I needed to pick up this book as soon as I saw the author describe it as idiots-to-lovers, and I was not disappointed. Meet Cassie: college senior, loveable loner, and future astronaut (ok, actually an aerospace engineer, but that's just semantics). A friendly one-night stand with a hot, older woman could not go more wrong when brunch the next morning reveals a crucial detail-- she's the mom of Cassie's friend. Erin's struggled to put herself out there since the divorce, and a fun night seems like a great way to distract herself from worrying about her freshman daughter. Things only get worse when the two can't stop thinking about each other. And when Erin's daughter begs for her best friend, Cassie, to be able to come stay for the holidays. And when Erin can't say no. Determined that nothing further will happen between them, obviously, things are going to happen.

This book was hilarious and over-the-top in some of the best ways. As our two leading ladies sneak around and worry about not only discovery but the arrival of pesky feelings on the scene (for Erin, anyway-- Cassie is oblivious to her own emotions), they manage to squeeze in a lot of romantic moments. From flowers delivered on Valentine's Day to video chats while cooking to an unexpected pair of scuba fins, it's a sweet, heartfelt love story. The situation presents plenty of tense moments that I expected to see on some level from the premise, but it was the little, domestic moments that surprised me with the force of a welcome hug.

This is a delightful sapphic romance that works in age gap tropes in a way I've never liked quite as much. It's well-considered and plots a strong emotional journey for two protagonists with plenty of baggage to sort through. I love where they end up and getting to come along for the ride. It's also hella spicy, and the threat of getting caught only makes our ladies more creative and daring. For a contemporary romance strong on feelings, humor, and spice, I highly recommend this expertly navigated queer disaster gone right. Thanks to SMP Romance for my copy to read and review!

The chemistry and love between these two were everything! I really enjoyed this one. I love a good age gap and forbidden romance.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this up purely because it had been described as “the MILF book,” and it did not disappoint. When there was a sex scene within the first eight pages of a book, I expected the book to be more spice than plot—which wouldn’t have been a problem for me at all. However, I was pleasantly surprised because Mistakes Were Made struck the perfect balance between spice and plot.

There was such amazing character growth for Cassie and Erin, and the emotional slow-burn of them getting together after their initial meeting was so well done. How Wilsner was able to write such effective mutual pining while the characters were actively hooking up was nothing short of amazing. Their chemistry was off the charts, even when they were separated. I loved the long-distance texting and FaceTime dates; they’re two of my favorite micro-tropes, and there aren’t nearly enough books that do it so effectively.

I loved the found family aspect of this book. It was a little messy, considering Erin was Cassie’s friend’s mother, but that didn’t detract from the tight-knit friend group feel. The messy conflict was also handled really well at the end.

Mistakes Were Made was heartfelt and fun, and I can’t wait to see what Wilsner does next.

the relationship felt a bit oversimplified and i don’t think the story could have progressed without the sex scenes. this was a quick, fun read but i would have loved just a bit more substance.
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What a fun romp of a read. Meryl Wilsner solidifies her ability with this follow up to her debut novel, Something to Talk About.

Didn't realize I was missing out on sapphic age-gap reads until I found this one!
Cassie and Erin's chemistry was on FIRE from the jump though I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed in the end because of it. The writing was great and the development of each of the characters was super well done, but the pacing wasn't always there for me.

Let's get something out of the way real quick - I love spice in books, but I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the story didn't suffer a tiny bit from how many scenes there were. Like I said, I'm not complaining because the market is so saturated with MF smut and there's 100% a need for more out there, spicy sapphic books, but I could have done with a couple less scenes of them hooking up without it necessarily furthering the relationship.

Now, let's talk about the characters - a lot of times I find that characters make certain decisions that are more convenient than true to character just to move the plot along, but that wasn't the case here. I always felt that the motivations were consistent and made sense, and both of our MCs felt like they could be real people (a concept, I know). It was interesting to me that Parker (daughter/best friend) wasn't super prominent in the story, seeing as her relationship to both Erin and Cassie is the main reason this relationship is forbidden (age-gap aside).

Overall I really loved this story and would read other books from this author.

https://lesbrary.com/susannah-reviews-mistakes-were-made-by-meryl-wilsner/

Mistakes Were Made, Meryl Wilsner’s second f/f romance following 2020’s acclaimed Something to Talk About, is billed as “a sexy rom-com about a college senior who accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom.” While I anxiously awaited this book as much as the next reader of queer romances, I admittedly postponed picking it up, afraid that a relationship between a college student and a woman one generation her senior would be too problematic, or too cringe, for me to root for. But Wilsner proved me wrong–this book is funny, nuanced, deeply empathetic, and piping hot.

It’s Family Weekend at Keckley College, but not for senior Cassie Klein, who is effectively estranged from hers. Cassie goes to an off-campus bar to escape the festivities, not to cruise for hookups, but when a statuesque older woman catches her eye from across the room, she can’t resist sending a drink her way. Erin Bennett is not there to cruise for hookups either. A recent divorcee splitting Family Weekend visiting hours with her ex-husband, she is simply killing time in a college town. But when a bold younger woman sends a drink across the bar, she has trouble turning down the opportunity to enjoy her relatively new singlehood. A steamy backseat romp ensues, and the two women part ways–no numbers exchanged and no plans to meet up again.

When Cassie’s best friend Parker invites her to tag along to breakfast with her mom the following morning, Cassie comes face-to-face with Erin–the Erin from the bar last night, the Erin she never intended to see again, the Erin who is also her best friend’s mom.What was meant to be a one-night fling becomes impossible to ignore as Cassie and Parker become closer friends and Cassie’s and Erin’s paths repeatedly cross.

When Parker surprises Cassie by inviting her home for the holiday break, Cassie can’t say no despite the, um, complication of cohabitating with Erin. Unsurprisingly, she can’t say no to Erin either, who is still as alluring as she was the night they met. Erin and Cassie start to sneak around behind Parker’s back as their fling morphs into something more serious. (A side effect of their sneaking around is a liberal number of very hot sex scenes in a variety of covert locations.) This begs the question: will Cassie and Erin come clean about their secret relationship at the risk of losing the most important people in their lives, or will they end it and live with the heartbreak?

While I scoffed at the likelihood of Cassie so cavalierly hitting on Erin in the opening chapter, Wilsner expertly develops both Cassie’s and Erin’s characters and shines light on their motivations. Cassie is a whip smart, ambitious aeronautic engineering major whose hardscrabble youth has translated to a resilient, confident demeanor. Erin is a highly successful attending physician whose professional badassness is not evinced by her interpersonal skills. A bisexual reentering the dating scene following a suffocating marriage, Erin lacks the self-assuredness to confidently go after what she wants. This sometimes comes across as iciness toward Cassie. Aside from these few moments of emotional withholding, however, the dynamic between the two women feels authentic and relatively balanced. That said, it can’t be ignored that given her age and independent wealth, Erin inherently holds some amount of power over Cassie, a young woman only on the cusp of post-college adulthood.

Surprisingly, the one factor about this book that didn’t sit well with me was not the age-gap trope, but the tokenizing of Cassie’s and Parker’s friend Acacia. Through the course of the book, Acacia, who is the only Black main character we meet, is the sole person who carries the secret of Cassie’s and Erin’s affair. That Acacia has to do the emotional labor of navigating this extremely sensitive situation for an entire academic year feels like an unfair burden to throw on her, and I would be remiss not to mention it.

Ultimately, this is a thought-provoking contemporary romance that challenged some prejudices I carried about age differences in relationships. And that, to me, is the mark of a well-crafted book: to make readers open their minds and hearts to situations and people that make them feel uncomfortable.

Content warnings: alcohol consumption, alcoholic parent (mention), cheating partner (past), divorced parents, misogyny, parental neglect, recreational marijuana use.

"Cassie was a bad decision Erin wanted to make again and again.” 💙

I’m usually not one for age gap romances, but this book had me swooning! MISTAKES WERE MADE by Meryl Wilsner serves us a forbidden, secret relationship, queer rep, women in STEM, a smoky MILF, and deliciously steamy scenes.

Cassie and Erin meet at a bar and immediately hit it off…if you know what I mean. However, at breakfast the next morning, when Erin realizes Cassie is one of her college-aged daughter’s friends, things get a bit weird. This was honestly the perfect book to listen to while I was zipping around the Bay Area for work the last two weeks. It did feel a bit long in some parts - to the point where I got tired of them sneaking around behind the daughter’s back. However, it still was a delightful romance with plenty of chemistry and incredibly spicy sapphic scenes.

I haven’t read the author’s debut, SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT, and their newest book, CLEAT CUTE, was just released - so I’m excited to grab both in the near future.

CW // abandonment; misogyny; food insecurity

Have you ever heard the song "Stacy's Mom" and wished for a sapphic romance version, in book form? Well then, here you go!

Cassie goes off campus to escape the madness of Family Weekend, and finds a gorgeous older woman, who she'd like to erm spend a night with, if you know what I mean. It was hot, it was fun, and it was a one night stand. Until that hot older woman shows up in her life at breakfast the next morning, when Cassie is meeting her best friend's mom. OOPS.

It's forbidden love. It's age gap. And it's sexy and fun! 4/5 Stars.

*Gifted from Netgalley & St. Martin's Griffin - thank you! All opinions are my own.

I loved this story! The secret romance with your best friend's mother/daughter's best friend is always one that's enticing to read.
Having the view of both main characters is one of my favorite aspects of this novel. To know what the other is thinking or feeling isn't always a mystery but reading both views of events is 👌.
Would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a good lesbian romance with drama!

I was really looking forward to this one but ended up not totally loving it. Something about the writing was a bit off for me and I didn’t love any of the characters. The story was fun enough and I’m looking forward to trying another book by this author in the future.

This is not the usual genre that I read but what an entertaining read! I loved the story line, the chemistry between the two women, the characters and so much more. This is definitely a book with adult content. I can't wait to read more by this author!

I wanted to like this book so much but it fell flat for me. I was so excited for the sapphic take on taboo "relationships with a friend's parent." I think that the friendship between the main character and her "best friend" was forced and didn't scream best friend. I spent the entire time wishing I liked either of the main characters enough to root for them, but by the end I was rooting for them to be found out. The stakes ended up being low and the "discovery" was underwhelming.

I highly encourage everyone to read this if you want a spicy read about a mom and her daughters best friend. I was sucked right in once things (sexy times) began. And the back and forth of how each character worries of consequences and such was so real, I truly enjoyed myself. As a queer individual, I enjoy mature books in a trope I would normally just read as fanfiction. It’s incredible how well this is written and how much I loved every second of it.

I started this book and really go into it . But then it expired and didn't re download in time .....these are the downsides to netgalley..
But I will purchase a physical copy, I'm that invested.

I liked the premise and the writing style. The characters were interesting and I liked them together. I didn't like all the sneaking around behind the daughter's back and that the ex-husband was treated as a villain even though he didn't do anything wrong. The pacing felt off and the plot got lost in all the sexy times. However, I will be reading more by this author in the future.

This book was so fun to read, because it hooks you on the steam from the first! page!
I absolutely loved it.

I wasn't a big fan of this one. The storyline had potential but I found the characters had no depth and I couldn't connect with them. I read a lot of romance novels and don't expect the next great American novel but this one just didn't work for me.

HOT HOT HOT. This was a great age gap, steamy, spicy read. It was super easy to fly though. The semi forbidden romance kept me flipping through page after page. 10/10, everyone should read this!!!

I wanted to love this and parts I really like. Overall though I just couldn't get in to the story. Age gaps are tricky for me and this one didn't work. I think it could be a me issue, not a book issue, so please check out other reviews


*ARC provided through Netgalley*