🦇 For Never & Always Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐

❝ She and Levi were an island nation, trapped in a civil war, and the only person who understood the scope of the casualties was the one person she couldn't talk to about it. ❞

❓ #QOTD What's your favorite holiday treat? Gimme black or white chocolate peppermint bark, please! ❓

🦇 Once childhood best friends, now bitter exes, Hannah and Levi remained united by their shared inheritance, Carrigan's; the winter wonderland-themed inn where they shared so many childhood memories. Levi was Hannah's first love, heartbreak, and husband, but their time apart has created a rift between them. Can Levi use this second chance (and the next three months) to prove that he still loves Hannah--and that he's worthy of her heart?

💜 Childhood friends to lovers AND a second chance romance? Sign me up! Helena Greer's characters are enthralling, the history and chemistry between them an immediate draw. From the get-go, there's so much representation to delve into, ranging from mental health (Hannah has panic attacks and agoraphobia) to childhood trauma, a queer cast, and culture rep. This is a mildly angsty yet definitely sweet small-town romance that relies on small flashbacks to build the tension between the main characters.

🦇 While I love the mix of tropes here, the reliance on dual timelines kind of gave me whiplash. I didn't realize that this was the second book in a series until I sat down to write this review (entirely my fault, I know, but apparently I'm not the only one), which explains why there were so many plot puzzle pieces missing when I started reading. Hannah is harboring so much anger when Levi returns home, but we have to rely on flashbacks and snippets of information to understand why. That makes it difficult to sympathize with either character. While both characters are in their mid-30s, they act very juvenile at times, as if they're still their childhood selves. There's also a major reliance on the miscommunication trope (and if you've read my past reviews, you know I am NOT about that). There's a lot going on here, for sure, but the number of conflicts make the story almost difficult to navigate.

🦇 Recommended to fans of second-chance, small-town romances loaded with all the rep.

✨ The Vibes ✨
⏳ Childhood Friends to Lovers
🥈 Second Chance Romance
🏳️‍🌈 Queer Rep
✡️ Jewish Rep
🧠 Mental Health Rep

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

ARC Review: For Never and Always, by Helene Greer. ⁠
⁠
Here's a bullet point pros vs. cons review for you.⁠
⁠
The basics: ⁠
Low-angst second-chance contemporary romance, demi M + straight F couple; takes place on a Christmas tree farm in upstate New York; all of the main characters and most of the supporting cast are Jewish.⁠
⁠
Pros:⁠
Mental health is a huge component of the romance; Hannah has panic attacks if she leaves the farm, while Blue is recovering from childhood trauma (specifically bullying, both from classmates and from a trusted adult).⁠
Many of Greer's characters are queer, and they don't have internal angst around it.⁠
Blue and Hannah, the MCs, are never mean to each other, even when they don't know quite how to treat each other.⁠
⁠
Cons:⁠
There's just too much time spent detailing Blue's quirky outfits. I'm sorry, I'm supposed to believe that a 36-year-old man who wears cutoff jorts, t-shirts with feminist slogans, and vintage silk dressing gowns to a romantic picnic is sexy? I just can't. (It could be a me problem, YMMV, but THIS IS AN ACTUAL OUTFIT that Blue wears.)⁠
I can't believe I'm going to say this but - I wanted more angst(?!?). I don't usually love angst, so a second-chance romance between two characters who respect each other and work through their differences in an adult way should have been perfect for me. I actually think that it might have been OK if there had been some plot besides "how will they make it work?"⁠
It's closed door 😞⁠
⁠
So, y'know, a mixed review. I don't regret reading this one, but I think it just wasn't for me.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC.

Let's start with what i liked about this book: I think it had a lot of great rep: Demisexuality rep, jewish rep, and mental health rep.

However, what I didn't love was, as the book puts it, that the two main characters are "'both melodramatic jerks who love misery."" I also wasn't a big fan of how opposite their plans were for the future. I'm just not sure that they are good together long term.

if you like angtsy, complicated, second chance romance with great rep, this might be for you!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

DNF - 8%

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book. I didn’t know when I started it that it was the second book in a series and I felt a little lost. I also could not get into the storyline, I wasn’t invested in the characters at all. I’m not a big fan of second chance romance as a trope either.

When I actively avoid reading a book, I don’t finish and this was one of them.

The writing was good quality but it just wasn’t for me!

Honestly, this book was a bit tough for me to get through. When fate brings together the heirs of a Christmas wonderland, coupled with years unresolved issues no one has sought to work through, it was just not the easiest read. There were points where I found the flashbacks helpful, but sometimes too much time jumping got in the way of the plot for me.

I found the side characters pretty interesting (and learned there is a first book in the series), but just found myself struggling to be invested in the characters because they all seemed to be a bit too immature for being in their mid 30s. I think the way the relationships progressed was a bit too fast for me considering all of the years of unresolved issues.

I love a good redemption story but unfortunately this one kind of missed the mark for me!


I read this book as an ARC - thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC!

I'd like to start this by saying I loved Season of Love. It was a warm hug a fun escape to Carrigans Tree Farm. This book didn't quite live up to my expectations. I found the characters difficult to like and deal with. They were all so whiny and annoying. It took me months to finish this book. It wasn't the escape from the real world I needed. It felt sad and unhappy. I did love the LGBTQia and Jewish representation.

I loved that this story started with a breakup and worked towards the HEA. It was different from most other romance novels because of that, and I really enjoyed watching their journey. I love Carrigans and all the people who make it what it is. I read the first in the series and I actually liked this one better!

For Never & Always
Helena Greer
4⭐️

This second chance, angsty return to Carrigan’s was just what I needed and wanted. It felt like coming home. If home is a Jewish-run Christmas tree farm. 😆

I adore Greer’s writing and the well developed characters she creates. Carrigan’s is without a doubt a world I would love to live in. I adored Levi and Hannah and their sweet story full of big feelings and so many tender moments. I couldn’t help but root for them.

I loved the dual POV and that we get little flashbacks to better understand their history. While this also helpful to five you insight into the side characters, if you haven’t read Season of Love I personally would recommend going back and reading that first to best understand everything and everyone.

There was so much beautiful representation. Greer definitely delivers when it comes to rep! The MC’s discovery and mental heath journeys were written and handled with the utmost care.

What I enjoyed;
💜 Grumpy/Grumpy
💜 Angsty Romance
💜 Second Chance
💜 Demisexuality Rep
💜 Jewish Rep
💜 Mental Health Rep
💜 Shenanigans

Pub Date: 11/28/23.

If you’re in the mood for a sweet, sappy, small-town romance most definitely check out For Never & Always! I can’t wait for Miriam and Noelle’s wedding!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was apparently book 2 in a series and I spent much of the book feeling very confused.

I did like the diverse representations in this book (Jewish, plus-sized, LGBTQ+ characters just living life). The idea of a Jewish family owning a Christmas tree farm was fun and fresh.

I did not love this book or hate it, so...three stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

DNF @36%

I didn't know this was a second chance romance when I started it (my bad), but the long chapters really made it a struggle for me to read. I didn't read the first book in the series which may have helped bc the characters in the first book cameo here and are super cute so may need to go back to that one.

I do think this book explores two people who want such different things in an interesting way and I feel like Hannah and Levi's struggles here would resonate with people it just was a tad too angsty for me.

I always DNF when I no longer want to pick up a book and I had no desire to pick this one up and even though I hate to DNF an ARC I just couldn't motivate myself to want to read it. I also started and finished two other contemporary romances after starting this one so it really was the book not my reading mood.

Also tell me why I thought this romance was about two people who taught high school theater or had something to do with theater? In my defense Levi has extreme high school teacher energy on the cover.

An okay romance for me. I didn’t read book one so I didn’t really care about Miriam and Noelle.

Some things I liked about this book:

Representation and a lot of it
Queer characters just existing
Cole. I really loved that guy
A lot of the anxiety rep was really accurate to my experiences
Flash backs and present story telling
Levi being funny in a dramatic way
Chef stuff
Hannah’s love of her hair and drastic change with it too

Some things I didn’t like:
The repetitiveness. There was so much repetition in this book, it could have been 50-100 pages less and still just as impactful. The amount of times they have the same conversation is staggering
There is a lot of self reflection with no change until the end
Blowing out a breath

Read if you like:
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ Rep
🥈Second Chance Romances
✡️ Jewish Rep
❤️ Romance
⏳ Flashbacks

This book was such a great love story! I loved the flashbacks and the way that you truly get to know and understand the main characters and fall in love beside them.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC! I truly loved this one so much!

Return to Carrigan's in this sequel to Season of Love, this time focused on the epic love story of Hannah and Levi.

Told in a past/present dual-POV style, this is a great second chance love story and features two Jewish characters. I really enjoyed the writing style and the complicated emotions Levi dealt with about his relationship with Cass and challenging her infallible legacy. I loved the positive therapy rep and the demisexuality rep.

I'd like to think Hannah and Levi make it work, but they both have to put in a lot of effort to do so, which the story shows a decent job of them trying despite their fears.

Thank you to Forever for providing me with an arc of this book.

I dnfed this at 13% in... I wanted to love it, i really did. I love Helena Greer's writing and I keep wanting her stories to work for me but this is the second one I haven't enjoyed. I don't mind miscommunication but after I wasn't feeling it I read some reviews and saw that pretty much the entire book was miscommunication and I just knew I couldn't keep going. When these characters are in their 30s and can fix things with a conversation I'm not going to vibe with it and I'd rather quit while I'm ahead. I probably will try whatever Helena writes next but we will see.

I confess, this rating is heavily influenced by the fact that I have not read the first book, as I didn't know this was a sequel when I downloaded the galley. I think it should be spelled out clearly from the beginning that the first book is required. Otherwise, some of the complicated history around these characters feels like its treated quite cavalierly and almost as throwaway lines. Perhaps with that extra book of character development, the moodswings of our mains would also feel less like whiplash, as sometimes they are deeply in love and sometimes their anger seems to come out of absolutely nowhere. I also was hoping for more nuance around everyone's relationship with Cass, but I suppose it's true to life that there are things you'll never know when a family matriarch passes.

I love the representation in this book, and I think that is so important. Jewish, plus-size, mental health issues, many different iterations of queer - there's a wonderful cast of characters here.

Overall this didn't do it for me, but I do think some people may enjoy seeing themselves represented here.

A lovely follow-up to Greer's first book. Character-focused and clever. A great option for readers who like a closed-door romance without super traditional/conservative themes and people.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 11/28/2023. This book left me… with Feelings. Yes, a capital F and they were conflicted, both good and bad. We shall now unpack. First things first - After reading the first few pages, I realized that there was already too much history and backstory so I stopped and went back and read the first book in the Carrigan’s series, Season of Love. While romance novels don’t usually require this, I suggest it because it gives you much more of a base for a good portion of the cast in For Never & Always. You really only need to “meet” Levi and so it makes keeping names and personalities straight. Not that it’s hard because Greer creates some very memorable characters in both books - quirky, distinct, very rainbow-friendly, creative, neurotic, and memorable. Sometimes a bit too quirky, to be fair, but you don’t mind because they really are such vivid personalities and so very messed-up.

Seriously, Carrigan’s is like the set of a soap opera and it is delightful that one of the characters, the Very Dapper Gay Lawyer Elijah, comments on this more than once. He is our wry (and better dressed) selves on this point because Carrigan’s and its dysfunctional, multi-trauma’d cast are a wealth of issues. Most issues are handled with great sensitivity, just as they were in Season of Love, but there are so very many of them that it becomes more than a little overwhelming. It’s like being hit by a rolled up newspaper over and over. You don’t quite become numb to it (almost, though!) but you do get the feeling that the plot is more to string the traumatic histories together than for the sake of plot.

Which is a bit of a shame because the plot is quite simple and lovely (complete with a surprise twist that you get pretty early on) and features a believable and pretty satisfying HEA (or at least “in the solid process of a HEA”). While the Miscommunication Trope is used fairly frequently, it is actually dealt with through honest to goodness adult communication once the two main characters get over their initial knee-jerk emotions. There is character growth, there is communication, there are changes in relationship dynamics that include more than just the romantic relationships. I love me some good friendship interactions and family growth stories. Especially when families are as complicated as this one!

Which then brings me to one of the especially conflicting parts of this book for me - the absolute heel turn of one of the most beloved figures in the first book. I’m not just talking a different viewpoint of the character either. I’m talking she’s suddenly an absolutely neglectful bitch to the hero and no one saw it even though they all lived in each other’s pockets and nothing in the first book prepped you for this. So either his memories are still Teenage Emo Boy overblown or else everyone else was blind and deaf. It just was super jarring and threw me out of the book repeatedly. There had to be a better way of getting Levi to be a little shit who runs away.

So I liked it well enough but I didn’t love it and again I found myself misled by the cover. Cute cartoon covers do not properly prepare me for the amount of heavy emotional lifting and thorough investigation of nature vs nuture and feelings in this book.

"Never and Always" deserves commendation for its wonderful portrayal of Jewish and plus-size characters, which adds much-needed diversity to the narrative landscape. However, while I appreciate the importance of these representations, the overall book didn't quite resonate with me. It's a matter of personal preference, as the story, characters, or writing style didn't align with my tastes. Nonetheless, for readers seeking more inclusive and diverse literature, this book is worth considering.

I love this cover and the book was really good too! I love plus size characters in books so that was a serious plus. I think this book will be a hit and I can’t wait for everyone to get to read it.

I think my favorite thing about this book is how nuanced it was. I really enjoyed the complexities of the different relationships, especially the ones with Cass (outside of the MCs'). I love that it forced me to read with an open mind and not be too quick to judge. Real life isn't black and white either, right?

Having said that, I regret reading this book without reading the author's previous book, Season of Love, first. It look me awhile to get into the story cause it felt like I should have already known something, if that makes sense. A lot of the angst was also a little difficult to grasp for the same reason.

What I think this book delivered on, though, was representation. I could feel how much heart Greer into writing this variety characters, and I enjoyed them all.