Book Review – It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

📖PLOT SUMMARY📖

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.

💭THOUGHTS💭

I waited a long time for this library book to become available. I kept seeing it all over Instagram and thought that it would be a perfect fit for my February Genre Goals of Chick Lit and Romance! I later signed up for the Blog Tour of Tessa Bailey’s second book in the series, Hook, Line and Sinker, so was keener than ever to read this one first. Finally I was able to read it and luckily for me I wasn’t disappointed.

The writing gripped me from the beginning. There was so much more to it than your average romantic, chick lit book. It certainly exceeded my expectations in that regard. I loved the depth of human character and feeling that was explored. Sometimes it got a bit intense, but it was well done and kept my interest.

The chapters were long and detailed so you got a good chunk of the story before moving on. You always knew what the main characters were thinking and feeling which I enjoyed. I loved the pace of the book and all the little things that were included. It made the chapter feel shorter than it was. The only reason I knew that the chapters were long was because I would say to myself just one more chapter and it would take longer to read than I thought!

The main characters were excellent. I loved their flaws and their personal journeys as well as their journey together. It was lovely to read about and something I would happily read again.

I also loved the supporting cast of characters. They really brought life to the story and helped to emphasise some important messages.

The fishing village and LA settings were well chosen. They really emphasised the points that were being made by the characters thoughts, feelings and actions. Whilst the settings were only lightly described, it was enough to give the characters something to work with and to give just the right amount of detail to compliment the characters and their actions.

Altogether the book made me feel happy and glad that I finally got to read it. There were so many layers to the storyline that I really enjoyed reading about. I highly recommend reading this book and can’t wait to read the second one!

⭐Rated 5/5⭐

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