is available now!

Thank you NetGalley, @ReadForever, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This is the first novel I have read from Felicia Grossman and I felt like she brings a really interesting and unique take to the historical romance genre. I really enjoyed her twist of the Cinderella fairytale and the diverse layer that Jewish culture brings to this story. Grossman's writing is well balanced and paced, she has a beautiful way of bringing consent and sensuality to this novel. I found her characters to be interesting and dimensional. And overall, this fairytale retelling is beautifully done with the perfect distinctive spin to make it fresh and new!

This novel is enriched with a bold and independent heroine who is the perfect hero to her own story. I was charmed by the dynamics between the hero and heroine. I was romanced by their interactions and attractions. This novel really lovely highlights the trust and understanding that these two build with another. I found it to be sexy and sensual, and these moments of physicality really helped to highlight the consensual side of their relationship.

Felicia Grossman is definitely worth checking out. If you are in the mood for a different understanding and diversity in your historical romance, than Grossman is an author worth paying attention to. I am looking forward to my continued exploration of her work.

I think this is a DNF for now. There was something about the writing that gave me the ick. I didn't love the use of words in Yiddish. I didn't love this. I think I might go back to it at a point but I had to put it aside.

This was a new to me author and I was so excited to read this ARC. Felicia Grossman has a new fan for sure. I absolutely loved the way she writes. This was a new type of historical romance for me and I love it. When Isabelle has to save her family's business by marrying someone worthy she feels she will never have the man she has dreamed of. Aaron has been but a poor custodian and doesn't feel worthy of her. When he agrees to help her find a suitor they have to work together and soon realize something stirs with them. I love how historically accurate the story and characters are. YOu feel like you are there, in that moment of time and your heart is with them. This was a great story so beautifully written. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for new twist on historical romance. I can’t wait to share this one.

i did not enjoy this book despite the high hopes i held for it. this is partly my fault as i typically do not like retellings. i also did not connect with either main character which sealed the fate of this book for me.

Heat Factor: Nothing but glancing touches in the first third

Character Chemistry: “You’re not an appropriate match and therefore I can safely be myself around you.”

Plot: Gender-swapped Cinderella, but make it Jewish in 1830s London

Overall: DNF at 30%

So, I didn’t realize that this was a Cinderella retelling when I requested it. I guess I don’t pay that much attention to what I’m actually getting, beyond the one thing that grabs my attention? In this case, I was like, “Oh, interesting, a histrom with Jewish MCs, all about that!” Anyways, I was surprised when the Cinderella stuff became clear (our hero has pet mice, ugh once again on the hegemony of Disney in the collective imagination), but that’s not why I DNFed.

I DNFed because I did not entirely understand the stakes of what was going on. Since the death of Isabelle’s father, his business partners are trying to cut her out, so she needs to get married to a guy who will back her up. And also he’ll get a seat on the council (which seems to be the leaders of the Jewish population in London). And something about this marriage will make London a safer place for the Jewish community.

The business stuff: got it. The misogynist business partner trying to oust the competent woman because of her ladybits is a standard trope, and Grossman includes several scenes with said smarmy business partner showing him in action as he undermines Isabelle.

The broader impact on the Jewish community stuff: not so much. There is reference to a bill making its way through Parliament, and…that’s about it. Beyond Isabelle asserting that her match will help her support the community, there’s no evidence of how this will work. Furthermore, there’s no context given about why this is important. In other words, the text does not make clear that there were specific legal restrictions placed on the Jewish population in England, and that these restrictions were being hotly debated during the time the story takes place (though they were not fully removed until 60 years later, in 1890). I have a PhD in comparative religion, so I knew there were probably legal restrictions, and I still spent a lot of time on Wikipedia being like, “Oh, THAT’S what’s going on in the political arena.”

There were also some gaps in the descriptions of the community. For example, Isabelle states that she has her friend pretend to chaperone her during the festivities so that the goyim will see that she is a proper lady. But then Aaron is all scandalized when a (Jewish) guy touches Isabelle’s gloved hand in too intimate a manner during the first party. So—which is it? Does Isabelle have more freedom within her community, or less, or a different kind of freedom? Since the distinction was drawn between “society” (ie, what readers of regency romances expect) and the mores of the Jewish community in this book, I wanted more detail about what options are available to Isabelle, in terms of proper behavior.

Aaron’s position in the community was also unclear. He does a lot of self-flagellation about how he’s the black sheep of the community and good children shouldn’t even be seen with him…because he’s poor? Because he’s the custodian of the synagogue? Or is this just to highlight the Cinderella dynamic?

I’m not saying that Grossman should talk down to her readers—and perhaps the audience for this book knows more about the inner workings and struggles of the Jewish community in 19th-century London than I do—but I really needed some more information in the worldbuilding to care about the series of festivals that Isabelle is holding to find a husband and, by extension, the development of the relationship between the leads.

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.

Marry Me by Midnight is a retelling of the classic fairy tale only the Cinderella is a man. Isabella is being pressured to marry to keep her stake in her father's business. Aaron is a jewish custodian at the synagogue whose life is anything but easy.

Grossman has eloquently woven a love story that showcases the hardships jewish society faced in the early 1800's. Aaron and Isabella have some chemistry but the romance got lost in the overly explained story.

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the complimentary copy.

I hated the male main character. Just hated him. Completely lacking in ambition, or drove or really anything compelling. She was great and super interesting and I loved the Jewish rep, but he was not worthy of her. Left the whole book flat for me.

How do I put my feelings into words about this book? I was drawn to it as a HistRom reader for it's inclusion of Jewish main characters as a Jewish woman. But I definitely was not expecting what I read.

This is a profoundly Jewish story that jarred me a bit, because of how used-to I am of reading non-Jewish stories in the genre. It's like my brain was trying to process what I was reading because it's been so trained to understanding gentile stories. And that is why it is such an important title in the HR community.

I can't wait to see what Felicity follows up with.

Heartfelt, swoony, and captivating! I adored this historical romance — Felicia Grossman is an immensely skilled historical romance author. The plot, the romantic pacing, and the historical worldbuilding are all handled deftly and with great care.

I so much enjoyed the story of Miss Isabelle Lira (I'm just obsessed with the full name it has such a nice ring suited to the heroine). It's not too frequent to find historical with common men with lower class and much less frequent is a multicultural dimension. I had a soft spot right from page 1 for the same and learned a lot.

The romance was sweet and spice. Isabelle is bold, clever cunning, and knows exactly what she wants. Romance is overrated in her world, and she wants to keep it that way. Aaron is relatable to me. Shows how few options even men had back in the day. He is aware of his place in the world and wants it to be better with someone he can build a family with. Both are from different worlds, polar opposite in class wealth and social standing. Making their choice to love despite all that was very satisfying to read!

You need to give credit to her grandmother ! My always fav part is a meddling relative who promises not to meddle 😬
Grab it if you haven't already!

Thank you, @netgalley and @readforeverpub, for the ARC!

A flipped fairy tale. I liked that Aaron was the “Cinderella” figure but the narrative didn’t follow what I was expecting.
Isabelle hires him to gather intel and also be of service to her in other ways.
There are steamy naughty scenes in the gardens that apparently aren’t as private as previously thought.
Immersed in the Jewish culture, readers get an inkling of what life was like in the early Victorian era for British Jews.
The author’s note goes into further detail.
Check it out.

Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman
1st book in the Once Upon the East End series. Historical Jewish romance, 1832. Cinderella twist.
Isabelle Liva is in search of a Jewish husband. Her father has just died and his business partners are insisting on a husband or she will lose any ownership rights to the company. Three festivals are arranged so that men may present themselves to Isabelle and she will decide who she will marry at the end of the parties. After spying Aaron Ellenberg telling a story to the children in the synagogue, she follows him into the basement levels to find out more about the interesting man. She hires Aaron to be her bodyguard / thug. He’s to investigate whoever is making a case for her hand in marriage to make sure they have no illegal or illicit plans. Isabelle and Aaron become friends and more on the journey through the festivities.

Class plays a role in this story since it’s 1832. Aaron knows he has nothing and has no inclination beyond a better position or perhaps enough money to start some type of business. It’s a bit sad. But the difference doesn’t slow their passion. Turns out they were observed by multiple people though (how embarrassing!) and at least one of her suitors tries blackmail.
Someone is off to America! Read the story to find out who.
Engaging and frisky passion.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Marry Me by Midnight is a captivating novel that effortlessly blends history and romance. Set in a mesmerizing backdrop, this book is a must-read, not only for the summer but for any avid reader seeking an enthralling story. The author skillfully crafts a narrative that transports readers to a different era, immersing them in a world filled with love and intrigue. The hero of the story is utterly besotted, adding an extra layer of charm and allure to the plot. With its meticulous attention to detail and seamless blending of historical elements, Marry Me by Midnight captivated me from beginning to end.