Review: For Never and Always

Helena Greer’s Season of Love was one of my favourite holiday books last year (review here) so I was really looking forward to getting to hang out at Carrigan’s All Year again with Hannah, Miriam, and Noelle in For Never and Always. But, while I was happy with some of the themes of the story, I was ultimately left disappointed. I didn’t buy the romance and if I don’t buy the love story in a romance novel? Well, that’s a hard thing to come back from.

Here’s the book’s description:

Hannah Rosenstein should be after a lonely childhood of traipsing all over the world, she finally has a home as the co-owner of destination inn Carrigan’s All Year. But her thoughts keep coming back to Levi "Blue" her first love, worst heartbreak, and now, thanks to her great-aunt’s meddling will, absentee business partner.
When Levi left Carrigan's, he had good intentions. As the queer son of the inn's cook and groundskeeper, he never quite fit in their small town and desperately wanted to prove himself. Now that he’s a celebrity chef, he's ready to come home and make amends. Only his return goes nothing like he his family's angry with him, his best friend is dating his nemesis, and Hannah just wants him to leave. Again .
Levi sees his chance when a VIP bride agrees to book Carrigan’s—if he’s the chef. He'll happily cook for the wedding, and in exchange, Hannah will give him five dates to win her back. Only Hannah doesn’t trust this new Levi, and Levi’s coming to realize Hannah’s grown too. But if they find the courage to learn from the past . . . they just might discover the love of your life is worth waiting for.

I was so sad that I didn’t love this love story more than I did. I just found Hannah and Levi’s relationship to be so incredibly toxic. I was with Noelle, who also didn’t think they belonged together. Hannah explained her feelings by saying that Noelle just never got to see Hannah and Levi together and happy. By the time Noelle came along, cracks had formed and it wasn’t a great relationship. Well, I didn’t see a great relationship either, not even in some of the flashbacks. And I love a good romance between childhood friends but I couldn’t see past their toxic past. Especially when they kept saying that they used to just “fight or fuck.” I’m supposed to root for them after that? When neither of them were actually, you know, TALKING to each other? “He’s just not understanding!” Well, sweetie, it’s because he can’t read your damn mind. Of course he doesn’t understand. As for Levi, he wasn’t telling all his truth that completed affected his teenagehood and something he sure as hell needed to resolve before he could have a healthy relationship.

Speaking of that secret of Levi’s…it had to do with Cass and it made zero sense to me. It was a huge truthbomb that affected Hannah and Miriam so much but I was left scratching my head a bit. Not necessarily because of what happened. But more just how the narrative was being put together. It seemed like this truth should have caused more…problems? Maybe? It’s hard to say without spoilers but it was a big part of why the story didn’t work for me.

This story also kind of dragged for me. I didn’t really feel like there was much movement in the plot. It was just back and forth of Hannah and Levi trying to figure out their lives and being kind of whiney and kind of self-centred the whole time. I’m pretty sure there was a lot of skimming happening.

Even though I didn’t enjoy For Never and Always, I still want to check out the next book in Helena Greer’s series. I think she has good stories to tell - this one just really missed the mark for me.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via Netgalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Season of Love

‘Tis the season for holiday romances and I’ve been having so much fun reading all the rom coms that have come my way. This year, in particular, there have been a plethora of queer romances which has been great to see. Season of Love was so very enjoyable and a fairly impressive offering from first-time novelist Helena Greer.

Here’s the book’s description:

Miriam Blum has no choice but to face the past she thought she’d left behind when she inherits her great-aunt’s Christmas tree farm in this witty, glittering, heart-filled romcom.
Thanks to her thriving art career, Miriam Blum finally has her decoupaged glitter ducks in a row—until devastating news forces her to a very unwanted family reunion. Her beloved great-aunt Cass has passed and left Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm.
But Miriam’s plans to sit shiva, avoid her parents, then put Carrigan’s in her rearview mirror are spoiled when she learns the business is at risk of going under. To have any chance at turning things around, she’ll need to work with the farm’s grumpy manager—as long as the attraction sparking between them doesn’t set all their trees on fire first.
Noelle Northwood wants Miriam Blum gone—even if her ingenious ideas and sensitive soul keep showing Noelle there’s more to Cass’s niece than meets the eye. But saving Carrigan’s requires trust, love, and risking it all—for the chance to make their wildest dreams come true.

While this is a festive, holiday romance, there is a major content warning that readers should pay attention to. Miriam’s father was emotionally abusive, and Miriam was still dealing with (aka running away from) those issues when the book starts. I cannot speak about what it would be like to deal with such a traumatic upbringing, but I will speak about how it was written as a part of Miriam’s story and Season of Love overall. I think Greer should have revealed the abuse, and the one particular event that had Miriam cut off her family, much earlier than she did. I don’t think keeping it from any of the characters (or the reader) helped the story in any way. By the time it was all out in the open, I was no longer fully invested in the details. I just knew something major had happened to Miriam and wanted to move on to the rest of the story. That probably sounds callous, and I struggled with how to bring this up without seeming like a total asshole. Again, it’s not that I wish the trauma wasn’t included or that I didn’t believe Miriam had suffered or anything like that. It was just the choice of how the trauma was revealed in the story structure that I wish had been different. 

Now! Onto the festive cheer! Of which there was…a good amount but not really what I expected. I loved the Jewish rep in this novel (yes, Miriam’s aunt was Jewish and owned a Christmas tree farm – go figure) and the importance of holidays and other facets of the Jewish faith were included and explained in a way that felt natural. The fact that there has to be an explanation of these things and not, say, why Christmas trees are apparently important, is a whole other conversation. But I’m just here for the big guy in the red suit and all the gifts and treats. I don’t pay attention to any religious part of any holiday. Anywho. While this novel takes place at a Christmas tree farm and does occur over the holiday season, it lasts beyond Christmas and Hanukkah so know that going in if you’re looking for All Festive, All the Time.

Noelle and Miriam as a couple took me a little while to warm up to but I loved them both individually, somehow (they’re both super flawed but that’s part of their charm), so I was totally in for reading along as they moved past their prejudices (the first impressions in this one are not good. Think Darcy and Elizabeth levels of not good) and realized they definitely belonged together. I got frustrated with each of them but trusted they’d work out their issues enough to hook up and stay together forever.

Looking at Seasons of Love in separate parts, as one does when writing a review, isn’t quite fair to this romance. As a whole, though, Helena Greer’s debut novel was an absolute delight. Not perfect but engaging and entertaining enough that I was completely riveted and cannot wait to revisit the characters Greer has created.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*