I am struggling with rating this book 😮‍💨 Tessa Bailey is one of my favorite authors. Her books are always quick, fun, easy reads. But, this book fell flat, for me.

It gets a 3 star rating because the storyline was good enough to keep me interested. I wanted to know how the conflict would be resolved. Which I ended up guessing 😬

The FMC was way too childish. She had zero life experience and wanted independence, only to be spend the whole book still depending on someone else. The MMC was clingy to the point of being stalker-ish and creepy.

I think I have come to realize that I do not like the insta-love trope. The MCs instantly falling for each other within 5 seconds of meeting feels fake, weird, and way too over the top.

A chance meeting between a professional hockey player and the manic pixie dream girl gets turned upside down when they realize that their parents are engaged... and they definitely can't give into their feelings for each other... right? Sig Gauthier is a professional hockey player who visits a private country club when his car breaks down and there he meets Chloe Clifford, right in the middle of stealing a bottle of champagne. Chloe is his manic pixie dream girl, she's a stunning harpist... and after a kiss they both agree to meet each other again... only the next time they meet is at a family dinner because both of their parents are dating and plan on getting married. Chloe and Sig might have a fiery chemistry... but they definitely can't give into their feelings for each other if they are going to be potential step siblings... unless.... the marriage doesn't go through.... and it's definitely going to be easy to just be "friends" right? Too bad the more time they spend together it's harder and harder to keep their hands off one another. This is the third book in the sports romance series by Tessa Bailey and follows another hockey player. While I absolutely adored the last book I just didn't vibe with this book as much. I love a step-sibling trope... but this one just felt lackluster at best because they aren't step siblings, in fact they're just two people who'se parents are dating, like nothing is stopping yall from getting together, especially since neither of you actually care all that much about your perspective parent. The whole "will they won't they" just felt so nonsensical and low stakes because they obviously COULD. It just felt so dragged on and ridiculous to read. I loved the last book so I was just kind of thrown by how much I just didn't vibe all that much with this one, especially considering it had such a fun potential romance. While this one didn't work for me, if you like a slightly taboo romance with a slow SLOW burn, definitely give this one a go!

Release Date: February 4, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I was so happy to hear that Chloe and Sig were next in the series since I loved them so much in The Au Pair Affair. The *going to be* step siblings, even as adults, can be taboo but I think that Tessa did it so well. We got the spice that we’ve seen in the other books thus far, but we got so much more than that. We saw completely different sides to both Chloe and Sig that really allowed us to see them develop throughout the story and will each other. I will read anything Tessa Bailey writes so I hope they’re all as good as this one!

I absolutely loved it! Tessa Bailey always scores—there’s so much passion, humor, and just the right amount of slow burn.
Sig, the dreamy hockey player, and Chloe, the quirky, free-spirited love interest, had me hooked from their first moonlit make out. Their chemistry is off the charts, and Sig’s pining? Total swoon material.

The twist with their parents being engaged was so frustrating and added so much tension to the story. It made me root for them even harder. Plus, the spicy scenes? Let’s just say Bailey does not disappoint! If you’re into steamy rom-coms with big twists and even bigger spice, you’ve got to read this one. I couldn’t put it down!

I was kindly provided with the arc of this book by NetGalley and the editors in exchange of an honest review, thank you ✨

4⭐️

This was soooo cute to read!! I loved Chloe and Sig since I met them in The Au Pair Affair and I was craving for their story… and my oh my, I wasn’t disappointed 🙂‍↔️ I mean, Sig? The man’s greatest wish was provide her with anything she’ll ever need and wants and making her happy no matter the cost 😭❤️ I need one of those please

Chloe my girl, I just loved her, she reminded me of Rachel in friend’s season 1, she was so innocent and happy, and not knowing anything about the real world, but also she was so determined to prove herself and everyone she could be independent and the greatest harpist in the world, and you bet she did with Sig alongside her 🥹❤️‍🩹

Now, I NEED, Skylar and Corrigan’s story, please and thank you 🙂‍↔️

Tessa Bailey has another pleasing book in her sexy and steamy Big Shots series. Fans of sport romances will no doubt enjoy this series. I enjoyed the last book in the series, The Au Pair Affair and was excited to read Dream Girl Drama. It's full of longing, angst, lust, talent, drama, and dreams.

Sig Gauthier, a hunky hot-t0-trot professional hockey player meets Chloe Clifford, his gorgeous dream girl by chance when they are both at a ritzy private country club. The attraction is instant and after tasting some bubbly, they share a moonlight kiss. Oh, la la, the kiss is bliss, and they hope to engage in more kissing. Unfortunately, their plans falter when they shocked beyond belief when over a dinner they learn that Sig's father is marrying Chloe's mother. Holy Moly!

Chloe is a harp playing prodigy and wants to live on her own, and Sig helps her find a place and settle in. They fight their attraction as they both continue with their lives each pursuing their dreams. But how do they stop dreaming of each other??????

The characters are presented with a dilemma. They are going to be step siblings. But, as other reviewers have mentioned, they are adults and not related at all. I wanted to tell them, who cares, you do not share DNA and are consenting adults. But it appears those in their professional lives might just not share my opinion.

For me it's all about the journey with romance books. I enjoyed the journey that both characters went on. Both had things that they needed to learn and experience. Chloe needs to learn independence. She has never had to budget and struggles with her impulse purchases. Sig wants to protect Chloe and be helpful but is he being too helpful? Sig also has family issues that may stand in his way of happiness.

The characters were likeable and facing some real-life issues. I enjoyed how they worked them out while reaching for their dreams. As I mentioned, this book has some steamy scenes so if those are not for you, you may want to skip those. This book had a nice amount of longing, tension, desire, and forbidden love.

Another fun, dramatic, and engaging read by Tessa Bailey.

At this point, I've read over 20 Tessa Bailey books. This might just overtake Fox and Hannah's Hook, Line, and Sinker as my number one favorite. Sig and Chloe are just that good.

I saw someone on Threads say that Sig's yearning rewrote her DNA. Umm yes. I loved the authenticity of it. The dropping the head to her neck and the extra long hugs. I cannot get over how much I loved this book. Five stars times Infiniti. Tessa Bailey absolutely knocked this out of the park.

My only disappointment in this book, and it is minor, is that we didn't see any Wells. Barely any Tallulah as well. But honestly, I think I like that? It's keeping the series fresh for me. Having read other series in the past and how their stories all intertwine so much, I like the interdependence of each one. You do not have to read each book to know the stories, if that makes sense.

What I loved most though about Chloe and Sig's book, is the way we went back in history. But we weren't forced to relive it through the book. There were mentions of the time he bribed her out of the bar with a Sephora shopping spree, but we didn't have to relive it on the page. I appreciated that so much.

Tessa is always an immediate yes from me!!! I absolutely adored this book and ate it up! And did you see its cover?! And those edges?! Absolutely stunning!

This was another really fun read from Bailey. It really keeps pace with the rest of the books in her Big Shots series.
While you get to meet the characters of Chloe and Sig in the previous novel, "The Au Pair Affair", you really get to see them shift and come alive in this one. Chole is not nearly the spoiled princess she appeared, rather a young women trying to follow her own dreams and passions for the first time in her wife, without relying on her family name or money. Sig is a hard working hockey player who knows he isn't making as much money as he deserves, but as someone who grew up fighting for everything he had, nothing it going to stop him from reaching his dreams and providing for the women in his life that he loves.
I will admit I loved the little taboo romance of step siblings falling in love, what I didn't get was the HUGE deal it was made into in the book. Sig & Chole are two grown adults who meet as adults before they knew their parents were getting married. They would really only be step siblings in name only, they never grew up together or anything that would truly make them siblings. That thought kept nagging at me while reading.
Themes of Insta love, forbidden romance, grumpy sunshine. Overall a fun quick read!

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey ❤️
Big Shots, Book 3
Interconnected Standalone

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Adult • Sports Romance
ARC Review
320 pages
🗓️ February 4

🏒hockey romance
❤️future step siblings
🏒attraction to friendship to more
❤️slow burn
🏒opposites attract
❤️cute nicknames

📍“You aren’t in charge of my love life.”
“I am your love life, Chloe.”

When I started It Happened One Summer I very much disliked the FMC. By the end of it, I was her most fierce defender.

In many ways, the same can be said about Dream Girl Drama and its FMC. Only I’m not her most fierce defender. I’m more like a casual friend who wishes her the best.

When I say it took me a minute to like Chloe, I’m not kidding. It really did take a long time. But it did happen. Funny thing though, I actually loved her with Sig. I loved their banter and their “I can’t take it anymore” confessions. It’s her alone I struggled with.

But all in all, a super fun read, with hilarious moments and an incredibly funny secondary cast. It wasn’t Fangirl Down but I would definitely recommend it if looking for a low stakes, extremely entertaining book. 🫶🏼

Thank you so much Tessa Bailey, @avonbooks and @netgalley for this ARC.

I initially requested this book because I love a hockey romance book, but unfortunately this just did not hit for me.

The thing that initially through me off was the “insta” love. Not my favorite thing in a book, but I continued.

Sig was not a bad character, I liked that he always wanted to help Chloe and push her to become more independent, but wow Chloe’s character just felt too childish for me.

The book did have a few moments that I loved, but overall this was just not it for me.

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for this eARC.

I’m a sucker for Tessa Bailey and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Her writing style, her characters, her stories. They’re all so good and so fun and I always end up cheering for these fictional characters to figure their shit out so they can be together. Even if that shit is the fact that they’re about to be step siblings…

I knew from the moment Sig and Chloe started showing up in Au Pair Affair that their story would be a wild ride, full of tension, angst, and spice, and Dream Girl Drama delivered on every bit of it. Sig may never be my man Wells, but the way that man was OBSESSED with Chloe, will live rent free in my head for months to come.

I really will read just about anything Tessa Bailey would write, but I truly cannot wait to read what happens next in the Hot Shot series and diedddd over the snippets we got in Dream Girl Drama.

I love them. I love them. I love them.

See this book takes things that I assume I will hate (spoiled Princess, insta love) but is crafted so well that I eat. it. up.

Sig being an absolute simp for Chloe is my favorite thing ever. The bird?! 🤣 The 5am walks?? The flowers 🥰

And Chloe my sweet little angel baby. She just was raised a certain way and doesn’t know any better yet. I imagine her in Gilmore Girls but not being brave enough to leave until she’s older. I also feel a small kinship with her, as I didn’t learn how to do laundry until my now husband taught me in college 🤦🏻‍♀️. Also first priority being “can I pet that dog?!” 🐶

Also the longing and the tensionnnnnn dear lord.

“Give me the next best thing. Pick up that jersey and drag it up between your beautiful legs.”

I mean. I was salivating.

Probably my fave from this series so far!

This just wasn’t for me. The step sibling relationship was such a big deal it felt like it detracted from the genuine relationship they had. I also don’t care for the writing which is a consistent problem I’ve had with this author. Overall, it didn’t land with me but I appreciate the opportunity to read nonetheless!

Tessa Bailey is in her hockey era, and I'm loving it! Her new release, “Dream Girl Drama,” follows another member of the Boston Bearcats, Sig Gauthier. Sig is a teammate of Burgess Abraham, who we originally met in Bailey's excellent “Fangirl Down.” (That golf romance remains my favorite in Bailey’s “Big Shots” series so far.) Readers were then able to spend some quality time with Burgess in his own story, “The Au Pair Affair,” in which the gruff single dad falls in love. But now in “Dream Girl Drama,” Bailey turns her focus to Sig, who quickly finds himself head over heels in a forbidden relationship with the beautiful and spontaneous Chloe.

Sig and Chloe meet randomly at a country club and it's fireworks from the get-go. Look up #instalust in the dictionary and you could potentially find their meetcute. Undeniable sparks fly immediately between the hockey player and the whimsical woman. Unfortunately, we soon find out that Chloe, a sheltered but incredibly talented harpist, and Sig are about to become step-siblings.

As the story unwinds, we see how protective Sig is of Chloe, who moves to Boston to practice her craft. The two have so much love and attraction for one another, but they fight it with everything they have. I won't go into how the book resolves, but I will say that overall the tale is funny, modern, and relatable.

The only reason why I am giving this book four stars instead of five is the step-sibling issue. I read “Dream Girl Drama” soon after two other (and much more explicit) step-sibling books - “For The Fans” by Nyla K. and “Eyes on Me” by Sara Cate. The question of step-siblings being in a relationship is something that doesn’t sit right with me, and I find myself wondering if this is a situation that happens frequently in real life. I know there was a story recently about some TikTokers or something that are step-siblings and maybe have a baby together? (Sorry for the foggy details - I don’t really pay much attention to TikTokers.)

Anyway, “Dream Girl Drama” is highly recommended by me, as long as you are willing to roll with the almost step-siblings conundrum. I am really looking forward to the next two books in Bailey’s “Big Shots” series, which will feature the Bearcats players known as the “Orgasm Donors.” I expect those will be really funny and spicy!

Sig is a professional hockey player who meets Chloe by chance when his car breaks down at the country club she attends. They have instant chemistry, but soon find out their parents are planning to get married. Chloe has lived a very sheltered life, but jumps at the chance to move to Boston with Sig promising to help learn how to adult. While they do their best to keep their relationship platonic in nature, their chemistry is undeniable.

This book was full of longing and angst which I absolutely loved. The chemistry between Sig and Chloe was fantastic. Sig's character was super protective which is a trait I love MMCs to have. The family drama and plot twist at the end added some extra depth to the story. I will say that Sig and Chloe made a big deal out of not being able to date because they are future step-siblings, but I feel like the forbidden romance aspect was a little overdramatized. They were both adults and had met before they knew their parents were even dating. Overall, this was a quick and fun read that I really enjoyed.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC!

Tessa Bailey can do no wrong with this series. How is it that each book is better than the last?? I read the eARC of "Dream Girl Drama" and when the audio is released you can bet your buttons I am going to listen to it too! Sig & Chloe for life <3

The seeds for this book were sown in the previous installment of this series, so I had a little bit of time to get used to the setup. Almost stepsiblings who met right before they found out that their parents were engaged and knew they couldn't be together because of it but also really wanted to be together? Sure, why not. Who else but Tessa Bailey would dive into such a wild scenario? In the end, that scenario - the will they or won't they with the overhanging taboo - dominates the book in a frustratingly circular way. Chloe and Sig have insane chemistry that I wanted to root for, but I was constantly being told that I shouldn't. I think my main qualm wasn't so much with the setup itself but with the fact that there was really nothing the main characters could do to change it. They had no agency in their own story, which really held everything back. We had to wait for some kind of miracle to befall them that would suddenly make their relationship okay.

I think in another book where Sig and Chloe had been allowed to make their own choices without being hamstrung by the narrative, I would have really enjoyed them. But in this case, the story really held them back.

3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley and to Avon & Harper Voyager for the ARC of Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey.

I'm a MASSIVE Bailey fan, and have been since 2016 - all her books are must reads for me, and I read them all in one very cozy sitting almost every time.

In Dream Girl Drama we finally get the full story on the relationship between Sig and Chloe, previously introduced in book 2 of the Big Shots series, The Au Pair Affair.

Chloe and Sig are soon-to-be stepsiblings, and are fighting their attraction to each other for the sake of their parents' pending union. This is a bit further complicated by the fact that they both have struggling relationships with their individual parent, as well as potential high profile careers/upbringings that would be negatively impacted by a stepsibling romantic entanglement. Chloe's mother has essentially kept Chloe in a gilded cage through her 25th birthday, with Chloe just serving as an ornamental child harp prodigy that her mother uses for entertainment. Chloe is basically inept at surviving in a world where everything is not instantly and immediately provided for her (she doesn't drive, she doesn't have a job, didn't go to college, etc.; her mother's money provides for all, including a chauffeur, country club membership, etc.). When Chloe and Sig first meet they don't yet realize they are both headed to a dinner with their parent to meet their future stepparent, and so Sig learns a bit about how Chloe longs to attend the Berklee Conservatory, which has offered her a full-ride for tuition, and which her mother will not provide funds for her to live in Boston. In a spur of the moment decision at the dinner, Chloe decides she's going to Boston even if she is cut-off, and Sig decides he's taking her there (where he already plays professional hockey in the NHL) and he'll fund her lifestyle so she can succeed at Berklee.

From here, the tension of their mutual attraction pretty much takes hold of the story, along with Sig desperately trying to find a way to prevent the marriage so that he and Chloe will be free to be together without judgement.

It's super rare that I would remove a star from any Bailey read, but I really, really disliked Chloe. It's one thing to be a manic pixie dream girl, it's another to just be utterly clueless. I feel like throughout the entire book we see Sig trying to make things work and to care for Chloe, but Chloe just expects these things to happen to her, not to actually make any changes to her life. It just felt like she never grew as a person at all besides doing better at her music - because of this it made it really hard for me to ever like her, vs the change and growth we see in a story like It Happened One Summer where Piper works to be less shallow/helpless. Maybe it was because she sees Sig living in much lesser circumstances than how he has set her up and she still doesn't stop spending all her rent that he provides at Sephora, or, when she does make some hard choices about how their relationship needs space, none of that comes with her thinking about how she can afford rent or provide for herself - she still expects him to pay. I also was massively confused about how she could bail on her mother's house so quickly, where she has three harps, and doesn't take any with her to literally attend a music conservatory -- did she not think practice would be part of an intense program. Meanwhile, I really like Sig, I think his character was written really well - I just didn't ever feel like Chloe deserved him. I came around in the end, I just wouldn't put them very high in my overall Tessa Bailey couple rankings.

I do think Bailey did a great job writing the parents of the characters - I fervently disliked all three of them, mostly from how simply the three of the parents could have helped Sig and Chloe and opted not to. What I wish we got a bit more of -- we don't really understand why Chloe's mom wanted to keep her so contained. I grew up in Fairfield County, Connecticut - only about 30 minutes away from Darien where Chloe's mother lives, and while I understand the old money aspect, I don't understand clipping the wings of a child prodigy. I went to school with a child music prodigy - in public school - and this person was so talented they were writing symphonies in elementary school that were being performed by our high school - they then got into early Julliard at 16, and graduated high school a semester early to start their full-time at Julliard, before then going to Yale for a graduate degree in music. In Connecticut, it's also not unusual for your peers to be auditioning for Broadway, or performing on Broadway, etc. It's bragging rights, and then it's into the upper echelons of polite society to be a part of a symphony orchestra or other high-brow establishments. So, for me, having Chloe just be a prodigy and never be recruited by a conservatory doesn't feel at all standard to growing up in Connecticut. If there is a reason her mother is keeping her so contained, it would have been nice to know more about that because it really just, for me, made Chloe seem more clueless on any of her abilities.

I also was a bit put off by the reporter approaching Chloe at the hockey game. Again, from the same county as Chloe's character, and it is put into your brain early and often that we do not talk to reporters. For her to not have that built in as an old money family and then to not have the wherewithal to also realize talking to the media isn't right to do to Sig, who is in the spotlight, also just made Chloe seem more clueless than anything - like nothing at all from life has ever impacted her. Her failure to recognize how her actions affect others in this way, when she should know better, just really turned me off from her.

I recognize my criticisms of Chloe here are really just based on my upbringing relative to her character's upbringing, and the way it doesn't match with my lived experience because I certainly don't have old money. I think that just took me out of the story a bit, when really I absolutely loved the rest of it, with it being a classic Bailey romance.

I do recommend this for any Bailey fans, and it can be read as a standalone.

For sports fans, the hockey focus is pretty minimal in this one until the latter half of the book - but the time we get to spend with Sig's teammates, including the orgasm donor twins, were light and fun. I'm interested to see where Bailey goes with telling each of their stories (hopefully) next.

Yes, this is Sig and Chloe from the Au Pair. This is their story. Sig and Cloe meet up when his truck breaks down by the country club. When hours later, they find out that they're soon to be step-siblings. They have an insta love meeting.

Sig is a hockey player, and Chloe, who is a harp prodigy and extremely dependent upon her mother. Sig helps Chloe become more independent when she moves to Boston. Chloe is determined to make the first chair with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

This book was okay. I really couldn't stand note infantilized Chloe was. Look, I get it happens in real life, but it drove me crazy. I would've right that Tessa Bailey would have a more accurate account of the New England area.


Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Publish Date February 4, 2025

Pre-read:I loved this cover and can't wait to read this ARC after my Christmas reads!