de Tessa Bailey
The first in a spicy and unforgettable rom-com duology from #1 New York Times bestseller and tik tok favorite Tessa Bailey, in which a Hollywood "It Girl" is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn't belong.
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father's dive bar... in Washington.
Piper hasn't even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won't last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can't do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She's determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she's more than a pretty face.
Except it's a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there's an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn't want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.
As seen on E!Online, PopSugar, CNN, EliteDaily, Vulture, Buzzfeed, Bustle, the Nerd Daily, PARADE, LA Magazine, Country Living, USA Today, and more!
The first in a spicy and unforgettable rom-com duology from #1 New York Times bestseller and tik tok favorite Tessa Bailey, in which a Hollywood "It Girl" is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn't belong.
Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father's dive bar... in Washington.
Piper hasn't even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won't last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can't do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She's determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she's more than a pretty face.
Except it's a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there's an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn't want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.
As seen on E!Online, PopSugar, CNN, EliteDaily, Vulture, Buzzfeed, Bustle, the Nerd Daily, PARADE, LA Magazine, Country Living, USA Today, and more!
Critiques-
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Starred review from May 15, 2021
Bailey strikes rom-com gold in this outstanding tale about a clueless social media star who cares more about selfies than what she does with her life and a hardworking fisherman who knows that what he wants and will do anything to win her heart. Piper Bellinger's reign as L.A.'s party queen is on the wane, especially after a public breakup that sends her into a tailspin and lands her in jail. After her younger sister, Hannah, bails her out, their furious movie producer stepfather sends them away for three months to the small port town where they were born. Westport, Washington, is filled with tough fishermen who don't have time for spoiled California girls, but Captain Brendan Taggart can't ignore Piper's radiant beauty and how effortlessly she lights up a room. A widower for seven years, Brendan is married to his daily routines, but their intense attraction has him jumping hurdles for this high-maintenance siren who is torn between wanting a man with a dangerous profession and going back to her safe yet meaningless life in L.A. Bailey is bound to earn new followers with love scenes hot enough to boil water and a hilariously naive Schitt's Creek-inspired protagonist who is clearly out of her depth.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from May 1, 2021
A Hollywood socialite is forced to spend the summer in a fishing village in Washington state. Everyone thinks 28-year-old Piper Bellinger is a vapid, airheaded socialite--including herself. To distract her social media followers from seeing that her boyfriend of three weeks has humiliatingly dumped her at a party, Piper breaks into the Mondrian Hotel's rooftop pool and holds a wild party. Her shenanigans put one of her stepfather's business deals in jeopardy, and to teach her a lesson, he ships her off to the small, coastal town in Washington where she was born. Piper's father died in a fishing accident when she was 4, and her heartbroken mother left Washington and never returned. Piper is joined in exile by her sister, and the two quickly immerse themselves in the life of the small, close-knit town. Brendan Taggart is a widower and captain of a fishing boat, and he thinks Piper--with her beauty, bravado, and big-city ways--doesn't belong. Their attraction is sudden and intense, and they quickly fall into a relationship, but he fears she'll never be satisfied with life out of the limelight. However, Piper surprises herself by forming close relationships with the new friends and family she finds in town. Piper realizes she's capable of more than anyone gave her credit for. Bailey delivers on her usual trifecta of sharp banter, instant chemistry, and high-heat sex scenes, but they are coupled with intense soul-searching for both Piper and Brendan. How can they be together when they seem so different? What does it mean to truly accept a partner for who they are? The third-act crisis feels completely organic to their personalities and beliefs even if the plotting seems a little rushed. Another winning romance from an author at the top of her game.COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Christina Lauren
"A romantic comedy delight. If you loved Schitt's Creek, It Happened One Summer will be your absolute jam." — Christina Lauren
"I put my entire life on hold the moment I opened IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER. I read it in one long, luxurious sitting, reading each page twice, not wanting to miss a moment, and dreading The End. I knew I was reading one of my new favorite books, and I will reread it for years to come, whenever I need a dose of small-town coziness and hard-bodied sea captains. Tessa disarms you with a laugh, heats things up past boiling, and then puts a squeeze inside your heart. The tenderness, vulnerability and heat I am always guaranteed with a Tessa Bailey book are the reasons she is one of my all-time favorite authors." — Sally Thorne
"Tessa Bailey writes pure magic! It Happened One Summer has everything you could want in a rom-com—heartwarming romance, laugh-out-loud humor, and scorching hot chemistry between the lovable socialite and sexy ship captain. I absolutely loved it!" — Alexis Daria, bestselling author of You Had Me at Hola
"With her singular talent for writing romantic chemistry that is both sparkling sweet and explosively sexy, Tessa Bailey once again delivers—It Happened One Summer is everything I want in a modern romance, with two complicated, appealing leads, a setting that feels lived-in and also fresh, and storytelling you want to sink into even as you can't stop turning pages. The total package from one of the genre's very best." — Kate Clayborn, author of Love at First
"Fans of 'Schitt's Creek' will love the premise of Bailey's latest work... [a] sexy, drama-filled love story. 'It Happened One Summer' is another great beach read. Plus, laying out in the sun is a perfect excuse for the blush-inducing scenes scattered throughout." — USA Today
"Schitt's Creek fans, this is the romance read for you." — PopSugar (Best Books of July)
"Her voice feels as fresh and contemporary as a Netflix rom-com... Bailey writes banter and rom-com scenarios with aplomb, but for those who like their romance on the spicier side, she's also the Michelangelo of dirty talk. She wields filth like Da Vinci does a paintbrush, and there's a lot to be said for an author who can fill such exchanges with all the requisite heat, enthusiastic consent, and yes, even humor, of such a scenario without veering into corny territory." — Entertainment Weekly
"Bailey strikes rom-com gold in this outstanding tale... [She] is bound to earn new followers with love scenes hot enough to boil water and a hilariously naïve Schitt's Creek-inspired protagonist who is clearly out of her depth." — Booklist (starred review)
"Bailey delivers on her usual trifecta of sharp banter, instant chemistry, and high-heat sex scenes, but they are coupled with intense soul-searching for both Piper and Brendan... Another winning romance from an author at the top of her game." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"When you read a book by Bailey, there are two things you can always count on: sexy, rapid-fire dialogue and scorching love scenes..." — BookPage.com
"This fish-out-of-water story features quirky characters in a charming working-class small town and a steamy, feel-good romance between opposites. Schitt's Creek fans who just wanted to see Alexis get her happy ending will flock to this title." — Library Journal
"Steamy, sexy and fun, you'll want to soar through these pages."...
