3.5⭐️ this is all of what I normally would expect from a Tessa Bailey book. I honestly enjoyed the forbidden romance aspect, but it was very much insta love. Because it was forbidden, nothing really happened until about halfway through the book. That helped me stay intrigued. Chloe was a little hard to connect with with considering she was very reliant on others despite wanting independence. However, I feel like she showed her strength in the end. Sig very much the male main character that must give his woman anything she wants. So all in all, not bad.

Thanks to @netgalley, @avonbooks, and Tessa Bailey for the advanced reader copy. So grateful to have the opportunity. #netgalley #dreamgirldrama #advancedreadercopy #bookreview

Dream Girl Drama is the second in Tessa Bailey's sports romance era! I enjoyed everything about it. It was sweet, spicy, and endearing. I was rooting so hard for these two.

I will always read a Tessa Bailey! This is the final installment of her Big Shots Trilogy. Out of the three, this was my second ranked of hers. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Sig and Chloe, and the trajectory of their relationship. I think the crux of their "will they/won't they" is a bit flimsy with the step-sibling trope. They act like this drama is because they are blood-related. It feels forced. But Bailey's pacing and writing style are clear and fun. It never drags, thought the other teammates get a bit more attention than I feel is necessary (filler alert).

The word I kept thinking of while reading this book was "messy." And I mean that in the best way. I was so excited for Sig and Chloe's story after reading about them in The Au Pair Affair. I would definitely recommend reading that book first because it is the perfect introduction to Sig and Chloe and their messy, confusing relationship. This book was fun, if stressful and tension-filled at times, and I devoured it. Tessa really knows how to dance with the taboo.

I feel like the male leads in Tessa Bailey books are hit or miss for me. She writes them as aggressive and it sometimes is too much. Sig was nicely balanced, aggressive without being over the top. There was a lot made of the “taboo” nature of the relationship between Sig and Chloe. But I thought it was weird how much emphasis it got. I did love seeing Chloe grow and change, although the timelines felt a little off based on the previous book in the series.

“You love her?
I exist for her.”

“What is an Sig?”
Chloe released a gusty sigh. “The most perfect human on earth.”

I am loving Tessa Bailey’s “Big Shots” sports series! These books all have a big athlete with a tough exterior, ruled by intense worry and protectiveness, and the partner that melts their heart. Humor, romance and spice. Dream Girl Drama follows the pattern, but this relationship hits dangerously close to taboo. Handled deftly, and even though I could foresee the way this had to work out, that’s ok because of course we all want this to work out!! I wasn’t crazy about the immaturity of the female lead, Chloe, who really does seem to need someone to take care of her. But Sig is great, love his overprotectiveness, it always cracked me up. And he just loves this girl unconditionally. The side characters from the hockey team make a reappearance here and do not disappoint, as well as Burgess. There’s also some new side characters that add humor like the landlord and Grace, the mentor. I was excited to see the tie in to baseball because now I’m pretty confident this series will continue! Yeah!!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!

Okay, so I DO like this book. However, I was a little confused. The timelines are off a bit, but maybe I am missing something??

Anyway, on to the review. I will be honest: I felt like Chole was a bit infantilized. There were so many times that I found myself annoyed because she couldn't manage simple things, such as throwing away an empty Pop-Tart box. Like, girl, what? My 6-year-old knows how to do that.

Sig. I loved how down bad he was for Chole. I loved his golden retriever style and how he wanted to do anything to make her happy. However, at times, I felt it was too much. Here I am back to the pop-tarts, but sir, you did NOT have to buy an entire store out of their stock of pop-tarts. She needs to be somewhat self-sufficient.

They did have great chemistry. The spicy was just enough and Sig's dirty mouth mixed with his sweetness toward Chole was phenomenal. I could have done without the constant reminder that they were about to be stepsiblings. we know.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I would recommend this book to my audience and friends.

Thank you HarperCollins Publishers & NetGalley for this ARC!

Oh boy... so first of all, I loved the beginning, I was instantly hooked by Sig, the burly hockey player from Boston who instantly love-at-first-sight falls for Chloe, our sweet, ridiculously wealthy female lead. However, after the first chapter or two and their steamy run-in, we soon learn his dad is engaged to her mom, making them step-siblings to be. Enter the ick factor. But it doesn't stop getting icky from there - in fact, every single character seems to take this as a challenge to step up the ick like 10 notches, and Chloe becomes this whiney baby version of her previously coy and confident self. She doesn't even know how to do ANYTHING because she grew up so rich that she's basically useless. And Sig becomes this weird older brother type and he MUST protect her - he'd do ANYTHING for her - because that's what older brothers do, right?!

I'm so sorry but I really couldn't get over the dynamic after that and it's just gonna be a no from me, dawg.

This one was a little rough for me, I think because I just couldn’t figure out what the big deal about 2 grown adults dating when their parents had basically also just met was? Like obviously it would have been different had their parents married when they were young and they had grown up together under the same roof but that wasn’t the case whatsoever so I don’t know… part of me had a hard time getting over the who cares of it all.

I think it’s time I stop reading Tessa Bailey’s books as I haven’t read once since It Happened One Summer and I should have stuck with it, but man I love the step-sibling trope so I had hopes that this one would at least be good! Unfortunately it was not, I felt Sig’s immediate stepping in and paying for everything for Chloe was over the top, unrealistic, and honestly did not build any love for the characters. He also tried to meet what she was used to instead of compromising and I wish we had seen her adjust to living without a trust fund rather than seeing her almost not afford the rent Sig is paying for cause she used her rent money for eye creams.

Chloe was so cute, felt like a Disney Princess but also felt a little bit too spoiled, and not really willing to learn from her mistakes. Sig coddled her nearly as much as her mother in a whole other way, and honestly these two just don’t work at all. There wasn’t anything that really showed them as good friends much less a relationship besides them spending their free time together, but yet she still had Sig pay for so much.

I just wasn’t a fan of this book at all, and if I hadn’t received an ARC I would have DNF’d it. After this experience, I likely won’t be trying another Tessa Bailey book unless she switches genres as I’m always willing to try those for any author!


I’ll be holding my review for all booksellers for a few weeks, but this review is up on places like Goodreads and StoryGraph.

This was not my favorite of Tessa Bailey's books. It had some of the elements I enjoy, such as the friends to lovers trope, and the beginning meet-cute was a perfect rom-com with steamy scenes. It started to lag when Chloe tried to live in Boston but had no concept of money, and the issue of their parents marrying which would technically make them step-siblings. I didn't see the problem in two adults having a relationship even if their parents did plan to marry. What I didn't like was the jokes and references to Chloe being Sig's sister or implications that they would be siblings. That was a bridge too far for me. I like a forbidden romance, but I definitely don't like reading about people joking that they are kissing cousins/siblings. Tessa Bailey is always a popular author so I will continue to read her books. This one wasn't for me, but I do recommend libraries have it for the fans who will want to read her next book.

It has been a couple of years since I’ve read a Tessa Bailey book. I had loved her writing when I first got into reading so I was super excited to read a sports romance that involved hockey. Although I’ve loved her books in the past I do think I’ve outgrown her writing. This is not a bad thing but she does write easy fast paced romance books that are perfect for the beginner reader. I tend to like romance books that cover more heavier topics involved. I still enjoyed this and it was a quick read. I do want to point out that her books are written in 3rd pov.

Let me tell you about this book.

1. The timeline was off. Within the first several chapters, you learn that the couple from the previous book are engaged, something that didn't happen until 18 months after the timeline in their book. During the last book, Chloe and Sig have already met, and Chloe's in her apartment when Tallulah comes to work for Burgess. Burgess also hadn't decided to retire yet. In this book, Burgess is retiring at the end of the season, and he and Tallulah are already engaged. Therefore, my mind could not leave that alone for this book.

2. The possessiveness was weird. It's ok to a point, but saying that he bought all the pop-tarts from ALL the stores in her neighborhood so that if there weren't any when she went shopping, and he could magically bring her some was a little much. And it's just weird. Super weird.

3. SPOILER - His dad could have solved this whole "step-sibling" issue from the very beginning. THE BEGINNING. I get that it's needed for the plot, and he had an NDA, but COME ON.

4. There was no contraceptive conversation. There was consent (sort of), more of a "please," not a question and answer. But there was absolutely no mention of protection. NONE. I even searched for c0nd0m and !UD, getting tested, etc., to be sure, and nothing came up. Nothing. So I'm not sure how I feel about that. Actually, I do know. It's not ok and would have added like one additional sentence to the scene to make it feel right.

Overall, I was disappointed with this (if you couldn't tell) and would probably have DNF but I was too deep.

Will I continue to read the series? Unfortunately, yes, because the next book is one of the Rookies, and I love them.

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey was a miss for me. At first I liked the trope of stepsibling forbidden romance but the love at first sight and the time jumps at the beginning just stilted the flow of the book. I didn't mind Sig but he way too quickly jumped in to "save" the FMC from herself basically and he barely knew her. I get the insta-love aspect of the book but it just didn't work for me. Chloe was also annoying - no one thing in particular, just all of her annoyed me.

The spice and tension was nice, but overall I was not the right target for this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in response for my honest opinion.

Dream Girl Drama is the third installment in the Big Shots series. It's finally Sig and Chloe's turn for love. Their whirlwind lust for each other gets interrupted when they realize their respective parents are set to be married. What that can't deny is each other but can they truly be together?

Dream Girl Drama starts with insta-love, and slowly turns into a love story a year in the making. The build-up is tension filled,with forbidden kisses and tumbles in the sheets. This is definitely a winner for fans of sports romances, forbidden togetherness and steamy scenes.

Thank you, Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon

Serena and Dan walked so Chloe and Sig could run!! I had an existential crisis reading this thinking I was damaged for not seeing the issue with them being together or why it was so scandalous … cue my obsession with Clueless, My Fault and of course Gossip Girl!

This is the kind of slowwww burn I like because you get a taste of it right away then you’re just tortured until 70% of the book where you finally get the big release 🤭

“𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻?” “𝓘 𝓮𝔁𝓲𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓱𝓮𝓻”

🐶 Forbidden Romance (future stepsibblings??)
🐶 Insta Love
🐶 Dirty Talk
🐶 Harpist x Hockey Player
🐶 Dysfunctional families

The ANGST in this book! I looooved how much of a hockey caveman Sig was while also being down sooo bad for his girl. The man will literally do ANYTHING for her, exceeeept treat her like a fragile little flower (in bed 😮‍💨). And while at first I was worried about connecting with Chloe’s princess sheltered behavior, I actually found it so comical and loved seeing her find herself in the end!

This one was DIRTIER than I thought it would be but Tessa has done it again and the vibes were 10/10! 3.5 🌶️

“𝓐 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓽? 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭, 𝓘’𝓶 𝓽𝓮𝓶𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓵𝓮𝓯𝓽 𝓮𝔂𝓮.”

Was it well written? No. Was it fun to read? Yes. This is an average middle of the road romance novel. The spice was medium. The writing was cheesy, sometimes cringe-worthy. But, overall a fun read.

5/5 stars
Spicy 5 but it’s a slow burn
Insta love
Pending step siblings
Slow burn


“I haven’t been a bachelor since I heard your voice for the first time. I was yours before I even turned around and you know it” -Sig

Sig will do anything for Chloe and she is his biggest supporter. She has decided to get out from under her mom and figure out life for herself. Sig will do anything to help her achieve her dreams.

Once I started this book I couldn’t stop reading it. This is by far my favorite Tessa Bailey book. It’s a slow burner but it is worth the wait.

I typically love Tessa Bailey books and this series in particular but this one was a miss for me. Maybe I am not a love-at-first sight girl and rather a slow burn kind of girl. There were also a lot of jumping months forward that threw off the groove and the storytelling for me.

Honestly, I didn't really like this book at all. The FMC was so naive and written like a 16 year old. I get she comes from a privileged and pampered lifestyle, but girl is still 25 and needs to learn to be an adult. The MMC gave almost a weird sugar daddy vibe. I get him wanting to help her and care for her, but I just felt like all he did was enable her,

The plot was meh. The stepsibling aspect was more dramatic than it needed to be and it very conveniently gets fixed in the end, super quickly.

The spice was a mixture of good and cringe. Never in my life have I read so many times about breasts tingling in anticipation, and balls tensing. It was so cringe.

The best parts of the books were with Corrigan and Mailer. They had me cracking up and honestly, made the book readable.