This one was just ok for me. I liked the characters individually, and the spice was good, but a lot of the interactions between our main characters rubbed me the wrong way. Usually Age Gap romances/forbidden romances are fine for me and I enjoy them, but the constant reminder through the whole novel that Cassie is almost the same age as the love interest’s daughter really took me out of the story.

Another thing that worked against me enjoying this fully was that most of the characters’ interactions are them telling themselves and each other that they should not be together, that it’s wrong for them to be together, and they needed to stop. And then they ignored all of that and hooked up more anyway. Also, the supporting cast seemed to be there to further reiterate the fact that the two should not be together.

The overall writing was done well, though. I think it was more an instance of me not clicking with this particular plot, than me not liking the author. I will definitely give Wilsner another chance with her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin, and Meryl Wilsner for an e-arc of Mistakes Were Made in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine you’re a college student and you accidentally sleep with your best friend’s parent?

Honestly, that is all I needed to know about Mistakes Were Made before wanting it in my possession.

In this one we have Cassie who has a rough exterior and an imperfect home life. She meets Erin, her BFF’s mom and a perfectionist trying to live up to expectations.

On paper they don’t work, but the chemistry is there… just don’t tell Parker, Erin’s daughter.

This one was very fun, I enjoyed the interactions between Cassie and Erin and the moments that were hidden from Parker. The dichotomy between Cassie’s view of Erin and Parker’s view of Erin was an interesting perspective and I enjoyed it.

I loved the forced proximity, the banter, the yearning, and I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who loves age gap, forbidden romance/ LGBTQ themes.

My one complaint was the time jumps as I did feel disjointed reading at times, but part of that was due to the nature of a school year so it made sense to the story, it just jarred me.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars rounded up!

Ooh baby was this spicy! I love me a forbidden romance and this hit all of the taboo romance tropes. Somehow, even though I saw all the marketing on twitter about this, I still managed to not know what this book was about so it was a wonderful surprise going in!

I think beyond the smut and the spice though, the characters grow so much. I went into this wondering how it could end well, where everyone was happy, and I think it was done really delicately and it was just so smart. These characters are relatable and it feels very real. Love and feelings are messy and I think this story portrayed it really well!

This steamy age-gap romance asked the important, age-old question: what if your best friend's, recently divorced mom was really hot? Like really hot? What are you supposed to do?

After a one-night stand at a bar, Cassie never thought she'd see Erin - the attractive and magnetic older woman she hooked up with - ever again, until she goes to breakfast with her best friend the next morning for Parent's Weekend, and yup, Parker's mom Erin and the women from last night Erin are the same person.

This book does a fantastic job of balancing a fun and steamy plot with asking some (actually) important questions about societal expectations other people have for us and the expectations we hold for ourselves. I really loved the dynamic Erin and Cassie, as well as Cassie's dynamic with her friends. Things got tense sometimes but I think everything and everyone was really, really well written and handled in a very realistic way.

While Meryl Wilsner's previous book, Something to Talk About was very fun but a little shaky, their second book, Mistakes Were Made really knocked it out of the park.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Meryl Wilsner. This sapphic romance was steamy and binge-worthy! It’s so easy to get through this one very quickly. I loved the chemistry between Cassie and Erin. There are a few great friendships here too.

I love college relationships and how carefree they all are. One of the things that I didn’t love was the relationship between Cassie and Parker. I’m sorry but Cassie was a terrible friend to Parker. I get that things are going on in the background but she could have done better. Honestly, Parker was a much better friend to Cassie, considering the circumstances.

Cassie and Erin was such a fun romance to read about. They brought out the better in each other. Cassie could be a tiny bit destructive but I get it from her age. It was sometimes hard to completely fall in love with Cassie as the main character. I think she had a lot of trauma from her past and I wish we would have delved into that a lot more.

Erin was such an amazing character and mom. I love how Parker was her sole reason for living and it made me sad about the miscommunication. I think that can happen a lot with parents and their children.

This book is insanely steamy and many moments throughout the book. I think there are times that it overshadows the actual relationship a bit. I wanted a little more depth there.

Overall, I did enjoy this one and I would love to read more by Wilsner. I just had some pacing issues and some character development issues that I didn’t love. Wilsner is not afraid to go there in the steam aspect if that means anything to you.

This was my first Sapphic YW/OW type of book. It took me by surprise. I think my favorite part was the age gap. There was a lot of Spice in this novel. I really liked how detailed the characters were, along with their relationship, even though I didn't always agree with them. Cassie and Erin were likeable but they weren't really the best to Parker. All in all. I enjoyed the book and would read it again or a follow-up novel.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 stars.

I'll start this by saying a lot of my issues with this book stem from the age gap. I knew getting into this book that it was a large age gap, but I think the way it was handled in terms of Cassie's relationship with Erin's daughter Parker bothered me the most out of this whole situation. Don't get me wrong, I love a good MILF, but there were certain instances, especially when they were together and trying to be secretive whilst the daughter was in the house that made me quite uncomfortable.

I also felt like it was lacking plot, as if all the book was just built around the fact that the author wanted to write about two characters having a lot of sex and needed to add some plot to it. The sex scenes were all very well written, quite steamy, and all enjoyable to read, but it almost felt like the plot was an afterthought and the book was only written to keep up with the increasing demand for "spicy" books.

If you're looking for a lot of "spice" and good chemistry, then this is the book for you, but it was not the book for me.

Y’all know I LOVE me an age gap romance, so when I saw this, I immediately added it to my TBR. And then when I got the email saying I was approved for it, I legit started dancing. Getting with your bestie’s mom just sounds better than getting with your ex’s dad lol

Ok so first things first, the romance. Usually when I write reviews for romances I talk about the characters individually and then together. But this one STARTS with the romance, so I feel like it’s only right to start here. I LOVED THEM TOGETHER….. Even if I did feel like they were trash for lying lol Ok so hear me out. Age gap romances stress me out. Like all of em. I always bite off all my nails and wait for the time they get found out. I always love them together, but I think it’s the fact that I know whoever they don’t tell is going to be hurt at least a little bit, no matter who they are. I know, I know. I’m a huge softie. Whatever lol

On the other side of romance…. I was not expecting the spice. I read Wilsner’s last book, and it wasn’t like this at all. I was expecting more of the same. So the moment I heard it was more spicy and not like their last book at all…… I RAN TO REQUEST IT. It’s so funny because comparing the two, it was like a whole new world. This is what I wanted to see in that first book. I think in my original Goodreads review I said I wanted more. I got more and then some in this book. And it definitely made me excited to read what’s next. (Definitely one for your 18+ people lol)

Now Cassie was the younger one who slept with her bestie’s mom on accident. I thought she was a bit under-developed. We didn’t really get to know her. I wanted to know her backstory. Especially since it played such a big part of her story. They hint to it and tell bits and pieces, but for the most part it wasn’t there. And that annoyed me. I don’t like open-endedness in books. As for Erin, she is definitely that girl. I loved everything about her. (Besides the lying lol) She seemed like a fun enough mom and definitely a fun gf. She felt more developed than Cassie, but the whole time I kept thinking that maybe she meant to do that to show how different they were in age? Like priorities or that she wasn’t as mature as Erin? Idk. Whatever the reason, Erin was my favorite character because of it.

Last thing I want to talk about is the Epilogue. Listen, we’ve all been there where we didn’t cry during the actual book, but the epilogue got us. That was me with this one. It was just so wholesome. It took a turn I didn’t know it was going to make, and next thing I know I’m wondering why my face feels so wet lol It just made me wonder, like why does she do that? In the book it was a little repetitive, but this scene was fresh and filled with emotion. I would have preferred to see this scene in the story vs their last cycle of “should we tell her or not” fight they had. I probably explained that very poorly, so I’m hoping y’all know what I mean lol

This was a fun read tho. Not only did it have me swooning, but it made me sweat from both the hotness and the way I was so scared they would hurt each other and those they loved. It was definitely a fun ride. I can’t wait till more people who read their first book also reads this one and is surprised like me. When you do, holla at me and we can chat.

Thank you to MacMillan and Netgalley for an arc of this book!

When Cassie discovers her one night stand at college is actually one of her best friend's mom, her life gets a lot complicated. And is Erin really sleeping with her daughter's college friend? At her age?

Look, it's the milf book! Okay...so, I didn't realize this was a milf book when I requested it. I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I had known to be honest because age gap isn't really my thing? I did like this though. It was sweet in some ways and spicy in others. I really liked Cassie and Erin and the relationship they developed. I liked watching Cassie get to know herself better and Erin taking things for herself that she never got before. This was a cute and quick fun read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Unfortunately this one was just not for me! I had high expectations as I loved Wilsner's prior book, but this one just didn't work for me. The writing felt clunky and I didn't like Cassie that much (maybe I would've appreciated her characters development if I finished the novel). I also have a hard time with insta love/lust and this was just over the top for me on that front.

Maybe I'm just cynical but I didn't see much chemistry other than sexual between Erin and Cassie, while that was on point I was just bored for the rest. Also the fact that Parker was just like 'ok, cool' is beyond ridiculous to me and the ending was too rushed. I really thought I would and wanted to like this more than I did :(

I’m not normally one that seeks out age gap romance stories, but it’s no secret that I’ll give anything queer a try. I was enthralled with this book and I want to give a standing ovation to Meryl Wilsner. Cassie is a college student looking to blow off some steam and ends up having what she thinks is a one night stand with a gorgeous older woman, Erin. Cut to the next morning when she agrees to have breakfast with her friend, and surprise, her friend’s mom is her one night stand! The chemistry between the two is undeniable and they end up agreeing to have a casual relationship that they intend to keep a secret from Erin‘s daughter, a.k.a. Cassie‘s best friend. As you might guess things don’t go exactly according to plan. I won’t give away the ending but I think it’s fair to say if you enjoy romance you’ll enjoy this book.

This book was great. I loved "Something to Talk About" and was very excited to read this book as well. I was immediately intrigued by the premise of a woman hooking up with someone she meets in the bar and then finding out that she is her daughter's college roommate.

This book hooked me right away and I read it all in one evening. I loved all the characters and enjoyed the secretiveness of the relationship as they tried to deny their attractiveness and then hide their relationship from the daughter. It was a very sexy book and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

Thanks so much to the author, St. Martin's Griffin, and Netgalley for the gifted advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. { partner } All opinions are entirely my own. All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

I was incredibly excited to receive an advanced copy of this book and to start reading it as soon as I could. I had read the synopsis and the pre-release blurbs and everything, and I went into this book expecting it to be an instant favorite for me. And while I did enjoy it, I will say that it didn't quite live up to my hopes for it.

First, let's look at the things that I enjoyed about this book. I really enjoyed both of the main characters, Cassie and Erin. I think that they were well written and developed characters - both having moments of maturity and less-mature moments, whether that was being silly or impulsive or what have you. That to say, I enjoyed that there wasn't "the mature one" and "the kid" in the two of them, and I can see what would draw these two characters to each other. I also love reading a forbidden romance, or a secret dating trope, where you have to sneak around a bit with your crush. What's more exciting in a relationship than that, right?

Now let's get into the rest of it.

While I understand what would initially draw these two characters together, and even what might make them want to get to know each other better, I didn't really feel the amount of intense chemistry that would get them to keep coming back to each other over and over again for (spoiler) over half a year behind the backs of every person in their lives. The initial chemistry was there, but if that amount of raw chemistry was present in their relationship and this book I just didn't see it.

And now let's look at this timeline. It was entirely too long for me. I think that you can do a prolonged secret romance like this, but there needs to be something to keep it interesting and I just didn't get that from this book.

Overall, I think that the secretive part of their relationship needed to be about 100 pages shorter. If that means that the book was cut a bit shorter, that's fine. But I think another option would have been to just have their relationship out in the open about 100 pages earlier than it was. You still would have gotten about 2/3 of the book about them having to sneak around and hide it and "oh isn't this so fun and exciting nobody knows about us," and then you get 100 pages of either them having broken up and getting to actually miss each other or you get 100 pages of them trying to figure out what their relationship looks like out in the open. And I think that that would have been much more interesting.
As it was, there were about 300 pages of sneaking around, and about 10 pages of everyone finding out and wrapping up all of the storylines before the book ended.

I don't want to be completely negative here, because there really were things that I enjoyed about this book, and I'm glad that I read it. But I don't know that this is one that I would come back to and reread, or try to convince my friends to read so we could talk about it. It took me a while to get through it, since it felt a bit like it was dragging on, and once I did finish it I just didn't really have any strong feelings towards it one way or another.

Overall I would recommend this book, but if I were doing so then I would go into the conversation with the issues that I listed above, and let my friends decide for themselves if this was something that they wanted to read for themselves. I think that the perfect way to read this book would be on a rainy or snowy day when you don't need to leave the house at all and you can curl up on the couch under a blanket with a very large glass of wine. Really settle in, because you're going to be there for a while.

This lesbian romance hits many of the popular tropes: age gap, one night stand, and forbidden romance. Erin and Cassie have a one night stand and then end up meeting again when Cassie comes to breakfast with Erin's daughter, Parker. This book definitely checks all the boxes if you are looking for a funny, emotional story. I didn't love the characters, but I did enjoy the book.

This sapphic romance was a fun read for me. It’s a age gap, best friends mom romance from Meryl Wilsner that I enjoyed .

I liked both main characters. Cassie the college senior and divorce, doctor mom Erin. Their romance was hot and I like the communication they had. From the hook up to them being pretty oblivious that they where in a relationship. There where a few things that annoyed me. While I liked Rrin’s daughter for the most part some of the way she was written felt juvenile instead of college student. Also both Erin and Cassie did annoy me in the third act. But overall I enjoyed this and can’t wait to see what this author shows next.

Giving this 3.75 stars (upped to 4 star on this grid).

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins’ Press for this arc.

It took me *so long* to power through the second-hand embarrassment of the first few chapters of this book, but after maybe the first third, I was really invested in what was going to happen with Cassie and Erin. There are some spicy scenes, but overall for a book billed as "MILF romance" this was very sweet! If you were worrying that there's no way this doesn't end in tears, stay strong: it works out in a surprisingly wholesome way. I think my one complaint is that we kind of falling-in-love-montage over a big part of the actual falling-in-love.

A MILF romance that goes from a fling to a forced proximity holiday trip. Well... the older women turned out to be her college friends mom. But the heart wants what the heart wants.
I got a little anxious about the sneaking around since they didn't want to upset her daughter. The divorce wasn't a good one and she felt like she was still trying to find her footing on their relationship as mother daughter.. So announcing she's fallen for her friend is a bit scary.
Though at the end of it the title does come into play, mistakes were made but they weren't as insurmountable as they seemed. And the friends with benefits that Cassie thought they had was an actual relationship. Which was inadvertently tested by someone (no spoilers).
Enjoyed the sweet romance in this as Erin was figuring out who she was after a divorce and a marriage she kept for her daughter. Now she's figuring out who she is as a person almost 40 with a college student daughter and a college aged gf.
Love comes in all shapes and sizes and ages and genders. Love is love.
Loved the friend group who was trying to keep everything afloat as they navigated these new connections.

Read if you enjoy:
🍸Age gap
🍸Doors wide open
🍸Close proximity

Thank you stmartinspress and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Holy crap the spice though.

I picked this up because it looked like a cute romcom, and everything I saw about it said it was spicy … so of course, I had to check it out. But I still wasn’t expecting it!

This book was great. I really enjoyed the chemistry between the characters and their inability to stay away from each other despite the taboo element of their relationship (I mean, it’s definitely awkward to find out you slept with one of your daughter’s college friends).

I love how Erin comes into her own throughout this book. Her ex never appreciated her – or even let her be her own person. But with Cassie? She seems like her true self. I love when that happens.

Also, can I just say that I wish I was as sure of myself in college as Cassie? I know she has her own challenges to deal with, but I love her confidence.

💫 Taboo romance
💫 Bisexual representation
💫 Age gap romance
💫 Best friend’s mom
💫 Found family

This thoroughly engaging romance had me intrigued from the premise but kept me engrossed with the story. I don’t know how else to describe this one other than it was hot and also somehow messy and cozy at the same time? Erin and Cassie make for a really fascinating couple, and while the book does kick off with sort of the excitement of their forbidden attraction and the sneaking around it entails, the reality of the situation quickly sets in, especially when it comes to how the hell they’re going to figure out how to have an actual relationship. I’m not sure how I feel about how the Parker element was resolved and the late-stage reveal of her having known for a while — the book does heavily foreshadow that, but the ending really seemed to revolve more around confirming who knew about what and I almost wonder if the story wouldn’t have been better paced if Parker had sort of shown her cards earlier and more of the conflict had entailed her coming around to the idea. Regardless, Cassie and Erin were the element worth sticking around for.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.