I really wish that I enjoyed this more. Typically I have a lot of fun with Tessa Bailey’s outrageous romances. This one wasn’t my favorite. I found myself skimming through parts of it.

While I definitely can suspend disbelief in romance novels, I couldn’t in this one. Chloe’s mom and Sig’s dad are engaged, so they can’t be together. All of the characters in the story find it taboo and shocking that they are into each other. In real life, no one would care at all. Chloe and Sig are two adults who met before they knew who the other person was. It wouldn’t be a big deal.
If this was just a small part of the story, I could look past it. However, it’s the entire conflict. Nothing else keeps them apart.


Although I didn’t mind the couple’s dynamic, some readers will. Sig likes to “take care” of Chloe, spoiling her and handling all of her problems. This can be interpreted as infantilization. I didn’t have an issue with this, but it’s certainly not for every romance reader.


I will still continue to read Tessa Bailey and this series, but if you are new to this author this is not the place to start. 2.5 stars

Dream Girl Drama was honestly the best out of the 3 books!

Tessa Bailey loves to play with a mans bum... its not my favorite. But overall it was a good book and had decent character development and plenty of angst. I listened to the 2nd book in this series and so everytime i heard Chloes voice it was the high pitch blonde voice.

I literally screamed when I got the email I would be receiving this ARC! Tessa fricken Bailey!!

She does it again. Dream Girl Drama is an emotional, heartfelt, & steamy roller coaster. We ALL have been waiting for Sig & Chloe’s story since the very beginning of the big shots series. Tessa delivers & does not disappoint!

If you are a Tessa Bailey fan you will love this book! Or if you are someone who loves a book where you feel all the things - Add to your TBR!

I have read quite a few books by this author, but this was not one of my favorites. It felt off and the whole story felt that it revolved around them being future step siblings. Wasn't the worst but also was hard for me to get through.

Tessa is mildly unhinged in her books but I think that's what I love. I wanted to know more about this couple in Au Pair Affair so I'm glad we got their story and glad we got an HEA. Curious if we'll get more stories from these characters.
But also the sex scenes weren't as crazy so I'll take it.

I had forgotten how much I love Tessa Bailey. Her books just feel like a boozy brunch reunion with your best friend- you laugh, you cry, you go home horny to your significant other from the bottomless mimosas.

Okay so Sig?? Ultimate protector & caregiver. Chloe was so sweet and sheltered but I loved watching her grow in her independence.

Compared to other TB reads this is almost a slow burn. Actually yeah, it’s a slow burn. Borderline taboo but you know there’s going to be a twist (which I called!)

ALSO- I didn’t realize this was technically part of a series, but truly it can be read as a standalone and you’re not missing any info.

Thank you Avon Books, Netgalley and Libro.fm for my gifted copy and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was grateful this audio had both a female and males narrator. After the second book in the series with just 1 it really made a difference. Teddy Hamilton is one of my favorite male narrators, so I really enjoyed this on audio.


This storyline was teased in the last book, so I knew it would be a good one!! It helped knowing how they first met to get on board with the step sibling trope!

Overall I think this was my favorite in the series and easy to listen to! Definitely entertaining!

Dream Girl Drama is the third novel in the Big Shots series. 25-year-old Chloe Clifford and 29-year-old hockey player Sig Gauthier meet at a country club when Sig comes in to make a call after his car breaks down. They meet again when Sig visits his mom and finds out that his mom is about to marry Chloe’s dad. As Sig and Chloe have great chemistry with each other, their new future as stepsiblings creates complications. The story hinges on if the reader is a fan of two characters who may or may not end up future stepsiblings ending up together. Some readers may not enjoy this trope while others don’t mind, which greatly plays a role, in my opinion, about how you’ll end up enjoying the story.

Chloe is a sheltered rich woman who does not have experience with the real world. She is a manic pixie dream girl and lacks a lot of common sense, including the very basics of money. While I don’t mind this type of character, I think her character was written in the extreme. I prefer a little more balance as it seemed to be at a constant high for all her traits. As for Sig, there seemed to be not a lot about him aside from his obsession with Chloe. The two of them experience insta-lust and seem to want to be together instantly without any build up . As a reader, their relationship went from zero to one hundred in an instant, which will be a huge reader preference. I, unfortunately, prefer the buildup as I don’t connect with and “believe’ the relationship. Overall, the general concept had some promise, but it, unfortunately, read a novel thrown together without a lot of effort put into the details that I typically need to enjoy a story.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

This was something… honestly, I couldn’t even tell you what was going on. The beginning seemed promising but it was all down hill from there. Maybe I just can’t handle that much ditzy + that much delusion but idk 🤷🏻‍♀️ There’s an unhealthy amount of obsession with an unhealthy amount of dependency in this with little to no plot. I was happy when this was over ◡̈

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, & Tessa Bailey for providing me this gifted copy for an honest review! Sorry I didn’t like it.

I've gone back and forth on whether or not I like Tessa Bailey's work and unfortunately this is just not it. This is by far the worst TB book I've read, which really disappointed me. EVERY SINGLE MAN in this book was toxic. It felt like Tessa was trying to write dark romance without having to market it as dark romance. Manipulation, possessive MMCs, rampant jealousy, and forcing the FMC to rely on them are all things we would expect to see in dark romance, not a contemporary sports romance.

Even the "adult" characters were toxic and manipulative. At so many points in this book I had to just put it down and walk away. On a personal level, I am so glad that I "missed out" on getting tickets to the book signing.

As for the ending of this book, it's a Tessa Bailey book. They all end the same way. The characters are either married, engaged, pregnant, or already have children. There is no deviation. The single thing I really liked about this book is that our MMC did have some family issues resolve at the end of the book. Additionally, we saw AMAZING character development from our FMC. Unfortunately that development didn't include wising up and leaving the manipulative guy she somehow managed to fall for and moved to Boston for in a matter of hours.

Bottom line: Cringey. Toxic. One of the worst romances I've ever read. Skip this one and read Unfortunately Yours or Wreck the Halls instead.

Tessa Bailey clearly has a reputation for unhinged lines but who knew she'd go full porno with the step-siblings narrative. I had to ding a full star for this; sorry, not sorry.

This book has my heart! Classic Tessa- it’s funny and spicy but her writing has grown and the characters are really developed. The plot was a bit weak and the ending could be refined a bit more but the characters just mean so much to me! I’m already excited for the next Big Shots!

5 stars!! thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I never thought that I'd the type of person to enjoy sports romances because it was one of those things that intimidated me, but this series changed my mind on that. I thought it was sweet how Sig wanted Chloe to go after her dream, which then led to her moving to Boston. Chloe and Sig were trying their best to co-exist in the same town while simultaneously fighting the urge to fall in love each other. At first they thought that they couldn't because Chloe's mom & Sig's dad eloped, which meant that they were now considered step-siblings. After further investigation, Sig found out that his dad wasn't his birth dad, which meant that they were free to be with each other. I enjoyed the cameos from Burgess and Tallulah.

3.5 ⭐️ *rounded up*

Forbidden romance with a lot of tension made this a fun read. This was heavy on the instant romance, which isn’t my favorite thing, but I still enjoyed the book. While it did feel a little repetitive in the middle, the ending made up for it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC!

It has been a minute since I read a Tessa Bailey book but this one just didn’t really do it for me. I’m not a huge fan of insta love, which is exactly what this book was. I also really didn’t like Chloe as a character.

Sig, the MMC, was hot bottom line. However, the insta love that he feels for Chloe just didn’t do it for me. He is a professional hockey player (which we love) with a broken family.

Chloe, the FMC, was downright annoying. This girl is a full blown adult who has no idea how to function without the money and staff her mother has provided for her. She eventually moves out of her moms house and then once on her own, Sig takes the role that her mother was playing by doing everything for her. I am not a fan of a woman who cannot be independent or function without a man. I was frustrated with Sig because he allowed and almost encouraged this behavior from Chloe.

It wasn’t awful but definitely wasn’t my favorite book. If you enjoy insta love or a man who does everything for a woman, then this book is for you.

*Thank you Netgalley and Harper Voyager for this eARC in exchange for my honest review

THANK YOU NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and Avon for this advanced reader copy!

2.5 stars

Overall, this book was just...ok. Sig and Chloe were fun(ish) and I was rooting for their careers and personal growth, though, perhaps a bit more than I was rooting for their romance. I mean I feel like all of the pieces for a romance were there, but it was all made kind of bad by abysmally childish main characters (Sig- aren't you 29??? Chloe- please learn how to do SOMETHING/ANYTHING independently??), an insta-love/lust that gave me the ick (did he say I love you 25% of the way through??), and the "plot twist" at the end (I just... can't). I actually usually like the "step-sibling" trope but this one didn't even work that well, maybe because they took to the whole "forbidden" thing so quickly on account of LOVE that I just rolled my eyes. HOW OLD ARE YOU GUYS?

Just... overall a bit obnoxious.

Omg this was an amazing book! I’m so excited I got to read this arc and watch everyone fall in love with these characters as much as I did. It’s like clueless meets hockey and I love everything about it except as much as I love Cher. Chloe is better! A music prodigy meets a hockey star who defy odds. I loved the suspense of will they be able to be together and the plot twists omg!

This was my first Tess Bailey book, and it will not be my last! This was a spicy good time, and though it wasn't my favorite, I would recommend to readers that need a light hearted spicy book! I was so excited when I got approved, thank you Netgalley and Avon books!

The amount of time Tessa Bailey spent trying to convince me that this very successful professional athlete was not making enough money to support this woman was insane, and I don’t even require logic in my romance novels most of the time.

2.5-3 stars

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey had all the makings of a fun, steamy read: a gruff hockey player, Sig, whose car breaks down and lands him at a country club where he meets champagne-stealing Chloe. Cue the fireworks, right? Plot twist—turns out their parents are engaged, making them future step-siblings. Cue the awkwardness.

The chemistry between Sig and Chloe is undeniably sizzling, and I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a little pining. But, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Why is everyone acting like they’re about to be caught in a crime for dating their future step-sibling? They barely knew each other before their parents started dating, so why is this such a big deal? They’re grown adults, not high schoolers sneaking around at prom. The taboo drama felt totally forced, and I spent half the book rolling my eyes at how much weight was placed on something that, in real life, would be... well, not that weird.

As for Chloe—look, I love a quirky heroine, but Chloe's brand of "helplessness" was a bit much. She’s an adult who can’t cook, clean, or take care of herself without relying on her mom or Sig (and let’s not even talk about the smoke detector incident). I get that she’s supposed to be endearing, but at some point, it crossed the line into frustrating. I kept hoping she’d have some kind of growth arc, but nope—she just kept acting like a child in need of constant rescuing. It wasn’t cute, it was exhausting.

Sig wasn’t much better. At 29, he’s basically a glorified babysitter for Chloe’s immaturity. The dude spends money he doesn’t have, skips out on career opportunities, and even gets involved in shady dealings just to maintain her expensive lifestyle. It’s like watching a grown man put all his energy into enabling someone’s bad habits instead of, you know, growing himself. There’s no depth here—just a lot of dysfunctional back-and-forth that made the romance feel more toxic than swoony.

That being said, Dream Girl Drama does have humor, spice, and some genuinely steamy moments—if you're into that kind of thing. The chemistry is undeniable, but if you’re hoping for emotional depth or any real character development, you might be disappointed. It’s a quick, fun read if you like the step-sibling trope, but don’t expect it to be the next great romance.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the eARC!