It was the first night of Chanukah last evening. Here is the the prayer my family gives each night:
We light these candles to celebrate the triumph of hope over fear, light over darkness, and the powerless of the powerful.
Wishing you and yours love and light.
Here are some wonderful Chanukah Romances (my lists are never in any particular order.)
1. Lighting the Flames by Sarah Wendell
Genevieve and Jeremy have known each other since they were seven, and have been summertime best friends at Camp Meira, a Jewish overnight camp in the mountains. As campers, and then as staff, their friendship was a constant, something neither wanted to change, no matter how tempting those changes might be.
Then, last year, with little warning, Jeremy left camp early. After that summer, Gen left the country on a graduate fellowship.
Now, a little over a year since they were last at Meira, Gen and Jeremy are back together to help run a special Winter Camp during Hanukkah. Any water under the bridge is frozen this time of year, and with so much left unspoken and unexplained, this week may be their chance to rekindle their friendship, or turn it into something new.
2. HEARTS OF HANUKKAH by Eve Paludan
When ninety-one-year-old Moshe asks his adult grandson, Benjamin, for a complicated mitzvah, it throws the family's Hanukkah plans for a loop. Moshe's secret, long-lost wartime sweetheart has found him through the Internet! Now she wants to see him again, as soon as possible. Benjamin's wife isn't happy that his grandfather can't wait until after Hanukkah, but time is of the essence, after all, he isn't getting any younger either.
When Benjamin and his grandfather set out on a road trip in a blizzard to reunite Moshe with his long-lost Sarah, the miles turn into an odyssey of truth, love, hope, forgiveness, pain, and joy. Moshe has chosen Benjamin for this mitzvah (good deed or favor) for a very special reason. He's an author, and Moshe wants him to write the love story of himself and Sarah, so he can read it to her when they reunite. But is Benjamin really up to the task?
It will be a true labor of love to write the harrowing story of this beloved couple who was torn apart by a horrific war and separated for more than seven decades. And Benjamin must also get Moshe to Sarah before it is too late. No one in the family will ever be the same again, from the oldest to the youngest.
3. Lights, Latkes, and Love by Peggy Bird
Ah, the holidays. David Shay can't get enough of the December festivities. He especially enjoys sharing his love of the season with the underprivileged children at his non-profit organization SafePlace for Children and Parents. Hannah Jenkins, on the other hand, turns into a jaded Scrooge every year on Black Friday. As manager of a large retail store, she's seen firsthand how the rampant commercialism of the holiday can bring out the worst in people.
When David's organization is the charity Hannah's boss picks for their annual donation, it falls on her to organize a huge holiday party, whether she likes it or not.
Can a nice Jewish boy—with the help of some Christmas lights, a little girl, and a latke party—teach Hannah the true meaning of the season and guarantee them both a New Year's Eve kiss to remember?
4. Sweet and Sour by Astrid Amara
Miles thought he and Itai would make a great team, despite the infidelities haunting their past. After all, Itai is smoking hot, they're both driven entrepreneurs, and they love each other. What else did a person need? Well, a lot more, apparently, because not only are they no longer passionate, they don't even share the same passions. Like people, affections change, but Miles wonders if a relationship this broken is truly worth repairing.
Itai's business launch with his ex-boyfriend isn't helping. And Miles himself has a new business to grow over a busy few weeks where Thanksgiving and Hanukkah collide to form either the best holiday season ever, or a kosher caterer's worst nightmare. But help comes in the unexpected, ruggedly handsome form of Detective Dominic Delbene, a pickle aficionado with his own ghosts, who stakes out the deli to capture a dangerous drug dealer.
As Hanukkah's eight days and Miles and Itai's relationship comes to an end, Miles discovers that Nic is not only good with pickling; he's good at everything.
5. A Candle for a Marine by Heather Long
Tormented by the question of 'what if...'
Home for Hanukkah, Sergeant Isaac Janko has never forgotten the baby his girlfriend gave up for adoption years ago. But he didn’t realize how angry he still was....
More than time separates them....
A chance meeting at Temple brings Zehava Elbaz face-to-face with the first and only man she's ever loved. She sees a deep and hidden pain in him, one she blames herself for...
An invitation to Hanukkah brings them together....
The two must confront their pain and loss. They have only eight days to face their past, and win each other's trust, but it is a time for healing, reconciliation and miracles….
6. Newly Fallen by Megan Hart
Faced with spending her first Hanukkah alone, Lilly Gold wishes for a miracle that would change her life just a little bit. Then her prayers are answered--in a big way--when the most perfect naked man appears in her yard during a blizzard.
Zachariah tells Lilly he's been sent to be--and do¬--anything she wants. And for eight passionate days, trapped together by the snow, he does just that, giving Lilly all the pleasure she could have hoped for. But when their holiday is over, only another miracle can keep their affair from ending, too...
7. Sweet Light by Judith Arnold
They went down on an icy mountain. It was a miracle they survived.
For Alana Halpern, flying Judd Singer was supposed to be a quick favor, and then home for Hanukkah. But when her plane went down in New Hampshire, it became a journey of survival.
Was it all an illusion--the makeshift cabin, the woodpile, the oil lamp that never burned out? When Judd laid his ice-blue eyes on her, passion flared, and Alana knew this was real.
She never expected to spend Hanukkah snowbound with a man she barely knew, a man who could ignite her with just a gaze. But as the wind howled outside, inside they created a heat all their own.
The fight for survival became a flight from desire. And Alana hoped for one more miracle--to resist a forbidden attraction.
8. A Very Scandalous Holiday by Nancy Fraser, Crista McHugh, Sophia Garrett, and Amber Lin
Eight Tiny Flames by Crista McHugh
1944 Ardennes, WWII
Lt. Ruth Mencher has always secretly admired Capt. Joseph Klein, but it takes the lighting of a Hanukkah candle to uncover the spark of mutual attraction. Each night awakens a new facet of their relationship, but as the Battle of the Bulge begins, the approaching Nazi forces threaten to tear them apart.
Erin's Gift by Nancy Fraser
Chicago 1920
Widower, Seth Harrison, has no intention of falling in love again but will he be able to resist the sweetness of his son's nanny, Erin O'Mara - his sister's best friend?
An Eternity of You by Sophia Garrett
England 1833
The Duke of Sharrington left Rebecca with more than a broken heart six years ago - he left her with a son. He's rekindled their passion with his return, but it will take a Christmas miracle to earn her heart.
Letters at Christmas by Amber Lin
England, late Regency
After three years at sea, Captain Hale Prescott has the means to marry the love of his life and his best friend's sister. Sidony Harbeck, however, might never speak to him again. Despite their whispered adolescent promises, he never wrote her a single letter... at least none he ever sent.
When widow Sarah Meyer’s house is broken into and her son’s Hanukkah gifts stolen, her late husband’s best friend comes to her rescue. But as the friendship between Sarah and Jake Goldman blossoms into something more, it takes a Hanukkah miracle to lead to a new and lasting love.
Nancy Gardner had carefully planned her Hanukkah celebration down to the last candle and was sure everything would be prefect. The last thing she wanted was for her first love, Mike Powers, to intrude on her well-laid plans.
But he has...and suddenly the holiday has taken on a whole new meaning.
As Nancy and Mike celebrate together at sparkling holiday parties and family festivities, Mike's presence ignites long-buried feelings in Nancy's heart. But past events have made her certain that their romance could never last.
Mike can't deny his feelings for the woman he once loved. The more he sees of Nancy, the more he knows they're meant for each other.
Can Mike convince Nancy that their love can shine as brightly as the glowing Hanukkah candles...forever?
Please add your Hanukkah Romance recommendations to my Goodreads list:
Chanukah Romance.
Maybe next year we will have more!
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