I very much enjoyed Season of Love. At first glance it might seem as though it's fluffy and Hallmark-y — and those parts were great — but there's a lot more to it underneath. Yes, it's mostly lighthearted with a great sunshine and the grump trope and oodles of pop culture references that tickled my fancy (Babysitters Club! Nancy Drew! Veronica Mars!). But the parts dealing with grief and finding yourself hit a little harder. I'm a sucker for found family, so this one really worked for me.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Christmas book in October? Sign me up!

I never thought I'd say those words. I never really understood the people who read Christmas books year round but Helena Greer has converted me. Miriam and Hannah are beautiful characters that I loved getting to experience. I would read a whole series about them.

Thank you forever for my copy of this book!

This one was really cute and perfect for the holiday season! I loved the Jewish rep! I loved the queer rep! The emphasis on family and friendships and learning to overcome hurt and adversities in the novel.

I loved Cole and Noelle and Hannah. I would love to see Hannah’s story…. The ending left it that maybe there will be a book about her??

The relationship between Miriam and Noelle was really sweet and felt realistic as far as misunderstandings in the beginning to getting to know each other better. I like that Miriam had an eccentric job and it was something she enjoyed.

Trigger warning for family abuse (father in the instance of this book). I also thought her relationship with her mother was handled well, I would’ve liked to see them communicate more though.

I wish we could have gotten more scenes at the family-run Christmas tree farm, since the whole premise of the book was about this Jewish family saving their farm that was left to them.

Overall, definitely a substantial, cute holiday-spirit-feel-good novel.

I had the pleasure of reading an ARC of this book. I was so excited for a Queer Holiday book! It did not disappoint. It was such a touching novel about acceptance, love, forgiveness, and of course holiday cheer! It had a Hallmark-y vibe that I adored.

The main protagonist returns home for a funeral, after leaving because of her abusive father, and while there, she helps save the family Tree Farm! It was so fun learning about the Jewish culture and the love that was written was absolutely delightful. I'm already excited to re-read with a cup of cocoa!

A great holiday romance that takes place in a christmas tree farm!
I really appreciated the Jewish representation, I think we need more of it in romance and especially holiday romance books.
I love the ambiance of this book, it had such quirky banter and a solid plot that felt complete at the end.
This book was equal parts adorable and grown up. So happy to see the Queer representation for a holiday romance!

3.75 Stars. This was a good holiday romance book that was more on the drama side and less on the comedy side than I expected. All of the characters have a lot of family trauma that they are still processing. These include tough subjects like grief from a recent loss, alcoholism, and even verbal and mental abuse. I was surprised because you usually don’t see holiday books so heavy, but in the end I personally think it worked out because while this book tackled harder subjects, the book wasn’t depressing. The book was still full of hope and love and fun moments so the balance was there. I love some light and fluffy holiday reads but it’s nice to have some with more substance too.

This was a solid debut for Greer but it did have its newbie bumps leading to some of my issues like how it felt a little repetitive/wordy when it came to over explaining the few hurt feelings of certain characters again and again. Reading some of the same complaints/feelings over and over made the book feel longer than it actually was, but really I guess the editor should have noticed some of these repeats and maybe they will before the final copy goes out.

I do want to mention that while I do love the cover, it makes the book feel a little more rom-com-ish than what the book actually is so just be aware. But I do want to thank Greer for having a butch character with *shock* curves. OMG! It’s a lesbian unicorn, how did Greer catch one for her book we may never know. Anyway, even with some newbie bumps I enjoyed this and it was very easy to see the potential in Greer and I expect it will grow quickly the more chances she gets to write. This is clearly the start of a series as the next romance is already set-up. I’m not sure I will continue on but I could see other readers being very excited about it.

Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

season of love was a warm hug when you need it most. miriam, noelle, and everyone else felt so real and grew so much in the span of the book. this is the gay, jewish, cozy christmas books of my wildest dreams!!! i loved this the most!!

Helena greers writing is phenomenal. I cannot wait for her next book. I love seeing Jewish representation in holiday stories. So often Jewish representation gets pushed aside in holiday stories but not here. Also love a gay book

4/5⭐️

Helena Greer’s Season of Love is a cute but profound queer holiday romance we all need to read.

Carrigan’s Christmasland is a Christmas utopia run by a Jewish family. When Cass, the owner of Carrigan’s, passes and leaves her failing business to those she loves most, Miriam Blum is forced to come home and face her past she’s spent years running from. Noelle Northwood, grumpy Carrigan’s manager and now partial owner, has spent years keeping the business together without Miriam’s help and isn’t looking for any of it now that she’s deigned to return home to the family she abandoned. Noelle and Miriam are forced to work together and face their demons if they want to save the place they both love and Cass’ legacy, as well as fan whatever flaming attraction exists between them.

I loved this queer, Jewish spin on a classic Hallmark-esque “Let’s put our differences aside to save our family Christmas tree farm, but fall for each other in the process” story. We see it every year on the Hallmark channel but I am obsessed with this Jewish sapphic twist to make it unique and new.

I’ll admit, I really hated Noelle at first. I thought she was a judgey arrogant a**hole. However, as I always do for hot caring masc lesbians since I am a useless gay, I fell for her in the end and now I love her. I want a Noelle in my life, is that too much to ask for?

On the other hand, I loved Miriam from the start. I think I see a lot of myself in her. She’s fun and quirky, artsy with a dry sense of humor which I love. I also trauma dump at random and possibly inappropriate times so there’s another thing we have in common!

In terms of other characters I loved, I wish we got more of Cole because he’s literally the best and his energy is immaculate. There is always future projects (hint hint).

This book dealt with some pretty serious and heavy themes (alcoholism, abuse, death) but it did so in a gracefully beautiful way that made me love this book, and the Helena’s writing, even more.

All in all, this was an adorably queer holiday romance with much more depth than I was expecting, but in the best way possible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me this ARC to review! All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Season of Love by Helena Greer
Contemporary F-F romance.
Miriam has always compartmentalized her emotions and dealt with facts. Now that she has inherited partial ownership of the Christmas Tree farm she finally accepts and deals with all the feelings of love, loss and acceptance. “Noelle disturbed her life, made her think about her choices, made her be present in her body.” Likewise, Hannah must deal with cousin Miriam being back in her life and Noelle and Cole have their own secrets.

It’s an emotional physiological couch of issues and turmoil and healing. Way more than I expected from the holiday cover. It is a multi holiday story in setting, yes, but more overcoming life obstacles. There is a large cast of dear friends and made family. It’s also a hard-won love story with stumbling blocks and rollercoaster situations.
A pleasing hook in the epilogue to what I hope will be the next book and the next romance.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Season of Love was such a charming and unique holiday story. When Miriam’s aunt Cass passes away, she immediately returns home to the Adirondacks to sit Shiva. Miriam hasn’t been back to Cass’s Christmas Tree Farm in over ten years and returning home stirs up many complicated emotions due to her relationship with her father. Upon arriving she comes face to face with the relationships she left behind and Noelle, an intriguing Christmas tree farmer and adopted member of Cass’s family. Together, Miriam, her cousin Hannah and Noelle must work together if they want to save Cass’s tree farm.

I loved the found family elements of this story. Noelle and Miriam both have complicated relationships with their families, but they have made their own. This commonality made their relationship seem more authentic to me. I also loved seeing the characters grow and Miriam rebuild her relationship with Hannah.

My only real complaint was how slow this beginning of this story unfolded. It took me awhile to get invested in the story and romance (felt a little insta-lovey at the start), but I really did have a fun time reading this. Bonus points for the representation here (LGBTQ+, Judaism, sobriety).

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for a review copy. Definitely check out Season of Love this holiday season!

Miriam’s Great Aunt Cass has passed away (a Jewish woman who owned a Christmas tree farm) and Miriam is back in town to mourn and learns she’s inherited part of the Christmas tree farm, Carrigan’s. While Mariam is back she meets the butch woman, Noelle, who is currently managing Carrigan’s and they start off butting heads immediately but later begin to fall for one another. Mariam, however, is already engaged but in a convenient arrangement with no feelings on either end yet she still must confront and be honest with her fiancé before exploring more with Noelle.

This book is also full of family traumas, adverse reactions due to a lifetime of exposure to those traumas, financial abuse/manipulation, grief and neglect. I believe the author appropriately handles these severe issues with grace and nuance on the page for a dynamic and multi faceted story that at the end of the day still feels like a warm hug that you’d expect from something promoting itself in comparison to a Hallmark movie.

The side characters were fun and I’m truly invested in what the future holds for Hannah!

I think my biggest criticism of this book is for a book that is proudly sapphic and confirms Mariam is bisexual, it never uses the word lesbian on the page to describe Noelle, it is only implied whilst labeling her as butch. I’ve seen this happen quite a few times with WLW books and I do think it’s doing a disservice to a large portion of their intended audience, as seeing confirmed, defined representation on the page is so affirming and important.

Overall, this is a cute holiday sapphic story between a butch lesbian and an artsy bisexual and it delivered the holiday cheer.

I’m giving this one 4 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Forever for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Season of Love by Helena Greer takes place on a Christmas Tree Farm. Miriam and Cass have a lot of chemistry when they're together. This is a very cute, short read, This book's content warnings are: neglect, family estrangement, alcoholism, and grief.

Trigger Warnings: Past emotional and financial abuse, death of family members, sudden death, terminal illness, grief, parental estrangement, alcoholism, cyber bullying, antisemitism, homophobia, animal cruelty, alcohol

Representation: Jewish, Lesbian, Bisexual

Season of Love is a sapphic contemporary romance about Miriam who must return to the Christmas tree farm of her past when her great-aunt Cass dies. Miriam hasn’t been back to the farm in over ten years, busy distancing herself from her past and building her art brand. When Cass leaves her a quarter of the farm, she must face everything she has been avoiding, including a hot, butch lesbian named Noelle. For a twist, the farm is in debt and in danger of being bought over. Can they work together to save the farm despite their differences?

Another great Holigay story in the books! We have been so lucky to get so many great Holiday themed stories with queer characters this year! And this story is such a delight! I loved seeing a femme/butch couple! Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, the couple is a lot more let’s bang energy and closed-door romance than anything else. I wish there was more sex on the page.

Be forewarned, this story definitely has some darkness but it’s also so incredibly real. There is trauma and flawed family, sometimes very extreme situations but such important representation. Trigger warnings should definitely be read before starting this book. And please read with caution. The author does a great job weaving the trauma with love and the change/growth in these characters is clear and relatable. Overall, a nice holiday book for anyone looking for better representation in media!

Season of Love by Helena Greer is a lovely queer holiday romance that revolves around Miriam Blum returning home after her beloved great-aunt Cass passes away & unexpectedly leaves her part of her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm, Carrigan’s.. Because of Miriam’s difficult upbringing, including inexcusable abuse from a parent, Miriam hadn’t been back to the farm in years & her relationship with her childhood friends & family is strained. Enter Noelle, who has become apart of both Carrigan’s core & her childhood loved ones’ found family. Miriam & Noelle do not begin this holiday season in harmony as they begin on a rocky start getting on each other’s nerves.
As a self-proclaimed connoisseur of holiday TV movies, I am a huge fan of holiday romance & especially, a save-the-business plot. & oh my goodness & garland, Season of Love delivers a fantastic story!
This was a novel wrought with emotional termoil as both main characters had to work through their past traumas & initial reactions. I love how everything was eventually discussed openly & they helped each other work through things while also acknowledging their need for counseling. It felt very emotionally intelligent to me, which I appreciated. The beginning was a little slow for me, but once it gets going, it’s amazing! This would make a phenomenal holiday movie!
If you’re looking for an amazing holiday romance, I would check out Season of Love by Helena Greer!

Season of Love by Helena Greer comes out October 11, 2022!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Forever for giving me the opportunity to read an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: This book mentions &/or contains past emotional & financial abuse, the death of family members both suddenly & from prolonged illness, grief, parental estrangement & 12-Step recovery from alcoholism. It also contains brief mention of online trolling with antisemitism & homophobia, & a brief mention of unspecified harm to animals. Shoutout to the author for including this at the beginning of the book! It’s rad when authors do that, so thank you!

“I love you. Immensely, Overwhelmingly.”

Miriam Blum is set in her life in Charleston when she is called back to the Adirondacks following the death of her beloved great-aunt, Cass. She’s made Miriam part owner of Carrigan’s Christmasland, but she initially plans to only go for the services and figure out how to put Carrigan’s behind her once more. The universe has other plans as she’s introduced to Noelle Northwood, who is in charge of the trees. The butt heads immediately, but there’s clearly more there than meets the eye.

I really loved the progression of this book, and how both Miriam and Noelle are in such different places at the end. At the beginning, the both have clear visions of how their lives are going to go, but once they’re thrust together to save Carrigan’s Christmasland their lives are completely upended.

Miriam is quirky and interesting, and she’s made a name for herself repurposing antiques. She’s run from her family for so long, with good reason, and being back at Carrigan’s is difficult. Noelle, who’s job it is to take care of the trees, has her own family trauma that turned her to Carrigan’s and is immediately put off by Miriam’s return.

I liked how their relationship progresses. There is an instant attraction between them, but there are roadblocks keeping them from exploring it. Once they’re able to flirt more openly, they are able to have difficult, honest, and vulnerable conversations about their familial trauma.

There were a few moments where I wanted them to be a bit more understanding with each other, but I think that their past experiences makes that hard. I loved when therapy was mentioned and I left this book feeling that these two characters would put in the work to stay together.

This is a story about second chances ... and holiday miracles.  Miriam Blum is an Instagram star known for upcycling ugly antiques.  She is happy with her life in Charleston, where she lives with her fiance, Tara, who may not set her heart on fire, but is a supportive partner.  Then she receives an unexpected call from her mother -- Miriam's beloved great-aunt Cass has passed away.  Miriam, who is largely estranged from her family, feels that she must return to Cass's Christmas tree farm in New York.  The tree farm is unusual in many ways, not least of all in that Cass and Miriam's whole family is Jewish, but it is a place where Miriam had some of her happiest childhood memories.  Miriam's plan is to go just for a week to sit shiva and then return right back to Charleston.

But Miriam's best laid plans go out the window when she learns that Cass left the farm not just to her cousin Hannah, who is the farm's manager, and Noelle Northwood, the troublingly attractive farm employee who tends to the trees, but to Miriam as well.  To make matters worse, the farm's finances are, at best, questionable.  It seems like the only way to save the farm is for Miriam to bring her creative eye and business savvy and team up with Hannah and Noelle on a plan that can convince the bank to let them keep the farm.  So Miriam reluctantly stays, even though it means dealing with the family she has tried to leave behind and with Noelle, who seems to hate her even though Miriam feels a deep connection between the two of them.  As Miriam, Noelle, Hannah, and their chosen family work together to save the farm, they find obstacles at every turn, not least of all Miriam's father, but also hope that they each had thought gone forever.

This book is very enjoyable!  On one level, it is charming holiday romance story.  But on every other level, it is something more: a Christmas story centered on a Jewish family, a celebration of queer romance, and a nuanced and perceptive examination of the long reach of trauma.  The romance between Miriam and Noelle at the heart of the story is well crafted. Within that romance and the broader story, the book excels at showing how choices one has to make to survive trauma can have unintended and unexpected impacts on those in their life.  I really appreciated that while the book shows understanding for its characters, it does not let them off the hook for how their choices impact others in their lives.  I also deeply enjoyed the supporting cast of the story, most especially Miriam's best friend Cole, and the role that art played in the story.

Strongly recommended!

I loved this so much. It bent past all my expectations. Miriam is a Jewish bisexual woman with an awful father (the book includes content warnings). Noelle is a sober lesbian Christmas tree farmer. And the two of them are brought together through a surprise inheritance.

It doesn't feel like it should work as well as it did, but wow. The characters were so well written and amazing. The book drew me in from the beginning, and I believed everything about them and their opposites attract romance. There was even a bit of the dreaded love triangle that I didn't mind as much as I usually do. I couldn't believe this was a debut.

I love that the ending took it's time and didn't feel rushed. I want to go live at the Carrigan's tree farm year round and never leave. And I am already stalking updates on the next book about Miriam's cousin Hannah and their childhood friend, Levi.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded up

If reading Christmas books in October is wrong, I don't want to be wrong! Most people look forward to October and all of their spooky reads, but I look forward to the fact that Christmas is just a couple months away! This book is a delight- not only does it get points for giving you all the cozy and warm and tingly feels, but it gets bonus points for Jewish representation. I guess that would make this a holiday read technically, but I digress. All you need to know is that it is fun, entertaining, and completely swoony. Thanks to the publisher for my digital copy of this book!

I loved the premise of this book but it took me 3 days to get through 17% of it because to me it was just so boring. I had to DNF it. I couldn't go through with it. It seems like it would be a great book for the holidays but I just couldn't get through it.

Thank you Net Galley for an Arc in exchange for an honest review as allows all words are my own.