It Happened One Summer: A Novel

Tessa Bailey

Jul 2021 · HarperAudio · Narrated by Charlotte North

About this audiobook

The first in a spicy and unforgettable rom-com duology from #1 New York Times bestseller and tik tok favorite Tessa Bailey, in which a Hollywood “It Girl” 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. 

As seen on E!Online, PopSugar, CNN, EliteDaily, Vulture, Buzzfeed, Bustle, the Nerd Daily, PARADE, LA Magazine, Country Living, USA Today, and more!

Ratings and reviews

Romcom, opposites attract, fish out of water, the grumpy one falls for the sunshiney one, small town romance, great summer read, there are so many things that could be used to describe this book, but really, it was one word – perfection! Tessa builds a world and tells a story that is so vibrant, so clear, you can’t help but be there with the characters, experiencing everything with them. The attraction, the steam between these two, it snaps and crackles and sizzles. The doubts and fears, they radiate and envelope. The joy and happiness will invade your heart and soul. Piper and Brendan don’t appear to be perfect for each other at the start, but as their story is told, it is apparent to everyone that they are exactly what the other needs <3

I liked the story well enough but in the audio book the same voice is used for male and female characters. In intimate scenes it gave me the ick

sappy romance. hated how she acted in the beginning but it definitely turned around

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue-collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the “Michelangelo of dirty talk,” by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon and a guaranteed happily ever after.