The premise of this book was super appealing to me, but I was only able to get about 60 pages in before I was frustrated with the writing. This novel is marketed as an adult novel with adult characters, but the dialogue, inner thoughts, and writing style feels juvenile. I think this would succeed as a young adult novel, but as an adult romance, it feels extremely forced.

I am usually not much of a romance reader, but the titel and all The Taylor Swift references were too intriguing to NOT give it a try, and I had so high hopes!

… I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. I have to agree with the other reviews saying that the writing is very juvenile and shallow, as is the characters. It gives off very YA vibes, which I don’t think is intentional.

Sadly, I was not able to finish this book. I have now tried several times, and I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did.

As a major Swiftie, the title was what drew me to it, on top of its friends-to-lovers, exes-to-lovers trope, which I love. However, I felt like the book was often just connecting some Taylor Swift songs in the form of a novel. Which is not a bad thing, if the characters were actually likable.

I didn't find Aspen to be likable or relatable at all. She constantly spoke about her passion for her career, but she actively tried to get away from it and didn't find anything good to say about it about 90% of the book.

The dialogue was impossibly cringy at times, especially when she was talking to her best friend, Leila, and sometimes to Roman, as well.

I also think better names would've worked with nicknames than Aspen and Roman.

The story between them was also unnecessarily dramatic, there was absolutely no reason for them not to work. They got together every time she came to town, there was no other female character involved, and Roman immediately jumped at the opportunity to go with her to the MET, sorry, Blitz Ball.

I later found out the author's age, and, kudos for that, it was really good for her age. However, it would've been better if she stuck with characters in high school instead of twenty-something-year-olds. Congrats on publishing a book so young, and maybe stick with YA for a while. It would truly offer a fresh, relatable voice.

Thank you to Netgalley and Parson Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3*

As a big Taylor Swift fan, I was immediately humming 'Tis the Damn Season upon seeing the title of this book. Finding out it was actually inspired by Taylor Swift lyrics and having these songs intertwine with the story, I was hooked. However, upon reading I got a bit disappointed. The book is marketed as New Adult, but for that I found the characters very immature and young in the way they handled things and mega dramatic. The same concept and small character developments would've worked better as YA and with characters a good 5-10 years younger than they were written. I do appreciate the concept though! Having a dedicated playlist with a song for each chapter, the jumping back & forth in time was also cleverly executed. I wanted to give this book 2 stars, but then I found out the author is only 16 (!!!) years old and most likely wrote this book when she was 15. For that, I can only have respect and appreciation. If for a next book you stay within your own age group, I can already see this getting much, much better.

Thanks to NetGalley and Parson Press for providing me with an ARC to read in return for an honest review.

This book stole my heart!!! I loved this cute holiday read and the couple really had me believing in their love story. It’s a cozy holiday romance and I just want to wrap myself up in this story forever. I also enjoyed all the little Taylor Swift Easter eggs! I tore through this book in one sitting!

If you have ever read a song fic before you understand the vibes of this book.
The book tells the full timeline of Apen and Roman's relationship. With the current Aspen visiting her hometown to escape the drama of her LA life and the duo in high school starting with their budding relationship. Every chapter starts by telling you the song that channels that chapter's energy and the fun of following along with the playlist kept me energized in the parts that felt slow to me. It is a beautiful debut novel and a fun cozy holiday romance.
As much as I did enjoy the format and story...the characters were not some of my favorites and a few of the plot points felt a little rushed/flat. The flashbacks felt like they had so much more life in them and for me were some of the more enjoyable parts. It is very much inspired by Taylor Swift's songs, but that was never a turn-off for me.
Thank you to both NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review

"we could call it even, you could call me babe for the weekend, tis the damn season"

I tried really hard to like this book I really did. But, for some reason, I just could not get hooked onto the storyline, the characters or anything about it. There were Taylor Swift references, which whilst I did appreciate, did feel a little forced. The book seems to drag after about 30% and that was the point from which I had to force myself to finish it and skim read the story.

However, the songs at the beginning of each chapter were cool to have and despite me not listening to the books playlist, they set the tone really well for the chapter. The book's title, Tis the Damn Season, does a very good job of encapsulating the story of the book in so few words; it stays true to the song, drawing inspiration from particular lyrics.

I did find it pretty cool that I could almost attribute Taylor's life events to the major and minor events in Penny's background story!!

I read this book purely due to the taylor swift reference in the title, and it was a cute holiday romance that did for very well with the song so I was not disappointed! Loved the characters and the premise

Aspen is forced to her hometown in PA when a scandal rocks her young career - and ends up in the arms (figuratively and literally) in the arms of her first love, Roman.
She knows she doesn’t plan on staying in PA, and she knows that she can’t be anything more than just friends… but we all know how that goes!

I felt like this book was more YA coded than adult or new adult writing style which was okay, it just wasn’t what I was expecting from the blurb. I felt like some parts and events were very abrupt and missing some details, but all in all I liked it as a whole.

Special thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thought this book read more like a YA than an adult romance and the characters were a bit immature, which also led to the more YA feel. I can't lie, I was drawn to this book first because of the title, then the cute cover, and then the premise. This book would be a good fit for Hallmark movie fans who enjoy the forced proximity and second chance tropes. For a debut (by a supposedly young author) it was solid.
I received a review copy and all opinions are my own. For the sake of the author and her book sales I am not planning to make this review public beyond Netgalley.

Honestly I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought it would. I mean it has a Taylor Swift song name as the title! (Lol I’m Kidding) but in seriousness I had a little more expectations given the synopsis was pretty cute.

The angst was sorta non existent for a second chance romance. I just didn’t feel the connection. Nothing was clicking for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters and not the chemistry they had either

This book was promising from the description, but it unfortunately didn't work for me. I think that the author has a lot of potential, but there is a certain level of maturity that I think needs to be reached when addressing sensitive topics like there is in this book. I love a second chance romance, and a multiple timeline book, but there didn't seem like there was much character development between the two timelines. There were also some things that didn't feel very realistic.

I am excited to see how Kimi grows in her writing. This one ultimately just wasn't for me.

Just as Aspen thinks she has a bright career ahead of her in acting and music, it all explodes. Now she has to head back to her hometown to discover what is important. Tis the damn Season is a trope-heavy romance that leans too much on thin relationships and shallow characters. There is no real attachment or depth for the reader to latch onto. Aspen was immature and did not have much growth unless it was with the male protagonist to lead her there. Roman is a caricature of a Dominican, having him say a nickname in Spanish to indicate there is diversity. The relationship was childish and the flashbacks boring.

'Tis The Damn Season is the debut novel of young author Kimi Freeman who was only fifteen years old when she wrote her first draft. It follows two dual storylines regarding the relationship between main characters Aspen and Rowan. One view is of present day with the two characters reconnecting for the first time in years while the other is of their relationship when they were younger. Aspen genuinely never thought she would be returning long term to her small hometown again but when a scandal rocks her world, she quickly finds that there is no where else she would rather be.

I honestly had a love/hate relationship with Aspen and Rowan. There were times when they just felt like they were stuck in their juvenile phase of when they first met. Neither one of them is completely honest with the other. There is obviously unresolved feelings between them but neither one of them is willing to actually address them. Well Rowan attempts to address the tension between them but most of the time Aspen just tries to brush it off. She is afraid of ruining a good thing but also won't actually address the issues that are right in front of her.

It is not only the issues with Rowan that she refuses to address but also the public scandal that she has found herself in. It takes alot for her to finally put her foot down and refuse to be manipulated and blamed for something that was never her fault. There is also an event that occurs at the beginning of her career which she blames herself for. She believes that if she hadn't been in such a vulnerable position the events of her past would never had occurred. After finding out what exactly had happened to her, I understood her more but, at the beginning it was just hard to feel any type of full support for her when she wasn't even being honest with herself. Especially when she gets upset with Rowan and her family for moving forward with their lives while she was away in Hollywood.

While I was reading 'Tis The Damn Season I did enjoy how each chapter started with some sort of lyrical reference. The musician part of me was all for this and I must say each chosen lyrics did fit with the scenario at hand. There were alot of cute moments through out this story of second chance romance but overall I just felt like something was missing I also felt that there was drama trying to be created where it didn't necessarily need to be. Maybe the voice of the story was just too young and immature for me. I was still able to see how much potential is there though and I look forward to watching Kimi Freeman grow as a writer.

Good solid debut book. I did find the characters to be slightly immature, and I was under the impression that this would be an adult romance, but reads more like a YA book instead.

Full disclosure: one of the main reasons I was drawn to this book was for the title of course (love a good T. Swift reference).
I read this book in the weeks leading up to Christmas and absolutely devoured it. I'm a Hallmark movie Stan (I know, I know), so this book hit that little small town/second chance romance spot! I loved Roman and Aspen so much and the forced proximity trope was just right!
My only sticking point with this book was that the characters felt a little young for 25. Then again, I did read the author is young herself. And don't we all kind of revert to our high school selves, ever so slightly, when we find old friends from high school?

If you’re a Taylor Swift fan you might just like this as a lot of her lyrics and themes around her are included. It was a cute read and just in time for the holiday season. Overall, it was cute and fast read.

Thank you for the copy

I feel like if you're a Taylor Swift fan you guys might just like this as a lot of her lyrics and themes around her are included. It was a cute read and just in time for the holiday season. Overall, it was cute and fast paced nothing really special for me personally.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for this ARC.

This was a feel-good Christmas read which was nice to read in the build-up to the festive season. The concept had a lot of potential and there was a great balance of drama and joy.

I was so excited for this one...and it was cute, but it definitely felt like more of a YA read. Very hallmark-y. Not gonna lie, the title was what drew me in.