It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Genre: NA Realistic Fiction/Romance
Blurb (on back of book): 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.
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.
MY OPINION: *****
Yet another rom-com I cannot get enough of. I am dying for the second book and I needed it to come out yesterday. I heard a lot of great things about this book and I am currently going through a rom-com binge (as I'm sure you've realized) and this one was superb.
I have to admit I was not expecting this one to be very good given the plot and the characters. Piper is a golden LA girl, rich and Insta-famous, known for her extravagant parties and hot boyfriends. Her longest relationship has only been three weeks though and after getting dumped by yet another man, she breaks in illegally into a building and throws the "biggest party ever" only to get caught, arrested, and stuck to face the wrath of her stepdad. Her punishment is being sent to a small fishing port where her father lived (and died) at. Piper and her sister end up running their father's old dive bar, completely out of place in the small, tightknit fishing community.
Enter the love interest, Brendan, a bearded, tall sea captain whose one true love is the sea. He is instantly against Piper's presence and "invasion" into their idyllic town, commenting how she doesn't belong and overall acting like a complete asshole to her before they have really truly met. Brendan is the iconic gruff fisherman type who prefers to keep to himself, especially after his wife's passing, and is the polar opposite of Piper's bubbly, made-for-the-camera personality.
However, of course, given that it's a small town, they keep bumping into each other. Slowly, their rocky relationship starts to hint towards a romantic relationship as the two begin to realize the other isn't as bad as they first thought. Piper begins to reconnect with her past and get to know who her father was and the impact that he had on the town; she even meets her grandmother for the first time and truly starts to feel as if she belongs in Westport, despite her initial adamant desires to return to LA. As she begins to disconnect from social media, her old "friends" back at home, and the life of LA socialite, she begins to realize that the town maybe isn't as bad as she thought, especially not with Brendan there.
I liked the pacing of this book a lot. It wasn't insta-love but it also wasn't so slow-burn that we start to forget why we want the two characters to get together in the first place. It was full of drama and plotwists and heartwrenching scenes (I even cried at one point, though I think I just happened to be overemotional on that day so don't be scared and please read the book). I loved everything about the two together. I loved seeing Brendan begin to open up and share more of his past and try to understand more about Piper's way of life, despite his aversion to change. I loved seeing Piper and her sister begin to adapt to the town and really start to fit in with the people there despite being outcasts at the start.
I also loved how each character learned to compromise. It wasn't all or nothing. They put themselves over their relationship first which I personally find really important. I don't think it's fair to prioritize a relationship over your own well-being, no matter how much you might love the person. I think that the way that each character was written so differently opened up a lot of opportunities for self-reflection, self-improvement, and eventual compromise. I liked how they both took into account each other's needs as well as their own needs/wants, which I think it super realistic and important for a relationship.
This is the perfect grumpy/sunshine book for anyone looking for books featuring that trope. It's beautifully written and endearing and fun. I will say that it's a Schitt's Creek inspired novel, which is one of the very few shows I have not watched (I tried but didn't like it so I quit), so I'm not sure how that plays a role in one's appreciation or lack thereof of this book.
Main Character: Piper, Brendan
Sidekick(s): Hannah, Fox, friends, family, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, conflicts, danger, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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