Mistakes Were Made is a steamy lesbian romance. I have read quite a few books with the best friends dad trope, so it was fun to finally read a book with the best friend's mom.
When Cassie goes to the bar and meets a beautiful older woman, Erin, sparks fly immediately. However, at brunch the next day, the two women are re-introduced and they learn that Erin is Cassie's best friend's mom. The two try their best to stay away from each other and more importantly keep their hands off each other, but it's harder than they think.

An instant favorite for sure! This book was full of spicy and sweet moments, it was truly unputdownable. I was already a huge fan of Meryl Wilsner from Something to Talk About (which I read twice in a row because I didn't want it to end). Honestly, I may do the same with this one. I feel like it'll get better every time I read it!

I loved Erin so much and adored Cassie. Both characters were so well thought through and truly felt like real people I wanted to be friends with. The spicy scenes were spicy, the hidden moments kept me coming back and the ending was perfect. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked up this book. The storyline had me concerned that if not written well, it could become too much of a stereotypical trope novel. I surprisingly didn't mind that aspect of the story.

I ended up loving the characters & their different personalities. My only wish for this story would have been circling back to Cassie's need to close off her past to those who cared about her.

Cassie's backstory was mentioned with enough detail to be satisfied. However, it was also stated that she hadn't told any of the new people in her life about her past, leading to believe she could eventually have a breakthrough in regards to this. I wanted that for her and her growth as a character & could see it may be there by the end, but I also selfishly wanted to read those scenes.

All in all, I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to.

This is an engaging and often funny story. After meeting an Erin at a bar near her school and spending the night together, Cassie assumes she will never see Erin again. But she does see Erin the very next day in the most unexpected place. It turns out Erin is the mother of one of Cassie’s best friends, Parker. Neither can quite believe it. But neither is willing to give up on the connection they found with one another. As they talk and spend time together in secret, they find their connection deepening, even as they both feel increasingly guilty for what they are hiding from Parker and the others in their life — and wonder if they can dare imagine a future together.

Full of compelling characters, the book perceptively explores the complications of family, love, and ambition.

Highly recommended!

I was so excited to read this! I loved Erin and Cassie's connection, it didn't seem like they even had an age gap romance at times. Their feelings for each other felt believable and real. The sneaking around felt like a necessary thing to do because of Erin's daughter being Cassie's friend and I can see why the women didn't want to open up about their relationship quickly. I laughed at points and look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
I did it, I finally read the MILF book. I cannot believe how incredible this book was. I was hooked from the very first page. Boy does the author know how to write a first chapter that hooks you! For starters, the whole book was so spicy I was kind of shocked? Not because of the content but just because how much of it there was (not complaining, this was definitely a positive and worked in favour of the book.) Secondly, the writing was gorgeous and the characters were so real and flawed and amazing, I fell in love with all of them. This was a very realistic take on what would happen if you accidentally slept with your best friend’s mom and then dated her. There was no contrived drama or third act break ups (thank gods.) I loved the found family that Cassie has in the book, and I really related to her and the growing pains of graduating and trying to figure out what the heck to do. Erin was such a lovely character to read, the whole book she was just so considerate of Cassie and it was refreshing to see in a romance book. I definitely choked up and almost cried during the epilogue, it was so beautiful. I’m going to need five more books about Erin and Cassie please. All in all, Mistakes Were Made was the opposite of a mistake, and is going on my all time favourites shelf. 5/5 stars.

I really enjoyed Meryl Wilsner’s debut romance Something to Talk About so I was eager to get my hands on a copy of her latest book, Mistakes Were Made. I was a little nervous that the plot, which centers on a college senior accidentally hooking up with her best friend’s mom, wouldn’t come across as believable, but I needn’t have worried. Wilsner does a phenomenal job of not only making it seem like a plausible romance, but it became one that I wholeheartedly found myself cheering on.

The story follows Cassie Klein, a college senior who goes to an off-campus bar in hopes of escaping her school’s Family Weekend activities since her family decided not to attend. Cassie isn’t looking to hook up with anyone, but when she sees a sexy older woman sitting at the bar, she can’t resist buying her a drink and see what, if anything, develops between them. What develops is a super steamy one-night stand that leaves both women satisfied, and Cassie ready to return to campus and face the rest of Family Weekend. Imagine her shock and horror then, when invited by her best friend Parker to come to breakfast and meet her mom, Cassie comes face to face with her one-night stand, who just happens to be Parker’s mother, Erin, who is of course equally horrified.

I really loved how the author developed this relationship and had her characters navigate the many obstacles that face them, the number one obstacle being not wanting to hurt Parker. Wilsner does a wonderful job portraying the awkwardness and the inner turmoil both Cassie and Erin experience because as much as they both try to hide it and deny it, they are clearly attracted to one another and have wonderful chemistry. I was right there with them alternating between “No, you absolutely cannot be together. Think about Parker!” to “But you’re so happy together. Maybe Parker would be okay with it?” As the title implies, mistakes were made and I really appreciated that aspect of it. It’s definitely a messy situation these women find themselves in, and I don’t think the relationship would have felt realistic if there weren’t mistakes made along the way.

If you’re in the mood for a sexy, steamy forbidden romance with a bit of family drama thrown into the mix, you’ll want to check out Mistakes Were Made.

Ok a book with a bi main cast?!? SIGN THIS BI GIRL UP!

Cassie hooks up with an older woman at a bar in her college town. The next day, she finds out that woman is her new friend's mom. Cassie and Erin try to ignore what happen the night before but it proves to be difficult and they end up sneaking around. But I'd lying to the ones you love worth the risk?

Shut up this book was 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ and while I'm not usually a fan of spice OBVS THIS WORKS BC IT IS A ROMANCE AND YA GURL AIN'T MAD. The beginning started off with a bang (because it literally opens with Cassie and Erin meeting at the bar). It did get a bit slow after that (for probably 50-ish pages???) but then ISH PICKS UP and I flew through this baby (seriously; I read 87% of the book in 12 hours). I guess I'm a sucker for an age gap romance with some ~forbiddenness~ to it (but obvs only between consenting adults bc duh).

In addition to the 🌶️ it was sooo cute and heart-warming in a lot of parts. Ngl though there was like one twist where I called it immediately 😂 BUT AYYYY all the main characters were bi and it made me so so so happy because I love seeing fellow bi folks represented 🏳️‍🌈

Thank you to @netgalley for my advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Something to Talk About was a great book, so the bar was set high with Mistakes Were Made. Side note: these book titles are so tantalizing, how could you not read them? Totally irresistible! Like STTA, Mistakes Were Made was on its surface a fun little romp - college girl hooks up with a hot woman at a bar during Parents Weekend, and it turns out to be her best friend’s mom. Oopies! But it’s such a deeper story than that. It’s sharp, smart, funny and heartwarming. It’s about Cassie, a twenty-one year old college senior who knows exactly what she wants to do after college - grad school to study aeronautics or astronautics, and then make things that go fast or go to space. But she had a very unstable family situation growing up, relying on her best friend and her friend’s family to show her what unconditional love was, and the. Her long-term boyfriend cheated on her, with a freshman who turns into a new best friend. Erin is her friend’s divorced mom, who is feeling a little lonely on parents weekend and goes to the bar for a drink. The same bar that Cassie is at. Their eye contact is instant chemistry and one thing lead to another… which is hooking up in the backseat of Erin’s rental car. No big deal, until Erin mentions that she’s just in town to visit her daughter at school - THE SAME SCHOOL CASSIE GOES TO. Then it gets worse - so much worse - the next morning when Erin meets her daughter Parker for breakfast, dragging her best friend with her - who is no other than CASSIE! *screaming* They manage to make it through breakfast without giving anything away, but at Parker’s concert that night, Erin and Cassie can’t keep their hands off each other and end up making out in the bathroom. Swearing it was a one time thing, never to be repeated, they pretend nothing happened, even while continuing to think about the other. When Parker invites Cassie to spend two weeks over holiday break at home with her, their willpower and discretion are put to the test. They each have their hang-ups about it - Erin believing that she doesn’t deserve to be happy and that she needs to put Parker first, and Cassie thinking that she can’t do anything to risk her friendship with Parker. But what Erin and Cassie have together can’t be denied, and they embark on an secret affair where they pretend it isn’t nothing, just a friends with benefits situation, while actually falling in love.

4⭐️ First I would like to say thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the eARC of this story. First I would like to say i went into this book with zero expectations and have never read this author before. The story follows the story of a college senior who while in the look for a fun time hooks up with her mom’s best friend. This story is very much giving MILF vibes and i loved it. The chemistry Erin and Cassie had was undeniable. As well as both of these characters were very well thought of and you can see that through the writing. I honestly had a great time reading this especially due to the fact that you don’t often see F/F romances written this well. I highly recommend!

A college senior unknowingly hooks up with her best friend’s mom.

I loved, loved, loved this book! I’m not usually engaged by novels that open with a hookup, but this one grabbed me right away. Cassie and Erin feel like living, breathing people, and the connection between them is irresistible. Neither want to hurt Erin’s daughter but they can’t help being drawn together. The mistakes they make come from love, and it’s easy to see why they don’t make better choices. The plot is compelling and the intimate scenes super steamy..

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I honestly went in with pretty much no expectations for this one as I wasn't a huge fan of Wilsner's first novel and requested this somewhat on a whim, but I had a good time with it! So that was a nice pleasant surprise.

I thought the two main characters were a really good fit for each other personality wise and thought they had very clear chemistry. The steam in this book was well written and is definitely higher steam than I have come to expect from an average cartoon cover, traditionally published romance book so if you're looking for high steam FF I would definitely recommend this.

The age gap and taboo nature of the pairing was something I was a tad wary of because I'm not usually a taboo romance reader (though this one felt pretty tame on the taboo scale), but I thought both of these aspects of the relationship and plot were handled well both within the relationship and as far as the broader consequences.

I did find the pacing a tad off though. The main couple gets together fairly early in the story (excluding the initial hook up as that was obviously expected early) and I usually personally prefer it to take a little longer (longer at least from a page count perspective, not from an internal timeline one). In this case I especially wish it had taken longer because it only lengthened how long it took for the book to get from them getting together to the resolution of the primary conflict we all knew was coming (that of the daughter and friend finding out) that it lost some of its tension because I just kept hearing it repeated too much without any pay off.

Overall a fun read, and I would definitely be interested in seeing what Wilsner writes next

DNF @ 15%. I very much believe there need to be more F/F romances out there, and I’ll admit, I’m no expert in the subject, but the significant age gap and the fact the connection was a friend/daughter gave me too much of an ick to continue. If this had been a M/F romance this would be so frowned upon so it’s hard for me to be ok with it in this context. I didn’t feel any connection emotionally between the leads that would make me want to root for them, despite the age gap and other issues. Maybe if I read further I would’ve felt that way, but I’ll admit other reviews highlighted the steam rather than the emotional connection so my guess is I would’ve continued to be disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐ on 🎧
NC-17 because this book is 🥵🥵🥵🥵

Is this the horniest book I've read this year? I think so!! Cassie and Erin just could not keep their hands off each other and honestly I was perfectly okay with that because it just fueled this age gap taboo romance. This book was just so hot but it was hot with purpose and every moment Cassie and Erin spent together led to these two learning and growing together.

Billed as "the MILF book", this book delivered and then some. Cassie and Erin first meet in a bar only to realize later that Cassie (a college senior) is best friends with Erin's college freshman daughter, Parker. But when things feel so good and right, it's hard to remember how to exercise self-control for these two. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed both the evolution of Cassie and Erin's relationship and the friendship between Cassie and Parker.

Meryl Wilsner created this truly believable world spanning from Erin's medical work to Cassie's studies with the normal college breaks and parties. With multiple narrators on the audiobook, it really felt like these characters were in my head telling me about their lives. There were a few points where the book was predictable and I felt like Cassie's backstory was not super well developed, but that was easy to overlook with all the steam. 😉

If you are a fan of sapphic romances, taboo romance or age gap romances, this book is an absolute must. This book has received a lot of early hype and it totally lives up to it so make sure to have this book ready for a cozy winter day when you need to be warmed up because this book brings the heat!!

Note: Previous readers commented that there were some slightly racist and fat phobic comments in this book, which they sent feedback to the publisher on. Listening to the more recently recorded audiobook, I think most of these lines have been removed and think this is an important example of why beta readers and feedback is important in the publishing process!

Mistakes Were Made
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook and Audiobook
Date Published: 10/11/22
Author: Meryl Wilsner
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin and Macmillan Audio
Narrators: Jeremy Carlisle Parker; Quinn Riley; Stephanie Németh-Parker
GR: 4.00

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This was such an adorable story. The story is narrated from both Cassie and Erin’s POV, which I love the dual POV, you really get a sense of both sides of the relationship. Cassie is a young, independent college person who has not figured out relationships or how to be vulnerable. While Erin has been divorced but has become a stronger woman because of it, and know who she is. When these two meet accidentally, they try everything they can to stay as friends since Erin is Cassie’s best friend’s mother. The characters were well developed with depth, witty banter, deep chemistry, oh so much chemistry, and creatively developed. The side characters are fabulous and I can absolutely see having some spin off books. The spice level is off the charts. The author’s writing style was complex, funny, passionate, swoony, spicy, and kept me engaged. This book publishes on Tuesday and I do highly recommend picking up, especially the audio version.

I loved this book! It is Sapphic, and it gave everything I was hoping for. Thank you so much for letting me read this arc. This was one of my favorite romances that I have read. I love how Cassie's and Erin's chemistry felt real. This book was very fun. I also love how both Erin and Cassie are such strong women! This book was hard to put down, and I'm so happy that I got to read it early.

Cassie isn’t looking for a hook-up when she makes a solo trip to an off-campus bar to escape family weekend festivities. But what happens when this college senior ends up having a one-night stand with Erin, who is also her best friend’s mom?

I really enjoyed this feel-good age-gap romance. It’s filled with friendship, family, and love.

There’s a perfect blend of steam and tenderness as Cassie and Erin get to know each other. The development of their relationship wasn’t rushed, even though they started fast. The push and pull between them as they fight their feelings gives the story a necessary amount of angst. Cassie and Erin are a couple that I couldn’t help but cheer for their happily ever after!

I loved this couple and the side characters, but my favorite part of this book is the focus on knowing what actually makes you happy, not what you should, and going after it.

Mistakes Were Made is a sweet and sexy read with lovable characters that will make you smile!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy of this book.

Make no mistake, this is an enjoyable, fun, and sexy book!

Cassie Klein went to an off-campus bar to escape family weekend at her college. She just wanted to unwind and enjoy a drink. She had no idea she would meet anyone, let alone have a one-night stand.

Erin Bennett is at the family weekend at Campus to bond with her daughter, Parker. While her ex-husband is enjoying the evening with Parker, Erin decides to head to a bar for a drink. Cassie buys Erin a drink and Badda Bing, Badda Boom, they have a one-night stand! Neither expected to see the other, but the next morning, Parker brings her best friend, Cassie to breakfast to meet her mom and Cassie and Erin meet again! Oops!

Yeah, talk about messy. Parker doesn't pick up on any vibes, but Cassie and Erin can't deny their attraction. You just know that this is going to get interesting.

This was such a fun and entertaining book. It was humorous, fun, and entertaining. The characters were likeable and endearing. I didn't want to put this book down as I was having so much fun reading it. What a fun forbidden romance.

This book was a little gem that I did not see coming.

4.5 out of 5 stars…OMG!! This book!! It’s felt like so long since I read a book that made me so happy and feel so seen and validated. I MEAN HELLO BISEXUAL CHARACTERS/REPRESENTATION/PRIDE?? Sign me up! With a dash of pansexual pride too?? This book was a dream to read and the SPICE/SMUT?? Holy.
This book had it all! Romance, LGBTQ+ representation…forbidden love/romance, age gap romance…so good all around! I saw a TikTok review for this book praising it and immediately went to NetGalley to see if I could get an ARC of this since I saw it before but wasn’t sure…and I’m so thankful for getting one! I loved the characters, I love that there were 3 bisexual characters and that they were the MAIN characters not side characters and a pansexual character as well. I really loved Erin and could relate to her feelings of being a people pleaser/fear of judgement, being bi and more. This was such a great and easy read. I loved seeing Erin and Cassie’s relationship go through all the ups and downs and find their way. The ending was so beautiful, romantic and sweet. This was such a different read for me since I usually read books about straight couples/people so it was so nice reading about 2 woman for a change. So much love for this book! Can’t wait to read more by this author in the future.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The writing itself was not the best, but the actual story was wonderful. I liked both of the main characters and seeing how each of them navigated the messiness of their situation.

I think this book did a great job of portraying the physical connection between the leads while also showcasing their emotional connection. I was definitely rooting for them the whole time despite how awkward the start to their relationship was.

I think the author did a great job of having everything play out in a realistic way while also supplying a HEA even for the side characters involved.

I would highly recommend this book to romance fans, especially fans of sapphic romances, taboo relationships, and stories with just as much heart as steam.