I wanted to love this book, but I couldn't quite get into it. The premise of sleeping with someone who turns out to be your friend's parent is sone that could really go either way, and unfortunately, I was mostly just stressed about this one. Erin references "being the adult" one time too many for me, and there's a moment where Cassie has the realization that Erin "feels like a mom," and those moments made the whole thing feel kind of icky. I don't think it was inherently bad, just decidedly not my cup of tea. I kept reading for a while after I realized it wasn't for me, but put it down once I realized that there was no version of an HEA that I would ship, and since it's a romance, that means putting it down.

This book had successfully exceeded my expectations! From the moment I’ve read the first page, I was instantly hooked. I’ve followed along each main character POV, and it was a treat to be able to read their thoughts, feelings, and of course, Cassie’s obliviousness. Over-all, this is such a feel good book, and I am ecstatic for its release! It’s a treat to all the readers out there, especially those who need queer representation. Meryl Wilsner didn’t disappoint, especially since Something To Talk About was such an iconic read as well.

I originally wanted to read this book because: a. MILF and b. lesbian. The premise is hilarious and overall the book is witty and fun. I was a little nervous to read an age-gap book because they usually make me deeply uncomfortable, but this book made it actually seem okay. Like it was still forbidden love cause - best friends mom, but also there was only a 16ish year age gap and Erins character was actually really fun to read.

Overall, I think this is a cute rom-com book and I would definitely recommend.

I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. I was honestly very excited to read this book. I heard amazing things and I enjoy a tastefully done age gap story. Unfortunately, to me, this was not one of those stories.

The book started off really well. Warning it is very ~spicy~ and I absolutely loved every spice scene in this book. They were very well done. The first chapter did a great job in showing how the main characters meet and showing their chemistry together. It went downhill slowly after that.

First, the time jumps were confusing at times. While I do think the transitions are necessary, they can be very abrupt and I have to go back and re-read to understand what is happening. Second, the second half of the book really dredged on. It was multiple chapters of proving they liked each other but were too stubborn to admit they wanted to officially be together. The plot was pretty stagnant. Parker who is the reason Cassie and Erin cannot be together virtually disappears for a good chunk of the book as well. Thirdly and finally, I did not find the characters very enjoyable.

Cassie was the most unlikeable character to me. It felt like she had the personality of a college fratboy. I especially despised how much she called parker a "Princess." I understand that it was mostly shown to be teasing between friends, but it just really played into the smugness and cockiness of Cassie's character. It felt like she had no depth and that her tragic backstory was just something added in so we would feel for her. Honestly, it made the romance worse in my eyes as all the moments where Erin included Cassie in a family tradition or also got her a similar present to Parker made it seem less romantic and more parental vibes which made me feel uncomfortable.

Erin, I did enjoy a little bit as a character. I loved seeing her interact with her ex-husband and how she didn't let him walk all over her or Cassie. I honestly wish I could have seen more of her at work or with her friend Rachel because when she was not interacting with Cassie, she felt very flat. I wanted to experience more of her. I also really liked her interactions with Parker, especially when she talked about the divorce. I just felt like I wasn't given enough of her.

While I do love some age-gap romance, I do not think this was handled very well. The book spent so much time on Parker being the only obstacle that it felt very unrealistic. They barely brought up the age difference being an actual issue or even discussed it. I would have loved to have seen different cultural references, them navigating the societal ramifications, and heck a power dynamic if there was one. The only time age was really ever brought up was during one of Erin's monologues where she is trying to convince herself that the attraction was okay. She talks about how it's okay to be attracted to Cassie because she never saw her grow up, therefore, who cares if she's practically the same age as her daughter? That actually creeped me out a bit, to be honest. She also mentioned how much she liked Cassie because of essentially her potential which also did not sit right with me. The whole romance was just very cringe and pretty much only based on attraction and not substance.

I believe this book would have been perfect if it was just a spicy novella instead of a romance novel cause, if I didn't say it enough, I really enjoyed the spice scened and thought they were very well written. Overall, I would not recommend this book despite knowing that a lot of people have enjoyed it. I still am interested in reading other works by this author as this was just one book I didn't like.

I really wanted to love this book because everyone I know who got the ARC adored it but it just fell flat for me 😭 the age gap wasn’t an issue for me at all (my little sister's husband is 15 years older than her lol), but I felt like Cassie was kind of an unlikeable character (and not a great friend). I enjoyed the other relationships in the book more than Erin and Cassie’s. Plus, I don’t feel like their romantic relationship was fully developed—we don’t see them actually getting to know anything about the other person until more than 60% of the way through the book so I wasn’t invested in their relationship for most of the novel. I would still shelve this in the “sapphic and slaps” category and it’s super steamy, so don’t let this review keep you from reading it!

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Mistakes Were Made is about college student Cassie hooking up with a woman in a bathroom during Family Weekend at school. The next morning Cassie goes to breakfast with her friend and it turns out her hook up is her friend's mom!! This book contains age gap romance, secret romance and it was HOT. I was very flustered reading it and honestly had to take some breaks.

I enjoyed it and can't wait to share it when it's published!

i haven't read a sapphic romance in a while and this is what i needed, from the beginning of the book to the ending of the book sparks were flying between erin and cassie meet. cassie is a college senior and erin is a woman that caught cassie eye at a bar during family weekend at cassie college and hook up, but the next day cassie goes with her friend parker to have breakfast with parker's mom (aka erin) and is shock when she finds out that erin is parker's mom her best friend but the two cant seem to turn off there feelings for each other.

i love the friend dynamic between parker,cassie and aciashi

the reason i gave this book 4 stars is because i wish we got more of a back story and what happen between her mom and her life before college also we got more og how parker was feeling about when she found out erin and cassie were having a secret relationship behind there back and just a little bit more about parker character.

i loved the chemistry cassie and erin has it was everything and they spicy scenes and there character devlopement.

i want to thank netgalley and st.martins publishing for giving me this arc.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
4/5
The pacing seemed kind of off with this book, I got bored around the middle. Other than that it was a really fun read.

This was so freaking good. I have a new favourite trope: age gap sapphic romance. The chemistry between Cassie and Erin was simultaneously sizzling and sweet, and the sex? Super steamy! Easily some of, if not THE best sapphic sex scenes I've ever read. This has rocketed its way into my top romance reads already!

I read Meryl Wilsner’s first book soon after it came out and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one. I blasted through it as soon as I could and it was so much fun! I loved the characters chemistry, they really had a great connection from the start. The dialogue was witty and intelligent and I loved every second of it. There is a bit of a surprise towards the end that I had correctly guessed but it didn’t make the revelation to the MCs any less fun. This was also quite a bit steamier that I remember Meryl’s first book being but it was well done. I may have to reread Something to Talk About now because this one reminded me how good it was. Mistakes Were Made was wonderful and it’ll definitely be one I pick up again in the future!

3.5⭐️? I am completely lost on how to rate and review this book. Did I like it? At certain points, extremely YES. But sometimes, not so much. MISTAKES WERE MADE (or The MILF Book™️) is an adult sapphic romance about a college senior who accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom. I’ve seen this book pitched as a raunch-com and that description absolutely fits.

Ethics of the initial set-up aside, I think my biggest issue with this book is that it doesn’t read like a romance until you are about 2/3 of the way in. I felt like I didn’t have enough of a reason to root for Cassie and Erin as a couple until then. Of course there are smutty scenes before this point, but the characters don’t have a conversation (about anything other than getting caught or whether they “should be” sleeping together) until this point. Which in my opinion, this is a long time to wait if you were hoping for a romance book.

That said, the pacing and conflict resolution in MISTAKES WERE MADE were fantastic. I loved that the story takes place over the course of nearly an entire year. Despite my qualms about the first chunk of the book, Meryl Wilsner went out of their way to ensure the main conflict’s fallout was not too cliché. A lot of tropes were subverted, and (without spoiling much) I want to praise this book for not falling into all of the third act traps I expected it to. There was surprisingly stellar communication between characters - particularly between our leads and important side characters.

SOME THINGS I LOVED:
-The smut. We all know that’s what most of us came for (no pun intended)
-The side characters - particularly Parker and Acacia
-The respectful communication between all characters
-The emphasis on friendship and found family
-Again, the pacing. This book spanned a nearly a year seamlessly, and this fact alone makes me want to read Wilsner’s future books.
-The conclusion. The last few chapters prior to the epilogue were cleverly pieced together and finally hit the emotional touch points I was WAITING FOR. The pay-off was (thankfully) worth it.

SOME THINGS THAT KEPT ME FROM LOVING THIS COMPLETELY:
-The ICK. The Jake Gyllenhaal effect. Whatever you call it, I wish Cassie (21) was a bit older. She was mostly treated (and acted) like an adult, but I truly think the same story could have been told with a 25+ year-old.
-Erin. Her character became more sympathetic towards the end, but I felt extremely uncomfortable with how cruelly she handled some things in the beginning.
-The redundancy. I can appreciate angst, but I felt like Cassie and Erin only knew how to have one conversation for the first half of the book, so they had it over and over and over again.

I still don’t know how to rate MISTAKES WERE MADE. But I do know that I certainly look forward to talking about this book with others.

I was super excited to get my hands on an ARC of this!

Cassie is a college student in her senior year, waiting out parents weekend at a bar when she spots a beautiful older woman, Erin, who--they both come to realize a little too late--is her new best friend's mom. The book starts out with a bang (lol) and gets rolling pretty quickly. As a result of the romance starting right off the bat, there are some parts in the middle that drag a bit, but overall it's an easy, entertaining read.

Plenty of well-written spicy scenes! Due to the substantial age gap and the major obstacle keeping them apart, this book is a rare case where I found that these moments were crucial to establish/validate the connection between the two main characters. Not sure I really felt convinced of their relationship until the epilogue, which is adorable!

Unfortunately, I disliked Erin's daughter Parker (though I felt she was a realistically written college freshman) and had more difficulty believing her friendship with Cassie than the relationship. I also found it odd that the main conflict of the story plays out without the audience even knowing until later, wrapping things up fairly quickly.

I really enjoyed Mistakes Were Made! I usually don't like age gape romances, but the synopsis sounded really funny, and I love reading sapphic love stories. Honestly one of the hottest books I've read. I loved how the reveal happened, and especially the epilogue! I felt bad for Parker but Erin is a great mom and Cassie is a great friend, and it all worked out in the end between all the characters.

WOW.

This was such a fun read. Romance. Comedy. Spice. Growth.

Cassie, a college senior, and Erin, a beautiful woman that caught Cassie's eye, meet at a bar during Family Weekend at Cassie’s college and hook up. Little do they know that they both share a commonality: Parker-- Cassie’s best friend and Erin’s daughter. The two cannot seem to shut off their feelings for each other and continue to see each other behind Parker’s back. Can Cassie and Erin manage to hide their relationship from Parker and can they continue to ignore their deeper feelings for one another?

This book was something else. I do not think this is a 5 star read by any means, but I do rate it 3.75-4 stars. In this review I will be sharing my own personal review of this book along with my thoughts as I read, starting with some of my problems with the book.

The plot was easy to follow and straight to the point from the very beginning which was very nice and made complete sense, but at the same time it felt like it was lacking. Lacking in what? Something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It felt like I was having such a fun time on a roller coaster but the steep, vertical drop I was expecting and geering up for was a small barely steep one. The ride was still fun and I had a great time, but the one thing I was expecting to make my eyes pop and my stomach drop didn’t happen the way I thought it would. The entire point of the plot was them sneaking around because of their relationships to Parker, yet the climax was so underwhelming because of Parker (so to say without adding a spoiler).

I understand that skipping time to get to the end of Cassie’s senior year was needed, but because there were time skips (days, weeks, months even), I felt as if what had just happened before the skip couldn’t fester and couldn’t properly develop in the eyes and mind of the reader. The feelings of what happened before the skip were just left back there and couldn’t… be handled?

Additionally, the 3rd person POV that switched from Cassie to Erin felt confusing at times. Because there was no “I” to differentiate between all the “shes” being dropped, I had to reread sentences and think about them instead of getting on with the story. That did not take away from my enjoyment at all, but it was just another thing that takes away from the potential 5 star rating one would give this book.

There are certain sentences and overall wording that the book could have done without. There were lines relating to race, misogyny, and even fatphobia and ableism that the book could definitely do without. These lines don’t really add much to the story and if they were supposed to add to the story, the author could just use something entirely different and non-offensive. At times, I found the writing to be somewhat…informal and immature. There was a lot of annoying dialogue. For example, Parker and Cassie would say things along the lines of “Okay, thanks babe.” The repeated use of “definitely,” “like,” “y’all,” “right?” and the one time use of “Ya think?” made me cringe. There was just a lot of cringe dialogue, and this book being very dialogue heavy might need to be tweaked just a little bit in terms of that. So in brief, there is a lot of unnecessary wording and sentences used throughout the book.

In terms of characters, I felt as if we got to know Erin more than Cassie. I don’t think there was a single main character seeing as the POV switched between Cassie and Erin every two-ish chapters, so I can’t tell who we are supposed to have gotten to know better. We know the basics of Cassie’s life, but we know more in depth about Erin’s and why she does the things she does and what drives her as a person. I found Parker to be kind of annoying throughout most of the book. She was kind of immature even if she was supposed to be a freshman in college. Cassie and Erin were both immature at times, but I think that adds to the plot and character development looking at them in the beginning vs. the end.

I really liked the banter between Cassie and Erin. I always find banter to be kind of difficult for me to enjoy, because sometimes it’s either just flat out mean or annoying. The banter in this story was really enjoyable to me. There weren’t many pop culture phrases that I noticed, but I didn’t find one that made my heart jump and smile creep up on my face: Empire Records! It’s one of my favorite movies and when I read that line I did a little happy dance in my chair.

I also liked how in the beginning Cassie’s and Erin’s character-types were quickly established. Cassie: bold, sly, and has been hurt in the past. Erin: responsible, anxious, looking to fix her relationship with her daughter. The development in both of their characters throughout the book was interesting and enjoyable to experience. Again, I really enjoyed how the book jumped into the plot and had very minimal buildup if there was any at all. I did, however, find Cassie and Parker’s friendship introduction to be a bit strange. Cassie made friends with a freshman who slept with her ex-boyfriend? That was just something I never expected!

I pride myself on being able to predict certain plot aspects about the books I read, and I was glad to have guessed what was to happen in this one. Once it was revealed, it was so fun to look back on the little clues left behind by the author and put them together. To be honest, it was fairly obvious, but it was nonetheless a fun adventure.

The spice was… WOW. As a bisexual woman, this made me flal even more in love with women. Thank you, Meryl Wilsner lol. Looking back on Cassie and Erin’s relationship makes me smile, especially the epilogue.

Big thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this opportunity!

I had an opportunity to read an advanced copy (thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress!) of the romance novel Mistakes Were Made which will be available in October 2022. The author, Meryl Wilsner, writes stories about queer women falling in love and this novel centers on a fling to relationship trope between Erin and Cassie. The complication and main tension throughout the book are that Erin’s daughter, Parker, is Cassie’s best friend and they hooked up prior to either of them knowing that.

The age gap (Cassie is 22) is not centered in the story or prohibitive in their relationship so most of the conflict stems from the secret they are keeping from someone they both care about, and neither of them wanting to damage their relationship with Parker. At times I had to suspend reality because the risks were so high of causing irreparable harm with Parker and it was hard to believe either of them would continue pursuing each other. Their sexual chemistry seems to be the main thing keeping them together and if explicit scenes are your jam, then this delivers.

There were a few lines in the book that didn’t sit right with me (the nail tech joke, the life support joke, etc.), and the pace was fast at the start and then slow towards the end, so I was not really invested until about 70% into the book. All in, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who wants the spicy scenes and to suspend reality for the flirty romance.

Thank you again to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Content warnings: sexual content (explicit)

I was in need of a great, sapphic story and was beyond excited when I was approved for this arc! Unfortunately I have quite a few issues with this book. There were one too many (one is too many) throwaway racist, fatphobic, mysognystic and even a few ableist comments in this book for my liking. I truly loved the book, but I hope this is something that the author will reconsider keeping before the book is officially published. I have seen more than a few influencers/arc readers make comments about this and I couldn't leave a review without bringing attention to it as well. I really hope the author listeners to the advanced readers of this book!

Thank you #Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of #mistakesweremade

I loved so much about this book; the romance, the humour, everything about it was just so fun.
The main characters were interesting and we had amazing chemistry together, which made the story work really well !
However, there were some lines, specifically related to race, in this book that definitely made me uncomfortable and I hope are going to be removed before publication.
First, there was a really unnecessary line about an interracial couple in a small town “making it better”- this sounded very tokenizing of a Black character. It didn’t add anything to the story at all and was unnecessary.
I also thought the characterization of Mrs Webb at times a bit stereotypical , reminiscent of racist “mammy” stereotypes. The white character also calls her “mama Webb” and Her character is not well fleshed out beyond caring for a white character and being motherly.
Finally, There was also an unnecessary mention/ comparison of a building to a plantation: again adds nothing to the story and stood out as odd.
If these odd race lines are removed I would be confident rating this 4 or maybe 5 stars, but not as it stands.

Thank you to netgalley for an e-arc of mistakes were made in exchange for an honest review

Mistakes Were Made was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. This is hands down one of the steamiest books I've read in quite a while. The sexual tension between Cassie and Erin paired with the suspense of whether anyone will discover their secret relationship kept me desperate to know how things were going to play out.

Mistakes Were Made balanced romantic, friend, and family relationships in really interesting ways. Seeing Cassie grapple with being whether she can be a good friend to Parker, Erin's daughter, while also trying to have a secret relationship with Erin added a lot to the emotional stakes of the story. I would've loved more Parker in this story particularly as it seems like we don't see much of her relationship with Erin from Erin's point of view.

The main reason this is a 4-star read for me was that I wanted a bit more character development of Cassie and Erin. The physical attraction between them is obvious from the very beginning but I kept hoping to see a bit more of an emotional connection as well. It's definitely mentioned throughout the story though could be more prominent on-page. Having a better sense of Erin and Cassie as characters outside of their secret relationship would have made me a bit more invested in their romance. That said, I still found all of the characters in Mistakes Were Made lovable -- except for Adam who is The Worst -- which is one of my favorite things about Wilsner's books.

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

Meryl Wilsner had me sweating! This book is the steamy contemporary sapphic/bisexual book we've been waiting for.
Mistakes Were Made starts off with a bang! Cassie and Erin meet at a college bar and sparks immediately fly. Unfortunately for them, it's parent's weekend and Erin is Cassie's best friend's mom! The try to stay away, but fate keeps pulling them close. How long can they deny their attraction? Is love worth possibly damaging the relationship Erin has with her daughter?

While this book had a few slow stretches it was so worth it! This is my second MW book and I can tell she is only getting better!

Written very much like a low effort fanfiction, this book had nothing compelling to offer in terms of style or story. This can be excused sometimes in romance if the central connection is particularly strong, or the spice is particularly good, but neither apply here. The central relationship is flat and uninteresting and the spice scenes are mostly just as dull as they lack any kind of tension, chemistry, or decent descriptive writing.

It’s a dialogue heavy book that clearly did not have a sensitivity reader - something I sincerely hope you all correct before releasing the finished version as the way race, gender, and disability are treated completely miss the mark. It’s clear the author wants to be progressive, but she does not accomplish that.

There are a lot of rookie mistakes in this narrative - naming characters who mean absolutely nothing to the plot and won’t even be introduced, repeating identical moments of inner dialogue, introducing many characters only for them to do absolutely nothing but serve as background. This would drown out its plot if there was one.