My 300th Book Review: Recommended For You by Laura Silverman

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Recommend to Others?: Yes

ABOUT: 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…

My Review: Recommended For You is an endearing story full of bookish charm with a hint of romance.

At first, I was worried because I was 70 pages in and was getting a little annoyed by Shoshanna’s childish behavior. But I continued reading thinking maybe I was missing something.

Shoshanna is an energetic bookworm and very impulsive. She will say or do things that get her into trouble, but her actions are usually backed by good intentions. She’s a kind person and I love her deep enthusiasm for all things books. Shoshanna is a real teen with teenage problems. I really felt for her when her problems kept piling up.

The progression of Shoshanna and Jake’s relationship was cute and pleasant. Like Shoshanna, Jake came off as unlikable at first because of his standoffish-ness, but I also grew to like him. He is a real cool guy.

The diverse representation among the characters was great to see. I liked that the story took place during the week leading up to Christmas. It’s one of the busiest times of the year, so that added to the tension and drama escalating between Shoshanna, Jake and other characters.

I would totally recommend this book to others (I am sorry not sorry about that pun hehe!). It’s a quick, light read with a lot of emotional depth and a good story.