Unorthodox love A novel

Exploring the difficulties of dating in Minneapolis's Modern Orthodox Jewish community, Shertok's debut delivers both sparkling banter and realistic relationship hurdles. Jewelry seller Penina Kalish, 29, wants a family but worries both children and love are out of reach due to her uterine hypoplasia, which renders her infertile. Matchmakers haven't completely given up, but the pickings are slim in a community that prioritizes large families. Accepting that she may never find a partner, Penina dotes on her nieces and nephews and volunteers at the local hospital's NICU. Most days, it's enough--until she meets the sexy--but secular--Sam Kleinfeld, her new boss. Not willing to pursue a non-Orthodox relationship, Penina ignores the attraction and instead agrees to a marriage of convenience with a closeted gay Orthodox man in exchange for his help bailing her sister out of a financial bind. There are some light Indecent Proposal overtones to this arrangement, but can money really dampen the chemistry between Penina and Sam? Shertok's description of the Modern Orthodox community and how it fits into secular society is lovingly rendered without stifling the plot. This is sure to please. Agent: Claire Friedman, InkWell Management. (July)

Penina wants to marry a good Orthodox Jewish man and have a family. Unfortunately, she's infertile and 29, both of which stand in the way of her dreams, but her deep, joyful commitment to her faith and her family ease her sorrow. To help her sister out of a financial disaster, Penina accepts a proposal from a gay Orthodox Jew who's willing to pay a lot for Penina to be his fake bride. Meanwhile, Penina's new boss Sam, a non-practicing secular Jew, is also causing her stress. Sam is grumpy, confusing, insulting, and incredibly handsome; he's also very opinionated about Penina's faith and personal life. But the longer Penina spends with Sam, the more she wonders if his perpetual frown is hiding a Prince Charming. Ultimately, while Penina is a likable, fully developed, three-dimensional character who will resonate with readers, Sam is so unlikable that those same readers will wonder what Penina sees in him. VERDICT Orthodox Jewish protagonists aren't common in romance, and Shertok (And Along Came Layla) deftly informs readers about Penina's faith as part of the plot in this chaste, opposites-attract romantic comedy.--Heather Miller Cover

A 29-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman is contending with her last hope for an arranged marriage when new possibilities allow her to hope for something more. Ten years of bad first dates haven't stopped Penina Kalish's matchmaker from trying. Penina herself is stalwart, cajoling herself into meeting the increasingly unimpressive bachelors in public places and attempting to find a nice Orthodox man to marry. With 22,000 Instagram followers hungry for her modest yet sexy outfits each day, a job at a jewelry store, and an offbeat sense of humor, Penina is loath to complain about her predicament. "Maybe G-d was distracted the day He assigned soulmates, and accidentally skipped me," she thinks. Despite her beauty and kindness, Penina ranks low on the marriageability scale because of her infertility. To Penina and her community, a woman unable to bear children is "missing the most important part of [her] womanhood. Like an ornate jewelry box that's empty inside." For that reason, when Penina is set up with a young, handsome, penthouse-dwelling man, she knows there must be a catch, and she's right. Still, marriage to an affluent man would solve her family's financial woes and would also help her avoid thinking too hard about Sam Kleinfeld, her secular boss at the jewelry store, and why her heart rate mysteriously doubles when he's nearby. Penina wonders whether the satisfaction of her family and community is worth the sacrifice of her own happiness. In the time it takes her to decide, she spends more time with Sam, revealing her vulnerabilities and puzzling over his obvious interest in her. A slow burn is to be expected, but Penina's naïveté turns the reader's eagerness into impatience as the dim Hanukkah-candle chemistry just keeps burning and burning and burning. Though her community is obviously of central importance to her, Penina's unquestioning commitment to her religious lifestyle is difficult to reconcile, both with the many obstacles it presents to her happiness and with the more regressive beliefs she asserts--the largely unremarked upon pregnancy of a 14-year-old cousin is difficult to overlook. A familiar feel-good love story dressed in modest clothing. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.