Mistakes Were Made is such a good story! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was good and the characters were a blast. HIghly recommend!

2/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARX for me to review. ❤️

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me, which makes me incredibly sad! It has all the features that would make me love this book—LGBTQ+ romance, age gaps, equal amounts of sweet and spicy scenes—the whole shebang! But it just didn’t deliver for me, and I think what it comes down to are the simplified relationships and slightly underdeveloped characters. I felt as though it was a struggle to differentiate between Cassie and Erin, and it made for a less than enjoyable read. I also wasn’t overly fond of the author’s writing style, though I’m not sure why. I can’t put my finger on it!

I think this could definitely be someone’s cup of tea, but it unfortunately wasn’t mine.

Now, if on follow me on Goodreads and IG then probably heard me scream about this book and how it was one of my most anticipated reads this year.
Well I got to read it yesterday and honestly? I loved it but, I got some things to say.

Let’s start with the good,(NOT that what i have to say is bad, they’re just overall thoughts i had)

I LOVED the bisexuality rep, there’s never enough, and I loved that this was a leading ladies kind of book.

I loved Cassie and Erin. I loved their relationship and as individuals. Cassie was such a cocky and charming person, which was something I didn’t expect. I really liked her and I would’ve loved if her past had been deepened a little more, I feel like it would’ve made me understand her better in various things. I also love how completely smitten she was with Erin it was so freaking adorable and fun.

Erin was calm, sweet and and just overall relaxed but do not mistake that as boring or plain!!
She was detailed, had issues and it was fun to read as she navigated through the situation between her an Cassie, especially seeing as it was a forbidden/tricky situation considering the age-gap and the fact that Cassie was one of Erin’s daughter’s best friends.

A thing really worth mentioning was the naughty bits in this book. There were consistent through out the book. I am happy though because we don’t see see that a lot in sapphic romances and we should. They were hot, kinky but they maintained great intimacy romance wise.

Cassie’s best friends are worth mentioning. Cassie, Acacia and Parker(Erin’s daughter) are the ultimate power trio. I LOVE their dynamic and support for each other. Their connection with each other was really consistent through out the book.

Now here are the other things wanted to say,

The General Plot. I felt like there were still so many things to be said and the author had the potential to add in so many occasions. Like I mentioned up there, Cassie’s family history was very oversimplified, like I understood the facts but never got a story so in that way it felt a little bit incomplete.

The same thing could be said with things between Parker and Erin. While Parker is a consistent character in the story, I again felt like she was a little bit simplified. I felt that parent/daughter situation was a little unclear and neglected.

Now this could be only me but,

The Romance Plot. I feel like there could’ve been so many details added to their love story. Like small scenes and little facts.

But overall I still very much enjoyed this books and would recommend to anyone who wants a fun, smutty, cute sapphic romance.

Enjoyed this sweet and sizzling rom com! Mistakes Were Made follows Cassie and Erin who meet at a bar thinking they’ll never see each other again … until Cassie’s friend introduces Erin as her mother during Family Weekend. Their one night is ingrained in Cassie’s mind and she can’t resist trying to spend more time with Erin … but she doesn’t want to ruin her friendship. Mistakes will definitely be made.

It’s a fun, easy read with loads of laughs, steam, and secret rendezvous. Honestly loved their banter and the snorkeling gear scene was so sweet!

Thanks Net Galley for the e-Arc!

Tropes:
Age Gap
Best Friend’s Mom
Rom Com
Sapphic Romance

I have been in the mood for steamy romance lately, and given my love for age gap/forbidden romance, this seemed like a book for me as I constantly search for books to add to my age gap trope collection.

Let’s start with what I liked. I really enjoyed the overall storyline and the characters. I felt the tumult that goes along with finding love where you shouldn’t. I rooted for Erin and Cassie throughout their story and hoped for a happy ending for everyone involved. The added bonus was the wonderful friendships Meryl Wilsner created for each of the MCs. These felt very authentic and multi-dimensional.

While this book is supposed to be steamy, I found myself wishing for a little less steam, and a little more about the characters themselves. Even though I had a pretty good feel for each of them, I still wanted to learn more about what made them tick. Given the vast number of sex scenes, I think a few could have been cut in order to spend more time developing the characters.

3.5★ Rounded up.

Read if you like:
◈ Sapphic romance
◈ Forbidden love
◈ Age Gap
◈ Spice

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was going to give this a 4 but the last 100 pages or so just GOT ME. Spicy book but so sweet as well. Read this in a night and I just adored it!

I went certifiably feral when I noticed I got approved for this in netgalley. My most anticipated romance novel for the last half of the year and my lord it did not disappoint!!!

Lovingly dubbed “The Milf Book,” Mistakes Were Made is the unlikely love story between Cassie, a college senior who is best friends with Acacia and Parker, and Erin, a supposed-to-be one night stand who just so happens to be the mom of aforementioned best friend Parker. After meeting in a bar and hitting it off, they hook up knowing they’ll never see each other again. The next morning Parker asks Cassie to join her at brunch with her mom, Erin, who happens to be the woman she hooked up with not twelve hours prior. The rest of the story is dual POV with Cassie and Erin deciding if what they feel for each other is real or if it was just a fling that they need to put behind them.

I really enjoyed this book! I love the cast of characters so much. Most of it felt like I was just reading about old friends but I wish we had slightly more bulk to their personalities. I would kill for spin offs of Acacia and Parker! The way they interacted was some of my favorite character interactions ever in a book. It felt familiar and comfortable and it was super enjoyable to read.

My biggest issue is that it felt a bit too long for as little substance as there was. I love a good, fluffy romance so I’m not knocking a book with a shallower plot. My problem was a quantity over quality one. A good chunk of the exposition felt kind of dry and like it was just there so the whole book wasn’t straight up erotica. It felt like the plot was written in a way that didn’t add to the plot, just got us to the next sex scene. Speaking of sex scenes, like I said before, I feel like there was an issue of amount of scenes vs quality of them. At some point it felt redundant to describe Cassie “entering” Erin. Again. The ratio of meaningful plot that adds to the story to good, steamy sex scenes was off but it was such a fun read that it didn’t stop me from completing and enjoying the book.

I was also sent the audiobook and thought the voice actors did a great job bringing Cassie and Erin to life! I would switch between listening and reading and particularly enjoyed Cassie’s voice actor.

Overall, I really loved all the characters and their dynamics with each other, I was rooting for Cassie to be able to keep Parker as a bestie and keep dating Erin the entire book, and even though I wish the book as a whole were a bit more full bodied, it was great. Solid 4.5⭐️ rounded up!

CW for explicit sexual content

This book was an absolute delight. I read it in one day and had a wonderful time doing so. I don’t typically read or enjoy age-gap romances, but something about this one was very entertaining to me. It was very easy to read and it was also easy to root for the characters, I was intrigued from start to finish and it never felt as if the story lulled or got boring. The pacing was perfect.

I also really enjoyed the ending of this book. It was sweet and wholesome. I felt that it was the perfect ending for a very relaxed book that didn’t focus too much on plot. Overall I would rate this book around four out of five stars, and I would certainly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!

I received an arc via netgalley in exhange for an honest review.

'Mistakes Were Made' by Meryl Wilsner follows college senior, Cassie, and the woman she meets in a bar, Erin, aka her best friend's mom. The first night Cassie and Erin meet results in a one night stand, and it's not until later that they realize the connection between Erin's daughter, Parker and them. The rest of the book follows Cassie and Erin as they come to grips with their relationship (or lack thereof) and the consequences it could have on them and Parker.

Although the premise of this book really intrigued, as well as the author, as I read their debut and really enjoyed it, this book was not for me. The romance in this book features heavy amounts of smut, which is fine, I enjoy smut, but not when it's to the detriment of the rest of this book. After reading Wilsner's debut, 'Something to Talk About', I expected more substance than what this book gave. I felt like there was a a severe lack of personality in both of the main characters. I felt like I didn't really know them as much as I was supposed to, and when it did go into their backstories or more deep into their characters, it stayed at surface level. I did enjoy this book for what it was, though. If you're looking for a fun, easy, and smutty read then this is the book for you. This book just sadly did not meet my expectations. Overall, I would personally rate it as a two and a half stars out of five stars.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed Wilsner's _Something to Talk about_, so I was thrilled to read this latest queer romance from this author. It is another great read!

Erin and Cassie share perspectives and a whole lot of other stuff (including but not limited to great sex and emotional connections) in this engaging and speedy effort. Their meet cute turns meet cringe when - after a steamy intended one-off (do with that what you will) in the opening scene, they reconnect in the most awkward circumstance the very next day. The upside is that this reconnection gives them many opportunities to stay in each other's lives...if they want to do that.

This romance feels like it's being experienced by two aware, reasonable, and relatable individuals. It's also relatively uncomplicated, which is refreshing but also did make me wish for a little more strife at times. What I loved is that the struggle they do encounter does not come in exactly the way readers predict it will. Both characters enjoy reminding readers of exactly what the challenges are in their pairing a little too often (as is so frequently the case, we accept their circumstances before they do), but this reinforcement avoids falling into exhausting repetition.

I was really fortunate to engage with the audio version, and the narrators add a lot. If possible, I recommend readers snag this one.

Wilsner continues to be a favorite for realistic queer characters who have brains and are seeking healthy relationships. I enjoyed this one and am already looking forward to the next!

Meryl Wilsner just keeps getting better and better. I thoroughly enjoyed Mistakes Were Made, even if it’s downright unrealistic and at times cringey. But with some suspended disbelief, I laughed and smiled and cried right along with them! This is definitely a fun one that picks up even more in the second half.

After a fabulous one night stand with an older woman, college senior Cassie Klein joins her freshman friend Parker for breakfast with her mother, visiting for family weekend…only to discover that Parker’s mom Erin is her one night stand. Fantastic or not, they obviously can’t keep this thing going now that they know their connection. But as time wears on and Erin and Cassie are thrown together again and again, their undeniable attraction to one another becomes hard to ignore.

But there’s still one big, huge, ginormous problem: Parker.

Like I said, suspended disbelief. It’s not even so much that this *could* happen so much as that it continues happening, over and over, throughout the book. That’s also why I say cringe. It’s hard to read some parts when you’re like, O M G Parker is RIGHT! THERE!. But I think that’s also part of the point and the draw…forbidden romance and all that. Honestly those usually freak me out, as this one did.

That said, Cassie and Erin were adorable together. Especially by the second half of the book, when things got really good, I just felt like it was evident in all their interactions that they were a good match for one another. It sweetens the story on a whole other level. Cassie is harder around the edges, but predictable and thoughtful, where Erin is warmer and softer, more effusive. In most of their scenes, even when they weren’t romantic ones, I could see how they complemented each other.

I liked Mistakes Were Made even better than Something to Talk About, probably because we went from a slow burn book, to being thrown into the fire with this one. But still, in some ways, the romance is slow to come. I just think this one gets *to the point* far faster, which is a lot of what was being complained about in reviews of Something to Talk About.

All the supporting characters in this one were also fantastic. Parker, their mutual friend Acacia, all the neighborhood kids, Erin’s best friend Rachel…I loved all of them and thought they were well utilized to provide additional context to Erin and Cassie, when they weren’t forthcoming in their own narrative. It felt a lot like everyone knew Cassie and Erin better than they knew themselves, which isn’t entirely inaccurate when you figure out why.

I definitely enjoyed this one. I think this will be released to much love and fanfare. Highly recommend you grab a copy when this releases on October 11, 2022 – and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for my honest review!

Have a great week!

**My post will go live on my site on October 4, 2022.

A reverse age gap, dual POV Sapphic romance between Erin, a divorced single mom, and Cassie, Erin's daughter's best friend. These two meet and hook up in a bar only to discover the next day how they're connected. This trope could have been tricky to get right but I think the author did a good job navigating all the complexities in a believable way. Good on audio too and recommended for fans of authors like Karelia Stetz-Waters. Much thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for early digital copies in exchange for my honest review.

Meryl Wilsner's latest novel, Mistakes Were Made, does what Wilsner's previous novel did not -- jumps right into the sex scenes. Gone is the slow, slow burn from Something to Talk About -- Mistakes Were Made does not wait around! This book is fun and sexy, and the characters are certainly people you want to root for. It is a quick and easy read that I breezed through in a day.

This breeziness isn't always a good thing -- it lacks a bit of depth, in both the conflict and in fleshing out the characters. It doesn't quite click as well as Something to Talk About, but it is an admirable follow up, and makes me excited for whatever Wilsner comes out with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the character development but some of the interactions between the two main characters was strained and the story seemed to get a little bogged down in the third quarter of the book. All in all though the cast of women had heartwarming connections and their bonds of romantic and platonic love got tested and reaffirmed. Overall a lovely read.

"Something To Talk About" by Meryl Wilsner was a fun romance to read. Interesting plot; likable, well-developed characters; snappy dialogue; and a happy ending that was predictable, but enjoyable. When I saw that the author had written another romance, "Mistakes Were Made", I looked forward to reading it. The plot sounded intriguing, and there was a possibility of an ending that was realistic

The plot of "Mistakes Were Made" was the only thing I found of interest, at least for a while. I won't give any spoilers, but about mid-way through the story, Parker (Erin's daughter) starts acting in a hostile manner toward Erin and Cassie. I found it mind boggling that Erin and Cassie couldn't figure out the reason for Parker's behavior. I also didn't find the three main characters very interesting - there just wasn't enough information about them, i.e., why wasn't there more about Erin and her efforts to start a new clinic?; why was Cassie going to grad school - it had to be more than "to build things that go fast" ?! And Parker was a mystery to me. I couldn't understand the way she suddenly became so accepting. It's didn't seem believable to me. The story did start out quickly - with a bang - then it seemed to lose gas, and my interest. Toward the end, I skipped pages just to see how the story would resolve itself. By this time, I didn't have any expectations of an interesting ending. And I was right.

This was a pretty cute, feel good, happy ending rom com, secret relationship, fun vibe of a book. I enjoyed the writing a lot, didn’t ever feel like it was too much or over the top cutesy. Love scenes were on the literal side vs idk like “orbs of delicious sun kissed peaches” or whatever, nah straight up t*ts and c*nt descriptions lmao. I had a good time for what it was. My 3 star is my “yeah I liked it” so that’s pretty solid praise from me for a popcorn book.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. “Mistakes Were Made” was steamy, face-paced, and almost everything I wanted in a best friend’s mom romance (the lack of a scene where they dance to “Stacy’s Mom” was a little disappointing). While the plot was fun, it started to drag as the book went on. I felt like we were in an endless loop that always came back to sneaky sex. The feelings of the romance weren’t even acknowledged until the end. However, it was a fun and easy read, so 4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the writing style of this book. Written in the POV of both main characters, I felt that the story lines were well developed. The story revolves around what feels like an impossible situation, of falling for someone you shouldn't pursue (Woman falling for daughter's best friend/Woman falling for best friends mother). The characters spend a lot of time lying to themselves and to others on the relationship that is developing between them, and at times it feels like they are in too deep to get themselves out of the situation unscathed. Through the struggles, real feelings are realized and the culmination of the situation needs to be ultimately dealt with, along with any of the aftermath. If I have one part that I would have adjusted, it was the sheer number of sex scenes. I am all for some steamy parts, but the number felt like a lot for this story. I would have liked to see the number maybe cut in half (there are a good 6-7 that I can think of off the top of my head) and those pages may have been better spent further developing the relationships and story. Still overall enjoyed this book.

this was an interesting story and the internal conflict and the conflict between all of the characters was realistic.

What happens when you have a one night stand with the hottest person you’ve ever met... only to find out that their your friend’s mom over breakfast the next day? Cassie Klein just wants to escape her school’s Family Weekend, so she goes to a bar thats a bit further away and has an amazing one night stand... and the next morning when her friend drags her to meet her mom.... who other is it than the hot older woman Cassie slept with the night before? Erin Bennett just wants to be closer to her daughter, after a messy divorce and focusing on her work she hasn’t really been into dating, so when she meets a cute younger girl at the bar she thinks why not? It’s only for one night... until she meets her the next day. Now what was suppose to be a one night stand between the two of them changes as Cassie finds herself spending the holidays with her friend and Erin. Both Erin and Cassie know that what happened between them can never happen again but the feelings and chemistry between them just keeps growing. Can they keep their feelings in check or are they willing to risk it all for love? This was such a cute and sexy story! I really enjoyed Erin and Cassie falling for each other and how they make their relationship work.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*