The way I DEVOURED this book in 2 days cannot be understated. It was so good. I long for some of Cassie's confidence in who she is and what she wants. She knows exactly where she is going and doesn't mind a few changes when new opportunities present themselves. Love that.

I love the way that diverse characters were presented, it was great because a huge deal wasn't made about the diversity, and it felt a lot more organic than some other books have done it.

Acacia tolerates so much from her friends, girl needs a VACATION. Parker was shown as a bit childish and immature for the normal things that college kids do, it made her and Cassie seem more human because both were selfish at times and annoying for normal things that happen during friendships (well except for the one-night stand with your friend's mother).

And I loved it. It was good. I can't wait for everyone else to read it so that we can all talk about it. I definitely want to read more from this author.

This was actually a wonderful feel good book, and now I need the physical copy to have with me at the beach. It was just so good. It was steamy, the characters had a ton of explosive chemistry from the start and I will definitely be grabbing more books from this author.

I really loved this book. It was an excellent second novel that really holds its own against the first. There is a ton of secret keeping, which tends to stress me out, but it all worked out. And I really enjoyed it!!

Mistakes Were Made follows Cassie and Erin get together one night at a bar to find out that Erin's daughter Parker is one of Cassie's best friends just the following day. I loved the world that Meryl Wilsner wrote for this book. All of the characters were well developed, and it was great to see their friendships with one another. I loved Cassie's friend group and how they all genuinely cared about each other. Erin and Cassie have a great relationship, and seeing how their story developed was so well done! My only real issue with the book was the pacing, causing me to rate it lower. The story was so fast-paced (even though it is an emotional slow-burn of a romance) initially, but then there were points in the middle where it felt like it was dragging. Parker's storyline also surprised me, and I'm still unsure how I fully think about the direction the author took her story, but it got better in the end with the way the book was wrapped up. Overall I enjoyed this read and I can't wait to see what Meryl Wilsner writes next!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mistakes Were Made is an age difference LGBTQ+ romance with a lot of spice and heart!

The novel opens with a sexy hookup between two strangers at a bar, Erin and Cassie. Both think they are having a nice one-night-stand, but the next morning they find themselves across the table from each other at breakfast, Turns out, Erin is the mother of Cassie's friend. Erin can't believe she has hooked up with a college-aged girl, and both agree they need to forget it ever happened so they do not betray the daughter's trust.

As these things go, our main characters just can't get past their chemistry, and sexy shenanigans ensue.

This is the first time I have seen a May-December romance in same sex characters, and it was a fun read. Definitely high on the spice level-- if that is your thing, then I recommend!

I really enjoyed this one! My first ARC, thanks to NetGalley, and I happened to really like it! The characters were very relatable and easy to feel for. I like that there is little lead up to the plot, the book simply gets right into it. I also liked that there is not only lesbian representation, but also representation for lesbians in relationships with age gaps between them and their partner. Also, LOVE TO SEE WOMEN IN STEM!!!!! I do think that at times, the tension of the book felt a bit underwhelming, but still made for a great novel overall. Romance is meant to be happy, after all.
I will most likely be adding a physical copy of this to my collection when this officially hits shelves!!

I have mixed feelings about this book, thus it sits at a firm 3 stars. Obviously for the plot of this book to succeed, the ‘secretly dating your daughters best friend’ premise had to exist. It was the driving force of the book and what created tension. However, this set up was my least favourite part of the book. I found that Cassie and Erin’s relationship independent of circumstance was actually very endearing. Adding Parker and Acacia to the mix introduced complicated and dramatic friendship dynamics that left Erin and Cassie’s relationship clouded with scandal.
Take these characters and this relationship and plop them into another circumstance? Sure. Unfortunately, the plot wasn’t my cup of tea.

Personal preference aside, if you enjoy age gap romances and scandalous tropes like ‘daughter’s best friend’ you’ll eat this up. Overall, the writing is excellent and the plot is executed and paced very well, it is just a matter of if you enjoy the content/trope.

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

I didn’t mind this book. It was just fine to me. Strangers to lovers but sneaky. I don’t know how I’d feel if my best friend dated my mom but it kind of gave me an ick feeling so I had to remove that from the equation so I could actually rate the book.

Writing is good, easy to read and follow. Spicy scenes are done well and not too crazy, Cassie’s learning about her feelings is realistic. But I don’t know, I just struggled getting on board with the mom dating the daughters best friend.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Something to Talk about and was thrilled to have the opportunity to read Meryl Wilsner's second published work. I went into this book with the expectation to have a great time and that was met and surpassed very quickly. A glance at the cover and the description made it clear this was a nice escapist moment for the reader. After all, sometimes relationships you never want to see in real life bring you endless joy in fiction, and that is exactly the case in Mistakes Were Made.

When Cassie escapes campus for the night to avoid Family Weekend, she has no intention of hooking up with someone. She especially does not intend to hook up with one of her best friend's mom. Erin is more than a little taken about to find out that her hook up turns out not only to be a student at her daughter's college but a closer friend of her daughter, Parker. Cassie and Erin know they should not keep seeing each other, but they get on in more ways than one and it's just so easy to keep coming together.

This book was funny and sweet and had great pacing. The ambition for happiness that ran through the book was everything I love about romance novels. This book was so hyped when the cover was dropped and that hype was well deserved. As usual Wilsner's writing is charming and easy and incredibly steamy in all the best ways. The women are determined and ambitious and take charge of their sexualities. Erin and Cassie's relationship while complicated is navigated with great care, and equal care and dedication is given to their friendships as well, which is something I deeply appreciated in the writing.

I was really excited for this book, especially knowing it was a sapphic romance, but it just didn't quite deliver as much as I had hoped. Real rating of a 3.5.

I went into this book completely blind as I love not having any expectations for books previously established. I just knew that it was a sapphic romance and that was enough for me. What I wasn't expecting was an age-gap romance. While this are not normally my thing, it was not bad in that aspect and carried out a lot better than I had expected. I loved all the bisexual representation and how the book was female-centered (with little to no male characters which was very refreshing for a sapphic book!) with some STEM rep. It made for some strong female characters that I liked for the most part. The writing was good and I liked the dual POV approach as that's always a way to my heart in romance books.

I think perhaps what rubbed me the wrong way the whole time was the constant sneaking around and how much anxiety it caused me. Sneaking around in books never results in anything good and I anticipated quite a bit of blowback from other characters because of it. The ending did surprise me is the lack of doing what I anticipated, but it also made the characters almost too accepting and slightly unrealistic considering the situation. I also felt like Cassie and Erin's chemistry was stronger in the first part of the book than in the second half where it mattered most and for that reason it made it drag a little bit. I also would've liked to see Parker play a bigger role as I felt like for such a potentially pivotal character she got sidelined a lot.

Overall, this book was good and the author embraced the spice well, especially since lots of sapphic books seem to not be as confident in the spice as typical heteronormative books are. As far as plot and character development goes, it just felt like it could've offered more and been a little stronger.

I really enjoyed this book. I think of it as a slow burn even though the characters cant keep their hands off of each other - it strikes exactly the right balance of longing and emotional growth with some very sexy scenes. I thought I knew what the final twist would be but was pleasantly surprised at how everything turned out.. I’ll be keeping this one on my read-again list for sure.

3.5 stars for Mistakes were made by Meryl Wilsner.

Funny and tender moments at the same time.
I dropped a few stars along the way that's why and I hope to be constructive. The thing that seems to have bothered me the most is the number of times I read the names of Cassi, Erin and Parker in this book. It makes the reading a little heavy when you focus on it.
Parker the daughter of Erin takes up a lot of space and even if it is to make a preamble there has a novel potential where she will be the main character it is all the same too much.

Despite everything, it's a book that makes you feel good to read, and the love between the two women is obvious and refreshing. No one can lie to each other, it's two of them in love since the day... 2.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Cassie walks into a bar across town from her college campus and picks up an older woman. They hook up, say goodbye, and think they’ll never see each other again. Then Cassie joins one of her best friends for breakfast with her best friend’s mom the next morning and she sees the woman she hooked up with. The two have to figure out what to do - they obviously have chemistry, but have to think of Parker (the best friend/daughter). There’s a lot of sneaking around, of cute moments between the two, and a lot of questioning of whether they could really make something work.

I really enjoyed this book. There were so many times that I forgot about the age difference, if not for the continued mention of Parker I think I would have likely forgotten entirely. I really liked Erin and Cassie together, but I wavered a lot on the side characters, especially Parker. She just acted really immature at times (it was absolutely realistic of an only child whose parents spoiled her, but I would have been annoyed to be her friend at times). In the end I adored her, but it took me a long time to come around.

I really liked that both of these women were flawed, but still lovable. I really liked how there were moments where they both helped the other grow and get what they needed out of the relationship.

Also this book is spicy. Like very spicy. And it starts a few pages in.

Overall, I’d give this 4.5 stars. I enjoyed it, it’s steamy, the main characters are developed really well and had great chemistry.

I'm on a journey to find what kind of romance novels I do like, this was actually helpful in that regard! The premise is fun, the opening is solid, the smutty bits are genuinely very very hot, but beyond that it all sort of fell apart for me. My biggest issues: 1. Bizarre throwaway lines about race that I think were trying to be self-aware but read ick veering on outright racist, 2. Nearly every character is obsessed with the notion of “best friends” (this is NOT a YA book), 3. Main characters seemed to be using each other both in a mommy/daughter dynamic way and also sexy stuff way, and nope, no thank you, 4. Pacing, character development, overall writing style.

This book wasn't for me. I liked the first chapter or two and then it just didn't progress. The situation felt a little icky to me.
There was no emotion in the relationship between the two main characters. Nothing to keep the book going
The characters themselves were boring as well.
It just wasn't my vibe.

I found it confusing to keep track of who was speaking in this book due to the POV it was told in. With both characters being a she it was difficult to keep track of who was doing what to whom. But otherwise I really enjoyed it! I liked the age gap aspect. This is a great pride month read.

I'm on the fence with Mistakes Were Made... I loved the whole age gap/forbidden romance aspect of the story, the romance wasn't rushed and the smut was top notch, and big points in it's favor for the pacing-- it wasn't mind numbingly slow like it was with Something to Talk about, big step up.

BUT

Just like with Something to Talk About, I struggled to connect or like the characters. Both Erin and Cassie are incredibly immature and handle their romantic situation poorly, especially when it comes to Parker (the bff and daughter). There was so much miscommunication between the three of them that could have been avoided and I absolutely hated this plot line. Plus, as a pretty important side character, Parker didn't really have much of a personality or anything really in common with Cassie and they're supposed to be besties????

Overall, it was good, but I think I've learned that Meryl Wilsner books are not for me.

Mistakes Were Made takes place after college-student Cassie has a one night stand with Erin, who she later realizes is her best friend’s mother.

I enjoyed this one more than I expected to. It very much follows the path of a standard romance novel, so I was able to predict the outcomes of most situations but that didn’t deter from the fun of the story.

I liked Cassie’s demeanor; she was funny, smart, and genuinely caring. I also really liked Erin, for pretty much the same reasons, and not of their personalities were distinct and played off each other well.

The two main characters had pretty good chemistry, but the few times I was pulled out of it was during certain situations involving their age/life differences. Cassie’s friend Parker (Erin’s daughter) is often childish and unlikeable in the first 2/3 or so of the book, which makes Cassie feel way younger by association. Then there’s Erin, who mostly doesn’t feel toooo old for Cassie, until her money comes into play and you get the whole “broke college student vs. fairly rich older woman” power dynamic. For me, it was fine until Erin bought her a ridiculously expensive gift (when the two of them were still considering each other just a hookup). It wasn’t technically a sugar mama situation, but still - given the gap in their age, I much preferred when the two of them were on more equal footing.

The pacing was pretty good until the end, where I felt the book dragged out a bit. There wasn’t anything there that I didn’t see coming (again, standard romance novel structure) and I would have loved to have been presented with something less predictable.

I give Mistakes We’re Made 4 stars, and I’m looking forward to picking up more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this before the publication date.

I wasn't familiar with Meryl Wilsner writing before this novel. She did not disappoint in any aspect. She gave me the perfect Older Woman/Younger Woman romance. The bi-representation! The relationship between Cassie and Erin is steamy and cute. The hilarity is also there. That being said I wish we could have gotten more of Cassie's backstory instead of just glimpses.

I gave it a solid four stars. Because while it hit all the right notes with the relationship, representation and wit. It lacked for me, a solid backstory for the main character.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is the story of two women who find love and happiness when everyone tell them they shouldn’t. This book is incredible, the characters have really chemistry and they behave like real people. This is my first book that the main character was a MILF but I loved every second of this book.

Meryl Wilsner’s sophomore romance Mistake Were Made is a delightful MILF tale of a college senior hooking up with a woman in a bar…who ends up being the mom of her new freshman BFF. Well, things just got awkward! With strong NA vibes, chemistry for days, and a lovely message of prioritizing your own happiness over other’s idea of “should”, this book was an absolute A+.