Pop star Aspen is returning to her hometown to escape Hollywood drama. Her ex boyfriend Roman is now working for her father, and generally seems to be the same guy she’s always been able to rely on. But it’s too hard to keep falling in love with him only to have to leave again.

I had really high hopes for this book, since Tis the Damn Season is one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs. The idea was cute, but I found the execution to just be really flat for me. When I recently learned that the author was only 16, I thought it made a lot more sense. I really think this book would’ve been better developed as a YA instead. I commend her for writing and publishing a novel at a young age, but it just read very young and flat for me.

I wish the author the best in her future writing, and I’m willing to give her another try, but this one just didn’t live up to my hopes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Parson Press for an advanced copy of this book

What a fun and easy read for the holidays. This book was super cute and loved the two main characters relationships. Friends to lovers. A great holiday read!

First of all, cannot believe that Kimi Freeman was 15 when she wrote this book. Congrats girl!

Secondly, this book was extremely adorable. I loved both Aspen and Roman. Their relationship was definitely fun to read.

This book is about Aspen Moore a Hollywood starlet who ends up in a scandal and the boy next door that she never got over. Aspen comes home to hide out after her best friend believes the rooms that she tried to sleep with her boyfriend. She reconnects with her first and only love Roman, but she knows that their relationship needs to stay platonic for her hearts sake. The chemistry between these two is undeniable. Will Aspen be willing to give up everything to be with the man she loves?

This book was such a sweet and adorable read. I loved the small-town second-chance romance. While I am not a big Taylor Swift fan (I know, unpopular opinion) I really enjoyed this book and it is great for this holiday season.

Thank you Netgalley and Parson Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was super wholesome and cute, whilst still dealing with a couple of really difficult subjects. With there not being a huge conflict, this book is a great read if you just want to settle down on the couch a cup of hot chocolate, and let yourself disappear into a story.

I loved the dual timeline as it really helped show how the relationship between Aspen and Roman came to be, and how it grew and grew into what it is now. Two people who are truly meant to be.

Roman is truly one of the best love interests out there, even though he did piss me off for a minute near the end (no worries, he redeems himself. I love him again.)
The way he cares for Aspen and has helped her and been there for her throughout her high school years and even now, is just 😍😍😍

Aspen's life is a lot more complicated than the people around her think it is, and she has to balance her own mental health and the job she loves, which isn't an easy thing to do.
She has to work through a scandal, and it's truly inspiring to see how she deals with all of it.

Also, a healthy family dynamic? Sign me up! Aspen's family is truly there for her, cheering her on and supporting her dreams.

All in all, this book was a lovely, breezy read. Especially knowing the author is/was sixteen!! I can't wait to see what books come next.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘪 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

3.5 Stars. I was first drawn to this book because of the title and the cover. I went into it expecting a quick and easy holiday read, and this is nice and easy. The relationships can sometimes feel surface level, but overall it was entertaining

Aspen is a Hollywood star, however, when rumours circulate she hit on her best friends boyfriend her glamorous glittering life starts to crumble; she’s homeless and her future career is a complete uncertainty. She decides to head home to Pennsylvania to spend a quiet thanksgiving and Christmas with her family. When he Dad asks her to direct the Christmas show she is more than happy, even if it is alongside her on and off again boyfriend Roman. This year she is determined to leave behind the heartbreak she feels everytime she leaves him and be strictly friends.

This was book inspired by Taylor Swift so of course I was going to read it. It was super cheesy which luckily I was expecting and alongside the modern day story described above is also a history into their relationship (it switches perspective each chapter). The reason I’ve rated it down a bit is because they attempted to deal with some really serious topics (rape, consent, gas lighting etc.), however, I felt like they were almost just an add on and weren’t fully addressed how I would hope and expect. It might’ve been better if it was just left as a fluffy romance.

I wanted to enjoy this book so much more than I did.

It has so many things that I really love : Taylor Swift references, a celebrity-normal person relationship, the-exes-who-are-meant-for-each-other trope, big star going back to their hometown trope… Sooo many things I love, and in fact did enjoy with this book.

I loved the parallels with Taylor Swift’s career and how things went for her. As a Swiftie that was really fun.

However it fell flat for me in that none of the relationships in the story were really in-depth, they all felt very surface level. Aspen meets a new friend and they’re immediately trauma dumping on each other and are besties a couple of weeks later.

Likewise with the beginning of her relationship with Roman. It’s like he woke up one day and decided he liked her, and then she just liked him back even though she’d never thought of him before.

I kept expecting this big build up and some kind of misunderstanding as to why they weren’t together, but the conclusion and the “they’re finally together” moment was very anticlimactic. I was left feeling like “Oh, was that it?”

That being said, I do think this book would be HUGELY successful marketed towards a younger YA contemporary holiday romance audience. Having learned that the author herself is a teenager, I must say I am impressed with her writing and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with in future.

Personally I don’t think this was for me. I did try my best to read it and enjoy it as I am a huge Taylor Swift fan but I did really struggle.

Might have been the pace or the writing style, unsure. I wish I could give it more stars.

**3.5 Stars.. I was first drawn to this book because of the title (perfect for the Swifties). I went into it expecting a quick and easy holiday read and I was correct. It was entertaining and perfect for a palate cleanser between two fantasy books I was reading.

This is a T-Swift inspired holiday romance about two high school best friends/loves and the story of their relationship through the ups and downs of fame, family struggles, and physical distance. This story is labelled 'New Adult' because the main timeline revolves around Pen and Rome in their early 20's, however, it reads so simple and is closed door so it feels more YA. Rome is the sweetest, most loyal male character I have maybe ever read--almost to a fault. But then again, you can't fault a guy for being amazing. Pen is navigating a media scandal and by the end, we find about something terrible that happened to her early in her career. A couple of triggers to check out prior to reading but in the end, this was an incredibly sweet read with an extremely happy ever after.

I want to praise the author of this book, who I believe is only 16, for putting herself out there and following her dream of writing and publishing a book! That's a huge accomplishment and I look forward to her future books as she grows as a writer.
That being said, this book reads very young. It had dialogue that seemed unnatural and choppy, and much too young for the age of the characters being portrayed. It's a strange mix because although the characters seem younger than the age we are told they are, they are certainly in some very young adult circumstances. This was tough to reconcile and made parts of the book seem awkward and uncomfortable to get through. Yes, it's a cute concept to use Taylor Swift lyrics in a book but that felt a little forced. I found myself wanting a bit more twisting and turning in the storyline and a bit more angst.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I should have DNFd this but I kept hoping something would spark. It was sorely lacking in romance to me and read more as a YA novel than anything else.

And, I know why it was read now on NetGalley: the author is 16!!? I mean this is great for a 16 year old and I think we better watch for more to come from Kimi because I think she’ll only develop more as a writer.

I especially didn’t like the robotic, predictable conversations. They didn’t feel anything like what real people would say during conversations 🤷‍♀️ and overall just felt like things were very choppy and disjointed.

Not for me. Not what I was expecting based on the description.

Wow ok so the author is only 16?! That’s impressive and explains why this felt very teenage and not new adult! It was not my vibe but if you want teenage, holiday romcom, then this is for you!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book, provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book was super cute, and from what I gather, inspired by a Taylor Swift song. I learned about midway through the book that the author is 16 years old, so I'm pretty impressed! However, this book seemed limited by its author's age - and there's honestly nothing wrong with writing your age. But honestly, the characters were older than they should be for this story. It seemed like a YA storyline with NA characters. At first, I thought Rome was a swoony af book boyfriend, but honestly, he's just a YA fever dream. No man will ever be like Rome. They don't make real men like him haha

I was happy to get approved for this book because "Tis the Damn Season" is my favorite Taylor Song book, I thought it’d be cool. It had these cool references to her songs, which was fun, but overall, it felt more aimed at a younger crowd than I expected, kinda affecting how much I got into it. Then I found out the author's a super young newcomer, which totally explains the vibe. It's a decent read for Taylor fans, but I gotta say, there are some heavy parts that might not be cool for younger readers. The author being only sixteen makes me curious about what she'll write next as she grows. Maybe if this book was tweaked a bit, it could hit harder with the Young Adult crowd.

This was a really interesting premise. It written in a past and present timeline that seemed to connect both to the storyline of the characters! Surprisingly there was darker issues that were dealt with which was also nice to see them being given their light! For Taylor Swift fans there is a lot of fun Easter eggs throughout the chapters and as Swiftie I enjoyed seeing them. I could see teens enjoying this book. For myself, I just didn't fully enjoy it. Certain phrasings and nicknames really rubbed me the wrong way. And I couldn't really connect to Roman or Aspen so there was no buy in for myself.

I couldn’t get into this one. I love Taylor, but some of the uses of her lyrics as direct plot points was too much. I’ve thought this song would make a great book, but it needs further fleshing out.

For a new adult book it didn't really feel that way. It was more of a YA book to me but regardless it was so cute low angst and I loved the second chance. I liked the fact that Taylor swift was so heavily influenced in this book but I think overall it wasn't my cup of tea. Cute scenes aside I didn't enjoy myself reading this book.

I am very grateful for the opportunity given to me to read this in exchange for a honest review

I initially picked up this book because of the title and the fact that the story was based upon the song, "'Tis the Damn Season" by Taylor Swift. Filled with subtle nods to her discography, this was a fun read as someone who enjoys Taylor's music. While I did enjoy this book, the overall feel was more juvenile than adult, which did impact my overall reading experience. Upon further research, I learned that the author is a very young debut author, which fully makes sense in terms of the feel of the novel.

I think this book would be enjoyable for fans of Taylor's music, but I do want to mention though that while this is written by a fairly young author (teenage), there are some triggering components and adult themes to the story, so I would not recommend to younger readers. Given that the author is sixteen, I am curious about future releases from her as she grows into her writing. I think this book would have been a stronger release if it had been written for and marketed toward a YA audience (obviously with some alterations).

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Kimi and NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book!!

Aspen is a hollywood star who is from a small town, after a media mishap, she returns home to her family and ex boyfriend/best friend. They are put in charge of directing the annual xmas show.

You get a glimpse into Rome and Pen's past and how they got to where they are now, the growth of Pen and how the media can portray someone negatively ruining a reputation without knowing the full story.

The taylor swift easter eggs were adorable and i really like how every chapter had its own song.

I would definitely recommend this book and cannot wait to read more by Kimi. Perhaps a book on Leila.... hehe

The character development was incredible and the family in this book was so wholesome and supportive.

the main element of xmas is the show which although is a key plot point, i feel it could have more Christmas vibes but then again i am mad about xmas lol

I would check trigger warnings too x