When she was little, Hannah Rosenstein’s parents traveled all over the world, and the only place she ever felt safe and settled was at the Christmas tree farm owned by her father’s great-aunt Cass. At Carrigan’s Christmas Tree Farm, she would also get to spend time with Levi, whose parents were the cook and groundskeeper at Carrigan’s and who in practicality ran the farm for Cass. When Hannah got older, she persuaded her parents to let her go live at Carrigan’s so she could go to high school in one place, and she finally felt like she had a home and a safe haven. She, Levi, and her cousin Miriam were together in the summers, and Cass began talking about leaving the farm to Hannah someday.
Levi “Blue” Matthews never felt at home at Carrigan’s or in the little town where he went to school. It was impossible for him to forget that his parents, and he and his siblings were “the help”. Hannah and Miriam were his favourite people in the world and kept saying that the Matthews were family, but Cass always made it clear that Levi would never be good enough for her Hannah, and he should stay far away from her.
Despite Cass’ dire warnings, Levi and Hannah’s obvious love for one another wasn’t going to go away, but they always wanted fundamentally different things. Hannah never wanted to leave Carrigans, and Levi couldn’t wait to get away and make something of himself out in the wide world.
After four years away, Levi is returning to Carrigans (now an All-Year destination, not just a Christmas tree farm), because Cass, not content to meddle in his life only when she was alive, left a quarter of the farm to him, Hannah, his cousin Miriam and the general manager Noelle. He has travelled all over the world and is now an internationally famous chef (internet famous because of his participation in Australia’s Next Top Chef). He has finally achieved his goal of becoming someone worthy of Hannah and has every intention of winning her back. Except Hannah’s heart was well and truly shattered when Levi left her behind, and she has spent a long time rebuilding her life. All she wants is for Levi to sign over his shares of Carrigans, grant her a divorce (oh yeah, they got secretly married), and leave her alone forever.
Levi has his work cut out for him. There’s a very high-profile bride who would love it for world-famous Chef Matthews to cater her wedding in three months, and since Carrigans All-Year needs the money and the publicity the wedding will bring, Hannah has to reluctantly agree to let Levi stay that long. He challenges her to a Shenanigan (read Seasons of Love to fully get an idea of what Shenanigans entail), and she has to grant him five dates. If he doesn’t manage to get Hannah to fall back in love with him, he’ll sign the divorce papers and divide his shares between her, Miriam, and Noelle. But if he succeeds, he gets the only woman he’s ever loved back.
Full review on my blog