Look no further for proof that opposites attract!

When Piper Bellinger, LA social media darling, is sent to Westport, WA she meets Captain Brendan Taggert and there is instant fire. Seriously, fire. Piper sets things on fire as she tries to prepare a meal and Brendan steps in to help her. Their initial antagonism soon gives way to attraction. Piper shakes up his scheduled routines and Brendan helps her realize there is more to her than she gives herself credit for.

Real communication between the MCs keeps this instalove story from being ridiculously unbelievable. It is such a rarity to find a romance novel with a couple that talks to each other instead of ignoring their insecurities and issues. It is not perfect communication, but it is honest.

Recommended for: romance readers

Content warning: very steamy sex scenes; profanity

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book In Exchange of a honest review. P

this one was really fun! SUPER steamy with a male main character that was sweet and loving, I love the journey the Piper went on to discover herself and really become the woman she was meant to be.

Brendan and Piper in It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Brendan is a sea captain in a small fishing village, Westport, Washington. Piper is a trust fund party girl from LA. When she is arrested for one too many illegal parties her stepfather sends her to Westport with the deed to a bar her father owned-the father who has been dead since she was 4. Her sister accompanies her to see if they can make a go of the bar and be able to cut short her exile. Of course the bar is a disaster not having been kept up since her father’s time. As they renovate the bar Piper and Brendan begin to fall in love. But will Piper be able to permanently leave behind the glitz and glamour of LA to stay with Brendan?
This is another steamy and funny romance from Tessa Bailey. Fans will love it and so will those picking upon of her books for the first time. I would highly recommend this book to my patrons (and friends).

Listen, I had a big ole' write up gushing about how good and steamy and exactly aligned to both my Schitts Creek & sea captain loving interests and then my wifi went out and I lost the whole thing 🙃
So basically, YES this book is very good and went beyond all the expectations (sexpectations?) I had for steamy contemporary romance. I've preordered my own copy because I know I'm going to want to reread this one. Can't wait for the sequel. Tessa Bailey is a genius.

Holy cuteness!! I finished Schitts Creek not long before starting this book and It Happened One Summer was everything I needed! Piper is Alexis Rose to a T! I love that Tessa Bailey included her inspiration in the authors note, although even if she didn’t I definitely would’ve picked up those Alexis vibes.

This will definitely be a hit read that everyone needs to read this summer!! Westport was described in such detail that I felt like I was there myself. Brendan is the total opposite of Piper, but they were exactly what the other needed. He was very grouchy at the beginning of the book but by the end it’s hard not to love him as much as Piper does. The angst, emotion, comedy and steam was perfect throughout the whole book! It’s rare for a book to have side characters that are all very likable. Of course there has to be one character we’re supposed to hate, which wasn’t different in this story (Pipers ex bff in LA). I loved Piper and Hannah’s relationship and their strong bond and I’m so excited for Hannah’s story!

honestly i was so excited for this book but it was just disappointing which seems to be the case for every anticipated book i read :/

first there was barely any plot? like even the conflict didn’t come up until 85% into the book. the character arcs weren’t done well they didn’t have a lot of struggles and most of their struggles was shown more through tell than show.

brendan was annoying and just a boring character, piper wasn’t as annoying as him but her character just didn’t make sense to me like it only took her a couple of chapters to fully acclimate to the small town even though she’s supposed to be this wild party girl.

the romance was so bad there wasn’t even any slowburn like it only took them a couple of chapters to act in love with eachother it made their relationship boring and the lack of conflict made it hard to root for them.

also piper barely had a relationship with her parents or with anyone other than brendan and hannah which i don’t like in romance books.

the writing was cringey and just bad in general.

i did like fox and hannah and will be reading their book.

If i had to describe this book in one word it would be "Steamy!" The banter between the two characters was fun and playful. I enjoyed how the characters are polar opposites and yet they still learn some things from one another. The sleepy sea city was also a nice setting for the book. I think this one would make a great read for you to take to the beach. I liked this one but at times the female protagonist was a little too guarded and it didn't seem realistic for her to go from at the longest three week relationships to full on in love.

It Happened One Summer imagines what would happen if an Alexis Rose-inspired lead character, Piper, was dropped into a small ocean town and given a bar from her late father. Piper and her sister Hannah go to the small town where their dad was from, met a grandmother they never knew about, and found themselves smitten with the small town in a matter of weeks.

I was really excited about the premise of this book, and the first half was really good. I enjoyed the self-discovery that Piper was on to learn there is more to life than being a socialite. It switched for me about halfway through and seemed like the rest of the book was trying to cram as many steamy scenes as possible. The character development just fell off and the ending felt very rushed. Piper’s mom and step-dad basically disappear completely from the story, even though they seem to have been important at the start of the story.

There is a second book coming in 2022 that focuses on Piper’s sister, Hannah, so the author might be saving some of that backstory for Hannah’s book. Overall, an interesting premise, but would have liked to continue pushing the characters to grow through the back half of the book as well.

Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher through Net Galley. All opinions are my own. It Happened One Summer is expected to release in July 2021.

Piper is an influencer but when she takes her wild partying a bit to far and ends up in jail her step-father sends her to the small Washington State town her mother and father were from. The only thing there is her father's bar and an apartment above it.. Piper and her sister know nothing about the town or their father and the bar is not what they expect. How is Piper going to survive without the parties, and shopping, and having to do things for herself? And then there is the grumpy guy, Brendan, who thinks she won't last the night. A story of Piper trying to figure out what she really wants and what makes a family.

After a party that went wrong, socialite Piper is cut off from her family and made to move to a small town. Upon arriving, Piper and her sister Hannah meet some of the locals, including sea Captain Brendan. But Piper is ready to get back to LA as soon as possible & the ocean is the love of Brendan’s life. What will happen when Piper’s exile is over?

Dare I say this is my favorite book from Tessa Bailey?!?! Wow I absolutely adored this book! Possibly my favorite thing (aside from everything) was watching Piper grow! I also loved how she brought quiet and grumpy Brendan out of his shell & cracked his hard exterior! And Brendan...hello new book boyfriend! He is so swoony & just perfect all around! Whew! Can we just mention the fitting room scene?! 🔥

If you haven’t already, be sure to drop this into your cart ASAP!

"What now? Do I leave everything behind and move to some random island to be with the love of my life? Because I did that with Harry Styles in England, and it was, like, too rainy." — Alexis Rose

As a person who finally jumped on the Schitt’s Creek train, I can say without a doubt this book has the essence of that show. Piper is the perfect Alexis. She’s come off initially as entitled, privileged, and extremely self centered. She’s THE “it girl”. The girl that everyone is envious of because everything seems to come to her naturally and every guy wants her on his arm because she makes him shine better. Piper is unapologetically original and owns up to who she is, though she is more than her high maintenance LA lifestyle. I thought I wouldn’t connect with Piper in the beginning, but quickly she shows you she is more than red sole shoes and high end bags. She’s empathetic, caring, and knows her strengths but tends to shy away from her own true self. She’s not at all superficial or condescending, but instead has a surprising vulnerability, maturity, and sincerity that makes her feel real and authentic.

At first glance It would seem as if Brendan and Piper were too different to even be considered as a match, but as the story progresses and you get to know the characters more, you can easily see how perfectly they fit. Piper isn’t confident in her real self. She constantly doubts her abilities to be more than the “it girl” and doesn’t see past the glittery persona. Brendan sees all the good that she refuses to acknowledge. They complement and bring each other to life while pushing the other out of their comfort zone. Brendan and Piper are comical but endearing. Both have a lot to figure out about themselves, and starting off with a friendship helped open them to honest conversations and own self analysis.

This is the steamiest book I have read. Though the author did push me out of my comfort zone, it never reached the point of crude or vulgar descriptions. The scenes were written with care and stayed true to the characters and the development of their relationship. There are times while reading other romance books the scenes felt over exaggerated or unnecessary in quantity, but this book has the perfect balance where the main focus wasn’t all about physical intimacy and focused on all the different layers of an intimate relationship.

While reading, the writing hypnotized me to the point where the world around me faded back and all I could feel and see was the pages in the story. The author's writing captivates you to the point where hours feel like minutes, characters feel like extensions of yourself, and you become so enthralled with the story as you savor every word. There were moments during the story that the writing kept me at the edge of my seat. My heart would race and my palms were sweaty with anticipation. This is a well rounded contemporary romance that goes above and beyond other books in its class. It's filled with unforgettable characters and a story that grips your heart till the very end. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

It Happened One Summer is a light romantic read about Piper, a spoiled socialite (think Alexis from Schitt’s Creek), stranded in a dusty sea town. After a legal snafu in LA, Piper’s wealthy stepfather has given her no choice but to move to the sea faring town that her deceased father once called home. Her sister Hannah, a kind and gentle soul, agrees to join her and the two of them are unprepared for the realities of “roughing it”. They expect a warm welcome and a quick and easy summer by the sea, but instead are met with hostility and confusion from one local in particular. Brendan is a handsome rough around the edges type who can’t stand Piper in the beginning. That disdain turns out to be mutual attraction and leaves Piper in a new predicament. Does she return to her life in LA or start over with a man who has the most dangerous job in the world? The same job that her father lost his life doing.

This book is a relatively quick read that keeps up the pace of most women’s fiction/romance. The romance scenes are written with a little extra spice, showing that Tessa Bailey knows how to write some steam! I also liked the description of the town and its inhabitants. By the end of the book I was loving hearing about the sweet elderly population and was thankful the book focused on other relationships besides Piper’s and Brendan’s. Piper and Brendan do have a relationship that I was rooting for and I appreciated the level of detail the author went to convey their different perspectives. There were moments where I teared up and it had a nice emotional journey.

To be honest, I did have some reservations about this book. Mainly about the character and plot development. I wish that the enemies to lovers trope could have lasted a little longer, I felt like the story kind of rushed into a relationship and later into bed/love/marriage without the foundation that it needed. I think if the characters had been allowed to breathe a bit, it would have made the storyline more enjoyable. I also felt like the characters did not seem well-developed. I had a hard time reading the dialogue without cringing at the broad brush used to write them. The character’s dialogue, actions, and sex did not seem cohesive. While reading it I wondered if perhaps authors just write 30 sex scenes and then copy and paste a couple to one book, a couple to another book, etc. It did not seem like the sex matched the characters.

Overall, this would be a great book to read on the beach this summer! I enjoyed reading it but would not recommend it to a friend. I would be open to trying other Tessa Bailey books to see how they compare!

I received a free copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this. I had a hard time getting into it in the beginning as I really hated Piper. However, midway through the book I really started to enjoy myself. It’s really worth sticking through until the end even if the beginning is hard to get into. 4/5 stars

I wanted to like this book, I truly did... but it just didn't happen for me. I've read some of Tessa Bailey's other books and they were fun and spunky - this book just missed the mark for me. I felt like I was either rolling my eyes at the cheesiness or skipping pages because the scenes were too graphic and/or forced.

Piper's character seems very stereotypical "LA rich girl" and the frequent trendy quotes and references made it feel like I was watching an instagram story instead of reading a book. The relationship with Brendan felt forced and unnatural - things progressed very quickly. Some of the scenes between Piper and Brendan were unnecessarily graphic and over the top.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have really been enjoy Tessa Bailey's books this year!

Like the Hot and Hammered series, It Happened One Summer features a fun heroine learning about herself, a strong sister relationship and all the steam.

Piper's life comes crashing down after a big party ends with a night in jail. She's banished by her stepdad to a small sea town to learn about herself and the value of hard work. She didn't expect to find love or a reason to put down roots in Westport at all.

Piper and Brenden were cute! Their banter and their ability to bring out the best in each other was a joy to read. This was a quick and fun escape from reality, just what I want a book to be!

CW: death of a parent/spouse

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tessa Bailey said in the front matter of this book that she was channeling Alexis Rose from Schitt's Creek and giving her the happy ending she deserved; that is exactly what happened in this book.

I think what I really loved about this book was even when in full socialite mode you could tell there was something deeper to Piper than everyone else saw. Her exterior was clearly an armor she wore to protect herself from others.

This is a HOT romance with quality adult relations.

I really enjoyed this read and was pleased to see Hannah, Piper's sister, will be receiving her own story. One thing I would have liked more from this book was more interaction from the parents of the girls. They seemed quite distant, but perhaps that was by design.

Piper Bellinger is just like Alexis Rose of Schitt's Creek - rich, spoiled, and suddenly, not so rich after all. When she gets arrested for hosting an illegal midnight pool party, her stepdad has had enough. Piper's punishment? A summer in the peaceful Pacific Northwest coastal town of Westport, where she lived briefly as a child before her father died in a fishing accident. Opposites attract when Piper meets gruff sea captain Brendan, and their friendship quickly heats up. Can this "fish out of water" find a real place to call home?

Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and I also love stories where opposites attract. Piper was a little "extra" at first, but I came to find her very endearing and caring towards others. I really liked seeing her character growth over the course of the book. Brendan's gruff sweetness was a nice counterpoint, and I enjoyed how he helped Piper find herself and a place in the Westport community. The minor characters brought a lot of fun to the story, including grandmother Opal and charming old man Abe. Don't forget Piper's sister and BFF Hannah, who's rightfully getting her own book in 2022!

This would have been a 4 star read for me, but it ended up being closer to 3.5 due to the sex scenes. The scenes in this book felt very unrealistic, over the top, and unnecessarily graphic - including a scene in a hospital after one of Brendan's crew has been injured. I really liked Piper and Brendan's love story and seeing the nice things they did to support each other, but the sex scenes didn't add anything to the plot and even detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an ARC of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

<b>OMG THIS WAS SO GOOD! </b>

5+++ stars

Favorite romance I've read in a long time and I'm so happy about it! I'm also sad because it's over but I can't wait for you to read it when it comes out. There's also the hope of another book featuring our main character's sister which I'm excited about but not as much as It Happened One Summer. It was perfect and if you fight me on that, I'm going to ignore you.

In this cute & steamy romance, you'll meet Piper a famous Instagramer/influencer. Her step-father is rich and her whole life is all about taking the perfect picture, being seen and going out with people from the same circle in L.A. So when a stunt goes too far and her step-father tells her she needs to get her s*it together and find a purpose in life, she kind of have some sort of crisis about who she is and what she wants in life. When her step-father tells her she needs to go to Westport, the hometown of her dad who used to be a fisherman and died in an accident, Piper's first reaction is to refuse. But she doesn't really have a choice in the matter and ends up (with the support of her sister Hannah) in this small town where everyone knows each other and where she will meet Brendan. It's not love at first sight let me tell you! Unless you count the attraction that they both feel but will quickly ignore when they seem to hate each other's guts (and when Piper sees the ring on his finger because yes... Brendan is a widower).

However, as time goes by, things start to change. Piper starts to grow and is more brave and determined than what Brendan believed her to be at first. Brendan also will face his issues and starts to change his routines.

The tension, the chemistry, the dialogues, everything made me invested and I was shipping them so hard. The sex scenes were also great which was an added bonus.

Overall, <b>PICK THIS BOOK UP</b>, you won't regret it. This was my first Tessa Bailey book and I read someone mention that this was their favorite one so far so I'm curious about her other works. I might read one or two. We'll see!

<i>(Thank you so much for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

First of all, I love Tessa Bailey. Second, I love books based in Washington. Third, I fully enjoyed this Schitt’s Creek inspired romcom.

Did I go to Westport because I fell in love with it in this book? Yes. Did I take a picture at Westport's Marina because I am extra? Yes. Did I eat all of the seafood? Also, yes.

Now that it is out of the way. I loved this book! This is definitely an opposites attract, enemies to lovers story and is steamy. Piper has some amazing character development throughout the book and she has so much personality. Brendan is a sexy bearded fisherman and the captain of his boat. His heart belongs to the sea and his late wife’s grieving father. Piper and Brendans chemistry made for a wonderful love story.

Westport is a close community filled with so many different lovely people than she would have surrounded herself around in LA. Her sister, who goes to Westport with her, is the perfect balance to Piper and I hope her story is next!

Fun Fact: Westport is Washington's largest fish landing port. I love when you can tell that an author did a serious amount of research to put a book together!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Yesterday, I spent hours by the pool engrossed in IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey - one of the many reigning queens of romance. This books was maximum s t e a m - no closed door anything to be found here. But it was also just an enjoyable read that focuses on a LA influencer and party girl, Piper, after her dad sent her to spend a summer in a small, coastal PNW town to learn to fend for herself. There, she mets a gorgeous, but seemingly moody, bearded, beanie-wearing, sea captain and fisherman, Brendan.

Again, the steam factor is high in this one and let’s just say I didn’t know if it was the Miami heat or the book get me all hot and bothered at the pool. It’s definitely five eggplants from me. 🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆

IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER is out July 13, so pre-order it now!