5 stars

“It’s the purest thing I’ve ever felt in my life. It’s like I’ve loved her since I took my first breath.”

SWOON!!

My favorite book in so far in this series!! Sig and Chloe’s relationship is full of angst and yearning- they are star crossed lovers, whose relationship appears over before it even begins.
After meeting by chance, and they have immediate chemistry and an intense connection. However, hours later, they discover that their parents are about to get married, making them future step siblings.
I LOVE an “immediate connection” story, and this one did not disappoint! These two are opposites in many ways- Sig is older, established in his NHL career, while Chloe has led a sheltered existence- a child prodigy harpist, her life has been limited to living at home, practicing, and performing. She is desperate for independence, and when Sig offers to help his future stepsister move to Boston, she jumps at the chance to escape her controlling mother.
The tension between these two is off the charts- torn between their desire and the taboo nature of their relationship, they toe the line constantly, finding it harder and harder to resist each other. Sig is GONE for his dream girl- Chloe has never lived on her own, and her dependence on him fuels his need to protect and take care of her, while at the same time helping her to grow and spread her wings.
“I exist for her” Sigh…..

- Forbidden relationship
-He’s a hockey player
- Protective MMC
- Forced proximity

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I have been waiting for Sig and Chloe's story and "Dream Girl Drama" did not disappoint. Tessa Bailey is just so good at writing romance and spice. Sig is a grumpy hockey player looking for his next contract. Car trouble leads to a country club meet-cute with harpist and rich girl Chloe. The lust is immediate and intense. And then comes the cold water of learning they are soon to be step=siblings.

Sig and Chloe still cannot stay away from each other. He gives her the confidence to strike out on her own in Boston, but also takes care of her while she is there. At least until Chloe starts to truly grow up. They are best friends who both seem to want so much more, but external forces seem designed to keep them from advancing their relationship.

There is SO.MUCH tension between Sig and Chloe and it is so hot. It was fun to see Chloe develop as a person and Sig is the perfect grump to her sunshine. It did take a certain suspension of belief to think that becoming step-siblings as adults would pose the level of issues contemplated here, but it was doable. Chloe and Sig were so far gone on each other, and while the story was definitely insta-lust, it was not insta-love.

A good read in a very enjoyable series. 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

Review posted to Goodreads 1/20/25

3.75⭐️
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I went into this not really expecting much, and honestly probably expecting to not like it, but I must say... I am pleasantly surprised. If you go into this expecting a sports/hockey romance with high spice, this delivers. If that's not your vibe, this is not for you.

What to expect:
- interesting take on the step-sibling trope(? - i'm not sure if this is even a trope?!).. more like future step-siblings because their parents are planning to marry.
- hockey player mmc (Sig) and prodigy harp player fmc (Chloe)
- some cringey and ick moments (imo)
- spicyyyy scenes.. like real spicy
- some decent character development
- insta-love/lust

Some parts were a little slow for me, and like I had mentioned, sometimes I just got the ick so bad.. but overall a fun story that again surprised me quite a bit!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey is about a hockey player who meets a harpist and falls for her bad. Then finds out it’s his future stepsister! Sig and Chloe attempt to be just friends but being friends with someone you’re in love with is really hard for both of them.

Thank you Net Galley and Avon for this arc.

This book is insta love but also slow burn at the same time. Wow does the slow burn payoff. Within this book you get to see Chloe grow so much. She goes from a clueless part of the .1% to living on her own, taking public transit in Boston, and having Sig teach her how to be independent…well semi independent. Watching them pine for each other is *chefs kiss*.

This series keeps getting better! Honestly, who wouldn't want Sig? He's encouraging and protective, without taking it too far. Chloe's growth throughout the story is great: she challenges herself professionally, expands her independence, and develops boundaries with suffocating parents, Fabulous.

The major conflict of the story seemed a little overdone: two adults who have never met before but then find out they will become "stepsiblings" can't be together? It's framed as an issue within the setting of social expectations for high-profile athletes and...professional symphony musicians. It's a stretch, but provides interesting relationship tension.

"Dream Girl Drama" can be read as a standalone, but I would recommend reading the previous title in the series to get an enjoyable look at Sig & Chloe's relationship from another perspective. I hope to read more titles in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

This was super cute!! Sig & Chloe couldn't be more obvious soulmates, despite everyone in their lives attempting to drive them apart. I thought this was an interesting spin on the friends to lovers trope, considering they have immediate chemistry when they first meet, but due to their parents' impending nuptials, shift to best friends mode. You can really tell how deeply they care for one another, and all of that build up makes their slow burn so, so worth it!

Sig Gauthier, one of the stars on the Boston Bearcats NHL team is having one of those days. While driving his old, rundown truck to Darien, CT to meet his father, Harvey Lerner's newest girlfriend, Sig breaks down right in front of a ritzy country club. Realizing that his cell phone is dead, he heads inside the country club to use the phone but is greeted with resistance since he is not a member. When Chloe Clifford sees this gorgeous guy having problems, she jumps right in insisting that he is her guest. Sig is just knocked off of his feet by this tiny beauty he nicknames Dream Girl. After spending some time at the club together that ends in one perfect kiss, Sig and Chloe decide to meet up later after Sig's thing with his dad.

When Sig arrives at his father's girlfriend's house he is introduced to Sofia, his girlfriend.....oh....and also Chloe.....Sofia's daughter! And guess what???? Harvey and Sofia are engaged. Pour the ice water on Sig and Chloe's sizzling attraction! Chloe is a harp prodigy and has led a sheltered albeit wealthy life. When Chloe brings up to her mother that she wants to move to Boston to pursue her harp playing dreams, Sofia refuses to let her and cuts her off financially, but Chloe decides to go anyways....Sig can help her navigate life.

Sig is waiting for his new multi-million dollar contract to sign but in the meantime he is trying to help pay for much of Chloe's expenses. While he spends so much time with her their chemistry is exploding out of control but neither one of them wants to cross that line since they will soon be step siblings.

As these two are trying to navigate through life, they spend a lot of time together. Pretty soon the public notices and wonders who the girl is that has caught Sig's attention. At the same time Chloe is finally working with Grace Shen, the first chair harp in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Grace is being a mentor to Chloe so she can take over the first chair when Grace leaves for Europe. When it comes to light that Chloe is Sig's future stepsister, the team's management has a serious discussion with Sig as does Grace with Chloe. Chloe decides that they need to put some distance between each other. Of course this doesn't last long and before you know it these two are giving into their feelings, consequences be darned. Just when it looks like Sig and Chloe could never have a real relationship, something they never expected happens and these two can finally have their happy ending.

I just loved this steamy, taboo love story. Sig was just such a fun, determined guy. Chloe was very naive in many ways of the world but I love how Sig helped her though it. I loved all of the other guys on the team, especially the rookies! I can't wait for Corrigan's book next!

A tremendous thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to be an ARC reader for Dream Girl Drama. This book is available on 2/4/2025.

I hate that I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I would. I am a big fan of hockey romances, however Sig and Chloe fell a little flat for me. I had a difficult time believing that the insta-lust would blossom into something long term. The timeline hopping in the beginning took away from that relationship building that would have made that a little more believable to me. As someone who has studied music at the college level, it perplexes me that Berklee, of all places, wasn’t able to *challenge* Chloe because she had natural harp talent. There were times where I did feel the connection between the two characters. I just really wished we got to see more of that connection building from the start instead of jumping six months ahead. The tropes in this book just were not for me personally, but fans of insta-love, taboo, and an overprotective MMC may really love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC 🤍

I was super intrigued about Sig and Chloe in the last book, and couldn't wait to hear their story. It's very insta-lovey, both when the first met and throughout the whole book. It does skip ahead a few months pretty early on which distracts from the insta-love, however, they are literally obsessed with each other from day one. And while Sig's protective macho man act is sweet to an extent, it gets to be a bit too obsessive.

Chloe was at times irritating. She has no personality besides fun and ditzy. She goes to buy laundry detergent to do her own laundry for the first time ever but buys fabric softener instead. Really? Can she not read? But there were parts where I liked her too, how she fought for independence and what she deserved and got out from under her mother's thumb.

It's a bit of a taboo romance as they learn they're about to be step-siblings after their first chance meeting. Wanting to figure out how they'd end up being together was what kept me going, and I had NO idea how they'd make it work, but I liked how it resolved. Because of a this, there was a lot of angst and pent up tension and chemistry which is always fun to read and made it an enjoyable romance overall.

3.5⭐️ rounded up

Dream Girl Drama delivers an emotional rollercoaster filled with grand, heartfelt gestures and moments that pull at the heartstrings. The characters face big challenges, but the story's strength lies in its unwavering belief in love and resilience. The payoff is worth the tension, as the journey leads to a truly satisfying happily-ever-after. While some moments felt slightly predictable, the depth of emotion and the well-executed ending make it a must-watch for fans of romantic drama. Four stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of "Dream Girl Drama" by Tessa Bailey. All opinions are my own.

Ugh I love Tessa Bailey... but this just wasn't it for me. The writing was usual Tessa Bailey, but this story line just didn't work for me. I preferred the first two books in the series. I've am excited for the fourth book though.

I enjoyed this book so much! I am not usually one to enjoy a slow burn, but I think that having read this right after The Au Pair Affair, I appreciated getting to know the characters more. I loved the baseball scene and how the couple for the next book was introduced. I can't wait for that one!

Sometimes books just hit different and unfortunately this one fell a bit flat for me. I didn't love the MMC's name, Sig and the potential step sibling love story was just not really something I enjoyed. Through most of this book I forced myself to finish it hoping there would be something that made me enjoy it more and I just finished it feeling like meh. As always Tessa Bailey did a great job of writing spicy scenes and making the reader swoon but I just truly could not get over the fact that they might end up as step siblings.

3.5stars rounded up to 4stars.

Who knew Tessa Bailey could nail a slow burn this well!! The chemistry and tension between Sig and Chloe was palpable and that slow burn payoff was exquisite! The forbidden element of their attraction felt very raw and realistic and I honestly had no idea how they were going to figure out a way to be together by the end. Kudos to Tessa for keeping that line of tension taught until the very end!

I do feel like the first 30% was hard for me to get through due to the extreme insta-love. It felt over the top and unrealistic and I almost put the back down because of it. However, I'm glad I stuck with it because things turned around and I got fully invested.

Corrigan and Mailer were hysterical in this book, making me all the more excited to read their stories.

Thank you Tessa, Netgalley, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dream Girl Drama is the third Tessa Bailey book in the Big Shots series. We are introduced to the main characters, Sig and Chloe, in book 2 of the series. This book, however, could easily be read as a standalone book. The premise of the book is that Sig and Chloe meet one night and have an instant connection. They quickly learn, however, that their parents are planning to get engaged and therefore cannot be together. This is a slow burn romance for the first 2/3rds of the book, quickly followed by the typical Tessa Bailey spice. I really enjoyed this book. It is one of my favorite Tessa Bailey books despite the fact that the premise is a little cringe at times.

Thank you Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

I love a hockey romance and I loved Tessa Bailey’s It Happened One Summer Bellinger sisters duology. Unfortunately I couldn’t get over the step sibling thing and I didn’t warm to Chloe. Just wasn’t for me but I know people who would love this book.

I was meh on the first two books in this series (which were also the first two Tessa Bailey books I had read). So this book was sort of a last shot to Tessa. And she is saved from my pass list because I enjoyed this one sooooo much more!!!

The YEARNING in this was TOP TIER. I highlighted so many lines of Sig just being down bad for Chloe (my favorite way for a MMC to be). The end was sort of rushed but honestly I didn’t mind. I will now read the rest of this series, when I wasn’t sure going into this one.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

I absolutely loved this book! We have a professional hockey player and a prodigy harpist need to say more? No, I really don’t need to say more but I’m gonna lol it is also a forbidden romance. How Tessa twisted this and somehow made this into a happy ever after I was just so surprised but I shouldn’t have been — but my brain just wasn’t going there when I was reading the book. I loved the little sprinkles of the previous book characters in there. I loved the other side characters that were still in this book I can’t wait for the next book in the series and I just absolutely love this series so much.

I loved this book!

The third edition to this interconnected series was a romance full of yearning, humor, drama, & of course hockey!

Tessa Bailey has a magical way of making you fall in love with every male lead she writes, and Sig was no exception. I adored the way he loudly and proudly loved Chloe, even when odds were stacked against them!

This was a quick, fun, & sweet read with a good helping of spice thrown in too!

Thanks to NetGalley & Avon or Harper Voyager for the ARC!