This was a quick easy read but sadly I just didn’t connect with the writing style and found myself getting irritated throughout the book.

I tried but this style is not my thing. It reads like a teenagers diary, and not just in the flashback.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review though.

This one was okay, not my favourite holiday read. It was a little YA for me but I felt like it had potential. I did like the dual timelines and I love a second chance trope.

This was cute and light festive read about troubled actress/singer Aspen who returns home for Christmas and works together with her first love Roman on directing a church play.

I like the concept of this book being based on the Taylor Swift song of the same name and having a playlist but I couldn't sit and listen to the songs as I was reading and don't really care enough to listen after.

This was a fairly quick read but probably one I wouldn't revisit.

With thanks to Parson Press for the ARC

This was a cute holiday read.

Second chance romance.

Roman is selfless and supportive.

Aspen escaped LA after a scandal, losing friends, home and best friend all in a few hours.

With a past/present timeline this story was incredible.

You get the fall in love twice.

I wanted to give this a try because I’m a huge Taylor swift fan. I loved the way there was a playlist and a song for each chapter, but I found the writing to be juvenile - which makes sense because the author is a teen! I wish I had realized that going in, but I didn’t and I found myself unimpressed for most of the book.

An adorable holiday read. I love the push and pull between two main characters. I am a sucker for second chance romances and this hit right where I wanted it to. Plus, the Taylor Swift inspired moments were great.

You can see Taylor Swift's influence throughout the book. Based on the title, I could tell the idea of having someone you reconnect with whenever you're home would be incorporated throughout. It also had Dorthea and Invisible String influences.

Personally, I think the songs as chapters were a bit too much, especially with how many were Taylor Swift songs. If there was a CD that they would always listen to or something to tie them in then it would make more sense.

Small town, second chance, forced proximity….yes, yes and yes.

I feel like there are going to be more than a few people who have heard a song by ‘that’ artist and wish that the lyrics had been written into a book….well, this is that book.

There are parts where the dialogue didn’t work for me, because it was less ‘New Adult’ and still firmly ‘YA’. That isn’t a swipe at YA. I enjoy reading YA, but if you progress the ages of the characters, then the dialogue should change, because it would naturally change with age/experience, although potentially there is an argument for ‘stunted adolescence’, so maybe that still works.

The story was wholesome and I liked the way Aspen grew into her own and became more likeable as human by the end….it was touch and go there for me for a while. It potentially was getting a little ‘too sweet’ but the chapters are short which makes for quick and easy reading.

This book had no business being as cute as it was! If you’ve ever listened to ‘Tis the damn season by Taylor Swift and thought, ‘I wish there was a book about this couple’ (I mean, who hasn’t?), then you’re in luck because this book was written for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC for an honest review.

This one just wasn't for me, I couldn't get into it. Although I commend the author for following her dream and putting herself out there and will read whatever she writes in the future!

This book could have been a lot more fun if the MC hadn't been so unlikeable. This couple definitely needed to stay apart rather than get together. The FMC is arrogant, entitled and seems oblivious to people around her. The MMC was basically Gilmore Girls' Dean, but older and more rugged. The characters felt very flat and I feel the story could have had a lot more depth to it. Also; I don't like epilogues set a couple of years later, unless they actually add to a story and address a (former) issue. This one didn't do that and I really didn't need it to end with a pregnancy

Read if you like:
Taylor Swift & the Hometown Guy
Transition from fall to the holidays
Second Chance

You should know:
Definitely skews YA
Includes a playlist with songs for each chapter, which is fun!

Would primarily recommend for Swifties, but it was a fun little holiday season read!

When singer Aspen Moore is caught in a cheating scandal, she decides to head to her hometown of Fertsville to recover with her family. When there, she reconnects with her first love Roman Torres as they're doing the children's Christmas show together. They know they have to keep it platonic as she doesn't want to move home and he doesn't want to move to LA but they can't deny their chemistry and it gets harder to deny their feelings towards one another. Could they both be willing to work together to have a happy ending.

This was a decent holiday read. I loved Roman he was so sweet and such a loving person trying to help everyone and always finding the good in people. I struggled to connect with Aspen she was too whiny for me and it felt like everything had to be about her regardless of what anyone else was going through. I feel like more could've happened on the romance part too. I also didn't enjoy the taylor swift-ness of it, it was way too much for me.

I recommend if you really like Taylor swift and celebrity romance novels.

This one just didn't do it for me. It felt really young. Not great but not awful. I love a good Taylor Swift reference though.

‘Tis the Damn Season is a fun holiday romance told in dual storylines. Aspen is a disgraced Hollywood starlet returned to her hometown and hometown flame to do some soul searching and direct a children’s nativity. I especially loved that the chapter titles were song titles.

This has to be the youngest authors work I’ve ever read. Kiki Freeman is 15! I’m so impressed with her.

This is a sweet story that is completely Swiftie coded.

I unfortunately DNF this one. I loved the title and the accompanying playlist but the writing feels very simple and juvenile. A lot of the scenes felt contrived like when Aspen is in the diner and the woman runs in hiding from her boyfriend so Aspen gives her advice on staying away from cheaters and then they exchange phone number all the while this woman has no clue who she is. I read 30% of the book but when I still found myself struggling to get into it, I knew it wasn’t going to be for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Parson Press for the eARC! All opinions expressed are my own.

I was so excited for this one but it was a huge let down!

I loved the playlist in the start of the book and each chapter represents one of the songs! I picked this up because of the swiftie references and hallmark Christmas movie vibes (big city girl goes back to her small hometown to help direct the church play with her ex/best friend 💕).

The novel is told in alternating timelines between present and 7 years ago when Aspen and Roman were in high school. I liked the past POV more than the present, at least in the first half, which had less fleshed out storytelling and felt underdeveloped. Although the past POV was very insta lovey probably because of the short amount of pages that timeline was given, but I so would’ve preferred a story of Aspen and Roman’s high school romance. The book went downhill after 25%

I would’ve loved POV from Roman 😭 The writing is just okay, it’s a lot of telling instead of showing and felt very YA despite the characters being in their mid 20s. YA isn’t a bad genre, it’s one of my favorites in fact, but I don’t like YA writing where the characters are older.

The dialogue also felt unnatural and abrupt. I cringed every time someone talked, I can’t remember a book where the dialogue was this bad 😳 Half the conversations with Leila felt weird and unrealistic. Everything to do with Leila felt unnecessary and her character only served the purpose of being there for Aspen. .

I know FMC is a singer but I haaaaate when books have song lyrics, it’s a personal opinion but I find it so cringey.

“Their chemistry is undeniable” is the chemistry in the room with us? 👀 There’s no tension, no banter, etc. They dated in high school, which that happened super quick very insta love, and then barely have any romance in the present timeline. Their interactions are surface level, how am I meant to believe this man knows you better than anyone else? Roman is also a huge walking red flag 🚩


Did not give a shit about the main characters. Aspen is selfish and “not like other girls” and completely unbelievable.

Story is slow and highlights moments that really didn’t need to be mentioned. A lot of unnecessary scenes that do nothing for the plot or character development. There were so many unnecessary details that the main plot and romance got lost!

Sexual assault references brought up at the very end of the book felt super last minute/rushed/added for “the plot” which I hated. What was even the point of doing that, it was completely out of left field?!

It’s a debut novel and I just found out the author is only 16, which is impressive. I'm not saying young people can't write good books, or that debuts can’t be good, I'm just saying an author’s experience/age can definitely be obvious in their writing in ways that don't really do good things for the book.

Being young or writing a debut doesn’t mean a book will be inherently bad and I’ll critique them as I would any other author, otherwise it’s a disservice. It’s amazing that Freeman pursued her dream of writing and I hope she’ll continue to follow her dream. I commend Freeman on getting her first book out and would be willing to give any future books a chance.

Also if the author is 16 WHY NOT WRITE A YA ROMANCE?! Writing an adult romance as a teenager feels wild because the adults now read as juvenile and unnatural.

I continued purely for the unique song playlist tie in and Taylor swift references 😅 I so badly wanted to love this one!! The holiday vibes, unique chapter song tie ins, Taylor Swift references, and hallmark-like plot all sounded great in theory. But the dialogue, telling instead of showing, underdeveloped characters, and lack of chemistry just made this novel fall flat for me 😭 please someone give me a good romance rec that has either TS references and/or has a hallmark Christmas movie-like plot!

Tropes: Small, hometown romance; holiday romance; Football player x nerdy girl; small town guy x pop star; second chance; insta love; surprise pregnancy

Rep: Latino love interest, BIPOC author

TW/CW: bullying, death of parent (brief mention), underage drinking, vomit, infidelity (brief mentions), sexual assault, cancer (brief mention)

overall this was a decent read. I found it quite hard to get into in places but I just skimmed over these bits. I liked the main characters and the dual time line. A sweet second chance romance