❓ #QOTD What's your go-to summer read?❓
🦇 Hollywood's It-Girl Piper Bellinger is the paparazzi's beloved wild child. There's always the promise she'll go a bit too far for the Gram, including hosting a rooftop party that lands her in jail after a bad breakup. Hoping she'll learn some sense of responsibility, her wealthy step-father ships her off to her late father's dive bar in the small town of Westport. She's not there for five minutes before she meets grumpy sea captain Brendan, and the two instantly clash. Will Piper reconnect with her past (charting a course for a new future in the process) or can she get back to LA before the end of her three-month sentence?
💜 Despite how much my beloved Booksta girlies adore her writing, I honestly didn't know what to expect from Tessa Bailey (and I'm glad, because I love shaping my own opinions). From chapter one, there's this instantly familiar yet distinct voice that SCREAMS chick-flick rom-com (with Kesha playing at full volume in the background). Piper is Alexis from Schitt's Creek meets Elle Woods ala Legally Blonde. She's vibrant and bubbly and yes, a little ditzy, but after a few chapters, you start to love her for the heart behind it. Brendan is all salt water and deep grumbles, strong yet stuck in his ways. My latest concern with rom-coms lately has been a lack of chemistry. Too many books rush to the smut, forcing two characters to fit when they just don't. Chemistry sparks off the page pretty quickly between these two, though--not in lingering glances, but in actions. Brendan has memory foam installed over a bunkbed so Piper can stop bruising herself. He changes her locks because everyone in Westport has a key to her building. It's not insta-love (but once things progress, these two burn HOT), and I'm grateful for that.
💜 It's the underlying messages that bumped this up to a rare 3.5 stars. People have been putting Piper into a box for too long, telling her she's just like every other girl in LA, that she won't amount to more. Brendan shows her she has so much more to give than she realizes. We start adoring Piper through Brendan, and that's a powerful thing. Meanwhile, Piper recognizes her worth and accomplishes far more than she thought herself capable. There's an underlying theme of guilt and grief from both sides, too; Piper for her late father, and Brendan for his late wife. They heal together and end up stronger for it.
💙 It's the third act that made my star rating falter. Piper clinging to pieces of her past, that lingering what-if of falling back into her comfort zone and old ways--Brendan shouldn't have faulted her for that, turning it into a blowout fight when Piper admitted EARLIER that she didn't know what to do. After that, it's a number of conveniently placed obstacles that keep them apart. Piper's sudden decision to go back to LA felt out of place given her character development, too. Though it wasn't a full third-act breakup, it was enough to feel exhausting.
🦇 Recommended for fans of Emily Henry, Ali Hazelwood, and Hannah Grace.
✨ The Vibes ✨
⚓ Small Town Romance
⚓ Contemporary Romance
⚓ Schitt's Creek Inspired
⚓ Grumpy/Sunshine
⚓ Opposites Attract
⚓ First in a Duology
⚓ He Falls First
💬 Quotes
❝ I can be in a room full of people that I know & still not feel like I belong. ❞
❝ This girl. He'd be keeping her. There was no way around it. ❞
❝ Apparently he enjoyed that now. Being confused & charmed & pulled apart over this woman. ❞
❝ "I like the things that make you Piper. Don't go changing them now. ❞
I wonder how long it takes for MultiCrack!Heathcliff to get dressed in the morning, or to put on his jacket ... because it's confirmed his prosthetic limbs don't have any sensors to feel texture, pain, or heat/cold, and I know that when I struggle to put a shirt or coat on, I am mainly relying on my sense of touch.
farmers market breakfast fresh multi seed bagel with fresh garlic dill cheese with fresh farm strawberries with fresh apple cider donut. and my own coldbrew that i actually paid attention to diluting correctly for once. and scallions on the cheese. is there any conceivable reason i should save the little net they put on my strawberries bc it seems such a shame to throw it away but why should i keep it. would it be insane to give it back to the farm stand next week