Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman, Gary Morgenstein: Guest Post & Giveaway 7.11.09

Guess who’s back at The Book Faery Reviews?  Gary Morgenstein!!  Recently he stopped by to talk about his novel Jesse’s Girl and today he wanted to share with us Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman AND give everyone a chance for a copy of the book!  So come on in and let’s chat with Gary!

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Hi everyone! I’m delighted that Farrah has invited me back into her living room to talk about my novel Loving Rabbi Thalia Kleinman. It’s a romantic triangle about a divorced man who falls madly in love with a beautiful woman rabbi – while still not over his ex-wife.

In other words, can you overcome the bitterness and pain and disappointment and mistrust of a broken marriage and believe in love again? Joss, my hopeless romantic protagonist, believes in love. Love from a guy’s perspective, what we really say and think and feel about relationships, so you might not always like what you hear. Just remember guys are every bit as sensitive as women, we simply conceal it better beneath our belching. But we want someone to love as much as you do.

Now the book is all fiction (except for some online dating scenes, LOL), but the opening scene is true. A few yeas ago I attended a bat-mitzvah and onto the dais walks THE most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. My knees buckled — and I was sitting down. I interrupt the man next to me from his praying and whisper, “Who’s the hottie?” He answers tartly, “Our rabbi.”

Are you kidding???? So I figure: What if an irreligious guy like me falls for a beautiful woman like her? Could it work? Ah, the beauty of a novel.

Thanks again for stopping by. Okay, Farrah’s returning with snacks.
OMG, is that onion dip, I love onion dip!

FROM THE BOOK…What happens when a hopelessly romantic divorced man falls madly in love with a beautiful woman rabbi — but he’s not yet over his ex-wife? In other words, why are relationships always so difficult? As this poignant love triangle opens, Joss Katz crashes a bat-mitzvah and becomes smitten with the enigmatic Rabbi Thalia Kleinman. Desperate to meet her, Joss contrives a wild excuse about needing spiritual guidance and they begin a roller-coaster relationship. But Kleinman has a past shadowed by terrorism. She manipulates Joss into mentoring her younger brother Bobby. Brilliant and troubled, Bobby is embroiled with Meir Schlom, who has a dangerous scheme for confronting surging world-wide anti-Semitism. Besides pursuing Thalia and his kooky former spouse Ellen, Joss deals with his curmudgeonly roommate and best friend, Mandelbaum. Embittered by his messy divorce, Mandy creates an organization dedicated to a life free of entanglements with women called Straight and Happy Without Them.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Gary’s letting me give away a copy of his book so be sure to leave us a comment down below!  This book giveaway will run now until Monday, July 13th at noon.