Levi returns to the resort, Carrigans, in an effort to make things right with his lifelong best friend/romantic interest Hannah, and right the wrongs of the past. I love how this romantic comedy blended reality tv with Jewish and LGBTQIA+ themes. While I enjoyed the flashbacks in time, there were times when the pacing felt a little disjointed. Overall, I enjoyed reading Hannah and Levi’s love story, and would be interested in reading more books by this author, it had a fun, rom-com feel!

This book was lovely. Realistically flawed MCs who self-admit that they’re sometimes assholes? I love it (as an occasional asshole myself). I’m also very demisexual and needed to get away from my hometown to travel, so I related a lot to Levi/Blue. My feelings towards Hannah are complicated, but in a good way — I can see where she’s coming from but I don’t agree with her actions sometimes. We’re all flawed! But the two of them break their relationship pattern and actually put in the work to communicate with each other. It was great!

Oooooo I loved this book so much!

Hannah, with her anxiety disorder and curvy figure (wahoo fat girl rep!), running a small town Inn where she grew up with her two best friends.

Levi, with all his spiky edges, figuring out his queer identity and what he truly wants in life, comes back to the home he always hated to win back Hannah, the love of his life.

Helena Greers' description of Hannah's anxiety and agoraphobia was so spot on at some points in the book I had to set it down bc it felt so real to me, someone with generalized anxiety disorder. Also, the way Levi discusses being demisexual was refreshing!

I loved the friendships and all the imperfect people. This was my first Helena Greer book, but I have Seasons of Love now on my TBR! Thank you, NetGalley and Forever publishing for this ARC!

Loved the queer and Jewish rep in For Never & Always, but that was about it. It just fell flat for me and didn't hold my attention well

I had really high hopes for For Never & Always but it just fell flat for me. I'm not entirely sure why this one didn't work for me, but it seems like a lot of people loved this book!

For Never and Always by Helena Greer is probably the best rom com with queer and Jewish representations that I have EVER read. I truly enjoyed the second chance romance aspect and the characters…. Oh the super developed, flawed, loving, and just plain perfect characters made this novel a rom com that will capture hearts everywhere. A little out of my genre, I saw the blurb and felt like I should give it a try. Reviews on books that you do not normally read can be hard sometimes but with this one, I am so afraid I won’t do it justice. This one had me laughing and crying and sometimes both together but the hope in all of us that the one that got away will come back is certainly what makes this book more special than others.

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you NetGalley as well as the author and Grand Central Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

It was back to Carrigan's, which I adored! You get to find out what happened in the past and present between Levi and Hannah. The book ended differently than i predicted, but I was okay with it. I'm excited about the next book. Thanks to #netgalley for the arc!

I have pretty mixed feelings on this one. I thought the cast was interesting, I loved the rep, and the prose was lovely. But the second chance romance felt like it was so weighed down by backstory--both for the main pairing and for every side character--that it felt like there was very little room for the actual romance to grow.

OMG I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF BEING BACK AT CARRIGANS!!!

Seriously yall, Season of Love was epic but this one was phenomenal. Hannah and Levi's story was the perfect second book and one of my favorite if not the best second chance love stories. The queer and Jewish representation was perfection, and the characters exploring their mental health issues was so damn heartwarming to read. Levi and Hannah are the picture perfect guide to how love sometimes isn't enough. Love is the foundation sure, but they both had to grow up, fix themselves, and then come together and fix each other. We're all a bunch of broken children after all, and it was nice to finally pick up a book that acknowledges that and doesn't simply have to perfect characters join their perfect bodies and perfect lives and ride off into the sunset. Levi explores his sexuality. Hannah deals with anxiety and is a curvy goddess. Noelle is a fat dapper butch. We have a world of NORMAL people with normal bodies and normal struggles.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, but Carrigans in my heart will always be a real place. (Don't judge me!) The icing on the cake was the absolute very end where we are given a sneak peek into the future. Now if only I could speed up time to get to Noelle and Miri's wedding! Helena Greer has crafted a magical world where everyone who's queer, struggles with mental health issues, or just always feels out of place like Levi can feel right at home. Normal and loved. I loved every single page. Even cried a little at the end.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I received an advanced review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Helena Greer, and Forever Grand Central Publishing.

This is a second chance romance where the main characters work hard on themselves to be together. I enjoyed the setting of this story with most of the characters living together like a small village. However, I did feel like there were a few too many side stories and characters. I’m assuming that is so the author can introduce them to continue the series. This book was hard to get into and I felt like I was constantly trying to understand all of the quirky little asides. I did enjoy the Jewish and Queer representation in the book.

DNF at 26%, and I’m bummed about it. This had potential with a cute plot and a super cute surprise twist that happened immediately, but I felt so dizzy reading it with all the characters and everything going on. A quarter into the book and it’s been two weeks of reading, I should be invested, but I’m not. I didn’t read the first book, which you don’t have to because they are stand-alone romances. But maybe if I already had and loved the characters, it would have helped?

I loved the Jewish representation!

This story was so out of my norm but so cute and romantic! I loved all the little facets that made this story amazing! One of them being how involved and loving the family was. Even when they were angry this family stood by each other and didn’t let each other fall.

Hannah and Blue were their own worst enemy! They loved hard but let their fears take over and that’s what lead to their demise!

I love that Blue when he was ready didn’t let Hannah give up. He knew their love was forever and he spent time showing Hannah! This family was so odd at times but I loved it. I didn’t know they were a Jewish family and it was interesting to read about their dynamic and I appreciated the insight into a world I didn’t previously know.

A very beautiful read for sure!

I selected this ARC on NetGalley because I liked the cover, and it looked like a fun read. For Never & Always is exactly what I thought and surprisingly so MUCH more.

After years apart, childhood loves, Hannah and Levi are thrown back together by the surprise inheritance of the inn where they grew up and where their love fall apart. The reunion is not a happy one. While time has not killed their attraction for one another, it unfortunately hasn’t eliminated any baggage either. These two misunderstand each other in the way that only comes after years of love, suppressed emption, and terrible communication.

Levi left Carrigan’s Inn because he felt like he would die if he didn’t, but Hannah couldn’t go with him for the same reason. She craved stability after a childhood of traipsing around the globe. Even after the loss of Hannah’s aunt, Cass, the former owner of Carrigan’s and the steady parental force in her life, Hannah still can’t leave. However, Levi is now ready to acknowledge the role Cass played in his defining moments- their uncoupling, his career, and his loss of Carrigan’s as his home. Throughout the story, Cass is a giant looming in the background, embedded as the subtext to everyone’s story. Helena Greer beautifully depicts Cass as this flawed character who invokes complex emotions for everyone who orbited around her. This resonated because feelings are not black and white. It is difficult to completely love someone or hate them, and death doesn’t fix this. In fact, it often makes it more complicated.

While I enjoyed the love story and journey that we take with the characters, what I MOST LOVED was the eloquent Jewish and LGBTQIA representation- important characters in relevant roles. The inclusion didn’t feel like pandering. It was powerful for me to read about Judaism and its traditions and then also sexuality in a way that was meaningful to the characters and added important depth. I could go on about this book forever, and in fact I did. I spent more time editing this than writing! I recommend this book. Read it. You won’t be disappointed. Available November 28, 2023!

It was a pretty good book, I appreciated that the characters actually healed and saw their issues, but it was rather slow for my liking. I also enjoy more sass and banter, but it wasn't terrible. Just not a book for me.

I really liked this book. It navigates grief and fear, anxiety and sexuality, as well as the families we are born into and the families we choose. Hannah and Levi are so right and SO wrong for each other. This has been described as a last chance romance and that perfectly encapsulates the feel of it. Either they get together now or they're going to have to be apart forever.

It also has a lovely discussion and exploration of demisexuality.

Going into this one I didn't realize it was book 2 of a series. Reading book 1 wasn't necessary but would've provided some much needed background on Noelle and all of the friendships.

Read this if you love:
- second chance romance
- LGBTQ+ representation
- Jewish representation

Recommended!

Great characters, and a great second-chance romance story. I loved the queer and Jewish representation, and loved the slow-and-steady pacing and witty banter. I’d love to check out more titles from this author.

Really excited about this book. It was an Absolutely phenomenal read. High will recommend to others to pick up as soon as it is released.

This was a good read but I couldn’t get into it as much as I was hoping. I didn’t read the first book in this series which may be part of the problem as many characters had a backstory from that book. The time jumping also made this a little hard to follow. I did love the setting of the Christmas tree farm and the event planning. I also would have loved more about Levi’s cooking as part of this given it was such a big part of his life
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I'm a sucker for second chance romances when done well, AND THIS WAS DONE SO WELL 😭 this book is like a manifestation of "How You Get The Girl" by Tay Swift

Technically, it's a childhood best friends to lovers to estranged couple who love/hate each other to second chance romance, and every aspect of this journey was written so well. Most of the book takes place in the present (the second chance romance), and there are chapters sprinkled in throughout the book showing the past.

This book has demisexual rep!! The author has done an amazing job of writing the confusion pre-discovery, the discovery process itself, and the discussions that happened when the MC mentioned this to the others.

Also! I have to point out the mental health journeys taken by the MCs! It was a long and hard road with plenty of self-introspection and understanding and healing, and, at the risk of repeating myself, this was also written so well 😭 I loved the hea so much, it was perfect, and it perfectly factored in the mental holdups and healings of both the MCs.

TWs - anxiety with symptoms similar to agoraphobia, homophobia (in the past, in a school setting), death of a family member in the past and the grief surrounding it

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!