Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer

 

5*

Dara Rabinowitz, age 34, is a third-generation matchmaker who brought the family tradition into the 21st century when she created J-Mate, an online dating platform that uses an algorithm based on her Bubbe Miriam’s methods for successful marriages. She’s struggled with Generalized Anxiety Disorder since her teens, and, following the death of her mother 10 years prior, has become a near hermit other than her professional obligations and frequent visits with her grandmother. Ironically, as the CEO of the multimillion-dollar business, she’s rarely dated.

This all changes when she and her Bubbe Miriam appear on the Good News show with host Christopher Steadfast (who Dara has secretly crushed on for 2 years) and her grandmother goes off-script, sharing Dara’s list of qualities of the perfect Jewish husband. Despite her extreme embarrassment, the episode goes viral and presents an opportunity for J-Mate to get more business and Good News to survive cancellation due to flagging viewership. Dara just has to agree to date men Chris finds who are candidates for Mr. Perfect on Paper. What can possibly go wrong? When Dara finally meets Mr. Perfect, will she ignore her growing feelings for Chris and settle for a man who checks all the boxes? After all, in Dara’s words, love “doesn’t conquer all.” Will Chris be able to move beyond his grief over the death of his wife, especially if he refuses to process it?

This is a verrrry slow burn romance, but the sexual tension is there in the subtle touches, longing glances and near-kisses. There’s also the fact that Chris’s mere presence calms Dara’s anxiety and their growing, unspoken feelings for each other force them out of hiding. For Gentiles, it’s a lesson in the laws and customs of Judaism with a very liberal sprinkling of Yiddish words and phrases and a peek into the conflict between religious adherence to the prohibition against interfaith marriage and forbidden love. Meltzer deftly manages to strike a balance between the ravages of grief and the humor in everyday situations (and disastrous dates), keeping the story from getting bogged down with emotional baggage. The antics of Bubbe Miriam and her geriatric girl squad, The ChallahBack Girls, are both hilarious and endearing, and Chris’s preteen daughter Lacey brings surprisingly wisdom and insight that aid in the plot development. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from MIRA through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

 

5*

After having sat in on a panel discussion last spring with author Hazelwood, I now understand why she and several more of our best contemporary romance authors (including Diana Gabaldon and Lauren Billings of the writing duo Christina Lauren) went from careers in STEM to writing romance. At the very least, they are finally getting the recognition (and, hopefully, financial rewards) they deserve. 

In Love on the Brain, neuroscientist Dr. Bee Konigswasser has been fighting her entire career against the unfair treatment women in STEM (especially academia) face from a field full of predominantly white men. Using “trademarked” phrases like Cockcluster and Wurstfest, in describing this seemingly impenetrable brick wall, is the least she can do to release some of the tension and anger she feels when she and her fellow women in STEM are confronted with this misogynistic reality. As a way to fight back anonymously, Bee started a Twitter account as an homage to her hero, Marie Curie, called @WhatWouldMarieDo and has been evading potential career-destroying detection for 4 years. However, other than providing support and encouragement to other female scientists, she’s also developed an open online friendship with Shmac, one of the few male scientists who truly champion and support their female colleagues.

After a bad betrayal and break-up, following by a depressive slump two years before, she’s finally been tapped to lead a joint NASA-NIH project. Unfortunately, even before flying to Houston, she finds out the co-lead is her arch nemesis Levi Ward, a man whose utter disdain for her during grad school was the stuff of legend. Will having to work with him lead to another career dead-end, especially if he goes so far as to sabotage her work? Or will she find that her perception of him has been wrong all along?

Hazelwood’s follow-up to The Love Hypothesis is equally as charming and sexy, with subtly-coded neurodivergent characters who struggle to communicate their feelings but who connect on a cerebral and sometimes nerdy level. Whether it’s bonding over Star Wars, comparing Levi’s rescue cat to Bee’s “imaginary” one, competing over hummingbird sightings, or surprisingly supporting and defending each others’ work in the lab, their journey to love is a joy to behold. Highly recommended!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Jove Berkley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.