First, thank you so much NetGalley, Avon, & Harper Voyager for the ARC of Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey. I have read many of Bailey’s previous romance novels so I was over the moon when I got the email that I was approved!

I was very excited about this book because I love a sports romance but also because I’ve read the previous books in the Big Shots series. I was intrigued by Chloe and Sig’s “verging-on-taboo” relationship when they were introduced in The Au Pair Affair so I was really excited to learn they would be the main characters of the next book. I was dying to know how the future step siblings trope would play out 🙃

While introduced in the previous book, I felt like I really didn’t see much of Chloe’s personality besides the fact she seemed like a loyal friend, albeit kind of helpless. I loved that throughout this novel she went through immense growth and wasn’t just the spoiled rich girl she first appeared to be. Sig was by some accounts a stereotypical possessive hockey player but there were some unique aspects about him in terms of his upbringing and relationships with his parents.

Mostly, I really loved the humor and wit the two main characters brought to their interactions. For that reason this book may now rank as my favorite by Tessa Bailey. I felt their dialogue was similar to Wells and Josephine in Fangirl Down which I loved. That was an aspect I felt was missing in The Au Pair Affair and that’s probably why that was my least favorite of the series.

I also enjoyed the comedic relief provided by side characters such as the “orgasm donors”, Pierre, and Grace! It sounds like one of them might be the focus for the next book and I am totally on board with that!

I’m typically not a fan of the “insta love” trope but in this case I think it was done well. I think the fact that it was also a slow burn/forbidden romance made it a little more believable than your average insta love storyline. They really did become best friends along the way.

In terms of complaints I have very few, but I was disappointed that Talullah was barely in this book. After developing such a strong friendship with Chloe in The Au Pair Affair it seemed a little unrealistic that she would be virtually absent from this book. Especially since Sig and Burgess are best friends and Chloe really didn’t know anyone else in Boston. I think it was a loss to not have her be more involved.

I also think the whole future stepsiblings thing was blown a little out of proportion. Obviously the book needed a conflict point but I wasn’t fully behind this. Would it be weird to date your stepbrother in real life? Yeah… but it’s not like they grew up together and they met before they knew they were going to be related. Also Sig had virtually no relationship with his estranged father before this. In my opinion it wouldn’t be a great look but celebrities/athletes have done weirder things and not had their career ruined over it? Also it was super frustrating to get to the end and find out the parents had been withholding info that would have made this entire plot line moot!! I wish the epilogue had given us a little more on how that affected Chloe and Sig’s relationships with the parents. I think they got off too easy for what they put their kids through, especially Rosie.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am so grateful I got an advanced copy. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in this series!

I think every girl is gonna want a Sig Gauthier in their lives 🩷🩷
Let me begin by saying I’m not the biggest fan of third person books. But, this book and Tessa Bailey has really swayed my opinion.

Sig and Chloe meet and immediately you know you are going to love them. She seems a bit impulsive and he knows from the start that she’s the one.

I can’t put my finger on what exactly made me love this, but I did…from start to finish. I loved the characters, the friends, his care and concern for her (Pop Tarts 🥹🫶🏻) and just their unending friendship and love. 💗💗

I loved every single page and it just made me happy reading it.

"She was everything joyful and sacred in his life. And he wanted to marry her more than he wanted to live."

I'm an avid Tessa Bailey reader and I have to say, Dream Girl Drama just might be my favorite yet! After reading The Au Pair Affair, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Sig and Chloe's story, but it was so much *more* than I was expecting. The way Tessa captures the characters, their emotions and feelings for each and the pureness of their love was incredible.

Chloe could have fallen flat as just a spoiled, out of touch rich girl. Instead, she is fully fleshed out and you realize that she has an incredible depth that she simply wasn't allowed to explore before. She wants to live a vibrant life. She hungers for it! She's selfless and loyal, is capable of self-reflection, an incredible amount of growth and deep love.

Sig isn't your typical gruff hockey player. He's nursing his own wounds from his past and doesn't let people in easily. His loyalty is unmatched and the way Chloe rocks his work is EVERYTHING. I could cry right now just thinking about it.

And don't even get me started on their love. The passion. The longing. The pureness of their feeling. And the pain that comes with the complications surrounding their relationship had me in tears more than once. I truly felt what they felt.

While this felt like a deeply emotional book, there were so many joyful and hilarious moments as well. Pierre is a favorite! And the rookies, aka the Orgasm Donors, offer up some amazing comedic moments. I also loved the little breadcrumb of what I'm assuming will be the next book in this series!

Five freaking stars for Dream Girl Drama. The writing, the vulnerability and emotional connection in this book is simply unmatched. I will be screaming about this book from the proverbial rooftops for months.

I have been KNOWN to love a good hockey romance and I was sat for this as someone who is an actual fan of the sport. it’s become painfully obvious when authors jump on sports tropes when it becomes popular but have 0 knowledge.

That being said… Immediately I was not a fan of the insta love trope.
I think it would’ve been fine had the characters acted their age, but a grown man and woman acting like teenagers and worried about what their parents thought constantly was annoying. I loved their banter, which is something Tessa excels at, but I was waiting for more connection wise between them.
I wish that Chloe was a little more self sufficient because she had so much more potential than being a spoiled brat at her big age. Again the characters are grown, so I don’t think the step sibling trope needed to be as big of an issue as it was? especially since they met before they knew.

I don’t think it helped that I was trying to finish this during election night.

Thank you so much Avon for my copy! I absolutely loved this spicy, fun, sports romance and can’t wait for more from this series.

Ok so this was my first Tessa Bailey books and let’s just say it will not be my last! I received this ARC on Netgalley and was so so excited to dive right into it! I also now know it is part of a series so I definitely need to go pick up the first 2 books. Anyways… I absolutely loved everything about this book! Sig and Chloe are just so meant to be and it is tangible through the pages. The book starts out as an insta lust story between 2 strangers that then takes a HUGE turn when they find out they are about the be step siblings! YIKES right! Due to this, Sig and Chloe decide to be best friends while Chloe makes a Huge move to Boston, her first time away from home. While here our 2 main characters get closer and closer as they get to know each other on a deeper level. Due to this as you can imagine more feelings develop behind the lingering attraction that was already present between the 2. I think that Tessa did an amazing job at making this one a slow burn because of the forbidden nature of their love and relationship. When we did get to the spice and them finally caving despite all the warnings and obstacles standing in their way let me just say it was HOTTT! Tessa always goes above in beyond with her spice while also making it work with the story and boy did it here! Overall our main characters are 2 hot people so it only makes sense that when together it would be well hot lol! Overall, I was skeptical about this book only because it was written in third person and I do not love that style of writing because it is hard for my ADHD brain to comprehend lol. With that being said, I think Tessa did an amazing job with writing this book and she made everything flow so smoothly! I can’t say enough good things about this book and I recommend it to anyone! Now time to go order a whole box of Tessa Bailey books!

Also thank you Netgalley, Tessa Bailey, and Avon/Harper Voyager for this eARC! I had a blast reading this one!

It is currently past midnight, but I just finished this book (ty to netgalley for this advanced copy) that I literally started hours ago and have not been able to put down. I’m torn between rating it 4 or 5 stars.

Based solely off vibes, this book was just EXACTLY:
a. What I needed
b. What I expected from a TB book.

So this book is very insta-love. I know lots of people aren't into that, but I'm in a dark place right now and this book was perfect to just get me in a good mood and keep me entertained. I have to do a better job at reading blurbs, but I also kind of enjoy being a little oblivious going into a book. I really enjoyed the FMC (Chloe) and the MMC (Sig) together. When I realized what was happening at the parents' engagement dinner THE GASP I GUSPED; however, the whole premise of them not being able to be together because they're going to be step siblings felt silly to me because LBFFR who cares that much? Belief suspended for a bit, there was also a little bit of a love bombing quality to it that in the real world I would be telling my friends to RUN don't walk, but in this book I loved it. Give me 14 of them right now.

Another thing I found kind of weird, and this is something I see in books a lot so it's not isolated to Dream Girl Drama, is like when she writes stuff like "appearing to be of Mexican descent" because they were hispanic. As a Guatemalan American I always heard "what's the difference" when trying to differentiate different nationalities that were lumped together as "Mexican." The character never explicitly states they're Mexican so how the FMC in this book has come to that conclusion outside their "natural burnished brown" skin tone, I'm not sure. I hope I'm making sense??? This isn't an indictment on Tessa Bailey, just something that always sticks out to me.

I love the side characters in this. They brought a lighthearted element to this book I desperately needed despite the tension between the MCs. The whole hockey/baseball rivalry? So silly. And I'm hoping wishing and PRAYING that at least one of two of these characters are being set up for books in this universe because "If Tessa Writes It, I Will Come." Not that way!!! Sickos. But I will say, Tessa has delivered on the spice in this book. Sig is a lil' freak and I love it.

Despite having some tiny grievances, I've decided to round my review up because this book has put a pep in my step and has got me excited to actually pick up another book after a slump. Sometimes the vibes are just THAT good.

I knew it would be a five-star read for me as soon as I finished the first few chapters. Tessa is amazing at what she does, and I adore her books! She's the queen of slow burn and spice, and I love the way she pulls you into her character's stories.

This entire series from Tessa Bailey has been an absolute knock out, and I love that each book is so different from the last, you are transported on such an adventure every time. Sig and Chloe were magnificent, I knew they would be from their interactions in The Au Pair Affair. But I did not know how electric and how heartfelt their story was going to be. And I did enjoy the mega plot twist at the end, which I honestly didn’t predict correctly and that’s novel for me, I am usually really good at predicting what will happen! So Bailey got me there! But wow, Sig and Chloe blew me away, they were so much money than I imagined they would be. Loved it, loved it, loved it!!

I absolutely loved this last installment in Tessa’s sports series. this was the book I was anxiously waiting for. We’ve seen snippets of Sig and Chloe and their amazing chemistry throughout the other books, and I’ve been chomping at the bit to read their story. it didn’t disappoint in the slightest.

This book is all stolen glances, secret touches, and the delicious push and pull of two people who aren’t allowed to be together. Everything you want in a taboo relationship without it being really all that taboo (they’re step siblings, it’s not all that terrible.) Pair that with two amazing characters that pretty much fell in love at first sight, a cinnamon roll hockey player and a flighty heroine with a heart of gold, and some insane chemistry and you have one of my favorite books of the year!

Omg, Tessa Bailey is the queen of my romance universe. This was *so* good. After reading The Au Pair Affair, I could not wait to get my hands on this book and it delivered. Ugh, SIG! The MMC we all want and deserve. Chloe was giving Alexis Rose, very cute and clueless, and I loved her.
Can I please have Mailer’s book next? Or Corrigan’s?!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for making my week by approving this arc! All opinions expressed are my own.

After the Au Pair Affair I was not going to continue on with this series BECAUSE of Sig and Chloe. I hate the step siblings trope, I hated their personalities, and I didn’t feel like I connected with the characters in any way shape or form.

Turns out I was so insanely wrong.

Dream Girl Drama is the kind of book you read while sighing wistfully and holding the book close to your heart while staring at the sunset. It somehow managed to throw out all my misconceptions about them by chapter 2. It makes me want to reread it over and over again and hope I can wish Sig into existence.

I think this is going down in my own romcom hall of fame. The spice was good too in case you’re wondering but there was some word usage during it that made it go down .25 stars. It was hilarious, Sig and Chloe are to die for, and their character development made my little independent Capricorn heart leap with joy.

I think in some twisted way that me hating the step sibling trope made me understand the conflict a lot more, because I’m literally part of the problem they had. I would say it changed my stance but if it’s not Sig and Chloe I don’t think it can be justified.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC, and congratulations to Tessa Bailey for proving me completely wrong (which is almost impossible).

4.75⭐️

I just love Tessa Bailey books so I was beyond thrilled to receive this arc, thank you NetGalley! I’ve been looking forward to Chloe & Sig’s story and it didn’t disappoint.

It was a 2.5 or 2.75 for me…I don’t know what it was about this book but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as the last one in the series. I had such high hopes, but I just didn’t care for Chloe or Sig…I guess I don’t get why they couldn’t just say that they met each other before the dinner with their parents. It probably could have alleviated a lot of the issues. I feel like we got better information from the little snippets of their relationship that we’d get from The Au Pair Affair…I just expected more

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the eARC

I think this is my favorite of the Big Shots series. It should be read in order. This story begins catching you up to where you meet Sig and Chloe in the last book (The Au Pair Affair). It gives you the feels of "right person, wrong time" with spice (3/5).

If only she could stop being weak for a man who obviously wasn't meant for her.

Pierre (the dog) stole the show a bit. I enjoyed Chloe's growth from this very impulsive girl who can't leave her mom's house to this independent, yet still impulsive woman. Sig was an absolute simp which at times were annoying, but at the same time endearing? I felt he could have had a bit more of a personality besides being obsessed with Chloe. He was the first person who ever believed in Chloe though, so that helped.

He was thoughtful and encouraging and, oh yeah, superprotective. Most important, however, Sig believe d in her. In a way she'd never experienced from someone she loved.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I DEVOURED this book! I could not put it down, it took up 100% of my thoughts until I could finish it!

I am so in love with Sig and Chloe 💕 Their instant attraction and connection just blew me away. I was immediately invested in their story and rooted for them the whole time!

I loved the humor, the inner dialogue, and the romance - this was everything I wanted in a Tessa Bailey book and more 😍

Thank you so much for the ARC!!

3.5 star read - this was a fun, quick read and happened to be my first from Tessa Bailey (I know, I know!) — so my take on the book is going to be a bit different without the preview of the characters in previous books.

Overall, I prefer my romances to be a bit more nuanced than portrayed in this story. The spice and build up was delightful, though! I just wish the characters were more rooted in reality, they didn’t feel real enough to me. Not for lack of trying, I just didn’t think their backstories resonated with me personally.

I am happy with the ending and resolution to their drama! The banter with the team and the spice definitely kept me interested throughout :)

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC!

Wow! When I found out I had gotten an advanced read on Tessa Bailey’s Dream Girl Drama, I immediately dropped everything and started reading. Goodness, was it worth it! I couldn’t put it down. Another fun, sexy sports and music book! Tessa Bailey is the queen of this genre! Thank you so very much for the advanced read—highly, highly recommend!

Tessa has done it again, never misses if we are being honest but this was. IT. Insta love can be hard to do in a realistic and seamless way, but Sig & Chloe were made from the start. Their banter, connection and chemistry was there without question, the way they read each other so easily and were able to mold into one had me giggly & blushing. There are so major twists, so no spoilers here, but I was on the edge of my seat to make sure these two ended up together. I loved seeing Chloe grow into her own, build her confidence and achieve more than she thought was possible. But sweet angel Sig…the gentlest, most loyal and protective man who was there from the start to believe in and cheer Chloe on. I needed about 200+ more pages of these two and cannot wait for the world to meet them🫶🏼❤️

⭐️ 4

🌶 2.5


♡Slow Burn 

♡Hockey Romance 

♡Possessive MMC 

♡Forbidden Romance 


Our professional hockey player MMC meets our sheltered harp playing FMC at the country club, and it's insta-love from there. Then they fund out shortly after they are soon to be STEP-SIBILINGS. Forbidden love anyone? 


Sig and Chloe's relationship is wholesome. They are always thinking about the other in every situation. They support each other in their future dreams/careers. Sig is the definition of "If he wanted to, he would!" He is a total simp for our girl Chole. 


Chloe is the sweet, rich girl who grew up with everything handed to her and a controlling mother who ran her life. That's until she meets Sig. Now, she wants to know what life is like when she stands on her own two feet.  


Sig is the guy who grew up less fortunate with a single mom who worked hard for everything they had. He meets Chloe and wants to help her find herself and learn independence away from home. 


Watching them overcome obstacles with family drama and in their careers while keeping their relationship platonic as a team was a ride. The tension along the was had you on edge. SLOW BURN, but once they got the fire going, it was hot! The end worked out in a perfect happily ever after scenario. 


I really hope to see a Pierre cameo in the next book! Hims the goodest boy.  I have a feeling I know who our next book is, and I can't want to see more of him and his best friend. They are a riot!