Title: Recommended For You
Author: Laura Silverman
Publication date: September 1, 2020
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets You’ve Got Mail in this charming and hilarious rom-com following two teen booksellers whose rivalry is taken to the next level as they compete for the top bookseller bonus.
Shoshanna Greenberg loves working at Once Upon, her favorite local bookstore. And with her moms fighting at home and her beloved car teetering on the brink of death, the store has become a welcome escape.
When her boss announces a holiday bonus to the person who sells the most books, Shoshanna sees an opportunity to at least fix her car, if none of her other problems. The only person standing in her way? New hire Jake Kaplan.
Jake is an affront to everything Shoshanna stands for. He doesn’t even read! But somehow his sales start to rival hers. Jake may be cute (really cute), and he may be an eligible Jewish single (hard to find south of Atlanta), but he’s also the enemy, and Shoshanna is ready to take him down.
But as the competition intensifies, Jake and Shoshanna grow closer and realize they might be more on the same page than either expects…
♦ ♦ ♦ Review and Favorite Quotes ♦ ♦ ♦
If you are fan of swoons, bookish shenanigans, and the holidays you are going to adore Laura Silverman’s Recommended For You. Mainly set at an independent bookstore called Once Upon, the main character, Shoshanna, uses her love and knowledge of books as the means to help her win a holiday bonus competition at the bookstore. But what Shoshanna doesn’t expect is for the new hire, Jake, a non-reader, to be her main competitor. It also does not help that she thinks he’s cute, and of course, he smells like delicious bakery goods.
As the story progresses, the banter and wordplay between these two Jewish characters creates an atmosphere of the most perfect tension-filled, but merry rom-com. In addition to the brewing but swoony rivalry, Shoshanna is taking it into her own hands to solve familial problems, while also creating a miscalculated move on her part that affects her friends. But as the pages turn, I enjoyed that direct communication and accepting responsibility become the key ingredients to help Shoshanna’s relationships. Shoshanna is a do-gooder and a straight-forward problem-solver, but I liked that the story is filled characters and realistic situations that challenge her and help her mature.
Overall, I loved that Recommended For You was filled with such a diverse cast of characters with their own issues being explored. The book is overflowing with holiday traditions from multiple backgrounds, disability representation, LGBQ+ representation, and the two main characters even have a deep conversation regarding accessibility. Meshed with funny repartee, swoony scenes, and bookish shenanigans, Recommended For You is the perfect book to give you the best and warm holiday vibes.
♦ ♦ ♦ About the Author ♦ ♦ ♦
Laura Silverman is an author and editor currently living in Brooklyn, New York. She earned her MFA in writing for children at the New School. Her books include Girl Out of Water, You Asked for Perfect, It’s a Whole Spiel, and Recommended for You. Girl Out of Water was a Junior Library Guild Selection. You can contact Laura on Twitter @LJSilverman1 or through her website LauraSilvermanWrites.com.
♦ ♦ ♦ Blog Tour ♦ ♦ ♦
| Week 1 | ||
| 8/24/2020 | Kayla Reads and Reviews | Author Q&A |
| 8/25/2020 | Drizzle & Hurricanes Books | Review |
| 8/26/2020 | Bookishly Jules | Book Highlight w/ Giveaway |
| 8/27/2020 | The Heart of a Book Blogger | Creative Post (Mood Board) |
| 8/28/2020 | YA Indulgences | Creative Post (Top 10 List) |
| Week 2 | ||
| 8/31/2020 | The Book Bratz | Review |
| 9/1/2020 | Reading, Writing, and Me | Author Q&A |
| 9/2/2020 | Paper Procrastinators | Book Highlight w/ Giveaway |
| 9/3/2020 | Fangirl Fury | Review |
| 9/4/2020 | I’m All Booked Up | Review |
| Week 3 | ||
| 9/7/2020 | From the Library of Alexis | Review |
| 9/8/2020 | Curlyhairbibliophile | Book Highlight W/ Giveaway |
| 9/9/2020 | Awkwordly Emma | Author Q&A |
| 9/10/2020 | Wonder Struck | Review |
| 9/11/2020 | Books. Libraries. Also, Cats. | Review |
| Week 4 | ||
| 9/14/2020 | BooksWritingHappiness | Review |
| 9/15/2020 | Utopia State of Mind | Author Q&A |
| 9/16/2020 | Lindsay Glenne | Review |
| 9/17/2020 | Lost in Book Land | Review |
| 9/18/2020 | Rants & Raves of a Bibliophile | Review |
Blogger Note: A huge thank to Simon Teen for inviting me on this blog tour and providing me a free copy of Recommended For You to read and review. All fangirling, statements, and opinions in this review are my own.
rants and raves of a bibliophile 