Publication Date: October 27, 2026
A spark of attraction burns brighter each year between childhood friends in this sweeping Hanukkah romance by USA Today bestselling author Amanda Elliot.
This Hanukkah, Shira Levinson is returning home to New Jersey riding the high of achieving major milestones. Though she only just graduated from college, she’s got her dream job and a perfect Los Angeles apartment—an actual miracle in the city of dreams.
Life has not been quite as kind to Leo David. Not only did he fail out of college, he was forced to move in with his estranged dad, who he still hates for cheating on his mom years ago. The only silver lining? Getting to see Shira, his childhood friend (and crush, though he’ll never tell her that) while she’s home for her family’s holiday party.
But that’s just the beginning. Over the next eight years, Shira’s and Leo’s lives spin them in all sorts of directions as they grow and change, taking them places they never imagined going. Sometimes those paths take them farther away from each other, and other times closer together. If they can only time it right, they might uncover a love that burns forever.
Eight Ways to Say I Love You by Amanda Elliot unexpectedly spans eight years. A holiday contemporary romance centered on Hanukkah, it kept my interest throughout.
The prologue, set in their teens, sets the stage, and we learn how Shira and Leo’s friendship was negatively affected by his parents’ actions and decisions. We lead into year one when they are twenty-two and haven’t seen each other in eight years. Shira, who lives and works in LA, is visiting her family in New Jersey for the holidays and learned Leo has moved back. Will they be able to reconnect, and if so, will their friendship be the same as it once was? Especially when Shira takes pity on him and how his life has turned out.
The story highlights holiday celebrations and lots of Christmas decorations, as well as the annual neighborhood Hanukkah party. The story spans the next eight years, and it always starts with Hanukkah in New Jersey. Shira and Leo connect throughout the year by text, and we learn what each of them is up to and the support they give each other. They share family and friends, as well as hopes and dreams. It takes a long time for both of them not only to succeed but also to realize they want more than friendship. It was a slow-burn romance with an unexpectedly portrayed happily ever after.
Eight Ways to Say I Love You had emotional highs and lows as the main characters worked their way back to each other through the next eight years after reconnecting in their early twenties.
Amanda Elliot lives with her husband and daughter in New York City, where she collects way too many cookbooks for her tiny kitchen, runs in Central Park, and writes for teens and kids under the name Amanda Panitch.
