In this novella, bartender Britta agrees to a marriage of convenience with Canadian hockey player Sumner (who she knows has a huge crush on her) so he can get his green card and continue to play for the local team.

I'll keep the review as short and sweet as the book. The story had a fun premise and somewhat likable characters. However, I did not like the possessive-aggressive-alpha-male tendencies or painfully cringey smut, and the lackadaisical green card plot line was an insult to the immigration process.

Thank you to Amazon Original Stories for gifting me with an ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

2 stars - This book was okay. It did not have too much plot but that is not surprising since it is a novella. Sumner, the MMC, plays hockey and his work visa is expiring so he asks his teammate's half-sister Britta to marry him for a green card. There were so many questions I had when I was reading this. Why did the hockey team he was playing for not help him with his visa? Why could he not sign with a hockey team in Canada? Why did they never move in together if they pretended to be married? I get that he put his name on the bills and had this mail directed to her house but why did immigration not question the fact that he had another residence? Not even going to touch upon the whole green card issue.

This was a fun and steamy novel from the queen of sexy romance, Tessa Bailey. Britta has trust issues and has plans never to giver her heart to a relationship. Sumner is a hockey player who has been pining for Britta for the last year. He's about to lose his green card unless he can get married. This is the set up for this slow burn novella that takes place over the course of a year. While they might be fantasizing about each other, they take their time getting to know each other. I enjoyed the progression of their relationship and getting to know both of them. It was an enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publisher for sharing a copy. All opinions are my own.

Tessa does it again! This time it's a spicy hockey romance! Great characters, great chemistry, great spice! My only compaint is that it's too short;) Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

trust me when I say that I'm not a huge steamy books fan but this is so good!
it made me feel a certain way while reading it and although it is just a novella the story is complete.
also, the reassurance coming from the MMC is chef's kiss.

this was fine.

i would definitely recommend other works by this author before ever mentioning this one - but it’s not a bad story.


it’s extremely and too heavily focused on the sex moments and the too often described heavenly „tits“ of the female POV or the constant mentioned of the thick bulging veined arms of the huge large big 6.5 feet tall male POV…. it was a bit too heavy handed.


personally i think this would have been a cute story in itself - a sports player needing a green card to finally be able to go pro and needs someone to marry (has been done a lot before nothing bad about a popular trope!) and the sister of other player in the team make it work together and fall in love along the way.
could have even included -hopefully less cringy- sex scenes BUT the hyper focus on mentioning all the sexual attributes while also always mentioning the female POVs personal struggles to commit to a relationship…. it was too much with too little and at the same time too long for what this story did.


overall it’s okay but it isn’t a great read and i know this author can do better and had done better.

do with that what you will!

Wow I did not expect that I would give this short little novela a 5 star rating but I absolutely loved this book! It had all the best tropes ever in this; marriage of convenience, mutual pinning, he fell first and harder. I am completely obsessed!

If you’re looking for a quick steamy romance with a cinnamon roll MMC, marriage of convenience and he falls first tropes, then you might like this novella.

I like how supportive and patient Sumner (MMC) is towards Britta (FMC) who had trust issue with family and relationship.
Although, I admire Britta for having a close relationship with her half-brother, Bryce. It was a difficult decision especially remembering her situations and she handled it really well.

While I do like the sweet and supportive romance in here, I’m not entirely sure with the steamy scenes. It feels a little bit weird, especially the dialogue between the main characters during that part...

The problem with novella is that it’s usually too short and I was always craving for more out of the book, the same happen with this one.
I kinda wish the length is slightly longer to give room for the story and the characters to developed.
Moreover, I kinda wish the hockey part was shown a little bit more in this novella – I would like to know more about that.

Nevertheless at the end of it, I feel happy they got the ending they deserved with Britta finally ready to step out of her comfort zone and Sumner finally got his dream.

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: sexual content, abandonment, cursing, mention of alcohol and sexual harassment

Tessa Bailey can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned and this novella is a perfect example. Is sumner the polar opposite of every hockey player I’ve ever met? Yes. Is that actually such a breath of fresh air that he was a good person from the start? Also yes!

More about Britta and Sumner please!!

That you #netgalley and publisher for the #ARC of this book. I read some reviews and was feeling very discouraged by them, but I gave Tessa the benefit of the doubt and read this short story and I enjoyed it. This was spicy girl! I liked it for what it was, a short sexy story with not a lot lot of substance and sometime we need those. This for me was perfect and exactly what I needed after the more heavy book I just finished. I’d you’re looking for spice, he falls first and hard in under 200 pages this is your book. Enjoy!

Same Time Next Year is bestselling author Tessa Bailey’s newest standalone novella featuring the fake-marriage trope. It is a steamy romance (thoughts instead of actions) set in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is told in dual POV.

Britta is a 20-something bartender/waitress who works at Sluggers, a popular sports bar and hangout for the local hockey team, the Bridgeport Bandits. Britta’s father abandoned her and her mother when she was twelve for his secret second family, and her mother had a subsequent emotional breakdown. Britta started working at Sluggers to fill in her waitress mother’s hours and bring in some income. It quickly become her “safe place” and home away from home. Over time Britta’s goal became to someday become a part owner of Slugger’s but she has neither the cash nor formal business education to do that.

When Britta was a new adult, her older half-brother, Bryce, reached out to her. He moved to Bridgeport to play for the Bandits. Britta has a tenuous relationship with Bryce and a strict no-dating policy for his hockey teammates. She has no intention of ever marrying or starting a family. However, she is secretly attracted to 6’5” Canadian defenseman Sumner Mayfield with his soulful brown eyes.

27-year-old Sumner Mayfield is the youngest of five children to a couple who have been happily married for 40 years. He dreams about someday having a relationship with Britta and playing in the NHL. Unfortunately Britta won’t give him the time of day, and his work visa expires on New Years Day. His Bandit teammates scheme for Sumner to marry Britta so he can get a green card and stay in the US. Bryce even offers for Sumner to pay Britta $50,000 so she can buy a share of Sluggers.

Same Time Next Year is broken up into chapters by calendar seasons. It’s a story filled with yearning by both main characters, and Britta working through her emotionally scarred childhood. The reader can’t help but root for Britta and Sumner to find their happily-ever-after. This novella is different from the author’s previous bestselling books, and I really enjoyed it. I hope she writes Bryce’s story next.

I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was a home run if you want:
* Complete suspension of disbelief about literally everything (how green cards work, how hockey works, how basically anyone lives in the real world...disregard it all!)
* A "plot" that really centers smut told mostly through the male character's POV
* A quick read for pure fun
* Tessa Bailey's famous brand of dirty talk

I really liked it, but will be honest about its shortcomings. The whole thing is ridiculous and reads as if you wrote a story based on a BookTok word cloud, but genre lovers are going to flip. It is a spicy, marriage of convenience, sports romance novella. It reads as exactly as what is on the tin, so if you like that, you will love this.

This had the premise to be a really good book, but it felt rushed. There wasn’t enough space to fully explore the story, so it was disjointed and moved quickly without explanation.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable romp that reminded me how much I love Tess Bailey’s writing. The story is well written, the characters are likable and it’s spicy enough to keep your interest.

Sometimes you just need to read a short book, very hot, very entertaining and a protagonist who is obsessed and loves his girl very much 🛐✨❤️
I loved Sumner, what a man 😮‍💨 I loved how he is with Bri 🤍 they are very cute, Tessa never fails with these stories, I want more 🛐❤️

He's great at hanging out and entertaining you🙈


-Hockey romance🤍
-fake marriage/convenience💍
-novella✨
-hot🥵
-new year’s eve🥳
-“my wife”😮‍💨


Thanks netgalley for the eArc

“Not a relationship. An . . . expirationship?”

If you’re looking for an over the top mushy hero and a heroine who is cynical about romantic love being real/forever, all wrapped up with a marriage of convenience plot, then you’ve found your read. I’m not sure this one was 100% for me. It was entertaining and it was steamy, but I kept cringing because the hero was just a little too golden retriever/teddy bear for me. I think I’m a Tessa Bailey grumpy hero fan more than a mushy hero fan. All that said. It was entertaining, quick, and starts off on New Year’s Eve, so maybe a holiday romance if you’re in need.

**I do want to mention that they get married because the hero has a visa that’s about to expire. He’s from Canada and some of the blasé/out of touch discussion around immigration/visas might be upsetting to some considering the way the United States treats non-white immigration/immigrants.

Thank you to Amazon Original Stories, Netgalley and the author Tessa Bailey for a free ebook in exchange for my honest review.
Ok, I actually really liked this novella. Sumner is a rising hockey star who needs a green card to stay in the USA to play hockey. (I have to agree with the criticisms regarding the fact that hockey is literally Canada's thing... anyways.) Britta is a bartender who has a half-brother on the hockey team and had a dream of being an owner of the bar she works out. Enter marriage of convenience. Another common criticism of this novella was the fact that it took around 5 months to get a green card, which is not how reality works. Also, I do agree with some reviewers that the MMC was just a little bit too into her at times to the point where some of his actions came off as creepy. Overall, I did really enjoy this.

Spicy and sweet. This novella packs a lot in a short time and remains entertaining. The couple agree to marry so that he can stay in the US to play hockey. This story is full of humor, heart and romance with a lot of steaminess. I admit it had me blushing at times. It is well worth the read. Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this book!

Tessa Bailey manages to always write a story that has sass, heart, and characters that you root for no matter what. What’s especially impressive is that she managed to do it all in a short novel that leaves you wanting more of all of it. I loved this cute little story of a die hard relationship guy and a commitmentphobe girl who somehow find their way into a green card marriage and something a bit more than either bargained for

Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey is a fun quick read!

I went in this story blind as I will pick up anything Tessa Bailey writes. I expected a Christmas romcom, but instead a I got a cute New Years romcom with some hockey (!!) thrown in.

Same Time Next Year had some fun tropes thrown in: fake marriage, hockey, sports romance. If you enjoy Tessa Bailey’s novels be sure to pick up Same Time Next Year!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.