Tessa Bailey's books will always be a must-read for me! This latest book in the series is a hit! But, I forgot I hadn't read the second book so I was lucky enough to get to read that gem too!

What's not to love - hockey player, forbidden love, and lots of steam! SO good!

This started so cute! I loved how they had their little meet cute... Then they were slapped in the face with reality at a dinner where their parents were trying to tell them they were getting married, making them stepsiblings... If I put that aside, this was a really steamy book and I enjoyed the story. He is possessive yet so supportive and king. He would give her the world if she asked. She is a go with the flow kind of girl, but dedicated to what she loves. They definitely fall fast and hard with one another. This is a instant forbidden romance that really kept me turning the pages wanting to know how they were going to make this work.

I really enjoyed their story, had it not been for the little soon to be related issue. I love how Sig encourages her to step out of her comfort zone and embrace her dream. He is so supportive and encouraging. She leaves behind her cush life and he literally supports her through her training to reach her dream. Their chemistry is written so well and definitely the best part of the book. I just kept getting hung up when I was reminded they are going to be or are stepsiblings...

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! #DreamGirlDrama #NetGalley

Finally Chloe and Sigs story, and it did not disappoint! I have been waiting for this since they were introduced. The chemistry and will they/wont they pull between the two makes for a classic Tessa Bailey romance, with all the right plot twists!

Another Tessa Bailey novel with an over the top, down bad MMC who would literally do anything to spoil the FMC. Mutual pining. Forbidden Romance. Hockey/Musical Prodigy. And as always, Tessa's special spice blend.

I was SO EXCITED for this story... Tessa Bailey could write literally any trope combo and I'd be into it.

This was my first [almost] step-sibling book... it was insta-love, which I don't usually love. But Sig + Chloe were AMAZING. I loved their instant chemistry. I loved that Chloe's naivete brought Sig's protective side out instantly. They both saw each other so clearly where it matters.

I adored Sig's desire to take care of Chloe. He really stepped up for her where it mattered. He took the burden of caring for her and figuring out how to make everything work, and followed every half-thought or idea she had and made her dreams come true. AND HE FREAKING CALLED HER DREAM GIRL WHILE HE DID IT.

Chloe had no idea how much Sig was giving up for her. Her feelings were just as strong as his, but she never pushed... until the tension was just too much.

I will say, the pacing in this one was so different. We time jump and bounce through time pretty quickly, but that pace allowed for the story to progress pretty quickly... we saw every day moments over the months of Sig's dad's engagement to Chloe's mom. Their friendship, although clouded in a lusty haze, was the foundation of everything.

Thank you so much to Avon for the eARC of this one! This book is out in January!

2.5 /5 stars.
I think I just need to accept that I'm not the biggest Tessa Bailey fan. If you are: I think you will love this. This is classic Tessa in every way: smutty, intense, dual POV, chemistry-laden romps with an overtly emotional 3rd act break up.
This follows the next pairing in her sport's series: Sig and Chloe. I actually liked Sig/Chloe in the Au Pair Affair: they had this sort of "will they won't they" thing going on as they were soon to be stepsiblings. Here they grapple with their careers (harpist/hockey player), their intense attraction and love for each other, and trying to balance what they can and can't have.
I think my biggest problem is this just isn't real stakes for me. You're STEP siblings. Does anyone actually care about that, especially ADULT step siblings? This isn't a blended family when you're children and deep rooted strange emotions get caught up: as adults, its practically meaningless. So it just felt really strange.
The smutty scenes are good. Really good. Still more intense then I tend to like, but really enjoyable.
But overall I just couldn't get into this beyond the sex and found myself skimming all over the place.

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Avon and NetGalley!

Looking back at my reading history, I’ve read the majority of Tessa Bailey’s most recently released books, all with mixed results for me. One thing is for certain about a TB book: regardless of the quality of the story itself, she will always bring the spice. This one is no exception. 🌶🌶🌶/5 on the spice scale for sure.

This story follows Sig and Chloe, two characters whose romance was alluded to in the previous book in the Big Shots series, The Au Pair Affair. I actively disliked The Au Pair Affair but loved Fangirl Down, so this one was a risk for me!

Sig and Chloe’s romance begins as a meet-cute when Sig’s truck breaks down outside of Chloe’s family’s country club. They make a connection right away, but by the end of the night, they find out that their parents are getting married in six month’s time, and they are about to be step-siblings!

Sig is a professional hockey player living in Boston, and Chloe is a harp prodigy that dreams of making it in the big city. Chloe decides to impulsively follow Sig back to Boston the night they meet so she can try to be successful on her own without her family’s money supporting her. Here begin’s Sig and Chloe’s friendship.

This supposed friendship is where my problems with this book began. We are told that Sig and Chloe have become best friends in the months since Chloe moved to Boston, but we don’t actually see any of it. Months of character building flies by in approximately 5 pages, and it left me grieving for the delicious friends-to-lovers story that could have ensued. I suspect that this was likely intentional on TB’s part, and she probably really wanted to lean into the “future step-siblings” trope and how this would come to a head once Sig and Chloe finally realized that they were not “just friends” anymore instead of the actual friendship-building element? Anyways, drama ensues, and the conflict is resolved exactly how I predicted it would. The story ended up being perfectly fine and enjoyable enough.

I enjoyed a lot of the side characters in this book, and there were several moments that made me smile. My main grievance with this book comes down to weird pacing, and *POTENTIAL SPOILER AHEAD* for the love of god, can we please stop using a pregnancy as the only evidence of a HOA?

Overall thoughts on the Big Shots series thus far:
Fangirl Down: 4/5 stars
The Au Pair Affair: 2/5 stars
Dream Girl Drama: 3/5 stars

I’ll probably keep going with the series because they are fun light reads, and you can feel that Tessa Bailey is having a lot of fun writing sports romance.

Thanks again to Avon and NetGalley!

Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy!

Dream Girl Drama is the 3rd in Tessa Bailey’s sports romance series and it follows Sig (hockey player) and his insta-love connection with Chloe (harpist)

I did not enjoy this.
Here’s a few reasons why:
- insta-love. Like beyond anything insta-love should be.
- The insta-love didn’t develop much. It mostly did “behind the scenes” and we just had to take their word for it (a lot of telling not showing)
- The plot lol. Two adults find out they like each other and then they find out their parents are getting married. Who cares? You’re not 14 and going to be living in the same house. It’s not a crime.
- The way the MMC infantalizes the FMC is cringe. Just the infantalization of Chloe in general in this book (first by her mother and then by Sig). Like she’s never left her big giant mansion, doesn’t know how to drive, etc etc. and yes, Sig teachers her how to drive and do laundry and take the train but he still infantalizes her!
- After so long, how can the FMC continue to find more things to waste money on at Sephora? Eventually you have the whole store. It was such a weird thing for her to constantly be spending money on.
- Zero depth to the characters.
- The pacing of the book and jumps in time are jarring. I felt like there was actual minimal time that they’re interacting on page.

I think it’s clear I didn’t enjoy this one, which I’m sad about because I absolutely LOVED Fangirl Down and while the Au Pair Affair wasn’t my favorite, I still enjoyed it.

A must read for anyone that loves love.

I’ve never rooted so much against a couple because I was rooting so much for another.

It was a sweet, heart wrenching story of two soulmates destined to be together but couldn’t because they were to be related by marriage. They’d have to settle for being best friends. That only made it harder. They’d have to break all contact. And that when the tears began. My tears.

Being an english bulldog mom, I very much enjoyed the addition of Pierre. After being a constant companion to Chloe, I was sad that he just faded from the story and hoped he’d show up in the Epilogue.

Love love loved this book. I'm such a Tessa Bailey fan that I literally squealed aloud when I was approved for this ARC.

Chloe toes the line between sheltered rich girl and woman who wants independence. She is naïve enough to be believable but not so much that she's annoying. Sig is a dreamy overprotective suitor/future stepbrother.

Tessa Bailey has become an auto-read author for me. I will never say No to something that has come from her rom-com brain. Which is why I jumped at the chance to read and review an ARC of Dream Girl Drama.

Sig and Chloe have always been mysterious side characters in the Big Shots series, making appearances every now and then. I had big questions about their relationship! Sig was always described as her protector and Chloe came off as a bubbly, sweet rich girl.

Dream Girl Drama finally gave us their story and it was full of laughs, mutual pining and spicy romance scenes. It was everything I wanted for Sig’s story.

If you are a fan of protective MMC‘s who are down hard for their girl, then you need to read the Big Shot series. Fangirl Down & The Au Pair Affair should be read first for maximum enjoyment.

Dream Girl Drama draws you in from the first chapter with their meet cute. Sig and Chloe give off "the one" vibes right away. These two give the taboo step-sibling trope a run for it's money. The push and pull of their morals and trying to stay on the right side of the defined relationship was really touching to watch. These two characters create an incredibly intense bond while worrying about the other and the potential impacts. I enjoyed Tessa's depiction of the selfishness of those closest to Chloe and Sig as well as showing the strong bonds of friendship they had outside of their parents. It made Chloe and Sig struggle to maintain their boundaries that much more intense to read. Sig is top of the line MMC with the way he takes care of Chloe and her needs. I do wish the story had a little bit more of the history on Sig's mom's background although the lack of focus on her made me really feel an absentee parent vibe.

I absolutely hate to give a Tessa Bailey book anything less than four stars, but this one isn’t for me. Her writing itself was just as great as I expected, but the timeline threw me off. Reading the beginning, all the way up to “now”, felt like I was sprinting the whole time. Even though the parents said they were getting married in eight months, yet the chapters continued to jump to thirteen months ahead and still talked about the wedding in future tense. There were many cringy moments that I wish I could get past. I think if I had read the books leading up to this one and had an emotional connection to Sig and Chloe then I would have enjoyed this more.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me this ARC!!

4.5 stars —> rounded up to 5 for the burn!

Tessa returns with Sig and Chloe, two characters we met in Au Pair Affair. As the couple navigate their desires pending the marriage that will make them step-siblings, we get to come along for a very angsty ride.

While Sig’s dirty talk is nowhere near as feral as Wells’s, I found the anticipation and fast burn of this one totally worth the read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.2 stars!

I wanted to be full on obsessed because i was pinning for a story of these two! I think where it fell short is the story line is solely based on how they couldn’t be together due to their parents, even though they were adults living in a different city, etc. i just wanted to want MOREEEE. Some parts felt repetitive, but the chemistry was OOOOOOOOOOF😍 with so much chemistry i just needed it to progress yano? When the book first starts out i loved the fact that Sig & Chloe don’t even have an inkling that they would be attending the same dinner? Hahaha for some reason i really enjoyed that aspect. Overall, if you’ve read the other books and want to read about Sig & Chloe’s story, definitely pick it up!

I thought this book was a sweet love story! I thought the first encounter was a meet cute and soon realized that Sig and Chloe were heading to the same dinner and finding out their parents were to be married. I wished this book was a little bit spicer, I would LOVE to have seen this a dual POV from each character because it would've brought even more perspective for the readers. I thought it was so sweet how much Sig cared for Chloe and even found ways to give her everything she's used to with being cut off from her mother. The plot twist at the end shocked me to my core and at times I was so mad at Sig's mom I mean the way he described how close they were all to lie to him after all these years. I am so glad there was a happy ending for these two and I will definitely be reading Tess Bailey's other books!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my early copy! All thoughts are my own!

I am screaming!!!

Okay, I am obviously obsessed with Sig! He may be my absolute favorite so far.

When I read the tropes and seen step siblings; I was like hummmm. Y’all I didn’t know that Tessa Bailey could make (almost) step siblings hot, but here we are.

I devoured this book as much as Sig devoured Chloe. I’m going to need Tessa Bailey to pump out more books like Sig is pumping into Chloe in this book, am I right?!

All jokes aside, Tessa never ceases to amaze me with her writing. I am always hooked at the start. I pray she makes an arc team and accepts me in it. I will forever be a fan!

I did not know how they were going to get out of that one, but I should already know not to doubt Tessa Bailey. I wish we saw more of them being best friends instead of just hinting at it and only talking about the tension filled moments. The time jumps made their friendship feel rushed. I could’ve gone for some wholesome best friend vibes in the beginning to really show they were close that way too without the sexual tension.
Otherwise super cute and I love this couple. I was rooting for them from page 1- Tessa Bailey never fails.

It was another Tessa Bailey that delivered in her true fashion. This series is such a fun series and this one didn't disappoint.

I could not put this one down and was very invested in finding out what happened with Sig and Chloe. Loved that this one was a slow burn and all the built up tension.

There were a couple more hinted at in this book so I hope this means there will be more in this series!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for providing me this ARC for my honest review.

Sig and Chloe’s story starts with instant chemistry that sizzles from their very first meeting—only to take a complicated turn when they discover they’re about to become step-siblings. I really liked this book but the forbidden love trope was kind of lost on me for this one. I didn't think it would be THAT big of a deal for them to be together because they are not blood related. But, their bond and push-pull of their situation kept me hooked.

Sig is the ultimate cinnamon roll hero, balancing his tough, professional-athlete exterior with a soft, supportive core. His role in helping Chloe break free from her sheltered life was one of my favorite aspects of the book. Chloe’s transformation and their shared journey felt heartfelt, even if the insta-love vibe was a touch too quick for my taste—though, when you know, you know!

As always, Tessa's writing shines with her signature blend of humor, spice, and engaging characters. While it didn’t quite top Fan Girl Down for me, the epilogue’s hints about another potential couple have me excited for what’s next in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.