I thought the story of self discovery that faye went thought was a good story., but honestly the writing is what fell flat for me - i didn’t want to continue reading because i found myself getting bored with the tone.

This book was not for me. I did really appreciate the attention to the anti-semitic reality that many still face. Personally, I am not of the Jewish faith so I can't speak to how someone of the faith may relate to this story. I felt like the characters felt flat. I also excited a more magical realism romance and it was that but it felt a little rushed. There were a lot of details about personal growth and that was wonderful. I just didn't find myself rooting for the romance. I did appreciate the mystery going on and I will be looking for other books by this author. The writing was great, but the plot and characters just were not for me.

I absolutely loved this book!! I couldn’t put it down.
I just loved all the characters. I highly recommend this book.

Book: Magical Meet Cute
Author: Jean Meltzer
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Mira, for sending me an ARC. This is the second book by this author that I have read. I enjoy her writing style a lot. I love the mix of romance and Jewish culture that she brings into her books. While this one is a romance, it does take on some serious topics.

In this one, we follow Faya, who used to be engaged and a top lawyer. She has put that all behind her and now owns a shop where she makes and sells pottery. She enjoys it a lot. She lives above her shop with her hairless dog. Life is great. The only thing missing is a little romance. However, she isn’t the type of woman who needs a man in her life to be happy. Then, it starts. Anti-Semtic flyers and attacks on Jews begin to happen in her small town. Faye doesn’t know where to turn or who to trust. Things are not good. She has friends behind her, which keeps her going. She gets drunk and is upset. She turns to the two things that make her happy: pottery and Jewish magic. She makes a golem, who just happens to look like her ideal man. She doesn’t think any more of it until she runs Greg over with her bike. Grey wakes up and remembers nothing about his past or where he came from. Plus, he looks exactly like the golem Faye made. Is there a freak thing or did Faye perform magic?

It was this set-up that made me want to read this book. As I started by saying, this is the second book I have read by this author, so I did have high expectations. I love the idea of magic and golems. Building something to live to be a protector and always be there for you just adds so much to books. I know there is the chance that the golem could go off and have to be destroyed, but we don’t need to talk about that. I loved the bits of Jewish magical tradition that were so crafty and woven throughout the story. I was not at all familiar with this bit of Jewish culture. The author did an amazing job at explaining it without being info-dumpy and bringing it to life. She did that well with all of the Jewish cultural elements this book contains. I didn’t know a lot of it, so it was nice to learn something new.

Faye is a woman who had it all and gave it up. She was supposed to be married, but her ex dumped her in Lapland. She had her law practice, which made good money, but wasn’t what she wanted. She gave it all up for to chase her childhood dream of being an artist. She did have a full-ride scholarship to art school until her mother broke her wrist. Faye thinks that she can never be the artist she was before. Her work has flaws, which she thinks make it unable to be sold. It eats her up. Her past haunts her. Her mother abused her and her father stood by and let it happen. He did not protect her and it ended up costing Faye everything. All of her actions and thoughts are centred around this trauma. She has never asked for help nor has she gotten it. She thinks she doesn’t need it, that this is how life is supposed to be.

Now, I do not think that a woman needs a man to bring out the best in her. Greg does that. Of course, he is supposed to be made for Faye. He brings out the best in her, helps her see that everything that has not happened to her is not her fault, and brings her back to life. she is at a pretty low point in her life. He takes both the good and bad parts of her and helps her see that it is who she is. He helps her see that her past does not define her but empowers her. I guess that what I am getting at is that he allows her to see herself as she is and helps her realize her potential. He lets her see her strength.

The reason I gave this a four star instead of a five was because I thought there were times that the pacing dragged a little bit. There are some plot holes, but it is what it is. It wasn’t a big deal for me.

Overall, I did enjoy this one. If you are looking for a romance with a bit of magic, I highly encourage you to give this one a go.

This book comes out on August 27, 2024.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/2X7Ezb02BAM

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I was definitely drawn in to reading this novel by the cover art, it was a very fluffy romance with cute characters and a fun storyline. I did really enjoy the way the author blended magic into the story, along with traditional Jewish folklore elements. It's definitely the first book I've read that's done that, I will be on the lookout for more!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and net galley for this arc. Sadly, I just couldn’t connect with the characters in this book. It wasn’t a favorite and didn’t feel relatable.

I really struggled with this book. The plot felt too exaggerated and it was hard to get into. The main character was also pretty unbearable in my opinion, and her relationship with Greg was cringey and awkward.

2.5 stars

There were some positives about this book. Obviously Jewish romance is a genre I love, so I enjoyed the Jewish aspects of this, even though they felt very heavy handed at times. I also enjoyed having dual POV.

Overall, though, I just didn’t like this. I found Faye very annoying and cringey. I also just found so much of this to be completely unbelievable. Characters were too cartoonish, plot lines made no sense, and the writing just often came across as too cliche. I love romances and I’m fine with suspending my disbelief and enjoying something unrealistic, but this was too much for me. Also if I never hear about hard kosher salami (this is not a euphemism) again it’ll be too soon. I had to drag myself through this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

Magical Meet Cute is the latest from Jean Meltzer, one of my favorite novelists in recent years. You can learn more about Jean on her website and social media accounts. Magical Meet Cute is so much more that its cute title and cover make it seem, and that is all because of Jean's magic (pun fully intended).

As is the case with every single one of Jean's books, what starts out as a romance or rom-com, dives deeply into relevant and difficult issues fairly early on. So many layers and nuances make this a difficult book to put down; each page reveals just a smidgen more about the characters, the community, Jewish culture (and folklore, as is the case with this story), and of course, the romance.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I do need to mention some things. (1) While there is mention of certain parts of human anatomy, there is not any overtly open-door love scene within this novel (but yes, this is a "kissing book"). (2) There is a lot to unpack about anti-Semitism in this book, and Jean holds back nothing. It's not easy reading, but it's important. (3) There is a dog! I love dogs. (Also I'm so sorry that Jean's Shadow recently passed over the rainbow bridge.) (4) A lesson learned from the book: We should trust our guts with people who seem sus.

Highly recommended!

This book will be published on August 27, 2024, and please take my advice and preorder, ask your library to order, and spread the Jewish romance joy far and wide.

Beyond adorable and am so glad I took a chance with this author! Jean is a new author to me and her writing for sure has hooked me in. I cannot wait to see what else she has up her sleeve because this story for sure took me away. SWOONED!

Faye has found herself after a long relationship came to an end. She owns and runs her own pottery shop while practicing Jewitch magic. She’s content and doesn’t need nor want a man.

After waking from a drunken night full of pottery making and magical chants; Faye rushes to meet her friend when she crashes into a man she unknowingly summoned. A Golem…

Greg and Feya grow and fight obstacles together. A love story unfolds and magic takes flight.

💭 The overall storyline is cute. This is an out of the norm book for me to read. I do believe others that delve into these types of books would enjoy this even more than I.

I really enjoyed this book! A great story between 2 characters that included misunderstandings, romance, comedy and a happy ending! Definitely a feel-good, love overcomes hate story that was so easy to read. It had moments where heavier topics were explored, which I enjoyed and actually learned from. I loved the magical moments in this book and how Faye wove them into her Jewish beliefs.....she knew who she was and what she stood for and that is nice to see in a woman character. Yes, she did have her insecurities, but you realize once you get into the story why those are there and how she deals with them. Just a wonderful meet-cute story from start to finish!

I received a complimentary ecopy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you Netgalley, Jean Meltzer and Harlequin Trade Publishing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! This is the second book I have read by Jane Metzler, and though I didn’t love the first one, I liked the idea of this story a lot - creating a perfect man with Jewish magic? Hell yeah! I love the idea of getting to read a story with a proudly Jewish progressive main character.

Unfortunately, many of the same complaints I had with The Matzah Ball were present here too. The Jewishness - and Jewitchness - feel pretty heavy handed, and probably even more unrealistically so here given that the MC, Faye, wasn’t even raised traditionally Jewish. As a Jew myself, some of the phrases were just clunky and cringey - Haman’s hat had me cringing every single time a character said it. Also, I was uncomfortable with the way the author danced around Zionism. I hate the conflation of Zionism with Jewishness.

Greg was a decent love interest, though I thought the amnesia went on way too long, and it was pretty obvious like 30% of the way through the book that Eric was going to be a Nazi and Greg was going to be some kind of undercover researcher. I wish there was more magic and a bit more misdirection. Also would have liked more inclusion of Miranda and Shulamit, though I thought Nelly was a decently funny and well developed side character. The plot itself was engaging, despite being predictable, though the romance was basically nonexistent for me. I just didn’t feel excited about them - there was no buildup or chemistry.

final note: if I ever read the phrase “hard kosher salami” again I am going to throw my Kindle in the garbage

I love Jean Meltzer’s books and this was on exception.

She dives into a little magic for this one, but the charm and romance remains comforting to the reader.

She has us ask a very important question about ourselves…

When magic pottery makes the perfect man would you question it or just dive in?

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for the ARC.

While not my favorite of Meltzer's books, this one had a lot of her signature charm overall, even if the blend of genres — romance, magical realism, maybe even a little thriller given the subject matter — didn't always feel the most cohesive. I also would've liked to see a little more with Faye and Greg post-him regaining his memories, to get a better sense of how their romance ultimately differed or may have even been somewhat the same. Overall, a sweet story that happens to also deal in weightier topics, so make sure to check content warnings first just to be safe.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Not sure why this is marketed as a romcom when it really didn’t seem like a romance to me. The author tackled a lot of topics and provided a ton of information and facts. This just wasn’t my type of book.

I really enjoy Jean Meltzer’s book and was excited for this eARC! I honestly had no idea what it was about before I started reading it, and the plot took me by surprise. This book involves heavy magical realism and took me a bit to get into, but overall was very enjoyable and I was eager to see how it would actually end. As usual, I learned a something new about Judaism through this book, which is something I appreciate and enjoy about Meltzer’s books.

I could not get into this book. I wanted to love it and feel like the potential is there but I stopped many times and had to break for a few days and try again. I can definitely see this being a wonderful read for many, I just felt like it came short too often and ended up not finishing

Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer Faye is a former lawyer turned sculptress who changed her life and moved to Woodstock, NY for a change. She is a self proclaimed Jewitch and created a golem (clay protector) after anti-semetic attacks. She meets Greg who had all of the characteristics she asked for and thinks he is her golem come to lofe to protect her.

There is a lot I liked about this book. First, it is very contemporary with its topic of antisemitism. Childhood abuse/neglect, mental health, and self esteem issues are all discussed and it is nice to see a romance tackle such heavy topics. I was pulling for Faye, a nuanced, strong character. Greg was a great character, so strong and patient, evolving, listening, and being so fair and thoughtful in his actions. Plus there is a cute dog and a great small town community!

Some minor quibbles:
Who eats that much salami?!? Literally all she ate. Got annoying.
She took the golem thing too far. (Thiugh the history was interesting).
Plot holes like the hotel.

I would recommend this book. 3.75 stars. Thanks to Net Galley and MIRA publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Jean Meltzer and was excited to read this one and I'm sure it's a great story. Unfortunately, it wasn't formatted for the NetGalley app and very difficult to read and thus enjoy.