Kissing Kosher is a Must Read

Kissing Kosher: A Novel by Jean Meltzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jean Meltzer has become one of my very favorite authors in the past year, and with each subsequent novel she just keeps getting better. As a former rabbinical student, she often writes reflections for Shabbat that deal with a particular Bible or Talmudic passage and applying it to modern life. I love those posts on Instagram because they make me think and they give me insight into understanding Jewish faith in the 21st century.

Meltzer does the same sort of thing in her novels--she deftly weaves her Jewish faith into her novel storylines, in a way that reaffirms the Jewish reader, and informs non-Jewish readers without being didactic.

"Kissing Kosher" is her third novel, and in it she writes about the reality of living with chronic pain and inflammation. She writes about something I really did not know about, but once it was explained in the book it made sense: generational pain being passed down from parent to child to grandchild. She writes about families and love and loss and loyalty (and yes, this is a kissing book).

Avital and Ethan are well-developed and sympathetic protagonists, and this reader was rooting for both of them to find their footing and their calling. I won't spoil the plot or the ending, but the primary and secondary characters are amazing, the dialogue is both snappy and honest, and I really wanted to drive to Trader Joe's for some babka more than once (if I hadn't been on a road trip while reading this novel, I just might have).

Five stars, definitely recommend. Add this to your TBR and it will be published August 29, 2023, just in time for when the kids go back to school and the Labor Day weekend :)

Thank you to Jean Meltzer, her publisher MIRA, and NetGalley for an advanced ebook to read and review. All opinions (and all the gushing) are my own.