Review: Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
Thank you SMP Romance, St. Martin’s Griffin for my advanced copy! All thoughts are me own.
I read a lot of Romance and one thing I’ve been trying to do is make sure I’m diversifying the kinds of Romance i’m reading. From tropes to trad pub and indie pub, it’s about time I finally read a Meryl Wilsner AND a traditional published age gap 👀 . It’s not a trope I often seek out, but this book has been dubbed “The MILF Book” online and my curiosity peaked.
The moniker is well earned. This book is spicy, sexy, and fun with fully realized characters and a premise that will make you think. The chemistry leaps off the page!
Synopsis:
“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?” —Goodreads
What I Liked:
The Settings—I loved how vivid the settings were in this book. From the college setting, to winter break in Nashua, visits to Boston, I felt like I was “there” for all of it.
The Emphasis on “Little Moments”—The facetime cooking dates stole my heart. As someone who was long distance with my husband for a long time, it felt so true to that kind of relationship. It also really made me buy into Cassie and Erin’s insta-attraction into something more.
Fully Realized Characters Outside of the “Taboo”—This is an age gap romance, which I haven’t read a lot of in the trad pub world. But I felt Erin and Cassie were both very well fleshed out so the focus wasn’t totally on their age difference. Though this is book has been dubbed “The MILF book” online so, do with that what you will.
What Didn’t Work:
Pacing—Act II dragged for me and the ending felt a little rushed. I did appreciate that there wasn’t a 3rd act break up and was surprised by Parker’s reaction to everything.
Some Character Interactions—Parker kind of annoyed me and she felt SO young for a college freshman. This could have been due to the narrator’s acting choices but I definitely didn’t vibe with her all the time. She also felt underutilized in the story.
Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 4/5 Overall Rating: 4/5
Content Warnings:
alcoholic parent/parental neglect (past), cheating partner (past), family tensions,