Tis the damn Season is a new adult romance book by Kimi Freeman. The story follows a 23-year-old popular singer-actress named Aspen Moore. After a Hollywood scandal, she returns to her hometown and reconnects with her first love, Roman Torres. Amidst the games of push and pull and all the scandals, will they find a happy forever after?

Ratings: 2.5 stars
TW: The book displayed the loss of a loved one and rape (both off-page).

The story altered between two timelines (the present and 7 years ago) in the first person POV of Aspen. The chapters were short which made it a flowy read. It was written in a basic language and was easy to follow.
However, I did not relate to the characters, no matter how hard I tried. It was quite boring at times and I wanted it to be over with. The main characters did not go through much character development which made it feel like a drag. Also, the playlists and the reference to songs as chapter titles weren't very interesting.

I thank NetGalley for giving me an Advanced reader copy of this book and allowing me to review it.

I really enjoyed this book! The dual POV kept me interested & the narrative had a perfect mix of romance and drama. The Taylor Swift references and short chapters kept me hooked & it was easy to enjoy the style of writing.

To find out at the end the author started writing this book at 14 made me like it even more, she will be going places!

’Tis the Damn Season follows Aspen Moore, a actress/singer, who has been caught in a massive gossip scandal in LA, and was forced to go home while she waits for the rumour mill to hopefully run its course. Back home, she’s reunited with her high school boyfriend and first love, Roman Torres. Will they get back together? Or are they too different now to work as a couple?
Trope: This is a sort of second chance story.

CW: Death of a loved one (off-book); past mentions of sexual assault. I wish there were content warnings at the beginning, as they can be triggering even if the book doesn’t go in great details.

It’s a breezy, easy read with the narrative jumping back and forth between the present and the beginning of Aspen’s and Roman’s love life, but remains in Aspen’s POV the whole time. I did not get the Taylor Swift references at all, but I can see this being right up a Swiftie’s alley.

I felt like the characters could have been developed further as individuals and also their story (especially their history) could have been explored more. The beginning of their relationship as teens feels very abrupt and out of the blue.
This is very dialogue heavy book, I wish there were more scene building, especially since it’s holiday themed. I was missing the whimsical feeling Christmas spirits normally can imbue into stories.

Overall I felt the book started out a little cringey, but got slightly better towards the end. But considering the author is incredibly young and this is her debut novel, I’d say this is a mighty good effort. And I look forward to more work in the future as she fine tunes her craft.

Thank You Netgalley and the publisher for the free access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There's a certain curse books have which is that if it includes a playlist the author created before chapter one, it's going to be a very badly-written tik-tok oriented book. By that I mean it clearly throws a bunhc of buzzwords that booktok loves and tries to create a plot around it but this never works! It just reads as bad and one-dimensional

'Tis the Damn Season unfolds a story of a young singer and actress caught up in a scandal. Aspen decides to head home and finds herself entangled with an old flame. Will she get herself out of the scandal? Will she

This is a solid debut book for an author that is just 16 years old! Quite an impressive feat! I picked this book as a Swiftie. I did enjoy the Taylor Swift song references. I also liked that the chapters were built upon different songs. The story is told in a dual timeline. It was a quick and easy read. The writing was good and easy to follow. Even though the timeline was alternating, I didn't find it confusing at all. I was swooning over Roman and Aspen. The Great War was also playing on my head as I was reading this.

I believe there should be a trigger warning on this as it delved into sexual assault as well. However, I wish it was expanded more in the book so that we could feel the gravity and intensity of what Aspen has been through more. Issues were mentioned but the main focus was a cheating scandal that led to a friendship break up. I just wished that the author expanded more on the other issue that Aspen has been through. Also, it seemed like Sierra was a really close friend of her and I just wished there was a chapter about them, just so we could understand more the bond that they had.

Overall, it was a good read. I would recommend it for a someone looking for something light or as a refresher after reading something heavy. I think this is such a good book to read during the Christmas season!

Tis the Damn Season is cute and fun and so perfect for your Swiftie friend!! A heartwarming contemporary romance to get you ready for the holiday season. For me this seemed to fall more into the YA rather than NA demographic.

Kimi Freeman was able to write an endearing story about second chances, overcoming the ups and downs of life, and self-discovery/acceptance. It follows the two main characters, Aspen and Roman, as they navigate their relationship over the years. Freeman bounced between past and present flawlessly and in a way that helped create a full picture of their relationship rather than a distraction.

It was slightly predictable, but in a way that feels cozy. Like how you rewatch your favorite movie over and over. You know how it’ll end, but that’s half the reason it’s your favorite! Definitely recommend this for a fun and lighthearted read!

This was such a cute and breezy read! I really enjoyed the duel-timeline which really added to the angst. Plus all the little Taylor Swift nods are A+.

This book also had the childhood best friend/second chance romance tropes that I love, but I wish the two main characters/their relationship was developed a bit more in both timelines. I would, however, recommend this book! You can get your hands on it on October 24!

Thank you NetGalley and Kimi Freeman for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank You Netgalley and the publisher for the access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didnt really enjoy this novel as much as I would have hoped. There was surface details in the characters' backstories which made them un relatable, The plot line for me was mid and cheesy and I could tell early on what was going to happen. There was not much on character development and at times it fell flat and had me skim reading.

I liked how there was flashbacks to when they were younger. And there was defiantly some trigger warnings I did not see coming. As someone who is not a Taylor Swift fan I did not realize that this book referenced her songs as chapter titles at all.

This is a clean contemporary romance that has an interesting storyline, likable characters and and overall, feel-good vibes. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was all the Taylor swift references. Seems like this is geared towards TS’s fan base.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kimi Freeman for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Anything Taylor Swift related is a big yes to me, however this book did have some cringey and cheesy moments hence why the rating is what it is.

An enchanting journey through vividly imagined worlds and compelling characters. This fiction gem weaves a tapestry of emotions, adventure, and unexpected twists that kept me eagerly turning the pages. The author's masterful storytelling evokes a powerful connection, making this book an absolute delight to read. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a captivating escape.

3.5| Thank you to NetGalley and Parson Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review

If you know me, you know my favorite song ever is ‘tis the damn season by Taylor Swift, so when I saw this on NetGalley, I just knew I had to request it.

Aspen Moore is a major singer and actor in LA. When a scandal hits her out if nowhere, she escapes back to her hometown of Fertsville, Pennsylvania. When she arrives she sees none other than the first (and only) love of her life, Roman Torres. Will they make it together or will Aspen return to LA freshly heartbroken for the last time?

Ugh the Taylor references were so good. I know it’s literally based on a song of hers but I was still freaking out over every little detail. I loved the story and Aspen’s character growth. Really the only thing I have to complain about was the romance between our main characters. I feel like there wasn’t a whole lot of chemistry between them even though we got a past and present timeline. Yes, they were definitely friends but they never really felt like more than that. If there had been more chemistry with Aspen and Roman I could definitely have seen myself giving this an easy 4-4.5 stars.

3/5 stars! thank you netgalley, the author & publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

this was a nice, easy light hearted read and i adored most of it. i would’ve preferred some things be more fleshed out, but it was overall a sweet story and the childhood best friend trope was done really well. i liked aspen and roman’s relationship, they definitely had chemistry and brought out the best in each other. the flashbacks and flash forwards were also done really well.

some aspects fell flat to me, and i wish the characters themselves were developed a little more independently. this book was super dialogue heavy with a lot of telling and minimal showing, which could’ve really elevated this to the next level.

overall i enjoyed it as a debut novel and look forward to what else this author puts out!

tis the damn season (queue taylor swift) flips back and forth between the then and the now of aspen and rome’s love life. aspen has found herself back at home after she went from being hollywood’s sweat heart to homewrecker in the press. every time she’s home she reconnects with her first love, rome. i liked this book, i think i enjoyed the flashbacks more than the now and it felt like it went on a little longer than needed but overall a good read.

3.5⭐️

I so wanted to love this book but unfortunately i couldn’t really connect with the main characters💔
However I appreciated the dual timelines that gave us more insight on the nature of characters’ relationship. The TS references were also very cute and the chapters were short making the book easy to read. Considering that this is a debut novel, i will definitely give a chance to the next book from this author!🤗

Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for a free earc, all opinions are my own!

What an adorable YA Christmas-season romance!

Definitely check content warnings for sexual abuse and rape.

I loved this dual-timeline story, and loved the characters’ growth between the timeline of the past and present storylines. I especially loved that they learned how to communicate (a total pet peeve in romance when they don’t!!)

The characters were definitely a little wordy, and it annoyed me when Roman kept calling Aspen “mi cielo” instead of literally anything else the entire time, but overall, the story, plot, and characters worked well and I was left with the warm fuzzies after reading it!

First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley and Kimi Freeman for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Now, let's get into the review.
'Tis the Damn Season follows Aspen, a pretty famous singer and songwriter living in LA. Unfortunately, she finds herself in the middle of a scandal and has to go back to the small town where she was born. There we meet Roman, who was her first love in school, and they find themselves enveloped in staging a children's Christmas show. It's basically a low-stake, more character-driven (even though there are some plot twists here and there) healthy romance story.

Tropes: Friends to lovers, (kind of) forced proximity, (kind of) second chance, it's always been you.
Trigger warnings: Death of a loved one, rape, bullying. (They are not discussed in huge detail, but they are mentioned and form part of the history of the characters)

What I really loved:
- Writing was easy to follow and understand.
- The book has a playlist, and each chapter has its own song. (I really enjoy listening to music while reading). And just in general, this book is threaded with love for music.
- Dual-timeline (We med Aspen and Roman as they are teenagers and fall in love and as adults, when they reconnect).
- Normally in books where the hero and heroine were lovers and stop communicating for years for some reason, when they reconnect they are enemies. In this case, Aspen and Roman were still friends, and I enjoyed it.
- The chapters were short. Each chapter was changing between the past and present, which made it a more dynamic read.
- In many books where hero and heroine are separated for whatever reason, it's a misunderstanding or a pretty unworthy reason. In this case, I feel like their separation reason is a valid one.
- I loved Leila's character and I am interested in her possible brother's best friend love story.
- As a person that speaks Spanish, I really loved that Roman called Aspen mi cielo.

Things that could be improved:
- I don't feel like there was enough development on why Roman fell in love with Aspen. They basically start dating in chapter two of past timeline and Roman just comes up to Aspen and asks her on a date. They never talked before, and they didn't have any friends in common, so for me, Roman approached Aspen out of the blue and without any reason. It might have been interesting to see his POV even.
- I feel like for it being a Christmas novel, I could use some more Christmas spirit. The present timeline of this book is between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the past one is all over the place.
- I feel like in the past timeline, in the beginning, Aspen was a little bitchy towards Roman, even though he didn't deserve it. I guess it could be justified by her not trusting anyone since she was bullied.
- I feel like some of the plot points could be better developed. I won't be mentioning which once exactly because of the spoilers, but I do mention them in my Goodreads review with a previous spoiler alert.

All in all I would recommend this book for those who like low-stake, wholesome Christmas romances. Me personally, I will be on lookout for more from this author.

If you're looking for a romance read packed with Taylor Swift references - this is it! With everything from the title and playlist to more subtle hints it's clear this book is written by a swiftie, and I'm all here for that 🙌

In this second chance romance you get to follow Aspen; an A-list celebrity with a bad reputation, as she temporarily moves back to her home town and spends time with her ex boyfriend. I was hoping the story would be a bit more angsty considering that's the vibe in the TS song it's named after, but it was a pretty lighthearted read. I was also really bothered by how mature and emotionally evolved all the characters were! Everyone was unreasonably good at communicating their feelings and it just didn't feel believable.

All in all an okay read, but some parts felt a bit forced and just too much. I'm still giving it a quite generous rating due to all the Taylor Swift references!

‘Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman was such a cute romance book. I loved that it was told in dual pov.

Aspen, a famous singer, returns to her hometown. She reconnects with her high school sweetheart, Rome.

I enjoyed the dual timeline, as the storylines came together to reveal the past lives of both main characters. The romance and story felt YA, as an adult reader, I didn't love it. Teenagers are a more approachable audience for this book in my opinion.

I think that it did need a warning about the rape, that hit me a little harder than I expected since I went into this thinking it was just a romcom. I was blind sighted by that.

Overall I think this is a good read for a YA audience.