REVIEW: Hanukkah Hearts by Jean Joachim
B Reviews / Book Reviewsfriends-to-lovers / holiday novella / Jewish-faith / novella / NYC / publishing business11 Comments
Relocated to New York City from the Midwest, Becky Cohen follows her dream by snagging a choice entry level job at Homes and Ralph Publishing. Hanukkah is not a recognized holiday there, so Becky must remain in New York.
Squished into a tiny two-bedroom apartment with three young women, Becky misses her family’s home and the rowdy companionship of her brothers. She plans to Skype with her family during their Hanukkah celebration, until her father declares that “Hanukkah’s been cancelled.”
Fighting a serious case of pneumonia, Becky’s mother is rushed to the hospital. Devastated to be removed from her loved ones during this trying time, Becky’s amazed to find a new gift appears on her desk every day. Who’s responsible? He signs his name only, “The Hanukkah Elf.” Does she figure out who her benefactor is? Read the story to find out.sweet romance
Dear Ms. Joachim,
I’ve been looking for holiday novellas outside of Christmas and after reading the except, decided to try “Hanukkah Hearts.” The idea of a Hanukkah Elf sounded cute and I liked the fact that the heroine, Becky, was following her dreams and making them happen.
Becky knew she wouldn’t be home in Milwaukee with her family for most of Hanukkah but the news of her mother’s illness and hospital admission has hit Becky hard. Workplace hunk Sam was there with a handkerchief and shoulder for Becky to cry on but he’s off-limits since he’s dating her boss. Still his kindness gets Becky settled and able to enjoy lighting the first candle even if she isn’t skyping it with her family.
Arriving at work the next morning, Becky is astonished to find her co-workers buzzing around her desk trying to figure out who left Becky a wrapped package. After determining that no one needs to call a bomb squad, she opens it to find a gift tailored just for her. Rampant speculation grips the department as gifts continue to appear at her desk obviously chosen by someone who knows that her family has pugs, she likes “Pride and Prejudice,” and has always wanted to see “The Nutcracker.” The last night that the department closes for Christmas Becky will find out who her mysterious “Elf” is. Will it be someone she wants it to be?
“Hanukkah Hearts” is a nice, quick holiday read. The identity of the “Elf” really isn’t much of a mystery but I, along with Becky’s co-workers, had fun watching her days be lightened by his thoughtful gifts and obvious effort to cheer her up. I also enjoyed the glimpses of Becky at work discovering the next hot romance book and then seeing her hard work begin to pay off for her. I did wonder that she doesn’t at least call home more often to check up on her sick mother though. The hero is that wonderful romance construct – the perfect man. He’s attentive, kind, handsome, successful, understanding, and a great kisser and lover. Yep, he’s too good to be true but nice to read about every now and then.
By the end of the story, life is pretty much perfect. Becky’s mom is out of the hospital and back cooking for her husband and sons who apparently can’t boil water. Becky and her Elf are seemingly set to start a conflict free romance. And Becky got to spend the last two days of Hanukkah with family, exchanging the thoughtful and silly gifts they’ve always enjoyed getting for each other. B
~Jayne .
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Thanks Jayne! Always happy to hear about Hanukkah romances – there are so few of them.
@SusanS: I had tried another category length book that promised to be about Hanukkah except … it really wasn’t. So when I saw this one, I quickly read the sample and gave it a go. There isn’t really that much conflict but it’s a nice, happy afternoon read. Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for the review, Jayne. I have to say that this sounds like a Christmas romance that’s been lightly adapted to make it work for a different religion. Other than lighting candles, nothing here reads particularly Jewish to me, and Hanukkah is not an important holiday like Rosh Hashana or Passover.
I wish authors would expand beyond the Christmas (and occasional Hanukkah) holiday romance and highlight more interesting traditions.
@Rose: Yes I agree. Elves and The Nutcracker are Christmas traditions, not Hanukkah ones.
I’ve been agitating for Passover romances for years now. I’ve only come across a Passover celebration in Megan Hart’s Naked, and when I asked for Passover romance on recs, only two were mentioned to me. One was Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown, coming out in March. I’m really looking forward to it.
That said, Stacey Agdern recently wrote a post on Jewish romances that had many recommendations that sounded good to me. You can find it here There are some on there that I really want to try.
And for anyone who reads fantasy novels, I highly recommend by Naomi Novik, in which Judaism plays a front and center role. No holidays, but there’s a great Jewish wedding and the hora dancing scene was my favorite scene in the book. Novik deconstructs and unravels antisemitism in the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. Jayne didn’t care for it, but it was my favorite of all the books I read in 2018. There’s a great interview with Novik here. My favorite review of the book is here.
@Rose: Totally agree. Hanukkah started out as as basically a secular independence day celebration and is still not a religiously observant holiday. I was actually pretty annoyed by the synopsis (though I’m not sure that’s entirely fair) and will be giving this one a pass. I’m going to join Janine in agitating for a Passover romance. I live on the other side of the country from my family and I don’t miss them on Hanukkah, I miss them on Passover.
@srs: ((((Hugs))) If I let myself think about what it was like to celebrate Passover with my extended family before my immediate family migrated to the US when I was eleven, I get really sad. Passover is my favorite holiday.
@Rose: If you are an M/M romance fan, you might enjoy some of these. None of them were great IMO but they were fun and definitely Jewish:
Ben’s Bakery and the Hanukkah Miracle by Penelope Peters – one guy is more observant than the other and has to learn there is no “right” way to honor his faith
Hearts Alight by Elliot Cooper – Hanukkah with a golem MC
Tarnished Souls” series by Dev Bentham:
Fields of Gold – Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur
Learning from Isaac – Passover
Sacred Hearts – Hanukkah
Bread Salt & Wine – Purim
For my money, the best Hanukkah romance was many years ago – Judith Arnold’s “Sweet Light” (Harlequin American, 1992).
@Janine:
Exactly! I mean, The Nutcracker!? All that’s missing is decorating her own Christmas tree (don’t laugh; tree envy is a real thing).
Thanks all for the recommendations. My takeaway is that Naomi Novik should write a Temeraire bonus novella in which the dragons gets together to celebrate various holidays and/or discuss the true dragon-related origins of said holidays.
@Rose: I take it you’ve read Spinning Silver and didn’t care for it? The Temeraire novella sounds adorable.
@Janine:
I read Uprooted and felt that Novik should get back to real dragons :)
@Rose: Uprooted was just so-so for me—Dragon was too grumpy and there were too many gratuitous battles, too much flailing by Agnieszka in the capital city, and not nearly enough agency for the humans. The wood was so overwhelmingly powerful that most of the book felt hopeless.
I liked the first Temeraire book much better than Uprooted. The second Temeraire book felt like enough for me, like it didn’t have enough new to offer. This was in the days when I almost never followed same-character series beyond two books, though. I used to feel that reading about new characters was more exciting than reading about familiar ones. I might like the series better now.
Spinning Silver is by far her best book of the four I’ve read.