New Release: It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey + Review!

 It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey is now available!

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong. 

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart. 

Grumpy boat captain/Sunshine socialite

Schitt’s Creek Inspired

Strong sisterly bond

Laught out loud moments

STEAM

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2HTB6SJ

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3kOc7yq

Kobo: https://bit.ly/368WUC7

Google: https://bit.ly/3jOvTsn

Review:

4-4.25 stars

****

 This was really good! It Happened One Summer is Brendan and Piper's story. Piper is the daughter of Hollywood royalty and is a spoiled LA princess and It girl. After a breakup, she goes a little wild and gets herself arrested. After she is released, her stepfather sends her and her sister out of town for the summer to get them out of the limelight. Piper, and her sister, Hannah, have never left LA and are in culture shock when they arrive in the small town in Washington. Their birth father, who died when they were very young, was from there and was a sea fisherman and bar owner. Piper and Hannah are in for an adventure as they learn to do brand new things like cook for themselves, while surviving in the sticks. They get to know the townpeople and decide to fix up their father's run down bar. Piper meets Brendan, a widowed fisherman, and opposites attract when the two of them fall for each other. They have to figure out how to make things work between them and how they can be together, despite coming from two different worlds.

This was a fun story with the perfect balance of emotion and humor. I am not a Schitt's Creek fan. I just couldn't get into it. So I was a bit wary that I wouldn't love this book, or Piper, who is based on Alexis Rose. But that wasn't the case. Piper does come off a bit silly at first, but I ended up really liking her as I got to know her. She is a good person with heart. She and Brendan were awesome together. Brendan was such a good hero. He worshipped Piper and she loved him very much as well. This book was the "dead ex" trope done right. It was no contest between Brendan's love for Piper. He was consumed by her, while his dead wife was more of a marriage of convenience.

It Happened One Summer was such a good story. It was unique, fun, and super sexy. The cartoon cover was not my favorite at all. It really did not fit the story and doesn't not give prospective readers a true picture of the story they are about to read. Despite that, this book had it all. Really good characters, a great story, depth and chemistry. The small town fishing village setting was fun and different. It was really great seeing Piper grow and come into her own and seeing Brendan open up and fall in love. The two of them were awesome together.

Overall, this was a great book. I really enjoyed Piper and Brendan's story. I can't wait to read Hannah's story in the future and see what Ms. Bailey comes up with next!