I'm usually not a big fan of novellas. I think it's tough to build a solid storyline in a limited space. But let me tell you - -- Tessa Bailey did just that and more with Same Time Next Year. I was able to get to know the characters and actually feel invested in them and their happily ever after. I also had ample opportunities to be frustrated when they both did foolish things.

This is basically a marriage of convenience when Britta agrees to marry Sumner so he can stay in the country and continue to pursue his NHL dream. Britta assumes she'll be helping him out for a year. What she doesn't count on is catching feelings but man does she ever catch them.

This novella was a pleasant surprise for me. I really enjoyed the characters and plot of this book and hope that Ms. Bailey will be writing more books from this world.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review this and the opinions contained within are my own.

This is the Tessa I know and love, spicy, funny, a tad bit corny. She is back to her old self with this novella, and I love to see it. I really enjoyed the plot - fake marrying her brother's teammate so that he can get a green card. if you want a quick little romp, a spicy good time, and you don't mind characters who have a strong physical attraction to each other this would be a good one to pick up!

Thank you Netgalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Tessa Bailey for the eARC. Same Time Next Year is available through Kindle Unlimited, and it also comes with free Audible narration.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eARC!

I had high hopes for Tessa Bailey’s newest novella. I was intrigued by the plot and tropes as well as excited about New Years Eve Setting. However, this novella was not my favorite.

Most of the reasons I did not love this story can be summed up from the following quote:

“I should have gone to Sluggers, carried her into the office, and kissed her until we were on the same page.”

The relationship in this book begins with a marriage of convenience, which I am all here for, but then digresses into something that is supposed to be a slow burn. That idea/ concept is muddled throughout the 100 pages with multiple large time hops and left me wanting more development from both sides of the story.

Sumner’s biggest personality traits are hockey and liking Britta. Throughout the book, I felt I only got to see his puppy dog love and not his growth to earn a place in their relationship. At the beginning of the book, he literally pays her to enter their fake marriage and then does nothing else to invest in Britta besides begging her to like him back.

Britta on the other hand seemed to be a deep character. Between family trauma that has led to very clear relationship boundaries and her stock in the restaurant, especially after Sumner’s bribe, I was excited to see her grow. Unfortunately, it felt like the rest of the story pushed these interesting qualities aside to make way for physical attraction.

Two things I really loved: The dual POVs and the Smut. Honestly, if you like Tessa Bailey’s works this is worth a read. It skips past lots of details and character development BUT it could be just something fun to read.

In the end, my review comes down to the fact that Sumner and Britta had two very different relationship ideals going into the marriage of convenience and by the end one had sacrificed a lot of their values just to be with the other person. The relationship seems to only grow based on their physical attraction/need for one another rather than a genuine building of relationship. Probably a symptom of the story being restricted to a novella.

I will continue to read Tessa Bailey’s novels but this one was just not for me. Two Stars ⭐⭐

Alright, is this the *best* writing for Tessa? No, it’s not. BUT it is a quick little smutty sports romance novella that’s a fun read. It might be a great option to help you if you’re in a slump or just want something super quick to read!

Read this book if you like
▫️fake marriage
▫️marriage of convenience
▫️hot hockey men/sports romance
▫️novella under 150 pages

I’m not a huge fan of insta-love, which this has, but Sumner was a sweet Canadian hottie & I loved how protective he is of Britta. 🥹🩷 all my stars for this rating go to him.

This was a sweet novella from Tessa Bailey. It wasn't her finest work, but it was good for a novella. It hit the spot for a quick enjoyable read.

I think I like Tessa Bailey’s books more in theory than in reality. This was a fun, steamy fake marriage novella. I appreciated the fast pace to keep the story moving.

Oooh I didn't care for this one. It's a shame because it was my first Tessa Bailey and it's never really fair to judge an author only on a novella where there's just not enough time to fully develop the plot or the characters. But honestly, neither of those things were even where my issues lay. It was the smut! It was part gross and part cringey and it really gave me the ick. As did the dialogue both in and out of the bedroom. I'll still give probably one of her full-length novels a whirl (preferably not a hockey one) before I decide if this author is for me or not.

"Same Time Next Year" begins with the promise of a humorous Tessa Bailey short story, and as a fan of marriage of convenience tales, I was intrigued. The male lead, Sumner, embodies the too-good-to-be-true archetype, swiftly falling for his teammate's sister, Britta, who has sworn off men.

The plot takes an interesting turn when Sumner faces a green-card issue, leading to the convenient solution of marrying Britta. Surprisingly, she agrees, setting the stage for them to spend time together preparing for their immigration interview. As they delve into each other's lives, genuine feelings develop.

However, the story ultimately falls short of expectations for me. It left me wondering if, as a full-length Tessa Bailey novel, it might have achieved a more satisfying impact. While the premise holds promise, the short format seems to limit the depth and development that could elevate the narrative to Bailey's usual standard.

In conclusion, "Same Time Next Year" offers a promising start with the comedic flair characteristic of Tessa Bailey. Yet, the constraints of the short story format hinder its ability to fully explore the potential of the engaging plot and well-crafted characters.

Perfect blend of holidays, fluff, and spice. A sweet marriage of convenience trope. A reverse of “the proposal” it hits several popular tropes with hockey romance, brother’s teammate, black cat/golden retriever and lots of my wife feelings. Sweet and spicy little novella that I really enjoyed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Reader's Copy of Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey!

If you're a Meghan Quinn fan, Tessa Bailey will not disappoint! Bailey's latest, Same Time Next Year, is peppered with laugh-out-loud moments and spicy sex scenes that keep you entertained throughout the book.
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the ARC ebook I read to complete this review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love a marriage of convenience story! Sometimes novellas can be hit or miss with not enough plot or character development but this was really nicely done. I felt like the pacing was perfect and really enjoyed these characters.

Bailey packs a full romance arc—and her trademark heat—into novella Same Time Next Year. Despite the short length, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything from Britta and Sumner’s story.

In this marriage-of-convenience tale, Britta marries Canadian hockey player Sumner, so that he can stay in the United States and get his chance to move up in the hockey world. Britta doesn’t have fond feelings towards marriage, so she sets boundaries for them: they’ll be friends only and there is an expiration date on their match. Sumner, well, he’s basically been in love with Britta since the moment he saw her, so he agrees to her terms. This is his chance to get to know her better and to further his hockey career.

We know how these things go, though, don’t we? It’s tough to fight feelings and attraction. Maybe this marriage in name only will mean something more. Maybe there won’t be an expiration date after all.

Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for an advance copy. All review opinions are my own.

Exactly what I was expecting from Tessa Bailey, sweet and spicy!

Britta is a waitress at the local dive bar looking for something more in her life. Sumner is an up-and-coming hockey player who is in danger of being deported back to his home country of Canada as his green card expires. When Britta is presented with the opportunity to marry Sumner for mutual benefits, the plan sounds great. They plan to stay married for one year and remain friends. But can they keep their feelings out of this during the year?

Obviously, I wanted more.
Some of the spice was just a little cringy but overall this was a great, quick read. I loved how Sumner's family dynamics helped to heal Britta's own views of love and families.

Thank you to #Netgalley and #Amazonoriginalstories for an eARC of this book! All opinions are my own!

Same Time Next Year skillfully blends a few tropes that are particularly popular in romance right now - namely hockey players and fake relationship/marriage of convenience - and packs a lot into a fairly short book. The fact that I didn't like it more is, I think, more a reflection on my taste than on Tessa Bailey's writing ability (for starters, I can't stand the constant pushing of BIG RIPPED MUSCLEBOUND DUDE + delicate petite fragile woman! vibes), and anyone who's already a fan of her work will probably enjoy this novella.

When I saw that this book was available I snatched it up because I had been hearing amazing things about Tessa Bailey. I figured a novella was a great way to test the waters. I really enjoyed this read. It was cute and fast paced. I love the relationship between Britta and Sumner. They are relationship goals for sure. I would definitely recommend this novella to romance readers. I will be adding more books by Tessa Bailey to my TBR.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Britta meets many guys at her job. There is one that she likes. I liked the chemistry between them.

Bartender Britta spends her time serving drinks to the local minor league hockey team, but for some reason none of the players have ever hit on her. Turns out the team’s star, Sumner, had named her off limits when he first joined the team but has been too scared to ask her out. When Sumner’s visa is about to expire, he and Britta enter a marriage of convenience so he can stay, but the close proximity makes things heat up.

This is a wonderful, steamy Tessa Bailey novella. I am a huge sucker for books where they guy is already totally in love with the girl so this book was right up my alley. At about 150 pages this book can easily be read in one sitting. I really liked that the book was dual POVs and both Britta and Sumner were fully developed characters even within the short span of the story. I also liked that the book carefully used time jumps so it didn’t feel like an insta-love book. I honestly wish this had been a full length book instead of a novella.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was pretty much exactly what I was expecting - a typical spicy Tessa Bailey contemporary romance just compressed into a novella length. I did wish that there was more time to get to know these two characters, and there was a jump in the timeline that I wish could have been filled in, but I think the satisfaction of a very quick, vaguely holiday themed read with an HEA made up for anything that was missing.

Tessa….ma’am. We need to have a chat.

Same Time Next Year is a story following Sumner and Britta for an entire year of their marriage of convenience. In this novella by Tessa Bailey, we meet the pair on NYE 2023 and learn Sumner is a hockey player whose work visa is about to expire. His teammates half-sister, Britta, works at a popular bar she’d like to own or become a partner of. Britta and Sumner have insane attraction, but Britta is reluctant to admit it. When she learns that Sumner has to leave the following morning, she’s persuaded by his entire team to marry him. He can get his green card, or at least an extension. And she can get money to own the bar she works in. Perfect arrangement…. Right?

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this book. I read the ebook on the NetGalley shelf app

Britta is so kind. She’s incredibly guarded due to her family traumas. Britta is also crazy in denial. Sumner is head over heels in love with Britta. He has been since they met. Sumner comes from a loving family background who were always present for him. I enjoyed the dynamic of these two. They were constantly asking each other to be honest and communicate with each other. The hockey teammates were cute and rowdy, but had the best interest of both Sumner and Britta. Tessa is always so skilled at writing stories I can imagine easily.

This novella was a light-hearted read. It gave me a taste of Sumner and Britta’s story. I am BEGGING you Tessa….it’s just you and I here. PLEASE give me a series of this team or cast or something. Please.

P. S.
The spice was….battery drainingly good.