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.

This was such a great debut novel. Such a cute quick read! When I finally started the book it only took me about 4 hours to read it. I was so invested in Aspen and Roman's story that I couldn't put it down. I'm also a sucker for celebrity drama, so the scandal Aspen went through kept me interested as well. This easily could've been a 5 star read for me, just wish we could've got more of Roman's POV. So glad I found this on NetGalley! I would definitely read more books from Kimi Freeman in the future.

A book based off of a Taylor Swift song? A song from Evermore? You could betcha buttons that I was going to read it.

I had a pretty decent time reading this! If you’re familiar with the song (and if you’re not, I recommend you go and listen to it - and all of Evermore while you’re at it. Off you go. I’ll wait.) it follows along with that plot line - about a girl who’s reached fame and fortune in LA, returning to her hometown for the holiday season, reuniting with her high school boyfriend.

Aspen, our main character, is fresh off of touring her debut album, and has been thrust into her first scandal. Her model best friend is accusing her of coming on to her boyfriend, who was opening for Aspen on her tour. She refuses to listen to her, and kicks her out if their shared apartment - so Aspen heads home a little earlier than she normally would, and finds solace amongst her parents, the high school boyfriend/seasonal hook-up, Rome, and focusing on sorting out her Dads churches nativity play, alongside aforementioned boyfriend/seasonal hook-up.

The chapters alternate between seven years ago, showing us how Aspen and Rome first got together, and the years leading up to her fame, and the present day, with the nativity, and juggling Aspen’s fame.

I enjoyed this book! It’s a pretty quick read, and does what it says on the tin. It’s a sweet romance, and I loved the concept of fleshing out a song into a book. The chapters are short and snappy, which makes for fast reading, and each chapter comes with a corresponding song in relation to the chapter (and yes, there’s a lot of Taylor Swift!)

However, I didn’t really fall in love with any of the characters, and felt like they all could have been fleshed out a little bit more. The dialogue could also be a little dry at times, and it risked feeling quite juvenile, but I still liked the book overall. A decent debut!

TW: for sexual assault.

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

Thank you to the author for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

When I saw the title of this book, I immediately got so excited. I’ve always been a huge fan of Taylor Swift and the folklore/evermore albums are some of my favorites with “tis the damn season” being on repeat for me. When I learned how young the author is, I was even more impressed that she was able to write and publish a book that meant something to her!

I had a tough time trying to figure out the categorization of this book. It takes place in two timelines and since the second timeline takes place when the characters are 18+, normally I’d categorize it has Adult. But it does read on the younger side* and it felt more like a fun YA in my opinion.

*please note I do not thing “reading young” or “reading as YA” is a bad thing. But, I think it’s important to note who I think this book is for/would enjoy it more. I love YA and I’m incredibly impressed with this author’s work ethic and drive! Writing and publishing is HARD!

Overall, I thought this book was cute and I think if the author keeps writing, she will continue to grow and (hopefully) write more Taylor Swift inspired books!

Synopsis:

“Aspen Moore is living proof that money doesn’t buy happiness. At twenty-three years old, the singer-actress has it all. Fame. Fortune. Her own headlining tour. And yet something—or someone—is missing.

When a scandal rocks Aspen’s carefully constructed Hollywood life, she’s forced to return to her Pennsylvania hometown, where she reconnects with her first love, Roman Torres. Aspen knows they must keep their relationship strictly platonic. This game of push and pull, catch and release she plays with Roman is bad for her. She’s not staying in Fertsville, and he’s not moving to LA. But their chemistry is undeniable, and amidst rumors and drama, the bright lights of Hollywood begin to pale in comparison to the dark brown eyes she fell in love with all those years ago. Could Aspen be willing to give up everything she’s ever wanted for the best thing she’s ever had? “—NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Premise—Tis the Damn Season is one of my favorite songs and I’ve always wanted to read a book about the story!

The Structure—I thought a second chance/now and then timeline worked great for this premise.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

The Pacing—Overall, my biggest issue with this book was the execution of the pacing. Maybe it’s because I had the song in the back of my head. but I just didn’t click with what was prioritized in the story.

Some of the Plot Points—I was a little shocked towards the end when a sexual assault was revealed. I didn’t see it coming at all and I never want to judge characters for their response to something, but something about it felt more like shock value than authentic to the character.

The Dialogue—I didn’t vibe with the dialogue at all. Some of the character all felt/sounded the same and I struggled to find the flow.

Character Authenticity: 3/5 Spice Rating: 0/5 Overall Rating: 3/5

Content Warnings:

sexual assault, cancer, death of a parent, parkinson’s disease

Such a cute read! I really enjoyed it and think many others will especially with the timing of the book release!

Review ‘Tis the damn season
At first I was doubting if I would like the book for some things but then I really got to enjoy it, this was a cute romance that was really wholesome, the relationship and undeniable love between Aspen and Rome was just what my heart needed and this was such a fresh read in terms of my usual choices. In one point I got worried in how the author would wrap all the thing happening but Kimi Freeman really knows how to write a contemporary romance that feels just like a hug to your heart.

In the beginning of the book I found it a bit difficult to connect with it because I felt like i was being thrown to a story in which I didn’t had the details and context, with the passing chapters this all began to clear up and I found it more interesting. One of the things I really loved were the past chapters, i loved to read about Aspen and Roman when they were young and falling in love, also the consistency of being one chapter in the present and one in the past was really nice.
It took some time for me to finish and I thought it was because I wasn’t enjoying the story but then I realized that wasn’t it, it was because this is a seasonal reading so I found it hard to connect to a Christmas ambient in midst of summer, but let me tell you, this would make a perfect read for fall and winter.

Got to read this book as an ARC provided by Net Galley and Kimi Freeman. Thank you very much!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy (ARC) of this novel!

I loved the premise of this novel! The synopsis seemed to be something that I would really enjoy. While there were aspects that I liked, I felt that this piece really needed another round of edits and more layers to the content.
I really enjoyed that this story played a lot on Taylor Swift references. For someone who is a major fan, it was fun to pick out the song lyrics and tie ins (e.g. hometown in Pennsylvania, award show wins, etc). I do not think it would be as pleasing to someone who isn’t a fan or doesn’t care for Taylor, which made it a little too niche for a contemporary romance.
Some dislikes and parts that didn’t work for me include:
•The writing tone was very juvenile, to the point where the “flashback” scenes felt more realistic than present day. I wanted to feel or hear a mature voice for Aspen present day, and it felt like she was stuck as a seventeen year old.
•Aspen as a character did not truly develop at all. She was unchanged from the beginning to the end. Her only takeaway was that karma came around to everyone who wronged her, which just seemed pointless and didn’t make me feel anything for her.
•Every conflict or conversation was done and over in 2 lines of dialogue!! Good lord, let people have more than one exchange before moving on to a new scene! And to make matters worse, it felt choppy and the vocabulary used was inappropriate (specifically the word “unconfident” which isn’t even a real descriptor).
•Plot happened… but not really? And then we missed so many key moments (e.g. the passing of Roman’s mother! This could have been so pivotal for both of the MC’s and was a missed opportunity).

I hated to be so critical of this book, since I was looking forward to it. If this book were a house, it would just be wooden stud walls. It was lacking so much “meat” per se, that I truly feel could have been added or adjusted through more rounds of edits.

Taylor Swift coded people assemble!

This book was incredible cute and was written for anyone who ever needed a book about the couple from T Swift's song 'Tis the damn season.

It's a small town, second chance romance between 2 characters who were former high school sweethearts. It was a nice change seeing him as the 'small town' boy while the FMC was famous. There's definitely forced proximity trope woven through the book, which made for an interesting read.

This is definitely a sweet, easy read with all of the comfort of the holiday's woven into the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book. I had high hopes for this book seeing that it had a dual timeline, but it was not executed well. I felt that the flashbacks were often random and were more just random scenes of them when they were younger and they were in a relationship. I feel like it did not add anything to the story. Since it partly took place in the past when the main characters were in high school, I expected the writing to seem younger (from a high schoolers pov) but when it switched back to the present, everything was still really immature. Lastly, I found it hard to root for them. They lacked chemistry and the story did not make up for lack of that. One of the things that I did enjoy were the short chapters and the playlist. It was an interesting idea to have each chapter be a new song.