Spotlight & Giveaway: B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake by Stacey Agdern

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Stacey Agdern to HJ!

Hi Stacey and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake!

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

A woman who’s searching for what she’s missing and a guy who’s searching for what’s next, are forced to share a b’nai mitzvah date. Unfortunately, their history isn’t the best and they refuse to budge until a request from her seven year old nephew forces them to communicate, and a request to help with his foundation forces them to cooperate. Will they discover that spending time together and getting to know each other is the best decision they’ve ever made, or the worst mistake of their lives.
 

Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:

I don’t have any particular favorites that jump out to me. They’re all very special.

What inspired this book?

My love for hockey and my desire to see it change for the better, my love for Jewish athletes and my desire to see them celebrated. There are also things sprinkled through the series that are inspired by my favorite TV Dramas- from China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea. My love for families, and the families that built romancelandia; this is actually my first’ family’ series. I hope readers love reading the Nachman cousins as much as I loved writing them.

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

This was a book where I got to know my main characters by learning what they loved; I studied project management, seeing the kinds of things that Judith would be drawn to and be gifted in. I also did a great deal of research into the kind of foundation that Asher would want to create, and learned the kinds of things that would give him a sense of purpose after he finished his hockey playing career. But I think what surprised me the most was how they didn’t allow their history to get in the way of their goals. They were driven by progress and by family, which is what broke the barrier between them in the first place

What was your favorite scene to write?

I love the romance, between Ash and Judith but I also adored writing 7 year old Shimon. One of my favorite things was writing this sequence where he got to shine in Asher’s eyes:

(Asher) held his breath, then let it go in a desperate attempt to ground himself again. Once he’d regained his capacity for speech, he continued. “This is the start, our introduction before the real work begins. But as a deeper bit of proof, a concrete reason why we stand before you tonight, I’d like to invite someone to the stage to explain our purpose better than I ever could. Shimon Nachman is a member of the Briarwood second-grade Soccer Wolves, but he’s also a member of the U8 Matzah Minyan, out of the Briarwood JCC. He’s a brand-new player, and he’s got something to tell all of you.”

And as Shim came to the stage, holding his papers, Ash couldn’t help but wonder: Was Judith still in the room? Did she miss him?
Shim spoke like he’d been doing it for most of his life. Ash’s heart swelled as the young boy talked about how he was proud of being an athlete, scoring goals on the soccer field or on the ice, and spending time with his teammates.

“When an athlete says they’re Jewish,”Shim said, staring out at the crowd, “it makes me feel proud because I’m Jewish, too. It’s important to see Jewish athletes because it reminds us that we can be Jewish athletes. I like seeing Jewish hockey players celebrating Jewish holidays, too. You can be an athlete and be Jewish; that could be me.”
That could be me.

Ash found himself overwhelmed in the emotion, of the moment, so damn proud of that kid. Was Judith proud of her nephew, too? Was she thinking of him, too?

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Her nephew cheered, and she didn’t want to decipher the expression on Asher’s face as she stood and picked up the stick that was on the floor. It had been a while since she’d actually held one herself, but she got her hands into good position all the same and waited for Asher to direct her.

“Is it okay?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said.

He stood behind her and put his hands on the stick.

She could feel the heat of his body, his calloused hands on hers. She relaxed into the move, even though every single part of her shrieked a warning about how horrible an idea this was. But she could feel the warmth of his chin on her shoulder, the timbre of his voice in her ear made her shiver, the heat…

“And move your back foot.”

Focusing in on his voice was also a horrible idea, but she did it anyway, listening to the instruction.

“And when I tell you, move your arms back, like this.”

She followed his instructions and let him mold her, and when he directed her to take the shot, it wasn’t any surprise that the puck went into the net. She turned to meet Asher’s expression, and as she leaned in, turning toward him, she felt his breath on her face.
“Dinner!”

“Last one upstairs is a rotten egg,” Shim said, laughing as he headed upstairs.

“I think this….”

Judith nodded. “Yeah. Probably not a good idea.” And as she followed her nephew upstairs, she reminded herself what the purpose of this night was, and it definitely wasn’t romance.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

It’s my proverbial answer to the question ‘what’s next’. It’s new, and different (as it’s the first book in a new series). At the same time, it’s both allowed me to grow as a writer and return to something I enjoy writing about- hockey, in a way that doesn’t force me to leave my Friendships and Festivals characters behind.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

Compromise is sexy, and I love the idea of learning how to see people as they are as opposed to who they were. I think sometimes, for good or bad, people freeze the moment you meet them and sometimes it’s hard to allow them to grow up.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I recently turned in the second book in the series, ‘The Dating Contract’ so I’m working on a few other things including a ‘between the books novella’ *grins* .

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: An ebook copy of B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake + 3 Tule ebooks of the winner’s choice.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Romance family series are some of my favorite series. The MacGregors by Nora Roberts are the first to come to my mind. What’s your favorite family series?

 
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Excerpt from B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake:

Prologue
On a beautiful day in July, Judith Nachman snapped her last nerve.
The sun was shining, the bridesmaids’ dresses weren’t that awful, and the bride had looked beautiful standing next to the groom. But once the ceremony was over, things went downhill quickly.
Marci Gold, née Nachman as of an hour ago, Judith’s second cousin on her father’s side, was insufferable on the best of days. Even on this day, with the entire Nachman family surrounding her, she didn’t like the flowers, the caterer had put pepper instead of horseradish on the steak, someone wore an off-color pink yarmulke to the ceremony, and someone else had worn the wrong color nail polish.
Thank god Judith wasn’t the party planner.
But to add insult to injury, her beloved grandmother was on the warpath.
“I don’t understand it,” her grandmother said, her usually twinkling hazel eyes as cold as glass. “Ceci’s granddaughters are all married, and all of mine are lovely and smart but single.”
“You have Nathan,” Judith said with a smile. “Your grandson is married.”
Her grandmother waved a hand, the bright red nail polish glinting against the sun. “Pish. Mamaleh, when will you take your nose out of your office and get married?”
“When I find the right person,” Judith said before heading directly to the bar and getting a glass of Moscato. Glass in hand, she headed to the table where her sister and cousins were supposed to sit.
She took a long drink of the Moscato and blew out a breath.
“Did Bubbe Ruth approach you, too?”
She turned to meet her cousin Livvy’s long-suffering expression. Older than Judith by a mere six months, the two were practically sisters. “Yep. I’m supposed to get my nose out of my office.”
Liv snorted. “Apparently my mayoral aspirations aren’t good for a wife,” she replied.
“How many politicians campaigning for higher office have heard that one, I wonder?”
“Who knows,” Liv replied. Then she gestured toward the figure in the corner. “Naomi’s spent the last hour critiquing the party planner to her face because Bubbe Ruth told her she wasn’t getting younger and she should start looking for a husband instead of planning someone else’s parties. And who knows what she said to Leah.”
Leah, Judith’s younger sister, was three months older than Naomi, Liv’s younger sister. Leah seemed to be spending the reception either in the bathroom or at the bar. Whether it was Bubbe or the reverberations of being back to work as a sports agent after finishing law school, Leah wasn’t in great shape.
Which meant something had to be done. But what?
“I swear,” Liv said, her normally bright-eyed cousin serious, “if you hadn’t told me she got you, too, I think I would have been a mess.”
Judith nodded. “Same. I think we should do something.”
Liv raised an eyebrow. “What do you think we should do? Are you suggesting a night of movies and ridiculously sweet candy like the sleepover parties we had in grade school?”
What would fix that situation? A telephone tree? No. A group chat? They already had one when they remembered to use it.
Information sharing. Togetherness. Remembering they weren’t alone.
And like a flash through her brain, Judith got an idea. “This is better.”
Liv grinned. “I’m all in. Whatever it is.”

Having wrangled Leah back to the group, with Livvy doing her part and getting Naomi away from the party planner, Judith passed flutes of champagne toward her sister and her cousins.
“What’s going on?” Naomi asked. “I mean, I love you guys and I love the idea of champagne, but now? I need to make sure this ridiculous woman doesn’t screw up my cousin’s wedding. Because as much as I despise Marci at the moment, even she doesn’t deserve a wedding she hates.”
“Judith had an idea,” Livvy interjected, putting a hand on Naomi’s shoulder; thankfully her cousin was as all in as she’d said.
Leah, who’d spent the most time resisting joining the group, raised an eyebrow. “What kind of idea?”
“So,” Judith began, trying to use the best words she could to explain her plan, “I’m sure that Bubbe Ruth said similar things to all of us, things meant to get us interested in marriage while poking at our sore spots. But the thing is we’re all smart. We’re all successful—or at least we’re on a successful path.”
“Whatever that means,” Leah said.
She wasn’t going to take her sister’s words to heart; it was the only thing her sister had, after all. “Most importantly, we have each other. And knowing that we’re not alone makes even the sniping or the insults easier to handle.”
Liv nodded; Judith had at least one ally. And so she forged ahead. “Here’s to us,” Judith said, “the last four single women in the Nachman family. Close family, close friends, we stick together, to help everybody follow their dreams.”
“But I don’t understand,” Leah said.
“We,” Judith said with a grin, “are women with needs and wants. We are also the last girls standing.”
There was nothing in the world Naomi liked better than a good concept. “To the last girls standing,” Naomi said. “I get it. I like it.”
“I can tell there’s a but coming,” Judith quipped.
“Well, yeah.” Naomi took a drink of her champagne. “As long as we meet for catch-up sessions, dinner, close contact, so that we can keep each other updated.”
“Remind ourselves that we’re not alone,” Leah said. “I like it. L’chaim.”
Considering Naomi had just articulated the part of the plan Judith hadn’t been able to, Judith was thrilled. So she raised her glass to clink it with her sister and her cousins. “L’chaim.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Sharing isn’t caring when it comes to your big day.

Judith Nachman loves working as a project manager at the Mitzvah Alliance charity, and after five years, it’s finally her turn to have the bat mitzvah of her dreams. Judith is enjoying every single moment of the process—until she learns she has to share her day with the annoying hockey player who derailed her sister’s career.

Retired hockey player Ash Mendel is determined to start an organization to support Jewish athletes, and the first step is to have his bar mitzvah. He’s not sure what he wants his day to look like, but he knows he definitely wants forgiveness from Judith, the woman he’s sharing the date with.

But Judith’s nephew needs to interview an athlete, and Ash needs professional advice for his foundation, so they exchange favors. Except as they get to know each other and their worlds start to mingle, Ash and Judith will have to decide whether sharing their lives as well as their B’Nai Mitzvah is the best decision they could make, or the biggest mistake of their lives.

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Meet the Author:

Stacey Agdern is an award-winning former bookseller who has reviewed romance novels in multiple formats and given talks about various aspects of the romance genre. She incorporates Jewish characters and traditions into her stories so that people who grew up like she did can see themselves take center stage on the page. She’s also a member of both LIRW and RWA NYC. She lives in New York, not far from her favorite hockey team’s practice facility.
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