Title: It Happened One Summer
Author: Tessa Bailey
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: July 13th, 2021
Ratings: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Goodreads Summary:
Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town… where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.
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.
This Schitt’s Creek inspired romance was so much fun. Who doesn’t love a good fish out of water romance? Especially one starring a grumpy shrimp boat captain named Brendan.
This was my first Tessa Bailey book and it was a wonderful—and steamy—story that brought more depth than I expected. Not only did we get this relationship filled with so much passion and chemistry, but there was also a story about sisters learning more about their roots. Piper and Hannah’s relationship was so pure. They couldn’t be more different, but care and support each other 100%.
Support was also a major component in Brendan and Piper’s relationship. Two people who were also so different, don’t understand the other’s way of life—an LA socialite and a small town fisherman. However, they never tried to make the other one change. They embraced and supported their differences.
I can’t wait to be back in this world with the sequel about Hannah and Brendan’s best friend, Fox.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Title: The Right Side of Reckless
Author: Whitney D. Grandison
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publication Date: July 13th, 2021
Ratings: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Goodreads Summary:
He’s never met a rule he didn’t break… She’s followed the rules her whole life… When they meet, one golden rule is established: stay away. Sparks fly in this edgy own voices novel, perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon, S. K. Ali, and Kristina Forest.
They were supposed to ignore each other and respect that fine line between them…
Guillermo Lozano is getting a fresh start. New town, new school, and no more reckless behavior. He’s done his time, and now he needs to right his wrongs. But when his work at the local community center throws him into the path of the one girl who is off-limits, friendship sparks…and maybe more.
Regan London needs a fresh perspective. The pressure to stay in her “perfect” relationship and be the good girl all the time has worn her down. But when the walls start to cave in and she finds unexpected understanding from the boy her parents warned about, she can’t ignore her feelings anymore.
The disapproval is instant. Being together might just get Guillermo sent away. But when it comes to the heart, sometimes you have to break the rules and be a little bit reckless…
These are two really likable characters. Guillermo is doing everything he can to prove to everyone that his is on the straight and narrow, and Regan is trying to be the perfect daughter and girlfriend, even if that means compromising who she really is. They learn from each other to discover who they really are.
While I did really like these characters, they frustrated me a lot. The fact that the book is over 400 pages didn’t help things. This dragged on much longer than it should have and could have been condensed to be a much more concise story. Regan’s problems with her boyfriend could have easily been solved if she had just told her parents what he was doing. Even though they worshipped him, no one would push their teen daughter to be with someone pressuring her to have sex. I think Guillermo was never really a bad boy, he just cares very deeply for the people in his life and it came out in destructive ways. I felt bad for him most of the time.
After really not enjoying Grandison’s first book, I’m happy to say this was lightyears better. Sometimes you just want to indulge in the dramatics, s even if it doesn’t end up being an A+ book.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lindsay Glenne 