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Hanukkah began tonight at sundown. This is night one of eight consecutive nights. To celebrate, I have put together a collection of romances featuring strong Jewish characters, themes or written by Jewish women (or all three!). Those listed here are not an endorsement as I have not read them personally but they looked good and I thought I would share.

Lights of Love:

Everything was set and in place this holiday season for Nancy Gardner until her old flame Mike Powers sweeps back into her life. She thought she had forgotten him, she had built a life without him and his sudden presence disrupted all her plans. Everywhere she went, no matter whether she went to visit family or friends, he was there and the more they saw each other the more she knew she was in trouble as old flames started to spark. Mike has the tough task of convincing her to rekindle their flame.

Scenes from a Holiday:

There are three short stories in this compilation including Eight Dates of Hanukkah, Carrie Pilby’s New Year’s Resolution, and Emma Townsend Saves Christmas. The Hanukkah story is one of commitment phobia on the part of the heroine. Nikki Heller is afraid to marry her kind and loyal boyfriend Mark. A bump on the head causes her to slip into a coma or more to the point a Christmas Carol kind of situation but instead of visiting with the spirits of Christmas she ends up dating eight truly awful men.

Rashi’s Daughters, Book I: Joheved:

This is the first of three novels written about Rashi’s daughters set in medieval France. Rashi is both winemaker and scholar of the Talmud. Book one focuses on the eldest daughter. 39 of 52 reviews at Amazon gave the book five stars. Meticulous research combined with flowing fictional prose weave the tapestry of the novel. Joheved makes a request of her father to learn the Talmud, is betrothed and must keep her knowledge hidden which she does until the first crisis erupts between herself and her husband.

The Red Tent:

Dinah is the only surviving daughter of four sisters married to the same man. “They traded secrets like bracelets, and these were handed down to me the only surviving girl. They told me things I was too young to hear. They held my face between their hands and made me swear to remember.” The Red Tent is more biblical than a strictly Jewish and looks to be very promising as I found out about it scrolling through reviews on other books and this kept cropping up as a recommendation.

The Kommandant’s Girl:

Told during the times of the Nazi occupation of Poland, Kommandant’s Girl is about a bride forced to assume another name and live with her husband’s aunt. During Emma’s stay (under the guise of Anna) she catches the attention of Kommandant Georg Richwalder, number two himself of the General Government, during a dinner party. When it’s clear that her German is exceptional he offers her a position as his assistant. Anna accepts thinking to help the resistance and must struggle with a chemistry she never expected. Will she resist the handsome and charming officer and stay true to her husband? I don’t know, but I’m personally dying to find out!

Dearest Anne: A Tale of Impossible Love:

Dearest Anne does not appear to have a happy ending, which would explain the title even if the circumstances described did not paint a vivid picture of how impossible it was to be in love and stay that way. Rivi is a young artist in the 1970s; she fell in love with her married literature professor, Michaela. Michaela and Rivi if you haven’t guessed are both women and so the impossible aspect of their relationship is taken one step further into the realm of hopelessness.

Jane Austen in Boca:

Imagine Pride and Prejudice but with widowed Jewish women cast in the roles of the Bennet sisters. In other words this tale is about retired Floridians acting out a classic that translates to its sunny setting. With 22 people of 35 people ranking it a five, Jane Austen in Boca looks to be a great retelling as well as a great beach read. Can you just imagine all the wackiness that is bound to ensue? I wonder who is the Mr. Darcy character… anybody read this and want to tell me? Hint. Hint.

Goy Crazy:

Set in high school, this young adult story is about a Jewish girl with a crush that is tired of her good girl ways. Sounding vaguely like Mean Girls, the main character Rachel is desperate to fit into the So Very crowd and spice up her life with a little romance. She even begins to act dumb in math to attract the attention of the very non-Jewish basketball hunk Luke Christiansen. Bound to crack you up!

What stories would you add to the list?

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amazon, boyfriend mark, bump on the head, carrie pilby, christmas carol, commitment phobia, consecutive nights, dates of hanukkah, eldest daughter, emma townsend, four sisters, hanukkah story, medieval france, meticulous research, nancy gardner, nikki heller, old flame, old flames, spirits of christmas, three novels