A well done gender swap Cinderella with relatively low stakes for Isabelle set in an 1830s Jewish community in London. He wants to be needed and wanted after a lifetime of being down and out, and she wants security for her family business and not romance. Isabelle steals the show with her confidence, charm, and the drive and ability to get what she wants.

Her personality dominated and Aaron, while adorable, rarely holds up against her when they share a scene. A lot of the plot relies on other parties knowing things that we never see them figure out, but I was invested in knowing what Isabelle would decide.

When do we get the backstory about Isabelle’s father and Pena??

I have never read a historical romance with Jewish main characters and I LOVED IT!! I loved house strong and intelligent and determined Isabelle is. She is fighting the world to keep her father's memory alive in his business and needs the right husband by her side to do so. Aaron, of course, is all wrong... But he's so wonderful!! I love a good cinnamon roll hero and Aaron is all that is good and sweet. This story was a joy to read and there were a number of turns at the end that I didn't see coming!

Both the writing and the overall story was engaging to me to read. Isabelle is a strong heroine and I liked that as the FMC she was the rich one as opposed to the MMC. And her reasons for wanting to marry are business related. Imagine! I enjoyed the role Aaron played as well. It was a fun read, seeing how the plot played out. A little sexy too, but not terribly explicit.

Thank you Forever and NetGalley for the ARC!

I recently had the opportunity to renovate my room and include a small dressing table. The amount of teasing I received about this from friends and family was unanticipated. Everyone felt the need to remind me that I am not a fashion model, nor particularly chic or beautiful. I ignored them all. Because when I sit at that table and brush my hair or apply sunscreen, the power I experience is worth every annoying joke made at my expense. These are not just clothes and accessories. They are armor that I am applying for the day in the few moments of peace and quiet that I have before I go do battle with the world. I like to think that in this regard I resemble Isabelle Lira, protagonist of Felicia Grossman's historical romance Marry Me By Midnight.

Isabelle has a spectacular sense of fashion. The descriptions of her outfits are gorgeous. They are also necessary. As a Sephardic Jewish woman in 1830's London trying to salvage her place in her father's business after he dies, Isabelle is in need of every piece of armor she can get. In order to avoid being forced out of the company by her father's business partners, Isabelle must find a spouse that can provide her the power that only males in that society could wield. Yet she must also balance the need for this man to give her free reign over the business and not take advantage of her. It's a tall order and she doesn't have much time, which is why she hosts a series of festivals to which she invites all eligible men in the community so that they can vie for her hand.

Fashion isn't Isabelle's only weapon. She recruits Synagogue custodian, Aaron Ellenberg, to help her vet potential candidates. Aaron is an orphan who faces the age old dilemma of Jewish males - he's neither a learner nor an earner. His position at the Synagogue has been given to him by the community as a form of charity. Despite his many other admirable qualities, due to his lack of wealth and Torah knowledge, he has no hopes of having a wife and children of his own. However, with the money Isabelle is promising to pay for his help he just might be able to change that. What he and Isabelle haven't counted on is the attraction they begin to feel for each other.

If this sounds like a gender bent Cinderella story to you -that's because it is! But it is also so much more. Isabelle is not only battling with societal mores of what women can and cannot do, she is also a Jew trying to advance herself in gentile society. She's forced to concede to gentile views on modesty and propriety that are not necessarily held by her own community. Plus, many of her suitors are Asheknaz, a group that at the time was less accepted by British gentiles due to their being more recent arrivals in the country.

When it is suggested that Isabelle focus her search on Sephardic candidates, so as to appease the gentiles that patronize her business, her response is sheer perfection. I do not want to give away spoilers - please read it for yourself - but let me just say that her words regarding how outsiders relate to Jews are still valid today. Isabelle has a lot of wisdom to offer in terms of how to be true to ones self while putting up with the demands of society at large.

Isabelle is clever, determined, and rich. That still doesn't mean she is going to get everything she wants. Because she is also a woman in 1830's London and that comes with certain unchangeable limitations. The author is meticulous in providing period details and she therefore acknowledges this aspect of Isabelle's life. Isabelle's happily ever after cannot be obtained without some concessions on her part, but that makes it feel all the more real and all the more relatable.

Note for my romance readers who like to read on the train or at work - yes there are explicit spicy scenes. You will learn fun slang for genitalia used in the 1830's Jewish community. But maybe save those scenes for when you are alone unless you want to get some strange looks from the commuter reading over your shoulder. (Yes, this happens to me. Why do people do this?)

When I sit at my dressing table and select the face I want to present to the world on any given day, I remind myself that women have been doing this for ages. Isabelle is a model of courage and ingenuity, but her character arc is also a lesson in how and when to reach out for help. Aaron's character arc reminds me that I do not have to do this alone. That I am a member of a community, and that we should support each other always. Those feel like pretty decent lessons to take with me every morning.

A gender-swapped Cinderella retelling featuring a Jewish heiress and a synagogue custodian. Marry Me by Midnight is totally delightful and fiercely feminist with Jewish rep that goes beyond surface level. Loved it.

After the death of her father, Isabelle Lira is fighting to maintain her hold on their family surety business, The quickest way to do it while keeping her father's business partner at bay is to find a husband who sees things her way. She enlists Aaron, the synagogue custodian, to gather intel on prospective husbands she'll basically "interview" over the course of 3 festival events.

Marry Me by Midnight offers up interesting insight into the Jewish community and how it interacted & co-existed with England's gentiles in the Georgian period. My only nit is that there's a little bit of whiplash when one key player does a complete 180 in service of the story that I just didn't buy. But don't let that stop you from reading this one.

Book includes content warnings upfront.

I'm conflicted on this one, because it was very cute, like I felt myself smiling pretty often. And the information about Jewish society in Regency England was interesting, because I did not know anything about it before. But I also felt kind of bogged down by the information it gave, and felt like I lot the story in parts because of it.

I love a book that starts right in the action, and Grossman does that beautifully--throwing us into the deep end of regency London's Jewish community in this fun and tender gender-swapped Cinderella story. Grossman brings much-needed representation to a community usually left out of historical romance, and her story has all the swoons and drama we want in a histrom. This is my first book by Felicia Grossman, and I'm excited to go back and read her other work!

Oh, this is such a lovely book. A warm hug of a book, hitting every single detail in the Cinderella trope, but giving the role of the almost-forgotten orphan to the hero of the story. I feel like just about anything beyond that would be a spoilers, so I'll just say I adore Felicia's writing and this book is beautifully written and wonderfully plotted. If you're still waiting for this to come out, try Dalliances & Devotion.

I was given an ARC and am friendly with the author on social media. Neither of these influence my feelings about this book.

I enjoyed reading this Cinderella retelling in which the male character, Aaron, was put in the role of Cinderella. His character was well written by Grossman in which his poor self esteem is addressed. The romance between Lina and Aaron is perfectly written - and I could not help but smile. What was interesting in this story was the Jewish representation - it was interesting, to me, to learn some of what the Jewish community experienced during this time period. Marry me by Midnight is one to put on your shelves.

I absolutely ADORED Marry Me by Midnight! While there has been some growth in Jewish contemporary romance, this is only the second Jewish historical romance I have found. While not practicing, I am of Jewish descent and want to see more of our stories in the world. So many books focus on Jewish suffering (especially the Holocaust) and I love seeing a book that focuses on Jewish people not just surviving, but thriving. While this book is not the story of my ancestors (shoutout to the Russian pogroms) it is a story of my people in a more general sense.

I have just one quibble with the book and that's the romance itself. While the foreplay scenes were pretty detailed, the actual sex scenes were fade to black/closed door. I always find that an odd combo as a reader. Still, that's not enough to ding my star rating.

A reverse Cinderella retelling (where the man is Cinderella and the woman is the prince), Marry Me by Midnight is set in the Jewish communities in London in the 1830s. Felicia Grossman does an amazing job of seamlessly incorporating the historical background into the story. I loved the heroine Isabelle, who was absolutely taking no shit from anyone and was ready to strategically outmaneuver anyone who got in her way. And Aaron cast as Cinderella is very cleverly done (as custodian, with his little animal friends, and with the twist at the end with his clothes for the ball and his fairy godmother). I do feel that the stakes were a little underdeveloped in that Isabelle's money and influence (and therefore power) was never going to be taken away from her so that she could essentially do whatever she wanted, and that their eventual HEA had a fairly clear path--though the resolution with the "evil stepmother" was unexpected (in a good way!).

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC.

MARRY ME BY MIDNIGHT by Felicia Grossman is the first in a new and spectacular series from the author of the Truitts Family series.

In this reverse Cinderella retelling set in 1832 our heroine, Isabella, must find a husband or risk losing control of the firm her father helped to found. Our hero, Aaron, is a poor but kind-hearted man who has nothing of his own and looks to find a way to better himself so he can have a family. Already, you want to read this, yes? Well, let’s make it even more compelling. Both Isabella and Aaron are members of the London Jewish community, and their motivations and conflicts are now infinitely colored by the attitudes and discriminations both within their community and from the larger community outside them.

If you love real history with your historical romances, you are in for a treat. If, like me, you are fascinated but not well read in the Jewish history of the time, you are in for a feast. Grossman’s talent, which was fully on display in her earlier series, gives us the romance we crave, at the same time presenting a piece of history that is rarely if ever seen in the pages of traditional historical romance, seamlessly interweaving the two to give us a rich sense of place and time.

MARRY ME BY MIDNIGHT is set like a jewel amid rich history, smart writing, and universal themes in this deeply satisfying novel. It delighted me on so many levels and, with its unique take on fairly tale re-tellings, may even become cannon in the genre.

This regency romance was absolutely amazing. It had a Jewish theme to it which I had never read before in a regency romance and I really enjoyed that. This was so good!!
I just reviewed Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman. #NetGalley
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This was a historical romance book unlike any that I've ever read. I loved that the main character was Jewish and I loved how it was a reverse Cinderella retelling. I can't wait to read more from this author.

Marry Me by Midnight, the first book in the new series by Felicia Grossman, is a delightful historical romance novel set in the London Jewish community of 1832. The story is a fresh take on the classic Cinderella tale, where the protagonist, Isabelle Lira, must marry to save her father's investment business. However, the man she wants is the janitor at the local synagogue, Aaron Ellenberg, who is deemed unsuitable for her by the community.

The author's portrayal of the cultural and religious aspects of the English Jewish community of that time period is well-researched and fascinating. It adds an extra layer of richness to the story, making it stand out from other historical romances. The book explores themes of class, power, family, and love, making it an engaging read for any romance fan.


Overall, Marry Me by Midnight is a well-written historical romance novel with unique characters and an intriguing plot. It is an excellent start to Felicia Grossman's new series and a promising addition to the genre.

One of the indicators of how much I am enjoying a book is how long it takes me to finish the book. If I fly through it, I'm loving it so much. And when it takes me a second to read then it means I'm struggling (this isn't scientific and clearly varies), but for this one...well it took me half a month to read it.

I just really struggled with the plot. I didn't care about Aaron's mission (even though I enjoyed the tension it brought to him and Isabelle).

I did like Aaron and Isabelle together, their chemistry was excellent, but the pacing of their relationship just felt off to me. I wanted them on page together more and would've liked a few more casual scenes rather than high emotions. Anytime she saw him reading to the kids was just the cutest and I would've liked a few more scenes like this.

I also did enjoy the Jewish history. I clearly was not taught any of this in school because it was all new to me. Which is cool and I'm so glad for the diversity in historicals, but it did make it a bit harder to follow because I wasn't sure what the society structure was.

Overall I really enjoyed parts of this one, but found most of the non romantic plot to be quite boring.

This was a pretty average historical romance, though I did enjoy all of the Jewish culture infused in the story, which isn't something that's done too often, so it was interesting to see. The romance in this was a touch unbelievable, and the chemistry between the two love interests wasn't really there, so by way of a romance plot, this book was lacking. I did think that the story overall was strong, and I liked the characters separately, but the romance just wasn't done well or fleshed out enough for my liking.

"Marry Me by Midnight" is the 1st book in the "Once Upon the East End" series by Felicia Grossman. This book centers around Isabelle, who must marry someone of standing - and fast. Along the way, she runs into Aaron, who sparks her interest. However, he's simply a janitor at the synagogue, and well beneath her station. But the heart wants what the heart wants. Will they be willing to face ridicule in order to gain true love?

I had a hard time understanding all the Jewish words and terms in this book. I also didn't really find the relationship between Aaron and Isabelle very believable and thought the romance between them was lacking. I skimmed through several chapters of this book. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I’m very excited to have read a Jewish historical romance. Historically accurate and so unique. Isabella Lira is forced to find a husband by her late father’s business partners in order to keep her place in the company. She announces she will make a decision by the end of three festivals given for he community. She enlists the help of Aaron Ellenburg, the custodian of the Great Synagogue to ferret information about her potential suitors,
But, they cannot resist their attraction, and Isabella must decide what is truly important. Love or position.

Loved loved loved this! I so rarely read historical romance where I feel like I can truly identify with the characters, so having Jewish historical representation was so appreciated. I loved the gender-swapped Cinderella aspect and the commenting on the tale itself. Isabelle and Aaron are a swoony pair and I loved reading them their love story.