Laura Silverman

Shoshanna Greenburg loves her job at the bookstore, Once Upon, until Jake Kaplan joins the staff, a handsome non-reader who challenges her for a bonus she needs.

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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…

Victoria

This was a really cute and adorable YA holiday read and I'm living for it!

brianna

“and it’s true. only time will tell. and there’s no stopping time. the minutes slip by into tomorrow, and we begin to live in the after.” 


this was such a short, cute read! there were times i felt the main character was super juvenile for her being a 16 year old, but it was just a cozy holiday contemporary. i love reading stories set in bookstores and seeing the characters be so in love with reading. the characters weren't my favorite but the plot was interesting enough for me to keep reading.

Sierra

"There's nothing quite like the perfect book - nothing else in the world that can shine a light on something deep down inside of you, that can burrow into your heart and make you feel seen and heard."

I will preface this review by saying that this is a middle-grade or lower YA book. Our main character is 16 years old, acts very juvenile, and makes some poor decisions (usually with good intentions though), but didn't we all at that age? While such characters are not my thing these days, I gave it a chance and read it like I was a kid again.

This book is a very lighthearted and holiday-themed story that takes place in an independent bookshop, which is always fun. Our main character, Shoshanna, is a Jewish teen with two moms who are arguing and making her feel uncomfortable and like she needs to be doing something to help. To make matters worse, the new guy, Jake, who works with her at the bookstore isn't even much of a reader and is her primary rival in the bookstore's holiday sales competition. While both Shoshanna and Jake can be a bit of a jerk to each other at the beginning, they eventually call a truce and keep the competition friendly, and become friends. The cast of characters is diverse and includes f/f relationships and physical disabilities.

Overall, despite the fact that the book is kinda juvenile, as is the main character, it was a fun and quick read. I found it entertaining for a middle-grade book and wish that there would've been more contemporaries like this to read when I was younger.

Tori W.

Shoshanna annoyed me lots but the book was still kinda cute

Sofie

Guys, I think the day might be coming. I think I'm getting too old for YA.

It hurts me to say it, truly. But these books just read so juvenile to me lately. Maybe I'm just unlucky with my picks, but...

Anyway, the good:

Uh... books?

The bad (spoilers):

(view spoiler)[
Not insta love, but close. The love birds hate each other for like a day and then Shoshanna gets all gooey just at the sight of Jake's flannel shirt.
Shoshanna is childish. Like... was I that annoying at 16? Okay, maybe. Probably. But I just didn't like her. I didn't like reading from her perspective. She read very young to me. 
Also felt the side characters were just accessories. Didn't feel like anyone was really fleshed out except for Jake.
And the ending was just kinda... bleh. Lackluster. 

 (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, not a bad read if you want something fast and easy. But nothing to write home about.

Daniela Urbizo 

It was okay. A little childish and ended kind of abruptly

Gabriel Noel 

ARC given by NetGalley for Honest Review

Silverman told a cute and diverse story of two Jewish teens finding love and friendship. I enjoyed the read and, while I am not the demographic/target audience, I found it very accessible to the average reader. The diversity and representation of different backgrounds was abundant without being performative. 

Shoshanna's character was mildly hard to enjoy which isn't the norm for your usual teen romance. Her and Jake's romance wasn't SUPER compatible but I find that that's very true to life and means that they have an open ended future. The stakes were fairly high for the characters issues which surprised me for such a lighthearted description going in. 

Overall, it's something a lot of teens will enjoy and a refreshing and funny take on living as a Jewish teen and being part of that community.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets You’ve Got Mail in this “cozy, swoon-worthy” (Ashley Poston, author of the Once Upon a Con series) 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…

Sofia 

3.5*

Overall, this book was a really good read. I liked the way you could see Shoshanna's frustration as she tried to fix things and how she came to understand that she can't always just fix things. I loved seeing her and Jake's relationship. I wish there was more build-up to it though. It felt kind of slow and then just a little bit rushed in the end. I was expecting the romance to be the main part of the book but it honestly felt like it was a sub-plot to Shoshanna's life, maybe that was the goal though and I just didn't realize. I did like Shoshanna's relationship with her moms even though it was frustrating to read but that's what made the book more realistic. Shoshanna's friends were great and I loved seeing their dynamic and it was adorable. I did find myself cringing at some points in the book because I felt like things they said were just written in to make the characters seem good but it just felt forced. 

I will probably be recommending this book to my friend and it still was a really cute read.

Destinee

The best way to describe this is as a cutesy story that will brighten up your day. Im really not a reader of contemporary because its not for me, but I enjoyed reading this book. Thanks Laura Silverman for making me smile!

laura

I thought this was a super cute read. I thought it had some great represrntion for jewish characters. I also really like the book store as set. I also really like the competition element that was as really liked the various elements of diversity in this read. My two issues where this book was a super short and sometimes hard to get emotionaly invested in the characters. I also did not feel super invested in the romance of the characters. I really did like the relationship, but it did not scream romance to me! But i would def read read more books by the author in the future.

Belén 

Sandaru Ravihari

** spoiler alert **
           A light cozy reading. A Christmas romance which usually is not my genre. I did not like the beginning but the setting of the story kept me going.

Selina Penders

I have read this in almost 1 single sitting 🥰 I really loved the book

Becca Futrell

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of Recommended for You in exchange for an honest review!

Another review where I really have no idea how I feel about this book, so let's break it down with pros & cons. 

Pros:
- Takes place in a bookstore.
- Ends up being kinda cute.
- Love a mall setting.

Cons: 
- For the majority of this book, Shoshanna is insufferable. However, as with any proper development, she does get better.
- Enemies-to-lovers is a trope that is very hit or miss for me. & this one was a Miss.

In the end, this book is just fine. Once I got past the first half, it did end up being fairly cute. However, I don't think this book will be memorable for me.

Alicia Haws

3 STARS
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a very cute YA enemies/lovers romance story set in a bookshop. While I didn’t absolutely love it, it had its adorable moments, and I really liked the banter and dialogue between the two MC’s. This was very PG (no mature content) I’d definitely let my daughter read it, and has a cute and heartwarming storyline.


  **Special Thanks to Margaret K. McElderry Books and Laura Silverman for the eARC through NetGalley**




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Andrea Johnová

How I like books like this. Sweet and full of books and baking. I love it.

Cailin Duffy

*4.5 stars!!

i want to stay wrapped up in the coziness and pureness of this book forever. 

full review to come soon (hopefully) but if you are 1) feeling down for any reason at all, 2) work in a bookstore, 3) wish you worked in a bookstore, 4) craving wholesomeness and/or happiness, pick up this book. i had a smile on my face the entire time i was reading it, i can't recommend it enough!! if you don't count the nearly two-month gap where i was failing at reading bc of college, i finished this book in two days <3

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