What books do you most like to read in autumn?

I personally love rom-coms and contemporaries more and more as the weather gets colder! Recently, I finished reading Mistakes Were Made, which I was so lucky to have received an advanced copy of from St. Martin’s Griffin! This book was such a great read for me, what with my love of romance in the chilly weather!

Mistakes Were Made has got to be the single steamiest book I have ever read! Despite the many (fantastically written) steamy scenes, I never lost sight of the characters and their personalities. This can occasionally be an issue for me with romance novels, that characters fail to stand on their own outside of their romantic pursuits and interests, but that was very much not the case with Mistakes Were Made! Cassie and Erin are both strong women and protagonists, who are interesting and exciting to read about! I could easily see myself reading about them again in a sequel, because their relationship and personalities has me absolutely hooked!

In addition to reading a physical copy, I also had the wonderful experience of listening along to an audiobook version from Macmillan Audio! The narration for the audiobook version of Mistakes Were Made was just perfect for the story! The narrator’s voices reflected how the characters sounded in my head, which is the number one thing I look for when listening to a book. Though the story was already so amazing, the audiobook version elevated it even further for me!

My Recommendation-
If you are looking for a super steamy read to keep you warm during the cold months, you need to snag a copy of Mistakes Were Made! If you love romantic sapphic stories, this is going to be a must-read for you!

🍷Book Review📚
Mistakes Were Made
By: Meryl Wilsner
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4 stars

It's Family Weekend at Cassie Klein's college. She's headed to the bar because she has no visitors planning to attend. What she does find is a spicy hookup with an older woman. 🌶🥵

The next morning her college best friend, Parker, drags her to breakfast to meet her mom, Erin Bennett. And oh my gawd, she's the MILF from the bar! Oh boy, this is gonna be awkward! Cassie decides to play footsie under the table just to make things even more uncomfortable for Erin.

How is Erin going to manage this situation without ruining her already tumultuous relationship with her daughter? As the days progress, neither Erin nor Cassie can stop thinking about one another. Their "relationship" progresses and eventually they're bound to get caught. Will they hurt Parker to be together?

Whoa. This book was dang steamy 😉🔥.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this gifted ARC in exchange for my honest review.

🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶
Damn.

This was a fun read, I must say. It is well written and quite simple to follow! We all know I love my dual POVs. But, I have decided that the age-gap trope may not be for me personally, but that's okay.

We have two strong MCs who find themselves in a situation with a lot of risk, a lot of feelings, and it's incredibly spicy! 🌶

I'm not sure why, but I was a little surprised by the ending. I believe it would be evident to most readers. Nevertheless, it was very cute.

Additionally, everyone needs a friend like Acacia!

Thank you @netgalley & @stmartinspress for my copy in exchange for an honest review!

Cassie is trying to escape being alone on Family Weekend by grabbing a drink at an off-campus bar. Erin Bennett is attempting something similar. Neither expected an amazing one-night stand, but, hey, these things happen, right? No harm, no foul, until Cassie's close friend Parker drags her to meet her mom--in town for Family Weekend--and oh yeah, it's Erin. Cassie doesn't want to hurt Parker; Erin certainly doesn't want to damage the tentative relationship she is building with her daughter since her divorce. But neither Cassie nor Erin can deny their chemistry.

This is quite a read--it starts off with a bang and never looks back. There's no slow-burn here: be prepared for plenty of sexy times when it comes to Cassie and Erin. Sometimes it almost feels too much; I would have liked to see a little more character development with these two instead of another stolen moment, but there's no denying this is a hot and heavy read!

The premise is definitely a little weird, and it takes some time to adjust. You cannot help but imagining your own life in this situation--and ICK. Cassie and Erin are a good couple, though, so that helps. The sneaking around and poor decision-making makes it more difficult, but I suppose we wouldn't have the book without it, eh? Erin is grappling with a fairly recent divorce from Parker's father, while Cassie has trouble with commitment. It's fairly easy to frame their decisions based on their overall personality types.

At first, this book feels a little slow (besides the sex) and a little repetitive (a lot of back and forth from both characters about hurting Parker, without actually doing anything about it), but it picks up and becomes more fun. I appreciate that this is lesbian novel with a different, unique premise, interesting characters, and steamy scenes. It's refreshing and much needed in our canon and for those reasons alone, my 3.75 stars are rounded up to 4.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.
So I liked this book. Did I LOVE it? No but I did like it a lot. I had a hard time getting into the story and took it all at entertainment value!

Not going to lie sometimes I am let down by books with cartoon covers... but this book I was deceived in the best way. This book was a HOT sapphic age gap romance and I think that everyone should read it. I definitely plan on rereading... especially the phone call for you know educational purposes... but in all seriousness I loved it. This is my first book by this author and she will now forevermore be an auto buy for me. LOVED.

Not what I was expecting. I enjoy romance stories with a nice build up and character development, and this book didn't have the structure I was used to.

I sometimes have a difficult time with romances. They're either too cheesy, too cringey, or don't have enough plot to keep me invested in the characters' relationship. I've also previously read Something to Talk About and found it to fall into may of these challenges, so I was skeptical despite the positive hype I'd heard.

But THIS BOOK! This book kept me invested the whole way through, and even though it had many steamy scenes - often a turnoff for me if I don't like the author's style - I never once felt the need to skim through. I absolutely savored every word of Cassie and Erin's story. There was much more substance than I expected, especially with Cassie's backstory and strong friendship with Parker. I found myself invested in multiple relationships in this novel, rather than just the main romance.

As is the case with most romances, I never questioned that Cassie and Erin would work things out in the end - despite the dicey situation they'd put themselves in - but Wilsner kept me guessing as to how, exactly, they would get things to work. The ending required some suspension of disbelief, but I'm happy to do that if I like a book enough, so I was perfectly fine letting myself enjoy how everything fell right into place. This is a five star, absolutely loved it, highly recommend read!!

I finished this book so quickly.. it was spicy, forbidden romance vibes and a little emotional rollercoaster. A fun read!

The spice. Dang! I heard so many great things about this book before reading and it was definitely worth it for me! Talk about MILF.

I wanted this book to work for me so badly because the concept is great. Ultimately, I struggled with it. I think Meryl Wilsner is a talented writer, but I just couldn’t get past the age gap or difference in maturity levels between the leads, plus the lying and sneaking around. I didn’t dislike the book by any means, but it just never really clicked for those reasons.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A great sexy, emotional and loving story of two women who find love. I liked the sneaking around and forbidden romance of their story. Great read!

I wanted to love this but I did not - I just couldn't get into the age gap of it all, which is a me thing and not necessarily the author thing. People seem to really like it so I am probably in the minority! It is a very sexy book, and that was fun. I liked Wilsner's first book a lot so I will try them again even though this one wasn't for me.

This is a sapphic age gap romance between Cassie and the attractive older woman (Erin) she picks up at a bar….who turns out to be her close friend (Parker)’s mom.

What I love:
-the female friendships are loving, supportive, and realistic
-Parker she felt really relatable throughout.
-Erin discovering what she wants for herself
-Erin and Parker’s relationship and growth.
-Cassie’s growth through the book.
-found family

This was is an open door romance with lots of spice but also a lot of sweet moments.

This is not the type of book I typically read, but I was excited to give it a chance, and I'm glad I did. It was fun, flirtatious, and a quick read. If you're used to reading thrillers/murder mysteries like I am and you need something a little more light-hearted, pick this one up! Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read this book.

I absolutely adored this book! First off, the cover is fantastic! The premise of this romance is so fun and fresh, AND this story had some great depth of handling situations like age-gap dating! I was really impressed with this story, how the characters relationship evolved, and how they handled all sorts of conflict. I couldn't recommend it more!

I loved this book so much. The characters, the scenario, the banter, the romance.... everything was amazing.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me this opportunity to read this book!

This is about Erin and Cassie. They end up having a one night stand and part ways. Buttt Erin is gonna meet with her daughter that is coming with a friend who issa Cassie. Yeap. How fun and crazy!
They had insane chemistry, i loved the characters and the resolution. It was well written and worth a shot for sure!
Sapphic age gap romance, what else can you ask for! It was so cute and sweet, I’m obsessed with it! If you love reading romcom check it out asap!

Erin is attending her daughters family weekend at college when she flies out for a drink and runs into a very assertive Cassie. They end up having a hot & heavy session in the back of her rental car and part ways. Until they run i to each other the next morning at breakfast where Erin is meeting her daughter….who has a friend that came along. Yup. Cassie.

This is an age gap, WLW romance and it was so stinking cute! And if you’re worried about there being no HEA, have no fear, there’s one.

Meryl Wilsner's Mistakes Were Made is the ultimate best friend's mom romance, a heartwarming, sweet & super spicy story that'll easily be going down as one of my favorite romances of the year!

Cassie & Erin had scorching chemistry right from the beginning, when I tell ya'll the steam starts pretty much instantaneously, I'm not kidding. But this was so much more than just a steamy best friend's mom romance, Wilsner gave both women so much depth & the character development throughout the story was amazing - their balance of sexy & charming moments throughout the story was perfection & I love that they allowed breathing room for Cassie & Erin's relationship to develop into something more. The dual POVs worked incredibly well here, both women were fully realized with their own hopes, dreams & fears, & it was so beautiful seeing them work towards finding their own happiness, both within themselves & with each other. This may get semi-spoilery, so read the next few sentences with caution. I'm so, so thankful there wasn't a third act breakup here, it really strengthened the relationship between Cassie & Erin & the story as whole - & without getting too much into it, I really admired Parker's reaction to everything, her & Acacia are truly BFF goals.

All in all I had a great time listening to this & it really took me by surprise in the best possible way, I can't wait to check out more of Wilsner's work in the future! & thank you so much NetGalley, Meryl Wilsner, & St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review!