I have to say that I am NOT a Taylor Swift fan, but I'm not a hater, if that makes sense. This book seems like the perfect holiday read and it's a very fun & easy read but it also holds the readers interest. I will recommend this book to my patrons for sure!

At first I was thinking this book was kind of juvenile and I wasn’t really feeling the relationship between the two main characters. But thennnnn I found out the author is 16. I’m sorry… what!? I mean, I have to hand it to her. She did a phenomenal job for 16!

Roman and Aspen were flat characters, which is why I couldn’t really get into them, with a ton of history. I really enjoyed the parts of the story that were told in flashback. I had a difficult time with their relationship but I understand now that I know the age of the author.

While I didn’t have a connection with the characters, Freeman did a good job of alternating between the two timelines, as well as picking songs that went with each chapter. I would recommend this book if you wanted a fun and easy holiday read!

(Trigger warning - Rape)
Tis the damn season is a complicated love story between two couples estranged due to circumstances. Aspen "Pen" Moore is a talented singer and wants to go to LA to pursue her passion but she has to leave the love of her life, Roman "Rome" Torres, because he has responsibilities towards his family and has to stay back. They meet again 6 years later because of a scandal occurring in Pen's life and she comes back home to take a break, while getting roped in directing the church Christmas play with Rome.
The story keeps going back and forth between the past and the present, covering the back story as we go forward. Each chapter comes with a song (Mostly Taylor Swift) which kind of summed up the feels but it didn't hit the mark for me and I stopped listening to the songs while reading the chapter halfway in the book. However I created a playlist for it and I do like discovering new songs. The story was a constant "will they, won't they" debate. It also introduced beautiful characters like Ella, Leila, Rosa and many more. The book really did capture the music it represented in it. As a musician, I rarely see books getting the feel of music this accurate. However I would have loved it if the playlist made with each chapter would be close to the chapter too.
Reasons why you should read this book:
• Strong female lead
• Finding back your old high school love cuteness
• Musically inclined main character
• Past and Present narrative

So marry your barbeque grill with Arepas and down a coke while falling in love with Pen & Rome.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to Kimi, Netgalley and Parson Press for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

I so wanted to like this one since it had a large Taylor Swift-inspired vibe, but it was hard to get into. While an easy and quick read, I felt like something was missing.

Aspen is a young actress/singer hitting a low point in her career. With rumors swirling and everyone turning on her, she heads home to her family and her ex, Roman. They’re still close friends, and their feelings have been off-and-on all these year. Will they finally rekindle things and fix Aspen’s reputation?

I’m a huge fan of dual timelines, so that part was great. Watching Aspen and Roman grow up together and experience the turns of life as kids and adults was the highlight of this book.

Mentions of heavy topics are also included, so be sure to check any trigger warnings too. I think some were handled better than others, but overall it was a happy and easy read.

For a first-time author and a young one at that, it’s a great starting point, but the writing definitely showed that level. It felt like reading a YA novel even though the characters were in their early-20s. With more time, I can see Kimi becoming a great author so easily!

Tis the Damn Season is a story that any Taylor Swift fan would enjoy. I enjoyed the switching timelines and the playlist that was included in the book added to the story. I enjoyed the additions of Taylor Swift lyrics in the book as well. This book did seem a little juvenile, it was a quick easy read, I was just hoping for more depth.

for a swiftie, this book is heaven on earth. i was positively squealing with how much I enjoyed it. It was full of taylor swift song references and the most impressive thing is that it was written by a 15 year old???? are you kidding me? that's beyond impressive

I love themed books and especially Christmas/holiday themed books! This was cute and I liked the premise of it however I couldn’t get into the story as much as I would have liked.

I loved how this book had songs to go along with every chapter. As a Swiftie I also loved all of the Taylor Swift references throughout the book! I enjoyed the dual timeline of past and present and to get a good back story about Aspen and Romans previous relationship and where their relationship currently stands.

Fun book, it was entertaining and different . Definitely a refreshing story and concept. I enjoyed it.

This was such a fun and quick read. Filled woth amazing Taylor swift references.

The storyline was fun and enjoyable.

I love this book. Great book to get into reading or out of a reading slump. It was a quick read. The author did an amazing job showing us the deep love the main characters had for each other. I love the character growth as well. It's my first time reading from this author and it would not be last. Thanks to the author, the publishing house, and NetGalley for this ARC.

PS: If you are a swiftie, this is a book for you!

I really enjoyed this holiday romance. I like a good second chances trope. I thought it was well written and I liked the characters. I was hooked throughout the story.

This is a cute second chance romance that is like reading a Taylor Swift song come to life. The FMC is an actress that decides she needs a break from Hollywood and moves back to her hometown where her on again/off again boyfriend lives. The story unfolds in a really cute, if slightly juvenile, way. I do think the characters and plot lines could have been fleshed out a tad better, but all in all this is a great effort from a young up and coming author!

Thanks to Parson Press for my ARC!

This was a fun easy read, perfect for any Taylor Swift fan with lots of fun references woven throughout

A cute small town, second chance romance! The Taylor Swift references were amazing. While it was a little juvenile at points, overall I enjoyed this one. It's getting me into the mood for Christmas time romances.

I wanted to enjoy this because I love Taylor Swift so when i was this book with the same name as one of her songs i was really excited. This book was enjoyable but not my fave, there were moments that were dull and i found myself bore at. Overall it was really cute.

Loved the characters and the premise but the plot was slow moving which isn’t really my thing. Otherwise it’s a cute rom com!

I’m going to be blunt and say that this book wasn’t written well. It would’ve done better to have the conflict at the beginning build up so that the rest of the book can focus on the second chance romance. However, because the second chance romance happens instantly, there’s no tension build up, the writing does a lot of telling and no showing and the dialogue is just cringe.
Aspen - the main character - is also ‘not like other girls’, I’m shocked.
I understand that the slut shaming and redemption of Aspen reclaiming the events is a good and important story-arc to have. But it wasn’t done well and I couldn’t feel any strong emotions from it. I want books to highlight struggles women face and have them call people out on their BS, but the writing style really helps push the emotion from it.

I think I’m waffling on, but this book wasn’t it at all.

This book is just fine. I thought the plot was okay - it had too many plot points and not enough substantive plot points. The dialogue was fine but also came off as very basic trying to be witty. I thought it was a tad too long in the beginning and middle but then wrapped up very quick. I didn’t think it was anything amazing and everything was very predictable. The children’s play was also just a very annoying side plot. 2.5⭐️, 1🌶

This was honestly a very impressive debut considering it was written by a 15 year old! Rom Coms can be really hit or miss for me and I often find myself dnfing ones written by inexperienced writers, but I didn't even consider it for this one. It wasn't perfect by any means, a lot of if felt kind of unrealistic and silly but the writing was engaging and it had good pacing up until the end. It did feel like there were a lot of dropped threads and pointless details added in that didn't end up going anywhere. And the SA that comes in at the end was not particularly graphic and it was alluded to ahead of time so I clear it coming but unfortunately it really didn't feel like it added anything to the plot so it felt a bit gratuitous. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I'll be interested in seeing what the author does next, but I probably won't be recommending it to others.