- Title: Magical Meet Cute
- Author: Jean Meltzer
- Publisher: Minotaur Books
- Release Date: 8/27/24
- Genre: Romance
- Age Range: Adult
- Rating: ★★.5
- Publisher’s Summary: Is he the real deal…or did she truly summon a golem? Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy. Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone. That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right? When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory…But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.
As a little Jewish girl who went to a Jewish day school, I remember reading a folktale about the golem. I was certainly fascinated by the idea of a creature essentially summoned to protect Jews from anti-semitism. Never did I imagine that I would read a romance novel that heavily featured that folklore. I really wanted to like Magical Meet Cute, but I couldn’t get into the story or the characters.
In a world facing a lot of anti-Semitism, it is important to have stories that address the rise of hateful rhetoric against Jews. Faye not only deals with disturbing flyers blaming Jews for COVID-19 and many other problems, but there is also a rock thrown through her store window. While these topics are important to discuss, the scenes where the Paper Boys actually appear don’t feel realistic. The anti-Semitites are all very caricaturish. They don’t read like real people.
Greg starts the book unable to form sentences after his accident due to amnesia. Faye patiently works with him to get his words back. He very quickly not only regains speech, but he is suddenly able to convey complex and abstract thought. It felt jarring to me that it happened so quickly. I understand for the sake of the story, Greg had to be able to speak again quickly, but the shift didn’t feel earned and seems too abrupt.
I also really struggled getting into the love story. Faye spends much of the book convinced that Greg might be a golem that she created. It felt very Pygmalion. The power dynamic between them made me feel uncomfortable. Faye does recognize this and stops anything from happening between them initially, but it still didn’t feel right.
The best character in the book is definitely Nelly, an older woman who is Faye’s neighbor. She is determined to take down the Paper Boys and will go to great lengths to make that happen. She even has what’s described as a “war room” in her house dedicated to that cause. I would read a book dedicated to Nelly’s story any day.
I love Jewish representation, especially in romance novels, but I found myself having a difficult time with Magical Meet Cute.
Bubbling up with Helena 