Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner: Book Review

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner is a delightful age-gap romance about finding your happy ever after when you least expect it.

When Dr. Erin Bennett goes to Family Weekend to visit her daughter at college, a one-night-stand is the furthest thing from her mind. Her daughter, Parker, is having dinner with her father so she decides to have a drink before she goes back to her hotel for the evening. She’s been divorced for three years. She’s started dating again but hasn’t found anyone who can keep her interest – not like she’s looking for “the one”, anyway.

Cassie Klein is in her last year of college. She can’t wait to graduate and pursue her advanced degree in aerospace engineering. She heads over to an off-campus bar to avoid the school’s Family Weekend. She doesn’t know who her father is, and her mother hasn’t done much to earn that title. She didn’t go to the bar looking for a hookup, but she can’t resist the older woman standing across the bar from her. After buying her a drink, they end up in the backseat of a rental car having the best sex Cassie’s had in a long time. No names, no exchange of phone numbers, no plans for a repeat.

The next morning Erin’s enjoying her post sex glow as she waits for Parker to meet her for breakfast. She’s overjoyed to see her “baby”, but horrified to meet Parker’s best friend, Cassie. Erin had no idea she was hooking up with a college student last night, let alone with one of her daughter’s best friends.

Cassie agrees to drag herself out of bed to go to breakfast with the freshman who’s quickly become one of her besties. When she recognizes Erin as the woman from the previous night’s escapade, she can’t hide the cocky grin that’s taken up residence on her face. In the light of day, Erin is even more gorgeous than she remembers.

Erin’s better judgement tells her having anything to do with Cassie is a bad idea, but they get along just as well in the day as they did the previous night. Before they know it, they’re sneaking around behind everyone’s backs. What started as a purely sexual fling has turned into something real, something neither of them thought they’d ever find.

Is being honest about the love between them worth the possibility of losing everyone who’s important to them, or should they end things and live with the heartache?

Pros And My Favourite Parts

Mistakes Were Made has everything I like about an age-gap romance without the ice queen trope. While Erin has moments of insensitive behavior, she’s immediately contrite and hurries to make amends to Cassie. Her motivation isn’t just about self-preservation. She doesn’t want to see Cassie hurt because of a relationship that can’t possibly go anywhere. The tenderness between the two women is genuine. Wilsner does a great job morphing the romance from a one-night-stand to a very loving, committed relationship. I was always aware of the age-gap, but Erin and Cassie bring out the best in each other. They’re perfectly matched, and the 18-year age difference in their ages is part of what makes them tick.

Cons And Heads Up

Both Erin and Cassie are very intelligent women. Erin’s a successful surgeon and Cassie’s a brilliant aerospace engineer about to start work on her master’s degree. I love capable women! I wish I’d had the opportunity to see them being capable. I wasn’t looking for subplots highlighting their chosen careers, but I would have liked a glimpse of them being the superstars I was told they are.

The Conclusion

This is an all-around fun romance. I usually want a giant helping of angst in my romances. I want to spend a significant amount of time, lying on the floor in a heap of conflicting emotions with the book clutched to my chest. (Dramatic, much?) Mistakes Were Made is refreshingly angst-lite. It has more of a waiting-for-the-shoe-to-drop type of tension. I was puzzled for about 48 hours after finishing the book. Was I okay with a romance in which there was no big break up? It turns out I really was. I enjoyed getting to know Cassie and Erin and rooting for them to find happiness together. The spicy scenes are plentiful and there’s humor spread throughout. This book kept me entertained and engaged. I hope you check it out.

Excerpt from Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

A blush crept onto her cheeks just thinking of the previous night. She had hooked up with a college student in the backseat of her rental car. Rachel would have a field day with this, but Erin hadn’t decided whether she’d tell her. Her best friend had been trying to get her to, well, sleep around a bit for three years now, basically as soon as the divorce was final. Every date Erin had had in the last three years, Rachel made her recount in a full blow-by-blow—sometimes literally, depending on how the date had gone. She would love the recap of last night. Erin couldn’t even imagine how she would explain Cassie to Rachel. The way Cassie had looked at her, the way she’d touched her, no hesitation.

Erin shook her head and smiled into her coffee mug. She should’ve been thinking about her daughter, not about the cocky woman with the filthy grin who’d bought her a drink.

As though summoned by Erin’s thoughts, Parker appeared beside the table.

“Baby!” Erin gushed, leaping up to hug her daughter.

She squeezed her tight, eyes closed, and breathed her in. Her kid. Parker smelled like the cheap perfume she’d worn since freshman year of high school. Erin pressed a kiss against the side of her head then let go before she could be reprimanded for holding on too long.

Parker’s smile was wide and toothy, and Erin wanted to cry. God, she’d missed her.

“Mom, this is Cassie,” Parker said. “Cassie, this is my mom.”

It took Erin a moment to shift from looking at Parker to looking at Parker’s friend. Her brain lagged, catching on the name but not figuring out why until her eyes landed on Cassie.

Cassie.

Thank God for Erin’s mother drilling manners into her since she was a child—her mind might’ve been a never-ending scream, but Erin didn’t miss a beat before extending her hand to shake Cassie’s.

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Bennett.” Cassie’s face was nothing but a self-satisfied grin. She ran her other hand through her blond hair, just as gorgeous and cocky as she’d been last night.

Erin squeezed a little too hard. “Please,” she said. “Call me Erin.”

This could not be happening.

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