Unorthodox Love by Heidi Shertok is a solid modern romance. Heroine Penina is a 29 year old Modern Orthodox Jew who is unable to have children. This makes many eligible Modern Orthodox men unwilling to consider her as a wife. Although she loves babies (and volunteers in the local hospital's NICU), adoption poses difficult issues in her religion.
Hero Sam is her new boss at the jewelry store where she works. He's hot, rich, does a lot of volunteer work, brusque, you know, all good things. He is not Orthodox (I'm not clear whether he's Jewish at all).
Penina's sister needs financial help. A gay Orthodox man offers to marry Penina and give her a lot of money. Sam has a girlfriend. Plot plot plot. HEA.
The story is mostly well-written and engaging, but at times a bit didactic. Penina has a hugely popular Instagram account where she posts her outfits, which both fit her religion's requirements for modesty and are also gorgeous. They are always coupled with high heels. This whole detail feels like Shertok bludgeoning the reader over the head with the concept that Modern Orthodox people aren't frumpy! They like fashion! But the book never addresses the hard work that goes into growing an Instagram following.
I also found Penina's financial situation a bit baffling. She isn't exactly hurting for money, but she can't imagine coming up on her own with the $40,000 or so needed for an adoption. I don't get this. She's a single woman living in Minneapolis -- a relatively inexpensive city -- who works fulltime and has no debt, vices, or expensive hobbies. She receives a commissions from her jewelry store sales and by all accounts is a good salesperson. Why can't she at least come up with a plan to save that amount? (Yes, I realize that single parenthood is a different story that requires much more than setting aside a lump sum. I'm just saying . . . )
Those quibbles aside, I recommend this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment