I’ll Be Home for Hanukkah

I’ll Be Home For Hanukkah, by KK Hendin, is so freaking fun. This checks all the Hallmark holiday romance boxes, except that our heroine is Jewish and not entirely sure what the whole point of Christmas is.

Shayna gets assigned a work trip to a little town called North Pole, in Alaska, in December, along with her (handsome, funny, also Jewish) new coworker. A little mix-up from well-meaning busybodies sends Shayna and Noam on an adorable Christmas romance program, intended for Shayna’s Christmas-obsessed coworker, Shannon. The result is all the buff lumberjacks and sparkling snow of a Christmas romance, while our Shayna and Noam whisper to each other and try to dodge very enthusiastic Christmas carolers. So fun.

I know people talk about feeling seen when they read a novel about their home background. In this one, I felt not so much seen as spied on.  I’d expected to enjoy scenes of latkes and donuts, but this was almost creepy. Shayna swaps Yiddish words for Dominican slang with her coworker. My Dominican students have taught me slightly less colorful Spanish terms (guapo is apparently not handsome, it’s pissed off), but I try not to accidentally teach them Yiddish. Schlep and kvetch will probably not help them on their state English tests… Later, Shayna mentions visiting the two biggest balls of twine, but I’ve only visited the biggest ball of twine in Kansas, I didn’t know there was one in Minnesota too.

There’s a second book by the same author, in which Shayna and Noam are minor characters and their roommates become the protags, called Dating The Other Daniel Cohen. This one’s a fun romcom riff on Jewish geography and setups, with a little fake dating.