This was a very cute debut.
Read this if you love:
*Small Town Christmas Vibes
*Amazing LGTBQ+ Rep
*Side Characters that you love!
*Accurate and Enlightening Jewish Rep
*Closed Door Romance
*Strong Friendships

I loved how the romance was not the star of this book. I enjoyed the side characters and I would love to read more about them. The setting was amazing and really brought the story to life. I would definitely read another by this author.

What a lovely and quirky queer holiday novel! I enjoyed this a great deal. The main and side characters are very engaging. I love that there's Jewish and fat rep in addition to the queer rep. I do have a bit of an issue though with it being marketed as a romcom. If this were a movie, I feel like we'd be calling it a dramedy. There are some lighthearted moments and things end on a hopeful note, but there's a lot of family trauma in this. Like a lot a lot. I'm very much looking forward to the next book!

**Received an eARC via NetGalley**

3.5 stars - really lovely romance about found family, overcoming trauma (but it’s not all magically fixed in the end). I didn’t love Noelle as a character but was really charmed by the setting and other cast of characters

One of my most anticipated romances of the year! I wanted to be swept into this world almost instantly, although there was a bit of stalling and restarting again at the beginning — which is no fault of the book itself, but more my own mindset and what was going on around me while trying to read. There DID seem to be something of a disconnect between the warmth of the romance and friendships that are so essential to this book and the real toxicity of Miriam's relationship to her father — who thankfully is never given page space as more than a tertiary presence, but felt so diabolically awful that I wasn't sure if it was entirely necessary up to a point.

But Noelle and Miriam's dynamic was so fun and lovely, and if this is setting up a second-chance romance sequel with Levi and Hannah then I am SO HERE FOR IT, GIVE IT TO ME PLEASE.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

📖Book: Season of Love
⭐️Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✍🏼Author: Helena Greer
📚Genre: Romance
🗏 Pages: 361
💕Tropes: Grumpy x Sunshine, Returning Home, Found Family, Forced Proximity, Sapphic Love Story, Slow Burn
⚠️Warnings: Alcoholism, Abuse, Family Loss
🔖Readability: 4/5 italic font is used
🥇First Line: "When Miriam Blum's life changed forever, she was holding a chain saw in both hands, a bottle of glitter glue between her teeth, and standing in an empty warehouse over an antique bed frame.

Things to expect:
✨Jewish Representation
❤️Christmas Tree Farm
💛Closed Door (boo)
🪴Personal Growth

Miriam thinks she has it figured out as an artist about to open up her new galley with a fiancé, leaving her family behind, but when her great aunt dies and leaves her Christmas tree farm, her life gets turned upside down. Not only is the farm left to her, but her former best friend's cousins. Noelle and Miriam will have to work closely together to save the farm from being sold.

The sapphic Jewish romance during the holiday was a perfect read, and Helena hit the nail on the head with this one. It was fun, light, and one of my favorite tropes of a slow burn. With all my heart, I wish this wasn't a closed door, but beggars can't be picky. I loved that the Jewish family owned a Christmas Tree farm and how magically they made Christmas for everyone. This is the perfect read for anyone in the mood for some holiday cheer. A must-read.

This was a fun one! Kicked off my holiday reading with this one; it's a feel good sapphic holiday romance featuring dual POV, a small town, a Christmas tree farm, grumpy-sunshine trope and some family issues. All in all a great story that you're sure to love.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC. All opinions are my own.

Spectacularly romantic, heartwarming, and funny. This would make a beautiful holiday book club pick! And I truly can't wait to find out what HEAs are in store for the rest of the Carrigan's crew.

Many thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

Miriam has been estranged from her family for ten years when she learns that her beloved great aunt Cass has died. Cass owned and operated a Christmas tree farm in Upstate New York (despite the family being very Jewish) where Miriam spent much of her childhood. When Miriam returns for the funeral, she meets the Christmas tree arborist Noelle. Noelle considered Cass to be like a second mother and feels like Miriam abandoned her family after going no contact for a decade. This antagonism only escalates when they learn that Cass has left the Christmas tree farm in parts to both Miriam and Noelle.

I think the premise of this book is DARLING, but in execution it was far more emotional and serious than I expected. The enemies part of the enemies to lovers story is resolved pretty quickly. The bulk of the conflict in this story centers around Miriam coming to terms with the trauma of her past and healing her relationship with her family. Noelle also had a tumultuous past and is still dealing with the death of her own parents. With all of this serious emotional work, I didn't feel like we got enough of the lighthearted and fun parts of Noelle and Miriam's love story especially considering they live at a Christmas tree farm. This book is also closed door, for those interested.

I did really enjoy the secondary cast of characters in the town and on the farm. I felt like they added a richness to the world that helped temper the more serious parts. While I wasn't 100% in love with this book, I am still looking forward to reading future books in the series.

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.