It Happened One Summer ☀️

Genre: Romance
Trope: Grumpy Sunshine
Format: 📖
Pub Date: 7.13.2021
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Synopsis:

“Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar… in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart. “

Review:

“What he felt for Piper turned him into a young man in the throes of his first infatuation, while also calling on the deepest roots of his maturity.”

It Happened One Summer is the first Tessa Bailey book I’ve read in a while. Her others, I felt, focused pretty heavily on the steamier side of a relationship and while there were those moments in It Happened One Summer, there was a lot more to the story.

Piper was an acquired taste for me (I didn’t feel bad for her), but by page 150, I loved her character development. She came a long way in a short time, which made me enjoy reading her chapters even more. I’m looking forward to the next Tessa Bailey book, which features Piper’s sister, because I thoroughly enjoyed Hannah’s character.

Brenden is 100% a fabulous guy, and I loved his descriptions of Piper and his feelings for her (see above quote). One of my favorite moments for both characters was when Brenden finally took his ring off; there was so much said in that one gesture.

🐌 Slow to start
👱🏽‍♀️ Quick character development
🥴 Didn’t love the “bad” and “honey” talk
🔥 Steamy read, but those pages felt like they went with the story

I recommend you read It Happened One Summer if you’re a fan of the Simple Wild series.

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