I didn’t realize that this was a sequel so perhaps having not read the first is part of why I sadly did not enjoy this one. The flashbacks did not work for me and I really did not see the connection between main characters at all. However, I loved the representation found in this book and know that it will be loved by many other readers.

4.5 stars rounded up. I so enjoyed For Never & Always, and there were several moments where I screamed and/or had to immediately text a friend to tell them something that happened in the book.

For Never & Always takes place after the events of Season of Love -- Miriam is happily back at Carrigan's and in love with Noelle, and after Levi Blue has returned to Carrigan's, at Hannah's request and also to her dismay. But the story is also told in a series of flashbacks from Hannah and Levi's perspectives, from when they were 5 to when they were 31 and had their catastrophic breakup. I generally do like flashbacks, and I thought the flashbacks here were really well done -- they were perfectly placed to explain something happening in the present, and it was sweet to watch Hannah and Levi fall in love.

There is a lot of angst in this book. Levi basically is the walking talking embodiment of an angsty broody teenager (even when he's 36). And Levi and Hannah have a lot of baggage and a lot of history and a lot of triggered fight and/or flight responses that they have to work through. But it felt so rewarding to watch them work through it (and fail at it, and try again, and fail again, and keep trying), and I couldn't help but root for them. I don't think the word bashert was used to describe them (shockingly), but that's how their relationship came across.

Speaking of bashert, this book is so amazingly Jewish. Levi cooks Jewish food, explicitly, even as he goes on to be a big fancy chef. The book opens at Passover, and the descriptions of the food and hosting a seder and feeling miserable at the lack of bread and the Four Questions are so important to the book and so Jewish and also just feel so normal. There are a nonzero number of times that Levi wears a kippah. Levi says that he keeps kosher-style, so no pork and shellfish. It's just spectacular Jewish representation. (And as a little bit of an aside, the way that Helena Greer writes like I do, with G-d and Kel Malei Rachamim, is a whole nother kind of representation that I never expected but am thrilled to see.)

And speaking of representation, there is all kinds of queer representation in For Never & Always. Levi coming out to Hannah as demi and pan is sweet and tender, and Levi coming out to Noelle was also sweet and hilarious at the same time. Cole returns and has an announcement, too! (It seems like Tara's story is next, but I want Cole and Sawyer!!)

One last thing -- this book somehow managed to be steamy and fade-to-black at the same time, which is impressive, even if I still would rather read an open door book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for providing me with an eARC of For Never & Always in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

As I said before, if there is a plus size woman on the cover...I'M GONNA NEED TO REQUEST IT! This cover is beautiful and so was the story. I have read many second chance romance but this was so cute. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

When I read Season of Love I was obsessed with Hannah and Levi and he wasn’t even on page, so I was dying for their book. I knew it was gonna be good and it has been!

This angst level was high. VERY high. I will no go into detail because I think it’s better to go in blind, but my jaw dropped a few times. Their love was so so intense. Levi was set on reminding Hannah that he loved her, though Hannah didn’t need reminders because she hadn’t forgotten him either. Since the beginning, their love wasn’t a problem in the relationship.

I admit that the more I knew about their relationship and their past… the more I thought that love wasn’t enough to save it in this case. I don’t know how I feel about how everything progressed. I really like them, but I think I liked them more as friends. Knowing the problems that caused their breakup made me a bit cold towards the present and their second chance.

Aside from this, I can’t deny that I loved this book and it was a big serve. The writing was amazing, the flashbacks were perfect to understand Hannah and Levi and the side characters helped a lot (especially Cole I love Cole so much).

TW: Emotional abuse, homophobia, panic attacks/agoraphobia

Rating: 4/5
Steam level: Fade to black

ARC provided by Forever and NetGalley. Opinions are my own!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of For Never & Always by Helena Greer!

I have been anxiously waiting for Levi and Hannah’s book since the end of [book:Season of Love|60383010] and this did not disappoint. I adore everything about Carrigan’s Christmasland and this cast of characters and I loved that this book was about growing up and coming home. I related to Levi so much in both timelines (I love the demisexual representation so much!), and I loved watching the personal growth of both him and Hannah through this story.

While this book isn’t being marketed as part of a series, I think reading Season of Love before this will enhance your enjoyment of this book. Greer does add in mentions and details of side characters throughout the story but I could see it being overwhelming and potentially impacting opinions about pacing without having read the previous book.

The end of the ARC also mentions Tara’s book is next, which is very exciting, but I admit I am most looking forward to a potential Cole book.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't work for me. I found it very hard to get through. I didn't really like any of the characters and felt no connection to any of them. I did like the representation in the book, especially the demisexual representation, which I hope becomes more seen in books in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

📚 A R C R E V I E W 📚

⭐️⭐️⭐️ .5

♥️ second chance romance
♥️childhood friends to lovers
♥️LGBT+ rep
♥️therapy and mental health rep
♥️small town romance
♥️dual timeline
♥️sequel

This book centres around an inn that started off as a Christmas-themed hotel and tree farm, but was turned into a year-round destination. Such a fun concept!

Hannah and Levi have been best friends their whole lives and fell in love. She wanted to stay and run the business. He wanted to go out and pursue other endeavours and they broke up. Now, he’s back to win her over.

Their relationship ended because they ultimately wanted different things, but the passion and love between these two is entirely transparent. Levi has some of the swooniest declarations I’ve ever read 😍. He is so mesmerized by Hannah and so deeply in love with her that he will go to any lengths necessary to win her back.

This book includes a cast of quirky and loveable characters. It definitely has a small town feel!

It also includes many details about Jewish religious celebrations and holidays. I’ve never read about Judaism in fiction before and it was to see new representation.

This is sequel, but can be read as a stand alone.

Thank you to @netgalley for an ARC of this book!

QOTD: What was the best ARC you’ve read recently?

#arcreview #netgalley #lgbtromance #bibliophile #prettybooks #bookstagram #bookblog #romancereads #books #bookworm #bookaddict #romcombooks #explore #explorepage #bookish #bookishlife #bookrecs #bookrecommendations #romancebooks #bookreviews #bookshelves #bookaesthetic #booktok #romancebooksofig #bookphotography #bookphotos #contemporaryromance #bookart #booksandcoffee

For Never and Always vibes:

-hate that I still love you
-childhood friends to lovers
-Logan and Veronica vibes
-INTENSITY
-Jewish rep
-Demisexual rep
-COMMUNICATION (eventually)
-SO. MUCH. TENSION.
-GUYLINER

Levi’s been a part of Carrigan’s his whole life, and never wanted to stay. Hannah traveled too much in her younger days and never wants to leave. So what happens when these two extremely passionate, stubborn people fall in love?

Lots of heartbreak.

Levi is a famous chef, fresh off a cooking competition when he’s called to return home to his lost love who told him never to come back. Hannah has locked herself in the metaphorical tower of Carrigan’s, running the place with precision. But when Levi returns, her castle crumbles when she discovered that her beloved Cass might not have been who she thought she was. Both Hannah and Levi have to come to terms with this news and the impact it has in their relationship. Levi wants to stay together, but Hannah doesn’t think they should, so they go on a series of dates to prove whether they should stay together or end things.

As with Season of Love, there are LOTS of feelings. Loooots of feelings, but it’s not angst in an emo way, though Levi does rock the hell out of the guyliner. What we get from our couple is a seemingly impossible choice, if they’re to stay together, only one of them gets to have the life they want.

I enjoyed the resolution of this so much, I appreciate that the solution wasn’t a shitty compromise, and not some contrived, duct-taped plan. (Not to disparage duct-tape, but in this instance something a little more serious was needed.) I enjoyed the whole cast, being back at Carrigan’s, and Levi and Hannah’s whole dynamic.

Helena Greer does this thing where she wraps up large, difficult feelings in flannel, or in the case of the second book—an oversized scarf. Carrigan’s is one of my favorite places on earth and I’ve never been there, but Greer has created this cozy space that comes alive.

This is 4.5 stars rounded up for me. A huge thank you to netgalley, Helena Greer, and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Ii appreciate that this book features both Jewish and queer characters, which is hard combination to find. That said, the story itself is a little dull and there really isn't much dramatic tension. I love a second chance romance, but this just was way too inevitable and their angst was not very angsty.

This was a cute little romance story! It was definitely a good palette cleanser after reading so many thrillers. So cute!

A book with great Jewish rep is always a plus for me, and I loved how inclusive the characters were across the board. That being said, I was hoping for more from this second chance romance. This is a sequel to her first book Season of Love, and I felt a little lost without having read it based on the sheer number of characters and backstory shoved into the first 50 pages. Not quite for me but I am sure this will appeal to other readers.

Layered, interesting, complicated, and diverse characters! I'm usually not one for second-chance-romance, but this one had so man layers. I love that it's a holiday book focusing on Jewishness. The queer representation is also aces! The main characters have so much to work through, but needed to do that the be together! Their love was so deep and fierce and it was amazing to watch them grow and fight for it without giving up on their dreams.

Season of Love was one of my favourite books of 2022, so I was excited to read For Never & Always and had high hopes. While I mostly enjoyed this book, I struggled to read it (it took me almost the entire month of August to get through it because I kept setting it aside).

I’ll start with what I liked:
-Being back at Carrigan’s and seeing all the characters I grew to love in Season of Love.
-Both Levi and Hannah’s passion for and dedication to their jobs. As a foodie, I particularly enjoyed all the talk of food and Levi’s love of cooking and eating.
-All the rep: demisexuality, queerness, anxiety, Jewish rep, Hannah being fat.
-I appreciated that, as with Miriam and Noelle in Season of Love, Hannah and Levi were deeply flawed, realistic characters, and for the most part, I appreciated their growth.

Now, what didn’t work for me. This story was so repetitive and drawn out. It could have been about half the length if we weren’t told over and over and OVER about how awful Cass was, how much Hannah hated to travel, how Levi was a screw-up, how much Noelle hated Levi, etc. Hannah and Levi go around in circles endlessly and have the same conversation ad nauseam. It was exhausting, and it affected my overall enjoyment of the book. Will I recommend it to other readers? Yes, I think so. Will I read the next book in the series? Absolutely, without question.

Helena apologies for Levi and I humbly accept that apology.

Hannah, Miriam, and Noelle await the return of their fourth shareholder of Cass Carrigan’s Christmas destination in the Adirondacks. Levi Blue Matthews, famous for his bad boy chef reputation on Australian TV, returns un-triumphantly after a messy end to his relationship with Hannah, his parents, and Cass.

Levi is going through what so many people do when it comes to returning to their hometown. There’s this incredible stigma about being someone who grows up and moves right back to the same place they were raised. For Levi, he never wants to revert to becoming the same person he was in the past and the further away he can get, the more successful he feels. When he has to return, he has to put in an active effort to show all those who loved him that he is a new person, not the same prickly cactus boy who pushed his best friends away.

I related strongly to Hannah in this story because she really tries to keep everything and everyone together by herself… so much so that when things don’t go as expected, she holds herself accountable. She also has ambitious goals that have been reached and is at the point of “Now what?” I am at that point in my own life- I had so many goals for getting a job in a specific way and now have that job… and now what do I do? Staying fulfilled after completing everything you set out to do is a perspective not often portrayed in books, but both Levi and Hannah are experiencing a different form of this.

Hannah and Levi are new soul characters, and I love both of them so much. I rooted for them from the moment they revealed the big secret about their relationship through their last date and Levi’s surprise grand gesture. Carrigan’s feels like home and I hope Helena continues to write in a universe with a place for a Christmas farm home to Kringle the cat.

Pick up "For Never & Always" for:
• Second chance romance
• Flirty but fade-to-black spice
• Friends & Family
• Celebration of Jewish life
• Demisexual rep

This was very much a 'miss' for me. All the drama happened in the past. And while I was excited for Hannah and Levi to reconcile their differences, more pages were devoted to a sort of 'who hurt more' competition.

I would recommend this book only to readers who enjoyed the author's first work. Heres hoping that if you've already invested your heart into the characters, and the Christmas Tree Farm they all call home, you'll get much more from this read than me.

Thank you Netgalley & Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.75/5 ⭐️
I definitely liked the premise of the book, I’m a sucker for a second chance romance and it delivered on that end. There was lots of pining and angst between Levi and Hannah, it was hilarious witnessing Hannah try to deny that.
I do feel like sometimes the book would drag on or a lot of information being thrown at once. This could however be due to me not having read the first book of the series.
The book could have definitely been a lot shorter if Levi and Hannah communicated better lol, which was an issue they were struggling with, and even if it dragged on, I was happy to see them both grow in the end and finally TALK and communicate their needs. It was a little frustrating at times when they chose to shut each other off, because y’all are in your thirties come on. I really did, however, enjoy the last couple chapters, I think that’s what saved this book a bit for me.

Out of everything, I really loved Miriam and Levi’s friendship. I think whenever they talked they just became vulnerable and really understood each other. It was nice.

This one is very slow paced. As in, I kept checking my progress and I wasn't getting anywhere. I know Seasons of Love was like that as well, but since that one was sapphic, I let it slide, whereas this one, I ended up just DNFing, because the couple was not as compelling to me.

Thank you to Helen Greer, Forever Grand Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. For Never & Always comes put November 28, 20203.

For Never & Always is a second chance romance between Hannah and Blue, childhood friends turned lovers. Once a great love, the couple has been separated for 4 years because Hannah is not able to leave their hometown and Inn and Blue was not able to stay. Now Blue is back after making a name for him as a chef, he is back to find his place as part owner of the inn he grew up in. Blue is determined to win Hannah back and Hannah is determined to stay separated. Will the two be able to reconcile or are they doomed to repeat the errors of their past.

I have incredibly mixed feelings about this book. First off if you are planning on reading For Never & Always, I'm begging you to read the book that comes before this, Seasons of Love. I feel like if you don't read it, you are missing critical information. Second, I am going to through what I loved about this book. The biggest thing I loved about this book and Greer's previous book is the found family aspect that is very present. You can tell that once you are in the fold with these characters you are family no matter if by blood or not. I also loved how much representation is in the book including queer characters, Jewish characters and mental health. I especially loved the Demi representation because it's rare to see that in a novel. Also, I loved most of the side characters and thought they made this book. Third, I am going to go through what I really disliked about the book and all of it surrounds the two main characters. I felt like even though second-chance romances td o have angst, this book not only had too much angst, but it went on for too long into the book. I also think a lot of the angst centered on Hannah not knowing what she wanted but also not helping with solutions to the couple's problems. And While Blue did have his faults, I hated not only how he was treated by almost everyone but even the way Hannah thought internally about Blue was kind of horrible. Even when Hannah acknowledged that Blue has changed, she kept throwing him leaving in his face, even though she was a big part of the horrible way he did leave. Even by the end of the book it was hard for me to feel warm and fuzzy because for most of the book I didn't feel the love towards Blue. Overall, it wasn't my favorite book by Greer, but it won't stop me from reading something by her in the future.

I loved this follow up to Season of Love so much. I knew I would, the moment that Levi showed up on the page at the end of the prior book, but I didn't expect just how much.

I've read a lot of books this year with dual timelines, and I think this one hits the sweet spot of showing enough of the past to understand where these characters are coming from, and enough of the present to understand how and why these characters are coming together again now.

I love both Hannah and Levi for different reasons. Hannah for her relatability, anxiety, and desire to be loved in spite of her flaws; Levi for his exploration of how his queerness impacts the rest of his life, and the unpacking of his past: people are rarely all good or all bad.

It's hard to exactly put into words why I loved this as much as I did, but I know this was a strong follow up to Helena Greer's first, and I will be reading anything else she writes!