This book was adorable! It tells the story of the FMC as she journeys through a very trying time with support of the MMC. A "makes me feel good" kind of book.

If I could choose one word to describe this book, it would be juvenile. The dialogues, the plot, the relationships... all juvenile. It's like there is a film or layer of naiveté over the entire book. Which makes sense, since the author, I found out after requesting this book, is only 16. I truly think it's impressive that Kimi possessed the drive and follow-through to make her dreams a reality. It's also truly impressive that she got such a ringing endorsement from Courtney Kae ("a delightful romp through our favorite holiday tropes!"). So, I don't want to tear her down in this review because I want her to keep writing, and I can see her improving her craft as she gets older (and I don't mean this in a condescending, "just wait until you experience more of life" way, but experiencing more of life certainly wouldn't hurt!).

The book is told in a dual timeline; the main characters are 23 years old in the present timeline and 17 years old in the past timeline. From the very first page, the character interactions, even those at 23, are cringey and unrealistic. The dialogue reminds me of dialogue I wrote at the author's age, which I thought was natural but is actually stilted and undeveloped. At 16, I might have THOUGHT I knew how 23-year-olds thought and acted, but looking back, I definitely could not have anticipated all the changes in my attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and maturity over the next seven years. An author who is 23 years old can look back at being 17 with some level of accuracy, but an author at 17 (or 16) years old can't exactly look ahead to 23 and remember what it is like to be that age. My point is that Kimi has never been a 23-year-old, so she can only imagine that far ahead into her future.

I feel like most second chance romances are also enemies to lovers (or lovers to enemies to lovers), so I did REALLY like that Aspen and Roman are never enemies. HOWEVER. Their INSTANT reconnection didn't make sense after six years apart. There is too much familiarity between them, and they do not interact like the strangers that they are. In the present timeline, Aspen tells us that Roman KNOWS (present tense) her better than anyone else, but... like, how? Their interactions are so surface-level to the point of being unbelievable. It feels like there is no depth to Roman, almost as if he's been hanging around waiting for Aspen to come back. It feels like he exists FOR Aspen, not as his own character. He kisses her almost immediately, with zero build-up. On her TikTok, the author says that in the past timeline, the main characters are already in the relationship, but the present timeline is more of a slow burn, so you get the best of both worlds. BUT I didn't feel this was the case. Roman kisses Aspen in the present timeline before they even start dating in the past timeline. I would have felt uncomfortable reading spice in a book by a minor, so I'm glad the author didn't attempt to write any spicy scenes.

Also, MAJOR trigger warning for sexual assault described on page. The author doesn't provide a trigger warning for this, so it was a huge shock!!!

Thank you to Parson Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

Part of me thought this was a super cute holiday romance and part of me was disappointed Aspen didn't stand up for herself more.
I enjoyed the friendship between Aspen and Roman, and how they acknowledged their past but didn't ignore it.
The pace was too slow for my liking, and I wanted more emotion and drama, and more consequences for the bad guys.
I received a copy via NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for granting me access to this ARC in exchange for my honest review. First, the positives: the small town, the Hollywood star who was looking for some quiet, the boyfriend she left behind, and Christmas show were reminiscent of a Hallmark Christmas movie, which I love. I also liked the playlist and song titles for each chapter.

Now, the negatives: the dialogue was very stilted~just no flow, There is no trigger warning and there is a sexual assault described. I think the audience for this will be younger (Swifties) so this was unexpected and should be noted. I did not realize that the author was only 16 when she wrote this book so kudos to her for this debut! 2.5 stars

4.75 stars
Aspen Moore moved to Hollywood at 18 to pursue her dream of singing. In doing so, she had to leave behind her first love, Roman Torres. She makes it and lands the lead role in a soap opera and just wrapped a tour. Now she finds herself caught in the middle of a scandal with her best friend & her best friend's boyfriend. She leaves LA and goes back home to Fertsville, Pennsylvania to get away from the spotlight for a while. She returns home and finds out Roman (Rome) is working for her father. She starts feeling things for Roman but knows they can't be anything more than friends. She and Rome take over the Christmas play production at the local church for her father. Unfortunately, the fame doesn't end when Aspen leaves the LA city limits and drama surrounding the scandal has followed her home.

I really loved this book. I loved the change of past time and present time chapters, I just wish we got more on some of the present time ones. Other than that this book owns my heart. I loved the story and I loved the characters. I obviously I loved the Taylor Swift of it all. The references are cute and fun without being cringey and doing too much. I will absolutely be reading this again and be pushing it onto al my friends especially my swift friends.

‘It’s The Damn Season by kimifreeman_

Releases October 24, 2023
Arc by Netgalley and Parson Press!

This book was so cute! If you’ve ever listened to ’Tis the damn season by Taylor Swift and thought, “I wish there was a book about this couple” then you’re in luck because this book was written for you

This book has :
• Holiday romance
• dual timeline
• guy falls first
• slow burn romance
• based on a Taylor Swift song
• Small town
• Second chance romance between two former high school sweethearts
• Famous girl x small town boy
• A MMC that has always supported her dreams and when she makes it big, she just can’t let him go
• She’s a famous singer and he’s her muse
• Forced proximity : the main characters are co-producing the down Christmas play together

Overall this was such a sweet and cut small town, second chance romance that’s perfect for the Christmas season.

Thank you netgalley and Parson Press for an ARC in exchange to this honest review!

I’ll start by saying thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!
* I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

TW: SA.


This book was a cute little read (for the most part.) It follows a famous actress and her ex boyfriend from high school. It’s single POV, and dual timeline. There is a song on every chapter page, which is cute! There is a part about SA near the end of the book, and there is no warning about it in the book.
I also wish that Leila was talked about more!

The book was just raw pasta.... it could have been really good tbh there was a lot of potential but idk the while book just didn't sit right with me....

Tis The Damn Season is cute for Swifties! Taylor lyrics are used throughout the book sometimes subtly and others it seemed kind of forced.

The book was cute but the characters felt sort of lacking? I do think it reads more as a fanfic rather than a novel. Roman and Aspen have a great dynamic albeit a little unrealistic.

Aspen says before going home she had to break things off and it was hard, or however she said it. But, as soon as she gets there Roman is at her house and they are hugging and being cutesy? I think there could have more tension between them and seeing them having to rebuild a relationship could have been more intriguing rather than him being like “I want you no matter what”

I love Taylor swift and this book was like a cutesy version of the song. I loved it. The cover really told the story and I got to know every character so well. I can’t wait to see what the author writes next.

Fans of Taylor Swift will really enjoy this debut YA novel from 16 year old author Kimi Freeman. Interesting plotlines and strong writing kept me invested in knowing what happens next. I'm interested in seeing the growth in this young author's writing.

*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

As a lifelong Swiftie, I was excited about this book. I will say that I thought this book was fun. Before I get into how I felt about it, I do feel the need to say that I finished this book and thought it was cute.

The writing was pretty immature, and the characters didn't feel super developed. Which again, I still liked some aspects of it and thought their relationship was cute. But this definitely read more like fanfiction, with the whole plot being centered on the romance. Again, if you like that, great. I just would have preferred more depth and more overall development. The characters felt pretty superficial to me.

I do know that the author is pretty young and this is a debut novel, so I think overall it's a cute story, but there's a lot lacking in the writing itself.

it was good enough for a debut novel. the taylor swift references and a storyline baes on one of the best songs in evermore bought me, considering the fact that evermore is my favorite TS album. but i did have some issues with the book so i'll be addressing those ig. THE ENTIRE BOOK WAS HIGHLY UNREALISTIC. LIKE THE CHARACTERS, THE STORYLINE, THE CONVERSATIONS, THE DIALOGUES. all of it. ok so tell me who lands an acting gig with one of the biggest networks within a year of moving to LA without any prior experience in that field. not to mention the show was so successful that it was renewed for new seasons even tho the plot seemed mid. then right after that she put out album which was so fucking amazing that it charted at no 1 everywhere and she went on a tour with just those 10 fucking songs and performed to sold out stadiums. now coming to the main guy. (im so sorry i forgot all their names just after one day of reading it) so before that just so you know this book has a dual timeline, one when they were 17 and other when they are 23 or 24 ig im not sure exactly. this guy was just plain. like he had these dialogues that were supposed to be intense in a mature way but came off too bland and dense because his personality couldn't carry those words. like there were no layers to his character, there was no character development so both his teenage and adult personality seemed pretty much the same. hence everytime he said something romantic all i could do was roll my eyes just like cher did in her iconic "ugh, as if". like c'mon even i've had boyfriends and i know for a fact that teenage boys just do not act that way it was like 2015s wattpad story i mean there were a lot i mean A LOT of cringe worthy moments where i just wanted to dnf it but it was also kinda cute so i went on. but hey i dont really blame the author (as if the naivety wasn't enough to give this one away, turns out she really is just 17) because we've all had that one phase in our lives where we think that "if i get into a relationship i'll be the perfect girlfriend/boyfriend ill have this perfect partner who'll be just like the characters i read about". look i get it when we're really young we want an ideal relationship that'll be just too perfect to be true but somehow we think we can make it work but as u grow old you realise "ideal" is just an idea it doesn't exist irl and relationships are supposed to be flawed and nuanced to be true. but kudos to the author for pulling up this book, it is kinda impressive.
coming to the plot, i dont know what to say other than just go and stream tis the damn season and you'll know everything you need to know. pretty much the perfect representation of each other. also i wanted to mention that adults, not to mentions adults who are in entertainment industry do not interact like that, even if they hate each other's guts, there's a protocol they have to follow while interacting in public. so all in all, while i do know a relationship with dynamics like that wouldn't survive irl, like its just part of someone's imaginations who hasn't been kicked by life yet, it was still a sweet and fun throwback to simpler times when even i had those dreams and hopes of a perfect life in my strawberry world with rainbows and unicorns lol.

ARC review -
I was definitely sucked in by the friendship betrayal like that just immediately made me want to read more about aspen
roman definitely feels like he was written by a woman like without a doubt
the more I read the more it felt like a hallmark movie because there was no real or at least no lasting arguments/fights. even teenager them handled a fight within seconds of the topic becoming a thing which felt very adult for them and then very unrealistic
the Keith trigger was mentioned so early on that it felt his name kept popping up at the most random times without really knowing who he was or why he was apart of aspens past
some chapters when looking at the past felt very short and like they could just fill in as her looking back rather than it's own chapter

This was cute and cozy!

A scandal has just messed up her life and Aspen Moore, a famous actress and singer, decides to go back to her hometown early before the holiday season. There, she immediately runs into her high school boyfriend, Roman, who she left behind when she went to pursue her dreams of fame in Los Angeles. The book is told in dual timelines - the first in the present, and the second starting 7 years ago when Aspen first met Roman.

This book is like reading a Christmas Hallmark movie. It has a cute romance with interesting — if a bit underdeveloped — characters and some nice drama (which I wish was even more dramatic at some points!). There are some nods to Taylor Swift throughout the book that I think a fan would appreciate, but wouldn’t stick out as odd to a reader that doesn’t listen to her music. The book does read rather young, which I think actually worked out quite well for the “then” plotline, but could sometimes stick out in the “now.” I really appreciated that even though it was a dual timeline story, there was no “enemies” aspect to the story, which I believe to typically show up in that format.

Overall, this was a fun read fit for not only a Taylor Swift fan, but anyone that may want a fast-paced holiday romance.

*Recommend that you check CW for this book, as well

Thank you to NetGalley, Parson Press, and Kimi Freeman for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

ARC Book Review

'Tis the Damn Season (ARC)
by Kimi Freeman
published by Parson Press

Aspen Moore is a young actress/musician who has gained tremendous fame in a short span of time and is starting to experience the pitfalls that go along with it.
After a scandal upends her life, she returns to her hometown where she reconnects with her first love Roman Torres whilst the two help direct a Nativity at their local church. They keep being drawn together but will they make it to forever at the end?

Publication Date UK - 24th Oct

Such a sweet, romanticised hopeful love story that still deals with tough issues such as sexual assault and health troubles.

The @taylorswift song the title inspired is one of my favourites and I enjoyed the subtle nods to her other works throughout.

Every chapter having a corresponding song from a playlist was a nice touch and was great for background music whilst reading and setting the scene.

The dual timeline helped keep things fresh and the action happening at a good pace, I was invested in both timelines equally!

Not a spicy ready by any means, which makes sense when you find out how young the author is. Between other books I'm reading it was refreshing and as a debut novel, Kimi Freeman will definitely be one to keep an eye on as she grows in her writing and in life!

Thank you to @kimifreeman_ , Parson Press and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Tis the Damn Season" delivers a heartwarming and engaging story filled with love, second chances, and the magic of the holiday season. Aspen Moore, a Hollywood starlet, is at the peak of her career but feels something is missing in her life. When a scandal shakes her world, she returns to her Pennsylvania hometown, setting the stage for a reunion with her first love, Roman Torres.

The novel beautifully explores the themes of love, self-discovery, and the importance of home and family. Aspen and Roman's rekindled connection is the heart of the story, and their chemistry is palpable. The push and pull between them, driven by the fear of heartbreak and the allure of what might have been, creates a captivating and emotional journey.

The setting of a small Pennsylvania town during the Christmas season adds a delightful and festive backdrop to the story. The author skillfully captures the charm and warmth of a close-knit community, making readers feel like they are part of the holiday festivities.

Aspen's character is relatable and complex, and her journey of self-reflection and growth is a central element of the narrative. Roman, with his dark brown eyes and unwavering love, is a wonderfully crafted hero who complements Aspen perfectly.

The writing is engaging and evocative, making it easy for readers to immerse themselves in the story and connect with the characters. The pacing is well-executed, with a mix of heartwarming moments, emotional depth, and a touch of drama to keep the plot moving.

"Tis the Damn Season" is a delightful holiday romance that captures the spirit of the season while delivering a compelling love story. It reminds us that sometimes, the things we've been searching for all along can be found in the place where we least expect them. If you're looking for a heartwarming and enchanting Christmas read, this book is a perfect choice.

3.5 Stars!

This is a really good debut and had the feeling of a YA normal people for fans of Taylor Swift and Christmas vibes.
I struggled to follow along all the storylines but it’s such a great debut, I know I’ll be reading whatever Kimi writes next 🥺🫶🏻

This book has a lot of potential and I really liked the premise. I appreciated the dual timeline for building the background between the two main characters Aspen and Roman but felt that in this instance it made the story feel a bit disjointed as it interrupted the flow rather than added to the body of the story on occasion.
I would have liked the characters and their relationship to be fleshed out more. I do think that the personalities of the two main characters were inconsistent at times, and other secondary characters felt more like props than real people.
Knowing that this is a debut novel and that the author is 16, I will say that there’s a lot of good potential and despite this not being a favourite I’d be interested to see how she develops as a writer and what she comes up with next!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc copy in exchange for an honest review

'Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman is a heartbreaking and heart-melting contemporary romance told from the point of view of twenty-three-year-old Aspen Moore. If you like Taylor Swift and the holiday season, I think this just might be the book for you. The story line follows many tracks of her music, and of course the title is one of her songs. I'd say she was definitely an inspiration for Kimi to write this story. I found it very enjoyable and easy to read. I fell in love with the two main characters and really felt their emotions through the roller coaster of their relationship.

Aspen moved to Hollywood at the age of eighteen to pursue her dream of singing and acting. The problem is that she had to leave behind her first love, Roman Torres. Her dreams did end up coming true with her getting the leading role in a soap opera, and she has just recently been on tour.

Aspen gets caught up in a scandal with her best friend and her best friend's boyfriend, leading her to move out of their place together. Friendless and homeless, she heads back to Pennsylvania to get away from everything involved with being famous for a while. Upon returning home, she discovers that Roman (Rome) is now working for her father. Surprised by this fact alone and the presence of him at his parents house, she finds herself beginning to feel things for Rome again. Knowing that she needs to keep it strictly as a friendship, she sets her boundaries but enjoys rekindling their friendship while she is back in town. As a favor to Aspen's father, they take over the Christmas production at the local church. Aspen has production and music knowledge, and Rome has an undeniable ease of working with children. You could say that they are the perfect pair! Too many opportunities for Rome and Aspen's feelings to bubble over will leave them both with the need to express words they've long suppressed sharing.

The biggest problem is that the drama didn't end with the scandal that led her to return to Fertsville, as sadly, more lies ahead for her and Rome, a man who has always stayed away from the spotlight. As friendship starts to subside and true love begins to win out, will Aspen be willing to give up her dreams in Hollywood for the love of her life?

Thank you so much to Kimi Freeman, Parson Press, and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.