'Tis the Damn Season by Kimi Freeman

This book in 3 words: Sweet. Fun. Lovely.

DROP EVERYTHING NOW... and get this book on your TBR. If you're a Swiftie, this book is a no brainer.

You have an a-list musician, you have a Hollywood feud, you have a trip back home, and you have first-love. The characters are so remarkably sweet. I loved seeing their past and present as well as what it means for their future.

Kimi dials into the small-town romance vibe and it hits all the right notes. This book is easy to read and pulls you in from the first page.

An enjoyable read I'll definitely recommend.

I’ve never been shy about my love for the second chance romance trope. So, the premise of this book really drew me in. Based on the synopsis I had high expectations for this story. Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver.

The story is told in two timelines - the past and the present.

The individual characters were somewhat interesting, and Rome definitely stood out as a character. Aspen brought her own charm to the story. Unfortunately, the characters had more chemistry in the past than they did in the present.

The progression of their relationship in the present was very hard to follow. Even at the very end, when they finally confessed their feelings, it was very anticlimactic. This was further exacerbated by the fact that Aspen didn’t know how to stand up for herself. And this makes zero sense for someone who’s headlined sold out shows. It was unfortunate that we saw no growth from either character.

While the premise of this story is sweet and inviting, unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me.

NOTE: ARC received in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Spice: 0
Trigger Warnings: SA, rape

This book was very surface level.

The constant flipping between the past and the current was a bit confusing. I’m someone who uses that in my own writing but there was just not enough content for either one.

Also it felt like instalove in the past.

I found it very predictable at points. I could tell where things were going before they happened.

Didn't real vibe with this book which is disappointing as a huge Taylor Swift fan. I wanted to love this book, I really did but we just didn't vibe.

You will probably like this book, however: If you're looking for a pallet cleanser, a fluffy Christmas story. It just wasn't for me.

Also didn't care for the songs as chapter titles. It added into the predictable part of the story. I had an idea of what was going to happen.
Again, at the end of the day it just wasn't for me.

Being a Swiftie as soon as I saw this title I couldn’t add it to my shelf fast enough. I loved that every chapter was based on a song that really does go perfectly with each one. For a debut novel this wasn’t bad at all especially for someone so young! I love the characters especially Aspen. She was so relatable. This was a cute quick easy read, I loved how it the issues weren’t drawn out and that you saw Aspens personal growth throughout the book. I would recommend to anyone (not just fellow swifties)!

I did not really enjoy this novel - there were no details in the characters' backstories that make the reader care about them, and the plot lines are all very 'convenient' without digging into the story. I enjoyed that this was based on a Taylor Swift song/concept, and the references were fun. I think overall readers could do much better, as dialogue was trite and no character was developed that well.

Cute, fast, clean and easy to read! Enjoyed reading about Aspen and Roman's second (or more) chance at love and Aspen's personal growth. I loved the pace of the story and how things moved along and issues weren't drawn out. Also enjoyed how you real the relationships felt throughout as well. Good read!

Nothing groundbreaking, but an enjoyable read. It was fun to spot all of the Taylor Swift lyrics sprinkled throughout the novel!

I was so excited to have the opportunity to read this. The title and cover had me thinking of your traditional holiday romance. It's not that!

We are following a duel timeline. Aspen and Roman were high school sweethearts. She because a well know actress & song writer. Our story is told in snips of them in the past, and then in the present.

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick easy read. I would say for me I didnt really connect to either character. I felt that there no real climax in which we were hoping the story would go one way or the other. It was almost like reading a diary.

Trigger warnings should be mentioned here. So check them before reading. There are sensitive subjects discussed. Even if it was not in significant details.

‘Tis the Damn Season is a fun rom-com with some serious Taylor Swift references, aka the perfect book for a Swiftie like me! Our main character, Aspen Moore, is a celebrity who has to return to her small home town after a scandal. She’s roped into spending a lot of time with her high school boyfriend, and feelings erupt. There are dual timelines, an author-curated playlist, forced proximity. No spice. A fun read!

This was a really solid debut for a first time author (who is 16 nonetheless!) I picked up this book as a Swiftie so I loved all the little callbacks to Taylor songs, but there were times where I thought it was a little too on the nose and it took me out of the story. I also really liked how each chapters was built upon a song because as a reader, this is something I do all the time! Those were the positives for me, but there were a couple negatives. I felt the dialogue was very terse and abrupt at times but I did see the dialogue become more natural feeling towards the end of the book. I felt like there was no character development for secondary characters ( they were very one dimensional), it felt like they were only there to benefit our main characters. I did adore Roma and Aspen though <33 I don't think I would reread this but I'm excited to see Kimi grow as a writer overtime!

Aspen Moore goes back home after a “cheating” scandal including her best friend and her boy friend. She stays with her parents and reconnects with her friend/ ex boyfriend Rome.
This book had all the makings to be great but it fell flat for me. It felt like there was to much happening and the story was not moving along.
The dialogue between characters felt flat and lacking chemistry. Aspen went home to take a break form LA and the industry but it felt like she did no growing while home.
I think this book would be good for new romance readers.

3.75⭐️ I really enjoyed and would recommend! I loved both of the main characters and how relatable they are. The writing is so easy and fact paced. I legit could not put this book down! The blitz ball drama and the way rome stood up for aspen had me SWOONING. I loved the second chance aspect and the way the characters found their way back to each other at the end! The story ended on such a beautiful note!

This was a decent debut novel. The dialogues fell flat from time to time and felt somehow oddly paced. The constant positivity bomb was a bit too much for me personally but I'm sure there are going to be many who will love this book for that very reason.

The characters, especially Aspen felt a little shallow in the beginning but she showed growth by the end. I really liked Rome, he was a good guy. Though, I must say, I grew a little bit frustrated by him being so unaware of the world outside of their small town. It's one thing not to follow celebrity news, it's a whole other story to be as unaware of everything as he was.

All in all, this wasn't exactly my cup of tea but I still think it makes a nice holiday read.

3.5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book early.

CW in Book: mention of rape (not explicit), death of a parent, cancer/terminal illness mentions

Summary: Aspen Moore is an up-and-coming Hollywood star facing scandal after she is rumored to have made moves on her best friend’s boyfriend. She returns home to her hometown in Pennsylvania to escape and reconnects with the one person in her life that can help her always: Roman Torres. After years of the back and forth of their relationship turned friendship turned complicated, will this finally be the time they get it right?

*SPOILERS AHEAD*
My thoughts: For a debut novel, this was cute. The overall premise was a cute story and it was made better by the fact that it was heavily inspired by Taylor Swift. There were moments throughout where Taylor’s lyrics were pulled subtly into the text, which made for a fun reading experience.

However, for as fun of a read as this book is, I felt it lacked a lot. I fully got to see Aspen’s development and understand her anxiety around mixing her career life with her personal life at home. Roman, on the other hand, felt very flat as a character. Even in the mentions of his struggles with his mom’s health, everything came back to Aspen and his love for her. We didn’t learn more about Roman other than the fact that he loved Aspen, cared for her, and supported her. Oh - and he wanted to be a teacher.

As for the outline of the book, I liked the flashbacks as it helped understand more of the relationship that was built between the two main characters. This book was VERY dialogue heavy, though, which took me out of it some.

Overall - a fun and quick read! Not my favorite romance lately, but I still enjoyed it.

‘Tis the Damn Season is a dual timeline novel with half of the story chronicling the beginning of Aspen Moore’s relationship with her high school sweetheart, Roman, and the other half following her path after a scandal disrupts her actress-turned-popstar career. Aspen returns to her small town roots and subsequently, her first and only love. Together they direct the church Christmas play and work through their complicated relationship, respective traumas, and the realities of Aspen’s fame.
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It is a sweet story with an incredibly creative inspiration. The book is full of Taylor Swift Easter eggs and features an absolutely top tier playlist! I was shocked to learn it was written by Kimi Freeman at only 15 years old, such a lovely debut novel at such a young age is a HUGE accomplishment!

There were some scattered pacing difficulties and little writing quirks that weren’t to my particular tastes, but none of that took away from the precious story and the Hallmark Christmas rom-com vibe! Such a fun, cozy read, I can’t wait to see where Kimi Freeman goes from here!

I really appreciate when the author was going, but unfortunately this book wasn't a favourite of mine. To me, it didn't quite have the full Christmas vibes I thought it would from the title (I hadnt listened to the Taylor Swift song before reading). Some of the chapters felt a little repetitive. I would have maybe appreciated it more if it wasn't a church play, but perhaps just a community theatre group. Also, there were a number of technical errors in the writing.

I liked the idea of having the playlist throughout, but did bug me that some of the songs would not have been released at the time (I.e. that they were Taylor's versions).

I hope the author continues to practise their novel writing as they have great promise.

I personally loved this book and it wasn't until I got to the authors bio that I found out that she is around either 16 or 17....I could have never done this at that age.

I'm not really a Taylor Swift fan, so I missed a lot of the references in this novel, but to me, it didn't take away from the story. "Tis the Damn Season, by Kimi Freeman, is a contemporary love story about first love and the challenges that adult life presents. The reader is compelled to keep reading to find out if the love can last. Written in a dual timeline format, but each change was clearly marked so as not to confuse the reader. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook so I could read it and provide my honest review.

Such a wonderful book, I loved the plot, and oh my god the characters were so amazing!! I definitely will be recommending it!!

Such a wonderful book, I loved the plot, and oh my god the characters were so amazing!! I definitely will be recommending it!!