This wasn’t what I was expecting at all, especially considering the title of the book, I really thought I’d be reading a Christmas book. It felt very juvenile and young, it definitely would’ve been better set in a high school/university because it really didn’t feel right. I didn’t care for the story or any of the chatacaters tbh, none of it was particularly memorable.

The book "Tis the Damn Season was an enjoyable read. I would recommend any book written by Kimi Freeman. Happy Reading!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely.

If you’re a Swiftie, the title of this novel might already be ringing bells for you… and for me that’s immediately the reason I requested to read Tis the Damn Season. A romcom based on a Taylor song? Sign me up.

In Tis the Damn Season, we meet Pen and Roman - two high school sweethearts who drifted apart when she moved to Los Angeles to become a TV-star-turned-pop-star. When Pen’s career faces an event that could potentially bring about an end to her stardom, she heads home to her small town for the holidays.

I really wanted to love this book, and there’s a lot about it that I did love. The small town setting is absolutely one I love for Christmas reads, and the sections of this novel where we see Pen and Roman as adults I really enjoyed.

Unfortunately though, that was only every other chapter - for me, this is definitely an example of where to do a bit more research before requesting. The book alternates chapters between Pen and Roman as adults in their early twenties, and as sixteen year olds in high school. The chapters themselves are quite short, and I found the constant alternating made it difficult to get into the story as you never get more than a few pages at a time in each section of the timeline.

I also didn’t realise how much time the book would spend in that high-school period; if that’s something that appeals to you to read about, I think you’ll find much more to get stuck into here.

Ultimately, this was a DNF for me. I found myself just speed reading through the high-school sections and then not being particularly invested in the present-day sections because they were so short. I’m not one to try and push through a book when I’m abandoning certain sections, so I let this one go.

I’ll still be keeping an eye out for Kimi Freeman’s next book because I did enjoy her writing style, and if the age ranges of the book (16 / 24) are what you usually read, I think you’ll find a lot to love in this romcom.

‘TIS THE DAMN SEASON review

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

🎄I requested this book on NetGalley solely because of the title. I knew nothing about the plot but decided to dive in anyways. 🫡 I ultimately ended up having mixed feelings about this one.

🎄Here’s a summary of the plot:👇
Aspen left her small town and moved to Hollywood where she had major success as an actress and singer. When a scandal turns her world upside down, she returns to her hometown right before the holidays. While she’s there, she keeps running into Roman, her first love. Aspen and Roman want completely different things in life, but they can’t deny the connection they feel whenever they’re together…

🎄I kept thinking this book read like a YA novel (not a bad thing necessarily, the writing just felt juvenile to me). But then I learned that the author is only 16?! While I did think some of the writing was a bit out of character for the characters that were in their mid-20s, I was super impressed that a high schooler wrote this novel. 👏 This was a cute, fluffy holiday read. I liked the flashbacks between past and present and it kept me engaged in the story. Towards the end I was kinda over the constant Taylor Swift song titles being dropped in the book. If they happen a couple of times throughout I’m all for it, but at the end it was a song title on every other page and it just felt forced? Idk it made some of the writing feel unnatural to me.

🎄Overall I thought this was a solid holiday read if you want a fluffy romance. I would check out more by this author for sure!

'Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman is a contemporary romance that I requested on Netgalley because of the title - it was inspired by the song of the same name. In fact, every chapter of the book is a Taylor Swift reference, and the author has provided a great playlist to go along with the story.

Aspen is a singer/actress living in L.A. who finds herself moving back to her hometown temporarily after being wrongly involved in a scandal that threatens to damage her reputation and career.

Roman was the love of Aspen's life - and he still proves as one of the most supportive people in it, believing that she would never have done what they say she did, and supporting her to no end.

So why aren't these two together?

We go back and forth between now and then, learning about their friendship and relationship, and why it eventually came to an end. Or.. did it?

My notes for this one say: "Roman is an adorable cinnamon roll of a human. She's a bit of a melt." which I stand by. She did grate on me, but I liked how she grew throughout the story.

There's a subplot involving children that I could have absolutely done without (Aspen & Roman are helping with a nativity & some kids are being mean to each other) but I appreciate the way that element of the story is utilised to help Aspen heal her inner child (can't see that sentence without hearing Cordelia Chase say "spank your inner moppet").

There are some heavier issues addressed here, notably an incident in Aspen's past that involves an assault, but the rest is a nice meander down memory lane, lending a festive YA element to the book.

There may be another reason for the YA coming through so strongly - the author, Kimi Freeman, is a High School student. I was dumbfounded when I discovered this (about four minutes ago), because this was much better than some of the other romance novels I've read this year by older and more established authors. Kimi is an author I'll be keeping an eye on.

One for the Swifties!

I'm a sucker for a dual timeline, second chance romance and 'Tis the Damn Season was a pretty cute addition to the genre. I did find myself wanting to scream at my Kindle when Aspen and Roman wouldn't admit just how crazy they still were about each other, but overall I really enjoyed the time I spent with these characters.

pretty boring unfortunately and i just couldn’t get into it. i did not finish. the characters just didn’t feel realistic enough for me.

This was a really sweet holiday romance. The relationship between Aspen and Roman feels so fated from the beginning. I think the book does suffer a little from underdevelopment of story. Having everything wrapped up so nicely with a bow in just a singular moment feels a little forced. Especially after the angst and problems throughout. I loved Aspen and Roman working with the kids on the Christmas performance. Their interactions there and with the children felt the most genuine.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book made me want to DNF at so many points in time but I stuck through it.
I didn’t love the storytelling of the dual timeline, it works in some cases but in this one the more it went on, the more it truly annoyed me.
Also Aspen is so annoying at times! But also Rome…
I felt like a lot of things were a little randomly thrown in there but my major issue was how negative this book made me feel and overwhelmed as well like I just kept thinking when would the book end.
It had some redeeming qualities obviously like the character development but overall it was a miss for me…

Note: thanks publishers and netgalley for an ARC in exchange of an unbiased review.

When I found out the author of this book was only 16, a lot of the issues with this book made sense. Freeman is clearly a talented writer, and one who I hope keeps pushing forward with her writing, but I (personally!) don’t think this book was of a publishable quality. It needed a lot more editing and work with the author to get it to a better standard.

There are good ideas here. I really look forward to seeing what Kimi Freeman comes out with once she’s had some time to hone her craft, as all writers must do. Unfortunately, ‘Tis the Damn Season was a struggle to read, and there were some topics that were approached in an immature way. It felt like things that deserve a lot of consideration were thrown in with little thought. The majority of characters are undeveloped, there’s no real chemistry between the two romantic leads, and more often than not the male love interest is really not a good guy, and I don’t mean this in a kind of ‘sexy bad boy’ way, but in the way that with some experience, you can identify a huge amount of red flags.

Too much of the book was unrealistic and disjointed. I admit, I didn’t even know there was a Taylor Swift song called this, but I do think the playlist (which is largely Swift) was a cute touch to the novel.

The events are simplistic, the obstacles between the couple are non-existent, and there are some really uncomfortable moments where characters act really over the top. It was a little jarring in parts.

I want to reiterate: Kimi Freeman is a young writer with raw talent that largely just needs to be refined a little to really land something that’ll be an absolute pleasure to read, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, given a few years, she comes out with a book that really catches people’s eyes.

It is was utterly impossible to not sing the song every time I read this book! A dual timeline totally sold this one for me! This was a seasonal one that I really enjoyed!
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Thank you #parsonspress and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, ""Tis the Damn Season" was just not it for me. As a fan of both holiday and Taylor Swift themed romance books I was excited to read this, but after a few chapters in, I've come to the decision to DNF this book.

While I was genuinely excited to read about Aspen and Roman's romance, especially with the running dual timeline storytelling, I had troubles getting into the book. I had a tough time liking and connecting with the characters because even though they were 23 years old, I found the dialogue and characterization a little juvenile. I am pick this up again in the future if I'm looking for more holiday themed books, but unfortunately for now, I will be DNFing it.

This book started out really good for me. I loved the back and forth narrative so you could see how Aspen and Roman's relationship advanced from the very beginning to where our present story line is. However, I don’t really see the point of it past that? Seeing their first few interactions, leading to them ultimately getting together made sense as it was introducing past characters that became relevant in the present day timeline. But I feel it could've stopped happening after that point. With maybe one popping up to highlight their first break up when the present day timeline started getting rocky again, or to showcase how Keith took advantage of her. Because the past storylines feel like they are building towards the Keith reveal (that wasn’t really a reveal because we all knew what happened the first time she mentioned it) or even the break up (which in a way it did that but it was so anticlimactic when it did happen AND it was already said in the present day timeline that it happened that it was sort of a let down).

I did appreciated the addition of Leila so that Aspen could have some kind of female companionship after having nothing but female bullies through this entire book. But Leila, quite literally, comes out of no where and in just a few short weeks she’s Aspen's best friend, despite never being on the page. The friendship progression doesn’t make sense (at least not for adult friendships, if this was someone she had friended in high school (like in a flashback) and they spent all day together at school, the friendship progression would make way more sense).

The ending was also... weird. The award show scene didn’t make any sense because there was no "big reveal" like Aspen swore there was going to be. And the epilogue was kinda lame. After a story like the one we got the epilogue should take place 1/1.5 years in the future and be the proposal or the wedding day where she's in the white dress excited to walk down the aisle and the book ends when the chapel doors open. That's sort of what you expect out of a romance novel. And yes, sometimes you get a pregnancy epilogue. It happens. But there is almost always a mention of a baby or wanting a baby somewhere earlier in the book so it doesn't totally feel out of left field. And when we got the award show future jump I assumed that was our epilogue and him saying "you'll know when I propose" was going to be good enough, I was even happy with that. Yes the writing was awkward and the dialogue was a mess, but it made sense for our story. We got the promise of a near future proposal, she won an award to show that she's doing better and got what she wanted from her record label. It was perfect. But then we got this super awkward time jump FOUR years into the future and we find out they only JUST got married 6 months prior? That makes no sense for these characters. They spent years pining after each other, these are not the people that would wait 4 years to get married. It's so unrealistic. And it really feels like the author doesn't know her own characters.

The story wasn’t bad. It was jumpy and a LOT happened, almost too much for just one 400 page book. It does read a little wattpad-y with the editing/ story progression. I know the author was young, and you can really see that at the end, unfortunately. The beginning of this book was really strong and did a great job of pulling you in and making you care about the characters. But it fell off the further into the story that you got.

A really good first novel and the author is definitely going to get better past this. But this is not a 5 star read.

And the cover is just absolutely hideous. Who approved these super ugly drawings.

Aspen is a celeb involved in a scandal. This in turn sends her home to Pennsylvania, where she reconnects with Rowan - her first love. Their chemistry is undeniable.

This was cute and cozy. Not even a Swiftie per se, but still loved this nod to her music.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Parson Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Although I was hoping for a steamier romance, Tis the Damn Season was a cute, quick read. The nods to Taylor Swift throughout the book were enjoyable, but the book itself felt a bit more like a YA read.

I am DNF'ing at 15%. I really loved the idea, this is one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs, but I cannot seem to get into the characters. I might try again later, so this is more of a DNF-for now.

This was a very sweet romance novel. As a Swiftie, I enjoyed the inspiration. I did feel as though there was something lacking. The characters seemed to be very surface level and didn't really have the complexity I've come to enjoy. Despite that, it was still a sweet and entertaining read.

I felt like this book was very young and should have ventured more into the YA genre. Overall, felt very immature. It felt more YA angsty romance rather than an adult romance. The Taylor swift tie in was okay but not great.

I ended up DNF’ing this one at 43%. It started as a very cozy, nostalgic feeling Christmas season read, but ultimately just wasn’t holding my attention. I really enjoyed the fact that every chapter receives a song to set the vibe, and I was definitely enjoying the plot components for the duration that I was reading the book. The dual timelines set a scene of nostalgia, which was sweet. I don’t have any key complaints that led to me putting it down, I just wasn’t really interested in continuing and the writing style wasn’t keeping my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the Taylor Swift vibe this gave off with the song Tis the Damn Season but I really disliked the main characters so this was tough! The writing was decent but they were soo childish and immature. It was hard to root for them.