--- description: Find out why 'It Happened One Summer' made the list. title: 'It Happened One Summer' Is on TIME’s List of the 50 Best Romance Novels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt222b9511c2985f5f/698a5944db2987f7b226be99/It-Happened-One-Summer-Tessa-Bailey.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 01, 2024 # It Happened One Summer by [Shannon Carlin](/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  For fans of _Legally Blonde_ and [_The Simple Life_](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6197762/the-simple-life/ "undefined"): best-selling author Tessa Bailey’s 2021 rom-com, _It Happened One Summer,_ looks at a spoiled Hollywood party girl’s journey toward self-discovery. After another unflattering story in the tabloids, Piper Bellinger is finally cut off from her stepfather’s fortune. In order to teach her some responsibility, he ships her off to the Pacific Northwest, where she’ll spend the next three months taking care of her late dad’s dive bar. When she arrives, Piper meets a handsome, recently widowed fisherman who doesn’t think she’s quite cut out for the job. Their flirty run-ins only make her more determined to prove to him—and to herself—that she’s more than just a pretty face. **Buy Now:** _It Happened One Summer_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780063045651 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3LlBMxk "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996625/it-happened-one-summer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996625/it-happened-one-summer/"},"headline":"It Happened One Summer","datePublished":"2024-08-01T12:12:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:34:04.321Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996625/it-happened-one-summer/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt222b9511c2985f5f/698a5944db2987f7b226be99/It-Happened-One-Summer-Tessa-Bailey.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt222b9511c2985f5f/698a5944db2987f7b226be99/It-Happened-One-Summer-Tessa-Bailey.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996625/it-happened-one-summer/","name":"It Happened One Summer"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Romance Authors Share the Steamiest Book They've Ever Read","description":"Romance authors like Emily Henry and Beverly Jenkins talk about the steamiest book they've ever read.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jXMACfdW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-07-30T10:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jXMACfdW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996625/it-happened-one-summer/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996625/it-happened-one-summer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```