Dream Girl Drama

A Novel (Big Shots, Book 3)

By: Tessa Bailey

Narrated by: Callie Dalton, Teddy Hamilton

A steamy chance encounter between a professional hockey player and the manic pixie dream girl he just can’t seem to forget takes a turn when the pair realize that their parents are engaged—in an all-new rom-com by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.

When professional hockey player Sig Gauthier’s car breaks down and his phone dies, he treks into a posh private country club to call a tow truck, where he encounters the alluring Chloe Clifford, the manic pixie dream girl who captivates him immediately with her sense of adventure and penchant for stealing champagne.

Sparks fly during a moonlight kiss and the enamored pair can’t wait to see each other again, but when Sig finally arrives to meet his dad’s new girlfriend over dinner, Chloe is confusingly also there. Turns out the girlfriend is Chloe’s mother. Oh, and they’re engaged.

Sig’s dream girl is his future stepsister.

Though the pair is now wary of being involved romantically, Chloe, a sheltered harp prodigy, yearns to escape her controlling mother. Sig promises to teach her the ins and outs of independence in Boston—but not inside his bedroom. They both know there can never be more than friendship between a famous hockey player and his high-society, soon-to-be stepsister. But keeping their relationship platonic grows harder amid the developing family drama, especially knowing they were meant for so much more…

©2025 Tessa Bailey (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

Love, love, love

So excited for the third installment in the series and it did not disappoint. Tessa did such a great job with the characters and I am so happy with this book.

Loved Callie Dalton’s performance, story was weak.

Story needed more humor from the hockey players -or anybody, if the characters were going to be so one-dimensional. The premise was over the top unbelievable, and a bit boring. Male hero pines. Spends a lot of time doing it. HEA. The end.

Not my favorite

I usually love Tessa Baileys works but found both Sig and Chloe to be annoying and didn’t have much chemistry. There were some good parts and tension but by the end I was just forcing myself to get to the end. I think it’s not my favorite but I have strong feelings of dislike so Tessa Bailey did write a good story that had me feeling some emotions…even if it was mostly me suffering through spite.

My favorite storyline of out of the 3 book series

I adore Tessa Baileys writing. I can’t put them down every time. You meet this couple in the second book of the series and they blend so well together.

Tessa Bailey does it again!

I was sooooo hoping for a Sig and Chloe book after Au Pair Affair and Lordy did she deliver. This book was perfection from start to finish and I loved the narration! Tessa knows how to give the people what we want.

Love the Narrators!

Both Callie Dalton & Teddy Hamilton are great narrators for this story! The story of Sig and Chloe is the sweetest. Their passion is so strong from their first meeting and the intensity never dies down. Both Hamilton & Dalton really make this come across in their performances. Hamilton seamlessly takes on the personality of his character of a problem solving hockey player absolutely overpowered by love. He carries the intensity and caring nature of Sig in his performance. Dalton also embodies the character of Chloe who is so impulsive, such an opposite of Sig and deep love of music. Dalton moves easily between female and male voices of characters. I always feel that makes a difference in listening to the audio. I enjoyed the story and really liked listening to both narrations by Hamilton & Dalton!

Beautiful, painful, everything!

Like every other story by Tessa Bailey, the characters are interesting, well rounded and unique and I loved their story, even if it made me ache from time to time. I can't wait for the next one! The narrators also did a brilliant job bringing the characters to life. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable audiobook!

Great start but overall disappointing

The initial first few chapters had me hooked. Insta-love, mutual pining, tension, a hot and heavy make out session. Narration was fantastic. In the end, story felt like it was starting to drag. Just the continuous cycle of we can't be together. I love reading forbidden and taboo love tropes, and this did deliver a slightly forbidden aspect. However, it's hard to believe that their relationship is quite as scandalous as it was made out to be within this book. They met as adults before they knew their parents were getting married. Instead of finding the "perfect solution" that would allow them to be together without apparently being shunned by society, why not just say screw it and be together anyway? Also disappointed that their toxic parents were essentially forgiven.

Enjoyed some parts of this book but wouldn't shout about it from the rooftops.

One of TB’s best! 🌶️ 4/5 Explicit Open Door, 2+ scenes

I’ve listened to 14 Tessa Bailey books in the past year—this is the best one yet!

Key tropes: “Forbidden” Love, Angst, Caretaking, Stern Brunch Daddy

🌶️ 4/5 Explicit Open Door, 2+ scenes
POV: Third person
🎧: Teddy Hamilton!!! & Callie Dalton (I find her irritating at times). So glad to have Teddy reading half of the chapters. 😅
Standalone: Can be done; but MCs from this book have significant “friend of” status in book 2.
Setting: Connecticut & Boston, Mass.
MMC 🏒: Sig, 29, Pro Hockey player for 6 years, raised by a single mom. Burgess’ friend.
FMC 🎶: Chloe, 25, plays the harp, lives with mom, wealthy, sheltered. Tallulah’s friend.

Key tropes: “Forbidden” Love, Angst, Caretaking, Stern Brunch Daddy

Au Pair Affair was just OK to me. Anyone who was turned off by that book should totally give Dream Girl a shot. There is a greater emphasis on character development and the angst in this book, less humor and wild sex than in Bailey’s books from the past 5 years.

Move over It Happened One Summer, Getaway Girl, and Unfortunately Yours. I’ve got a new favorite Tessa Bailey book!!!! This is so completely different—the pinning, the angst, the chemistry! I had no idea TB would write a combo slow burn AND insta-love, but gosh it worked! Fans of TB’s incredible gift of writing spice/steam, fret not, it’s there, you just have to wait more than 50% of the book.

Hockey is not as big a part of this book as it was in the Au Pair Affair. We were introduced to the team, the life of a pro hockey player, how dangerous it is, etc in the previous book. Sig has been playing with the Boston Bearcats for 6 years, his whole professional career. He was a third round draft pick, didn’t have a lucrative contract. That said minimum annual salary in the NHL has risen to $700,000. Sig’s contract is expiring, he’s placing high pressure on himself to provide for both his mother and Chloe a good life (and Chloe definitely comes from the 1 percenters).

Thank you soooo much Avon, Net Galley, and of course Tessa Bailey for the eARC of this book. I used Audible credits and listened to Fangirl Down & The Au Pair Affair back-to-back in July 2024. I was crushed when I realized not only would it be a 6 month wait for book 3, but I was dying to know Sig & Chloe’s story. I loved it so much I preordered the signed copy from Ripped Bodice and the audiobook from Audible.

a LOT of angst

kinda hard to take the central conflict seriously. I mean sure, it might look awkward, but I can't believe that a romance between adult children of people marrying for the 3rd or 4th time would be taken as such a ground breaking taboo.
Have I been reading too much romance? I mean, at this point a romance between heterosexual humans seems a little meh on the shock scale.