Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Mistakes Were Made

It's fucking weird that Cassie and Erin hooked up at Parker's acapella show, it's fucking weird that Cassie hooked up with Erin for all of winter break after an incredibly flimsy reason for Cassie to even be there, and it's fucking weird that Parker was so fine with it after she found out AND did all of her processing off-page. Also why do they get married at the end? Totally useless. Plus it's a lot of smut and little romance development... Pace better

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cozycritiques's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

”She’d done a bad thing. Because that’s what this was: bad. How could sleeping with your daughter’s friend be anything else?”
- Mistakes Were Made

Tropes: Single Parent, Forbidden/Secret Relationship, Best Friend’s Parent, Caretaking While Sick, Holidays, Characters in Therapy, Women in STEM, Age Gap, Texting
Representation: LGBTQ+ (Bisexual), Mental Health
Spice Scale: 🌶🌶🌶🌶
CW: Divorce mention, Past Infidelity mention, Parental Abandonment (Past), Misogyny

I picked this up purely because it had been described as “the MILF book,” and it did not disappoint. When there was a sex scene within the first eight pages of a book, I expected the book to be more spice than plot—which wouldn’t have been a problem for me at all. However, I was pleasantly surprised because Mistakes Were Made struck the perfect balance between spice and plot.
There was such amazing character growth for Cassie and Erin, and the emotional slow-burn of them getting together after their initial meeting was so well done. How Wilsner was able to write such effective mutual pining while the characters were actively hooking up was nothing short of amazing. Their chemistry was off the charts, even when they were separated. I loved the long-distance texting and FaceTime dates; they’re two of my favorite micro-tropes, and there aren’t nearly enough books that do it so effectively.
I loved the found family aspect of this book. It was a little messy, considering Erin was Cassie’s friend’s mother, but that didn’t detract from the tight-knit friend group feel. The messy conflict was also handled really well at the end.
Mistakes Were Made was heartfelt and fun, and I can’t wait to see what Wilsner does next.

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billievee's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

4.25

Sweet and spicy, the way a good romance book should be. Yeah, the situation is a little weird and problematic (a fact that the characters NEVER stop reminding the reader of!) but it's handled delicately and leads to a surprisingly wholesome story. I did feel that some of the secondary characters react to the situation in a pretty unrealistic manner, especially towards the end, but this is a minor gripe.

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

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jencolumb0's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a bit of a slow burn for me. It took about 100 pages for the characters to turn from somewhat annoying stereotypes into characters that stood on their own. Once they did, though, they were quite endearing and I, frankly, was relieved that the third act crash wasn’t as bad as it could have been because the main two are just so stinking cute. Bonus points for digging into some of the difficulties of parenting.

Deliciously open door: Wilsner doesn’t hold back on the spicy elements.

Overall, it landed on a bridge between Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls series and Susannah Nix’s STEM series (not quite rapid-fire geek/charmingly awkward to venture into Ali Hazelwood territory) as a solidly charming read.

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dododenise's review against another edition

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2.0

I really didn’t enjoy this. The entire concept just weirded be out and I was uncomfortable most of the time. It’s not the book’s fault, it’s not like it makes a secret about what it’s about. This is entirely my fault for thinking I could warm up to this.

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lidia7's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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