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!

This one just didn't work for me -- second chance romances are a hard sell, and even more so when the full-grown adult characters are still deep in their childhood emotions with childlike ability to communicate. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this one in advance.

"For Never & Always" by Helena Greer is a poignant exploration of emotions and relationships that left a lasting impression. The story delves into the complexities of human connection, love, and personal growth.

Greer's writing invites readers into the minds and hearts of the characters, allowing us to experience their joys and struggles firsthand. The characters are multidimensional, and their interactions are filled with authenticity. The author's portrayal of their emotions is raw and relatable, making their journey one that resonates on a profound level.

At the core of the narrative is a tender and heartfelt romance that unfolds with genuine emotion. The slow-building connection between the characters is portrayed with a delicate touch, allowing readers to witness the evolution of their feelings. The moments of vulnerability and intimacy are captured with sensitivity, adding depth to the story.

The novel also explores themes of self-discovery and the impact of past choices on the present. Greer skillfully weaves together timelines and perspectives, creating a narrative that invites reflection on the significance of pivotal moments in our lives.

"For Never & Always" is a testament to Greer's ability to craft evocative prose that draws readers into the world she has created. The pacing of the story keeps the momentum going, allowing the emotional resonance to build as the plot unfolds.

In summary, "For Never & Always" is a beautifully written novel that tugs at the heartstrings. With its exploration of love, growth, and the intricate threads that bind us to one another, this book is a touching read for those who appreciate stories that touch the soul.

I never expected the sheer amount of drama that this book had (which may be a good or bad thing depending on your tastes). Very heavy on the miscommunication/lack of communication trope despite our main characters being in their 30s, but also great demisexual and queer representation as well as a lot of Jewish representation. A little bit of a middle of the road kind of boom for me.

Hannah and Levi are a hot mess. I can’t fathom being in your mid-thirties and having such awful communication. However, I did think their character arcs were good and I did like that they reached out for counseling towards the end (which should’ve come a lot sooner to be honest). I did find the writing style to be good, but I did think the large cast of characters and constant flipping between different ages from different perspectives made it a little hard to follow at times. I liked Hannah and Levi’s work ethic towards furthering their respective careers, but together they were definitely chaotic.

I really liked the demisexual and queer representation and as someone who is demi, I saw a lot of myself in how Levi lives out his friendships and relationship. I love seeing demi representation in books finally and I loved the variety of LGBTQ+ relationships between characters. I also appreciated the handling of Hannah’s anxiety disorder and how after a lifetime as a kid never settling down in one place has led to her being afraid to leave her comfort zone. While her and Levi might’ve been a mess, I liked how they compromised on how to help her while also respecting her anxiety of being too far away from the only place she’s ever felt at home.

While definitely chaotic and full of drama, I can kinda see what the author intended. I just think some things like reducing the large cast of characters a little, streamlining and reducing the variety of age perspectives, and having a more mature relationship between Hannah and Levi would’ve really helped. Because while I liked the characters on their own, I just never fully got on board with them together as they just couldn’t communicate at the level you’d expect for characters within their age group and what you’d think their maturity would be.

-friends to lovers (to exes), second chance romance, surprise inheritance 🧑‍🍳🏠
-I enjoyed Hannah and Levi as a couple
-the representation was done well!
-thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC

3.8⭐️

Fun, smart, swoony, and heart warming! For Never & Always needs to be on your shelves and Helena Greer should become an auto buy. Love the rep!

Wow! This second book is even better than Helena Greer's last one. We are back at Carrigan's Christmasland right where we left off with the end of Season of Love. (I recommend reading that first.)

For Never & Always focuses on Hannah Rosenstein and Levi Blue. They were childhood best friends and then lovers. But he has been gone for years. Now he's returned, having inherited one quarter of the inn. Hannah is super organized and has devoted herself to running Carrigan's while he has traveled the world and become somewhat famous as a chef.

This romance novel is amazing. I greatly appreciated the celebration of Jewish faith, especially the Passover seder. I still absolutely love Carrigan's and wish I could go there in real life. But I also could completely relate to and understand Levi's need to get away and feeling of being an outcast who didn't fit into small town life. As an additional bonus, the books on the Book Club list starting some sections are some of my favorites.

This book felt like a grown up romance novel, not just because of Hannah and Levi's ages, but because of the growth that each character goes through. They have legitimate issues that have kept them apart, but their love is so strong. I really appreciated the mental health representation and especially the acknowledgement that the appropriate kind of mental health care can look different for different people. Their feelings are so deep and so real.

This is intense and angsty and realistic. Every part of it resonated with me. After reading Season of Love, I wondered if I could possibly like Levi. But I found that I loved him even more than Hannah. I related to strongly to his character. You know writing is truly powerful when alternating points of view draw you so completely in that you fully take that character's perspective. I highlighted so much of this book and expect to re-read and annotate again and again.

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

This book was perfectly paced and I love how the reconciliation between Hannah and Levi was not rushed. My main complaint was the character of Levi, I felt that he was given every stereotypical outward appearance to show he was not in fact straight and it honestly at times felt a touch offensive, like I would have much preferred to trust that the story will speak for itself.

I found this book a bit confusing but in all honesty, that's on me for not realizing this was a sequel and not a standalone or first book in a series when I requested it. Outside of that, and after a quick read of the first book, the constant flashbacks and side character stories convoluted the book and made it difficult to keep up. Additionally, I found it difficult to root for our main couple given I felt they both truly needed to work through things separately before even considering coming together. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me.