A review by bookishmillennial
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all, even if the lesson is that I’m a ho for the smut, recognizing a genre/book/author is not for me, or confronting my own mommy/daddy issues lol. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial 

general premise: 
  • contemporary age-gap/secret romance 
  • third-person limited dual-POVs
  • 21-year-old college senior Cassie has a one-night stand with an older woman at a bar during parents’ weekend
  • that older woman turns out to be her room mate Parker’s mom (Erin) 🤭
  • Cassie & Erin continue to be in close proximity, trying to ignore the chemistry between them & keep it a secret from Parker & Cassie/Parker’s bff Acacia 
  • steam: 4/5— these two can’t keep their hands off of each other OMG 🥵 
  • cw: abandonment, alcohol, misogyny 

thoughts:
OH MY GOSH THIS BOOK IS SO MUCH FUN !!!!

I absolutely loved Cassie's confidence and boldness -- she says "I don't believe in guilty pleasures. Like what you like. I'm not embarrassed to be a nerd. You don't have to be embarrassed of reading mysteries. Why would that even be embarrassing?" & this just sums up her general outlook on life. She does not live for or care for anyone else's expectations or "should"s; she is genuinely just confident in who she is as a 21-year-old. As an almost-32-year-old now, I sometimes miss that spritely self-assuredness and this was a fantastic reminder to stand strong in my confidence and to continue to boldly and loudly be myself. #ForeverCringeAndProud

It's so funny because Erin is supposed to be the older woman and I had to funny lil moment of realizing I was probably closer in age to her than the 21-year-old college student. I was like "bish, you are now officially the older woman. THAT'S HOT" hahaha. Anyway, I'm assuming Erin is around 40 and I loved the tenderness and cautious nature of her character. Unlike Cassie, she isn't 100% sure of herself and who she should be post-divorce yet. She is unlearning all of the messaging that her mother passed onto her of "keeping up appearances" and she is navigating what living a joyful, full life feels like for her. I especially appreciated her therapy sessions and the representation of seeing a mental health professional in a romance novel. THANK YOU MERYL! 

I am officially on a mission to now read everything Meryl Wilsner has published because sheeeeeesh can they write fun steamy scenes and such palpable chemistry throughout the damn story! 
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