2.5/5 Stars

CW/TW : Alcoholism, Abusive Parent

I received a Free E-Arc in exchange for an honest review through Netgalley. Thank you to Forever and Netgalley.

I had high hopes for this book, but 80% through I realized that this was yet again another Jewish story centered around Christmas. I was hoping for an extremely queer and Jewish story and I got a queer story with water down Jewish representation.

Miriam ran away from her one safe place 10 years ago after she finally couldn’t handle her father anymore, she left all of her friends and family and her favorite person, her great aunt Cass in an attempt to keep herself and others safe from her father. Present day in the book, Miriam gets a call that Cass has passed away and she goes back to Carrigan’s Christmas Tree farm so she can say goodbye to the woman that helped raise her and gave her a safe place.

Noelle came to Carrigan’s after Miriam had left, she became best friends with Hannah and was taken under Cass’s wing on the farm. When Miriam shows up at Cass’s Shiva, Noelle wants nothing more than her gone but when the will is read everyone learns that the farm wasn’t just left to Noelle and Hannah as expected but to Noelle, Hannah, Miriam, and their other friend Levi. Miriam doesn’t want to leave without figuring out why she was left part of the farm and she wants to help save it when they aren’t sure how long they will survive without Cass. Noelle hates this idea as Miriam ran away 10 years ago ruining her best friend, Hannah’s life without any explanation. Will the three of them be able to survive through the holidays and save the farm?

The Jewish representation in this book felt water down to still appeal to non jewish readers, there was hardly any mention of the family celebrating Jewish holidays even though this book would have taken place during them. There was a lot of mention about the food but that felt like it was to distract from the lack of other traditions. We only get a mention of a synagogue over 80% into the book and then it’s a total of 3 mentions and just felt like an afterthought. Overall the representation could have and should have been better.

The relationship between Noelle and Miriam felt unrealistic and I didn’t feel the chemistry between them in the slightest. Noelle without knowing more information started very quickly forgiving Miriam after hating her guts on sight after Miriam ran away from her family. I know Miriam had a reason for doing so but Noelle didn’t and it just overall didn’t make sense.

The end didn’t feel well resolved and put together, it felt unfinished especially for the main conflict. Overall this book fell flat for me and just didn’t feel all that special compared to what it could have been.

I recommend this book if you like hallmark movies and good queer representation.

Helena Greer’s debut novel Season Of Love rounded out my Christmas in July reading. There’s just something about a Christmas tree farm setting that just gets me every time. The fact that this particular Christmas tree farm was owned by an eccentric Jewish woman made it even better.

This had lots of family drama, and lots of self discovery. Add in some LGTBQ+ and Jewish holiday representation, along with a lead up to Christmas while trying to save the Christmas tree farm, this was just a lovely holiday romance.

Miriam maybe wasn’t my favourite protagonist, but while learning of her past traumas, my heart certainly went out to her. At first I wasn’t a huge fan of Noelle, she grew on me, especially as her relationship with Miriam grew. I have very mixed feelings about Miriam’s mother, but grudgingly will give her some benefit in the end. I loved the rest of the side characters from Cole and even Tara to Mr and Mrs Matthews.

Overall this was a quintessential hallmark feel romance, that plays on several emotions! Would love a Hannah and Levi story in the future 🤞🏼.

Helena Greer’s debut, Season of Love, is such a warm and cozy read!

After 10 years, Miriam returns to her family's Christmas tree farm, where she meets the grumpy farm manager Noelle. They don't get along at first. But brought together by the loss of someone special and trying to save Carrigan's Christmasland, they both learn to open up and share with each other and the ones who love them.

I adore holiday-themed romances and really love the inclusion of Jewish traditions and holidays into this story. Season of Love has one of the best found families, and I can't wait to read more about them!

What to expect:
Sapphic holiday romance
Butch MC
Witty banter
Baking as flirting
Delightful cast of secondary characters
Swoonworthy closed-door romance

Thank you @readforeverpuband @netgalley for the eARC.

CWs: death of a loved ones, grief, toxic relationship with parents, spousal abuse, alcoholism

Season of Love fulfilled all of my wishes to take a Hallmark Christmas movie and make it sapphic! It was a slow burn romance, and I really appreciated that they purposefully took things slowly instead of immediately jumping into something serious before they were ready.

If you are looking for spice, this may not be the read for you, but I’d still say to give it a try. The personal growth that Miriam and Noelle go through on their way to each other is well worth it. Plus, there are many hilarious and heartwarming moments throughout!

Overall, this was a wonderful debut, and I sincerely look forward to many more works from Helena Greer.

Thank you so much to Forever and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

The first 70% of this book is 2.5, the next 10% is 3, and the last 20% is 3.5.
Normally, I don’t rate different parts of book separately, but this book has proven to be an exception.
This book was hard getting into. Then fortunately it improves, but I had to get through 70% of the book first, which honestly was really hard. There were many words without anything happening, and I'm left wondering if I'm reading a summary. It's almost a DNF book but I hung on because I was confused about why it has high ratings. The cute sapphic love story is the main thing that keeps me reading, even though Miriam, the main character, annoys me the majority if not all of the book.
The other reason that I had to finish this book is that I was so excited for it to come out. However, that was I was disappointed by how it turned out, I wouldn't NOT recommend this, but I would advise that you should lower your expectations for it to be a well-written book.
The book's pace goes either really slowly or quickly and the plot goes from 0 to 100 and then back to 0 in a few paragraphs if not within the same paragraph. And the time jumps/skips can be confusing due no transition. Conflicts would come out of nowhere and get "solved" instantly.
The plot and the character development are mostly ok. However, the writing style was the problem as I mentioned. Fortunately, the writing style does improved for the few last chapters. But by no mean, it was well done.

Thank you NetGallery for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am a sucker for holiday themed books so I was so excited to read this! This book was such a cute and fun read. Found family is one of my favorite tropes and I loved Miriam and Noelle’s relationship. However I did feel like there wasn’t enough of it! I did already preorder my physical copy!
Extra bonus points for the super cute cover!

Season of Love by Helena Greer
⭐⭐

CW: Emotional and Verbal Abuse by a parent (past experience,) death of a loved one, grief, toxic relationship with parents), alcoholism (MC, and past parents)

Thank you Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, I just could never connect with the story or with the characters to really enjoy it.

At the start we are introduced to Miriam Blum, an artist who makes her living decoupaging antiques, running a successful instagram and pinterest following, and generally happy with the arrangement she has with her fiancée Tara. However, when she gets news that her Aunt Cass has passed away Miriam decided to return to the one place that makes her happiest, Cass’s Tree Farm, and sit Shiva. While there she is reunited with her estranged family and meets the farm's grumpy and attractive manager, Noelle. When she learns that she is given a portion of the tree farm and that said tree farm is about to go bankrupt, Miriam, her cousin Hannahm and Noelle, must work through their own drama and come together to save the place that brings them all so much joy.

Season of Love had all the elements of a fun holiday romance, and yet more often than not the story and its characters felt flat, leaving me uninterested and even at times frustrated with the two main characters. Part of this may be because we don’t often get a lot of opportunities to learn about the characters and experience their development as they operate outside of their mutual attraction. Often Miriam or Noelle is experiencing something and then it is resolved minutes later. Case in point, there is a great scene where Noelle, identifying she is having a hard time with Cass’s death and has just yelled at Miriam because she blames her for not being at the tree farm and taking care of Cass while she was dying without asking why Miriam stayed aways (communication between these two is off to a great start) , goes to an AA meeting for support. After the meeting she is approached by three older women, none of them have names, (why they don’t have names is beyond me…but, fine) who proceed to give her unsolicited advice… about her love life? I expected this scene to showcase Noelle’s struggle with losing a parental figure, learning more about her struggle with her own family, how her alcohol addiction started or plays into her life, or exploring why she is such a defensive person. What we get is almost none of this and just that she is frustrated with her attraction to Miriam. Then she is told she has to make amends for yelling at Miriam (which she should because her anger is unjustified) and no further mention of groups support for her to help process or grieve Cass’s death. Up to this point Noelle’s character is upset with how she acted toward Miriam, sure, but not for the reasons why she acted the way she did. Look, I know this is a rom-com and unnecessary drama is part of the package, this just felt like a reason to introduce characters that had no real importance to the plot, took away an opportunity to see character growth or perspective from a main character, and resolved an issue so fast so we could get back to mutual pining. And this isn’t the last time it happens. So much of the story operates on this same formula. There is an issue, here is a character who resolves it for the MC, MC does X and we get back to romance.

In short, the romance between Miriam and Noelle just didn’t work for me. Their lack of communication was frustrating and the storyline was so rushed it just didn’t feel fully developed to hit the emotional impacts it was going for.

If you are looking for a rollercoaster of a romance with seasonal flair, perhaps this story may be for you. Meanwhile, I’m still on the search for the fictional lumberjack lesbian of my dreams.

This was a really lovely and delightful holiday romance. I loved the world of Carrigan's and all of these interesting, prickly characters, and especially of course I loved the magic cat. I loved how seriously the importance of art is taken, and the community building.

It does definitely have more emotional heft than the average Hallmark holiday movie, which IMO is good but I saw some reviews surprised by it. The book itself does include a list of content warnings which include alcoholism, domestic abuse, etc. so bear that in mind! But it does have a delightful happy ending and I am eagerly anticipating book 2!

Season of love follows the story of Cass's closest friends, family and Christmas tree farm guests following her death. Helena Greer has written a beautiful novel which follows the magic of the tree farm, the nieces, nephew and close friend that Cass left behind and the journey to keep the magic that is the tree farm. She has told a story of loss, of love, of family, of romance, or unforgivable destruction and more.

This was hand down one of my favorite novels of this year and will be my favorite holiday novel of the season. This is a must read if you enjoy the holidays, romance and have either a love or hate or both for family.

Hallm*rk--esque setup ✓
Dysfunctional family dynamics ✓
Fantastic characters ✓
Strong connection to Jewish faith? ✓
Wonderful friendships ✓
Sloooow burn ✓
Amazing character growth ✓
Plenty of swoon? ✓

This checked all those off and I absolutely adored this novel!

My only issue was the lack of spice in this one.

I really loved Miriam and Noelle as characters, the old ladies (both Noelle's and Miriam's), the elder Matthews's, and Hannah (that ending is making me hope for a second installment into the world of Carrigan's!) Season of Love was fantastic and I recommend it.





eARC kindly provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.

This was a cute romcom that really made me think of those 90s movies I loved to watch, except very queer, which I loved. I struggled a bit with the tension, because after the issue of the MC having a fiancée was resolved, it sort of seemed like that went out the window. I also wanted a bit more Christmas mania, I guess? It's a book set in a Christmas farm, but it felt like it was mostly about business and worrying about business. I guess I thought that would be a lot of cool Christmas related swoony moments in that first half. I think it'll scratch that Hallmark itch for a lot of people, though.

I always love to see more Jewish characters and Judaism in romance! I loved the representation of holidays and Jewish practice. As someone who is Jewish and whose family sold Christmas trees, I was delighted by the setup of this novel. I also really appreciated the humor.

3.5 stars!

Thank you Netgalley and Forever Pub for this wonderful cozy Sapphic holiday romance that gave me all kinds of Hallmark vibes! I especially loved the idea of a Jewish family running a Christmas tree farm, the whole enemies-to-lovers relationship between Noelle and Miriam, and the all-around festiveness of the book. It did take me a minute to warm up to Noelle and Miriam together, the buildup of their relationship was a bit too slow for my liking. BUUUUTTTTT overall though, I did enjoy the book and its vibes! It is cute, fun, and wonderful for the holidays!

This book was everything I hoped it would be. This is a Jewish Christmas romance novel filled with quirky characters in a cozy Christmas-obsessed small-town setting. I mean, there's even caroling. Despite all of the cuteness, it does have a serious side, with content warnings for alcoholism, family trauma, and abuse.

My favorite part was that every character, from main characters Miriam and Noelle down to small-town lawyer Elijah, was a fully-formed individual, with their own quirks and personalities. And, this was not a small cast of characters. Also, you rarely see butch representation in a romance novel, but Noelle fills that role so well.

If the content warnings don't bother you, definitely read this book this holiday season (and probably next holiday season, too!)

I was so excited to read this book! I love the Sapphic romance and the concept of a Jewish family running a Christmas Tree Farm. Even though I overall enjoyed this book, it felt a bit too quiet for my tastes. It's closed door, and not a lot of chemistry. Both Miriam and Noelle are complex characters, but I found myself rooting more for the survival of Carrigan's then their romance.

Cass Carrigan, her Cass, had been sick and no one told her, so that she could say goodbye.

Miriam hasn't been back to the one place that she was happy in her childhood in ten years. When she gets the call that her mother's aunt Cass, and Miriam's North Star has died, she's devastated and anxious to finally go back to Cass' Christmas tree farm. Her childhood bestfriend Hannah is there along with Cass' mother and family drama that she ran away from. The plan was only sitting shiva and then leaving but when Cass' will throws everyone for a loop, Miriam has to decide if she wants to go back to her old life and fiancée or stay in the one place that truly makes her happy.

She had to figure out the whole picture of Miriam Blum, whether she could trust Miriam to be a part of this place Noelle needed for her own survival— and if she could work with Miriam, without combusting in ill-advised lust.

When Miriam gets to the tree farm, she meets the farm manager, Noelle, and even while Noelle is cold to her, Miriam still can't help having not-safe-for-work thoughts about her and neither can Noelle. Season of Love was a holiday themed romance set on a Christmas tree farm that came with all the seasonal trappings, ice-skating, mistletoe, snow, and a festival. There was plenty going on with characters and their issues to keep readers involved but even with all the glitter, curtsy of Miriam's artworks and her upcycling business, the glue was missing for me.

Her mom knew why their relationship was relegated to fifteen carefully curated minutes a month.

We're introduced to Miriam first and it's sprinkled in here and there that she doesn't have a good relationship with her parents and that's why Cass' farm was a haven to her. We know that there was a blow up that caused Miriam to leave and never come back but it isn't until the second half that we know the reason and full extent of how much Miriam's dad damaged her. We get some scenes with Miriam and her mom and since the dad isn't shown, he plays villain off screen, the mom takes most of the anger. Even though Miriam is engaged, it's made clear that it's not a romantic relationship between her and her fiancée, they do have sex, but it's more about appearances and businesses. There's also a little bit with anger and hurt feelings between her and her cousin Hannah. Hannah works at the farm and along with the farm's cook and general maintenance couple's son, Levi, Miriam and them were best buds. So, when Miriam shows up at the farm, she's dealing with all these emotions, how she needs to get back to where she lives because she's opening up a new store, and has a friend from college, Cole, tagging along with her.

She wasn’t ready to go to a second funeral for a second mother.

Noelle takes a little longer to get to know but she's a recovering alcoholic and her parents died before she could ever resolve the issues between them. Noelle has a degree from Yale and is a pro at sustainable farming, she's been the tree farm's manager for a couple years and has become bestfriends with Hannah and looked at Cass as a second mom. Seeing Hannah left alone to deal with the farm and Cass' sickness has made her angry and bitter towards Miriam, even though they've never met before, she just sees Miriam as the one who left. The beginning has Noelle crossing the line from grump into rude towards Miriam but Noelle also has lusty feelings towards Miriam.

“She said she had a dream that Carrigan’s was a ship. Miriam was the sails, the creative wind. Noelle was the anchor that kept everyone from blowing off in wild directions. Hannah was the captain, Levi was the map to unknown lands, and she, Cass, was your North Star.”

When the will gets read, it's found out that Cass left the farm to not only Hannah and Noelle but also Miriam and Levi. Levi and Hannah have their own issues with them falling in love as young adults and getting engaged, Levi wanting to leave to see the world but Hannah feeling she had to stay to help Cass so they break up and Hannah tearfully tells Levi to not come home, so it's been four years since he's been back. Miriam is shocked but when they find out that the farm is in financial trouble she wants to stay and help. So our grump now has to deal with forced proximity and while Miriam is engaged, her fiancée shows up around 30% and they, with some hurt on Miriam's fiancée side, break-up. At this point, Noelle has done some talking with Miriam to get rid of some preconceived notions that made her hostile but I still felt the feelings were still grounded in lust. Instead of the fiancée, now the impediment keeping them apart is Noelle's worry that if they breakup, it would make them owning the farm together intolerable.

She’d spent all her childhood trying to convince people who didn’t love her to change their minds about her, and she was done with it.

As you can tell, there was a lot going on in this story, all the characters, their personal issues, and the issues they have together but even with all this, it still oddly felt like not much was happening. In the beginning, there were a lot of time jumps, Miriam arrives at the farm but we're jumping from the funeral, through shiva, and not sitting in some of those moments to deliver the emotion, making them feel fleeting. It's that glue I was talking about, the spaces in-between characters and moments that give us their thoughts and emotions. Around 60% Miriam and Noelle start dating and while we get some kisses, this was a firmly shut bedroom door story.

“I might be worth the risk,” Miriam said softly, her eyes huge and hopeful.

Then ending gives us a rush of a last minute save the farm auction, finally dealing with Miriam's off-screen villain dad, learning to not emotionally or physically run from both Miriam and Noelle, Miriam's mom having her own heroine moment, saving the farm by turning it into an all-year-round destination (series!), last minute third act breakup that involved a blink and you miss it decision from Miriam that still gets Noelle to get all self-righteous, and, of course, our happily ever after. The story had a lot of elements but not enough substance for me, I needed those moments of emotion instead of jumping from one thing to another; I kept thinking this felt like a book that could have been written on Twitter, if that makes sense. With all the family and personal trauma issues, this wasn't quite as light as I thought it was going to be, but if you're wanting some winter wonderland activities in your seasonal reading, this does deliver on that.

We have a lot of hallmark-esque sapphic holiday romances releasing this fall so of course some are going to not hit the mark. Not Season of Love though, because it is the perfect feel-good holiday romance of my dreams.

We begin sitting shiva at a christmas tree farm (because of course we do) and the book continues to be refreshing and heartfelt through every moment. It was easy to root for the characters in this one because I genuinely wanted to see them grow and thrive.

I think I loved that both characters could acknowledge their faults while recognizing that trauma is not something people get over in a day means loving each other even as they mess up or get scared. It was refreshing to see characters so human in the way they handle fear.

Season of Love actually addresses the miscommunication as conflict trope by well, communicating and it makes this book a gem. I hope we one day get a follow up book on the other cousin because I’d love to revisit this world again. If you’re only picking up ONE sapphic holiday romance this winter, I hope it’s this one.

I’m a marketing and publicity intern at Forever Publishing, so I am reading this for work! Aaaaaaand there's a character limit on reviews here are some more words

3.5/5 Stars
The concept of this book was my absolute dream! I’m a total sucker for cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies and this book gave me that and more! - (The “more” being in depth and imperfect characters that were simultaneously easy and difficult to love.)

The build of the relationship between Noelle and Miriam was done really nicely, I often see enemies to lovers (or extreme distrust here) being flipped very suddenly to lovers after one singular moment or deep conversation. I appreciate that there was a slower build - it took many nice moments and multiple deep conversations for these characters to get a clear enough understanding of one another to move past the original things they found so unsavory about the other.

The pacing is the only thing I struggled with and it didn’t hit me until just over the half-way point. The plot's action was concentrated in the first half and then it dragged on a little too long for me there. I already knew all the characters and it seemed the big decisions had already been made so I wasn’t sure why I was still there! The plot picks up again for the ending, I just prefer the middle of the book to be more engaging otherwise I lose my interest.

I wasn't in love with the writing style also didn't like the couple. I wish that this was better written, it was confusing at times and overall, I just had a hard reading this.