Sweet holiday romance, I enjoyed this one! The tree farm and other cute elements went together so nicely! The main characters were well written the the LGBT+ representation was great! I love a good grumpy/sunshine trope and this one went well with the storyline and situation the characters found themselves in. I was satisfied with the ending as well!

Maybe my favorite holiday rom-com of the year. After learning of her beloved aunts death, Miriam returns to Carrigan's, her aunts Christmas farm-- which is a bit ironic since the family is Jewish. There, she learns that the farm has been left to her, her cousin, and the grumpy butch who doesn't see to want her there. It was the perfect mix of holiday cheer and feels.

This was a quick and queer holiday romance. I was surprised that it covered some heavier topics than your typical holiday romance generally does. (And that the cover seemed to imply.) But both of the main characters - Miriam and Noelle - were endearing and likable and the ending was satisfying. I did think both characters could have been hashed out more and found the lack of communication between the two pretty frustrating at times, but overall I enjoyed it.

This was a cute, fun, fade to black sapphic rom com. Overall I liked it, but it felt a little dragged out with not a lot of plot to hold my interest. I think I liked the side characters more than the main characters, which was a bummer. But overall a fun listen!

I technically have an ARC but listened to the audio via the library instead!

I put off reading this book for awhile and now that I have read it I have no idea why. It was so good. It was so sweet and Christmasy and Queer, but in a way that didn’t feel forced. A perfect Hallmark Christmas read.

The characters were hilarious and relatable. The relationships between them were surprisingly complex. The authors description of the tree farm had me wishing it was a real place I could book a holiday.

There was a lot of turmoil, but it lived up to its holiday book status and delivered the HEA. I would highly recommend this book and if I could go back in time I would tell myself not to wait to read it.

I love it so much. Sweet, hot but closed doors, I really do wish Carrigan’s was a real place, that Noelle and Miriam were real and I could be friends with them. Highly recommend.

Loved this book! A perfect feel-good sapphic holiday romance with two amazing main characters who have sizzling chemistry! The whole cast of characters bring this one to life and it’s one of my favorite seasonal books. Not to be missed!

Sapphic, plus sized, lumbarjane, Christmas tree farm RomCom?! Seriously what more could you ask for! 😍 This story was so cute, and sweet, and sexy, I couldn’t get enough! I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!

Season of Love is a dual-pov sapphic romance that blends Jewish traditions w/ commercial xmas vibes. The book is billed as a romcom; I am here to tell you that it is not. It’s a romance––and there’s certainly a lot of comedy––but this story is intensely about abuse & trauma. This cover suggests (at least to me) that the book is a lighthearted romp. Again, it isn’t––the MCs deal with heavy stuff & I was crying 1/3 of the way in 😭

That said, this is a beautiful book. It’s a meditation on belonging & community & learning to trust again. Greer crafts a tender enemies-to-friends-to-lovers arc––an “enemies” dynamic is hard to nail, but it works particularly well here because MCs Miriam & Noelle are both acting out of grief. They communicate thru the conflict inherent to an “enemies” section, which creates a strong foundation for their relationship. This is Greer’s strength: her characters develop an emotional maturity that’s lovely to read, especially in a genre where EA & CoHo-type characters are very popular.

SoL also sets up a spinoff; much like Delilah Green Doesn’t Care & In The Event of Love, this is a small-town romance with characters that I’m excited to spend more time with. Special s/o to the chaotic Cole––I know Hannah's story is next, but I'm obsessed with him. Even Miriam’s ex-fiancée is pretty fleshed-out, which is rare for the Mostly Absent Partner in a romance. I'd read a whole book about her, too!

A couple more things: Season of Love's third-act conflict doesn’t come “out of nowhere” (my pet peeve!), but it is quite intense. I had a hard time reading that part––big TW! Greer’s pacing also felt a bit uneven in the latter half of the narrative. I appreciate her tying loose ends post-HEA, but the final section's pacing dragged. And this romance is a ~fade-to-black~ (which has no bearing on my enjoyment––like Mitski says, “Give me one good movie kiss / And I'll be alright”) BUT those parts actually felt rushed, as if a few pages were missing. They read less like, “wink!” & more like, "nothing to see here!”

Thank you to @netgalley & @foreverpub for access to this book. It will mean so much to so many readers.

This is an absolutely fantastic holiday book!

Full of great characters, and a family you will want to join for every holiday season. Plus a wonderful romance. If this wasn't on display in your store/library for holiday of 2022 it HAS to be for holiday 2023.

4.5 stars

It's a cute holiday romance! I struggled a bit to get through the beginning, but by the end I was enjoying myself. The story is easy to follow, and definitely deserves a lot more hype than it's currently getting. Highly recommend!

Such a sweet holiday read not surround and puking up Christmas. I loved it. Can’t recommend it enough

Sweet holiday romance, but this was more of a found-family holiday novel than a romance. I loved the quirky characters and all the yummy food descriptions

this is an incredible book. it was perfect for the holiday season, the romance between the two leads carried the book, and i was easily swept into the story. my favorite book of the holiday season by far, and cannot wait to reread it each year, and see more by Helena Greer!
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

3.5/5 Stars

There was a lot that I loved about this book but also a lot that kept me back from rating it higher.

I loved that this dealt with family trauma, Jewish culture, and queerness. I loved the subtle (or not so subtle) comments about queer identities and how expansive they are. At the same time, I think one of my biggest issues was about the trauma.

*Spoilers after this point*

There were several times that I was extremely upset that there was so much dislike sent towards Miriam for not being there, when the family also hadn't extended their invitation and abuse is something incredibly hard to get over. I also think it's ridiculous that they didn't tell her Cass was sick. Also, all of these people seemed to know exactly where their trauma came from and how that influenced their actions - to the point that I think they were too self-aware for the actions taken in this book.

Another thing that frustrates me that an abusive person has to be "all evil" when in actuality, they aren't. Miriam's dad is horrible, and he would have been horrible with just the abuse. We didn't need anything else to justify it and society shouldn't either. This one book on it's own wouldn't be an issue but I do think it plays into a larger narrative about what abusive people look and act like, when in actuality, they can be our loved ones who we think are kind, they can be friends, coworkers, family, and so on... and we have maybe just not seen that side of them. But we should still believe people even if we don't see that side.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On Wednesdays in July we read pink books about the holidays while enjoying a frozen chocolate topped with vanilla ice cream.

Thank you @readforeverpub for the eARC of SEASON OF LOVE by Helen Greer via @netgalley.

If you are looking to start your TBR for holiday romances, I highly recommend that you put this sapphic romance on your list. (And if you have the ARC move it up your TBR). This book releases on October 11

I've lost any notes I've taken (though let's face it they may have been imaginary ones). All I remember is I can't wait for the next two books. Assuming that everyone gets an HEA. So here's the synopsis from the publisher's website:

Thanks to her thriving art career, Miriam Blum finally has her decoupaged glitter ducks in a row—until devastating news forces her to a very unwanted family reunion. Her beloved great-aunt Cass has passed and left Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm.

But Miriam’s plans to sit shiva, avoid her parents, then put Carrigan’s in her rearview mirror are spoiled when she learns the business is at risk of going under. To have any chance at turning things around, she’ll need to work with the farm’s grumpy manager—as long as the attraction sparking between them doesn’t set all their trees on fire first.

Noelle Northwood wants Miriam Blum gone—even if her ingenious ideas and sensitive soul keep showing Noelle there’s more to Cass’s niece than meets the eye. But saving Carrigan’s requires trust, love, and risking it all—for the chance to make their wildest dreams come true

A delightful holiday romance, containing all of the feels and — most importantly— queer joy. While this book sifts through some heavier topics at times, I felt that they were handled with care and a deft hand, adding depth to the characters and their lives, without overshadowing or boggling down the holiday romcom beats. I did feel that some story threads did come together a bit too loosely at some points — while other aspects seemed to get a bit repetitive — but given that this is a debut book, I think that is somewhat to be expected. I look forward to reading more by Helena Greer as she continues to build her craft and voice.

When Miriam’s beloved great-aunt Cass leaves part of her Christmas tree farm and inn to her, she has to grapple with the life she left behind ten years earlier. Meanwhile, Noelle has been working at Carrigan’s for years and is convinced that Miriam will continue to do what she’s best at: leaving. After all, she’s been left behind so many times that Cass felt like her only family, and Miriam didn’t even come to visit. As they work to make the farm profitable together, more than just trees start growing between them.

This was such a sweet love story! I have been loving how many fantastic sapphic romances I’ve read lately, and this is certainly among them. The hesitance that each of them had for falling for the other was so deeply rooted in the trauma they experienced, and I was really happy they addressed that there was still lots they had to work through as individuals and a couple at the end of the book.

The trauma of their pasts and the joy and stress of their present and future at the farm made for an interesting juxtaposition. I think it’s hard to see the difference between trauma and stress, but the stress of Carrigan’s is different - it’s worrying because they care about something, rather than because they dread it. It’s good to see both kinds of stress as a reminder for everyone!

I also loved the camaraderie that the core group has for one another. A mix of blood relatives and found family, it’s a group I hope we will be able to follow through multiple stories - the thought of spending more time in this world is such a comfort!

As someone who is not Jewish, I really liked learning some new terms and customs, like sitting shiva, that I hadn’t been aware of previously. Always great to pick up a book with representation I don’t know everything about!

Overall, this was a sweet read for any time of the year, but I’d imagine it would always pair best with snow and hot chocolate.

A very sweet holiday romance. This was a new to me author and I would like to read more by them!

The story was easy to read and I really loved the mc’s.

This was such a cute winter read! The characters were very well developed and I loved watching their relationship grow. Simply heartwarming.