Season of Love by Helena Greer

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.

This was a really lovely and delightful holiday romance. I loved the world of Carrigan's and all of these interesting, prickly characters, and especially of course I loved the magic cat. I loved how seriously the importance of art is taken, and the community building.

It does definitely have more emotional heft than the average Hallmark holiday movie, which IMO is good but I saw some reviews surprised by it. The book itself does include a list of content warnings which include alcoholism, domestic abuse, etc. so bear that in mind! But it does have a delightful happy ending and I am eagerly anticipating book 2!

Not a fan of short fmc, no communication on purpose, lying

4.5/5 IT WAS SO GOOD!!

Okay, I LOVE this book and I have to read the second one immediately. It's amazing.

Both Miriam and Noelle are well-rounded characters with tragic backstories and trauma. They are both scared at the beginning and both of their character development is beautiful. I love how much they grow and learn.

Hannah was AMAZING, I can't wait to read her book and I'm very curious about Levi. Also, Mr and Mrs. Matthews were amazing and I love them. But the person who stole the show for me was Cole. Awesome, I love him so much, more than Miriam and Noelle lmao. I hope his book will be written soon.

In terms of writing, I've got a few issues here. Some choices of words were just wrong, for example, one character says “I resemble that remark” instead of “I resent that remark” and it was an ongoing problem. And there were too many “she” and “her” instead of the name given which confused me when two women were speaking only and I had to figure out who was it about. The book needed more editing, for sure. The book felt dragged on at times while not fleshed out in other places. But all in all, I enjoyed this book. I can't tell if all of the information about Judaism was correct, I can't judge that that's not my place - but I enjoyed learning about the religion and traditions.