4.5 stars 💖

this is by far my favorite hockey romance that I've ever read. I adored these characters, and of course a tessa bailey novel is always a fun and spicy time! chloe gave such legally blonde vibes, sig is a protective guys' guy that that fell first... and hard.

this was so close to being a five star for me. I do think some people will associate this with the insta love trope, but hear me out. it made sense because of the circumstances of how they met. to me, chloe and sig seem to have had a lot of same but different experiences and kind of mirror each other despite having very different personalities. it wasn't a typical insta love/lust. they definitely connected on a way deeper level. the ending felt slightly rushed because these characters don't rush into a physical relationship. there is a lot of pining for each other, and I love how tessa was able to keep it sexy without actual sex occurring until much later on in their story.

I love this series, and this was my favorite one so far although the other big shots novels are close contenders. thank you netgalley and the publisher, avon, for allowing me to read dream girl drama by tessa bailey before it is released in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to Netgalley for this opportunity to be an advance reader of Tessa’s upcoming new book!

This was a good easy read! I would have loved to have more of them actually together… but whew the chemistry and love between them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Tessa Bailey does it once again. The minute Sig and Chloe were introduced in  The Au Pair Affair, I knew these two would get their own book. Having read the other two in the Big Shots series, I was super cautious about this book since it seemed like a step-sibling relationship, and the plot made me uncomfortable. However, while reading it, Tessa made it hilarious with a great twist at the end. I love how Sig was gone for Chloe the minute he saw her, and their chemistry was top-tier, along with the banter. Additionally, Bailey's smut writing was, as always, phenomenal. I swear, no one writes like her in the best way possible. 

Side note: I REALLY hope we get a book or Novella for Corrigan (one of the Orgasm Donor Rookies).

Read if you like:
- Sports romance
- Mutual pining
- He falls first and harder
- Dual POV

I really loved both sig and Chloe in the last book and this was just even better.
I was literally bawling my eyes out towards the end. Incredibly sweet, spicy, and emotional. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this hockey romance! I had been eagerly waiting for Sig and Chloe’s steamy story, and it did not disappoint. The chemistry between them was off the charts, and Tessa did an amazing job weaving their fiery passion into a storyline that kept me hooked from start to finish. The balance between heartfelt moments and sizzling spice was perfect, making it impossible to put down. Sig and Chloe’s journey was everything I hoped for and more, with plenty of drama, heat, and tender moments to keep me swooning. Tessa truly outdid herself with this one!

I feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to read this as an ARC. This has been my favorite book of the series so far. I couldn’t get enough of Sig and Chloe and their chemistry was amazing. I only wish it had been longer to see more of them!! One of my favorite reads this year for sure.

Tessa Bailey hits it out of the park again. I ate up Sig and Chloe’s relationship and was genuinely rooting for them through the whole book (and the book before if I’m being honest 😅). From the second that they met the sparks were flying off the page and I was falling in love with Sig. I’m a sucker for a hockey romance but this was so much more than just that. Their relationship was sweet. And the spice at the end.. good lord 🥵🫣

I have so many things to say about this one and sadly not one of them is nice. Well that’s not completely true, I quite enjoyed the premise outlined in the synopsis and was really looking forward to reading this…<b> <i>BUUUUUT</i> this fell completely flat. </b>

<b>Just a warning, there will be some spoilers in this review, I need to be able to rant properly. Stop reading if you don’t want spoilers. </b>
<b>For the plot</b>, you’ve got the soon-to-be step siblings and insta-love troupes but past that there isn’t really conflict. Sig, our MMC, doesn’t particularly like his estranged father and thus they hardly have a relationship. Chloe, our FMC, a sheltered harpist with not a single skill outside playing the harp, gets all but kicked out and cut off from her mom at the first sign of her wanting to gain some independence. So them becoming step siblings is this huge plot point and reason they shouldn’t pursue their insta-love (<i>*coughs* lust</i>) connection. <b>And I’m sorry but no</b>.

<b>Now, onto the characters…</b> <i> I hated them both </i>. <b>Chloe </b>has clearly never done anything in her life ever, and spoiler alert, she continues to do nothing in her life ever in Boston. We get a five month flash forward (timelines/pacing, you’re next on the list of gripes) where she makes Sig a cake for his birthday, cute yes of course, but she literally says she got egg shell in the mix and couldn’t get it out. And I get this is meant to be a callback to how helpless/sheltered she’s been but the lack of character growth and development for her was just so apparent here. <b>Sig</b>, while I think he is meant to mean well, just assumes the role of guardian in every way: puts her up an apartment out of his budget, spends the equivalent of a new truck in the time she gets to Boston, pre apartment, says to her “I’ll keep the truck as long as you never give another man your number”, brings her breakfast every morning. Idk bro, maybe you shoulda taught her how to make breakfast so she could properly crack an egg after 5 months, but what do I know.

In all of these glimpses into their shinning personalities, I don’t feel like they actually had any chemistry either. <b>Which brings us to pacing…</b> Ok, so first, this is an arc copy so this first gripe could be fixed by the final version, but the timeline markers a week later, two weeks later, two months later, four months later, five months later, now. So up until the five months later marking I thought their parents’ wedding (the mention it’s 8 months away in the first chapter) is like any day now. Because as I read two weeks later, I assume that is two weeks after what I just read and not two weeks after something that happened at the beginning unless it’s delineated as after that event (i.e. two weeks post meeting). Even more confusing because the comment about the hotel he put her in costing more than a new truck comes after the <i>one week later</i> marker. <b> For the actual pacing, </b>all of those timeline markers happen in chapter 4-5 and are at most a couple pages with a single anecdote from that time.. and idk, I’m not buying they’re so in love and pinning for each other when we don’t get to see them pinning for each other. Call me crazy. You just get a throw away lusty comment and then something that happened during that time. Then in month five, Sig is wishing for her to have his ring on her hand next birthday.

Rant over.

Please someone recommend me Tessa Baileys best book so I can give it another shot!

<b>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review! </b>

If you look up 'down bad' in the dictionary, there will be a picture of Sig Gauthier. It's love at first sight for both Sig, an underpaid NHL player, and his future stepsister, harp prodigy and spoiled rich girl Chloe Clifford. I was worried that Chloe was going to be too flighty based on how she was presented in The Au Pair Affair, but she is so earnest, willing to try to new things, and self aware. Yes, she's spoiled, but she knows it and wants to do better. Which is ironic, because all Sig really wants to do is spoil this girl.

The way they show love for each other, while resisting temptation because of their 'taboo' relationship (lol, some of the books I read make this look like child's play), is TOO CUTE. Sig buys up all the pop tarts in her vicinity so she has to come to him when she needs a fix, so when she shows up at his apartment he's terrified that she's going to notice his cabinets full of her favorite snack. There are a million things like this throughout the book -- they are just so thoughtful of each other's wants and needs. And not just material, physical things, but they're determined to support each other's goals in reaching their dreams.

One huge highlight of this book was the teammate banter. The rookies and Sir Savage bring legit comedy to this rom com as they back up Sig in a pickup game of baseball. They are over the top and I really hope at least one of them gets a book (which is sort of hinted at, but you never know).

Finally, when I think of Tessa Bailey I don't usually think of a tearjerker, but the black moment in this one really hits. I was fully sobbing and that's a rarity for me.

My only qualm, as I alluded to before, is that it's sort of hard to believe falling in love with someone who might become your stepsibling would truly ruin the career of people this talented. I think it would more likely be a fun human interest story rather than a career ender, but if you suspend that disbelief, this book is so swoony and romantic and fun.

I will start by saying that I don't enjoy step-sibling love stories. I generally find them walk a fine line between acceptable and cringe, and they more often than not end up cringey.

But man, when Tessa Bailey does it, it's not cringe at all!

Bailey took a taboo romance, and made it something that I rooted for and swooned over by introducing Sig and Chloe in a way that made them endearing and showcased how perfect they were for one another before ever revealing that their parents were getting married. (Granted, if you've read the other books in the series, you had this info going in--but as a standalone, you don't!)

Sig and Chloe's relationship develops so naturally, going from lust to infatuation to honest and pure love. It's sweet and tender--and incredibly spicy, something you've come to expect when picking up any book by Bailey.

This is a perfect read heading into Valentine's Day!

Majority of this book was a 3.75 for me, but the ending bumped it to a 4⭐️.
I enjoyed the ‘love at first sight’ and forbidden romance tropes paired together. They made for a great slow burn. The golden retriever MMC and his hilarious teammates were wonderful and entertaining.
While this book wasn’t completely “taboo”, at times I did get a slight feeling of it. It didn’t give me the “ick”, but at times I questioned how I felt about the romance.

Tessa Bailey is super hit or miss for me. I really enjoy some of her titles and others I don't like at all. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one. I found the theme of potential step siblings to be really weird.

I received an ARC copy and when I tell you I about died on the spot from excitement, I'm not lying. Here's my honest review:

This was the third book in the Big Shots series and it was everything I wanted and more. I'm loving how Tessa Bailey is going down the sports romance genre and I want more of it.

This book was so good. The tension, wanting (even though they knew they couldn't have each other), flirting, little glances and touches when no one's watching, and of course the eventual spice.

Ugh...I loved Sig and Chloe. Sig would move mountains if he could for her and even drove all night just to get a lucky shirt for her. *swoon* I also love watching Chloe grow from a naive rich girl, to an independent, 'I know my worth and potential' woman.

If you loved the first two books in this series, this is a must read!

I was excited to get this book as an arc. I enjoyed this book. First of all, a man that would do anything for you would be any girls dream man, right? I liked the thoughtfulness of Sig as well as his restraint. The reason they couldn't be together was kind of cringe, but I was pretty sure how it would end early on. There were times I wasn't so sure it would end as I thought though. I think it was good to know how it would end from the beginning to remove some of the cringe from the topic, but the build up to when and how kept me interested.

To start out, I’ve read every book in this series, so I has so excited to be picked for an arc! I’ll read anything Tessa Bailey writes as soon as I can! This book follows 2 characters who met by chance and immediately have chemistry. They soon find out their parents are getting married….oh boy! They story follows them on how than can continue to build their relationship, while also dealing with this impending issue. Overall I liked the story, the premise is a little wild, but we’re mainly here for the romance! Would recommend this book to anyone who loves a steamy romance.

Thank you to @avonbooks for the gifted advance reader copy of Dream Girl Drama!

I have been absolutely loving the Big Shots series and was highly anticipating Sig & Chloe’s book. This was so much fun. Reading this entire series of interconnected standalones pays off because you get so invested in the side characters and it’s so satisfying to finally get their stories.

This is perfect for fans of insta-love, fans of “touch her and you die” 😂, and of course fans of sports romance and anyone who loved Chloe and Sig in the Au Pair Affair. I neeeeed more and I am hype for Pitcher Perfect!!!! Also, Pierre, the bulldog, deserves a shout out. This one is 🌶️, as per usual!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5, open door, explicit, a few scenes
🏒
Feelings after turning the last page: This was so stinking cute!!
🏒
10-second synopsis: Sig and Chloe meet unexpectedly and are immediately drawn to each other. After an unforgettable kiss and making plans to meet up again, Sig has to go to dinner with his dad to meet his dad’s new girlfriend…weird, because Chloe is also there. Turns out Dad’s new girlfriend is Chloe’s mom *dun dun dun*. What will happen when these two decide they can’t be more than friends?
🏒
Review: GUYS! Okay I didn’t care for The Au Pair Affair, but this more than made up for it. The emotions/pining/angst were high in this one, which are my favorite things! I loved Sig, but I have to say Chloe is not my favorite, which is why I took off half of a star. I ADORED the epilogue!!! The end definitely implies there will be another book, and I’m excited for that, too!
🏒
Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for an opportunity to read this in advance!

This book was great! The story line was really unique and it was so addictive to read. And the romance was so good!

𝐴𝑅𝐶 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤
3.5⭐️
𝖯𝗎𝖻𝗅𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖣𝖺𝗍𝖾:𝟤/𝟦/𝟤𝟧

💙 Thank you @avonbooks and @netgalley for my ARC.

So I’m a huge fan of this series and loved books 1&2. This however was my least favorite of the series. The plot is about step sibling falling in love and trying not to act on that love. The chemistry between them was off the charts. Chole was a musical prodigy and Sig was the poster child for American hockey. Both had terrible childhoods@and I couldn’t stand all parents involved. I guess my main thing was I didn’t really understand why they couldn’t be together because they weren’t of blood relations and they met first despite their parents. But of course society standards and the world’s view in their situation turned everything into chaos. It was a good fun read but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the others in the series.

🏷️#booklover #bookstagram #bookcommunity #booksofinstagram #readingtime #ilovebooks #bookblogger #bookblog #booknerdigans ##bookishfeatures #bookphotography #yalit #yabooks #currentlyreading #igreads #instaread #bookworm #booknerd #bookdragon #love #drbooksreads #hockey #harp #tessabailey

5⭐️
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Sig’s truck breaks down in the parking lot of a country club on his way to dinner with his father, he had no intention of meeting his dream girl. But there she was, helping him sneak into the club so he could charge his phone and call for roadside assistance. The two instantly hit it off and after talking for a while they share a passionate kiss. They’re willing to take things further but they’ve both got somewhere to be so they plan to meet up afterwards. Only when Sig arrives for dinner with his father, he’s shocked to see Chloe there. But even worse, his dad is engaged to her mom and they’re about to become stepsiblings. How will they handle their strong need for one another amidst this revelation?

From the moment I met these two in the Au Pair Affair I was just itching to get their story in my hands. As a big fan of the taboo romances this was right up my alley and in typical Tessa Bailey fashion, this book was full of humor, spice, and heartfelt moments. I absolutely adored these two and how protective Sig was of Chloe. He wanted to give her the best of the best even though she was just happy having his support. He believed in her when no one else did and it helped Chloe grow into herself and give her the confidence she needed to live independently. I enjoyed this book so much and I absolutely love this series!🩷🎶🏙️

Be sure to pre-order Dream Girl Drama and read it when it releases on February 4th!!