Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer

Magical Meet Cute

by Jean Meltzer

“A laugh-out-loud funny romance with depth and heart, readers will love this spellbinding novel!” —Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Is he the real deal…or did she truly summon a golem?

Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy.

Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone.

That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right?

When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory…

But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.
 

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on

5 of 5 stars

Share

Lots To Love - With a WTF Or Two. First, my own "WTF" is the intense focus on anti-Semitism (meaning anti-Jew, specifically, even though Arabs are also Semitic, according to the actual genetic definition) throughout the text - but Meltzer actually uses that, eventually, to get into areas she's never really gone to in my experience reading most of her books. Thus, that actually turned into a good thing, as she was able to use it to further her growth as a storyteller.  

 

And that actually gets into the lots to love here. Meltzer is unapologetic in seeking to make Jewish lives more "normal" to an outside audience, usually by taking quirky characters and showing them loving, laughing, making mistakes, learning from them... you know, doing the stuff we pretty well all do. But also including quite a bit of Jewish specific elements, here mostly focusing on magic and in particular the concept of the golem - which is more often, in my reading experience, used in science fiction to varying degrees. (Both Jeremy Robinson and Kent Holloway have used them quite effectively, among others.) Meltzer even provides some in-story exposition on the history of golems in Judaic philosophy, which was a particularly nice touch - especially given that a romcom audience is probably less familiar with the overall concept than the aforementioned scifi crowd.

 

Indeed, the golem of the story... well, he's used quite well, actually. Both for what he is believed to be and for what ultimately happens - though I'm trying to be as spoiler free as possible here. I will note that it is the golem that plays the larger role in Meltzer's expansion of her storytelling abilities, mentioned above, but I think that may be as close as I can get here and remain spoiler free.

 

Ultimately a fun book, perhaps a touch heavier than some would prefer in a romcom, but still fulfilling all known requirements of a romcom. Very much recommended.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • 26 August, 2024: Started reading
  • 28 August, 2024: Finished reading
  • 30 August, 2024: Reviewed