Matzah Ball Surprise Published by Entangled Lovestruck by Laura Brown
on March 16, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Pages: 249
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram
Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
ISBN: 164063861X
This Passover is starting to feel like the ten plagues might be coming back to haunt them before the weekend is over...one hilarious misstep after the next.
Gaby Fineberg just wants to get through Passover Seder without her “well meaning” family playing matchmaker. She needs a date, just for one simple meal—that includes singing, the history of her forefathers, and not one bit of yeast. The hot guy at her gym would be perfect. He probably hates bread, anyway, with a body like that. But when she finally works up the nerve to ask him...he doesn’t hear a word she said.
Levi Miller is deaf and happily single. Initially, he doesn’t know why this beautiful woman is talking to him, but it’s clear she needs help—and suddenly so does he. In a very complicated situation, Levi finds a simple solution. Gaby will pretend to be his new girlfriend to bail him out, and he’ll return the favor. But he didn’t bargain for a family dinner quite like this one...
She wasn’t the type to date a challenge. She went for easy, with not much effort. Was it any wonder none of her relationships lasted? Not that a fake date would be much of a difference, but she needed to start stepping out of her comfort zone. After Passover, she’d let Riley set her up, or pick a place, and she’d go for it. A date couldn’t hurt, not when she already hovered at rock bottom.
What about making your fake date real? The thought was tempting, but a nagging doubt held her back. She knew little about the man, and he kept deferring when she asked him anything, as though he had a secret. She couldn’t fathom what would keep him from sharing, but in the end, it didn’t matter, not for this weekend. She’d date again when she found someone new.
A hand landed on her shoulder, and she opened her eyes to Levi standing before her. His blue eyes tempting her to forget all her qualms and melt into him, especially with the sun casting a glow behind him. He pointed to her and signed “O-K” along with that weird bouncing finger again.
She shrugged, not willing to move and communicate just yet.
He ran his hands up and down her arms, expressive eyes giving her time and patience. Not something she was used to getting, and the simple gesture gave her more support than she would have thought possible. Gaby swallowed the urge to cry. Tom would have told her to get over it and move on. Meanwhile her fake date stood there with her, content in their silence, offering her a lifeline.
She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his, communicating as best she could without words. She didn’t want to share words, not in any language. She wanted this moment regardless of whatever he held back from her.
“Gaby, stop keeping Levi all to yourself and introduce him to your aunt!” Her mother’s voice rang through the door, shattering the spell. She pushed herself away from the wall, and he staggered back, confused by her sudden movement.
“Mother,” she signed, then moved her lips in senseless blabbing.
She expected a smile from him, but his lips didn’t curve. Those eyes remained intense as he ran a finger down her cheek. He made being with him effortless even with their lack of communication. If she rose onto her toes, she could meet his lips, fall into him, and live in their little fake world a little longer.
“Gaby!” her mother’s voice echoed down the hall, breaking her away from tempting thoughts. She angled her head toward the door, and subsequently the kitchen, where the racket had originated from, and he nodded, giving her more room. For the best, their fake fling didn’t need to exist behind closed doors. After all, he was for fooling her family, not herself.
Doesn’t this one sound so good?! What do you think?!
About Laura Brown
After spending her childhood coming up with new episodes to her favorite sitcoms instead of sleeping, Laura Brown decided to try her hand at writing and never looked back. A hopeless romantic, she married her high school sweetheart. They live in Massachusetts with their two cats and son. Laura’s been hard of hearing her entire life but didn’t start learning ASL until college, when her disability morphed from an inconvenience to a positive part of her identity. At home the closed captioning is always on, lights flash with the doorbell, and hearing aids are sometimes optional.
