First off thank you St. Martin's Press and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book starts out with a bang (literally) when the two main characters meet at a bar for the first time and have instant attraction and this book is SPICY! The first quarter of the book was fantastic. Kept me wanting more... but then the book to me took a turn...

You learn right away that the characters are different ages. The description of the book lets you know that the it is a relationship between a mom and her college age daughters friend.. However, the book keeps making the younger character seem younger and younger and it made it very uncomfortable to read. (For example the mom giving her daughter and her lover Christmas pajamas as if they were little girls)

I really had high hopes for this book, but ultimately it made me feel like I was reading a book about an underage relationship.

Pros- There were some good parts to this. The concept itself of a lady in her late 30’s and one in her early 20s is a cool dynamic. I also loved how open the characters were with their sexual orientation. Super great. The love scenes were VERY spicy and unique.

Cons - Relationship seemed like an underage relationship at times. Some odd race comment comments in the book.

I was so surprised how quickly I was invested in this story. I’ll be totally honest, at first I thought it would be a light, cheesy romance read. But I was so wrong. I became swiftly caught up in Erin and Cassie’s relationship. And the whole time I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the ending had me in the happiest of tears. We need more LGBTQ+ stories with happy endings!

This forbidden romance was everything I expected. The spice was *chef's kiss*! The timeline was refreshing! It spans over the course of almost a year instead of events unfolding over days or weeks. The main characters are strong in their strengths but we see their weaknesses and see what they do to work through them, better themselves or overcome them but without being the main focus of their character.

I love that Erin is an older woman, taking control of her life and doing things to make herself happy later in life. I related to her so much. It was a wonderful feeling to actually be able to see myself in a character.

Cassie is intelligent, confident, ambitious and unapologetic, and honestly we need more women like her.

The Bi representation is exactly what I needed in my life!

I thought Parker's role could have been fleshed out a bit more, but as this was Erin and Cassie's story I'm not surprised her character took a bit of a back seat.

I was overall super enthralled by the story. I loved it and will absolutely reread. 5/5 would recommend!

Mistakes Were Made was scorching hot! The sparks between Cassie and Erin were off the charts. The sex scenes were lots of fun, and I also really loved the sweet moments like how they cooked together over FaceTime. Both heroines were also really well-developed characters; I enjoyed getting to know them both, and quickly got invested in cheering them on towards their happily ever after.

I'm not usually a fan of age gap romances, and the best friend's parent trope usually squicks me out. But I found the f/f dynamic actually made these tropes more enjoyable for me here, I guess because there's less (to me) of a power imbalance? It also helped that Parker seemed really young/immature, and Cassie did seem older, so the age gap between Cassie and Erin didn't feel as large. I also liked how Cassie sometimes "mothered" Erin as much as the other way around, like how she helped Erin relax about the holiday party.

My one gripe was with how easily/smoothly the main external conflict was resolved. A lot of the drama around that seemed to have been fixed off-screen. While that was nice in terms of the characters getting their happily ever after, and while the way the author did it was technically believable, to the point that I kinda guessed the way it was heading, it was still a letdown. I wish it had actually played out onscreen, and explored a bit more, because that conflict was too significant for hand-waving.

Still, overall, I really enjoyed this novel, and liked how the author handled the age gap/best friend's parent trope. I'm definitely curious about the other romances she's written!

+

Thanks to St Martin's Press for an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

When I say this book was everything I ever wanted, I mean it! Sexy, charming, witty-- I LOVED the characters. Easily one of my favorite books of the year so far.

Wow! This was absolutely beautiful..quirky, fun, sarcastic, edge of your seat gripping and messy all in one beautiful package. The girls are so relatable, loved the chemistry and how well their relationships intertwined. The messy bits in between you just get so wrapped up in, like when your besties meet up over coffee to spill some tea. It was absolutely lovely. Made me laugh and gasp so many times! So glad it played out the way I was hoping for!

I received this ARC to review from the publishers and NetGalley. All comments above are solely my true opinion after reading this book.

First of all huge thanks to St Martin’s Press & NetGalley for allowing me to read this early!

I absolutely devoured this book! Talk about STEAMY🧖🏼‍♀️

Recently single college senior Cassie hooks up with Erin, a hot older woman at the bar. The next morning at breakfast she finds out that Erin is one of her new best friends mom. Things get messy, hot, & so complicated.
You will definitely begin to question whether or not these characters are good people. Is Cassie a bad friend? Is Erin a bad mom? How long can they keep this a secret if they can’t resist one another? Mistakes were definitely made!
I loved this book! The friendships, the character development, the sex, I couldn’t get enough!

You definitely won’t find any fade to black scenes in Mistakes Were Made, Meryl Wilsner gives you all the JUICY 💦 details and I’m here for it!

I 100% recommend giving it a read when it gets released this October. It’s gonna be a hit!

Summary: When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school’s Family Weekend, she isn’t looking for a hookup—it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around and her friend drags her along to meet her mom—the hot, older woman Cassie slept with.

Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn’t known Cassie was a student when they'd met. To make things worse, Erin’s daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin's better judgement—how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad?—she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night.

What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?
______
I enjoyed every aspect of this book. From a rom-com perspective, this was highly entertaining. The attraction and complications between Erin and Cassie felt genuine. These characters were relatable, and more than that, I found myself wanting to form friendships with this circle of women. It was easy to root for Cassie and Erin as they weighed the pros and cons of advancing their relationship.

What elevated this book from a 4 star to a 5 star read was the honest examination of the relationships between parents and children. As a mother, I empathized with Erin. The conflict she felt in weighing her daughter's feelings and needs against her own rang true. While her daughter may be an adult, that does not make her any less of Erin's child. I respect that Wilsner examined these issues in an authentic way.

When I read the blurb for this book, I knew I couldn’t wait to read it and it didn’t disappoint. Age-gap. Best friend’s mom. Say no more. The chemistry between Cassie and Erin was off the charts and the steam was super toasty and very well written. No two steamy scenes felt repetitive. I really enjoyed that the chapters switched POV so you really could feel what they both were thinking, and it was nice that the angst came with more than what was just on the surface. I can’t wait to read this one again. Also, I’m totally here for this becoming a series and the next book focusing on Parker and the following on Acacia, just saying…

I have been waiting to get my hands on this book for so long. As much as I would love to day this book is exactly what I was waiting for, I just can’t.

As a lot of the other reviewers have stated, pacing is an issue for this book. While most are used to the slow burn, this book is the opposite. We start off pretty early with hookups. The issue is later on in the book, it seems to drag on. I kept waiting for ‘that moment’ when the other show drops that we all find while reading. This book didn’t have that issue. Given that, I’m not sure why the book carried on for so long.

Overall the book was a great read.

Super steamy and sexy! I appreciated how this book approached a rather taboo relationship ship. Nearly all characters were unlikeable but I was able to appreciate the worth of the story.

Too be honest I did not love this book as much as I wanted to. The big age difference made me uncomfortable. Mom sleeping with her daughters best friend, I mean what could go wrong. Although character development was excellent. The age gap bothered me. Overall a good read, it kept my attention.

As this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year - I was the happiest when I saw I was approved for the ARC.

Fresh sapphic subject matter - sign me up. This book did not hit me as I thought it would but I still appreciated it.

The pacing of the book felt off: enormous middle, with many details that I believed, did not push the plot forward. At some point, even though I was learning to love the characters- they started to annoy me, simply cause there was too much of their presence..

The ending felt rushed and, honestly, it might not have been but it felt like it in comparison to the large middle part.

I think it’s a great read that needs to be 200 pages shorter to make it more tight and engaging.

Thank you so much for my copy!

The story starts with two women sharing a hot bar hookup — and then meeting again the next day at brunch because one’s college age daughter is the other’s best friend. What could have been icky (she’s so much younger! Her daughter’s friend?!) was so well-handled by Wilsner that I didn’t have any moments of discomfort with any of it. Watching Cassie and Erin become friends and slowly fall in love was so sweet, romantic, and real. All the friend relationships in the book were great, too. I felt the genuine affection between Erin and Rachel just as much as I did between Parker, Acacia, and Cassie, and I was rooting all the way for them all to end up happy. I also absolutely loved how things came to a head at the end in a completely natural yet unexpected way. It didn’t hurt that the bedroom scenes were, well *fans self*…. This book was absolutely delightful and I’m so glad to have gotten an early chance to read it. Thanks Netgallley and St. Martin’s Griffun for the early review copy (I received a free copy in exchange fir an honest review and all opinions here are, of course, my own).

Mistakes Were Made aka milf book, was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. And while I did really enjoy it, it is not without its issues.

One thing that other people have already commented on was the pacing. This book is quite the opposite of slow-burn, which is good in its own right, but because things moved so quickly between Cassie and Erin, it made the middle half of the book drag a little bit.

I also felt that Cassie and Erin's relationship seemed to be mainly sexual. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they also do have an emotional relationship, at least it is alluded to. But Wilsner skips through scenes of them getting to know each other and growing closer together in favor of more sex scenes (which for those who enjoy them, there are plenty). Again these things are necessarily a bad thing, but it became difficult to believe the characters about their own feelings when you don't get to see it on the page.

The last, and I honestly think most important part, was there was an ableist comment made in chapter nine, the quote being, "Good because we're definitely pulling the plug if you make yourself a vegetable". This line is both insensitive and unnecessary. I hope that the author takes it out before publication. Another reviewer, Amivi, has quoted instances of weirdly racist lines as well, in her review. Again, I hope these quotes are taken out pre-publication.

But overall, I am still excited for Wilsner's future books and am excited to see other people's reactions to the iconic milf book!

***Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and there some corrections that need to be made before final publication. There are unnecessary lines regarded an interracial couple, as well as a line comparing houses to plantations. Both seem out of place and have nothing to do with the main story.

This sapphic romance takes place between a college student and her best friend's mom. The story itself is lovely and feels authentic to the WLW experience. There was very little judgement towards queerness which was quite refreshing. In fact many of the characters were queer. Be prepared for lots of spice and a little be of sap.

With edits made I'll be very excited for this book. The characters are people I look forward to visiting again.

Okay. This book was just not for me.

I got about a third of the way through and had to call it quits because life is too short to read books you don't enjoy. It might be loved by someone else, but that's not me.

Here's my reasons:
1. I did not enjoy the age gap how it was portrayed here. Cassie seems to have major mommy issues and uses Erin as a stand-in mom and a sexual partner. Meanwhile, Erin has daughter issues and uses Cassie is the reverse way. It just made me feel uncomfortable so fat.
2. Writing style - not sure how to explain it, but I didn't vibe with how things were being written.

I haven't DNF'd a lot of books but unfortunately, I just can't make myself continue to read it. Absolutely no desire.

Shoutout to NetGalley, Meryl Wilser, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

In the effort to maintain transparency as a reviewer, I did not finish this book and couldn't get past the 15% mark. I never announced that I was reading it on any of my socials that I post reviews on because, like I said, I couldn't get past the 15% mark and didn't feel comfortable marking it as my currently reading because of how little I read. I'm currently in the middle of major school projects that are due in about a month and am under a lot of stress because of school, and I'm fully aware that this all effected my experience reading 'Mistakes Were Made.'

This is not a bad book, in fact I believe that it's a book so many people will truly love when it comes out and that it will gain a lot of traffic in Tiktok specifically. The sapphic representation is very good in my opinion as a sapphic person, and the way that the main characters' attraction to women was written was very true to form. The writing itself, however, felt very juvenile and sparse. Now, I'm not someone that typically enjoys long-winded, detailed writing, but with this book it feels like so much was cut in the effort to make it more sexy and full of tension. This made the story itself feel very on the surface and lacking a true amount of depth.

The characters themselves weren't very full-bodied from what I read and didn't leave lasting impressions on me as a reader. I think that it would benefit from more edits if at all possible. Also, sensitivity readers who are in interracial relationships and are Black people to help correct the sentence that most Black reviewers who received an ARC have called attention to.

the more i think ab this one, the less i like it, sorry to say. the concept was there, the plot was cute, the wriing was just a little off.. im not sure how to describe it, it felt weirdly paced and the characters were super one dimensional.

THIS. IS. GREAT.
Forbidden relationships - who doesn't like these?
Lets give this book the hype it deserves! The story was fun and sexy. Steamy hot! The kind of hot where you want to read alone where no one will see your facial expressions.
I devoured the book within two days , and it only took that long because I had to work. Blah!