cover image BLOOMING ALL OVER

BLOOMING ALL OVER

Judith Arnold, . . Mira, $6.50 (378pp) ISBN 978-0-7783-2059-3

Even the most goyische reader will get a kick out of Arnold's newest novel, which centers around the Bloom family delicatessen, "the biggest good deli" in New York City, according to Susie Bloom's opinionated Grandma Ida. As the creative director of Bloom's monthly bulletin, Susie serves up the deals on blintzes and bagels. But finding the right word to rhyme with pastrami for the bulletin's ubiquitous limerick is the least of Susie's problems when her sexy, bagel-making boyfriend Casey Gordon asks her to move into his apartment in Queens. In an effort to avoid Casey's tempting offer of domesticity, Susie embarks on an ill-advised trip to New England with her penniless cousin Rick to film an infomercial for Bloom's, which will feature herself and a decidedly un-Kosher, six-foot-tall plastic lobster. Meanwhile, Susie's sister Julia (the protagonist from Arnold's previous book, Love in Bloom's ) must plan her wedding, no easy task considering her mother wants to book the Plaza and Grandma Ida wants the wedding to be held in her apartment. As the story progresses, other Blooms enter the picture, which makes for some fun, sexy misadventures. As simple and scrumptious as one of Bloom's Heat'n'Eat entrees, this novel has all the makings of a memorable summer read. Agent, Charles Schlessiger. (July)