Mr. Perfect on Paper

March 1, 2022

A third-generation schadchan, or matchmaker, Dara Rabinowitz runs the world-renowned Jewish dating app J-Mate but hasn't found love herself; she's cramped by social anxiety. Then she appears on a TV news show with her beloved bubbe, who reveals Dara's requirements for the "Perfect Jewish Husband," and ratings-hungry anchor Chris Steadfast decides that it would help matters to feature Dara's personal hunt on his show. Following Meltzer's popular debut, The Matzah Ball; with a 100,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing.

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March 14, 2022
Meltzer (The Matzah Ball) lovingly highlights Jewish Modern Orthodox life using rom-com tropes people of all faiths love. Dara Rabinowitz, the creator of a successful Jewish dating app, is mortified when her grandmother reveals on national TV that Dara doesn’t have a love match herself. Dara wants romance, but her criteria for a husband is very specific, and her anxiety disorder makes her wary of dating. After the segment with her grandmother goes viral, newscaster Chris Steadfast convinces Dara to try dating on TV, hoping to save his show’s ratings, promote Dara’s app, and bolster her chances at finding love. Despite Chris’s best intentions, the quest for Dara’s perfect match is comically disastrous and the strongest connection that forms is between Chris and Dara themselves. Widowed father Chris easily helps Dara through anxious moments and his daughter charms her as well—but Chris isn’t Jewish, and to be together Dara will have to reconsider her criteria for a perfect match. Meltzer’s refreshing characters and the grounded, real-world obstacles to their relationship make them an easy couple to cheer. Jewish readers will enjoy seeing their culture reflected, and Meltzer provides plenty of context on Jewish holidays and culture for the nonobservant and non-Jewish audience. It’s an accessible, adorable romance. Agent: Carolyn Forde, Transatlantic Literary.

July 15, 2022
A matchmaker must look beyond perfect to find her perfect match. Dara Rabinowitz, a third-generation matchmaker and wealthy 34-year-old CEO of Jewish dating app J-Mate, would say she's got her generalized anxiety disorder under control. A consummate planner, she runs a successful company, owns a sterile-but-fabulous Hoboken apartment with a breathtaking view of Manhattan, and visits her grandmother on the daily. But when she and Bubbe Miriam go on Good News New York to promote the app and Bubbe proceeds to share Dara's list of qualifications for a perfect Jewish husband with the entire television audience, her life starts to go in an unplanned direction. Chris Steadfast, the show's host, is full of Southern charm, but he has secrets--including the fact that his show is tanking in the ratings. Sure, there's a mutual attraction between Dara and Chris, but the amount of ham in his fridge and the way his heart froze with grief after the death of his wife make their relationship goals pure business: Chris comes up with the idea to find Dara the perfect Jewish husband--one who ticks all the boxes on her lengthy list--and save his show at the same time. As Chris creates even more elaborate and romantic dates to help Dara find her perfect match--with a production crew capturing every moment--a growing fan base starts to fall in love with Dara...and so does Chris. After a disastrous date on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Dara finds a man who ticks all her boxes but discovers, as the relationship blossoms and a proposal looms, that her heart belongs to Chris--someone she would never have chosen. Despite a couple of uneven moments, Meltzer delivers an upbeat and relatable romance that features an adorable supporting cast while exploring subjects like identity, acceptance, and grief. A sweet, quirky, and enjoyable romance.

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