The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah ⭐⭐⭐

The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah by Jean Meltzer 

G👀dreads

Evelyn Schwartz has the perfect Hanukkah planned: eight jam-packed days producing the live-action televised musical of A Christmas Carol. Who needs family when you've got long hours, impossible deadlines, and your dream job? That is, until an accident on set lands her in the medical bay with one of her chronic migraines, and she's shocked to find her ex-husband, David Adler, filling in for the usual studio doctor.

It's been two years since David walked away from Evelyn and their life in Manhattan, and his ex-wife is still the same workaholic who puts her career before everything else—especially her health. But when Evelyn begins hallucinating “ghosts” tied to her past heartbreaks, and every single one leads to David, he finds himself spending much more time with her than he anticipated. And denying the still-smoldering chemistry between them becomes impossible.

As Evelyn revisits her ghosts of Hanukkah past, she and David both begin to wonder if they can have a Hanukkah future. But with a high-stakes production ramping up the pressure on Evelyn, and troublesome spirits forcing them both to confront their most difficult shared memories, it might just take a Hanukkah miracle for these two exes to light the flame on their second-chance at love.

Genre: Holiday, Jewish, Christmas, Fiction, Romance

As I'm chipping away at my Christmas TBR list, I decided to switch to Hanukkah since it's only two days away. 🕎🔯

Day 1: Right off the bat the author addressed trigger warnings. It sounded depressing so I was deciding if I wanted to skip it. I looked up some of the reviews. It has 3.85 stars on GR and 4.5 on Hoopla.
One said " ...deals with some very hard subjects while highlighting Jewish traditions and foods. " I *LOVE* Jewish traditions and foods! Another said she does a great job of balancing heavy topics and lighter funnier moments . 
So - yes - I'm going to give it a go. Those things (listed below 💣💥📢) are not triggers for me. Obviously there is Heartbreak, thus the title, on their road to HEA.
I have a long drive ahead of me and others waiting in the wings if this one is too much of a holiday downer. 

⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️⏸️

⭐⭐⭐

🎉 Overall Enjoyment? 🎉 🎉 🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention?  🎣 🎣

🗣️ Would I recommend it to anyone? No ➖

🕮 Would I want a sequel? No ➖ Extra Hard No

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author?   No  ➖  I looked up some of her other books and they sound about the same. 

💣💥📢Trigger Warnings. Prior to Chapter 1 the author added Dear Reader warning of triggers: grievance, chronic illness, infertility, pregnancy loss, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons. She goes on to say if you aren't in the right headspace to put this one aside for now. 

🌶Spice ? Not really spice, but I'd say spice wanna be. For example the author used the word "cu🅽🅽iLi🅽gus" twice. Who even uses that word in casual conversation, let alone twice in one book. First by the protagonist and then by Jared, the movie star Scrooge. 

Sorry I have to alter words with symbols so the entry won't get labeled and hidden for sensitive content with a warning for readers. 

🌪 Plot Twist? No

👟 Pace? WAY TOO SLOW. 

💻 Tidbits ~ I wanted to love this one, I really did. I didn't think there was enough about Hanukkah. She's married to her work. Her doctor ex-husband is picture perfect. Once Jared joined the cast, the flamboyant movie star to play Scrooge, it was downhill from there (for me). I didn't enjoy his character. 👀< eyerolls every time he spoke.  I thought it was way too long. 
Favorite Character - The talking rescue chicken! I think she was Ghost 7. Although I'm not sure you'd get her charm if reading rather than listening to the audiobook where the narrator really exaggerated her whimsical voice. I gave it 2.5 stars but bumped it up to 3 due to the brilliant narration by Dara Rosenberg. 

🎧Dara Rosenberg - Amazing narration. 

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