I really enjoyed this one! My first ARC, thanks to NetGalley, and I happened to really like it! The characters were very relatable and easy to feel for. I like that there is little lead up to the plot, the book simply gets right into it. I also liked that there is not only lesbian representation, but also representation for lesbians in relationships with age gaps between them and their partner. Also, LOVE TO SEE WOMEN IN STEM!!!!! I do think that at times, the tension of the book felt a bit underwhelming, but still made for a great novel overall. Romance is meant to be happy, after all.
I will most likely be adding a physical copy of this to my collection when this officially hits shelves!!

I have mixed feelings about this book, thus it sits at a firm 3 stars. Obviously for the plot of this book to succeed, the ‘secretly dating your daughters best friend’ premise had to exist. It was the driving force of the book and what created tension. However, this set up was my least favourite part of the book. I found that Cassie and Erin’s relationship independent of circumstance was actually very endearing. Adding Parker and Acacia to the mix introduced complicated and dramatic friendship dynamics that left Erin and Cassie’s relationship clouded with scandal.
Take these characters and this relationship and plop them into another circumstance? Sure. Unfortunately, the plot wasn’t my cup of tea.

Personal preference aside, if you enjoy age gap romances and scandalous tropes like ‘daughter’s best friend’ you’ll eat this up. Overall, the writing is excellent and the plot is executed and paced very well, it is just a matter of if you enjoy the content/trope.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

I didn’t mind this book. It was just fine to me. Strangers to lovers but sneaky. I don’t know how I’d feel if my best friend dated my mom but it kind of gave me an ick feeling so I had to remove that from the equation so I could actually rate the book.

Writing is good, easy to read and follow. Spicy scenes are done well and not too crazy, Cassie’s learning about her feelings is realistic. But I don’t know, I just struggled getting on board with the mom dating the daughters best friend.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Something to Talk about and was thrilled to have the opportunity to read Meryl Wilsner's second published work. I went into this book with the expectation to have a great time and that was met and surpassed very quickly. A glance at the cover and the description made it clear this was a nice escapist moment for the reader. After all, sometimes relationships you never want to see in real life bring you endless joy in fiction, and that is exactly the case in Mistakes Were Made.

When Cassie escapes campus for the night to avoid Family Weekend, she has no intention of hooking up with someone. She especially does not intend to hook up with one of her best friend's mom. Erin is more than a little taken about to find out that her hook up turns out not only to be a student at her daughter's college but a closer friend of her daughter, Parker. Cassie and Erin know they should not keep seeing each other, but they get on in more ways than one and it's just so easy to keep coming together.

This book was funny and sweet and had great pacing. The ambition for happiness that ran through the book was everything I love about romance novels. This book was so hyped when the cover was dropped and that hype was well deserved. As usual Wilsner's writing is charming and easy and incredibly steamy in all the best ways. The women are determined and ambitious and take charge of their sexualities. Erin and Cassie's relationship while complicated is navigated with great care, and equal care and dedication is given to their friendships as well, which is something I deeply appreciated in the writing.

I was really excited for this book, especially knowing it was a sapphic romance, but it just didn't quite deliver as much as I had hoped. Real rating of a 3.5.

I went into this book completely blind as I love not having any expectations for books previously established. I just knew that it was a sapphic romance and that was enough for me. What I wasn't expecting was an age-gap romance. While this are not normally my thing, it was not bad in that aspect and carried out a lot better than I had expected. I loved all the bisexual representation and how the book was female-centered (with little to no male characters which was very refreshing for a sapphic book!) with some STEM rep. It made for some strong female characters that I liked for the most part. The writing was good and I liked the dual POV approach as that's always a way to my heart in romance books.

I think perhaps what rubbed me the wrong way the whole time was the constant sneaking around and how much anxiety it caused me. Sneaking around in books never results in anything good and I anticipated quite a bit of blowback from other characters because of it. The ending did surprise me is the lack of doing what I anticipated, but it also made the characters almost too accepting and slightly unrealistic considering the situation. I also felt like Cassie and Erin's chemistry was stronger in the first part of the book than in the second half where it mattered most and for that reason it made it drag a little bit. I also would've liked to see Parker play a bigger role as I felt like for such a potentially pivotal character she got sidelined a lot.

Overall, this book was good and the author embraced the spice well, especially since lots of sapphic books seem to not be as confident in the spice as typical heteronormative books are. As far as plot and character development goes, it just felt like it could've offered more and been a little stronger.

I really enjoyed this book. I think of it as a slow burn even though the characters cant keep their hands off of each other - it strikes exactly the right balance of longing and emotional growth with some very sexy scenes. I thought I knew what the final twist would be but was pleasantly surprised at how everything turned out.. I’ll be keeping this one on my read-again list for sure.

3.5 stars for Mistakes were made by Meryl Wilsner.

Funny and tender moments at the same time.
I dropped a few stars along the way that's why and I hope to be constructive. The thing that seems to have bothered me the most is the number of times I read the names of Cassi, Erin and Parker in this book. It makes the reading a little heavy when you focus on it.
Parker the daughter of Erin takes up a lot of space and even if it is to make a preamble there has a novel potential where she will be the main character it is all the same too much.

Despite everything, it's a book that makes you feel good to read, and the love between the two women is obvious and refreshing. No one can lie to each other, it's two of them in love since the day... 2.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Cassie walks into a bar across town from her college campus and picks up an older woman. They hook up, say goodbye, and think they’ll never see each other again. Then Cassie joins one of her best friends for breakfast with her best friend’s mom the next morning and she sees the woman she hooked up with. The two have to figure out what to do - they obviously have chemistry, but have to think of Parker (the best friend/daughter). There’s a lot of sneaking around, of cute moments between the two, and a lot of questioning of whether they could really make something work.

I really enjoyed this book. There were so many times that I forgot about the age difference, if not for the continued mention of Parker I think I would have likely forgotten entirely. I really liked Erin and Cassie together, but I wavered a lot on the side characters, especially Parker. She just acted really immature at times (it was absolutely realistic of an only child whose parents spoiled her, but I would have been annoyed to be her friend at times). In the end I adored her, but it took me a long time to come around.

I really liked that both of these women were flawed, but still lovable. I really liked how there were moments where they both helped the other grow and get what they needed out of the relationship.

Also this book is spicy. Like very spicy. And it starts a few pages in.

Overall, I’d give this 4.5 stars. I enjoyed it, it’s steamy, the main characters are developed really well and had great chemistry.

I'm on a journey to find what kind of romance novels I do like, this was actually helpful in that regard! The premise is fun, the opening is solid, the smutty bits are genuinely very very hot, but beyond that it all sort of fell apart for me. My biggest issues: 1. Bizarre throwaway lines about race that I think were trying to be self-aware but read ick veering on outright racist, 2. Nearly every character is obsessed with the notion of “best friends” (this is NOT a YA book), 3. Main characters seemed to be using each other both in a mommy/daughter dynamic way and also sexy stuff way, and nope, no thank you, 4. Pacing, character development, overall writing style.

This book wasn't for me. I liked the first chapter or two and then it just didn't progress. The situation felt a little icky to me.
There was no emotion in the relationship between the two main characters. Nothing to keep the book going
The characters themselves were boring as well.
It just wasn't my vibe.

I found it confusing to keep track of who was speaking in this book due to the POV it was told in. With both characters being a she it was difficult to keep track of who was doing what to whom. But otherwise I really enjoyed it! I liked the age gap aspect. This is a great pride month read.

I'm on the fence with Mistakes Were Made... I loved the whole age gap/forbidden romance aspect of the story, the romance wasn't rushed and the smut was top notch, and big points in it's favor for the pacing-- it wasn't mind numbingly slow like it was with Something to Talk about, big step up.

BUT

Just like with Something to Talk About, I struggled to connect or like the characters. Both Erin and Cassie are incredibly immature and handle their romantic situation poorly, especially when it comes to Parker (the bff and daughter). There was so much miscommunication between the three of them that could have been avoided and I absolutely hated this plot line. Plus, as a pretty important side character, Parker didn't really have much of a personality or anything really in common with Cassie and they're supposed to be besties????

Overall, it was good, but I think I've learned that Meryl Wilsner books are not for me.

Mistakes Were Made takes place after college-student Cassie has a one night stand with Erin, who she later realizes is her best friend’s mother.

I enjoyed this one more than I expected to. It very much follows the path of a standard romance novel, so I was able to predict the outcomes of most situations but that didn’t deter from the fun of the story.

I liked Cassie’s demeanor; she was funny, smart, and genuinely caring. I also really liked Erin, for pretty much the same reasons, and not of their personalities were distinct and played off each other well.

The two main characters had pretty good chemistry, but the few times I was pulled out of it was during certain situations involving their age/life differences. Cassie’s friend Parker (Erin’s daughter) is often childish and unlikeable in the first 2/3 or so of the book, which makes Cassie feel way younger by association. Then there’s Erin, who mostly doesn’t feel toooo old for Cassie, until her money comes into play and you get the whole “broke college student vs. fairly rich older woman” power dynamic. For me, it was fine until Erin bought her a ridiculously expensive gift (when the two of them were still considering each other just a hookup). It wasn’t technically a sugar mama situation, but still - given the gap in their age, I much preferred when the two of them were on more equal footing.

The pacing was pretty good until the end, where I felt the book dragged out a bit. There wasn’t anything there that I didn’t see coming (again, standard romance novel structure) and I would have loved to have been presented with something less predictable.

I give Mistakes We’re Made 4 stars, and I’m looking forward to picking up more books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this before the publication date.

I wasn't familiar with Meryl Wilsner writing before this novel. She did not disappoint in any aspect. She gave me the perfect Older Woman/Younger Woman romance. The bi-representation! The relationship between Cassie and Erin is steamy and cute. The hilarity is also there. That being said I wish we could have gotten more of Cassie's backstory instead of just glimpses.

I gave it a solid four stars. Because while it hit all the right notes with the relationship, representation and wit. It lacked for me, a solid backstory for the main character.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is the story of two women who find love and happiness when everyone tell them they shouldn’t. This book is incredible, the characters have really chemistry and they behave like real people. This is my first book that the main character was a MILF but I loved every second of this book.

Meryl Wilsner’s sophomore romance Mistake Were Made is a delightful MILF tale of a college senior hooking up with a woman in a bar…who ends up being the mom of her new freshman BFF. Well, things just got awkward! With strong NA vibes, chemistry for days, and a lovely message of prioritizing your own happiness over other’s idea of “should”, this book was an absolute A+.

I did not like this book, not for me, I definitely didn’t like how the next day she realized she slept with her best friend’s mom she was acting like it was a big joke, playing footsie under the table.
I didn’t feel an actual connection, just sex.

Loved this one! Two women who don’t know they are looking for love, I love a queer romance. Perfect for summer too.

This book exactly delivered what it promised. A college student sleeps with an older woman who turns out to be her friend's mom but they can't stop sleeping together. I expected everyone to act like horny teenagers and make the worst decisions possible and I got that!

Obviously everyone in this story would suck IRL and would be bad friends to each other but I don't care this is fiction.

Cassie meets Erin the divorced mother of her younger friend Parker and after a brief one night stand Cassie and Erin act like horny teenagers all the time. Listen, I thought it was fun and absolutely what I was in for but I know it's not everyone.

Since the characters spend some time apart they both have different things going on, Cassie has her friend group made up of Acacia and Parker (who she's only known for a couple months). We also learn that Cassie has some issues with her mother but this is mostly ignored except when characters need to criticise Cassie and I wish that we could have had a bit more of a resolution for that.

Erin has her friend, her therapist and her douchebag ex, with the therapy and her relationship with her daughter being quite interesting to follow.

I am going to be honest a lot of the book is just sex scenes and it's fine. But like. Be warned. I did wish for a bit more variety (though I did appreciate the strap on!)


What I didn't really like:
-The style was a bit cringe at time which is weird because I didn't have this issue with the author's previous book but it was more noticeable here, especially during sex scenes (and there are a lot of them)

- I wasn't a fan of ending/resolution of the book. With this premise I was expecting something a bit different and more satisfying than you classic romance ending. I will say the same for the romance (feelings part not attraction part) which was not as believable or satisfying as I had hoped). While the characters are very aware of the weird thing they're doing it also doesn't impact them in the way I thought it would. Idk

This was a fun, quick read seasoned beautifully with spicy scenes.

I really enjoyed the writing style, but unfortunately, the last half of the book dragged a bit for me. The climax was too predictable, and the ending felt a bit lackluster.

Although some characters and scenes could use some tweaking, I'd still recommend Mistakes Were Made to anyone looking for a sexy, sapphic book.

(I have received an ARC through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and left voluntarily. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy.)