The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah

Thank thank you Harlequin! I adore Jean Meltzer's books and this was another win. The authentic Jewish representation, the exploration of faith and ambition, and the heartfelt, earned reconciliation make this a highly recommended read for anyone who wants a thoughtful, hopeful story wrapped in the glow of Hanukkah tradition.This book is a deeply moving and unexpectedly rich holiday romance that goes far beyond meet-cutes and mistletoe. Author Jean Meltzer masterfully tackles eight devastating heartbreaks with sensitivity, weaving them into a second-chance, slow-burn romance between Evelyn, a heroine managing chronic migraines, and David, the total charmer who is also her ex-husband. While the story touches on heavy topics of grief and loss, requiring tissues for the emotional depth, particularly concerning the couple's mutual tragedy and the author's personal note, it expertly balances the sadness with genuinely funny moments, especially the constant emergencies and the over-the-top celebrity playing Scrooge in Evelyn's live TV production.

Evelyn Schwartz is an up-and-coming producer, who works tirelessly to improve her craft and her chances at advancement. Her latest production is a live production of A Christmas Carol, which has her stress levels going off the charts. She also suffers from migraines, and her hectic work schedule doesn’t help her health situation. When she suffers an accident on set and is hit on the head, she’s sent to the on-set medical doctor - who just happens to be her ex-husband. David tries to help Evelyn, but she constantly sabotages any effort he’s making towards her. They have a lot of healing to do to even remain cordial on-set, much less friends. Over the course of a few days, Evelyn is visited by different spirits, showing her parts of her life and how her and David’s relationship played a part in each. It’s clear she and David still love each other, but do they love each other enough to put in the work to establish a loving relationship again? This was a cute story, with some really funny parts dealing with the diva star who is to play Scrooge. I’m not of the Jewish faith, so some of the words stumped me and I had to look them up, but most of them I was familiar with. And everyone can relate to wanting a “do-over” when we’ve hurt those we love most. Be sure and read the author’s notes at the end, as it lend more meaning to the book. Thanks to NetGalley and MIRA for an ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

Author Jean Meltzer, known for her beautiful uplifting stories about people who are surviving chronic illness, herself included, and how they endure by showing strength and toughness always trying to be uplifting even when met with pain, or in this case heartache. The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah is the epitome of the movie: It's A Wonderful Life/A Christmas Carol. It has humor, mixed with a combination of sadness, grief, loss and yes, heartbreak, but more, it's a story about strength, love and togetherness.Evelyn Schwartz is producing a live TV showing of A Christmas Carol. With only a few days left until air everything which could go wrong, goes wrong! Evelyn is a workaholic who does not sleep and gets debilitating migraines. So, when she has an accident on the set, while having a migraine they call for the show medic who unfortunately is Evelyn's ex-husband David who is substituting for the permanent medic.They have been divorced for two years and the breakup for Evelyn was unexpected. David just up and left one day, saying nothing. So, you can imagine how that meeting went with David insisting Evelyn go to the hospital and telling David where he should go!Because David knows Evelyn so well, he tries to tell her to at least get some rest and take her medicine. But Evelyn would rather die than do what David tells her. But then some crazy things begin to happen to her. She begins to be visited by ghosts...Hanukkah ghosts, the first being her former mentor who passed away years ago who informs Evelyn she must change her ways. But Evelyn believes this was a dream and she's just exhausted.Until she is visited by the first ghost named One. Who takes Evelyn down memory lane and it's not great. As the snippets from each ghost get harder and harder to endure, she turns to David who seems to be predominantly placed in these visits from the past.She begins to live the unlivable, including her losing David and what led up to that traumatic experience. Why is this happening and right now when her main focus is to put on a great show? She's been able to suppress all these difficult memories for years. Why now are they being awakened?The Eight Days of Hanukkah is a warm, sad and yes, heartbreaking story of loss and trauma, but not only is it filled with wonderful life lessons, more importantly, it is filled with hope, love and anticipation of what has yet to come by finally admitting that by understanding what you couldn't because your own light had gone out you can realize just how to light the match to see again.

Jean Meltzer burst into the romance genre with her unapologetically Jewish and disabled characters and stories, and won the hearts of so many readers, including myself. She’s become the queen of Jewish romance, and after reading her first book, The Matzah Ball, I add her newest books to my TBR without even having to read the summary, because I know I’m going to want to read it.There are so many different things that I really loved about this book, and literally nothing about it that I didn’t like, making this one of the easiest 5 star ratings I’ve ever given. Let me jump into all the things I adored about this story.Set during Hanukkah, the story centers around a production of live-action musical version of A Christmas Carol. Evelyn is a type A workaholic who suffers from migraines, yet she consistently uses her job as an escape. She works at a television station, and this is her most ambitious project yet. I already knew that a bunch of things were going to come up to make the road rocky for her, so it wasn’t a shock when that did happen. Starting with her ex-husband showing up on set, covering for the usual stage doctor.Starting with the characters, Meltzer has a wonderful way of making these flawed individuals so realistic and relatable, even if they aren’t always the most likable at first. Take Evelyn for example. She has a difficult personality and is just as demanding of others as she is of herself. Basically the definition of a workaholic, Evelyn has avoided dealing with anything emotional, including emotions, grief, and divorce. On the other hand, David is the most likable ex-husband of all time. These two have great chemistry and banter, and I couldn’t help but think that Evelyn was a real dummy for leaving a guy like David. He’s the literal definition of an NJB (nice Jewish boy), he’s a doctor, he’s in touch with his emotions, and he’s actually mature. Not to mention the fact that he’s highly attractive and loves animals, including his pregnant rescue alpaca.The disability representation in this book is outstanding, as I’ve come to expect from Meltzer. Evelyn deals with frequent and severe migraines on a near-daily basis. The part that was so especially relatable to me was Evelyn rationing her migraine medication because she can only get a limited number of pills. Most people with chronic illness, myself included, can identify with this since insurance only covers a certain amount of medication each month. David’s sister also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which influenced his decision to specialize in orthopedics.After a run-in between Evelyn’s head and a piano being moved on set, she’s forced to deal with the horrific indignity of her ex-husband gently and sweetly treating her. He consistently expresses his concerns but doesn’t push hard, especially knowing how resistant to any kind of guidance she is. But it isn’t long before Evelyn starts to hallucinate—starting on the first night of Hanukkah, when her deceased mentor shows up and takes her through a heartbreak that occurred at some point in her life.As the holiday progresses, so do the visions of heartbreak, with one appearing each night. Instead of it being the usual ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future, there is a distinctly Jewish flair to the story—Evelyn is shown one heartbreak for each night of Hanukkah, with a ghost from her own past appearing each night of the holiday. It was clear to me so much earlier than it took for Evelyn to figure out why she was taken on a tour of her past, including a highlight reel of the most painful moments of her life.There were so, so many times that I just wanted to shake Evelyn like a rag doll and maybe shake some sense loose—how could she let a freaking unicorn of a man slip through her hands?!?! The story starts out a bit slow and maintains a nice, easy pace, allowing for plenty of courage and banter, but it also showcases all the things that worked in their relationship. We also get to see some of the things that pushed them apart, and while the story has a lot of really funny parts, it also touches on some deeper themes that are central to the story and that explain the rift between Evelyn and David. Infertility, pregnancy loss, and grief are all explored through the story, and they are done in such a sensitive way. In an author’s note at the end of the book, she also discusses her own personal connection to the story she created on these pages.Overall, this was a fantastic story. It was everything I expected to read in a Jean Meltzer book, and she’s going to continue to be an auto-buy author for me. There was a great balance between the humor and the heavier topics, and the presence of star actor Jared Sparks in any scene was guaranteed to contain some humor and highly inappropriate comments. The representation in the book is outstanding—both Jewish and disability rep make this a hit, and as a Jewish person who is disabled, I thought that both identities were pres...

I requested an ARC of this book, and all opinions are my own.I have to admit, at first I didn't think I would be able to finish this book as I found the main heroine - Eveyln Schwartz - to be incredibly unlikeable. She's stubborn, head-strong, and was well on her way to burning out. I kept with it, mostly because I liked the main hero (and her ex-husband) - David Adler - so much. I am glad I did, because the ending was well worth everything else.This is a twist on A Christmas Carol with the focus being on Hanukkah and being Jewish. It was an interesting point of view, and a creative way to incorporate the Dickens classic. It reminded me very much of the film "Scrooged", which is one of my favorites to watch during the holidays.Like I said, Evelyn is extremely unlikeable, almost up to the very end, but as you learn more about her through the visits from the 'ghosts', you can't help but pull for her, and for David.And when Jordan Sparks is introduced in the third act.... well, the story takes on a humor that makes it well worth the read.