When I saw ‘’best friend’s mom’’, I didn’t need more. I automatically knew I was going to request this as soon as it was up. So, now that I’ve read it, I’m a bit conflicted.

What I liked: The romance was so soft and cute. I loved Erin and Cassie when they were alone, their texts (and sexts), and I loved that even though this was an (emotional) slowburn, it never lacked romance. I also loved the ending, I loved it VERY MUCH. (Spoiler that won’t go into my social media review: I love when there is no break up scene in the end… it can absolutely change my view of a book and it happened in this one). Lastly, it’s SO steamy. I was promised high steam and I got it.

What I didn’t like: The characters, and I mean all of them, Erin included, were very immature most of the time. I didn’t like how Erin and Cassie handled their relationship around Parker sometimes. I didn’t particularly like Parker either, but I feel like literally everyone was very unfair to her. I thought this was going to sour my entire experience, but I admit that the second half was way better in this aspect and I enjoyed the the way things wrapped up between everyone.

Also, the epilogue! So sweet and cute and I just want to hug Erin and Cassie!

Overall, I could have enjoyed this more, but I am happy with how things turned out in the end.

Rating: 3.5/5
Steam: 3.5/5

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my ARC!

I’ve been eagerly waiting to read another one of Meryl Wilsner’s books since I read Something to Talk About last May and Mistakes Were Made did not disappoint.

I really enjoyed this book. The chemistry and banter between Erin and Cassie was both fun and steamy.
However, there were a few lines that felt unnecessary to the plot. Specifically the comment about antebellum architecture in chapter 2, as well as the discussion in chapter six about Erin’s interracial couple friends. Both lines feel like may make many readers feel uncomfortable.

Thank you to NetGalley for this review copy.

This book was a cute beachy read. The premise was nice but the incoming conflict I thought would happen, didn’t. Which is fine, it made it a fun romp. I really enjoyed the friendship between the college ladies and the romance between the mom and co-ed was nothing less than super-spicy.

One note that was weird was that each chapter was labeled by the character who’s chapter is was but it was still all written in third person so calling it a “Cassie” chapter didn’t make much sense. You would have understood that you were back in college vs the moms house by writing alone.

I’m not normally one for age-gap romances but, this was such a fun read. Well developed characters, sexy chemistry, and a great plot.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Meryl Wilsner for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I thought this was a super fun and steamy read.

This book follows Cassie, a college student, and her best friend’s mom, Erin. They meet one night at a bar without knowing who they really are and hit it off immediately. They have great chemistry and it kept me engaged the entire time because I was waiting to see if people find out about them!

It was interesting seeing how the two women react to keeping secrets from those they love. It made the story more emotional, but I wish we could’ve heard from from Parker - the daughter. I also thought it focused a little too much on their physical attraction and not necessarily a deeper connection between them.

I recommend this book for romance fans! If you’re looking for sexual tension, this is the perfect book for you. It keeps you on the edge of your seat for sure!

Mistakes Were Made absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. I was already excited to read this book based on the premise and Meryl Wilsner's tweets about it and was absolutely thrilled when I received this eARC. And wow did this book deliver.

From the very start, this story is steamy and the tension between both the love interests is intense. Throughout, Cassie and Erin grow and change in beautiful ways, and the authenticity and irresistibility of their romance kept me glued to the page. Their sex scenes are delightfully steamy, emotionally powerful, and always exciting and new. The theme of family, both those you're born with and those you find along the way, permeates this story in ways that are achingly beautiful and relatable. This book is a true delight and a story that readers need.

10/10 and all the chili pepper emojis!!!

I requested this book solely based on a TikTok I saw that talked about the first chapter, and wow am I glad I did. I went into this blind and while I am typically not a fan of such a large age gap in romances, this was adorable. The dynamics between Cassie and Erin and Parker (Erin's daughter and Cassie's best friend) were hilarious and heartwarming. The turmoil when they realized their connection through Parker. The connection they can't shake, even though they think there are so many reasons they couldn't really be together. Seeing how Erin and Cassie's relationship grows from a one-night stand to a deep love was so fun, especially with the spice added in. I would have preferred to read this as a first person narrative just because that makes the most sense to me, but storyline wise, this was the perfect romance. I would highly recommend this one to any romance readers that love age gap, best friend's mom, or one night stand tropes.

I was super excited to read this book…the taboo trope of being with your best friends mom was soo different! I think that I unfortunately prejudged the storyline and was left feeling a little disappointed. Funny enough, I thought this book was too happy! I loved the spice and need between Cassie and Erin but I did crave a little more. I think the forbidden aspect of their relationship ended too quickly.

I did enjoy seeing how their relationship evolved, and the epilogue was 🥰. I don’t think I would consider Cassie and Parker “best friends” though based on how their relationship was portrayed so it wasn’t a big issue for me throughout the book. I do think Parker could have played a bigger role if that’s what made their relationship forbidden. They definitely focused more on that rather than on their age gap, which was nice but didn’t really make sense for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed Erin’s perspective, I think we all need to “fuck should” a little more often! Her best friend Rachel was a great side character, we all need a friend like that in our lives. She was super relatable, and I kept looking forward to the parts in the book that she was included in. The other side characters were ok, though I did like that there was no male figure that made a difference in any of their decisions.

Overall, I think this is a good book to read if you’re looking for something a little spicy and different but still makes you smile. The spice starts a few pages in so be ready!

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

THIS BOOK WAS IT!!! Not only did it correctly portray a LGBTQ relationship and what the dynamics are like but the writing was just FANTASTIC! I usually only buy hardcopies of books when i thoroughly enjoy them and this book was IT I cannot wait to get it!!! I cannot wait to read more of this author !

This book had VERY problematic/racisct lines - "plantation-like" - and more. These are horrific and unnessesary and take way from the rest of the book. They need to be edited out. Also, there were a lot of food trauma and weight loss comments. This book was steamy and hilarious, but there are a lot of unnessary things that made the book hard to enjoy. If they are edited it out, it would be better.

*Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I requested Mistakes were made on a whim thinking I wouldn't get approved, but oh boy am I glad I did! I read this in one day. It was so addictive and so god damn good.

Mistakes Were Made follows Cassie, a 21-year-old senior College student, and Erin, a 39-year-old Doctor. They meet at a bar, decide to hook up and move on with their lives. That is until Cassie meets her best friend, Parker, mom, which just so happens to be Erin from the night before. The two of them try to ignore the spark between them, but will they be able to stop the feelings?

A few friends of mine had read this book and have been raving about it, and for good reason. This book starts out with a bang and never drags. As soon as I saw a friend's video of it, I knew I had to read this book.

This book has everything I want in a romance - cute moments, emotional moments, and obviously sex scenes. Everything about this book is perfection like I can't believe it's over.

The mutual pining, oh my. The fact that both of them are obviously so infatuated with one another and yet don't do shit? Mutual pining to the MAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Loved everything about this book.

I beg of you, add this to your tbr. It's completely worth it.

I wanted to love this book, but I couldn't quite get into it. The premise of sleeping with someone who turns out to be your friend's parent is sone that could really go either way, and unfortunately, I was mostly just stressed about this one. Erin references "being the adult" one time too many for me, and there's a moment where Cassie has the realization that Erin "feels like a mom," and those moments made the whole thing feel kind of icky. I don't think it was inherently bad, just decidedly not my cup of tea. I kept reading for a while after I realized it wasn't for me, but put it down once I realized that there was no version of an HEA that I would ship, and since it's a romance, that means putting it down.

I originally wanted to read this book because: a. MILF and b. lesbian. The premise is hilarious and overall the book is witty and fun. I was a little nervous to read an age-gap book because they usually make me deeply uncomfortable, but this book made it actually seem okay. Like it was still forbidden love cause - best friends mom, but also there was only a 16ish year age gap and Erins character was actually really fun to read.

Overall, I think this is a cute rom-com book and I would definitely recommend.

I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. I was honestly very excited to read this book. I heard amazing things and I enjoy a tastefully done age gap story. Unfortunately, to me, this was not one of those stories.

The book started off really well. Warning it is very ~spicy~ and I absolutely loved every spice scene in this book. They were very well done. The first chapter did a great job in showing how the main characters meet and showing their chemistry together. It went downhill slowly after that.

First, the time jumps were confusing at times. While I do think the transitions are necessary, they can be very abrupt and I have to go back and re-read to understand what is happening. Second, the second half of the book really dredged on. It was multiple chapters of proving they liked each other but were too stubborn to admit they wanted to officially be together. The plot was pretty stagnant. Parker who is the reason Cassie and Erin cannot be together virtually disappears for a good chunk of the book as well. Thirdly and finally, I did not find the characters very enjoyable.

Cassie was the most unlikeable character to me. It felt like she had the personality of a college fratboy. I especially despised how much she called parker a "Princess." I understand that it was mostly shown to be teasing between friends, but it just really played into the smugness and cockiness of Cassie's character. It felt like she had no depth and that her tragic backstory was just something added in so we would feel for her. Honestly, it made the romance worse in my eyes as all the moments where Erin included Cassie in a family tradition or also got her a similar present to Parker made it seem less romantic and more parental vibes which made me feel uncomfortable.

Erin, I did enjoy a little bit as a character. I loved seeing her interact with her ex-husband and how she didn't let him walk all over her or Cassie. I honestly wish I could have seen more of her at work or with her friend Rachel because when she was not interacting with Cassie, she felt very flat. I wanted to experience more of her. I also really liked her interactions with Parker, especially when she talked about the divorce. I just felt like I wasn't given enough of her.

While I do love some age-gap romance, I do not think this was handled very well. The book spent so much time on Parker being the only obstacle that it felt very unrealistic. They barely brought up the age difference being an actual issue or even discussed it. I would have loved to have seen different cultural references, them navigating the societal ramifications, and heck a power dynamic if there was one. The only time age was really ever brought up was during one of Erin's monologues where she is trying to convince herself that the attraction was okay. She talks about how it's okay to be attracted to Cassie because she never saw her grow up, therefore, who cares if she's practically the same age as her daughter? That actually creeped me out a bit, to be honest. She also mentioned how much she liked Cassie because of essentially her potential which also did not sit right with me. The whole romance was just very cringe and pretty much only based on attraction and not substance.

I believe this book would have been perfect if it was just a spicy novella instead of a romance novel cause, if I didn't say it enough, I really enjoyed the spice scened and thought they were very well written. Overall, I would not recommend this book despite knowing that a lot of people have enjoyed it. I still am interested in reading other works by this author as this was just one book I didn't like.

I really wanted to love this book because everyone I know who got the ARC adored it but it just fell flat for me 😭 the age gap wasn’t an issue for me at all (my little sister's husband is 15 years older than her lol), but I felt like Cassie was kind of an unlikeable character (and not a great friend). I enjoyed the other relationships in the book more than Erin and Cassie’s. Plus, I don’t feel like their romantic relationship was fully developed—we don’t see them actually getting to know anything about the other person until more than 60% of the way through the book so I wasn’t invested in their relationship for most of the novel. I would still shelve this in the “sapphic and slaps” category and it’s super steamy, so don’t let this review keep you from reading it!

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Mistakes Were Made is about college student Cassie hooking up with a woman in a bathroom during Family Weekend at school. The next morning Cassie goes to breakfast with her friend and it turns out her hook up is her friend's mom!! This book contains age gap romance, secret romance and it was HOT. I was very flustered reading it and honestly had to take some breaks.

I enjoyed it and can't wait to share it when it's published!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
4/5
The pacing seemed kind of off with this book, I got bored around the middle. Other than that it was a really fun read.

This was so freaking good. I have a new favourite trope: age gap sapphic romance. The chemistry between Cassie and Erin was simultaneously sizzling and sweet, and the sex? Super steamy! Easily some of, if not THE best sapphic sex scenes I've ever read. This has rocketed its way into my top romance reads already!

I read Meryl Wilsner’s first book soon after it came out and couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one. I blasted through it as soon as I could and it was so much fun! I loved the characters chemistry, they really had a great connection from the start. The dialogue was witty and intelligent and I loved every second of it. There is a bit of a surprise towards the end that I had correctly guessed but it didn’t make the revelation to the MCs any less fun. This was also quite a bit steamier that I remember Meryl’s first book being but it was well done. I may have to reread Something to Talk About now because this one reminded me how good it was. Mistakes Were Made was wonderful and it’ll definitely be one I pick up again in the future!

3.5⭐️? I am completely lost on how to rate and review this book. Did I like it? At certain points, extremely YES. But sometimes, not so much. MISTAKES WERE MADE (or The MILF Book™️) is an adult sapphic romance about a college senior who accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom. I’ve seen this book pitched as a raunch-com and that description absolutely fits.

Ethics of the initial set-up aside, I think my biggest issue with this book is that it doesn’t read like a romance until you are about 2/3 of the way in. I felt like I didn’t have enough of a reason to root for Cassie and Erin as a couple until then. Of course there are smutty scenes before this point, but the characters don’t have a conversation (about anything other than getting caught or whether they “should be” sleeping together) until this point. Which in my opinion, this is a long time to wait if you were hoping for a romance book.

That said, the pacing and conflict resolution in MISTAKES WERE MADE were fantastic. I loved that the story takes place over the course of nearly an entire year. Despite my qualms about the first chunk of the book, Meryl Wilsner went out of their way to ensure the main conflict’s fallout was not too cliché. A lot of tropes were subverted, and (without spoiling much) I want to praise this book for not falling into all of the third act traps I expected it to. There was surprisingly stellar communication between characters - particularly between our leads and important side characters.

SOME THINGS I LOVED:
-The smut. We all know that’s what most of us came for (no pun intended)
-The side characters - particularly Parker and Acacia
-The respectful communication between all characters
-The emphasis on friendship and found family
-Again, the pacing. This book spanned a nearly a year seamlessly, and this fact alone makes me want to read Wilsner’s future books.
-The conclusion. The last few chapters prior to the epilogue were cleverly pieced together and finally hit the emotional touch points I was WAITING FOR. The pay-off was (thankfully) worth it.

SOME THINGS THAT KEPT ME FROM LOVING THIS COMPLETELY:
-The ICK. The Jake Gyllenhaal effect. Whatever you call it, I wish Cassie (21) was a bit older. She was mostly treated (and acted) like an adult, but I truly think the same story could have been told with a 25+ year-old.
-Erin. Her character became more sympathetic towards the end, but I felt extremely uncomfortable with how cruelly she handled some things in the beginning.
-The redundancy. I can appreciate angst, but I felt like Cassie and Erin only knew how to have one conversation for the first half of the book, so they had it over and over and over again.

I still don’t know how to rate MISTAKES WERE MADE. But I do know that I certainly look forward to talking about this book with others.