From menorahs to moments of magic in Texas--fall in love this Festival of Lights with this cozy holiday romance! New Yorker Hannah Levin is allergic to exactly two things, horses and tinsel. Unfortunately, she’s surrounded by both when she’s snowed in at her grandmother’s home in a small Texas town. Super lonely, missing latkes and reliable Wi-Fi, Hannah wanders into an old deli where she meets the only other Jewish teen around, Noah, who happens to be equal parts adorable and full of annoying, over the top festival of lights spirit that he’s determined to share with Hannah one itchy Hanukkah sweater at a time. As the days pass—and a spectacularly memorable kiss following Noah’s made up game of truth or dare dreidel takes place—Hannah begins to wonder if maybe there’s more to Hanukkah than she thought. . . "Fans of Hannah Reynolds and readers who like a little canoodling with their knishes will melt like grilled cheese on challah over this seasonal romance."— Booklist "YA readers who are looking for a quick, light romance will enjoy this holiday read , with its refreshing Hanukkah theme."— SLJ "Infectious holiday zest. "— PW "A sweet coming-of-age holiday story!"— Woman's World "A Jewish-themed romance that is sure to appeal ."— Lilith Magazine Betsy Aldredge is a former magazine editor turned communications professional who has worked in the non-profit sector, the arts, and the Jewish community, including several years at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. She is the co-author of Sasquatch, Love, and Other Imaginary Things . She lives in Connecticut with her husband, daughter, and rescued cats and dog, who all hog the couch. 1 The Christmas season may be magical and delightful to some, but you could never tell from my gate at LaGuardia Airport. Clearly, the toddler screaming her head off next to me agrees. Zero delight there. Her mom hands her a big red paper cup with a straw—­some kind of kiddie hot chocolate—­before digging through her ginormous diaper bag while also juggling a baby. Nearby, a random guy in a Santa suit who looks like he has had one too many lets out a couple of ho, ho, ho’s, followed by a loud belch. That’s when my years of babysitting and being a camp counselor kick into high gear. I’m not overly fond of most adults, but I love kids. I always have. I’m pretty sure I even want to be an elementary school teacher in the future. However, I love kids much more when they aren’t crying at a high pitch directly next to my ear. “Do you need some help?” I ask the mom, holding out my hand for the toddler. Under normal circumstances, the mom probably wouldn’t take help from a stranger, but at this point the toddler is wailing and the drunk Santa is kind of wobbling toward her. He’s hopefully friendly, not creepy, but baby girl isn’t having it. At all. And neither am I, to be honest. In contrast, at five two with my curly brown hair, baby face, leggings, and fuzzy UGG boots, I hardly look dangerous or overwhelming to the pre–­elementary school demographic, or their parents. “Yes, please! Whatever you can do! Emma, honey,” she says over the sobbing, “this nice girl wants to say hello.” I crouch down next to her. “Hi, Emma! I’m Hannah. Do you like dogs or cats?” I ask. The distraction works, and she stops crying at once. “Kitty?” she asks, grabbing my hand. Her fine blond pigtails are askew, and her face is as red as her cup. Her mom flashes me a grateful smile as I sit down in a chair and pull the girl into my lap and pull out my phone to scroll through some cat videos. A couple of seconds of watching cats dressed in Halloween costumes and she’s calm but hiccupping now that she’s no longer crying. The baby in the mom’s arm has fallen asleep as well. Even Way-­Too-­Jolly St. Nick seems to be sitting down, which is probably a good idea. I smile briefly. As I do, I realize it’s the first real grin to take up residence on my face since finding out I have to go to Texas. Not Austin, or Houston, or anywhere remotely cool. Nope. I have to go to the middle-­of-­nowhere East Texas. Population 2,000. Plus me. That makes it 2,001 for the four miserable days I will be there. That would be bad enough, except it’s during Hanukkah and I’m being shipped off to see my grandmother. Alone. Not my choice, but my parents don’t exactly get along with Nana, so I have to take one for the team, and in this case, it’s my family, aka Team Levin. Last year my brother went. Now it’s my turn because my brother is in college and he used some sort of flimsy excuse to get out of it like an internship or studying for the LSAT or whatever. Either way, it worked for him and landed me at the overcrowded gate of the overcrowded airport waiting for a flight that’s already been delayed twice and will most likely also be over capacity. But, for the moment, I push the feeling of dread aside. I’m the child whisperer extraordinaire. Other passengers waiting for the plane are coming over to c