Series: None
Author: Laura Silverman
Published September 1st 2020 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Goodreads Synopsis
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets You’ve Got Mail in this charming and hilarious rom-com following two teen booksellers whose rivalry is taken to the next level as they compete for the top bookseller bonus.
Shoshanna Greenberg loves working at Once Upon, her favorite local bookstore. And with her moms fighting at home and her beloved car teetering on the brink of death, the store has become a welcome escape.
When her boss announces a holiday bonus to the person who sells the most books, Shoshanna sees an opportunity to at least fix her car, if none of her other problems. The only person standing in her way? New hire Jake Kaplan.
Jake is an affront to everything Shoshanna stands for. He doesn’t even read! But somehow his sales start to rival hers. Jake may be cute (really cute), and he may be an eligible Jewish single (hard to find south of Atlanta), but he’s also the enemy, and Shoshanna is ready to take him down.
But as the competition intensifies, Jake and Shoshanna grow closer and realize they might be more on the same page than either expects…
Goodreads
Review
In Recommended for You, we follow Shoshanna as she plans to win the holiday bonus at job at the favourite indie book store, while juggling her anxiety over her mam's relationship, her feelings for rival and crush Jake, friendship problems, and the worry that the store may have to close following the holiday period. The run up to the holiday's is always an extremely busy one, and this year is no different. Shoshanna knows there will be some new hires for the period, but when she clashes with Jake on his first day - he doesn't even read, no less - and then hears about the challenge to sell the most books and win a bonus, she puts her all into her work. But, it seems that even though Jake's not a reader, he's still good at giving out recommendations, and they're neck and neck in the running for the bonus. She wants the money to help fix her old car, but it seems Jake might need it just a little bit more. Will she be able to deal with all of her worries, and enjoy the holiday's, or will her plans come crumbling down around her?
I've wanted to read this book for ages, and never managed to get a copy, but for Valentine's Day this year, Riveted had a number of free reads, and when I spotted this as one of them, I made sure to get it all read in one day. I'll hold my hands up and say I don't know much about Jewish custom, or think I've read any books in the past which discuss it, but I loved learning more about Shoshanna's beliefs, and her family, through this book. Her two mam's are her whole life, but it seems that they've been fighting a lot lately, and she wants to help in any way she can. Money is a little tight, and her old car, Barbara, keeps dying on her. She needs to make the money herself to fix the car, and relieve the pressure on her parents, but the book store isn't doing too well. Her manager decides on the challenge to give a bonus to the member of staff who sells the most books, and this causes a rivalry between Jake and Shoshanna. But, they get over the rivalry as they learn more about the future of the store, and more about each other. The chemistry between them is subtle, but still there, and it was lovely to see them go from enemies, to friends, to more, over the course of a few weeks as the holiday shopping really ramps up, and they are forced to be together more and more. It did feel a little strange reading a holiday book in February, but it happened to be the same time as Storm Darcy hit, and we had a load of snow, so I managed to get into the setting of the book more. This definitely won't be my only book by this author - I look forward to reading more from Laura in future!
Dates Read:
February 9, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
