It Happened One Summer, Book 1
From the publisher:
Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who’s 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.
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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.
We started watching Schitt’s Creek not that long ago, during the pandemic, and finished it a few weeks ago. Apparently, I’m in the minority because I didn’t love it. I liked the most of the characters, but I expect sitcoms to make me laugh. I think I laughed just a few times throughout six seasons, so I didn’t find it especially funny. I enjoyed the final season the most so when I saw this book was inspired by the show, specifically the Alexis Rose character, I was intrigued. Bailey is one of my go to writers; I read all her books so even though I didn’t find the show particularly funny, I could see where it would be a good jumping off point for a book.
The main character, Piper, is basically Alexis Rose. She’s a Beverly Hills social media darling, and Instagram is her world. Pretty, vapid, and shallow, as her boyfriend tells her while breaking up with her three weeks after they started dating, about the longest relationship she has had. After the breakup, Piper invites everyone she knows to break into the Mondrian Hotel pool and after being turned in as the ringleader by her “best friend”, Piper spends the night in jail. Upon her return home, her very wealthy movie mogul stepfather informs her that he has had enough. Her little hotel stunt may have cost him the funding he needs for his next film.
Piper learns that her father, who died when she was a toddler, has left her and her sister a dive bar in Washington state. Her stepfather has been paying someone for minimal upkeep but he decides that Piper needs to learn how most people live, and he gives her a bare minimum of funds and sends her off to the small town of Westport for three months. Hannah, her sister, decides to go with her. The girls are close, and Piper is thrilled she won’t be banished alone.
So the general plot is rich girl gets cut off from her money, much like Schitt’s Creek. Piper meets Brendan shortly after arriving in town, and he is not a fan. But as she and Hannah start cleaning up the bar and the apartment above, he starts to help them. Piper is not used to men wanting anything but sex from her, so she doesn’t quite understand why this man is helping her. And eventually they fall in love.
There are a lot of really funny scenes throughout the book, and some really sweet ones, too. When they finally get together, there is some hot sex as well. But for me the best part was how Piper grows and changes, all for the better. There are enough quirky characters to add another layer of interest. Also I had no idea that crab fishing was so profitable. All in all, a very interesting and entertaining romance. Best of all, this is the first book of a new series.
7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey. Avon (July 13, 2021). ISBN: 978-0063045651. 416 pages.
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