Wreck the Halls, is hilarious. Melody comes off as shy and stand offish at first. She really comes into her own or is it Beat that brings it out in her. She didn't know just how cool she really is. Beat didn't know that he needed Melody in his life. His whole outlook changed when they got together.
Not really a holiday book but every once in a while we are reminded with a Christmas song thrown in.

This book is the perfect mix of swoony and spicy! Beat and Melody have so much chemistry that just comes naturally. I mean, come on, their names are Beat and Melody!! This book really reminds me of Taylor Swift’s "Invisible String." They just have that connection that pulls them together. Tessa never fails to make her characters personalities intriguing and her men PERFECT. Beat has that caring, hot, private exterior going on. That is again, SEXY!!! I seriously need a Beat of my own. I’m so serious; you need this book. Get your copy on October 3rd!
 
P.S. This is a dream come true; I admire Tessa’s work so much! Thank you, Avon Books. I am very grateful!

If you’re looking for the perfect holiday story, look no further than Wreak The Halls. Tessa Bailey’s characters will make you laugh, say “ahhhh”, and maybe even she’d a tear or two.

4.75 ⭐️
🌶🌶🌶

Beat Dawkins and Melody Gallard agree to film a live stream reality show where they attempt to convince their famous mothers to reunite their band for one more Christmas Eve performance, despite their adamance that they would never get back together. As the world falls in love with Melody, so does Beat. But blackmail and bull**** get in the way. Will they find their way through it? Will they convince their moms to perform one more time?
This was another fantastic Tessa Bailey read for me, It had me smiling and giggling the while way through. It wasn’t quite as Christmasy as one might hope, but still a fantastic read, they will have me reading and rereading many times over!

I expected this to be a light and fun holiday romance. But it fell short of exceptions. It was very insta-love and didn’t take the time to develop the character’s relationships with each other. Insta-love is my least favorite romance trope so it was hard for me to enjoy this read. It also didn’t have the holiday vibes I expected. It was set around Christmas but was missing the spirit and seemed to forget the timing half of the time. I typically enjoy Tessa Bailey’s books so I’m hopeful I will enjoy her next book more than this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*ARC Review*

I am a major Tessa Bailey fan but I am sad to say this is not one of my favorites.

The reader follows along as Melody and Beat, children of famous rock legends who had a major falling out, reconnect. They set on a path to get their moms to have a Christmas Eve Reunion. They do it through live stream where the viewer not only watches them attempt the impossible, but sees them fall in love too.

I love this part of the plot and its so fun. I don't love the black mail theme and didn't find myself engrossed in the steamy bits like I usually am with TB's work.

Cute read with the classic Bailey spice, but I just felt there were layers that weren't necessary, and the book didn't flow like her work usually does. It didn't feel like she wrote it.

This is Tessa Bailey at her best. This book has emotion, turmoil, slow burn
- seriously slow since they were teens and then aged up and we get to see their entire friendship/relationship over time, humor, and chemistry.

The chemistry between Melody and Beat is insane, and there were so many sweet moments that I would catch myself smiling while reading.

If you liked It Happened One Summer, if you love Christmas romances, I think you’ll adore Wreck the Halls. This is a five star read for me and I can’t wait to purchase a copy and reread it at Christmastime.

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

Two of my favorite things—holiday reads and Tessa Bailey! 🩵🩵 This one has a super cute premise—Beat and Melody (yes you read that right) set off to reunite Steel Birds, the band their mothers were in in the 90s. Oh yeah, cameras are following them everywhere because it’s a reality show, and oh yeah their mothers haven’t spoken since 1993. 😂
•
What I liked:
🎶 Adorable characters
🎶 Spicy with a little *ahem* kink 🌶️🥵
🎶 Open communication, mostly
🎶 Funny
🎶 Super readable
•
What I didn’t:
🎶 Not overly Christmassy (this can be a good or bad thing depending on what you like—I like a lot of Christmas in my holiday books. This one was more about the characters and less about the season)
🎶 A little cheesy
🎶 The soulmate thing was a little overdramatized
•
I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for the e-arc!

I 👏🏼 ATE 👏🏼 THIS 👏🏼 UP

tessa bailey remains firmly planted on her throne. this was such a feel good spicy read and i never wanted it to end.

The main characters are quirky, fun, honest about their feelings and rarely hold anything back. The side characters are HILARIOUS. It took a bit longer to get to the sexy times than i was anticipating but LORD was it worth it.

highly recommend going into this one blind and just enjoying the ride 😂

read if you want a spicy christmas rom com!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for allowing me to be an early reader!

This was my first novel by Tessa Bailey, and it had all the best qualities of a good romance film - steamy, sweet, clever, and comforting. Beat and Melody are the children of rock legends, and they’ve reluctantly signed up to reunite their feuding rockstar mothers for one last gig, all while being filmed for a livestream reality show about the process. But Beat and Mel, and their incandescent chemistry, quickly become the stars of the show and the focus of an adoring public.

It pains me to say that I wasn’t in love with this book. I’m giving it 3.5 stars. Instalove is a hit or miss subgenre for me and this just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t connect with the characters and the story just was a bit of a “eyes crossed while reading” vibe. I found their names interesting and different though.

I’m a huge TB fan but have struggled to connect with her holiday storylines, this one included. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Must Read a Christmas Book in July 🎄

“Wreck the Halls”by Tessa Bailey was perfect.
Beat and Melody are the children of the lead singers of a band that tragic to their fans broke up years ago. Beat in a situation needs some cash so he joins up with Melody for a reality tv show to see if together they can get their moms back together to have a band reunion. Melody is quiet, keeps to her self with all the insecurities while Beat shines in the spotlight. Together the fans love them but will they be able to put the past behind them and achieve a Christmas Miracle. 🎁

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fun Rom Com read that is a quick easy read for the Holidays. Enjoyed both of these characters and how they brought the best out in each other.

Release day~ 10-3-23
#julesbookshelf #bookstagram #romcombooks #tessabailey #wreckthehalls #christmasbooks #arc #netgalley

if there's one thing you can count on from tessa bailey, its an obsessed mmc and a cheesy love story. beat and melody reconnect 14 years later as they team up to film a TV show to reunite their moms, who were once in a popular band together. forced together, beat and melody confront the obvious attraction they have for one another while simultaneously dealing with the rising popularity of the show.

wreck the halls follows bailey's typical romcom formula with beat being absolutely in love with melody since the time they met 14 years ago, melody being the shy and sweet fmc, and top notch dirty talk. the spice in this book was some of tessa's best work, but the story overall was pretty average. i honestly couldn't get over their names even by the end of the book, especially beat's. a short and sweet story i needed!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a Tessa Bailey stan and will read anything she puts out. Have I LOVED all of her works? No. But I know that they're all going to fun rides even if they're just okay, like this one. Insta love is something I don't usually pick up, and I didn't realize that was the major trope; because of that, this book was off-putting to me. I'm a slow burn kinda girl, or at least a medium burn. Was it cute though and funny? Yeah, but it's not going to be a book I rave about. Love you, Tessa, but this one was a miss for me.

i usually don’t love book where it’s an instant love connection and everything moves super fast, but it worked in wreck the halls. the book was so whimsical and truly an escape into a romance book! beat and melody are tasked with trying to reunite their mothers for a christmas eve concert after their massive break up 30 years ago. it was spicy and funny but i didn’t find myself loving beat as much as some of her other characters

Tessa Bailey does it again in this wonderful rom-com. I loved Beat and Melody's story with their moms. This book is about family, friends, and meant to be love coming together at last. Such a nice holiday rom-com!

I was extremely disappointed with this title from Tessa Bailey. First of all, Beat was not particularly well-written and the way he spoke to and about Melody frustrated me. He was over-protective and Melody proved time and again that she was capable of taking care of herself and he still acted like she was a helpless child. Melody was a great character and I liked what she was about. However, her job as antique book repairer served no actual purpose and seemed unnecessary to the plot. It was just a placeholder job.

The sex scenes felt awkward and Beat's whole identity seemed wrapped up in his sexual proclivities, which were not particularly kinky or weird. The reality tv angle helped a little with the will they won't they for the tv audience, but felt a little flat.

I thought the mom's were a little interesting, but the relationship could have been salvaged much sooner had Beat just spoken up much sooner. The stakes of his blackmail didn't seem like that big of a deal as the book got rolling.

There were also no major ties to Christmas outside of when it took place and a few brief asides. That could have been played up much more for both comic and plot effect.

Melody was the saving grace of this book and even she did not do enough to make it super interesting. Disappointment all around for me.

I liked it! Melody really shined in this book. Her character was so roll-with-the-punches and hilarious with the one liners, I enjoyed her a lot. She was especially likable knowing she was a dorky teenager who grew out of her awkwardness, who doesn't love an underdog! Beat starts off fun loving and carefree but half way through the book he is very sensual and intense. I think I liked him better in the first half before he was pouring his heart out. It’s messed up, I know ok don’t judge me!

*Spoilers below*

Likes - I liked the banter, It was hilarious. The side relationship with the producer and the cameraman added a little more intrigue. The back and forth with Octavia and Trina was pretty good. The SPICE was great. The Snowball Fight! The Doorman who gets easily distracted by candy bars.

Dislikes - It didn't really feel Christmas-y. I feel like Fletcher got off WAY too easy. I wanted to read more about the concert when it finally happened! Beat’s “issue” felt like it was resolved too easily. It comes off as this MAJOR thing for him and by the second/third hookup he’s fixed up.

Side note - was anyone else stressed the whole time they were going to accidentally leave their mics on?! Every time they had an off camera scene I was thinking to myself “I just know that dam mic is still on!”

This was an enjoyable romantic romp! I loved the characters and the plot. It was a cute story with characters that I really liked. This was a book that I couldn't put down once I started reading it. Give yourself a present and read this holiday romance!