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Mistakes Were Made
From the critically acclaimed author of Something To Talk About comes a sharp and sexy rom-com about a college senior who accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom.
When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school’s Family Weekend, she isn’t looking for a hookup—it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around and her friend drags her along to meet her mom—the hot, older woman Cassie slept with.
Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn’t known Cassie was a student when they'd met. To make things worse, Erin’s daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin's better judgement—how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad?—she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night.
What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?
When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school’s Family Weekend, she isn’t looking for a hookup—it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around and her friend drags her along to meet her mom—the hot, older woman Cassie slept with.
Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand with a college senior. In her defense, she hadn’t known Cassie was a student when they'd met. To make things worse, Erin’s daughter brings Cassie to breakfast the next morning. And despite Erin's better judgement—how could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything but bad?—she and Cassie get along in the day just as well as they did last night.
What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost?
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 11, 2022
About the author
Meryl Wilsner
8 books3,300 followersMeryl Wilsner writes happily ever afters for queer folks who love women. They are the author of SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT and the upcoming MISTAKES WERE MADE. Born in Michigan, Meryl lived in Portland, Oregon and Jackson, Mississippi before returning to settle in the Mitten State. Some of Meryl’s favorite things include: all four seasons, button down shirts, the way giraffes run, and their wife.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,312 reviews
March 19, 2022
I am gay
October 19, 2022
Y'all know I've been hyping this book to the GODS and back ever since I found the blurb on Goodreads a year ago. Mistakes Were Made promises a fun MILFy romance story and it kinda delivered, though I was left feeling a tad underwhelmed. I enjoyed the writing quality, and the depth/development the author paid to each character. I thought the world was well written, and provided a great escape. However, I did have some issues with the pacing and the characters weren't.... the most endearing to me at times.
Prefacing this review by saying while I don't explicitly spoil anything I do discuss plot points which are not clear from the blurb!! So if you want to go into this book completely blind this is not the review for you!! I will be discussing aspects of the main relationship below, which includes the development of that relationship :)
Starting with the positives, both Cassie and Erin are really well thought out: their motivations always make sense, their choices (even when I didn't agree with them) were consistent, and I felt both their characters were very 3 dimensional. The relationships depicted between not only Cassie and Erin, but also between Cassie and her friends and Erin and Rachel felt vey real, and I loved how there were literally no prominent male characters lmao.
The storyline was generally lots of fun to read; it was very entertaining, the writing was of good quality, and I flew through the book. This book is one of those books that was so much fun to read, but after I finished it I started thinking about the more noticeable problems that existed.
I didn't think the pacing of this story was well outlined--the second act of the story really dragged on, leaving little room for the ending which I found to be underwhelming. This book has a lotttttt of spice (I'm estimating like 6-8 scenes in my head, I'm too lazy to go back and count though lol) which was awesome because I feel there are so few sapphic books that have so much,, porn lol but it was also kinda feeling like too much! At times I felt expanding upon the side characters's plot lines would be more beneficial to moving the story along than another scene of Cassie and Erin fucking without furtherment of their relationship.
I also found Parker, who is the daughter/best friend, was weirdly underutilized in the story. For the fact that she’s the main foil to Cassie & Erin’s relationship, she just wasn’t super prominent which made the plot just *that* much more un-impactful.
This is also, obviously, a taboo forbidden romance and I knew that coming into the novel, which is why I'm not letting this following gripe affect my star rating. THAT SAID, I really wasn't a fan of Cassie and Erin at times; I felt they were being a really bad friend/mother to Parker with all their sneaking around. Again, not counting this against the book because obviously thats gonna be A Thing That Happens in taboo romance, but lol I wasn't always a fan. Just a little something to NOTE for the girlies that might read this review before picking up the book and expect to like both of the main characters. They're shitheads at times lolol
Thanks to SMP for an ARC! 3.75 stars :)
Prefacing this review by saying while I don't explicitly spoil anything I do discuss plot points which are not clear from the blurb!! So if you want to go into this book completely blind this is not the review for you!! I will be discussing aspects of the main relationship below, which includes the development of that relationship :)
Starting with the positives, both Cassie and Erin are really well thought out: their motivations always make sense, their choices (even when I didn't agree with them) were consistent, and I felt both their characters were very 3 dimensional. The relationships depicted between not only Cassie and Erin, but also between Cassie and her friends and Erin and Rachel felt vey real, and I loved how there were literally no prominent male characters lmao.
The storyline was generally lots of fun to read; it was very entertaining, the writing was of good quality, and I flew through the book. This book is one of those books that was so much fun to read, but after I finished it I started thinking about the more noticeable problems that existed.
I didn't think the pacing of this story was well outlined--the second act of the story really dragged on, leaving little room for the ending which I found to be underwhelming. This book has a lotttttt of spice (I'm estimating like 6-8 scenes in my head, I'm too lazy to go back and count though lol) which was awesome because I feel there are so few sapphic books that have so much,, porn lol but it was also kinda feeling like too much! At times I felt expanding upon the side characters's plot lines would be more beneficial to moving the story along than another scene of Cassie and Erin fucking without furtherment of their relationship.
I also found Parker, who is the daughter/best friend, was weirdly underutilized in the story. For the fact that she’s the main foil to Cassie & Erin’s relationship, she just wasn’t super prominent which made the plot just *that* much more un-impactful.
This is also, obviously, a taboo forbidden romance and I knew that coming into the novel, which is why I'm not letting this following gripe affect my star rating. THAT SAID, I really wasn't a fan of Cassie and Erin at times; I felt they were being a really bad friend/mother to Parker with all their sneaking around. Again, not counting this against the book because obviously thats gonna be A Thing That Happens in taboo romance, but lol I wasn't always a fan. Just a little something to NOTE for the girlies that might read this review before picking up the book and expect to like both of the main characters. They're shitheads at times lolol
Thanks to SMP for an ARC! 3.75 stars :)
October 15, 2022
4.50 Stars. The MILF book is a sexy hit! Two years ago, I was lucky enough to review Wilsner’s debut book Something to Talk About. I really enjoyed it and even with a few bumps I could easily tell that Wilsner had the potential to soon have a big hit on her hands, I just didn’t realize the hit could be her sophomore book. Wow Wilsner, where were you hiding all this chemistry and steam. I remember she had some good scenes in her first book but damn it’s like she went all out and had fun writing this sexy taboo read. If you are looking for something to spice up your Holiday season, then the MILF book is the right choice for you. But even beyond all the sex, the romance itself is really good too. However, if you are not a fan of explicit sapphic sex scenes or age-gaps, then this would not be a book for you.
I must admit that at first the book took me a little while to get into. While I liked the “meet”, I had trouble with the group of friends and how things felt a little stiff or maybe forced is a better word. It took me a little bit to feel comfortable with the main characters, the age-gap, and their attraction to each other. Once I did, the book just took off and I was able too really enjoy it. My biggest advice is to give this book a little time. This is not a book to stop reading early if you find it a little stiff too. Give it some time and keep reading or you will miss out on all the fun.
I did read a couple reviews that thought Wilsner’s writing was just okay, which everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but for me we are not reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo here, we are reading a book that has a nickname of the MILF book, so I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece, I was expecting some lightly smutty sex scenes and a fun romance, and that’s exactly what we got. And really besides the beginning being a bit stiff in parts, and the book feeling a tad too long for a romance in my personal opinion, I thought it was well done for a sophomore book. I was looking forward to this book, but even then Wilsner surprised me in the best possible way. I can only imagine what she might have in store for us next.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
I must admit that at first the book took me a little while to get into. While I liked the “meet”, I had trouble with the group of friends and how things felt a little stiff or maybe forced is a better word. It took me a little bit to feel comfortable with the main characters, the age-gap, and their attraction to each other. Once I did, the book just took off and I was able too really enjoy it. My biggest advice is to give this book a little time. This is not a book to stop reading early if you find it a little stiff too. Give it some time and keep reading or you will miss out on all the fun.
I did read a couple reviews that thought Wilsner’s writing was just okay, which everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but for me we are not reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo here, we are reading a book that has a nickname of the MILF book, so I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece, I was expecting some lightly smutty sex scenes and a fun romance, and that’s exactly what we got. And really besides the beginning being a bit stiff in parts, and the book feeling a tad too long for a romance in my personal opinion, I thought it was well done for a sophomore book. I was looking forward to this book, but even then Wilsner surprised me in the best possible way. I can only imagine what she might have in store for us next.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
February 10, 2023
**'Some stories has much more of a schematic premise than others because certain books should not even take that long to finish if the story is well-written..'
Okay read!
I did like some parts of it -- just did not LOVE the storytelling in it's entirety...
Okay read!
I did like some parts of it -- just did not LOVE the storytelling in it's entirety...
October 18, 2022
the mistake in question was me reading this book
July 25, 2024
Following her divorce, Erin Bennett feels like she and her ex-husband are in a competition for their daughter, Parker's, attention. So, when Family Weekend rolls around at Parker's college, Erin and her ex decide to split the nights.
On a night when Parker is having dinner with her Dad, Erin heads to an off-campus bar by herself. She's looking for nothing more than a cold drink.
For Cassie Klein, Family Weekend is the perfect time to avoid campus like the plague. All those happy families, gross.
Thus, she decides to hit up an off-campus bar as a means of escape. She's not looking for anything, but when she spots a beautiful woman sitting alone at the bar, she offers to buy her a drink.
Little did Cassie know that harmless gesture was going to lead to the most enticing one night stand of her life.
The next morning, Cassie's friend Parker convinces her to go to breakfast with her to meet her Mom. She's not super pumped about it, but Cassie tags along anyway.
Imagine her surprise when she walks into the restaurant and discovers Parker's Mom is her steamy hook-up from the night before.
Erin is equally taken aback when her daughter walks in with the sexy girl from the night before. Erin had no idea Cassie was a college student, let alone a friend of her daughters.
Both women cover it up well, but their mutual attraction burns through every moment they are together. More unsettling than this though, is the fact that they can't stop thinking about one another when they're apart.
Cassie and Erin cannot stay apart. It's like it's against the laws of physics. They are drawn together like opposite poles of a magnet. Having no choice, they begin sneaking around.
It's risky as heck, but it's more than just great sex. Although neither wants to admit it at first, it's complicated, they grow to really care for each other, but how the heck are they going to make this work? Is it even possible?
Meryl Wilsner's debut novel, Something to Talk About was the first F/F romance published by Berkley. I was so stoked about it for months, but at the end, it left me underwhelmed.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters, but the pace was quite slow and it was lacking the steam I was looking for. Y'all, at 5% into Mistakes Were Made we had steam; a lot of it.
The pace of this one was night and day compared to that first book. I feel like Wilsner listened, because man oh man, did they deliver with this story.
The characters were still fantastic, there were some serious issues being explored, but the forbidden romance trope brought the fun. There were moments that I was a little uncomfortable for Parker, but at the end of the day, they are all adults and I liked how Wilsner wrapped it up.
Overall, I found this one to be highly entertaining. A huge success of a sophomore novel. I am definitely looking forward to more from Wilsner in the future.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. This is a perfect example of why I never give up on an author after only one book.
On a night when Parker is having dinner with her Dad, Erin heads to an off-campus bar by herself. She's looking for nothing more than a cold drink.
For Cassie Klein, Family Weekend is the perfect time to avoid campus like the plague. All those happy families, gross.
Thus, she decides to hit up an off-campus bar as a means of escape. She's not looking for anything, but when she spots a beautiful woman sitting alone at the bar, she offers to buy her a drink.
Little did Cassie know that harmless gesture was going to lead to the most enticing one night stand of her life.
The next morning, Cassie's friend Parker convinces her to go to breakfast with her to meet her Mom. She's not super pumped about it, but Cassie tags along anyway.
Imagine her surprise when she walks into the restaurant and discovers Parker's Mom is her steamy hook-up from the night before.
Erin is equally taken aback when her daughter walks in with the sexy girl from the night before. Erin had no idea Cassie was a college student, let alone a friend of her daughters.
Both women cover it up well, but their mutual attraction burns through every moment they are together. More unsettling than this though, is the fact that they can't stop thinking about one another when they're apart.
Cassie and Erin cannot stay apart. It's like it's against the laws of physics. They are drawn together like opposite poles of a magnet. Having no choice, they begin sneaking around.
It's risky as heck, but it's more than just great sex. Although neither wants to admit it at first, it's complicated, they grow to really care for each other, but how the heck are they going to make this work? Is it even possible?
Meryl Wilsner's debut novel, Something to Talk About was the first F/F romance published by Berkley. I was so stoked about it for months, but at the end, it left me underwhelmed.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters, but the pace was quite slow and it was lacking the steam I was looking for. Y'all, at 5% into Mistakes Were Made we had steam; a lot of it.
The pace of this one was night and day compared to that first book. I feel like Wilsner listened, because man oh man, did they deliver with this story.
The characters were still fantastic, there were some serious issues being explored, but the forbidden romance trope brought the fun. There were moments that I was a little uncomfortable for Parker, but at the end of the day, they are all adults and I liked how Wilsner wrapped it up.
Overall, I found this one to be highly entertaining. A huge success of a sophomore novel. I am definitely looking forward to more from Wilsner in the future.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. This is a perfect example of why I never give up on an author after only one book.
October 15, 2021
I had the honor of reading this book early and it is everything I wanted it to be. SO sexy, emotional, and a beautiful story of two women who find love when everyone tells them they shouldn’t, choosing oneself, and accepting the happiness they deserve. Did I mean it’s also really, REALLY hot?
November 9, 2022
This was definitely an improvement over this authors debut book, which I actually DNF’ed. This book was fun, I love reading about forbidden romances when people have to sneak around, and the age gap in this book is pretty substantial with it being a 17 year age gap, even more than I was expecting. I was starting to get a little uncomfortable with the sneaking around, mostly because I felt bad for the daughter, and how her own best friend was with her Mom behind her back. But I really enjoyed the two together, they had a lot of chemistry and cute moments.
The reason I’m rating it three stars instead of something higher though, is because there were soooo many sex scenes, to the point where it was like… what happened to the plot? I obviously don’t mind sex scenes in romance books, I just hate when there’s so many it gets very repetitive and I feel like the story isn’t progressing very much. I started skimming the sex scenes after a while because there were just too many for my personal taste in romance 😅
The reason I’m rating it three stars instead of something higher though, is because there were soooo many sex scenes, to the point where it was like… what happened to the plot? I obviously don’t mind sex scenes in romance books, I just hate when there’s so many it gets very repetitive and I feel like the story isn’t progressing very much. I started skimming the sex scenes after a while because there were just too many for my personal taste in romance 😅
November 14, 2022
Mistakes were made:50%sex, 30%plot, and 20% still figuring it out.
I don’t care what anyone says, your mom dating your best friend is hella wild. Literally reading the description of this, I was feeling concerned yet still excited about what I was getting myself into. I knew that the author could easily fuck this kind of story up so we had to get into it.
Dual pov and a very sexy beginning. So far, off to a great start. This was genuinely very exciting from the start and was generally that way throughout the story. There were many sexy times which I usually don’t mind, I would just prefer it to be accompanied by more plot. Yes, there was a plot but it wasn’t incredibly interesting.
I still found each of the characters interesting. Erin has been influenced negatively by how she was brought up so she felt the need to do what was expected of her most of the time but with Cassie, she felt she could be free more. Erin’s relationship with Parker, her daughter, is also quite important to her and she puts effort into making it better. Cassie has also had a problem connecting with people for a while, but with Erin and Parker, she learns to do that more. Plus, both Erin and Cassie are incredibly smart!
Still worth the read!
I don’t care what anyone says, your mom dating your best friend is hella wild. Literally reading the description of this, I was feeling concerned yet still excited about what I was getting myself into. I knew that the author could easily fuck this kind of story up so we had to get into it.
Dual pov and a very sexy beginning. So far, off to a great start. This was genuinely very exciting from the start and was generally that way throughout the story. There were many sexy times which I usually don’t mind, I would just prefer it to be accompanied by more plot. Yes, there was a plot but it wasn’t incredibly interesting.
I still found each of the characters interesting. Erin has been influenced negatively by how she was brought up so she felt the need to do what was expected of her most of the time but with Cassie, she felt she could be free more. Erin’s relationship with Parker, her daughter, is also quite important to her and she puts effort into making it better. Cassie has also had a problem connecting with people for a while, but with Erin and Parker, she learns to do that more. Plus, both Erin and Cassie are incredibly smart!
Still worth the read!
August 15, 2023
⭐️⭐️ This is one of those rare situations where I can honestly say, "it's not you, it's me." I'm a big proponent of going into books with a very open mind and one way I do that is to avoid looking too much into it beforehand. Perhaps I should have read this particular synopsis more closely. I knew this was going to be a best friend's mom/age-gap romance, which didn't bother me (then again, not much does). I was a little apprehensive when I learned that Cassie was a college senior who hooks up with Erin, her friend's 38-year-old mother, but I hoped maybe they would part ways after they discovered each other's identities and reconnect a few years later. I also stupidly assumed both characters would be more mature.
One of the things I struggled with the most was the fact that the plot heavily relies on some very clear mommy issues. Erin has a complicated relationship with her daughter, Parker, and desperately wants to connect with her. Cassie has a very absent mother and little to no relationship with her own family. It seemed like both characters were using each other to fill the roles of people they were missing in their lives. This made me squirm. Especially when Erin buys matching pajamas for Cassie and Parker to wear on Christmas (and then kisses Cassie while her daughter is asleep in the other room).
Erin's daughter, Parker, was portrayed as incredibly immature and juvenile, which was perhaps done in an attempt to highlight the fact that Cassie is more grown up. It just felt strange and while I didn't necessarily like her character, I also didn't want Parker to have to find out her best friend was sleeping with her mom.
All issues aside, I couldn't connect with the characters, and I didn't feel the connection with Cassie and Erin, either. There was definitely some steam, but their relationship lacked the banter and emotion and feelings I crave from romance novels. The writing was great and I'll definitely be reading more of Meryl Wilsner's books, but I think I'll steer clear of the best friend's mom trope from now on.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Meryl Wilsner for allowing me to be an early reader.
One of the things I struggled with the most was the fact that the plot heavily relies on some very clear mommy issues. Erin has a complicated relationship with her daughter, Parker, and desperately wants to connect with her. Cassie has a very absent mother and little to no relationship with her own family. It seemed like both characters were using each other to fill the roles of people they were missing in their lives. This made me squirm. Especially when Erin buys matching pajamas for Cassie and Parker to wear on Christmas (and then kisses Cassie while her daughter is asleep in the other room).
Erin's daughter, Parker, was portrayed as incredibly immature and juvenile, which was perhaps done in an attempt to highlight the fact that Cassie is more grown up. It just felt strange and while I didn't necessarily like her character, I also didn't want Parker to have to find out her best friend was sleeping with her mom.
All issues aside, I couldn't connect with the characters, and I didn't feel the connection with Cassie and Erin, either. There was definitely some steam, but their relationship lacked the banter and emotion and feelings I crave from romance novels. The writing was great and I'll definitely be reading more of Meryl Wilsner's books, but I think I'll steer clear of the best friend's mom trope from now on.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Meryl Wilsner for allowing me to be an early reader.
Read
April 11, 2023Well, I finally read the milf book! I had a really great time with this story, despite some initial hesitations that I’ll mention later. Both of our main characters, Cassie and Erin, were well developed and fun to read from and I adored the progression of their relationship from a hook up to an ‘oh shit!’ moment to something really tender and full of feeling. Their chemistry was, of course, brilliant and the sex scenes were well written with an obvious passion. It wasn’t just the steamy scenes that were well written — I was immediately hooked by Wilsner’s writing and flew through this book over just a couple of days.
I was a bit hesitant going into Mistakes Were Made as age gaps have never really been my thing in books but, as it turns out, when the age gap is sapphic and the love interest is a milf, it’s a lot more enjoyable! Joking aside, I really enjoyed the way this age gap was written and I think part of that is getting both Cassie and Erin’s perspective and knowing that they were both equally committed and attracted to one another. I also appreciated in this sense that the age gap and relationship dynamic were acknowledged as something that could be problematic but both characters (especially Cassie) made it clear that, in this case, it wasn’t. This was a continual process throughout the book which meant that everything was properly addressed and the characters had time to work through their feelings about it, particularly Erin who was aware of how the power dynamic favoured her. It really settled me more in the book and allowed me to enjoy and root for the romance a lot more than previous age gap romances I’ve read, including a sapphic one!
If you want a tender book about horny messes and milfs with a side helping of learning to put yourself first and growing into yourself as a new adult finishing college, then I highly recommend you pick up this book! After so thoroughly enjoying Mistakes Were Made, I am eagerly awaiting Cleat Cute, Wilsner’s next sapphic romance, and will be looking out for their future work!
I also talk about books here: youtube | instagram | twitter
*eARC received in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley*
I was a bit hesitant going into Mistakes Were Made as age gaps have never really been my thing in books but, as it turns out, when the age gap is sapphic and the love interest is a milf, it’s a lot more enjoyable! Joking aside, I really enjoyed the way this age gap was written and I think part of that is getting both Cassie and Erin’s perspective and knowing that they were both equally committed and attracted to one another. I also appreciated in this sense that the age gap and relationship dynamic were acknowledged as something that could be problematic but both characters (especially Cassie) made it clear that, in this case, it wasn’t. This was a continual process throughout the book which meant that everything was properly addressed and the characters had time to work through their feelings about it, particularly Erin who was aware of how the power dynamic favoured her. It really settled me more in the book and allowed me to enjoy and root for the romance a lot more than previous age gap romances I’ve read, including a sapphic one!
If you want a tender book about horny messes and milfs with a side helping of learning to put yourself first and growing into yourself as a new adult finishing college, then I highly recommend you pick up this book! After so thoroughly enjoying Mistakes Were Made, I am eagerly awaiting Cleat Cute, Wilsner’s next sapphic romance, and will be looking out for their future work!
I also talk about books here: youtube | instagram | twitter
*eARC received in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley*
October 13, 2022
This book was 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
✅ Age Gap
✅ Very Steamy Scenes
✅ No crazy drama/3rd act breakup
✅ HEA
✅ Age Gap
✅ Very Steamy Scenes
✅ No crazy drama/3rd act breakup
✅ HEA
October 15, 2022
I honestly loved this book so much! Which was awesome because it was one of my most anticipated releases this year.
“Mistakes Were Made” is called the MILF book on Twitter and it’s a very fitting title. This is the story of Cassie Klein and Erin Bennett who meet at a bar and have a casual one-night stand. It’s fine until the next morning when Cassie goes to breakfast with her best friend, Parker, only to realize they’re meeting Parker’s mom, Erin, the same Erin from the previous night.
I’ll be honest, this started off a little rocky and slow for me. I was worried I wasn’t going to like it because this starts with a literal bang and that’s just not my favorite. I also found Cassie hard to like at first. She comes across as very cocky and that’s my least favorite personality type. However, either Cassie’s personality changed a bit or something because after a while she really grew on me.
This is told from both main characters point of view so it was fun to see how they each reacted to the reveal of who they slept with. I really enjoyed the extra tension the “forbidden” aspect added to the tension and chemistry that was already between them. They have outstanding sexual chemistry and I loved the slow progression of their emotional connection.
I’ll also mention for all the smut lovers out there that you’ll probably really love this one. There is a ton of steam! I didn’t count how many sex scenes there were but I would guess around at least 8? If you blush easily in public while reading smut, I suggest reading this one at home.
This wasn’t the perfect book. There were some pacing issues that caused me to have to re-read a line or two. I also eventually had issues with both Erin and Cassie at times for continuing to keep their relationship a secret. But alas, it is a taboo relationship so it is what it is. It obviously wasn't enough to take away my five stars but I wanted to at least acknowledge them.
I enjoyed this so much and highly recommend it. Not only is it well written it’s just a lot of fun to read.
I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“Mistakes Were Made” is called the MILF book on Twitter and it’s a very fitting title. This is the story of Cassie Klein and Erin Bennett who meet at a bar and have a casual one-night stand. It’s fine until the next morning when Cassie goes to breakfast with her best friend, Parker, only to realize they’re meeting Parker’s mom, Erin, the same Erin from the previous night.
I’ll be honest, this started off a little rocky and slow for me. I was worried I wasn’t going to like it because this starts with a literal bang and that’s just not my favorite. I also found Cassie hard to like at first. She comes across as very cocky and that’s my least favorite personality type. However, either Cassie’s personality changed a bit or something because after a while she really grew on me.
This is told from both main characters point of view so it was fun to see how they each reacted to the reveal of who they slept with. I really enjoyed the extra tension the “forbidden” aspect added to the tension and chemistry that was already between them. They have outstanding sexual chemistry and I loved the slow progression of their emotional connection.
I’ll also mention for all the smut lovers out there that you’ll probably really love this one. There is a ton of steam! I didn’t count how many sex scenes there were but I would guess around at least 8? If you blush easily in public while reading smut, I suggest reading this one at home.
This wasn’t the perfect book. There were some pacing issues that caused me to have to re-read a line or two. I also eventually had issues with both Erin and Cassie at times for continuing to keep their relationship a secret. But alas, it is a taboo relationship so it is what it is. It obviously wasn't enough to take away my five stars but I wanted to at least acknowledge them.
I enjoyed this so much and highly recommend it. Not only is it well written it’s just a lot of fun to read.
I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 24, 2023
Ahem, I came here for the MILF. I now live here…also for the MILF!🔥🔥🔥😂
This book was…Honestly, words are still eluding me - I think I need a minute to recover from Erin, the sexy MILF who is also a doctor 😳(!!!!!!!!!!). I mean, this is what sapphic dreams are made of! (And I guess there’s also Cassie, the hot, blonde, motorcycle-riding engineer/mechanic…if you’re into that sort of thing 🔥)
Why you should absolutely read this book:
* HOLY S-T-E-A-M!!! - this book brings the sex. It brings it explicitly. It brings it repeatedly. It brings it with a SUPER HOT MILF. 🔥😳🔥😳🔥😳🔥
* Age-gap done right - Too many age-gap romances miss that perfect balance of "age doesn't really matter" and "there are social ramifications for f*cking someone half your age"; often times, the age-gap is either ignored or made into this overblown moral hurdle with little else for substance. MWM hit it just right - the MCs were concerned enough about the age difference - but for the right reasons - and there were social consequences (you know, for banging your best friend's mom 😅🔥)
* Perfect balance of sweet and spicy - this one reminded me a bit of Destination You with its spot-on blend of romance and sex, heartwarming and panty-dropping.
* Solid character dev - there's a good amount of self-discovery and individual character development that really gives this story the depth it needs to hit the 5 ⭐ mark (the sex scenes are so much better for all that substance!)
* SEXTING - Yes, sexting. I've said it before, I'll say it again. MORE SEXTING, PLEASE🙏🔥📱🔥
* No 80% breakup - Yes, there's a dramatic moment - the climax to the whole conflict of the story - but I never felt like the relationship was in peril, which I appreciate.
* One solid narrator - if you go with the audio (which I only 50% recommend), there is one narrator that does a pretty solid job of the characters and voices (Cassie's narrator).
Why you should absolutely READ this book:
* One NOT solid narrator - Erin's narrator was just not good. This is always the risk with dual narrators: yes, it can be good for POV differentiation and personality distinction, but you risk voice continuity and narrator performance inequality. In this case, Erin's narrator seems to think that "younger woman" (in her early 20s) meant "read this like a b*tchy teenage girl" 👌 it was awful. Young women can not have high/young voices, but also, she's 20-something, not 14 😑 This would have been about 100x better if Cassie's narrator had read the whole thing (and her voice for Erin 🔥)
Overall: it's a great book! High steam, high sweet, just enough taboo, and all the MILF a growing girl needs (sorry, I had to get at least one pun in there 😂)! READ IT!
This book was…Honestly, words are still eluding me - I think I need a minute to recover from Erin, the sexy MILF who is also a doctor 😳(!!!!!!!!!!). I mean, this is what sapphic dreams are made of! (And I guess there’s also Cassie, the hot, blonde, motorcycle-riding engineer/mechanic…if you’re into that sort of thing 🔥)
Why you should absolutely read this book:
* HOLY S-T-E-A-M!!! - this book brings the sex. It brings it explicitly. It brings it repeatedly. It brings it with a SUPER HOT MILF. 🔥😳🔥😳🔥😳🔥
* Age-gap done right - Too many age-gap romances miss that perfect balance of "age doesn't really matter" and "there are social ramifications for f*cking someone half your age"; often times, the age-gap is either ignored or made into this overblown moral hurdle with little else for substance. MWM hit it just right - the MCs were concerned enough about the age difference - but for the right reasons - and there were social consequences (you know, for banging your best friend's mom 😅🔥)
* Perfect balance of sweet and spicy - this one reminded me a bit of Destination You with its spot-on blend of romance and sex, heartwarming and panty-dropping.
* Solid character dev - there's a good amount of self-discovery and individual character development that really gives this story the depth it needs to hit the 5 ⭐ mark (the sex scenes are so much better for all that substance!)
* SEXTING - Yes, sexting. I've said it before, I'll say it again. MORE SEXTING, PLEASE🙏🔥📱🔥
* No 80% breakup - Yes, there's a dramatic moment - the climax to the whole conflict of the story - but I never felt like the relationship was in peril, which I appreciate.
* One solid narrator - if you go with the audio (which I only 50% recommend), there is one narrator that does a pretty solid job of the characters and voices (Cassie's narrator).
Why you should absolutely READ this book:
* One NOT solid narrator - Erin's narrator was just not good. This is always the risk with dual narrators: yes, it can be good for POV differentiation and personality distinction, but you risk voice continuity and narrator performance inequality. In this case, Erin's narrator seems to think that "younger woman" (in her early 20s) meant "read this like a b*tchy teenage girl" 👌 it was awful. Young women can not have high/young voices, but also, she's 20-something, not 14 😑 This would have been about 100x better if Cassie's narrator had read the whole thing (and her voice for Erin 🔥)
Overall: it's a great book! High steam, high sweet, just enough taboo, and all the MILF a growing girl needs (sorry, I had to get at least one pun in there 😂)! READ IT!
January 19, 2023
This book was like 75% sex and tbh, I'm not mad at it lol
CW: cheating, alcoholism, absent parents, divorce
CW: cheating, alcoholism, absent parents, divorce
January 27, 2022
this book was everything i’ve ever wanted and i swear to fucking god that’s not me being dramatic dbdhshdhdhdjdjshshshsjdhdh
more detailed review closer to publication bc idk if some of the things i want to rave about count as spoilers
Love sapphic books, too? Let's be friends! Booktok | Bookstagram | Twitter
more detailed review closer to publication bc idk if some of the things i want to rave about count as spoilers
Love sapphic books, too? Let's be friends! Booktok | Bookstagram | Twitter
October 9, 2022
Make no mistake, this is an enjoyable, fun, and sexy book!
Cassie Klein went to an off-campus bar to escape family weekend at her college. She just wanted to unwind and enjoy a drink. She had no idea she would meet anyone, let alone have a one-night stand.
Erin Bennett is at the family weekend at Campus to bond with her daughter, Parker. While her ex-husband is enjoying the evening with Parker, Erin decides to head to a bar for a drink. Cassie buys Erin a drink and Badda Bing, Badda Boom, they have a one-night stand! Neither expected to see the other, but the next morning, Parker brings her best friend, Cassie to breakfast to meet her mom and Cassie and Erin meet again! Oops!
Yeah, talk about messy. Parker doesn't pick up on any vibes, but Cassie and Erin can't deny their attraction. You just know that this is going to get interesting.
This was such a fun and entertaining book. It was humorous, fun, and entertaining. The characters were likeable and endearing. I didn't want to put this book down as I was having so much fun reading it. What a fun forbidden romance.
This book was a little gem that I did not see coming.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Cassie Klein went to an off-campus bar to escape family weekend at her college. She just wanted to unwind and enjoy a drink. She had no idea she would meet anyone, let alone have a one-night stand.
Erin Bennett is at the family weekend at Campus to bond with her daughter, Parker. While her ex-husband is enjoying the evening with Parker, Erin decides to head to a bar for a drink. Cassie buys Erin a drink and Badda Bing, Badda Boom, they have a one-night stand! Neither expected to see the other, but the next morning, Parker brings her best friend, Cassie to breakfast to meet her mom and Cassie and Erin meet again! Oops!
Yeah, talk about messy. Parker doesn't pick up on any vibes, but Cassie and Erin can't deny their attraction. You just know that this is going to get interesting.
This was such a fun and entertaining book. It was humorous, fun, and entertaining. The characters were likeable and endearing. I didn't want to put this book down as I was having so much fun reading it. What a fun forbidden romance.
This book was a little gem that I did not see coming.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
December 13, 2022
Well this was delightful and sinfully sexy! I feel like it almost doesn't need an introduction, at least for sapphic readers, but in a nutshell, Mistakes Were Made is the queer MILF book everyone's been talking about!
It's a romance between a 38-year-old, Erin, and a 22-year-old college senior Cassie ... who is good friends with Erin's 18-year-old kid. It's as sweet as it is dirty, very light and fun, an "idiots to lovers" story where the people around the couple know they're really in for it before the couple does.
I was pleasantly surprised at how Wilsner handled the reveal with the kid/best friend. It was tense waiting to see how and when she would find out!! Erin and Cassie are super cute together and compatible, which worked for me despite the big age gap because we know Cassie has had absent parents and has been supporting herself (and growing up) a lot earlier than other people her age. These two really deserves their HEA and I was cheering for them!
Also, like everyone in this book is bisexual! Love it!
It's a romance between a 38-year-old, Erin, and a 22-year-old college senior Cassie ... who is good friends with Erin's 18-year-old kid. It's as sweet as it is dirty, very light and fun, an "idiots to lovers" story where the people around the couple know they're really in for it before the couple does.
I was pleasantly surprised at how Wilsner handled the reveal with the kid/best friend. It was tense waiting to see how and when she would find out!! Erin and Cassie are super cute together and compatible, which worked for me despite the big age gap because we know Cassie has had absent parents and has been supporting herself (and growing up) a lot earlier than other people her age. These two really deserves their HEA and I was cheering for them!
Also, like everyone in this book is bisexual! Love it!
April 11, 2023
➥ 4 Stars *:･ﾟ✧
Although I feel mischievously generous in giving this book a full four stars, my general enjoyment is helping me justify it. That is to say, there were some elements that I thought were badly done: some bad nose-scrunching writing, weirdness with the bff's mother thing, and the characters weren't amazingly done. But I had a pretty great time anyway.
Cassie (h) immediately came off to me as annoyingly arrogant, responding "I know" to compliments. She even called a woman twice her age 'good girl' which didn't quite work for me, but by the end, her bashful adoration for Erin (h) won me over. Erin was super sweet. I found her character greatly endearing and I felt her characterisation to have been done really well, actually. Probably because this is the author's actual demographic, but, for once, I actually felt like an older female character acted and had traits of other women her age. For instance, even Cassie mentions:
I really was impressed with her characterisation, and she's just a really thoughtful woman in general. She's gone through a lot after her divorce from Parker's dad, and it did kind of punch me in the gut to see how hard she was trying to get her daughter to love her back again, while also being new to feeling loved herself.
I did notice the author tried to intertwine a sort of message that was...fine but just not great to me. There's the phrase "fuck should", where supposedly Erin needs to stop doing things to please and gain the approval of others, and instead do what she wants. The author even mentioned this, but it was too much like something that would be put on a pillow. I don't think this aspect was executed really well, honestly, even if the author had the right-ish idea.
Like...no? But in the end, I did love seeing Erin happy and loved. The actual 'bff's mother' element was also a slippery slope in my opinion. There were times where the lines were blurred in the similar way Erin treated both her daughter and her girlfriend. I didn't like the parallels where Parker was sick and Erin would take care of her, and then Cassie got sick and Erin would take care of her but it was supposedly a really romantic moment that time. I didn't like that when Erin texted her daughter a question and she didn't respond, she texted the same question to Cassie. And I definitely didn't like how Cassie tried to justify it by saying that it was only fair that she fucked Parker's mother because Parker had unknowingly (!) gotten with her ex-boyfriend. Again, it was just a slippery slope that wasn't justified nor handled with as much care as I'd like. It was strange when Erin and Cassie would talk about part of the 'thrill' being the danger of Parker catching them - eugh.
Now that I'm mostly done shitting on this book, let me discuss what I enjoyed. I knew going in that this book would come through with the smut, and honestly, it did. I really enjoyed the smut. It wasn't perfect obviously (hence the 'good girl' comment and some strange dialogue) but overall, I enjoyed it. It was varied and the dialogue and actions seemed true to the characters. Both Erin and Cassie had their sexy moments, and can I just say: that strap-scene did not come to play. .The one either, actually. Probably my favourite scene, and my appreciation for it was only heightened when it became such an emotionally significant moment too. As a side note though, it could be a personal preference, but I find it horrifically cringey, when a character . But still, like I said, pretty great sex.
Also, especially towards the end of the novel, I felt the intimacy and emotional development was nicely done. As I'd previously mentioned, it was nice to see Cassie nervous and blushing when it came to Erin, just as it was lovely to see Erin's affection for Cassie as well. I'm not even going to lie, I was tearing up a little in this moment:
*Wipes tear*, anyway...
*Wipes multiple tears. Sniffles.* Okay sorry, but that was so stinking cute. I was pouting with my hand to my chest like an old lady, I'm telling you.
And actually, I think the whole aspect of Parker finding out about them was done really well. I liked that it wasn't just a moment where . What can I say, the payoff was there.
For some last few nitpicks, I found this line to be just really just...offensive:
"The" promiscious bisexual? Just really stereotypical and unnecessary, and the father figure thing felt like it was playing into the casual way in which 'daddy issues' are talked about nowadays. But I can assure you, people aren't homosexual because they didn't have father figures.
And lastly, this was just a line that I could not believe escaped an editors notice.
Oh my god: what. That was absolutely atrocious I wanted to wipe it from my brain.
Moving swiftly on, I did overall greatly enjoy this one, and I was absolutely delighted to find that my local library is carrying more lgbtq+ books. It's just so monumental that sapphic contemporary romances are getting so far, and are so accessible, especially since in my country, gay marriage isn't even legalised. It warmed my heart to see such a newly released sapphic novel in the display shelf of my library 💘. To end on a lighter (or hotter) note, I'll leave you in Erin's charms.
(So did mine). Since I enjoyed this one, I'm looking forward to Cleat Cute. Sapphics just keep winning and I couldn't be happier! 💘
"Cassie, please." Erin gasped.
Cassie pulled out and thrusted again, adding a twist of her hips at the end, and Erin cried out. Her legs were trembling, her hands still clutching the blankets.
"You can move, Erin," Cassie said. "Fuck me back."
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
Although I feel mischievously generous in giving this book a full four stars, my general enjoyment is helping me justify it. That is to say, there were some elements that I thought were badly done: some bad nose-scrunching writing, weirdness with the bff's mother thing, and the characters weren't amazingly done. But I had a pretty great time anyway.
Cassie (h) immediately came off to me as annoyingly arrogant, responding "I know" to compliments. She even called a woman twice her age 'good girl' which didn't quite work for me, but by the end, her bashful adoration for Erin (h) won me over. Erin was super sweet. I found her character greatly endearing and I felt her characterisation to have been done really well, actually. Probably because this is the author's actual demographic, but, for once, I actually felt like an older female character acted and had traits of other women her age. For instance, even Cassie mentions:
Erin [11:23]
Have you decided what kind of astronaut you want to be yet? 😉
Cassie liked that Erin included the emoji, like it wouldn't have been obvious she was joking otherwise. It was how she always teased: gently. It was too damn sweet.
I really was impressed with her characterisation, and she's just a really thoughtful woman in general. She's gone through a lot after her divorce from Parker's dad, and it did kind of punch me in the gut to see how hard she was trying to get her daughter to love her back again, while also being new to feeling loved herself.
I did notice the author tried to intertwine a sort of message that was...fine but just not great to me. There's the phrase "fuck should", where supposedly Erin needs to stop doing things to please and gain the approval of others, and instead do what she wants. The author even mentioned this, but it was too much like something that would be put on a pillow. I don't think this aspect was executed really well, honestly, even if the author had the right-ish idea.
“It was her birthday. She was allowed to daydream about fucking her daughter’s friend if she wanted to.”
Like...no? But in the end, I did love seeing Erin happy and loved. The actual 'bff's mother' element was also a slippery slope in my opinion. There were times where the lines were blurred in the similar way Erin treated both her daughter and her girlfriend. I didn't like the parallels where Parker was sick and Erin would take care of her, and then Cassie got sick and Erin would take care of her but it was supposedly a really romantic moment that time. I didn't like that when Erin texted her daughter a question and she didn't respond, she texted the same question to Cassie. And I definitely didn't like how Cassie tried to justify it by saying that it was only fair that she fucked Parker's mother because Parker had unknowingly (!) gotten with her ex-boyfriend. Again, it was just a slippery slope that wasn't justified nor handled with as much care as I'd like. It was strange when Erin and Cassie would talk about part of the 'thrill' being the danger of Parker catching them - eugh.
Now that I'm mostly done shitting on this book, let me discuss what I enjoyed. I knew going in that this book would come through with the smut, and honestly, it did. I really enjoyed the smut. It wasn't perfect obviously (hence the 'good girl' comment and some strange dialogue) but overall, I enjoyed it. It was varied and the dialogue and actions seemed true to the characters. Both Erin and Cassie had their sexy moments, and can I just say: that strap-scene did not come to play. .The one either, actually. Probably my favourite scene, and my appreciation for it was only heightened when it became such an emotionally significant moment too. As a side note though, it could be a personal preference, but I find it horrifically cringey, when a character . But still, like I said, pretty great sex.
Cassie took her mouth off Erin eventually, pressing a kiss to her thigh. "C'mon, sweetheart," she murmured. "We're wasting water."
Also, especially towards the end of the novel, I felt the intimacy and emotional development was nicely done. As I'd previously mentioned, it was nice to see Cassie nervous and blushing when it came to Erin, just as it was lovely to see Erin's affection for Cassie as well. I'm not even going to lie, I was tearing up a little in this moment:
Cassie fled from her friends at the pool. She found Erin in the kitchen. Before Erin could say hello, Cassie wrapped her arms around her middle and dropped her forehead onto Erin's shoulder. "Caleb knows we're dating."
Erin sighed. "Of course he does." She held Cassie gently. "Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah," Cassie said, her voice muffled against Erin.
*Wipes tear*, anyway...
Erin said, "I can do this without worrying about who's around."
She kissed Cassie softly, sweetly, and neither of them looked over their shoulder to see if they'd been caught.
"Okay," Cassie said. "I guess it's worth it."
"You guess?"
Cassie grinned. "Maybe you should do it again to convince me."
Erin was very convincing.
*Wipes multiple tears. Sniffles.* Okay sorry, but that was so stinking cute. I was pouting with my hand to my chest like an old lady, I'm telling you.
And actually, I think the whole aspect of Parker finding out about them was done really well. I liked that it wasn't just a moment where . What can I say, the payoff was there.
For some last few nitpicks, I found this line to be just really just...offensive:
“In highschool, Cassie was the promiscuous bisexual who probably wouldn’t be into chicks if she’d had a father figure."
"The" promiscious bisexual? Just really stereotypical and unnecessary, and the father figure thing felt like it was playing into the casual way in which 'daddy issues' are talked about nowadays. But I can assure you, people aren't homosexual because they didn't have father figures.
And lastly, this was just a line that I could not believe escaped an editors notice.
“Even if she were using Cassie for sex, who cared? Getting used for sex by a MILF was basically a porno fantasy.”
Oh my god: what. That was absolutely atrocious I wanted to wipe it from my brain.
Moving swiftly on, I did overall greatly enjoy this one, and I was absolutely delighted to find that my local library is carrying more lgbtq+ books. It's just so monumental that sapphic contemporary romances are getting so far, and are so accessible, especially since in my country, gay marriage isn't even legalised. It warmed my heart to see such a newly released sapphic novel in the display shelf of my library 💘. To end on a lighter (or hotter) note, I'll leave you in Erin's charms.
"I was in the shop all day," Cassie continued. "Didn't have time to get all dolled up."
Her eyes flicked to Erin's chest. The attention made her bold. She dragged her eyes up Cassie's body...
"You are a little dirty, aren't you?"
Honest to God, Cassie's jaw dropped.
(So did mine). Since I enjoyed this one, I'm looking forward to Cleat Cute. Sapphics just keep winning and I couldn't be happier! 💘
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
October 28, 2022
1 star
I originally had only part of my review here and the rest linked to my blog post at Dear Author but after hearing from a few people that this is the only review they’ve seen that raised the same concerns they felt, I decided to post the whole thing.
I really enjoyed Meryl Wilsner's debut, Something to Talk About, and when I read about their new contemporary romance, Mistakes Were Made, I got really excited. It has a trope I’m really fond of, May/December (not everyone’s cuppa I know, but I really like it when it’s well executed), as well as a messy situation, which is another trope I’m drawn to.
In this case the messy situation is that Cassie Klein, a senior at her Virginia college (so probably twenty-one) picks up an attractive older woman, Erin Bennett, at a bar and they hook up for what appears to be a one-time-only, but the next day they meet again—this time when Cassie’s freshman friend Parker introduces Cassie to Erin, her mom. Oops.
Things only get more complicated from there out, as Cassie and Erin almost hook up again in the ladies’ room during a campus concert, and then, when they decide to stay away from each other, Cassie still drunk dials Erin and nearly gets caught by Parker. Cassie determines not to do that again (her and Parker’s mutual friend, Acacia, drives the point that it’s a self-destructive idea home) but then Parker surprises her with plane tickets to come visit her at her mom’s over Christmas.
At Erin’s house, it’s again difficult for the two women to keep their hands off each other, and they nearly get caught kissing. Parker is of course, completely clueless to what’s going on under her nose, and Cassie and Erin both feel terribly guilty over that.
So—I really wish I’d liked this book but I didn’t. The problems started right off the bat. Firstly, since their bar hookup happened on Parents’ Weekend, how surprised should Cassie have been that Erin was the mom of one of the students? And that holds even more true for Erin. She’s near a college campus; chances are that the young woman who is picking her up is a student, like her daughter.
Second, Erin was described as “two years out from forty” which made me think she was forty-two. Later reading clarifies that she’s thirty-eight, though, so I think the phrase should have been “two years away from forty.” In another book this would be a minor copy error and nothing more but here it really makes a difference. Cassie is, I’m guessing, twenty-one, and a difference of seventeen years in age isn’t as bad as a difference of twenty-one (double Cassie's age!). Plus, once I had a visual image of Erin as forty-two, it was hard to think of her as thirty-eight.
Also, what was Erin thinking when she agreed to Parker’s plea that she purchase plane tickets to surprise Cassie with so she could come stay with them for Christmas? That puts Cassie on the spot—it’s not like she can easily turn Parker down once tickets are already bought. That really bothered me, especially given the other power gaps between her and Cassie.
Because the age difference is far from the only power gap operating here. Cassie, a physics student with aspirations of working for NASA, is ambitious but comes from an impoverished background. She was lucky to get a scholarship to the school, but it’s clear that as a child she was neglected and abused, and she’s still broke now. Erin, meanwhile, is a doctor, with all the middle-class comfort and ease and privilege that implies.
On top of that, when the romance really takes off Cassie is a guest in Erin’s home. That’s an uncomfortable position to be in because (after coming there due to the pressure of being presented with the fait accompli of purchased plane tickets) it’s not like Cassie can easily get away from Erin once she is there. She doesn’t know anyone there but Erin and Parker, and she can’t confide in Parker. It’s not clear if she has enough money to find other lodgings if she wants to leave. She’s under Erin’s roof, with Erin providing her food and shelter.
And none of this is dealt with in the first third of the book, which is as far as I got. Neither of the women think about this.
To a point, I could go with Cassie’s focus on the question of what would happen if Parker found out almost exclusively; it made some sense since that was pretty high stakes for her and she wasn’t in control of the fact that she was essentially at Erin’s mercy. A lot of people minimize their own powerlessness by focusing on something else because it makes them feel more okay, and this fit Cassie’s personality, so it wasn’t a huge issue for me.
It was, however, a huge issue for me where Erin was concerned, because Erin was in control of the situation, to a large degree. For Erin not to think about it was somewhere between thoughtless and clueless (and not in a good way). I don’t care how caught up she is in her attraction for Cassie and her fears that Parker will find out (understandable since there was tension between Parker and Erin over Erin’s split from Parker’s father, and Erin felt insecure in her daughter’s love), Erin should still care enough about Cassie to think about what she’s doing to her, how the power dynamics might be affecting Cassie. And instead it was a constant mantra of “What if Parker found out?” and guilt for being a bad mother to Parker, and no thought to the fact that she was mistreating Cassie by putting her in this position. And this despite the fact that she was the adult in the situation.
TBH, although Cassie is a consenting adult, the kind of discomfort I felt here was a milder version of the discomfort I feel when I read about situations where kids are involved and aren’t quite old enough to consent. The power gap was too wide, and while Erin’s intentions may not have been to prey on Cassie, many of the conditions of a predatory situation were nevertheless present. Particularly when I also factor in the fact that Cassie was more or less abandoned by her own mother, and Erin was the mother of a friend. This situation felt creepy, not romantic or fun.
The writing itself was pretty good, and Cassie’s character had some depth, but it didn’t matter because I was just too uncomfortable to keep reading. I stopped at 33%, so obviously, this is a DNF.
I originally had only part of my review here and the rest linked to my blog post at Dear Author but after hearing from a few people that this is the only review they’ve seen that raised the same concerns they felt, I decided to post the whole thing.
I really enjoyed Meryl Wilsner's debut, Something to Talk About, and when I read about their new contemporary romance, Mistakes Were Made, I got really excited. It has a trope I’m really fond of, May/December (not everyone’s cuppa I know, but I really like it when it’s well executed), as well as a messy situation, which is another trope I’m drawn to.
In this case the messy situation is that Cassie Klein, a senior at her Virginia college (so probably twenty-one) picks up an attractive older woman, Erin Bennett, at a bar and they hook up for what appears to be a one-time-only, but the next day they meet again—this time when Cassie’s freshman friend Parker introduces Cassie to Erin, her mom. Oops.
Things only get more complicated from there out, as Cassie and Erin almost hook up again in the ladies’ room during a campus concert, and then, when they decide to stay away from each other, Cassie still drunk dials Erin and nearly gets caught by Parker. Cassie determines not to do that again (her and Parker’s mutual friend, Acacia, drives the point that it’s a self-destructive idea home) but then Parker surprises her with plane tickets to come visit her at her mom’s over Christmas.
At Erin’s house, it’s again difficult for the two women to keep their hands off each other, and they nearly get caught kissing. Parker is of course, completely clueless to what’s going on under her nose, and Cassie and Erin both feel terribly guilty over that.
So—I really wish I’d liked this book but I didn’t. The problems started right off the bat. Firstly, since their bar hookup happened on Parents’ Weekend, how surprised should Cassie have been that Erin was the mom of one of the students? And that holds even more true for Erin. She’s near a college campus; chances are that the young woman who is picking her up is a student, like her daughter.
Second, Erin was described as “two years out from forty” which made me think she was forty-two. Later reading clarifies that she’s thirty-eight, though, so I think the phrase should have been “two years away from forty.” In another book this would be a minor copy error and nothing more but here it really makes a difference. Cassie is, I’m guessing, twenty-one, and a difference of seventeen years in age isn’t as bad as a difference of twenty-one (double Cassie's age!). Plus, once I had a visual image of Erin as forty-two, it was hard to think of her as thirty-eight.
Also, what was Erin thinking when she agreed to Parker’s plea that she purchase plane tickets to surprise Cassie with so she could come stay with them for Christmas? That puts Cassie on the spot—it’s not like she can easily turn Parker down once tickets are already bought. That really bothered me, especially given the other power gaps between her and Cassie.
Because the age difference is far from the only power gap operating here. Cassie, a physics student with aspirations of working for NASA, is ambitious but comes from an impoverished background. She was lucky to get a scholarship to the school, but it’s clear that as a child she was neglected and abused, and she’s still broke now. Erin, meanwhile, is a doctor, with all the middle-class comfort and ease and privilege that implies.
On top of that, when the romance really takes off Cassie is a guest in Erin’s home. That’s an uncomfortable position to be in because (after coming there due to the pressure of being presented with the fait accompli of purchased plane tickets) it’s not like Cassie can easily get away from Erin once she is there. She doesn’t know anyone there but Erin and Parker, and she can’t confide in Parker. It’s not clear if she has enough money to find other lodgings if she wants to leave. She’s under Erin’s roof, with Erin providing her food and shelter.
And none of this is dealt with in the first third of the book, which is as far as I got. Neither of the women think about this.
To a point, I could go with Cassie’s focus on the question of what would happen if Parker found out almost exclusively; it made some sense since that was pretty high stakes for her and she wasn’t in control of the fact that she was essentially at Erin’s mercy. A lot of people minimize their own powerlessness by focusing on something else because it makes them feel more okay, and this fit Cassie’s personality, so it wasn’t a huge issue for me.
It was, however, a huge issue for me where Erin was concerned, because Erin was in control of the situation, to a large degree. For Erin not to think about it was somewhere between thoughtless and clueless (and not in a good way). I don’t care how caught up she is in her attraction for Cassie and her fears that Parker will find out (understandable since there was tension between Parker and Erin over Erin’s split from Parker’s father, and Erin felt insecure in her daughter’s love), Erin should still care enough about Cassie to think about what she’s doing to her, how the power dynamics might be affecting Cassie. And instead it was a constant mantra of “What if Parker found out?” and guilt for being a bad mother to Parker, and no thought to the fact that she was mistreating Cassie by putting her in this position. And this despite the fact that she was the adult in the situation.
TBH, although Cassie is a consenting adult, the kind of discomfort I felt here was a milder version of the discomfort I feel when I read about situations where kids are involved and aren’t quite old enough to consent. The power gap was too wide, and while Erin’s intentions may not have been to prey on Cassie, many of the conditions of a predatory situation were nevertheless present. Particularly when I also factor in the fact that Cassie was more or less abandoned by her own mother, and Erin was the mother of a friend. This situation felt creepy, not romantic or fun.
The writing itself was pretty good, and Cassie’s character had some depth, but it didn’t matter because I was just too uncomfortable to keep reading. I stopped at 33%, so obviously, this is a DNF.
Read
December 26, 2021Don’t mind me, I’ll just be fanning myself until the end of time.
October 11, 2022
HAPPY PUB DAY TO THIS FANTASTIC BOOK!! still one of the best (and spiciest!) books I've read this year!
4.5 ⭐️rounded up
4🌶
OOOHH THIS BOOK!!!
Mistakes Were Made is a cute, incredibly steamy rom-com that made me laugh, swoon, and often fan myself. This is the first book I’ve read by Meryl Wilsner, and I’m excited to see what they write next!!
quick summary :
Needing to escape her college’s Family Weekend, Cassie goes to a bar off-campus and meets an older woman, Erin. After a drink and some flirting, the stranger becomes a one-night stand Cassie expects never to see again. That is until the next morning when her best friend asks her to have breakfast with her mom, who happens to be the same woman from the bar. Will they be able to put their attraction and chemistry aside? What could go wrong if they decide to hookup some more?
thoughts :
I found this book to be an easy read, I couldn’t stop myself from binge-reading the entire book!
I absolutely loved the characters in this book. Cassie and Erin!! My favorite doctor and engineer!! They are the cutest. They had AMAZING chemistry between them, which was instantaneous!! The sexual tension, the steamy talk, and the banter were incredible!! I really loved their unexpected relationship, which they hid from Erin’s daughter, Parker. Their secret relationship had me on my toes the entire time! It was so entertaining and I was waiting to see what happened next; I also LOVED how they made time for each other. Their character development throughout the book was something I adored!
Beware, this book brings all the heat! It started from chapter 1, and many, if not most, chapters had spice!
This book had not only the best romance but also the best friendships! Cassie and her friends, Parker and Acacia, were so precious! Honestly, I could read a book just about their friendship! They are best friends and you can really see how much they love each other. Their interactions had me smiling and wishing I was part of their friend group. I did want to see more interactions with Parker toward the end of the book. But, other than that I think that they are fantastic, they are the definition of a found family!
Overall, it’s a spectacular novel! It offers what it promises and way more! One of my favorite reads this year!
If you enjoy contemporary romance novels with amazing friendships, tension, and lots of spice, then this one is for you!!
Read if you like:
→ F/F romance
→ Age gaps (38, 21)
→ Dual POV
→ Instant attraction
→ Steamy romance
→ Forbidden romance (best friend’s mom)
→ Explicit open-door romance
→ Women in STEM
⚠️TW: alcoholic parent, abandonment by a parent, cheating (brought up and off page but not the mc's relationship).
Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!! <3
4.5 ⭐️rounded up
4🌶
OOOHH THIS BOOK!!!
Mistakes Were Made is a cute, incredibly steamy rom-com that made me laugh, swoon, and often fan myself. This is the first book I’ve read by Meryl Wilsner, and I’m excited to see what they write next!!
quick summary :
Needing to escape her college’s Family Weekend, Cassie goes to a bar off-campus and meets an older woman, Erin. After a drink and some flirting, the stranger becomes a one-night stand Cassie expects never to see again. That is until the next morning when her best friend asks her to have breakfast with her mom, who happens to be the same woman from the bar. Will they be able to put their attraction and chemistry aside? What could go wrong if they decide to hookup some more?
thoughts :
I found this book to be an easy read, I couldn’t stop myself from binge-reading the entire book!
I absolutely loved the characters in this book. Cassie and Erin!! My favorite doctor and engineer!! They are the cutest. They had AMAZING chemistry between them, which was instantaneous!! The sexual tension, the steamy talk, and the banter were incredible!! I really loved their unexpected relationship, which they hid from Erin’s daughter, Parker. Their secret relationship had me on my toes the entire time! It was so entertaining and I was waiting to see what happened next; I also LOVED how they made time for each other. Their character development throughout the book was something I adored!
Beware, this book brings all the heat! It started from chapter 1, and many, if not most, chapters had spice!
This book had not only the best romance but also the best friendships! Cassie and her friends, Parker and Acacia, were so precious! Honestly, I could read a book just about their friendship! They are best friends and you can really see how much they love each other. Their interactions had me smiling and wishing I was part of their friend group. I did want to see more interactions with Parker toward the end of the book. But, other than that I think that they are fantastic, they are the definition of a found family!
Overall, it’s a spectacular novel! It offers what it promises and way more! One of my favorite reads this year!
If you enjoy contemporary romance novels with amazing friendships, tension, and lots of spice, then this one is for you!!
Read if you like:
→ F/F romance
→ Age gaps (38, 21)
→ Dual POV
→ Instant attraction
→ Steamy romance
→ Forbidden romance (best friend’s mom)
→ Explicit open-door romance
→ Women in STEM
⚠️TW: alcoholic parent, abandonment by a parent, cheating (brought up and off page but not the mc's relationship).
Thank you, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!! <3
November 9, 2022
welllllllll, fuck.
i am going to be fairly negative here, and i feel bad abt that, so i'm going to try and say good things upfront, but i can tell this is gonna get rambly and all over the place. and full of spoilers, probably.
i was rlly excited for this book! i enjoyed Wilsner's debut quite a bit, and once i heard the premise of this one, i was initially excited for what i thought was going to be kinda whacky hijinks. i also, for whatever reason, assumed the daughter and younger love interest in question were both older, somehow. and therein lies my first qualm, but i said good things first so i am holding off on that.
THE GOOD: this is written rlly well. Wilsner is a solid writer in my experience so far, and despite my rage, i was never cringing at dialogue, or questioning the tone, or pacing of the book. PARKER!! parker was a saint, a wonderful character, deserves all the good things, was forefront on my mind pretty much the entire book, and i want her happiness and love story bc the girl was PUT THROUGH IT and did not get to rage the way she should have, and came around so maturely and wonderfully and i adore her. acacia too, absolute gem of a friend, simply couldn't ask for better. in many ways, i DID like erin, too. there was certainly a lot of frustration there, but overall, i thought she was a fantastic flawed, lovely character for the most part and by the end i rlly came around to her. and i liked that in the majority of their sex scenes, erin was in charge. i feel like so often in age-gap romances, the author tends to put the younger character in the dom role, and like... some of us just want an older woman to dom us, actually. also, the narration for erin specifically was rlly good. cassie was also good and fit the character rlly well. but i rlly liked erin's voice.
annnnnd now i have to stop avoiding it and actually get into my issues with the book. and, perhaps slightly unfairly so, things i've noticed here in sapphic fiction in general that aren't exactly my fav. i like an age-gap romance fine, bUT, i also have a lot of reservations (well, maybe that's not the right word, more like... i go in wary sometimes depending on HOW much of an age-gap and what the situation around it is). i've noticed a trend in sapphic fiction in the last few years that the age gaps just keep on fucking widening. like, nearly any age-gap romance i read, the gap is smth like 20 years, and... i'm far less inclined to get on board in that respect. the book has to do legwork for me to get on board the bigger the gap is. honestly, i just think 20+ years is too different in MOST cases (obvs there are exceptions to this). but a lot of them seem to be 20+ years, AND the younger woman is (often) in her early/mid 20s. i dunno, maybe it's just me, but i'm 32, and i simply would never date a woman under 25. it would be too weird/there is so much maturity/change you go through around then it's wild. this is a rant that isn't maybe fair to put on this book, but it culminated in this one even more so for me bc i just could NOT get behind the whole daughter's friend thing, and i do think a lot of that had in part to do with the ages of both parker and cassie. i was thinking abt it and i DO think if they had both been older that i would have maybe eventually gotten over it. (maybe). i had just assumed they were older like grad students going in, dunno why, but i did. and a 21 year old is... (i'm sorry 21 year olds) a baby. like, yes, she is a full adult woman. but she is a BABY ADULT. and, perhaps most importantly, she was incredibly immature.
i... look, the majority of my issues with this book fall on cassie's shoulders. i did not like her. i found her very frusturating. i personally have a pretty fine line when it comes to confidence and cockiness, and i just found cassie to be cocky from the initial one night stand right at the beginning. calling erin sweetheart when they were making out in the bathroom made me roll my eyes, and then i never seemed to stop. i HATED the footsie at the breakfast the next day. the AUDACITY of rubbing your foot on me and smirking like an asshole as i'm freaking out realizing you're friends with my daughter, i wanted erin to kick her feet away. (alas, cassie plays footsie with erin a million times, each time i want to kick her and tell her that feet are gross). the way cassie spoke abt parker throughout, both out loud to acacia and in her internal dialogue, was enraging. the "quid pro quo" she slept with my boyfriend (WHO SHE HAD NO IDEA HE EVEN HAD A GIRLFRIEND, THEN SHE PUNCHED HIM IN THE FACE AND BEFRIENDED YOU, YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOON!) so i get to sleep with her mom if i want, was SO INFURIATING. the "parker has everything and i want a win over her" LIKE!! CASSIE IS A TERRIBLE FRIEND!!! STRAIGHT UP. and don't even get me started on how actually fucking creepy, violating, and infuriating going through parker's phone, stealing erin's number, and texting her crass shit abt her tits was. that was genuinely shitty behavior. i just... i never found cassie charming. I think if Cassie hadn’t been a petty, immature bitch (hey girl, like recognizes like) I might have enjoyed this more with different characterization, but I just did nOT understand what the fuck erin saw in her beyond sex. (they had a LOT of sex, and frankly, i only ever saw sexual chemistry and not romantic). and like... this is ALSO a larger problem with the romance genre, wrt large, but... my god, does anyone just have a one night stand and leave it at that anymore? i didn't get why either of them seemed hung up on each other in between the one night stand and cassie coming to stay over christmas. they had good sex, and it was a bad idea to do it again, just let it the fuck go!! you don't know each other!! out of sight out of mind!! so many of cassie's reactions to erin (and parker) bothered me throughout the book.
and, the WILD roundabout ways that erin justified her actions also were... well, fucking wild. she would be bemoaning how bad a mom she is being (she was!! actually!) with lying to parker and sleeping with her friend, and how it was going to stop, and in the next second she's making out with cassie with parker right there in the other room. it got a little old, for me. and it was my main gripe with erin as a character.
i just... i know ppl will disagree with me here, and that's fine, but i DIDN'T agree with the whole "fuck should" mentality. parents don't have to give up their whole lives for their kids, but (and maybe this IS just bc i am a petty, cynical bitch) but i would nEVER forgive my mom or my friend if they got together. i don't think i would ever get over that. it would ruin both relationships. there are things that i would only ever want to talk to my mom abt, and not want my friends to know, and to know one of my friends was my mother's partner, you either have to ask your mom to lie and keep stuff from their partner, or have it be weird and have them know personal, parent shit abt you. and on the flip side, there is stuff i would ONLY want my friends to know, never my mom, and then you're making your friend lie to THEIR PARTNER, who is YOUR MOM so you're actively participating in a wedge in their relationship. it just.. it's TOO WEIRD. if they were older characters, it would be easier to get over. but parker is 18. she is a literal baby (and i love her so much). she is very much still in Needs My Mom Mode, whether she's willing to admit it or not, and cassie IS BARELY OLDER THAN HER. in the end when everything came out, and parker, acacia, and cassie are hanging out like normal college kids, erin is like.. awkwardly also there kinda. it's WEIRD to hang out with your friends and also sometimes your mom is there BC SHE IS DATING YOUR FRIEND. i just... i hated it. i never got over it. it was too fucking weird for me and the fact that we never got to see parker blow up at either of them, and she knew, and did all her processing off the page, and was fine with it when it came out was infuriating (god i've said that word so many times in this review, bUT IT WAS). i wanted that cathartic release!! i wanted ONE person in their lives (that wasn't fucking adam) to be like.. um, this IS kinda a fucked up situation, actually. like, the inital one night stand is groovy and funny, every intentional moment after that is shitty, frankly. and that's why i didn't love the whole "fuck should" thing. you SHOULD acutally think abt how your actions affect others. not the whole world, not ppls opinons who aren't coming at you in good faith, but YOUR DAUGHTER?! your SUPPOSED BEST FRIEND!? you SHOULD care abt and take that into consideration. again, i'm a judgey bitch, i know this, but i WAS JUDGING THE WHOLE BOOK.
(i was literally yelling out loud, "i hate this" "pls stop talking" "absolutely do not do that" on my walks, to and from work, AT work sometimes, my neighbors must rlly be curious, but i also tend to react to MOST audiobooks i read, so it wasn't new, per say, but it was... A LOT!)
Ok but actually the two biggest crimes these women committed, that i shall never forgive: the coffee got cold while they were sneaking around making out in the kitchen as Parker sleeps, and they POUR IT OUT AND GET NEW COFFEE. MICROWAVES EXIST!! i was raised with a mother who NEVER dumped coffee out. we put that shit in the fridge for cold coffee, to have over ice cream, to be reheated the next day, WHATEVER, you used it! annnd A PUBLIC PROPOSAL!!?? NO. horrifying. absolutely fucking not. do not bring me into your awful vulnerable emotional stuff and make me clap or look away awkwardly. jfc. if i ever date a woman who actually wants to marry me (lol) and she proposes in front of ppl to me THE ANSWER WILL BE NO.
this one wasn't for me. it CLEARLY was for a lot of other ppl. and i'm happy for them, but i am sad for me, bc i was excited abt this book and what a bummer for how strongly i was noT HAVING it. i own this audiobook, so mayyybe I’ll feel differently a few months or years down the line on a re-listen, but i dunno. I’ll def still check out whatever Wilsner writes next, but i'm bummed at how much romance is annoying me lately, bc i ALso rlly like it.
i am going to be fairly negative here, and i feel bad abt that, so i'm going to try and say good things upfront, but i can tell this is gonna get rambly and all over the place. and full of spoilers, probably.
i was rlly excited for this book! i enjoyed Wilsner's debut quite a bit, and once i heard the premise of this one, i was initially excited for what i thought was going to be kinda whacky hijinks. i also, for whatever reason, assumed the daughter and younger love interest in question were both older, somehow. and therein lies my first qualm, but i said good things first so i am holding off on that.
THE GOOD: this is written rlly well. Wilsner is a solid writer in my experience so far, and despite my rage, i was never cringing at dialogue, or questioning the tone, or pacing of the book. PARKER!! parker was a saint, a wonderful character, deserves all the good things, was forefront on my mind pretty much the entire book, and i want her happiness and love story bc the girl was PUT THROUGH IT and did not get to rage the way she should have, and came around so maturely and wonderfully and i adore her. acacia too, absolute gem of a friend, simply couldn't ask for better. in many ways, i DID like erin, too. there was certainly a lot of frustration there, but overall, i thought she was a fantastic flawed, lovely character for the most part and by the end i rlly came around to her. and i liked that in the majority of their sex scenes, erin was in charge. i feel like so often in age-gap romances, the author tends to put the younger character in the dom role, and like... some of us just want an older woman to dom us, actually. also, the narration for erin specifically was rlly good. cassie was also good and fit the character rlly well. but i rlly liked erin's voice.
annnnnd now i have to stop avoiding it and actually get into my issues with the book. and, perhaps slightly unfairly so, things i've noticed here in sapphic fiction in general that aren't exactly my fav. i like an age-gap romance fine, bUT, i also have a lot of reservations (well, maybe that's not the right word, more like... i go in wary sometimes depending on HOW much of an age-gap and what the situation around it is). i've noticed a trend in sapphic fiction in the last few years that the age gaps just keep on fucking widening. like, nearly any age-gap romance i read, the gap is smth like 20 years, and... i'm far less inclined to get on board in that respect. the book has to do legwork for me to get on board the bigger the gap is. honestly, i just think 20+ years is too different in MOST cases (obvs there are exceptions to this). but a lot of them seem to be 20+ years, AND the younger woman is (often) in her early/mid 20s. i dunno, maybe it's just me, but i'm 32, and i simply would never date a woman under 25. it would be too weird/there is so much maturity/change you go through around then it's wild. this is a rant that isn't maybe fair to put on this book, but it culminated in this one even more so for me bc i just could NOT get behind the whole daughter's friend thing, and i do think a lot of that had in part to do with the ages of both parker and cassie. i was thinking abt it and i DO think if they had both been older that i would have maybe eventually gotten over it. (maybe). i had just assumed they were older like grad students going in, dunno why, but i did. and a 21 year old is... (i'm sorry 21 year olds) a baby. like, yes, she is a full adult woman. but she is a BABY ADULT. and, perhaps most importantly, she was incredibly immature.
i... look, the majority of my issues with this book fall on cassie's shoulders. i did not like her. i found her very frusturating. i personally have a pretty fine line when it comes to confidence and cockiness, and i just found cassie to be cocky from the initial one night stand right at the beginning. calling erin sweetheart when they were making out in the bathroom made me roll my eyes, and then i never seemed to stop. i HATED the footsie at the breakfast the next day. the AUDACITY of rubbing your foot on me and smirking like an asshole as i'm freaking out realizing you're friends with my daughter, i wanted erin to kick her feet away. (alas, cassie plays footsie with erin a million times, each time i want to kick her and tell her that feet are gross). the way cassie spoke abt parker throughout, both out loud to acacia and in her internal dialogue, was enraging. the "quid pro quo" she slept with my boyfriend (WHO SHE HAD NO IDEA HE EVEN HAD A GIRLFRIEND, THEN SHE PUNCHED HIM IN THE FACE AND BEFRIENDED YOU, YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOON!) so i get to sleep with her mom if i want, was SO INFURIATING. the "parker has everything and i want a win over her" LIKE!! CASSIE IS A TERRIBLE FRIEND!!! STRAIGHT UP. and don't even get me started on how actually fucking creepy, violating, and infuriating going through parker's phone, stealing erin's number, and texting her crass shit abt her tits was. that was genuinely shitty behavior. i just... i never found cassie charming. I think if Cassie hadn’t been a petty, immature bitch (hey girl, like recognizes like) I might have enjoyed this more with different characterization, but I just did nOT understand what the fuck erin saw in her beyond sex. (they had a LOT of sex, and frankly, i only ever saw sexual chemistry and not romantic). and like... this is ALSO a larger problem with the romance genre, wrt large, but... my god, does anyone just have a one night stand and leave it at that anymore? i didn't get why either of them seemed hung up on each other in between the one night stand and cassie coming to stay over christmas. they had good sex, and it was a bad idea to do it again, just let it the fuck go!! you don't know each other!! out of sight out of mind!! so many of cassie's reactions to erin (and parker) bothered me throughout the book.
and, the WILD roundabout ways that erin justified her actions also were... well, fucking wild. she would be bemoaning how bad a mom she is being (she was!! actually!) with lying to parker and sleeping with her friend, and how it was going to stop, and in the next second she's making out with cassie with parker right there in the other room. it got a little old, for me. and it was my main gripe with erin as a character.
i just... i know ppl will disagree with me here, and that's fine, but i DIDN'T agree with the whole "fuck should" mentality. parents don't have to give up their whole lives for their kids, but (and maybe this IS just bc i am a petty, cynical bitch) but i would nEVER forgive my mom or my friend if they got together. i don't think i would ever get over that. it would ruin both relationships. there are things that i would only ever want to talk to my mom abt, and not want my friends to know, and to know one of my friends was my mother's partner, you either have to ask your mom to lie and keep stuff from their partner, or have it be weird and have them know personal, parent shit abt you. and on the flip side, there is stuff i would ONLY want my friends to know, never my mom, and then you're making your friend lie to THEIR PARTNER, who is YOUR MOM so you're actively participating in a wedge in their relationship. it just.. it's TOO WEIRD. if they were older characters, it would be easier to get over. but parker is 18. she is a literal baby (and i love her so much). she is very much still in Needs My Mom Mode, whether she's willing to admit it or not, and cassie IS BARELY OLDER THAN HER. in the end when everything came out, and parker, acacia, and cassie are hanging out like normal college kids, erin is like.. awkwardly also there kinda. it's WEIRD to hang out with your friends and also sometimes your mom is there BC SHE IS DATING YOUR FRIEND. i just... i hated it. i never got over it. it was too fucking weird for me and the fact that we never got to see parker blow up at either of them, and she knew, and did all her processing off the page, and was fine with it when it came out was infuriating (god i've said that word so many times in this review, bUT IT WAS). i wanted that cathartic release!! i wanted ONE person in their lives (that wasn't fucking adam) to be like.. um, this IS kinda a fucked up situation, actually. like, the inital one night stand is groovy and funny, every intentional moment after that is shitty, frankly. and that's why i didn't love the whole "fuck should" thing. you SHOULD acutally think abt how your actions affect others. not the whole world, not ppls opinons who aren't coming at you in good faith, but YOUR DAUGHTER?! your SUPPOSED BEST FRIEND!? you SHOULD care abt and take that into consideration. again, i'm a judgey bitch, i know this, but i WAS JUDGING THE WHOLE BOOK.
(i was literally yelling out loud, "i hate this" "pls stop talking" "absolutely do not do that" on my walks, to and from work, AT work sometimes, my neighbors must rlly be curious, but i also tend to react to MOST audiobooks i read, so it wasn't new, per say, but it was... A LOT!)
Ok but actually the two biggest crimes these women committed, that i shall never forgive: the coffee got cold while they were sneaking around making out in the kitchen as Parker sleeps, and they POUR IT OUT AND GET NEW COFFEE. MICROWAVES EXIST!! i was raised with a mother who NEVER dumped coffee out. we put that shit in the fridge for cold coffee, to have over ice cream, to be reheated the next day, WHATEVER, you used it! annnd A PUBLIC PROPOSAL!!?? NO. horrifying. absolutely fucking not. do not bring me into your awful vulnerable emotional stuff and make me clap or look away awkwardly. jfc. if i ever date a woman who actually wants to marry me (lol) and she proposes in front of ppl to me THE ANSWER WILL BE NO.
this one wasn't for me. it CLEARLY was for a lot of other ppl. and i'm happy for them, but i am sad for me, bc i was excited abt this book and what a bummer for how strongly i was noT HAVING it. i own this audiobook, so mayyybe I’ll feel differently a few months or years down the line on a re-listen, but i dunno. I’ll def still check out whatever Wilsner writes next, but i'm bummed at how much romance is annoying me lately, bc i ALso rlly like it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2023
¡QUE DECEPCIONANTE SITUACIÓN CON ESTE LIBRO! Cuando me dijeron que era la historia de una chica que tenía frutifantasticas experiencias con la mamá de su mejor amiga, yo quedé convencida, pero aunque la parte spicy estuvo bastante buena, la relación romántica no me agradó pero ni tantito. Les digo, Cassie nuestra protagonista, conoce a Erin en un bar, tienen una noche de pasión y a la mañana siguiente se vuelven a “conocer” porque resulta que Erin es la mamá de la mejor amiga de Cassie. Aunque intentan evitarse, la tensión sexual es bastante y no lo logran muy exitosamente. Les digo, aunque la trama es entretenida, para mi la diferencia de edad fue bastante y eso hacía que en momentos que se supone tienen que ser lindos, me diera cringe. Otro punto negativo a la historia es la mala representación, en un momento a Cassie se le plantea el ser arromantica, pero siento que vino mas desde el querer evadir sentimientos que desde una genuina consideración al espectro y aunque no soy parte de este, eso me pareció bastante grosero. De ahí en fuera, es muy muy rápido de leer y es un drama lésbico bastante cagado, se los recomiendo solo si es algo que les llama la atención.
October 19, 2022
MILF.
I have been waiting a long time for this MILF book to be published and what a compelling read this was!
So Cassie slept with her best friend's mother by mistake, and by mistake I meant they hooked up as strangers in a bar only to discover the next day that they actually know each other by association when they are introduced. They strive to forget what had transpired between them because it's an awkward situation but fail miserably and fall back into each other's arms repeatedly. But let's just say their body and hearts caught on faster than their brains did about what was happening between them.
If you're into MILF stories, this is the one you want to read. The chemistry between Cassie and Erin was fantastic and the romantic development was also good too so it isn't just lust between them. Totally awesome read!
I have been waiting a long time for this MILF book to be published and what a compelling read this was!
So Cassie slept with her best friend's mother by mistake, and by mistake I meant they hooked up as strangers in a bar only to discover the next day that they actually know each other by association when they are introduced. They strive to forget what had transpired between them because it's an awkward situation but fail miserably and fall back into each other's arms repeatedly. But let's just say their body and hearts caught on faster than their brains did about what was happening between them.
If you're into MILF stories, this is the one you want to read. The chemistry between Cassie and Erin was fantastic and the romantic development was also good too so it isn't just lust between them. Totally awesome read!
June 26, 2023
I really really loved this!! 🥹🥰🥵
November 13, 2022
After reading two long epic fantasy tales in a row I was looking for something light, funny and romantic and how this book ticked all the boxes, I loved it! Duped the MILF book of the year we’re obviously talking about an age-gap romance. I’m actually not the biggest fan of age-gap romances, but this totally worked for me. The mains are in different stages of their lives as a doctor and mom and a college student, and sometimes these differences were apparent but at the same time I sometimes forgot there was an age gap at all, I think Wilsner did an excellent job balancing this out. There was also an interesting complexity between three best friends, family relations and the romance making this a forbidden romance. The book is delightfully smutty which pairs so well with a forbidden romance and I would like to remark that the storyline did not go where I initially thought it would go which was a nice surprise. Highly recommended!
September 10, 2024
A sometimes sweet sometimes steamy sapphic age gap romance that was unecessarily creepy because of how the author handled said age gap. Erin is in her late thirties, and Cassie is in her early twenties, and while there is definitely a power dynamic there, everything could have been okay if Erin’s daughter, Parker, who is 18, didn’t act about 14. Cassie is Parker’s college friend - and though Cassie is a bit older and tends to act more like a big sister than a best friend, the constant association with someone who acts so young adds a level of discomfort to this already taboo relationship that I struggled to ignore. Erin acts motherly toward her daughter and includes Cassie in that dynamic as she stays with them in their home over the holidays, which makes the sudden shifts to a sexual dynamic when they are alone very unsettling. I liked Cassie and Erin as individuals and thought they had pretty great chemistry, but I just couldn’t get on board with the blurring of lines in this way. It would have felt more natural if they had been 27 and 50 or so.
As it stands, though, this is a romance with great potential that was soured by an unnecessary secondary character choice.
Trigger/Content Warnings: divorce, alcoholism, neglect, infidelity, age gap relationship
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As it stands, though, this is a romance with great potential that was soured by an unnecessary secondary character choice.
Trigger/Content Warnings: divorce, alcoholism, neglect, infidelity, age gap relationship
You can find me on...
Youtube | Instagram | TikTok
You can join our book club over on Patreon...
PBB Book Club
May 17, 2022
Mistakes Were Made feels like it should be the title of my life, and honestly, I think that is why I liked this book so much. I know some people have a hard time reading about characters who make decisions you would never make in a million years, but that’s life, and everyone goes through their own paths.
While both Cassie and Erin make some questionable choices, the biggest thing you have to give them credit for is going after exactly what they want, no matter what people are going to think of them. I feel like this is something I have talked to a lot of friends and family about in how difficult it can be to really make decisions based on what you actually want, instead of what you “should” want.
My college theatre professor, and honestly my favorite human on this planet, always used to tell us to “Never Live in the Land of Should”. I used to joke about this phrase so much, but as time passes, I have found myself repeating this more and more and realizing how much better off I am when I stop trying to do what I think I’m supposed to, and just live my life.
Anyway, this super long winded rant comes from this book really speaking to me and reading it at a time when I really needed to. I really enjoyed this and there is definitely a good amount of spice too, so overall a really enjoyable book!
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!
While both Cassie and Erin make some questionable choices, the biggest thing you have to give them credit for is going after exactly what they want, no matter what people are going to think of them. I feel like this is something I have talked to a lot of friends and family about in how difficult it can be to really make decisions based on what you actually want, instead of what you “should” want.
My college theatre professor, and honestly my favorite human on this planet, always used to tell us to “Never Live in the Land of Should”. I used to joke about this phrase so much, but as time passes, I have found myself repeating this more and more and realizing how much better off I am when I stop trying to do what I think I’m supposed to, and just live my life.
Anyway, this super long winded rant comes from this book really speaking to me and reading it at a time when I really needed to. I really enjoyed this and there is definitely a good amount of spice too, so overall a really enjoyable book!
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!
October 12, 2022
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
Contemporary F-F romance. Forbidden love troupe.
Cassie hooks up with a sexy older woman at a bar and finds out the next morning it’s her best friend’s mother. They continue their hidden relationship as their attraction and feelings grow. The main problem: neither is sure where their affair is going or what they want to do about it.
For Cassie, it’s her first long term relationship as she finishes college. For Erin, her daughter is the most important part of her life, But Erin is finding that Cassie is simply making her happy.
A lot of self discovery (for Cassie) between college drinking bouts and building life long friendships. When Cassie says she doesn’t know how to do “feelings”, that’s not an exaggeration.
At the heart, it was fulfilling to read and follow the emotional growth of Cassie, and best friend Parker as their relationship deepens and changes with Erin and their individual connections.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley.
Contemporary F-F romance. Forbidden love troupe.
Cassie hooks up with a sexy older woman at a bar and finds out the next morning it’s her best friend’s mother. They continue their hidden relationship as their attraction and feelings grow. The main problem: neither is sure where their affair is going or what they want to do about it.
For Cassie, it’s her first long term relationship as she finishes college. For Erin, her daughter is the most important part of her life, But Erin is finding that Cassie is simply making her happy.
A lot of self discovery (for Cassie) between college drinking bouts and building life long friendships. When Cassie says she doesn’t know how to do “feelings”, that’s not an exaggeration.
At the heart, it was fulfilling to read and follow the emotional growth of Cassie, and best friend Parker as their relationship deepens and changes with Erin and their individual connections.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley.
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