A Whole Latke Love: Our Hanukkah Romance Double Feature

Holiday romance season gives us two things we adore:  comfort and surprise — preferably with cocktails in hand. For this episode, Meghan shook up a Latke Sour (yes, with potato syrup and egg white … it was a journey), while Nicole poured a frosted cranberry cosmo sweetened with local honey. And honestly? That contrast set the mood perfectly: seasonal, playful and deliciously on theme.

With drinks ready, we dove into two Hanukkah-centered romances that use food, place and memory in totally different ways. Along the way we kept asking:  What makes a holiday romance feel real? What pulls us out of the moment? And how spicy is too spicy — or not spicy enough — for a seasonal read?

Book 1: A Latke Fry-Off, A Long-Ago Crush and … Some Continuity Quirks

Meghan’s pick, Love & Latkes, centers on a latke competition and blends foodie ambition with small-town vibes. The setup is great: a web designer and food blogger hoping for a Jewish food TV break crosses paths with her childhood crush, now a smoked-meats genius dreaming of opening his own deli.

When the book leans into the sensory stuff — barbecue smoke, handwritten ice-cream notes, allyship expressed through actual behavior — it really shines. But a handful of continuity glitches pulled Meg out of the story:

• Characters can’t agree whether an event happened ten or fifteen years ago
• A “banished to the next town over” plot point that feels a little … light
• A TV network storyline that’s oddly loose for what should be a locked-down production

And because this is framed as a rom-com, humor really matters. Here, it often gets told instead of shown, which makes the comedic beats fall flat.

Still, the food writing? Elite.
Latkes, knishes, blintzes, pastrami, borscht, gelt, everything-bagel ice cream … it’s basically a love letter to Jewish and regional comfort foods. Food becomes its own emotional language — apology, desire, vulnerability. The spice level, however, stays solidly low: think green pepper. Very giftable, very Hallmark-adjacent, but readers craving a little heat may feel teased by all that sensory buildup.

We left this book by Stacey Agdern appreciating the theme — say it with food — while wishing the timeline and industry details had been tighter and the banter more earned.

Book 2: Friends-to-Lovers, Milwaukee Charm & Habanero-Level Spice

Nicole’s pick, Find Me by Liz Lincoln, takes a totally different route: a friends-to-lovers Hanukkah romance set in Milwaukee that is not shy about the spice. The heat shows up early and often but it’s anchored in real emotional clarity. The book handles grief beautifully, especially the line, “You don’t stop loving someone just because they’re gone.”

The 20-something voice feels spot-on — self-aware, messy in the right ways, and honest about how intimacy is meaningful because of who it’s with. Milwaukee isn’t just a backdrop. It feels lived-in, from neighborhood details to the airport’s iconic “recombobulation area,” which we adored.

As for the spice? Definitely habanero. Frequent scenes, candid language and playful holiday dynamics make the heat feel like a natural extension of the relationship’s emotional arc. We did raise an eyebrow at a couple of bar-based encounters because … hygiene. But overall, the spice works in service of the story rather than overshadowing it.

The Takeaway: Holiday Romance Thrives on Specificity

Reading these back-to-back highlighted a truth we love about winter romances:  specificity is everything.
Food traditions carry memory. Neighborhoods shape second chances. Rituals create space for longing, vulnerability and those perfect holiday-conversation moments.

When continuity holds and humor shows rather than tells, even the coziest trope can crackle. And when the spice matches the emotional stakes, intimacy feels like story — not just seasoning.

Whether you’re craving a closed-door comfort read or a boldly open-door celebration, look for books that respect the craft:

• Coherent timelines
• Authentic settings
• Earned banter
• And flavors — literal and emotional — that belong to the characters as much as the season

’Tis the season for a whole latke love, after all.

Meghan Leigh’s Book: Dark of the Moon by Karen Robards

Have you read either of these holiday romances? What did you think of them? Comment below! We’d love to hear from you. Interested in reading these Hannukah-themed, contemporary novels yourself? You can purchase Find Me from Amazon and Love and Latkes from Amazon and The Ripped Bodice. Do you prefer an audiobook? Click here for Find Me on Audible. Want to learn more about author Stacey Agdern? Click here. And you can learn more about Liz Lincoln here. Want to listen to the podcast episode? We’re available on pretty much all your favorite podcast streaming services. Or you can visit our podcast player page here.

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