I'm not super sure what to feel about this book.

Pros: The writing itself is great, the characters are well developed, and the plot is intriguing.

Cons: don't get me wrong, I love sapphic spice as much as the next person--but some scenes felt gratuitous, or like they didn't really help the plot along. Cutting a scene or two might have made more room for the friend/daughter who, as the antagonist of the relationship, had an oddly small role in the story.

Overall not bad for a light read, it's just like a square matrix of 36 perfect circles except one is slightly off center.

I immediately request this arc because a best friends mom sapphic read screams “I am the drama you need in your life!” But now that I have read this, I feel conflicted. Most of the beginning was so reiterative it felt like a never ending revolving door. But I really enjoyed the overall story and the underlaying message of the book. And it was VERY spicy! Like from the beginning.

Overall, I don’t think this book was for me. But I am very excited to read some of Wilsner’s other books.

This book is basically porn without plot but it is a fun time. It is very good smut, I will say. It is pretty funny and I was satisfied with the ending. There are some cringey moments regarding race that other reviewers have elaborated on that I agree with. I did find the writing style a bit confusing because it is not third person limited so I had a hard time keeping the pronouns correct.

Thank you to the
I had high hopes for this one, since I really enjoyed their previous book- Something to Talk About and it did NOT disappoint.

Sexy times started at 2% into the book and kept going. Honestly, it's what I as a reader deserved. And it was 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 spicy lesbian sex for the crowd that's into MILFS (I am not, but I love a good LGBTQIA romance). The mother aspect is what messed me up the most. As I told my BFF, I would be perfectly fine with my mother being bisexual. I would NOT be okay with her fucking my best friend. This brings me to my biggest problem with the book (other than some of Cassie's rationalizations)- Parker. While the characters are really well developed, Parker felt almost under utilized. Acacia seemed to be acting as Cassie's sounding board and conscience, but Parker had no discernible personality. I truly don't understand how she found out, and didn't explode at either of them. It seemed especially unrealistic, for someone who claims to have a contentious relationship with their mother.

This was definitely one of the best books I've read! It had everything: a little bit of tension, a whole lot of cute moments, and so much spice! If you like an idiots to lovers book this is for you. It really was just such a good read. It made me feel all happy and warm inside when I finished reading it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this eGalley/eARC allowing me to give my honest review.

This book follows Cassie and Erin. This book moved rather quick I think the beginning for me but over all it was really good. This book is definitely for the people who love spicy books. I haven’t read any MILF/ best friends mother to lover books before but this really was a great opener to wanting to read more.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Before I begin, I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with this eGalley/eARC allowing me to give my honest review.

Mistakes Were Made is a sapphic whirlwind of a rom-com that follows the story of a college senior, Cassie, who finds out that her drunken hookup she met at the bar last night is actually her friend’s mom. Throughout the novel, you follow the two characters as they try to navigate this new territory as their supposed one-time fling unravels into much more than they originally bargained for.

This book was one that I originally could not wait to get my hands on. I loved the plot and could not wait to see how this story would unfold. Though as I started to read the book I noticed a few issues and things that made me uncomfortable within the story. While Wilsner typically does a decent job navigating age gaps and differing dynamics in relationships as seen in their previous novel, Something to Talk About, I feel that a lot of that was lost here. They spent so much of the book doubling down on how weird and wrong the relationship was, it made it very uncomfortable at times, leaving the reader unsure if they should be rooting for this relationship or not. There are multiple lines where they have Erin, refer to Cassie as a child referring to Erin as “the adult in the situation,” as if Cassie is not a literal adult. It made it very uncomfortable to read because it’s like if you continue to drill down that she is “too young” then why continue? While they do have an age gap, Cassie is still an adult and those lines start to take away from that. Secondly, the dialogue throughout the book is very cringe-worthy but also super repetitive, the author uses the words ‘tits’ so many times as if there is no other synonym for the word. Also managing to make the main character so insufferably cocky throughout the beginning of the story, I know it was supposed to come off as “confidence” but it just simply made me want to close the book. The story did get better on towards the middle and end of the book though still cringeworthy at times. Overall the book was decent there were definitely parts that I enjoyed but the issues I’ve included slightly ruined the experience for me and therefore I lowered my rating.

Additionally, I do not feel comfortable with how race/racial aspects were discussed in this book. There were a variety of problematic lines including but not limited to:

In chapter 2: when Wilsner described an area as “too plantation-like”
In chapter 4: having the MC highlight the fact that one of the characters is a “mediocre white man” as if they were not also white,

especially these lines where Wilsner writes:

In Chapter 6: “ Her mom had always been proud Erin was close with an interracial couple, in that “I have black friends” sort of way.” which is just a bizarre thing to say and not their place as a white person even to attempt to make that joke, it was very not necessary and made me extremely uncomfortable

In Chapter 14: The scene where Rachel and Erin are at the nail salon and Wilsner has the nail techs say “We don't Gossip” —“Not in English anyway” again, as a white author this is something they need to be more aware of and note that not only does it come off as a weird stereotype but also that it is not their place to make these kinds of comments.

As a writer, if you are not able to incorporate diversity into your books in a way that is not microaggressive and offensive then you need to work on that and get feedback from the communities you are representing. I hope these issues are thoroughly addressed before official publishing.

This was SO FUCKING GOOD. Like honestly one of the best wlw I’ve ever read. It’s sapphic and it slaps! Absolutely loved and obsessed with this book. Highly recommend to everyone. The banter across all relationships was phenomenal. And the spice was *chefs kiss*. Definitely my favorite romance of 2022.

Thanks for the ARC! I enjoyed this book much better than the authors last book. So much steamy chemistry this time!

Woah Woah Woah! This book is a total trip!

When this book was sold to me as "the milf book," could you blame me for expressing interest in it?

If you are a person who loves spice, this bad boy has a ton of it. The romance in the book focuses on a sapphic couple, and I really enjoyed how these characters were represented in the story.

The pacing of the novel was a little unstable a times, I wished some parts to move a little faster, and for others, I desperately wanted us to spend more time in a moment. This, however, wasn't a huge issue for me, just something to note.

I loved that the conflict in the plot didn't revolve around the characters being queer; this was refreshing, and I hope to see more of this in the future.

I hope that the fully published version of the book has taken out the sentences that included racial microaggressions because they do not need to be included in the book, in my opinion.

This book was really fun and spicy! I liked the characters a lot and I definitely did not get bored! I love the chemistry between Cassie and Erin. The book was also well written and just had the right balance of everything. I did not regret reading this at all!

Thanks to NetGalley for offering me an ARC

I enjoyed Mistakes Were Made even more than Wilsner's last book, Something to Talk About. I read this in one day, and it had everything I could've asked for. Lesbian representation? Check. Spice? Check. Lovable side characters and relationships? Check. I think this is a great romance release, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I couldn't put it down!

Okay this is going on my favorites list. F/f MILF book? Say less. And it was so freaking GOOD. I'm definitely going to go into more depth on GR but whew. Read this one.

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinsgriffin for providing a digital copy of Mistakes Were Made in exchange of a honest review.

I was expecting this one to be a fun summer Romance and I was happily surprised to found out it was so steamy! Definetly one to get you "hot and bothered" if that's what you are looking for. I liked the various representation, the fact that Cassie is persuing a scientif path and, of course, the friendship circle.

Mistakes Were Made is deliciously sapphic and seductive from the very first chapter. Cassie, a confident, sexy college senior, and Erin, a much older, successful, recent divorcee, can’t keep their hands off each other after meeting at a bar.The catch is that Erin is Cassie’s best friend Parker’s mom. The book then follows the pair as they try and fail to resist each other, sneaking behind Parker’s back to have the best sex of their lives.

This book is for anyone who likes morally gray characters, spicy sapphic romances, mommy issues, and MILFs. If you can get past the lying to your best friend/daughter about your relationship, the ending definitely pays off. My only gripe is that the pacing felt off at some points, randomly jumping weeks or just hours, giving a ton of detail then not much, but other than that I loved this book.

Mistakes Were Made is an adult sapphic romcom that follows Cassie, a college senior who one night “accidentally” hooks up her friends mom, Erin unknowingly. Mistakes Were Made follows Cassie and Erin as they have to constantly confront their feelings for each other, sneaking behind Parker’s back and decide if they are willing to take the risk and possible wrath from Parker to be together.

I really loved this book! The sapphics were fed with this spicy romcom. Like really this is probably the spiciest sapphic book I’ve ever read. This should be the blueprint! I think Cassie and Erin were super interesting characters. Both had some sort of trauma they had to deal with and confront before they decided to be together and I really appreciate that in a book. I will say this did take me a bit to get through because I felt like the pacing in the beginning was a bit wonky for me. I do think after the 30% mark was when things really took off. I really loved the sneaking around and trying to keep their friends with benefits relationship aspect of the story. I also just loved the romance between Cassie and Erin. They have chemistry, conversations and all that stuff that comes with dating (without admitting or recognizing that they were dating). I do think Parker was giving privileged/spoiled college student a bit too much sometimes.

Overall I really loved this!! I wasn’t the biggest fan of Something To Talk About (ended up DNFing it) so I’m so glad I was able to receive and e-arc of this and give the author a second chance.

I’m well aware of some weird racial comments that were randomly thrown into this book that weren’t needed but I do know that it was brought to tue authors attention and they are/have made changes before the final version of this book comes out in October!

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Mistakes Were Made is a sizzling romance full of tropes executed in the absolute best way! The chemistry between Cassie and Erin is off the charts, and the friendships between Parker, Acacia, and Cassie really reflect the lives of college students and the bonds that may be tried but cannot be broken!

While it’s a fun summer romance vibe, the book also takes on the heavier side of secrets, love, and friendship. This addition makes the characters wholly human, allowing us to see their flaws and root for them anyway.

This story delivers in every category: romance, sex, friendship, and fun!! I would read more about every character and never be bored.

MISTAKES WERE MADE is every bit the fun, wild, steamy MILF rom-com that I was hoping for. I loved seeing Erin and Cassie's love story develop, and the tension throughout the book was perfect. This fills a much-needed gap in the sapphic adult rom-com space, and I would love to see more like it!

Can I just start by saying I absolutely adore this book? I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure about the huge age gap and friend’s mom concept at the start and at first I cringed at the awkward interactions, but by the end it was barely noticeable and the dynamics were perfect. It was slightly predictable though since there was so much of the book left and they were denying it ever happening again vehemently. The way they brought out the best in each other was adorable though. You can feel the love everyone has for each other, like Acacia's family and Cassie. I was a bit jealous of the fictional characters because I wanted to be at the party too, that’s the level of connection this book creates with the reader. I haven’t read many books of this trope before so the plot twist with Parker was a huge surprise. I love the way it had such a happy ending but I would have liked to see more of Erin’s friends feelings than just Rachel since there was so much build up. Selfishly, I wish the epilogue was longer because I didn’t want to see them go. Definitely a page turner!

read this book if you love: age gaps, MILFS, best friends MOM (!!!!!), a STEM MC

I am obsessed with this book! Love a book with an STEM/Engineering main character. the steam OH MY GOD chefs kiss amazing. i’m an engineer in the aerospace industry and the only thing that bothered me was that Cassie was taking Calc her last semester before graduating. Even if it was calc 3 i feel like she should have been done with it at the end of junior year at the latest because it’s usually a pre req for quite a few things and can sometimes be required before you even get to take upper level engineering classes.

5/5 stars i would recommend to everyone