Snow is falling, holiday lights are twinkling, and Abby Cohen is pissed. For one thing, her most annoying customer, Seth, has been coming into her café every morning with his sunshiny attitude, determined to break down her carefully constructed emotional walls. And, as the only Jew on the tourism board of her Vermont town, Abby's been charged with planning their fledgling Hanukkah festival. Unfortunately, the local vendors don’t understand that the story of Hanukkah cannot be told with light-up plastic figures from the Nativity scene, even if the Three Wise Men wear yarmulkes.
Desperate for support, Abby puts out a call for help online and discovers she was wrong about being the only Jew within a hundred miles. There's one other: Seth.
As it turns out, Seth’s parents have been badgering him to bring a Nice Jewish Girlfriend home to New York City for Hanukkah, and if Abby can survive his incessant, irritatingly handsome smiles, he’ll introduce her to all the vendors she needs to make the festival a success. But over latkes, doughnuts, and winter adventures in Manhattan, Abby begins to realize that her fake boyfriend and his family might just be igniting a flame in her own guarded heart.
‘Tis the season, friends, and I couldn’t be happier. Pumpkin spice may be in the air but I’ll take the scent of latkes, those divine potato pancakes with a side of applesauce, any day of the week. And Love You A Latke by Amanda Elliot was just the book to put me in the mood. This book has all the magic of the season. A cozy New England town. A spunky owner of a darling coffee shop. A delicious cinnamon roll tech nerd. And New York City alight with holiday charm. It ticked off all my holiday romance boxes and then some.
Now. lest I paint too rosy a picture of this story…there’s so much more to it. The cozy New England town is struggling to come back from near devastating flooding and a noted drop in tourism, the town’s lifeblood. And maybe ‘spunky’, is too generous because Abby Cohen, our heroine, is pretty much the grumpiest coffee shop owner I have ever come across. To be fair, she has a lot on her plate with her business failing and the small business council’s president cheerfully lassoing her into a huge project. However, the cinnamon roll hero, Seth, is still delicious and is the polar opposite of Abby. He never fails to come into her store every morning with a smile on his face. Every. Single. Morning. And New York City is just as bright and vibrant as the giant menorah in the city's Grand Army Plaza.
The town council meets to discuss what they can do to attract more tourists during the holiday season that is different from any other town. Lorna, the president, latches onto the idea of having a Hanukkah festival and who better to organize it than Abby who is the only Jewish person in the town, on the council and, seemingly, for miles around. Great! Just another thing to add onto her plate. She begrudgingly agrees but finds the usual vendors completely at a loss as to what to provide for the event. A tree lit up with blue and white lights and the shepherds with yarmulkes is not the vibe Abby wants to go for.
In a desperate attempt to see if there are any other Jewish people she could tap, Abby signs up on a Jewish dating app. In a bizarre twist of fate, she is matched up with none other Mister Sunshine himself, Seth Abrams. Seth makes her a deal she can’t refuse. He will help her navigate the holiday scene in New York where he can help her source vendors and ideas. In exchange, she will pretend to be the nice Jewish girl her mother has been badgering him to bring home to their upper West side apartment to meet them.
Seth’s parents couldn’t be nicer and embrace her as their own. His friends make her feel like one of the gang as they visit festivals, parks and bars that celebrate the holiday season in grand style. Abby and Seth slowly fall in love though Seth had a head start. It wasn’t just great coffee that brought him to her cafe. Abby also rediscovers her Judaism as she celebrates Hanukkah with Seth’s parents. Abby doesn’t really have any family to speak of. The less said about her parents, the better. Their psychological abuse left deep scars and Seth’s parents are the opposite of them in many ways. Seeing Abby’s healing and Seth’s growth throughout the story is just one of many touching parts of this book.
If you are looking for a holiday pick me up,
Love You A Latke is just the ticket. It is beautifully written and the
characters beautifully drawn. I have learned that Amanda Elliot is a relatively
new writer. Her other books have garnered some praise. I look forward to
reading her backlist, too. Happy Holidays!
