I am a diehard Tessa Bailey fan. I also FLOVE Chloe and Sig and loved their story. So why four stars? I struggle with stories where the reason for not being together isn’t compelling or just feels like it’s created only for the sake of the characters being forbidden lovers. Future step-siblings? Two people who literally met the day they found out their parents were getting married? Who cares? As fire as these two are, why would that stop them?! If you can get past that (and you should!) then this story is amazing! I truly loved these characters. I only wish the forbidden part had been more realistic. Still highly recommend—you can’t go wrong with Tessa Bailey!

ARC REVIEW: Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey 💄

Tessa. TESSA. I have been WAITING for this ever since The Au Pair Affair. And boy did Dream Girl Drama DELIVER.

In this book you’ll find:
🩷 harpist heroine / hockey player hero
🩷 a chance encounter with instant chemistry, which turns into a:
🩷 forbidden relationship (they’re soon-to-be stepsiblings!)
🩷 mutual pining… SO MUCH PINING
🩷 sneaking around (who can blame them?)

About this book:
Sig and Chloe have a chance encounter at a country club. They are immediate drawn to each other with insane chemistry. They promise to meet up after their evening plans only to realize… their evening plans are with each other. Because their parents are getting married. And they’re soon to be step-siblings.

My thoughts:
I loved so many things about this book. The forbidden aspect of Chloe and Sig’s relationship piled on top of SO MUCH PINING made my heart just ACHE in this book. Chloe, as a harpist shooting her shot for a chair in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Sig, as an NHL player, both have public reputations to uphold. Reputations that can’t be tarnished by the media getting wind that they’re in a step-sibling relationship. And those outside factors keeping Sig and Chloe apart really just made me say as a reader, “how the hell are they going to be together and get everything they want??” Their resolution wasn’t obvious and it kept me reading page after page. IT WAS DELICIOUS TORTURE.

Sig was unwavering in his love and care for Chloe and he was determined to find a way to make their relationship work. He was her fierce protector and a total goner. I absolutely loved Chloe. She was bubbly and fun and naive to the real world without coming off as ditzy. She was so endearing and a total girl’s girl.

I easily gave Dream Girl Drama five stars and it’s bumped its way into My Favorite Rom-Coms of All Time™ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dream Girl Drama releases on February 4, 2025!

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Avon for this ARC!

Okay, Tessa Bailey!! I see you. I loved Dream Girl Drama. It was such a fun reading experience. I was shocked when I received an ARC of this book. Thank you Net Galley, Avon, and Harper Voyager!!!

If I could associate a song with this book, it would be Bed Chem by Sabrina Carpenter. Sig and Chloe meet unexpectedly and hit it off right away!! Things get steamy between them but they soon realize that their parents are engaged and they are future step siblings. You would think that would end things between them, but they are obsessed with each other and too far gone already.

Sig is a walking green flag and shows that if he wanted to he would. I love their friendship/relationship. Sig is a professional hockey player and Chloe is a prodigy with the harp. Good spice level!!

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey comes out on February 4, 2025. I can't wait to buy a copy for my collection of books. I can't wait to annotate this book!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely adored this book. The pacing was perfect. The chemistry was off the charts. The forbidden fun part was fun not that forbidden but just really well written. Cannot wait to hype it more on release. Xox

I read this book for Pierre 🐶 and the hockey/baseball rivalry at a dog park. That is not a sentence I thought I’d say.

This book checked my Tessa box of the most passionate, obsessed, never even heard of a woman before the FMC, boxes that Tessa puts into all of her MMCs. Sig’s loyalty and his obsession with providing for Chloe was chefs kiss. I loved the instant chemistry and the obstacles they overcome. IT WAS ROUGH THERE but we made it through. I LOVE a little taboo moment and almost step brother? That is the one that gets me every time.

Thank you to @avonbooks and for the ARC and I can’t wait to read the next one in this series. Also petitioning now for an Elton book 🙏🏻 @tessabaileyisanauthor we need a comeback.

I really enjoyed this book! Starting that it stars my town (hi Darien!) - then the move to Boston.

I love how kismet the first meeting of the main characters was, and all that ensued afterward.

The family love story in this may have been a bit far fetched, but was a very satisfying ride, with lots of steam!!

And also learning to grow into the people we’re meant to be is a favorite storyline!

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey was a sweet story about overcoming awkward obstacles in life, like when the guy you’re insanely attracted to is about to become you step-brother! Sig and Chloe are then forced to put their attraction aside and just remain friends, but that proves to be difficult. Everyone can see right through them, including the fans of Sigs hockey team and the media. When Chloe is questioned by a reporter about their relationship, their world gets turned around. Thankfully, Sig gets some much needed news that helps them to rediscover their relationship.

This book was great! I enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. However, Chloe’s character become annoying very quickly. I did appreciate her growth as a character/person by the end of the book, but there were so many times I just felt like her common-sense and ditziness was too much.

3.75/5 for Chloe’s annoying character, but also because the ending was too quick and didn’t quite round out the story for me.

Spice Level—3.5/5
A huge thank you to Tessa Bailey, Avon and HarperVoyager, and NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own!

Tessa Bailey is very hit or miss for me, and unfortunately this one was a miss. While the premise of the first two books in this series were just as ludicrous, they compelled you to read just one more page until it was midnight and you’d finished the book. Dream Girl Drama had none of that magic.

The pacing in the beginning of the book was off. We spend the first third of the novel in the past, and there’s no fun cast of characters to support the main couple. Sir Savage doesn’t even make an appearance until almost halfway through. Tallulah? Chloe’s only friend? Only mentioned in passing a few times. The hyper-focus on just Sig and Chloe made the whole book feel flat and lifeless.

An honorable mention needs to be made for the scene with the baseball players because it was hilarious. And I did like the hint in the epilogue of a possible book four in the series??

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the eARC.

Thank you to Avon, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I tend to have a sort of love/frustration relationship with a lot of Tessa‘s books. However, I always find myself falling really in love with the dynamics that she has between the characters, especially when they are friends first.

Sig and Chloe’s relationship reminded me a lot of fox and Hannah’s from Hook, Line, and Sinker. It was very sweet, which I appreciated!

While the dirty talk is something that I recognize as a staple at this point in Tessa’s books, it’s still not my vibe and that’s okay!

Chloe is probably my favorite heroine that Tessa has ever written. I think she was so whimsy and adorable and I really loved reading about her.

If I remember correctly from Tessa’s TikTok videos, she has two other books lined up for this series. From reading the book, it was fairly obvious which two characters are getting the next two books and I will be interested in reading them as well.

Thank you again to the publishers for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is another great addition to the Big Shots series. I enjoyed everything Tessa Bailey writes. Sig and Chloe’s story is new and interesting and I spent the entire book cheering for them.

classic Tessa Bailey -- I really enjoyed this one! The hockey setting is fun and Chloe/Sig's story was different enough from the prior ones in this series. Looking forward to the next as always!

talk about dream girl drama!!!! I’m obsessed with these two and this universe. cannot wait for the orgasm donor twins’ books!!! i loved these two so much. it’s one of those love stories you’re obsessed with but DO NOT want to happen to you.

I love hockey romances (despite rarely engaging with the actual sport), so I was more than excited to dive into this book. Things start off with a chance encounter between hockey player Sig and harpist Chloe at a country club. Instalove ensues, and everything seems promising until they find out they will soon be stepsiblings. Even after this revelation, Chloe decides to relocate to Boston and live a life completely financially supported by her now platonic friend Sig.

Honestly, the stakes are weird, and the plot is light. Mostly, there's the impending deadline of their parent's marriage hanging over them which (apparently) threatens to ruin both Sig's desire to become hockey captain and Chloe's pursuit of a first harpist position. The interactions between the two are more than flirtatious, but they remain just friends until, well, they don't anymore because this a romance novel.

While I have enjoyed many of Tessa Bailey's novels in the past, this one was just hard to connect with. Chloe is presented as more or less an alien with little or no understanding of how the real world works. Sig is a hyper-masculine caricature who is extremely overprotective and possessive of Chloe. This is going to work for a lot of readers and just happens to not be my cup of tea.

The tension between Sig and Chloe was so intense that it kept me on my toes till the end. It was predictable that they were going to end up together but how was the piece de resistance of this book. Sig's relationship with everyone I believe improved towards the end of the story. I think this might be one of my top five "Mine" or "touch her and you die" tropes. I would give this a 3/5 rating only because the way it was advertised was that it was going to be steamier and it was not. The other reason I would give it that rating is that there were details that I didn't think were relevant that was added. I am not saying I would be able to write multiple award winning novels but the writing style is the same formula in every book this particular author writes that one can swap out characters and it would still be the same book as if nothing had changed.

I love Tessa Bailey’s Big Shots series. Fangirl Down was great and Au Pair Affair was a great follow up. This 3rd book of the series (can be a stand alone as well) is no exception. Sig and Chloe are great characters and I loved reading their story. Was their pining/reason to stay apart a bit much at times, yes! Did I mind it? Not too much. I still enjoyed the book and really liked Chloe’s journey of becoming more independent with Sig’s unwavering support. The angst and spice were great and I highly recommend if you are a fan of Tessa Bailey’s other books.

Thank you Tessa Bailey, Avon, and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

In Dream Girl Drama, Tessa Bailey orchestrates a delightful romantic comedy filled with steamy encounters and unexpected twists. Professional hockey player Sig Gauthier finds himself drawn to the vivacious Chloe Clifford during a chance meeting at a posh country club, where sparks fly and a moonlit kiss sets the stage for a budding romance. However, their excitement is short-lived when they discover that their parents are now engaged, leaving Chloe as Sig's future stepsister—a complication that turns their dreams of love into a tangled familial situation.

As Chloe, a sheltered harp prodigy yearning for independence, seeks to break free from her controlling mother, Sig steps in as her mentor, promising to guide her while navigating the rocky terrain of their newfound relationship. With Bailey's signature blend of humor and heat, the pair must confront their undeniable attraction and the complexities of family dynamics. Dream Girl Drama expertly captures the tension between wanting to uphold family ties and the irresistible pull of love, making it a charming read for anyone who enjoys a fresh, playful take on romance.

Honestly there are very few times when I wouldn’t recommend a book by Tessa Bailey. She has the best balance between humor and sexy, and I loved this 3rd book in a series of interconnected standalones. Sig and Chloe- who can deny it would be a riot to fall for your new potential stepsister? Also a hockey player? Love it all!

I've been waiting patiently for Sig and Chloe's book! Theirs was a beautiful, humorous story of true love and the lengths that one would go to to keep it.

This was a beautifully done romance novel, it had that sports element perfectly and enjoyed the overall story going through this had that element that I was looking for. The characters has that element that I was looking for and enjoyed how good everything flowed together. Tessa Bailey has a great writing style and can’t wait for more.

Eh, I'm usually all in on Tessa Bailey's books, but this series just isn't drawing me in like the others. Still plenty of steamy, sexy fun and good banter, but the story lines are on the weak side. I wanted more from Chloe's character and I found the resolution pretty dumb. That said, I'll never pass up a TB book without giving it a try!