Reviews

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

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applesaucecreachur's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

What this book lacked in relatability, it made up for in being thoroughly charming. It Happened One Summer starts with an Instagram influencer twist on the riches-to-rags trope, banishing professionally famous but otherwise unskilled Piper Bellinger to her late father's dive bar in Westport, Washington. As a Seattle area native and a long-time frenemy of the Twilight saga, the setting had me hook, line, and... crabpot?

The opening scene for Westport gives us a comical glimpse of Piper laughing at her shabby new home before bursting into tears, and also introduces us to the second narrator and love interest. Sea Captain Brendan is bearded, set in his routines,

a widow of seven years,

and first and foremost, his name is Brendon. Okay, fine – I can't hate too hard on a name alone but aren't there catchier, more romantic, or at least more memorable names? It could be that I'm spoiled by one mister Redford "Red" Morgan (courtesy of Talia Hibbert) because I could not get over the main love interest having such a whitebread name. Then again, I'm assuming based on the scattered character descriptions that everyone in the book is white. I'm justified in thinking this for a few reasons, not limited to a Popsugar article published in July of 2022, stating that author Tessa Bailey's dream cast for a movie adaptation is all-white so... Yeah. A little bit Yikes on that one.

Aside from the fact that none of this fictional Westport's families look like mine or many of my friends', I fell in love with this town as Piper did. The side characters all felt three-dimensional and important to the story in their own ways; I came for the sexy story about a seaside exile and I stayed for the enchanting side plots that fit neatly in between the romantic arcs.

Piper's relationship with Abe, the man from the hardware store whom she walks with each day to the maritime museum, and with Opal, her newfound paternal grandmother, sold me on this town and its people.

And there was no inkling of the competitive internalized misogyny that female characters in romance novels so often fall into. Westport's other women adored Piper without jealousy for her liveliness and helpful spirit, and

even Brendon's late wife was regarded only with respect when Brendan discussed the way their marriage and her annual memorial services made him feel

.

The romance itself was sweet and tender with the characters being pulled away from each other by circumstances rather than personalities... Usually. This is only the second contemporary romance novel that I've read, but I'm already real sick and tired of

the whole miscommunication-as-the-climactic-event-meant-to-break-them-apart thing. Just talk to each other. Say what you mean ("I already told you that I love you, Brendan, and you not wanting me to have safety nets in this town where I knew nothing and no one just ten weeks ago is kind of weird and controlling"), instead of being dramatic ("If I'm not there at the docks tomorrow, you can assume that I left").

But the fact that Piper and Brendon came to love each other as they are, without working to change the other even when their traits and interests seemed a bit at odds, was precious. In the end, Piper didn't need a man who could spoil her, and Brendon didn't need a woman who could make him notice the little joys in life. And I'm glad that they found each other anyway.

Overall impressions are as follows:
Character development – first-rate
Diversity – abysmal
Side characters – stellar
Self-awareness and class-consciousness – see Diversity
Romance – solidly Thai chili on the Scoville scale.

angelrose's review against another edition

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5.0

Piper and Brendan are everything

edensgrief's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

blerainville's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

sarahpmedeiros's review

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3.0

3.5

I really struggled to get through the beginning half of this book. I couldn’t connect with and didn’t like the airhead version of Piper. Once she started changing though and her and Brendan started falling in love I was hooked.

I need the nicknames in romance books to stop, though. Please romance authors I beg this of you.