As the leader of the Bloomers, Miriam Blum has created the perfect life for herself with minimal complications. She has a girlfriend, Tara, who wants a relationship of convenience just as she does. Meaning while they're great friends and lovers, there aren't exactly fireworks. Shes an artist with a cult following and is on the cusp of opening her own shop. Then her great aunt passes and leaves her part owner of Carrigans, her Jewish run Christmas tree farm. Considering Miriam has spent her whole life running from her abusive father and her emotions, this is truly a life changing occurrence for her. Going to Carrigans and seeing her cousin Hannah again and meeting Noelle, the hot butch tree farmer in residence, has Miriam feeling things she hasn't felt in forever.

This book was Sapphic Christmas magic!! Miriam is such a well rounded lovely character and each of the other characters are just as well rounded and loveable themselves! The story is so very relatable, especially to those of us who also no longer go "home" for Christmas for various reasons. The various relationships are fleshed out well in a very realistic and meaningful way. And the romance! 😍 Miriam and Noelle are adorable together! Both gun shy and scared, they still overcome it all to find happiness. This is however a not-spicy book. Meaning if you're looking for sexy open door romance you won't find it here. What you will find is a sweet lesbian romance thats just begging to be a sapphic Hallmark holiday romance.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Thank you to Helena Greer, Forever Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a pure delight to read. This book opened up a new sub-genre in my reading preferences. The next book I read like this will definitely have big shoes to fill!

Are you looking for a Jewish sapphic holiday romance that takes place on a Christmas tree farm? If yes, this book has everything you want and more. If not, read it anyways! Due to family trauma, Miriam hasn’t been to Carrigan’s in a decade. When her beloved great-aunt Cass dies, she decides it’s finally time to go back. But she’s not expecting to find a crumbling business, a will naming her part-owner, and an undeniable spark with the farm’s grumpy manager, Noelle.

I absolutely loved the queer Jewish spin on the beloved holiday romance. I mean, a quirky somewhat magical traveling spinster Jewish woman running a Christmas tree farm? It’s all I could ask for. Although Cass dies before our book begins, I fell in love with her as much as I did all the other characters. She can be felt in every part of Carrigan’s and even more in each character's heart.

All of the characters are SO fantastic. It’s found family in the best way. I’m getting more of them right? Miriam and Noelle both have plenty of demons from their past to slay and neither of them feels capable of falling in love for real but oh do they. Miriam is so much like Cass, down to her looks, as she brings everyone together with her crazy artistic ideas. Noelle is still healing as well and doesn’t know what to when this whirlwind of curls and art enters her life. They don’t exactly get off on the right foot either.

Be aware, this book is much more than a cutesy rom com. This deals with many serious topics such as grief, abuse, and addiction.

4.5

'tis the season to read holiday romances and wow did I start with a banger.

Set at a Jewish run Christmas tree farm, Miriam and Noelle are both trying to unpack their trauma while also being thrown together to save the farm. I loved the small town atmosphere and the tidbits of Jewish tradition and culture that we got throughout the book.

But most of all I loved these characters so much. Miriam and Noelle were both so vibrant and I loved the way they acknowledged their flaws and ultimately tried to better themselves. I also adored all of the side characters. From Miriam's group of old lady antique dealers to Cole and Hannah and the Matthewses and all the small town residents of Advent. The whole crew was incredible and I am hoping that Greer continues and gives us a Hannah/Levi book and a Cole book or even a Tara book.

While this does have a cute illustrated cover, I would not go into it expecting a contemporary rom-com as this book does deal with some difficult topics. Helena Greer provides a list of content warnings in the beginning but these include discussions of past emotional and financial abuse, death of family members, and alcoholism and recovery.

Overall, I thought this was a really solid debut and highly recommend!

I highly enjoyed this read recently. I felt it was very Hallmark movie like and the characters were really cozy together and worked well with each other.

A 1000x yes! I loved how Jewish this holiday romance is, and how real each of the characters felt. I can't wait for more people to read this romance that is about so much more.

I feel like this could have been a home run for me but I missed like 50 to 75 pages of development.

So basically our one character Miriam goes home after learning that a very close family friend died. When she gets there she finds out that the Christmas tree farm is being run by her cousin and the insanely hot fat Butch lesbian Noelle. And this is where things fall just a little bit flat for me because the entire week that Miriam gets there and they do the funeral and all of this initial contact between her and Noelle and her cousins and everything is all skipped. The whole thing. It is she arrives one second and then the next the funeral is over. And I get that it wasn't the main part of the book and maybe it didn't even need to be an extra 50 to 75 pages but I needed something. I needed an entire chapter at least where she and Noelle are being grouchy to one another and sad and all up in their feels.

The whole premise of this book is that Miriam's great aunt of sorts left part of the Christmas tree farm to her and it totally throws everything off. There's a lot of fairly serious past trauma and many of the characters and I don't think it got quite the depth it deserved.

While I think that this is absolutely a win for queer and fat and Jewish representation, I don't think it was as good as it could've been.

I will note that I greatly appreciated seeing that this is a closed door romance. I know that that is not everyone's cup of tea and that's totally fine but I think that people who either don't prefer to read explicit scenes, are uncomfortable, or whatever deserve to also experience contemporary romance and I love knowing that I can add this to my growing list of adult romance books with no on page explicit scenes.

Bi Jewish MC, fat lesbian MC

Out now! [Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Miriam Blum hasn’t gone home in ten years—and with good reason. But when her beloved great-aunt dies, Miriam finds herself pulled back to life on the Christmas tree farm where she used to spend her childhood holidays, and faced with the possibility of a love story that might change her life.

I absolutely adore the concept for this one—a sapphic holiday rom-com with a Jewish MC but set on a Christmas tree farm? I knew I needed to read this one, and I’m so glad I did!

SEASON OF LOVE is absolutely adorable, but it also packs a lot of emotion and meaningful messaging into a fun quirky rom-com. The characters are excellent and the “saving the family farm” storyline was extremely well done (and did make me tear up a bit).

If I’m quibbling, I did feel like this book was a bit more character-driven than plot-driven, at times, which isn’t usually my preference for rom-coms and is the reason this wasn’t an “omg yay ten million stars” review. But I still enjoyed this so much, and cannot wait for the sequel (Hannah is the best and I need her story desperately!!)

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: character-driven romance; diverse holiday representation; found family themes

CW: Child abuse; emotional abuse; death of parent/loved one; grief; alcoholism.

🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ Holiday Romances
🌲 Christmas Tree Farms
🕎 Jewish Representation
🎄 Workplace Romances
🧠 Mental Health Rep

This one covers some heavy topics but also has some comedy vibes to provide some levity. This one definitely isn’t a light and fluffy read, but that worked for me as sometimes too much of a good thing is just that so this one brings some much needed depth to my holiday TBR this year.

This is a wonderful debut and I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future as I’m sure we will be seeing more from her with the likes of Alison Cochran.

3.25 stars

This queer holiday romance is full of family drama and trauma - so if you’re looking for a light and fluffy holiday novel, this is not it. Don’t let the rom-com cover fool you! This is full of grief and the true struggles of making relationships work even though both people need a lot of therapy and healing. I definitely wasn’t expecting how dark the tone could get at times, but I was happily surprised at how well a lot of the topics were dealt with, and made their struggles realistic, yet somehow, didn’t make this a depressing read.

It was nice to read a holiday romance with true substance, and a queer one at that with LGBTQIA+ representation. We finally have a novel with a fat, butch lesbian with CURVESSS ladies, gentlemen and non-binaries!! It was also fun to read a f/f Jewish Christmas romance (on a Christmas tree farm!) with lots of references to Judaism and Jewish holidays and traditions.

However, as much as I love the representation in this, the pacing was difficult for me to get behind at times, and this book felt much longer than it was. I just couldn’t picture the story or get into the writing, so reading it took me a while longer than I expected. Not every conversation needs to route back to saving the tree farm! I also wish we got to see Hanukkah, which would have been during the same time period, and I think that was a missed opportunity. I was also bummed that this was a closed door romance, because the sex buildup was hot, and it would have been earth-shattering to see a fat butch character in sex scenes!

This seems to be the first in the series, so I would expect a coming sequel!

TW: Abuse (Emotional and Financial), Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Death, Homophobia

**Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review**

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I thought the book was interesting.

Adored this book! Miriam and Noelle's POV's were both so good, I never found myself gravitating towards one character over the other. Who doesn't love a story where a Jewish family runs a well-respected Christmas Tree farm?

Highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a closed door, queer holiday romance!

If I don't get a Hannah book next I will be devastated.

LGBTQ holiday reads?! YES! Lovely, wise great-aunts who make our hearts ache from their loss? YES! Jewish run Christmas tree farms? ABSOLUTELY YES.
This book has all the good things going for it and was truly such an enjoyable read. I loved Miriam and I loved blending the Jewish tradition with the Christmas tree farm. This book may just be my favorite holiday read of the year. Would easily recommend to anyone looking to have their heart swoon.

Miriam Blum left her family behind 10 years ago after a blow up with her emotionally abusive father, and emotionally unavailable mother. So when her aunt Cass, the woman she thought of as a mother, dies, she is forced to go home and face her family. Miriam thinks this is gonna be a week long trip home, but when the aunt leaves her Christmas tree farm to Miri, her cousin Hannah, their family friend Levi and the Tree taker Noelle, the past is bound to get dragged up and out into the open. Not only that, but Cass left the farm in financial ruin and the three girls have to come together to save the farm before the bank sells it off. Can Noelle, Hannah and Miriam save the farm and clear the air from the last 10 years?

Oh Boy there is a lot to unpack here and I have a lot of feelings.

What I Liked
• the inclusivity of it all. There's a ton of LGBT characters,
• All the Jewish representation and accuracy for a Christmas book. I also enjoyed that most of the jewish characters didn't have these stereotypical Jewish characteristics that a lot of entertainment leads with.
• The found family vs blood family storyline. I am always here for a found family moment.
• I loved that Miriam and Noelle overcame a lot of past trauma to get to a healthier place together and they both kind of called each other out at points.

What I Didn't Like:
• The love story felt disjointed to me, like it's clear this is an enemies to lovers trope and it's very obvious Miriam and Noelle hate each other in the beginning. Then all of a sudden Hannah or Cole or someone goes oh its obvious you guys want each other. Um What?! I did not get that at all. I mean knowing this was a romance it was assumed, but I didn't get that vibe in the writing at all. They both mentioned to themselves they were annoyed that they were attracted to each other, but no where was it ever really shown in the book they were attracted to each other. It happened a couple more times like this as the book progressed too. I wish the romance storyline was a little smoother.

• This was way too long and had a couple too many plot points. It felt way too broad like did we really need to go passed Christmas/New Years? I don't think so. I think the book was just as successful at the 65% mark as it was at the 100% mark. I found myself skimming at some points cause I was just like oh here we go again ANOTHER hill to cross.

• The Dad. He was the worst and I get he was supposed to be the enemy of the story, but I felt half of his story was unnecessary. Did he really have to be this awful drug lord? It felt so unrealistic and soap opera-y. I felt like his awfulness was enough being manipulative, and emotional abusive.

I do have to say, even though I had some mixed opinions on this book, I am actually really excited for book 2 with Levi coming back. I see a second chance romance in the future and I am always a sucker for that! Thanks the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book is out now!

SEASON OF LOVE is a fantastic holiday romance. I loved everything about it! From the three-demential characters to the engaging conflicts, I thought this was the perfect blend of character-driven and plot-driven storytelling. Miriam and Noelle were fantastic narrators, and Greer’s writing really thrived in dual-POV. I highly recommend this one if you are interested in: Jewish rep, Christmas tree farms, cozy small town settings, a touching exploration of grief and family, great characters, a sexy sober fat butch love interest, and a cast of characters you’ll love. Can’t wait for Hannah and Levi’s book!

Miriam was totally ok with how her life was going. She had a fiancee she was in “like” with and was about to open her dream art space when a phone call from her past changed everything. What started as a short trip “home” to mourn a beloved aunt turned into more than she bargained for, and Miriam is forced to choose between staying “safe” or facing her complicated family past head on. Will she go back to Charleston and her prim-and-proper southern belle fiancee or will she see if Noelle, the lumberjane Christmas tree farmer, can help her untangle the mess of her family?
Season of Love by @blumagaincurios was so cute and the perfect read to start off the Christmas season! So easy to read, I devoured in a day and a half! The story is complex with lots of layers which makes it feel more complete than just a sugary sweet rom-com. I’m not sure what you’ll fall in love with more: the characters or the setting! I wish I could book a room at Carrigan’s this holiday season!
** This ARC was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

If Jean Meltzer and Alison Cochrun paired up on a novel, Season of Love would be the final product. However, it's also a very unique and heartfelt story with lots of quirkiness throughout. I enjoyed the Jewish references while feeling like I was experiencing a Hallmark Christmas romance movie. I liked Miriam and Noelle and enjoyed seeing both their perspectives. There's a lot of enemies-to-lovers "will they, won't they?" going on between them. The supporting characters were a lot of fun too (with the exception of one who doesn't actually show their face), especially Cole. (And even Cass, posthumously.) Carrigan's would be a fun and festive place to visit, that's for sure! I liked the Rent references at one point, which I'm sure inspired the title.

My only issues were that the story felt slow at times and it could have ended a lot sooner than it actually did and still wrapped up nicely. I also wanted to see Miriam's dad receive major karma. The epilogue felt like a weird loose end that wasn't necessary to further the plot.

This is Helena Greer's debut and it was a strong one. I'd be interested in reading whatever she comes up with next. In the meantime, bundle up and get cozy with this sweet, Sapphic rom-com!

Side note: I did not know who to cast in this one, but I hope that if Hollywood ever does make a movie, they cast people who fit both culturally and who are LGBTQ+ (for the roles that require it).

Perfect for the holiday season!

If you're looking for a new holiday read, look no further! This book grabbed my attention from the get-go with the cover and grabbed my attention even more with the blurb and characters! It's a fun book that's perfect for the holidays to give you all the gushy happy feelings!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Pub for the earc in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book!! I loved how queer and joyful it was. I also loved how Noelle’s fatness was never a plot point and Miriam was attracted to Noelle in part because she was fat and Butch. While I thought it was a little long and could be touch slow at times, loved the way the plot unfolded and developed their love story. Excited to read the next one!!

This was EXACTLY the queer, diverse holiday romance I wanted. I can't wait for my next trip to Carrigan's!