Mistakes Were Made is a multiple POV steamy May-December F/F romance about a college student who ends up hooking up with her friend's mom.

Right off the bat Cassie, the student, and Erin, the mom, end up hooking up in a car outside of a bar, so if you're looking for a clean romance, this isn't it. I liked that Cassie's character was mature for her age due to her life circumstances, making a legitimate connection more believable. I did have some issues with the timeline plot holes. Apparently, Parker, Erin's daughter, thought after just a mere month at school, she and Cassie were best friends and mentioned it with the frequency of a kindergartener. (5th graders don't claim bestie-hood as frequently as Parker does.) College students, while still young, are old enough not to assume they are best friends just because they have matching shoes, or what other superficial connection would be possible in that timeline. But if I ignored that part of it, the rest of the story had a good pace and held my attention.

Mistakes Were Made 🎧

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (4 Stars)
Steam: 🌶🌶🌶🌶/ 5 (multiple steamy scenes with lots of description)

Narration: I loved this as an audiobook. The narration was perfect! Fit the characters well and kept me entertained.

Out: October 11th!

No spoiler review 👇🏻

This was such a fun romance read! Nothing like I’ve ever read before. I really enjoyed it. This follows Cassie, a college student who hooks up with an older woman at a bar. The next day she realizes she accidentally hooked up with her best friend's mom. It’s hilarious, cute and steamy.

I really loved that it wasn’t just physical attraction but that their relationship developed so beautifully. They really complemented each other, it’s such a good age gap romance. I really enjoyed Erin. She’s a divorced doctor and Cassie brings out the happy in her. Reason for 4 stars was I found a few chapters in the middle dragged a bit, but overall it was a great sapphic romance read! It’s what I needed right now and it made me happy.

CW: talks of alcoholism, absent mother (past)

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The following review will be posted on my blog on Sunday, October 9th, 2 days before publication. It will be shared on Twitter and Instagram between today and the day of publication, as well, but it has already been posted on Goodreads. The blog post includes links to order the books and to its Goodreads page, so readers can add it to their to-be-read books.






“I want to go scuba diving with you. (…) Like, the ocean is huge and terrifying and unknown, but if you want to go scuba diving, I want to. I want to make you happy or do the things that make you happy with you.”

Author: Meryl Wilsner
Narrated By: Jeremy Carlisle Parker, Quinn Riley, and Stephanie Németh-Parker.

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 stars
Narration: 4 mikes
Content Warnings: Discusses divorce and big age-difference relationship. Includes very explicit sexual content.

“Mistakes Were Made” follows Cassie Klein, a STEM senior university student hoping to be a grad student in aeronautic engineering, after she hooks up with a hot older woman called Erin at a bar… an older woman that ends up being the mom of one of her close friends. But Cassie didn’t know Erin was her friend’s mom when they met. She just knew she was pulled towards Erin, and she wanted to be close to her—and close to her she was. Being an ode to secret relationships, this book brings you all the rush you can need for the foreseeable future.

This book comes in as steamy as they get, right from the start. It is fast-paced, although perhaps a bit unrealistic—hence the 4 stars I gave it. The writing and the narration was amazing, although I grew a bit tired of Erin’s voice by the end, it felt too sophisticated for its own good.

I also feel bad for pointing this out, but I think it simply can’t be ignored: the age difference was weird. Really weird. It’s almost unnatural how people accepted it in the end. I would not be okay with my mom dating my friend—my friend who is 20 years her junior. I know Cassie swears it isn’t mommy issues with her attraction to Erin, but girl… those were some hella big mommy issues right there, even if she refused to see it.

All in all, I would still recommend this book. It’s entertaining and exciting, and actually pretty sweet. If you like books with secret relationships and with very big age differences—and that end with a happily ever after anyways—then “Mistakes Were Made” is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, and published by St. Martin’s Griffin, in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 11, 2022

If you are a champion for love, this book is not a mistake. Super steamy, not for the faint of heart. But I guarantee this leaves you with an overwhelming feeling of loving love!

This lesbian rom-com of a book was fun and funny, but there were moments I found jarringly over the top, such as when one of the characters looked at the other one and thought, "It was hard to concentrate when all I could think of was how badly I wanted to be riding her face." (Really? I consider myself a highly sexual person, and I have literally never had that thought.)

Wildly distracting desires aside, the tension and teasing in the novel was sexy and tantalizing, even if the characters were a wee bit underdeveloped. The mom character, a divorcee named Erin, comes to a college town to visit her freshman daughter. Out at a bar the night before she's supposed to take her daughter to breakfast, she meets a young woman named Cassie, and they are so powerfully attracted to one another that they hook up for a one-night stand in Erin's rental car, which, despite the sex taking place in a car, is the best sex she's ever had. (Poor woman hasn't been with another woman since her own college days.) Then the next morning her daughter brings her roommate to breakfast, and guess who it is?

I am certainly not one to judge couples for their age differences. My husband was 19 years my senior and my wife is 13 years my junior, so I understand firsthand that romance can occur across generations. The added twist, though, of one of the characters being best friends and roommates with the other's college-age daughter did add a bit of an ick factor for me. I think dating people much older or younger than you is more palatable if both members of the couple have their frontal cortexes fully developed/are full adults, which a 22-year-old college student isn't quite.

The couple is, naturally, obsessed with keeping their illicit romance hidden from the daughter, which makes for a lot of betrayal and lying, which I also found not very sexy. But this is a romance, so true love must win in the end... even if it does mean the robbing of one character's youth. (As you can see, I had a lot of mixed feelings about this novel, but it was a fun, fast, steamy read, if nsfw.)

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an advance copy of the audio book version of this novel. My favorite thing about it was that everyone in it -- the mother, the daughter, the girlfriend -- all date both men and women and never make a thing of it; it's just totally natural and a given. As it should be.

When your best friend texts you a photo of a book cover and says “This one is JUICY. Smutsmutsmut.”, you are almost legally obligated to get that book. Obviously, I had certain expectations going into this book, and I’m glad to say they were met. Mistakes Were Made does indeed have a generous helping of WLW smut, and I’m not complaining about a lick of it. 👅

The downfall of basing your entire book on a super-hot, passionate physical connection is that sometimes the romance part doesn’t quite hit at the same level, and that’s what I felt this book suffered from. I can see the author building up an emotional relationship, but it doesn’t feel authentic or nuanced enough to be real. The college-age friend group feels more real and relatable in their relationship than the main romantic relationship. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Either way, I enjoyed the book as a nice brain break from a tough week of work, and I give it a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5. I would recommend it to folks who like Casey McQuiston or Alison Cochrun. Not as heart-melty as those two authors, but a nice bit of queer smut to spice up the day.

While the writing was strong and the character development especially Parker's was done very artfully, I wish the characters had been aged up a little more, the element of Cassie's best friends (and Erin's daughter) being seen as a child, only three years younger than Cassie was very strange to me and hard to get past. I also didn't feel Cassie was a likable character despite the fact she was supposed to be

The audiobook, with the dual narration, was excellent and captured the characters wel. Overall, I just don't think this concept was for me

This was A LOT spicier than I originally thought... that being said, it was well written and wasn't as cringy as other books make it out to be. One night stand turns out to be her daughter's best friend, so they're now stuck actually knowing each other and not just being strangers. Told in multiple POV.

I really enjoyed this story!! I love a good age gap and have never read one with 2 female main characters. This book was sweet and spicy 🔥. The only thing for me was that I expected a bigger confrontation when their relationship was found out… it was such a big worry on both characters minds and talked about and it just felt like nothing. Overall though I really enjoyed and would recommend. I loved the narrator.

I seriously couldn’t get enough of this. It was scandalous and sexy and had great character development. I would definitely read this author again… hell I might even read this book again! Love love loved it.

5 freaking ⭐️!!!! What a stunning debut !! The plot, the chemistry, the tension, the spice… THE TOYS !!!!! I literally can’t even find words to accurately express how much I loved it… but damn I loved it 🥹

I was kind of hesitant going into this since I don’t typically like age-gaps in romance but surprisingly really liked this. It made me realize maybe I don’t dislike age-gaps maybe I just hate creepy old men. I did really enjoy this some of it felt very lack lustre but still enjoyable, nice subway read that doesn’t require a lot of energy. My only issue is the casual nods to drinking and driving but that may be just because it’s a pet peeve of mine.

The story keeps you on your toes, and readers engaged in the character development across the novel. The dialogue is really believable and well written, crafting a story that made my heart sparkle. The audiobook specifically is well read, and fun. If you are looking for an unapologetic queer romance, this is the book for you!

Tropes: friend's mother, age gap, LGTBQ+, very sexy, forced proximity.

This book was so good, so witty, so steamy in the best possible way! This book was a fast and easy read. It follows Cassie and Erin's relationship that started out as a random hook-up but turned serious. The book started quite literally with a BANG and watching them develop throughout the story was great. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing. It was realistic and witty. I feel like it was super relatable because we all have that one person that started as a mistake but turned into a blessing in disguise. Also. the support Erin provides Cassie and vice versa shows that regardless of what season of life you're in, there is always someone else that can compliment your life, even if it is in the most minute way.

I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 stars for me!

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't finish this book. The topic didn't sit well with me the more I read. I thought it would be a cute romance about a college girl and an older woman, and the age gap didn't bother me. I knew going in that the older woman would turn out to be Cassie's friend's mom, but I thought it would have been someone who was more of an acquaintance to her and not her best friend.

I listened to about 30-35% of the audiobook before I decided I couldn't go on. The problem I had with the relationship between Cassie and Erin was that Erin was pursuing her daughter's best friend. The one night stand was fine, and it would have been fine if they kept seeing each other had they not invited Cassie to stay for Christmas break. As an adult, Erin should have put a stop to the relationship, but instead she made advances on Cassie while she was staying at her home. After Erin kissed Cassie during Christmas break, I was done with the book.

Thank you so much for the review copy. I hope to provide more reviews in the future. Unfortunately I won't be sharing my review on social media because I did not finish the book, and I do not want to leave a critical review for the author without finishing.

I enjoyed this audiobook. The book was paced well, and the steamy scenes were definitely steamy. I found the use of “babe” to be overkill, and awkwardly used both as a pet name between friends and lovers. I would love loved to see Erin and Cassie experience something that actually tested their relationship (beyond just sneaking around and trying to keep things a secret) as that would have added depth to their connection and made the whole thing more believable. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

<i>“All of this silence and patience, pining in anticipation / My hands are shaking from holding back from you” </i>

This is going to be the romance of the fall. Or, it better be. This book was SO GOOD! Cassie and Erin were so perfect.

Another reviewer described this book as “like being in on the most tantalizing secret,” and I completely agree. This felt like reading secret information that I shouldn’t have had access to.
The first two thirds of the book were definitely my favorite. When it came time to wrap things up, it felt a little rushed, and the major looming conflict was almost glossed over. I loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone.

<b>Things I Didn’t Love: Cassie saying she doesn’t have mommy issues (she <i>definitely</i> does), the major conflict resolution (predictable and too easy)
Things I Loved: Literally everything else</b>

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Netgalley, and Goodreads for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hottest book of the year?

I admittedly was hesitant for MISTAKES WERE MADE, given that I'm not a huge fan of the age gap trope -- and here, the premise is that 21-year-old Cassie and 38-year-old Erin hit it off at a bar, the night before they find out that Cassie is Erin's daughter's friend. But Meryl Wilsner nailed their chemistry to the extent that I was sold; like, yes, of course these women are turning toward each other again and again.

I wondered if the book were a bit on the long side, but I think that's just what you're in for with a Wilsner romance -- that slow burn is there, even when there's a steamy scene off the bat. I absolutely loved having two bisexual main characters, as well as the theme of navigating between what you feel you "should" do and what you want to. The more I think of this one the more I like it. Rounding up to 5 stars for this wonderful bi rep and because it was just so spicy!

I enjoyed the audio narration by Quinn Riley and Stephanie Németh-Parker and would recommend it. I think Jeremy Carlisle Parker voiced Erin's ex-husband and maybe Erin's father? If that's the case, the editing was seamless -- I assumed there were just two narrators until I looked at the credits.

The narrators were enjoyable and the premise behind the book is interesting and different. However the execution was a little slow and light on the plot.

I do not have enough fingers to count the amount of times that (as a romance reader) I’ve run into the “mature man/young woman” trope. Let’s just say that a gender reversion was long overdue. So when I first read the plot for this book, [Cassie has a one night stand with hot, older Erin…who turns out to be her friend’s mom], I couldn’t request an arc fast enough. Thank you Macmillan Audio for approving me for this audiobook! 😊 Release date: 10/11/2022

First of all, I love me some good LGBTQ+ representation, specially dealing with bisexuality 🌈 The relationship between Erin and Cassie starts hot and fast but eventually develops into something really sweet and ,obvs, complicated. We have A LOT of spicy scenes 🥵 When a big age gap is involved I always appreciate the author making it clear to us that the whole thing is consensual. And Meryl Wilsner did not disappoint! 🙌 There is a bit of sunshine/grumpy going on as well. I was expecting Erin (the mom) to be the grump but nope! I was very happy to see Cassie trying to battle her lone wolf persona and reach out for what she really wanted! The book also depicts long distance dating. I had to go through that with my husband and I could really relate to that part.

The story also explores other themes:

-Dealing with the hardships of societal expectations on relationships, not only romantically but also when it comes to friendships.

-The aftermath of a divorce and the trauma it imposes on one’s family.

I really enjoyed this book. The audiobook made it even better because it’s a two woman cast. Making Cassie and Erin’s voices very distinct and bringing their characters and personalities to life. I specially loved Cassie’s POV narration because it really brought out the raw emotions she was feeling on certain scenes.

For me, this book is 4 out of 5 motorcycles 🏍️ 🏍️ 🏍️ 🏍️
I would have liked to see a bit more of the friendship between Cassie, Parker and Acacia (boy I hope I’m spelling that right! Audiobook!!). I think we were mostly told about it and not quite shown. Apart from that this is a really solid cute and spicy read! 🥰