As always, I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this title.

However, I was not able to finish this as I was not able to connect with the story and the way the characters were written.

I have chosen to mark this title as a "DNF" and I apologize for the delay in sending this response to this title.

Thank you!

I enjoyed this one. Interesting journey, depth of characters. Really nice read. My favorite aspect was the complexity of the relationship. There were no clear cut "rights" or "wrongs".

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is a rather interesting take on a Christmas romance – but I won't spoil why!

Holly is approached by Noah because his best friend and business partner, Gabe, thinks she is the kind of psychologist that he needs. Unfortunately, Noah is not keen on the therapy idea, but he is definitely interested in Holly! The chemistry between them leads to some very heated encounters, but really, they are both dealing with past issues in a non-healthy way – I enjoy that Holly recognises that, but really can't help her feelings for Noah. Taking drastic action to try and get him to see what he needs to acknowledge results in the very opposite to what she hoped, but now she has to be patient or walk away.

I really liked how this story unwound, and then reformed in the very best of ways.

[As an aside – It is based in the UK, but has a number of US terms which to me as a native Brit were a little anachronistic. I also couldn't quite buy into her having so much success in her field at 28 and also have a child of Ivy's age. However, I decided to go with the flow, as I did enjoy the plot.]

Noah Moore has many issues and is ordered by his business partner Gabe to get help. He is recommended to Dr. Holly Scott Leigh for therapy. Noah doesn’t believe he needs therapy and is resistant to Holly’s professional help Nosh is more than happy to have a sexual relationship with her though. Holly is extremely attracted to Noah when he enters her office, but will not cross the patient-doctor line. He won’t tell her why he is having sleeping issues. Son they begin meeting outside of the office. Holly justifies this by saying that she never took him on as a client. Their relationship soon turns sexual. Holly also has issues, a child and an ex-husband. As she gets to know Noah, she realizes that there is more to the story of why he can’t sleep. Noah also comes to know and develop feelings for Holly and her child.
I enjoyed this story. I must admit, I found Noah to be annoying in the beginning. He is extremely bossy and expects everyone to cave to his demands. Holly resists at first, but soon they begin to develop feeling for each other. I liked how this relationship eventually played out. I even bought the next book in the series.

Clare Connelly stories are a hot, sensuous and passionate treat. This book definitely was for me. Would recommend

The Season to sin by Clare Connelly is absolutely amazing. I adored every single minute of getting to know Holly and Noah. Noah and Holly have a very unique relationship. Noah causes Holly to break every rule she has made for herself including leaving behind bad boys. Holly pushes Noah to let his boundaries down and no longer be afraid of letting people in. This book has multiple layers and I loved unwrapping them.

Since most of the Christmas romance I read is on the "fluffy" side, I decided to ramp up the angst and try out one of Harlequin's DARE line. While it wasn't overtly Christmassy, it does start shortly before Christmas one year and extend through the next Christmas. Christmas is sort of in the background, which is totally fine, but if that's not what you're looking for, perhaps not the choice for you.

So, what is the book about, if not Christmas? Well, it's about a sexy rich man who can't sleep, and the therapist who's supposed to fix him. Now, before you get squicked out, it's important to note that she never actually becomes his therapist. That's a professional line they both realize won't work once their physical attraction takes hold. So after two unofficial meetings, they start sleeping together and the idea of a therapist-patient relationship is never actualized. This would have been a dealbreaker for me, and I'm SO GLAD it was handled well.

I'm going to pause here for a content warning:
Domestic violence is discussed in this book as it's an integral part of the heroine's backstory. I mention it the review that follows.

The story is set in London, but the hero, Noah, is Australian. He grew up in the foster system, but abuse isn't part of his backstory, just a lack of unconditional love. Holly is a single mom who left a long-term abusive relationship after her ex tried to kill her while she was pregnant. He's in prison for a very long time now, so that's not an issue in this story. The ex's mother has a very good relationship with Holly's daughter, and watches her overnight on weekends.

As the story unfolds, Holly and Noah's physical relationship, which is full of enthusiastic and repeated consent, turns into something emotional. Holly eventually realizes that she can't go any further with Noah unless he addresses the issues he's trying to ignore. She asks him to see a therapist she recommends, and they agree to an unofficial "therapy" session in which she'll try to get him to realize what's really bothering him. This leads to the Big Bad Moment, as you might expect.

What comes next, however, is what saved the book for me. Noah doesn't just "grovel." Holly doesn't magically fix him. Noah puts in the work for nearly a year and they slowly reconnect, without the sex they were using as a distraction. It's quite lovely, honestly. I really appreciated that Connelly took that sort of care with mental health in this book.

All in all, it's a steamy story that doesn't fall for the traps that a lot of "edgy" romances dealing with abuse and mental health do. I'll definitely be reading more from Connelly in the future.

The Season to Sin by Clare Connelly is book 1 in her Christmas Seductions series and is a companion to her Harlequin Desire romance Bound by Their Christmas Baby. Though both are written as standalone stories the heroes in them are best friends and foster brothers who find themselves won over by the women in their paths.

Noah Moore has been ordered by his friend and tech business partner Gabe to seek professional therapy after the death of his foster mother. But on his first meeting with the psychologist Holly Scott-Leigh he already knows things aren’t going to work between them for business – but for pleasure? Oh yes, he’s got a plan.

Holly is attracted to Noah from when she first lays eyes on him, but she won’t cross the ethical line of sleeping with a patient. But nothing is stopping her from seeing him on a personal level if she refers him to someone else. Noah clearly needs some help; he’s not been sleeping at all and she wants to know why. If he won’t confide in her professionally, maybe he’ll let her in as a friend. Noah doesn’t want friendship. He wants sex. And he’s an expert at seduction. They start a heated affair, one that will draw them emotionally towards each other. Both have been scarred in the past. Can this be the relationship to heal them?

I really enjoyed this darker, emotional, erotic romance. Noah’s problems are understandable, given that he’d been through a series of foster homes, then lost the only woman who seemed to ever care about him (even though she had to give him up). He’s learned not to get attached and only trusts his friend Gabe who has been through similar circumstances. Holly also has her issues. She’d been married to an abusive man who is now in jail. She’s a single mom, taking care of her four year old daughter. She feels the guilt and shame of not having seen what her ex-husband was capable of before it was almost too late. Trusting another man after that experience is hard for her, but with Noah, she can explore her sexual side again, without fear of commitment. Well, until she falls for the tortured bad boy.

Holly’s daughter Ivy is important too, though she is often with her grandmother (leaving Holly free to spend weekend nights with Noah). Noah doesn’t want children, he’s emphatic on that point, leaving Holly to assume that their affair will have a time limit since Ivy is her world. They have different feelings about Christmas too, with Holly celebrating every year, and Noah despising the season for the negative memories he has of it. They are opposites, but attracted to each other and it’s Noah who will have to search his heart to see if there is room for Holly and Ivy in it. Of course they get their happy ending but it's not an immediate one, and it takes hard work and compromise. I loved how it turned out and the ending makes you believe their relationship will last. It’s an intense, sexy, and very enjoyable read!

This review has been posted at Harlequin Junkie and feedback updated with the link. It has been posted at goodreads and Amazon.

This book was exactly what I need. I finished reading a pretty hard core political book and needed a clean break from politics and decided to read this romance novel. This was girl meets damaged boy, sleeps with him, wants to fix him, and they have a big fight. I won't give away the conclusion, but I enjoyed it very much. I was very surprised by the ending. Hopefully there's a second book so I can see what Holly's up to.

Taboo angsty romance

The Season to Sin by Clare Connelly was just an ok read for me. I found Holly a little unrealistic. Considering how many years you go to school to be a psychologist, at 28 it seems unlikely you'd have all kind of awards. Too there felt like both Holly and Noah had so many issues this became just an average read for me.
I received an advance reader copy via Netgalley.

Noah Moore was a self made billionaire. Holly had heard about him . In the last ten years Noah had went from strength to strength, his professional success was only outdone by his frequent outings in the society pages - for all the wrong reasons. Noah looked on Holly with disdain. Noah showed up at their meeting in a leather jacket, and black jeans, hair a little too long than it should be and stubble on his face. Everything about him is making Holly forget that she was a professional. Bad boys were Holly’s kryptonite. Noah had called her…. To talk. Than Holly said Mr. Moore why are we here? Holly knew she was good at being “ a shrink” , she had a lot of awards from the Guild Of British Psychologists , the magazine articles. The list that is very long to get an appointment with her. What Holly loves most of all is her is the way her patients lives change that’s why she does her job. She worked generally with veterans. Noah is dangerous to Holly. He has all the marks she had trained herself to avoid- he is rough and arrogant, ruthless and feral. Yet for the first time in five years desire heats holly’s blood. Than Holly thinks of her daughter Ivy who was four years old and what Holly lived for. Holly thought she would never feel desire again after Aaron. Than Noah ends up giving Holly a climax right in her office which was so wrong on so many levels. Holly than tells Noah she can’t be his therapist but she will see him if he sees A therapist she knows - Dr. Chesser and she will even make the appointment for him. Noah shows up at her office Friday after everyone is gone then they go to a bar as ivy is with her paternal grandmother for the night so Holly didn’t have to rush home. Aaron had been Holly’s boyfriend in H S and the man she had given her virginity too. They were together through college and when she opened her office. Aaron was a talented musician. They had been together six years. But he had abused her even choked her when she was pregnant for Ivy until she passed out. But she couldn’t let him treat her like his personal punching bag like he had for years after she was pregnant so she finally got him out of her life.But now he was in prison. She told Noah all this. After telling Noah he doesn’t touch her or offer platitudes and Holly appreciated that. Holly needed to absorb the fact she had told him her deepest secret and she was still standing- well sitting actually. Holly drank most of the bottle of champagne Noah had ordered for her with very little on her stomach, so she was pretty buzzed.he got her to his place but wouldn’t have sex with her as he would never take advantage of her when she was drunk. Noah feels very protective of Holly and that’s not like him.
I loved this book. I loved Holly and Noah and how they interacted together. I felt so bad when Noah broke everything off with Holly. But i also understand that really it had to happen. I loved the ending and read this in one day. I loved that Holly still went to Gabe because she was so worried about Noah and told him everything. Holly wanted Noah to get better even if she wasn’t with him. I happily found nothing to criticize in this book. I loved the plot and pace. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.

Super quick and entertaining read. It's a simple story but made me keep turning the page. Noah was a complex character and unlike able in the beginning but as the story unravels he becomes hero.

"ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review"

I usually like Clare Connelly books but this one just wasn't my cup of tea. The writing was fine and the characters interesting enough but there was so much emotional turmoil and baggage that it overwhelmed everything else. The last 10% of the book where Noah finally got to spend time with Holly and get to know both her and her daughter was too short and felt rushed.

Noah likes to take care of his girl, ‘so here’s what’s going to happen,’ he says, speaking quietly. ‘You’re going to go back to my bed and sleep off the rest of your hangover. Naked, like this, so I can watch you if I want to..." I liked this book, I liked Noah.