I am all about the holiday novels these days! This one is a fun one for those who love Christmas towns and villages as this is primarily where this book takes place. The authors had such distinct personalities and lead to you wonder will they ever figure out how to get along?

For Never & Always is a complicated second-chance romance covering love, loss and so so so many layers and feelings, The characters can be quite frustrating, yet they are self-aware and admittedly trying their best. There are also a lot of components to keep track of from many side-characters to multiple timelines. It was a bit more of an involved read than I was anticipating, but I do think many will enjoy it.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I did not realize this book was a series, and I have not read the first book. This definitely left a gap for me to have a connection with some of the characters.

4.5 / 5 stars
This book was a bit different than the books that I typically but I absolutely enjoyed it. The representation was awesome as well as educational. I am hoping to get my hands on a copy of the first book.

Everything about this book just exhausted me. Though Helena Greer's writing is quite good her characters and story are so filled to the brim with disfunction all I wanted for was everyone to get the hell away from each other and start over.

I was so happy to go back to Carrigan's again! I wanted to see how Miriam and Noelle were doing and I was anxiously awaiting the fallout of Levi's return from the end of 'Season of Love'. I was so excited to see what happened with Hannah and Levi. There were a lot of surprises in their relationship, and I loved the journey that they went on to find their happily ever after.

I loved the demi rep and the Jewish rep too. It was great to see such care and explanation. This book actually had two characters come out, and I loved how those stories played out for them.

I didn't like the pacing of the book. The flashbacks threw off the rhythm of the story. I know why they were there because they showed the past between Levi and Hannah, but I wish there weren't as many of them.

Overrall, although it took some time to get into the book, I was happy with the way the characters ended up. I appreciated that they didn't compromise or change themselves in order to find their happily ever after.

I'm also looking forward to book #3 in the series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC of this book.

I was so excited for this book, but unfortunately this one wasn’t for me. I really liked the premise of this one and I loved the MMC, however some aspects didn’t work for me overall.

The FMC of the story was largely unlikable and unfortunately ruined for me what could have been a great story. I found that she self-sabotaged many of her relationships but never took responsibility for this or had any character growth in this regard.

Levi is one of the best MMC I’ve read about in a long time, and I loved his story and character arc. His growth throughout the story was fantastic.
The LGBTQ+ rep in the story was also really well done.

This one wasn’t for me, but if you’ve enjoyed this author’s previous work I would encourage you to pick this up!

Thank you to Forever Publishing and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This is a cute 2nd chance romance but not one that id slap people with a copy while begging them to check it out. It gets a 2.5 stars from me.

I just had a reeeeally hard time getting into it. It was a painfully slow start and I've learned that I'm just not a fan when chapters are jumping back and forth between past and present. There was also some "telling but not showing" which was just not my jam.

Maybe a big reason I wasn't more enthralled with it was because I didn't read the first book ...and I'm thinking that I probably would have liked that one better. This sequel is just kinda, fine* for a reader being able to jump in without having read the previous story. I really did love the queer representation though.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC so that I may share my feedback and review

this book just wasn’t for me but i think other people might enjoy it! especially if you read and enjoyed helena greer’s first novel, season of love!

I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately, I didn't. From the get-go, I found the story very confusing to follow (I now realize this book is a sequel). There were so many characters and side stories, and when adding in the constant flashbacks, I struggled to keep track of it all.

Overall, this book was sadly a miss for me, but I hope to have better luck with this author in the future.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

I’ve been anticipating Hannah and Levi’s story since it was announced (okay honestly since I finished the author’s first book). The pining and the history and the hurt and the growth were amazing. The characters were frustrating at times but in a way that made sense for the story and to move the plot along. I loved getting to see more of their friends and family throughout the story agin and loved all the celebrations and events. I appreciated the demisexual rep SO much. There’s a scene for Hannah that is very pivotal that I very much identified with as well. Making a big decision for yourself is so empowering!

<b>Thank you to Helena Greer, Grand Central Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to review. </b> Though I received a copy in return for a review the opinions of this review are my own.....

<b> For Never & Always is a modern, Jewish, queer, neurodivergent, closed-door, reinterpretation of Jane Austen's Persuasion </b> (one of my all-time favorite books). Wow, that's a lot to unpack in one sentence! Helena Greer does a great job of making Hannah and Levi Blue into whole people with their own complicated and entwined histories, desires, hopes, and needs. Hannah is great but I have to say that Levi-Blue made this book for me the way his outer appearance and the expectations others have of him are at odds with who he is on the inside is excellent. <spoiler> One expects him to have been this playboy who left his wife and responsibilities behind to seek fame. Instead, we discover that in a misguided attempt to find peace for himself and Hannah, he forgot to listen and consider her needs as well as his. </spoiler> What I really loved about this book is that it takes the original story of long lost and estranged lovers from Persuasion and not only updates it and makes it more inclusive but also adds to it - as Hannah and Levi are forced to work through their issues and find better and healthier ways to love and support one another.

Stars: 5/5
Spice: 0/5

After really enjoying Season of Love, I've been anticipating the sequel for almost a year. I definitely think you should read book 1 before going into this one, because I feel like you need an existing connection with these characters for it to work. Most of the more negative reviews I've read, have mentioned that they didn't read book 1, in which case I definitely understand not enjoying it.

While I did enjoy this, I have some complicated feelings about this. This book is just a LOT in terms of how melodramatic it gets, and it definitely annoyed me at times. But there's nothing I could say to criticize this that wasn't also addressed in the book, because the book is actually really self aware about this. So while I did get annoyed at times, I also think the book did a great job addressing this, and this made the book work for me despite my annoyance, especially when the story started to progress.

I loved the setting and characters in the first book, and again loved them here. Especially because there was even more room for complex feelings and flaws. Like I already said, the book starts out really melodramatic, and in ways it stays like that, but these feelings also do get a lot of depth, and the characters do work through them. And I can't say I'm not a sucker for a second chance romance where characters feel like they belong together.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Helena Greer for this ARC. I was so excited to read For Never & Always because of the Jewish and Demi rep. But this was unfortunately not the book for me. I was so sad but I just couldn't get into the book or vibe with any of the characters.

This was such a unique, sweet, fun second chance romance! Hannah & Levi were best friends who became enemies when he decided to leave her to go pursue his job. they were brought back together when they both inherit the inn in their hometown. I appreciated Levi‘s dedication to trying to win hannah back, but there was a lot going on in the story that made it kind of confusing to follow at times. I really routed for Hannah and Levi, but I fully understood and appreciated hannah‘s hesitant to trust Levi again.
I absolutely loved the representation in this book, as well as the character development, both Levi and hannah had, individually, and together. By the end of the story, I felt both of them had done the work to earn each other’s trust, respect, and love.

Thank you for the ARC!!!

I thought this was a really cute read! I struggled a little getting into it for the first ~25-30%--something about the pacing felt a little slow, I think--but after that I felt like the book hit its stride and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Hannah and Levi's characters and the second-chance romance was sweet. I got a little confused with some of the side characters and stories, but it didn't really detract anything from the story for me--I just had to go back sometimes to refresh my memory. Also really loved and appreciated the rep in this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the eARC!

Thank you netgalley, Forever Publishing for the free e-arc in exchange for my honest review. I love the characters the kitschy holiday farm and the folks that found it this is my new favorite book by Helena Greer will need to preorder this one.

This book is very much for fans of Helena Greer's "Season of Love," and as someone who did not read that one prior to picking up "For Never & Always," it lacked the backstory that preexisting readers already knew about. That being said, "For Never & Always" was a cute, authentic and vulnerable second-chance romance told in dual points of views. It's an intriguing concept (with a "wait, what? that's at play here?" surprise reveal that changes EVERYTHING) and full of compelling language that draws you in. It's nice to see an authentic representation of both Judaism and the LGBTQIA+ community, which I'm always a fan of tenfold.

CW: Anxiety

I have complicated feelings about this book, which makes total sense because this book is FULL of complicated feelings. Disclaimer: I have not read the first book in the series, so I didn’t have any backstory or connection yet to any of the characters here.

Hannah and Levi have loved each other their whole lives, but Levi left her behind five years ago to adventure the world as a chef while she stayed at Carrigan’s and eventually took over running the operation. Levi has returned to win her back and the two of them have to face a whole lot of hurt and conflicting needs to figure out if there’s any way they can make it work together.

The complicated feelings came from complex characters in Levi and Hannah. Levi was incredibly frustrating in the shades of his past attitude snuck in even though he’d clearly grown during his time away. Being back at Carrigan’s reverted him back to teen hurts and being on the defensive. On the flip side, it was completely fair of him to be frustrated in return with anyone trying to devalue his feelings of his remembered experience. I think as the book went on, he showed a massive amount of strength in facing his emotions and insecurities tied to his home, as much for himself as for his relationship with Hannah. Hannah wasn’t as frustrating, but she was just as complex. I could understand her desire for stability after a childhood of anything but, and I admired to work she put into herself after Levi left to face her anxiety. She was protective of her heart when he returned, but all she wanted was for him to really see her and truly consider her needs in contrast to his own and help her see a way they could work.

The part of the book that let me down were the flashbacks. They disrupted the flow and felt awkwardly inserted. The shining moments of this book were the moments that Hannah and Levi were really facing their issues and having meaningful, deep conversations about their past, present, and future. I wish some of the key parts of those flashbacks would’ve been worked into those conversations to include them without making them individual chapters.

I was very excited to read this book and get to re-visit the Carrigan’s world again! In this story, which can be read as a stand alone, we get Hannah and Levi’s story. Hannah is a super organized control freak in charge of Carrigan’s, who loves Carrigan’s and never wants to leave after her globe trotting upbringing. Levi or Blue, is a surly chef who could not leave Carrigan’s fast enough once he was old enough to make his own choices. Levi and Hannah were madly in love, but could not reconcile what they wanted in life, so they parted on awful terms. In a surprise twist Cass named Levi as one of the heirs, so Hannah needs Levi to come back one last time to figure out this issue so they can all move forward. Except, even though she doesn’t want it to be, the attraction between them is still there. There were a lot of twists and turns and surprises in this story, and so much main character growth. I loved the side characters, the setting of Carrigan’s, and the queer and Jewish representation in this book. I also appreciated the trigger warnings at the beginning of the story, to give readers a chance to make a choice on if this story might be too hard for them to read. Another great story by Helena Greer. And I’m hoping for at least one more Carrigan’s story maybe featuring Cole or Tara before we have to leave these set of characters. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for honest feedback. Romance novels aren’t usually my thing without a serious plot or some decent spice. This one has neither, revolving mainly on the character growth and emotional development of the main characters, and yet I really enjoyed myself. The interactions and growth felt real and not overly forced. I was skeptical as the book started with a “dreamier than realistic” male lead, but he had some depth I didn’t expect. I also loved seeing a demisexual character given space, and respect, and inclusion in the rainbow. Loved the diverse characters and the focus on Jewish spirituality (no I am not Jewish so I couldn’t tell you if it was accurately represented though it felt so). Overall I enjoyed this book way more than expected.