It’s no secret that we here at Hey Alma are fans of Jewish Young Adult author Dahlia Adler. We called her debut novel “Cool For the Summer,” “a gamechanger for queer Jewish teens” and crowned it the Best Jewish YA of 5781. So when we were offered the exclusive opportunity to reveal the cover for her forthcoming romance novel “Soon By You” along with an excerpt, the answer was obvious. Duh, of course we do!
“Soon By You” is like “27 Dresses” meets “The Intimacy Experiment.” Per the book’s publicist, “It’s a is a fresh take on Jewish romance, blending humor, heart, and cultural specificity through the lens of Modern Orthodox Jewish dates, weddings, and family expectations.” The book follows spitfire Jewish girl Arielle Becker, who can’t seem to stop 1) being asked to be a bridesmaid and 2) running into the hottest and most judgmental wedding singer of the Modox world, Judah Klein. The two immediately hate one another “and before long, trading heated barbs turns into trading hotter kisses…“
For those not in the Orthodox community, the phrase “Soon by you” is often offered to singles. It’s a saying suggesting the hope that they will find their match in the not-so-distant future and get married. And for those who are not Dahlia Adler or do not work at St. Martin’s Griffin, here’s the cover of “Soon By You”:
Oo la la!
And now, read on for an excerpt from “Soon By You” by Dahlia Adler.
Chapter One
High heels were the devil’s plaything. Arielle Becker was surer of this fact than her own name. Almost as sure as she was that she would never wear this ornate million-pound baby-blue gown ever again. She loved Bella Kellerman, had lived with her for six years, and was honored to be a bridesmaid, but she was not cut out for the longevity and festivity of a Kellerman family event— certainly not in these shoes. Bella hadn’t even walked down the aisle yet and Ari was considering tossing a match on the whole friendship if it meant she could just sit down.
“Stop fidgeting,” her best friend and other roommate, Liana Radinsky, hissed from where she stood next to her under the chuppah. “People are looking at us.”
“Lily’s walking down the aisle.” Ari tilted her chin in the direction of Bella’s stunning sister, the oldest of the seven-child Kellerman clan, and her equally stunning husband. “No one’s looking at us.”
A loud cough sounded from behind them—the kind that meant “shut up” rather than “there’s something stuck in my throat”—and she turned slightly to sneak a peek at the source.
Judah Klein was the wedding singer of the moment for Modern Orthodox weddings, a near-impossible get unless you had an in like, say, your good friend and upstairs neighbor happened to be his younger brother. It didn’t hurt that he was relatively nice-looking in that immaculate, perfect posture, always-wearing-a-meticulously tailored-suit kind of way. But Ari was pretty sure she’d never seen him smile in his entire life—he probably wasn’t even capable—and right then, his dark blue eyes resembled nothing so much as polar ice caps. She focused her attention back on Lily, whose perfectly manicured fingers were wrapped around a white rose bouquet identical to the one in Liana’s and Arielle’s hands. The chuppah was already crowded with the rest of the wedding party, and after Lily, there’d be four little nieces and nephews scrambling down the aisle with flower petals or whatever else little kids carried. Ari had no idea how Bella’s enormous marshmallow of a dress was going to join it all, but it was hard to think about anything in these damn shoes.
She tried to rebalance her weight, but ended up wobbling and elbowing Liana, who squeezed her arm. “I am going to gently murder you,” Liana warned her through gritted teeth.
Ari opened her mouth to respond, but she could feel the weight of the wedding singer’s stupid judgmental gaze, waiting to visually eviscerate her for the crime of daring to speak under the chuppah. The irony was that were he a normal, decent human being, they might’ve been friendly; his brother, Akiva, was one of her closest friends and constantly invited Judah to parties and Shabbat meals. But Judah always declined, too busy with his own bustling social life and career to make any time for the little brother who, against all reason, seemed to worship him.
It was Akiva’s fault that Ari knew any of Judah’s music to begin with. He was Judah’s biggest fanboy, blasting his Chanukah album whenever possible, until Ari knew every note of every song. And yes, okay, Judah was inarguably talented as a singer, but as far as Ari could tell, he sucked as both a brother and an empathetic human.
Goddammit, her feet hurt.
Lily and her husband reached the chuppah, and Ari and Liana got shoved even further to the back as the music changed to the Disneyfied ditty that would bring Bella’s nieces and nephews down the aisle. They crowded at the top, the picture of adorableness in poufy little dresses and miniature suits with satiny vests, while various family members enthusiastically encouraged them to walk as if they were fluffy-tailed show dogs. Ari squirmed in impatience, debating whether or not anyone would notice if she slipped out of her heels for just a minute. Everyone’s eyes were on the kids anyway, oohing and awwing and directing little Emmy not to eat the petals from her basket. “I see what you’re thinking,” Liana whispered fiercely. “Don’t do it. Bella’s almost here. Just wait until she gets down the aisle.”
“Lee, I—”
Another cough. This time, Ari full-on turned to glare at Judah Klein. As if he’d know the pain of standing in heels for a fucking hour while every Kellerman in existence sashayed slowly down the aisle. It was easy to judge from his comfy, isolated spot by the mic, wearing a suit of his own choosing and flat shoes, and she wasn’t having it.
Better men had wilted from an Arielle Becker glare, but Judah simply returned it as if he were a kindergarten teacher used to dealing with insolent children. Meanwhile, Liana, an actual kindergarten teacher, remained totally oblivious, most likely daydreaming about her boyfriend, Gideon, and lamenting for the millionth time that he hadn’t passed the Kellermans’ strict “No ringy, no bringy” invite rule.
The music came to an end as the kids reached the chuppah and were quickly swept off to the side by their mom, and a reverent hush fell over the room as everyone stood to welcome the bride. Ari craned her neck and shifted to her other foot to get a good look, taking in the full picture—Bella with her long, translucent veil covering her face, clutching a parent’s elbow on each side, her long, beaded dress sweeping the door. It was surreal, seeing Bella like this—the very Bella whose hair she’d held back after her bachelorette party just one week earlier. Surreal, and almost a little magical—
Crash. One of the flower girls had barreled right into Ari, just as she was shifting her weight again, and in an instant, she was losing her balance, reaching out for Liana’s arm as she stumbled backward. Or wait, that arm definitely did not belong to—
“Ow!” Judah cried out as Ari’s heel smashed the center of his foot, disturbing the awed hush in the room. The entire bridal party whipped around to look at him in horror as the crowd gasped at the interruption, and Judah’s face drained of all color when he realized what he’d done. His hands flew, frantically motioning for the band to start up the instrumental version of “Lecha Dodi” meant to bring Bella down the aisle, and Ari couldn’t help the tremendous snort-laugh that escaped her at Judah Klein completely losing his shit.
If he’d looked irritated at Ari before, the death glare he gave her now could strike her down on the spot faster than an eleventh plague.
“Soon By You” will be on-sale starting May 19, 2026.
