Spark: A Short Chanukah Romance (Light my Candle) Book One by Allie Lasky; AES Publishing LLC © 2023; ISBN: 9781959-785064; 118 pages, $9.99 paperback on Amazon or free download with Kindle Unlimited.
SAN DIEGO – Arielle Weiss and Asher Gold are home for the Thanksgiving holiday in Chicago and run into each other at the local neighborhood bar as they reunite with others from their Hebrew School class. They immediately locked eyes on each other and stepped away from the group to talk. Each received mixed signals.
When they returned to their homes in Boston, they ran into each other at a local bar on the first night of Chanukah. Asher is bisexual and was with his friends Elliot (his ex-boyfriend) and Yoni, to whom he introduced Elliot. Asher was the best man at their wedding. Arielle and Asher try to talk again but don’t know how to say that they have been interested in each other since Arielle’s Bat Mitzvah.
Arielle is neurodivergent. This is a term used to describe people whose brains process information differently than most people. People who are neurodivergent may have conditions like autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder or Tourette’s syndrome. Asher is very sensitive to Arielle’s condition and knows loud environments like bars are not a good place to try and communicate and express his love to her. He also knows she needs to be held in a tight hug to feel secure.
Eventually, they can communicate and express their feelings for each other. They work on communicating and discussing their feelings so they both are being understood. On the eighth night of Chanukah, after saying the brachot, they opened up to each other and promised to work on better communicating techniques which ended in a night of passionate romance.
This is a sweet novella on the language of love and how we all process situations differently. It was sweet to read how doting Asher was to Arielle and how he knew how to take care of her and make her feel comfortable. This is definitely an adult read due to the language and explicit romantic situations.
The author stated that book two will be released on December 15, 2024. I am eagerly waiting to read more about Asher and Areille’s relationship and the continued love they have for each other.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.