3.5 ⭐️

Well, that was cute!

Not bad for a debut author. It shows it was a kick-off book; the writing felt juvenile and sometimes forced, but overall I really enjoyed this friends-to-lovers, second-chance romance story. I believe this author will write amazing novels in a near future and I'm definitely looking forward to read her upcoming projects.

Also, the Taylor Swift references plus the songs listed for each chapter were everything!

Thank you to the author, Parson Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. 'Tis The Damn Season by Kimi Freeman will be coming out on October 24th, 2023.

This book has a song listed for each chapter. The first pages have the songs listed in order. I made a Spotify playlist so I didn’t have to look up each song every time a new chapter started. Look for “tis the damn season book” playlist if you’re interested. The songs enhance the atmosphere while you’re reading.

I was worried about a song based on a Taylor Swift song, but I was interested immediately. This book lived up to it. Taking inspiration from “tis the damn season” we have a rock star/ actress in the middle of scandal during the holidays and she’s “staying at her parents’ house.” Her old boyfriend is a huge part of her parent’s lives, and not used to what fame brings,

This book is fun, quirky exciting read. Great for Taylor Swift fans of course, but you don’t need to be to enjoy the romance. Ideal for holiday cozy reading!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I immensely enjoyed this book as I am a swiftie and tis the damn season is my favourite evermore song.
I loved every second of it.
From the two timelines to the Taylor songs at the beginning of every chapter (yes, there were some other songs and the author and me have the same taste in music)!

Highly recommended for every swiftie and those aspiring to be!!

From the title I knew I’d love this. Of course I did! Loved reading these characters finding their way back to each other and even more.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
🚫🌶️

This was such a cute quick read featuring a second chance romance with an alternating timeline. I absolutely loved the playlist and how each chapter opened with a song. This book was definitely made for Swifties. ❤️ I really related to Aspen as I too am a loaner who loves music. 🤣🎵🎶 Roman was so stinking sweet, he was the epitome of what I imagine for a small town high school sweetheart to be. I thought this book was an adorable YA read but being such it was missing some elements like adult drama/problems and spice.

“My love isn’t always enough. It’s not today. It wasn’t yesterday. But i can’t lie and say that I don’t hope that someday, it might just be.”

Thank you @netgalley and @parsonprep for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

I desperately wanted to love this book! Unfortunately, I just did not. It’s disjointed, It’s immature, Too much extra. Sorry!

Thank you to Netgallery and Parsons Press for giving me the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy of this book.

Reading the first few pages, this book made me think of a “It happened one summer” x “Love, Just in”, Natalie Murray’s upcoming rom com!

The book starts off with a starlet leaving LA after a scandal and heading back to her hometown to hide out. Add in a swoony ex-boyfriend, a Christmas play and a Taylor Swift playlist, you have a sweet clean romance

Ratings:
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Spice: 😇

Note: TW/SA

Pros
- the plot was sweet and focuses on people reconnecting
- Aspen is likeable, albeit impulsive at times
- If you’re looking for a clean romance, this one is perfect.
- Lots of references to Taylor Swift, including a full playlist

Cons
- since the story jumps between past and present, it can feel a bit jarring at times as you jump between timelines, which is in part because a number of the chapters are quite short.
- I felt like the resolution of the drama seemed too convenient and everything was miraculously fixed after one admission.
- Roman is a very one dimensional character, and his decisions throughout the story are hard to understand because of this.
- The Taylor Swift (and other) songs at the beginning of each chapter almost spoil what each chapter is about, so it may be better off at the beginning of the novel as a complete list.

I liked the actual story and second chance love, I just didn’t see how the Taylor swift playlist fell into it? I feel like that was just unnecessary, but it was a cute read and I liked the dual timeline shifts to get into the perspective of how they were then and how they came to be now, I really enjoyed that!

If you like Taylor Swift or sweet low stakes second chance, this is the book for you.

If you've ever listened to Tis the Damn Season by Taylor Swift and wanted a book for the couple in the song, this is it! Overall this is a very light and fun holiday romance, it was a nice pallet cleaner for me and would be perfect for anyone looking for a quick cute romance.

-Small town
-Second Chance
-One Bed
-Low stakes
-Closed Door
-Holiday Romance

This a cute cheesy romance. Aspen and Rome are adorable and I'm so glad that they got back together for real. They are clearly meant for each other seeing as they could never move on. They were so ingrained in each others lives.

CW: sa(in past, not detailed)

I received an arc through netgalley.

Kimi Freeman's debut novel, 'Tis the Damn Season, presents a heartwarming second chance romance between Hollywood starlet Aspen Moore and her first love, Roman Torres, set in a charming Pennsylvania hometown during the Christmas season. Aspen's return, prompted by a scandal, rekindles an undeniable chemistry between the two, but their vastly different worlds create a push and pull dynamic. Freeman's vivid portrayal of small-town life, clever Taylor Swift-inspired references, and the incorporation of a themed playlist for each chapter enhance the immersive experience. While the story occasionally suffers from abrupt chapter endings and a somewhat juvenile tone, it successfully weaves a tale of love, self-discovery, and the enduring enchantment of the holiday season, leaving readers with a heartwarming and comforting feeling.

Ok so, dual timeline, friends to lovers romance, one of my all time favourite tropes - however, as great as this one started out, the ending fell really flat for me. Initially, I was really into the story until I realized that Rome's character could have used a bit more depth. He's incredibly sweet, an almost perfect boyfriend really, but he's sort of portrayed as though he's only in the story to wait around for Aspen to come back into his life. Which, he kind of is, but the writing of it felt a bit off to me. The story started off so strong, and I loved the little glimpses of their relationship through high school. The chapters were a good length, the dialogue was decent. But the ending! The primary issue of the novel was not revealed until really late into the book, and it was such a surprise, I didn't like the new direction the book took on after the truth was revealed. The wrap up of all of the problems came to a conclusion too quickly - don't get me wrong, I'm so happy Aspen cleared everything up, but I wish it was done at a slower pace. I'm also not a huge fan of events happening like that so quickly in an epilogue. This book had a lot of things that I really liked, the term of endearment in a different language, sweet and swoony flashbacks, forced proximity - but the last 20% ruined it for me.

Poorly written, almost did not finish due to the writing. No flow, felt like reading a teenagers diary. This book needs a lot of work before it should be published

Thank you to NetGalley and Parson Press for allowing me to read "Tis the Damn Season in exchange for an honest review.

Does money really buy happiness or has her happiness been right in front of her the whole time? A Hollywood starlet has to fight through many scandals on her road to fame and fortune. When she returns home to escape the drama and spotlight, who is here to caught her but the boy she never got over. Is she willing to give up her dreams for the best thing she ever had?

Opposites attract in this YA book. Aspen and Roman know how to make someone hate and love them at the same time. Cheering for them one minute then wishing they would just end it the next.

This book covers several difficult topics (mainly R*** and Death) but doesn't go into detail. NO SPICE. I usually hate books without spice but this one didn't need it.

I do wish her songs could be recorded because something tells me that I would be a fan.

ARC Review —

I was drawn to this book originally because of the Taylor Swift reference title, and upon opening it up and seeing all the Taylor lyrics sprinkled throughout was so fun. It was like a little easter egg hunt for the bookworm Swiftie.

The book opening with a cheating scandal didn't endear me to the book, but I'm so glad that I pushed through and kept going, because as soon as Aspen gets back to her hometown, I was hooked. The relationship between Aspen and Roman was adorable and kept me hanging on their every word. I was captivated by their friendship early on and was rooting for them the entire time.

This book is perfect for the upcoming holiday season, the Swiftie in your life, and romance readers in general.

Hmm, where do I start... I'm not a fan of flashbacks or when the book suddenly returns to the past in the present. Even the alternate timeline.
But there is an exception, when a book catches my attention and when I really liked the book itself.
Hmmm I know this book is cute but it's not for me. When I saw that there were songs dedicated per chapter I find it interesting and cute. But mostly Taylor's songs are on the playlist.
I know that this book is inspired by Taylor song of the same title 'Tis the damn season but It got to the point where I feel like it's a fanfic based on Taylor Swift. I like the concept but there is something missing in this book and I think it still needs a lot of editing.

I was pretty disappointed with this one. While I really loved the writing style and found that the story flowed nicely. The characters just weren’t likeable. Aspen was super unreliable. She was constantly contradicting herself, like wanting honesty from her family but then wasn’t being truthful with them. I loved the whole plot line of her and Roman helping out with the Christmas play. But I hated the scenes of them practicing. I think the way that they were letting these 10-year-olds be so disrespectful to them and the other kids was so frustrating. The way they handled the bullying just made me angry, as well as Aspen not liking certain kids because they reminded her of her high school bullies. It just made it super juvenile. I had high hopes as I was very excited with the chapters changing from present to Roman and Aspen’s past. I loved that we got those moments of Aspen and Roman’s childhood and getting their love story. I enjoyed the writing and the flow of the story, though I didn’t enjoy the plot or characters as much as I was hoping. I was just disappointed by Aspen and Roman, and while they were less insufferable at the end, I didn’t really see much character development.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute concept and I was really excited about a Taylor Swift inspired book, but I just felt a bit let down. The writing, characters, and dialogue weren’t great and not very fleshed out or realistic. Impressed that a teenager wrote this but it definitely needed further editing before publishing.

Writing a book with that is both inspired by a Taylor Swift song and shares the same title is a bold move. And it's a lot to live up to! And with 'Tis the Damn Season, Kimi Freeman gets a lot of things right – but it also didn't *quite* live up to its namesake for me.

I thought Freeman did a great job in using the song's lyrics as a structure for her book and some of the finer character details – Aspen, the FMC, is a singer/actress in the midst of a PR crisis caused by her back-stabbing famous friends, she's staying at her parent's house (in Pennsylvania, Taylor's home state) to lay low for a while, Roman, the MMC, is a truck-driving high school ex she has an on-again/off-again relationship with, the Methodist church is right next to the high school.

And though Aspen and Roman have a complicated relationship, I felt like the romantic chemistry between was lacking, and that the overall mood of the book didn't quite reach the same angsty depths as the song. The book does employ flashback chapters that give more insight into how Aspen and Roman got together in high school, and I think that if these had spent less time on what happened in high school and more time on the on-again/off-again aspects of their relationship and how it impacted both of them, perhaps that mood could have been achieved.

Further, I wanted a more information on why Aspen's friends decided to turn on her. Though in the end the *why* doesn't really matter, I wanted to understand what they were looking to achieve – I suppose the answer is attention, but because we don't truly get an answer on this I was left feeling a little baffled by the whole thing.

But! This is a quick and easy second-chance romance read with a lot of celebrity and family drama. Though it takes place during Thanksgiving and Christmas, it doesn't hit you over the head with Holiday Festivities (other than a play at the Methodist church), so if you aren't huge on holly-jolly Christmas books, this might be more your speed. Taylor Swift fans will easily pick up on references to the song the book is inspired by, but those who aren't fans won't feel like they're missing anything and will still enjoy this.

DNF. I love a good Taylor Swift inspired romance, but this was just a bit ridiculous. The dual timeline didn’t work well and Aspen’s whole personality was not being like other girls. Also- in what world does a whole female friendship group kick someone to the curb based on something a boyfriend claims!! that’s the real girl code misdemeanor, not a boyfriend saying you came on to him!