A Seasonal Love Affair Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A short, spicy holiday novella about a worn-down pro hockey player with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and the flirty spa esthetician who is already a fan — fun, warm and full of good representation, but so fast that many readers never believed the love.

Best for: Readers who want a quick seasonal hockey read, masc-femme chemistry, disability representation and a single sitting’s worth of spice.

Heat level: Not rated (romance.io has no steam rating; readers call it spicy)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5 — a 3.73 Goodreads average across 160 ratings)

Tropes: Holiday fling, athlete and fan, masc and femme, insta-love, forced vacation, long distance, dual POV, novella.

A Seasonal Love Affair is Madison Nicole’s 2025 self-published contemporary lesbian romance novella. With hockey season ramping up, Channing’s body is paying the price, and a holiday break with her best friend’s family at a hotel and spa is exactly what she needs. What she does not expect is Remi, a beautiful esthetician and influencer who recognises her immediately — and who has a weakness for hockey.

It holds a 3.73 average across 160 Goodreads ratings, with 63% of them four or five stars, and 3.41 across 55 StoryGraph reviews. On Amazon it averages 4.1 stars across 114 ratings. The split reflects its length: readers who wanted a quick, spicy holiday treat were happy; readers who wanted a romance they could believe in were not.

What Is A Seasonal Love Affair About?

This is a fast-burn holiday romance with a short clock. Channing, a stoic lesbian women’s league player, is booked into a spa package; Remi, a bubbly pansexual esthetician working at the resort a few hours from where Channing lives, is thrilled to have her on the table. The chemistry is immediate, and both know they only have a few days before Channing goes home.

The question is whether a week-long fling can become something more — and, once the holiday ends, whether they can make long distance work. The book is told in the first person from both women’s points of view.

What Makes This Sapphic Hockey Novella Work

Disability representation: The most praised element. Channing lives with constant pain from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and readers loved seeing an athlete with an invisible illness.
Women in sports: Readers who love women’s hockey were delighted by a sapphic pro player heroine, and one masc-presenting reader singled out a passage about being visibly queer.
Chemistry: Readers describe easy, flirty, “sparkling” chemistry and banter.
Body positivity and queer friends: Reviewers mention a body-positive portrayal and a supportive queer friend group.
A complete story: Several readers were impressed by how much character and plot the author fitted into so few pages.

Book Synopsis

Channing is in desperate need of a holiday break. With hockey season ramping up, her body is starting to pay the price, so it is the perfect time for a little vacation with her best friend.

What Channing was not expecting is Remi, a beautiful esthetician who happens to be working at the hotel and spa where she is staying. Remi recognises Channing immediately and cannot help flirting, because hockey is her weakness.

They know they only have a short window to explore their chemistry, but their connection is stronger than it should be after only a few days. Will their fling become something more, or was it only ever a few stolen moments over the holidays?

My Review

For what it is — an 87-page holiday novella — this does a lot right. Channing is an unusual heroine: a professional athlete whose body is failing her, stoic and private, with a disability that is part of her story without being the whole of it. Remi is a bright, confident counterweight, and the masc-femme dynamic between them is fun. Readers who came for a cosy, spicy seasonal read describe it as exactly that, and several wished it were a full-length novel.

The problem is speed. The two fall hard within a week, after one hookup and — as one critic put it — without a single meaningful personal conversation. Insta-love is the complaint in nearly every negative review, alongside skips in time that make the story feel jumpy and dialogue that some found unnatural. One reader found the writing itself weak. Even positive reviewers say they would have liked more depth.

My honest note: If you want a spicy, feel-good holiday hockey novella with great representation to read in an evening, it delivers. If you need to believe the relationship, the page count works against it.

Element	In A Seasonal Love Affair
Central relationship	Channing & Remi — pro hockey player with EDS and a spa esthetician and influencer
Core tropes	Holiday fling, athlete and fan, masc and femme, insta-love, long distance
Setting	A hotel and spa resort over the holidays
Heat level	Not rated — romance.io has no steam rating
Series	Standalone novella — happy ending
Content notes	Chronic pain and chronic illness, sexual content

How Spicy Is A Seasonal Love Affair?

We have not scored the heat, because romance.io has no steam rating yet — only three readers have rated it there. Readers call it spicy and steamy, and one reviewer who tracks scenes counted a single on-page sex scene, which they described as hot. Readers who rated the spice themselves gave it two or three chillies out of five.

The content to know about is Channing’s chronic pain and illness. For more romances with disabled or chronically ill leads, see our disabled sapphic romance list.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want a quick holiday read, you enjoy sapphic hockey, you like masc-femme couples, and you value chronic illness representation. It is on our sapphic hockey romance list.

You may want to skip it if: insta-love frustrates you, you want a full-length romance, or you need a slow build.

In short: A spicy seasonal snack with a thoughtful heroine and not enough room to breathe.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

This is a recent self-published novella with an active advance-reader programme, and a web search surfaced no Reddit threads. On Goodreads the split is 20% five stars, 43% four, 26% three and 8% two or one; StoryGraph readers tag it lighthearted at 92% and every one who rated the pace called it fast. It was not in Kindle Unlimited when I checked, and I found no audiobook.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The EDS and invisible-illness representation first. Second, a sapphic women’s hockey heroine. Third, the flirty chemistry and spice. Fourth, how complete it feels for its length.

What readers argue about and complain about: Insta-love, above everything. Second, time skips and rushed pacing. Third, dialogue that felt unnatural to some. Fourth, simply wanting more.

The standalone question worth asking first: A Seasonal Love Affair is a complete standalone novella with a happy ending. Several readers hope for a full-length follow-up with these characters.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is A Seasonal Love Affair?

It is a novella of about 87 pages, which most readers finish in a single sitting.

What disability representation is in A Seasonal Love Affair?

Channing, a professional hockey player, has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and lives with constant pain. Several readers singled out the invisible-illness representation as a highlight.

How spicy is A Seasonal Love Affair?

romance.io has no steam rating yet, so we have not scored it. Readers describe it as spicy, and one noted a single, hot on-page scene about two-thirds of the way through.

Does A Seasonal Love Affair have a happy ending?

Yes. Readers describe a happy ending in which Channing and Remi decide to make their holiday fling work long distance.

Is it insta-love?

Yes. The two fall for each other in about a week, which is the most common criticism. Readers who enjoy fast-burn novellas did not mind; those who want a slower build did.

If You Loved A Seasonal Love Affair, Read These Next

For another hockey heroine with a chronic illness, try Like a Power Play, a full-length rivals-to-lovers romance. On the Fly and Calling the Shots are more sapphic hockey romances from our reviews. For more, browse our sapphic hockey romance list, the sapphic sports romance hub, disabled sapphic romance, or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

A Seasonal Love Affair sets out to be a quick, spicy holiday hockey novella, and it largely succeeds: the representation is strong, the chemistry is fun, and it tells a complete story in very few pages. What holds it back is a love story that moves too fast to feel real and a jumpy, rushed pace. For readers who want a festive evening read, it is worth it. Check A Seasonal Love Affair on Amazon →

The Eikna Overall Ranking

On the Eikna scale, A Seasonal Love Affair ranks as a fair-to-good holiday novella — strong in its disability representation and chemistry, held back by insta-love and a rushed pace.