I both loved and had issues with this romance, but not because of the novel itself (it's a great LGBTQIA+ romance!). It's actually because I've noticed Jewish holiday romances always seem to have a touch of Christmas in it, and it makes me happy but also slightly depresses me. For one thing, I feel like as a society, Christianity has such a dominance that it gets sucked into every other commentary on any other winter holiday. On another hand, I feel like some novels, especially this novel, de-Christianizes Christmas, which I'm glad for since Christmas was never a Christian holiday to begin with. Besides that part of the novel though, I loved that the two main characters had to go through the hoops of griefs and prior partners to actually get to their love story.

Really enjoyed this one! Super sweet holiday romance, with some much needed Jewish and sapphic representation as well. Definitely agree with other reviewers that felt this was very similar to a classic Hallmark movie. Will recommend!

Thank you @readforeverpub @blumagaincurios and @netgalley for the eARC & ARC paperback copies of this beautiful and festive book. I appreciate the chance to provide my candid thoughts and review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Steam: 🔥🔥(0-5) Fade to black

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 So much great representation: LGBTQ, Jewish family (on a Christmas tree farm), plus-size MC, and sober alcoholic MC.
🤩 Captivating first line. Actually, I wanted to highlight & quote the whole first chapter as it was captivating me.
🤩 Seasonal readers—this starts in October and ends around New Year’s.
🤩 Small town, Bed & Breakfast/Inn Vibes!
🤩 So much artsy fun: junking, crafting, painting, repurposing, bedazzling, and holiday decorating!
🤩 Best friend love—Cole and Hannah are true and amazing best friends to Miriam and Noelle.
🤩 Found family is so strong and wonderful in this book.
🤩 Deliciously descriptive—all your senses are perked, helping the reader see, hear, feel, smell, and touch everything and everyone.
🤩 Both MCs are good people—I fell in love with each at first meet.
🤩 Elijah, the lawyer, presents the conflict so well and so early. Every part of this book is interesting and captivating.
🤩 The flirting is so good—I like how it started strong right after Noelle apologized.
🤩 All the feels (love, longing, lust and laughs). I cried when Miriam practiced telling the truth again (when she was honest with Noelle).

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 Absolutely nothing.

Trigger Warnings:
🔬 Emotional trauma from having alcoholic parents.
🔬 Emotional trauma from an abusive parent.
🔬 Emotional grief from experiencing the death of a loved one.

Miriam ran away from her family and her eccentric Aunt Cass years ago and has been emotionally unavailable living a comfortable life with her fiancé of convenience and amassing a following of rabid art fans online. When her aunt dies she returns to the Christmas Tree Farm she owned to sit Shiva. But what she finds when she returns is that Carrigan’s Christmas Tree Farm never moved on from her.

Little does she know Aunt Cass decides to leave Miriam a message from beyond in the form of a share of the farm along with her cousin Hannah, Levi (the boy who broke Hannah’s heart and bounced), and Noelle (Hannah’s new butch BFFthat hates Miriam on principle). Miriam has to decide if she wants to return to her comfortable emotional vacuum or finally start making up for lost time by accepting a role on the farm. Not to mention her unhealthy attraction to the handsome woman who hates her guts. Things are even further complicated when it turns out if she leaves the farm without helping them come up with a plan to save the place that it may be gone for good.

I was looking for a cute holiday romance to put me in the spirit and this one did the trick. It is closed door though so if that’s not your jam then I would say look elsewhere. I loved all the intertwined stories and the big role that family played even when Miriam had turned her back on them to protect herself.

I had a hard time keeping up with all the side characters at times. There were so many people in Advent who Cass had touched that it was difficult to keep everyone straight. The author has also set us up nicely with multiple storylines from side characters that I hope we get to hear more from. I’m very invested in Hannah and Levi especially.

If you’re looking for a closed door, FF, tension filled, not your typical holiday romance then I think you’ll enjoy this one!

I am loving all of the holigays books of 2022 and this one was no exception! It was cute and steamy and just the perfect story to get me in the Christmas spirit! Definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a cute and funny holiday romcom!

I adored this book! There are so many adorable queer holiday romances coming out this year, and they're all so unique and wonderful in their own ways. This one is a Jewish holiday romance set on an ironically owned Christmas tree farm, with enemies-to-lovers and grumpy/sunshine between our queer MCs.

The characters in Season of Love can't be beat. I love a grumpy MC, so Noelle was my instant favorite. Miriam's backstory really made her character shine, though, and gave this book the depth that I loved. I really enjoyed reading about Miriam's growth and how she struggled to overcome lasting damage from her abusive childhood.

Miriam and Noelle were the perfect example of opposites attract, and I loved their chemistry and banter.

This book just gave me so much holiday joy, I can't even put it into words. I would love to visit Carrigan's and all the wonderful things they had to offer!

The ending seemed like a setup for a second-chance romance between Miriam's cousin and her ex, which I absolutely need to get my hands on ASAP. I can't wait to return to Carrigan's and these lovely characters!

I throughly enjoyed this novel. In fact, it’s one of the few lately that has held my attention throughout the entire story. While I could see a few things coming, I never felt like rushing though it. I would definitely recommend it to friends.

Overall, I found what happened in this book and the characters appealing, but I wasn't very impressed with the execution. I was excited to read a sapphic romance, that seemed to dive into some hard topics. However, I felt like the pacing was off and so I was not feeling invested in the romance. It felt like the story was being told instead of the relationship being shown. However, I really liked the plot so I am excited to read what the author writes next!

This queer holiday romance is the perfect read for the upcoming season. I celebrate Christmas, but I loved that it took a backseat in this story and that Judaism was highlighted and celebrated. Miriam is an artist who fled to the big city and is engaged to a society woman. Noelle worked for Miriam's aunt's Christmas tree farm/hotel. When said aunt dies, both Miriam and Noelle have equal shares of the business (along with 2 cousins). This book felt very Hallmark movie to me, so I think a lot of readers will love that aspect.

The relationship between Noelle and Miriam is slow and steady. The banter and interactions between the two was fun. Overall is was a fun, heart-warming read perfect for the holiday.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! It was incredibly well done and I loved the plot. Adorable!

4.25⭐️

I LOVED this story! It was so much fun, and even though there are some heavier topics in it, the cast is amazing, their stories are very interesting and the romance is so adorable.

I love the storyline and the truth about the relationships in it, the raw emotion that comes across on the page is incredible, and I just really recommend it. It’s been a while since I finished this one and I’m having a really hard time putting my love for it into words so please read it!

Thank you to Helena Greer, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book’s table of contents segments in parts featuring Jewish holidays that you honestly don’t hear about a lot unless you’re Jewish is incredible. And the content warnings at the beginning of the book is a very nice touch.

Season of Love is a cozy holiday romance that’s perfect for this time of year. It’s both sweet and serious, tackling issues of alcoholism and family trauma. The romance is a bit of a slow burn, but the characters warm your heart so much that it’s okay.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Helena had me cracking up - her writing is amazing! I laughed out loud multiple times. I love all the different parts to this, the chemistry, the characters, and most of all the setting. This book definitely lit up my holiday reading season!

Season of Love leans more on the drama around the holidays than the fluff of it. While there's a lot to love about this book, like the setting of the Christmas tree farm run by a Jewish family, the found family aspect of it, and the self-actualized characters who are great on their own, I was a little let down by the morose tone of the book. Both the main characters (and some of the side characters like Hannah) come off at times as selfish and immature, and I was left frustrated with the choices they made and how they dealt (or chose not to deal with) their emotions. My initial rating for the book was 4 stars, but after sitting down to write a review, I realized this book misses the mark with me - though that perhaps has to do with expectations, and how I went in for a fluffy holiday romance and got a book that is more women's fiction with a dash of romance.

Content notes from the author: past emotional and financial abuse, death of family members both suddenly and from prolonged illness, grief, parental estrangement, 12-Step recovery from alcoholism, mention of being the adult child of alcoholics, brief mentions of online trolling including antisemitism and homophobia, brief mention of unspecified harm to animals.

This is a fun F/F Christmas romance about a Jewish woman, Miriam, who inherits a Christmas tree farm along with Noelle, the farm manager, Miriam’s cousin Hannah, and Levi, another relative.
Noelle doesn’t think Miriam deserves to inherit,
because she hasn’t been back in 10 years. They have to get along and work together to save the farm, which is having financial difficulties.
As Miriam and Noelle spend time together, their attraction builds. Can they get past their issues, save the farm, and find romance at the same time?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

In this dual POV romance, I could not pick which character I loved most. I adored the way Season of Love examines how the past haunts us. How there are secrets and ways that we hurt people without knowing it. The dual POV is a brilliant move to get us to know both Miriam and Noelle better from the beginning, plus we can see their opinions of each other - the attraction and (mis)communication. At the beginning, I fell in love with the characters. All the ways Miriam's past forces her to reckon with herself and those she hurt. How Noelle has to be willing to risk getting hurt.

I love a good cute holiday tale. It gets me ready for the festivities and this book didn’t disappoint. what a lovely read.

Another sapphic romcom to add to the collection, this one Christmas themed! Protagonist Miriam receives word that her beloved estranged aunt has died and that she has inherited her struggling Christmas tree farm. She travels to the farm, where she meets the grumpy, hot, butch farm manager, the aptly named Noelle (really). Lesbian yearning galore. Miriam is in a loveless engagement with a high powered lawyer back home, but she's torn between her brain and heart when she begins to fall for Noelle. Will she choose to stay? Do they even want her to? What about her mustache-twirling evil father who wants to buy the Christmas tree farm to knock it down to turn it into a parking lot just to mess with her? The story was a little back and forth with lots of hurt feelings and ~trauma responses~ which made me feel unfortunately seen and I described the entire plot to my girlfriend in great detail to her great mirth. Will they be able to raise the money to save the farm?? Will they get over themselves and their trauma and be together?

Another note: this is the first Jewish-based romance novel I've read so far! Love to see it. Also loved the discussion of alcoholism and sobriety PLUS the sober coffee ladies laid out a visceral reaction in me, I KNOW these women

I felt in the mood for something christmas related, and this was exactly what I needed! I enjoyed this so much from start to finish! It is definitely a way heavier book than I expected, but it’s dealt with in such a great way and done so well. I also really loved seeing butch representation! I feel like we don’t get enough of that in sapphic romances. I really felt the connection between Noelle and Miriam and I was giddy while reading. I am very interested to see what this author puts out next as this is a very solid debut!

"I'd be offended if that wasn't the exact vibe I'd been cultivating."

"I don't think we're put on this Earth to spend time with people who are shitty to us, just because we are kin."

This was just the cutest in so many ways but there were so many deep and hard topics as well. A social media influencer and a lumber jane enemies to lovers at a Christmas tree farm run by a quirky Jewish woman. Well her passing is the reason the influencer is back and she meets this thic woman.

Thank you readforeverpub for the e-ARC