Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer book cover with man and woman drawn on a paper list

Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer

ARC from Mira Books and Netgalley for an honest review

Book Blurb:

Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer: As the creator and CEO of the popular Jewish dating app J-Mate, matchmaker Dara Rabinowitz knows the formula for lasting love—at least, for everyone else. When it comes to her own love life, she’s been idling indefinitely. Until her beloved bubbe shares Dara’s checklist for “The Perfect Jewish Husband” on national television and charming news anchor Chris Steadfast proposes they turn Dara’s search into must-see TV.
As a non-Jewish single dad, Chris doesn’t check any of Dara’s boxes. But her hunt for Mr. Perfect is the ratings boost his show desperately needs. If only Chris could ignore his own pesky attraction to Dara—a task much easier said than done when Dara starts questioning if “perfect on paper” can compete with how hard she’s falling for Chris.

My Review: 4 stars

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Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer was an absolute joy to read filled with thought provoking moments and a lot of heart. This is Meltzer’s sophomore novel, and this story proves she was not a one hit wonder with The Matzah Ball. She has created a recipe for entertaining Jewish Hallmark movie-like books. 

This book features Dara a third-generation matchmaker who has created an algorithm and brought matchmaking into the 21st century. Although she is terrific at bringing others together, she herself is still single and suffers from generalized anxiety disorder which makes dating not so easy. Her grandmother is still alive and craftily surprises Dara on a morning talk show by sharing Dara’s list of what perfect man. She is so surprised and utterly flabbergasted by this, that the segment goes viral on social media.

Enter Chris, a non-Jewish hunk of a man who works for the morning show, who finds himself increasingly attracted to Dara. And of course, she is definitely feeling the chemistry. But how can they ever be together? 

There were many laugh out loud moments, single-parenting struggles, dealing with anxiety, kissing a lot of frogs and figuring out what you need versus what you may want. I applaud the author for including and creating characters that suffer from chronic illnesses. To me, that makes the characters more relatable and allows the reader to learn about different conditions and be compassionate towards them. 

Quotes I liked:

Trust was the foundation of storytelling.”

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