2.5 stars

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey follows Sig and Chloe after they have an explosively romantic meeting but then realize they are to be future step-siblings so they have to back off from one another. Chloe is pretty clueless with everything she does. Sig is incredibly overprotective and is straining himself financially because he is incapable of allowing Chloe to learn anything by herself. Together they eventually become a couple when they <spoiler> realize that Sig's dad is not actually his dad </spoiler>.

I hate having to write this review because I LOVE Tessa Bailey but I just didn't like Chloe and Sig. I had to skim some of the book because I was so uncomfortable with the whole step-sibling dynamic. It is my fault because I should have read the back of the book but I hate reading the back of the book. I love being surprised by a book. There was still that Tessa Bailey signature magic so I thought it deserve more than one star but it was icky, it sure was. I unfortunately cannot recommend this book, it was too icky for me. I very much look forward to reading the next Tessa Bailey though!

Tropes: overprotective man, damsel in distress, sports

Triggers: sort of step-siblings

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon, and Tessa Bailey for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 ⭐️
5/5 🎧

This is by far my favorite series by Tessa Bailey and the narration is (fire). This book had me laughing out loud and I was not expecting the ending. The epilogue was SO CUTE!

I am beyond excited for more of the Rookies in the next book. They get more adorable the longer they are in the series.

I always enjoy Tessa's books, and this one was no different. While it didn't wow me, I did like reading it, and I had been waiting on Sig and Chloe's story. The lead up to their actual book was at least three of the four stars.

I love Tessa Bailey, so I jumped at the chance to read this one. This was not my favorite of the series, but I did enjoy it. I still got the "Tessa Bailey" effect, where I felt all the emotions throughout the book.

Sig was a man who knew what he wanted and went for it. It was a little insta-love, which is fine. I think the future step-sibling drama felt a little forced considering they did not grow up together and they were adults? But the connection and tension between the two was spot on and very natural feeling. Ultimately a great addition to the series.

If you like golden retriever/chihuahua type characters have I got a female lead for you! Honestly, both main characters were just embarrassing. It had its hot moments, but not enough to make up for the cheesy tropes and awful characters.

Tessa Bailey is so hit or miss for me and unfortunately, this was a miss. I just didn’t believe in the story, I didn’t find myself caring for the protagonists.

Where to start? I had fun. I really enjoyed the banter between our MCs. Chloe was such an interesting character and brought some spice to the book. The main event had to be Sig. We love a down bad man!!

I am not a fan of insta-love so I think thats where it fell flat for me. I am a slow burn gal all the way.

Overall, I had a good time reading this and would definitely still read another Tessa Bailey book :)

3.75
I liked it. It was a different book but with a different happy ending than I expected. The 1st spicy scene was a little cheesy with some of the stuff said but I liked how certain they were of each other.

⭐️ 4.5/5. This book caused me physical pain and somehow that made me love it 😂 The absolutely heartbreak I felt for these two and their forbidden love story was intense, and Tessa did a great job making sure the readers knew what these characters were going through.

There were times I had a hard time with the intensity of the “I want you but I can’t have you” theme, and I wish that the middle section of the book could have been a little shorter and the last 2 chapters of the book would have been expanded on more. Also, sometimes during the spice I had a bit of a hard time separating mentally from the fact that they were about to become step siblings 🙈 Like, at 10% left of the book I was still like “there’s no way this is going to have a good ending.” 😆 However, I did absolutely love the ending and Tessa figured out a way to being everything to a good conclusion. I can’t wait for the fourth installment!


Includes themes of:

🥅 Forbidden love
🥅 Character growth and independence
🥅 Hockey romance (and some brief baseball ⚾️ moments)
🥅 Best friends to lovers
🥅 Opposites attract
🥅 Possessive MMC
🥅 Adorable bulldog sidekick
🥅 Spice

Step siblings romances are usually a no for me, but I enjoyed this. There was still some cringe moments, but I think how the author set up the romance helped a lot. Plus it was hot.

The premise of this one is just a little too “taboo” for me… I’m also not a big fan of falling in love in 3 seconds and staying that way the entire time- not enough depth in this one. I usually love Tessa’s books but this one is a miss for me.

4 1/2 Stars

I was fascinated with Sig and Chloe in the previous book and really couldn't wait to read their story and see how their relationship dynamic really worked. Even though it was sometimes irritating that Chloe was truly so helpless, it lent itself to the storyline and gave it more meat.

I really enjoyed the story and loved getting to know Sig and Chloe better. However, I resigned myself to the fact that there is no way to truly impress upon the king just how important it is that he cooperates.

I found the ending of the book to be quite satisfying and loved the Epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

I absolutely LOVED Chloe and Sig in The Au Pair Affair and begged Tessa Bailey on my TikTok to write this book, to which she responded that it was already written and I had been excited ever since.

Their chemistry and story had me HOOKED from the first page and that classic Tessa Bailey writing made it even better. I knew exactly what I was getting (a hit!!) with her books and my expectations were blown out of the water!! I am so glad I was able to read this book early and I look forward to whatever Tessa writes next. I would read her grocery list if she published it!

Tessa Bailey is my queen for all things romance every book in this series just gets steamer and funnier. Hockey romance is always a win for me and this of course had to join my shelf on release day

I've read the previous books in this series as well as other Tessa Bailey works, so naturally I had to read this one as well. The author delivers with the chemistry and spiciness but writing and plot-wise, Dream Girl Drama was a miss. The plot was based on it being a forbidden romance, but I wasn't really convinced that it was forbidden (they're both consenting adults), so that just made the plot fall flat. Furthermore, the FMC was clueless at several points that I was slowly getting annoyed and that made her unrelatable for me.

TESSA BAILEY DID IT AGAIN ❤️❤️❤️❤️ stole my whole heart. I had to go get a physical copy to have on my shelf!! Thank you NetGalley ❤️❤️❤️

As always, Tessa Bailey delivers a high heat romance. Sig and Chloe meet by chance and have immediate chemistry, but quickly learn that their parents are engaged. As stepsiblings-to-be, they have to keep their distance, but quickly realize they can't bear to be apart from each other. Sig finds ways to take care of Chloe while she learns how to be an adult and live on her own for the first time.

The connection between Sig and Chloe is great and compelling, but ultimately the conflict here just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. We keep being reminded that they're going to be stepsiblings so a relationship is impossible, but they're in their mid-to-late twenties: no one cares. With such a thin reason they can't be together, I'm afraid the book doesn't hold much water.

this was my first Tessa Bailey book and I received as an arc a while ago anddddd I just didn’t like it. I almost DNF but I pushed through but kind of wish I just DNF. I just thought it was bad 😭

I so desperately wish I could give half-stars on Goodreads because this is a solid 3.5 for me. I went into Dream Girl Drama having read and loved the first two books in the series (and most of Tessa Bailey's backlist, if we're honest). I was excited to see what this bizarre sibling-ish pair that we met in the previous book was up to and learn their origin story. I loved the characters of Sig and Chloe - she is a chaotic, sheltered mess of a woman who has never ventured out of the wealthy harp-prodigy bubble her mother has raised her in, he's a rising hockey star from humble beginnings who still lives with a scarcity mindset and drives a truck older than he is. Their meet-cute cracked me up and set the tone for the story we were about to read, which I enjoyed. We knew we were getting insta-love (hello, "dream girl" is literally in the title of the book) and it gave a very Taylor Swift <i>Enchanted</i> vibe with strong <i>Don't Blame Me</i> overtones once they started fooling around on the golf course. Unfortunately a few hours later we realize these two are destined to become step-siblings and they immediately attempt to course-correct and keep things friendly... except that nothing between these two is ever what I would refer to as "friendly!" They can't keep their hands off each other and frankly don't really even try to. This book had all the laughs and the fantastic smut I've come to expect from Tessa Bailey (who doesn't love a good "just once to get it out of our system" moment?!) but there were a few plot holes that I just couldn't get past. I liked that I was surprised by the twist that resolved the story but I couldn't help but wonder the entire time why they couldn't just elope and beat their parents to the altar? Wouldn't that solve all of their problems? I also had a hard time justifying sweet, self-sacrificing Chloe with the obtuse version of her that didn't realize that things cost money and Sig was bankrolling (and kind of controlling, just like her mother) her entire lifestyle. Overall it was a fun read that I enjoyed for exactly what it was - a mostly-lighthearted romance between a panic pixie dream girl and the hunk of an athletic down bad for her - as long as I didn't try too hard to solve any of their problems and think too deep about any of their behaviors.

What a fun read! Forbidden romance and friends to lovers.

We meet Sig and Chole in The Au Pair Affair and I've been dreaming of their story since that is how strong the chemistry is. Some readers may find the "possible future step-siblings" element uncomfortable, but I truly didn't see the real-world issue of two adults who met without knowing any of that information.

Perfect for sports romance readers who enjoy quirky characters and big laughs.