Tessa is on an insta-love wave right now, and you know what? I'm not mad at it! This was a perfect Holiday read- big on love with a side of spicy and a ton of laugh out loud moments.

Quick summary:
Beat and Melody might have been destined for each other. Problem #1- their mothers have been in an infamous feud since their band broke up, which incidentally was before Beat and Melody were born. Problem #2- They met ONCE when they were 16 and have not seen each other for 14 years. Problem #4- They have reunited to try to make the impossible happen-- bring their mothers back together for a show.

This was more of a love to soulmates story, with just the right amount of angst to make this story a MUST read for the holidays. I mean you almost wish you were watching this as a reality show.

Thank you #netGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such an adorable read.

Melody and Beat have one thing in common...their mothers were rock legends in the famous band duo, Steel Birds. They broke up and never spoke to each other in 30 years and no one knows why.

Melody and Beat met once when they were 16, but are now meeting up again (14 years later) to do a live reality show to try and get their moms to play a reunion Christmas concert.

I loved Melody's and Beat's connection. Their playful banter and attraction had me right from the start. However, besides the concert being a Christmas concert, it's not really christmassy...which I liked, because it could really be enjoyed all year round.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Tessa Bailey strikes again. This book was everything .I was blushing, kicking my feet in the air. Beat was so wonderful to Melody and I loved--LOVED--seeing them interact. That pull was there from the very very start and it stayed strong until the end. Besides, the winter vibes? CHRISTMAS? Yes, please.

This is a completely sweet story but not my favorite trope. I know there are a lot of holiday themed books but that really had nothing to do with the plot in this case which didn't bother me but if you're looking for something involving a lot of christmas, this isn't that.

A spicy Christmas romance with some pining and a hell of a story thrown in? Okay Tessa Bailey, I see you!

I loved Melody and Beats story. Melody was an adorable character from start to finish and even though I felt like throwing Beat sometimes I still really liked him.

These two were almost fated to be together and watching them try to get their mothers band back together (was it just me or did anyone else get Fleetwood Mac vibes?) you couldn't help but notice they were the perfect match.

Overall loved it and I cannot wait to buy the physical copy!

BOOK REVIEW: Wreck The Halls by @Tessa Bailey I want to give a big shoutout to Tessa, @Avon Books & @NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book! 🎄🎄

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What can i say Tessa Bailey has done it again her books are so amazing and so funny i laughed during a few parts of this book I had a really great time reading this book!

This was such a great book to read. I liked the two young kids and their relationship and their mom's. It was a fun dynamic. Tessa is an excellent storyteller and this one gave me a little Daisy Jones vibe. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This is the type of holiday book I needed. Five stars.

4.5

a classic tessa bailey. if you like her other books, i can almost guarantee you’ll enjoy this one. beat & melody are great—their obvious feelings for each other are adorable & i’m glad we didn’t have to wait too long for them to be recognized. the livestream angle was fun; i really like danielle & joseph (the cameraman). the third act drama & blackmail shit kind of taxed me.

#netgalley

I love Tessa Bailey and I love Christmas so this book was a win-win all around! One of my favorite holiday romances.

It’s Christmas in the summer!!! I was so excited to receive this advanced copy from Tessa’s team and get a taste of her holiday romance magic.

I will start by saying… the first scene of Beat and Mel as teenagers had me cringing so hard that I started off not a fan of this one. I mean, naming a character “Beat Dawkins” and using the term “milk chocolate mane” did the opposite of drawing me into the story. The absurdness of Tessa’s books mingles well with the character development and chemistry, which is ultimately what saved this story.

Some aspects that didn’t work for me were:
1) The struggle of Beat and the blackmailer vs the struggle of Beat feeling like a nepo baby. I felt like having an outer and inner struggle in this book for one singular character was too much and neither were fleshed out enough, making it feel rushed and “insta” fixed at the end
2) Piggybacking off of #1, Beat kink shaming himself was very unexpected (not in a good way). The lead up to this reveal made it seem like it would be a dramatic or scary sexual reveal, but in 2023 orgasm denial isn’t something that would seem taboo enough for this much fanfare.
3) Mel and Beat’s 3rd act “conflict” was extremely strange to me. If Mel knew the entire time that she was going to forgive him and get back together with him, why make Beat hurt like that? Especially when she admitted that she knew he was only trying to protect her. It felt very… “let’s find any conflict we can scrape together to make the big reunion and proposal emotional!”

I would say this was cute and quick to read, and Tessa’s committed readers may still enjoy this! I would not choose to read this again, but this will be a nice holiday-related read for others!

“There’s no Beat without a Melody.” Reader, I died.

Tessa Bailey has done it again. She has given us a horny Christmas present that will surely please all of her loyal fans.

Beat and Melody have one big thing in common, their mothers were in a rock duo that famously broke up and haven’t spoken to each other in 30 years.

Beat and Melody have complicated relationships with their parents and have met once in those 30 years, but it was a magical meeting for both of them. Now have gotten together for a reality show where their goal is to get the two mothers to reunite on stage. It’s an insane task, but stranger things have happened.

I adored this book. The chemistry sizzles on the page. I loved protective Beat and adorable Melody. Their story was electric and I couldn’t get enough. Best early Christmas present ever!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC. Thank you Tessa Bailey for giving us your stories.

I devoured this book in a single day, it is exactly the perfect type of holiday rom-com we all need. Normally I'm staunchly against anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving but when I received this ARC courtesy of Net Galley and Avon, I couldn't resist. Tessa Bailey gave us two adult children of a former rock duo, Steel Birds. Their mothers haven't spoken in three decades and now a reality show comes knocking hoping to use Beat and Melody (yes, their actual names) to spur this reunion just in time for Christmas. If you're looking for a spicy, witty bantery, holiday rom-com with a touch of family drama, this is the book for you. I will be re-reading this again when we get to December.

I read the Bellinger sister books (It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line, and Sinker) and thought they were adorable. As a result, I then read Secretly Yours which was kinda weird but okay and Unfortunately Yours was pretty cute (or at least the main guy sounded adorable). When I saw the name "Tessa Bailey" and what looked like a Christmas story on NetGalley I requested the ARC, no questions asked.

However, the whole story was full of cringe-y behavior. Our main characters met ONE TIME for a few minutes as teenagers and never speak to each other again for FOURTEEN YEARS, but we're supposed to somehow believe they're still so into each other? Couldn't we at least have had a few run-ins between Melody and Beat over the years or something to make this slightly more believable? And then when they do reconnect, there's this insta-love with ridiculous declarations and actions that do not emulate a healthy relationship. And don't get me started on Beat's sexual issues (also...Beat? Couldn't we have gotten a better musical name? Or at least one that doesn't make me think about said sexual issues?) which I didn't care about and just felt like something the author threw in so Melody could heal him or whatever when really it sounded like he should've been seeing a therapist.

I felt like they had to work so hard to make Melody this adorkably precious character that everyone loved, but it somehow had the opposite effect on me. Also due to the cover of the book and the title I was thinking this was going to have more Christmas-ey Hallmark-ish things happening (ice skating, decorating a Christmas tree, drinking hot cocoa, etc.), but honestly I kept forgetting the big reunion was supposed to happen on Christmas Eve. As a result, I wouldn't necessarily call this a holiday romance, it just so happens to take place around that time.

2 stars rounded up from 1.5 because Beat and Melody's moms were the best part of this book.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tessa Bailey has been such a let down for me lately. I think I am going to take a break from reading her books for a while. I liked this book more than the last 4 she has released. But this over all story didn’t seem very thought out. To me I seems like Tessa Bailey needs to focus on writing quality books, rather than writing multiple books a year. This was an interesting story for the most part. But if she took more time to write it I think it would have been better. And the smutty parts were so cringy.

*** Thank you to Netgalley, Tessa Bailey, and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. Opinions are entirely my own***
Release Date: 10.03.2023

“Maybe so. Peaches do have pretty thin skin.” “Yeah, but they have a tough center.”

Holy Christmas Balls. Tessa Bailey could write a shampoo label and I’d read it at least once. She also is the queen of dirty talk and banter and boy; did she bring it for this one. This isn’t the Christmas story you give to your grandma this December, unless grandma likes smut and knows what edging is.
Beat, the son of ½ of 90’s ultimate band “Steel Birds”, is harboring secrets. The biggest one, the blackmail from his father, just makes things worse, as every time he re-appears, he wants more and more hush money. When he is propositioned about a reality show to try to get the band back together, he knows he needs to reach out to Melody. Melody, the daughter of the other half of “Steel Birds”, a girl whom he met once as teenagers and felt a connection since then. Melody and Beat couldn’t be more opposite, but she agrees to helping – in the form of a live stream reality show. As the two try to get their mothers to reunite, quirky chaos ensues, and the two find out more about each other as they fall in love, until the truth comes out shattering the foundation they were striving towards.
I loved this book. I was engaged from the first sentence. I usually want to throw my phone at the miscommunication trope, but Tessa went above and beyond with this one. I would read more about Beat and Melody any day.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for this advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I will read most anything Tessa Bailey writes. I was especially happy to see a holiday story since one of my favorites from her is her Christmas story, Window Shopping.

I thought that this book was very sweet. The characters were wonderful together and they really complimented each other nicely. I liked them individually as well and seeing them confront their issues separately and together was very interesting to read about.

I wish we could see more of these characters someday!

This book was well written (of course), fun and super steamy! I loved the characters and the very entertaining story. Tessa Bailey always brings the spice! Look forward to more from Tessa!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for the arc of this book!

I will read anything Tessa Bailey writes. I love a holiday romance and my only wish was a waited for the holiday time to read it. The plot of famous rockstars children plotting to get them back together was unique and memorable. Really enjoyed this one.

Oh man, I need this palate cleanser.

Christmas is coming and so is Beat’s deadline. For the past five years, his blackmailer has been demanding more and more money to keep his family secret in the dark. Now it’s the biggest sum ever and Beat has no choice but to accept the impossible… he must team up with Melody’s and reunite their mother’s rock band. In doing so both he and Melody’s stand to make over seven figures each. It would solve all his problems.

Unfortunately, their mothers hate each other fiercely. Can Beat and Mel pull off a Christmas miracle?

What I liked:
- Tessa Bailey is the queen of dirty talk and this one did not disappoint
- normally I’m not one for “destined for each other” trope but this one pulled me in
- Octavia and Trina’s insults are the stuff of legends and I’m a Steel Bird fan for life now.

What I Wasn’t Fond Of:
- I’m really tired of women being clumsy as one of their characteristics and I feel like it happens a lot in some of Tessa’s books

Solid 4/5

Thanks to Netgally and Avon for this Arc in exchange for my honest review

Classic Tessa Bailey!!!! It has a simple formula, but such a salifying ending. Passionate characters, great sense of humor and lots of good chemistry. Love the fact this one is holiday themed, it makes it that much more likeable!