Kissing Kosher, by Jean Meltzer, ended better than it started. When the opening chapter involved a long description of heroine Avital's bathroom issues I seriously considered not going on to the next chapter. It's not that I have anything against a heroine who suffers from chronic pain (which causes Avital's bathroom issues). But at my age, which is not as young as I once was, if you know what I mean, I find myself having more and more conversations about physical ailments. I love talking to my friends about post-menopausal pee issues! Or my aching ankles. But I also know that the details of these subjects are not particularly interesting to anyone else and I try not to be bore. I know this because I sometimes find myself among a group of people a half generation older than me and all they talk about all freaking day long is their bodies, and not in a fun, smutty way. I smile and nod and go into my own head, which is much more interesting.
Luckily, Kissing Kosher picked up a bit after the first chapter, and had a certain amount of charm. It's a Romeo and Juliet romance about scions of rival bakery families. The bakeries are not the sickly sweet small town pink cupcake kind of bakeries that populate Hallmark movies. Avital's bakery has been in her family for three generations, and it's huge, and well-established, and urban, and she's kind of over it. I didn't completely buy the business model, but I appreciated Meltzer's effort to describe a business that seemed almost like it could exist in the world. Hero Ethan's family's bakery makes packaged baked goods along the lines of Hostess.
Avital's grandfather used to be best friends with Ethan's grandfather, and they went into business together, and then they had a huge falling out, and the families have been enemies ever since. Avital's grandfather is a sweet old man. Ethan's grandfather is a narcissist. Their past friendship makes no sense.
Back to our main characters: Ethan is perfect. Avital doesn't have a whole lot of character other than her chronic pain, but she's okay. Ethan goes underground to work at Avital's bakery to spy for his grandfather. Plot, plot, plot, HEA.
Other than the poop descriptions, the main thing that really irked me about the book is that Avital has been suffering from chronic pain for at least two years, and has come to know the ins and outs of the medical establishment really well, and suffers and suffers and suffers because she can't get pain relief. Along comes Ethan, learns about her problem, does a night of research, invents medical marijuana, and voila, solves Avital's ailments. In all this time Avital had never run across the idea of using pot for pain relief. No friend, no doctor, no pop culture, no one, had ever suggested this to her. Thank god for Ethan, am I right?
Note from Jasmine Gold: As the name of this blog indicates, I write erotica. Check out my dark, dystopian novel about naked sex slaves, Mindgames. Your darkest fantasies, with a phenomenal plot and characters you will come to think of as beloved friends. Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited and in paperback. Or read my book of short stories about hot, consensual sex, The Mature Woman's Guide to Desire, available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
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