This book felt like the biggest and most cosiest wintery hug.

Freeman made this book feel like real life and that is something that was prominent throughout; the characters were honest and true to themselves the entire narrative.

I really warmed to Aspen as the female protagonist of this novel and was rooting for her happy ending the entire book. Aspen stood up for what she felt was right and was so honest about every thought in her head and I loved that about her.

Just a divine read, when snuggled in bed with a blanket.

I wanted to love this book. I really did. I love Taylor Swift and I was instantly reeled in by the concept. The blurb was so intriguing.
The book was a great disappointment. The dynamic between the main characters was weird.
The whole plot, the way they spoke, the character development was all very juvenile and amateurish. Kudos to the author for publishing her book but it needs more work.
The MMC slut shamed the FMC on multiple occasions and called her a whore and you’re telling me that’s acceptable? Nah uh.
The characters were hot and cold. Annoying. Did not vibe with them.
Thank you so much NETGALLEY for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This feels like it's for people who love fanfiction, Taylor Swift, and Hallmark Christmas movies.

I love all of these so much... that being said, It fell a little flat for me. The relationship happened suddenly and wasn't very believable. The characters could use development and the writing seems stilted. Conversations don't flow naturally.

I do like the dual timeline. I think it's nice to see what it was like for Aspen growing up. It was also nice to see Roman standing up for her and trying to get her out of her shell.

I'm not sure if it's the writing or the fanfiction feeling I get, but this seems very juvenile and could use some editing.

There were definitely some swoon worthy scenes and lines but I think it just overall didn't do it for me. I liked how Aspen was around children that was sweet.


Trigger warnings for SA, leaked information/photos, death of parents, and family illness.

I felt the talk of SA was not done very well.

Wow! A young teen wrote a romance book- what an accomplishment! Also, you can really tell a young teen wrote this romance book....

A really great effort on a first novel. It's a dual timeline story- but it was clear in the "present day" chapters that the author doesn't have the perspective of a life lived beyond 17. As an adult reader-that was roadblock from the jump for me.

A really enjoyable celebrity romance. It was cozy, fun, and very cute. Always love it when the mc's reconnect after not seeing each other for a long period of time. The characters were well developed and so was their story. Would recommend.

The perfect rom com for the festive period. The Taylor Swift references and vibes are just top notch! Such a cute adorable read and I can't wait to read more from this author.

aspen moore's career is going up in flames. her (ex)best friend's boyfriend has accused her of coming on to him while they were on tour for her debut album. sad and alone in la, she decides to return to her home town and her first love roman torres. aspen knows that she must keep their relationship platonic, because roman doesn't want the life that comes with being a celebrity and he isn't going to be leaving fertsville any time soon. will aspen sacrifice it all to stay in fertsville or is their relationship going to go up in flames again.

i found this story to be quite easy to read. despite not overall enjoying it, i couldn't seem to put it down. i will say i quite liked the first 70% of the book. the dual time lines were a great tool to help see the origin of their romance. i liked aspen as a character, but it felt like everyone around her didn't. i didn't like roman at all by the end. he felt very toxic and was constantly putting down aspen's career because of the lack of privacy.

I kindly got this book as an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the opportunity.

Rating: 1 ⭐️ DNF
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format: Ebook
Pages: 356
Spice: -🌶️
POV: First pov
S/S: standalone
Check trigger warnings for any book

I could not continue this book as this just isn’t for me. I’m sure it’s a cute winter holiday romcom but it was too cheesy for me.

The writing style is very easy to read. But the characters feel way too superficial. I’m sure this book will work for someone else!

Leena - Leena.reader review - @leena.reader on tiktok and instagram

Overall this was an adorable and light hearted Taylor Swift themed read! Roman and Aspen are two well structured and relatable characters that draw you into the story more.

I love how much we see of both of their pasts, learning why they are the way they are in the present. My only complaint was some of the thing Roman said during arguments to Aspen. His feeling were 100% justified but I believe he should have had more consequences for what he’d say to her.

I also appreciate all the hard subjects Hollywood stars face being brought up (trigger warning for rape).

This book was so cheesy in the worst way possible and sometimes felt childish. I know it was inspired by a Taylor Swift song but it just played into that too much. I rolled my eyes every time there was another reference. The dialogue felt stunted and like a lot of the story was missing. It was almost like the author tried to include too many things but never really went into detail with any of it. I was really intrigued by this book because of its Taylor inspo but I was very let down. And then I got to the acknowledgments and saw the author had written this when she was 15 and a lot of my complaints made a lot more sense. The teenage perspective is just not able to write in depth about an adult romance/love story. There was so much naivety in their interactions.

This book was the perfect balance of the heartfelt side of romance and the funny and steamy side as well. All the characters were so cute and lovable that I couldn't help but root for their relationship and over all life success. I will definitely have to reread this when Christmas comes around.

Even though I didn’t enjoy this story, I will say the writing had a very breezy quality—it was pleasantly fast paced and easy to binge.

Told in past and present, it follows singer-actress Aspen Moore escaping to her hometown after a vicious scandal. While there she reconnects with friend and first love Roman Torres, as together they organize a church Christmas production.

The romance was cute, but it lacked a concrete conflict. I found the unfolding of events a bit nonsensical, many chapters seeming to serve no importance and ending abruptly.

But my main issue was the juvenile tone to the story. I suppose it fit the timeline set in high school, but the maturity in the present timeline (seven years later) did not improve. There was a lot of cattiness between characters, which is simply not the type of drama I enjoy reading about.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Tis the Damn Season was a story about a young up and coming Actress/singer/songwriter dealing with the fall out from a media scandal with her so-called best friend. Aspen is forced to return home while hiding out from the media. She reconnects with her high school sweetheart while working on a play for her fathers church. I enjoyed the dual timeline which gave insight on Rome and Pen’s past relationship. I loved the message behind the story and feel it’s a great reminder to everyone to be kind to people because you don’t know what they’re going through. Once again, one of my favorite stories to read….a second chance at love rom-com! I highly recommend this book!

First of all anything Taylor Swift inspired I WILL READ. I love a good second chance romance and this was just the cutest! This book is sooo Taylor coded I love it. I think this is a good easy read but nothing too in depth. The writing is a bit juvenile (sorry) but I really enjoyed the concept of the book.

3.75
This has some of my favourite tropes
-second chance
-friends to lovers
-holiday romance
I really enjoyed this book and I flew through it. This really gave me a whole new view on celebrity relationships and the media.I loved the story and Aspen's character growth. The only problem was i didn't really feel like there was a lot of chemistry between the main characters at the start. I really enjoyed how each chapter had a song at the start for you to listen to that chapter and the song always fit PERFECTLY. It had chapters not too long which was so rewarding as well as being fast-paced
Thank you so much for gifting me with this arc

This was a cozy read with enough cuteness to get me through an otherwise just ok plot. Did not enjoy the slight SA mention near the end without the tw for it. Here for the Taylor title and the pretty cover tho.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review

I’m a sucker for a celebrity second chance romance, so when I was offered the opportunity to read this book, I jumped!

I loved this book so much I read it in one go! Kimi portrayed their past and present relationships beautifully, the storyline was easy to follow while still keeping me guessing as to what was coming next, and I couldn’t help but root for Aspen and Roman to finally get their happy ending! I loved the drama that the side characters brought, it added to the story without taking over too much of the plot and some of them even got their own small character arcs!

Overall, I definitely recommend this book to anyone, whether you love romance already or are just starting out!

*I received an advance review copy for free (thank you NetGalley), and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

✨ ¡Gracias a NetGalley y a Kimi Freeman por mandarme una copia avanzada de este libro a cambio de una crítica honesta!

✨Primero de todo, felicitar a la autora, ya que escribir y publicar un libro a los 16 años no tiene que ser nada fácil.

✨Ahora, tengo que reconocer que se nota que la pluma de la autora todavía es muy juvenil -acorde a su edad-, y que teniendo en cuenta que está escribiendo sobre personas al rededor de los 23-25, no me termina de cuadrar.

✨Además, el asunto de los flashbacks -un capítulo es en el presente y otro en el pasado, de manera que se cuentan dos historias simultáneamente-, no me termina de convencer, aunque eso es únicamente un gusto personal.

✨Trigger Warning que no aparece por ningún lado en el libro: la protagonista ha sido abusada sexualmente. Me parece que es un tema al que le hubiese venido bien un poco más de trabajo.
Spoiler
Se menciona a lo largo del libro que algo ha pasado con Keith y que no lo quiere recordar, y cuando se destapa en la entrevista del final, salvo llorar por la noche un rato y publicar una declaración escrita en la app de notas de su móvil, no tiene mayores repercusiones. Entendiendo que es un hecho muy traumático, tanto el abuso como el hecho de que se cuente en la entrevista, creo que no tiene el espacio necesario en el libro.

Tis the damn season is a magical, seasonal story about aspen as she navigates the ups and downs of celebrity life. Mainly the downs. When her best friends boyfriend tells the world that aspen came onto him, aspen begins to drown in the bad publicity and press about her. Deciding she needs a break from it all she goes back to her home town. Back to her parents and back to the boy she fell in love with all those years ago. Over the years, Roman and Aspen have had an on and off relationship everytime she has come back from LA. But as childhood sweethearts, did they ever really move on. Set in dual timeline between the present and several years ago when they were both in high-school, we follow the journey that brought them together and the one that is still going. A journey full of sacrifice and learning curves but most of all, full of heart.

I really enjoyed reading this ARC and am so grateful for the opportunity to review it. Aspen and Roman have a deep and complicated connection but through it all is an overwhelming love and appreciation for one and other. This book is a mix of lost loves, regrets and learning what is most important in life. The surrounding characters also had great definitions. The ones put there to stir the pot, I hated completely and the ones there to save the day, I adored. I like that whilst the season and Christmas play is present its not overwhelming. It's just enough to feel cosy and joyful.

THIS BOOK NEEDED A TRIGGER WARNING FOR SA AT 90%

Aspen returns home after a major scandal in Hollywood. The only reason this is the worst thing for her is because she runs into her high school ex-boyfriend, Roman. Being back home, brings back all those feelings she tried to forget.

I have not a lot of thoughts, but I will say that this book is obviously inspired by the Taylor Swift song and the playlist has a lot of Taylor songs. The dual time lines became too much for me. The fact that she was an outcast and bullied in school in the past then in the present there is another girl that was treated like she did and it's supposed to be a parallel.

Roman randomly being Dominican, and I can tell you exactly the amount of times it mentioned the fact he is Latine. He visited his family in the Dominican Republic, his mom was making empanadillas and arroz con pollo, and he calls her mi cielo.

The SA in the book did felt random to me, cause I do think it was hinted to something happening before the 90% mark but having another character talk about the SA before the FMC does just was AWFUL to read. I feel so many things I can't think straight.

I get the idea of the book. I get the parallels to what Taylor Swift goes through, but it was kind of annoying. The book seems very unrealistic. I just didn't like it.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc version of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.