Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey Summary, Characters and Themes
Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey is a steamy contemporary romance novella featuring the “marriage of convenience” trope with a mix of humor, hope, and intense chemistry. Set in the world of hockey, the novella introduces Britta, an ambitious waitress, and Sumner, a Canadian hockey player on the brink of NHL stardom, who faces deportation unless he can secure a green card.
Their lives take a surprising turn when Britta agrees to a fake marriage, despite her no-dating rule with hockey players. Over the course of a year, what starts as a pragmatic arrangement blossoms into something deeper as they navigate trust, love, and commitment.
Summary
The novella Same Time Next Year begins with Britta, a waitress at Sluggers, a bar frequented by the local hockey team, the Bridgeport Bandits, where her half-brother also plays. She has a personal rule of avoiding relationships with hockey players due to her trust issues, stemming from her father’s infidelity.
This backstory has made Britta wary of commitment and cautious about entering any relationship, let alone marriage.
Despite this, she harbors a soft spot for one player in particular, Sumner Mayfield, a defenseman on the verge of an NHL breakthrough but facing the threat of deportation back to Canada as his work visa is expiring.
On New Year’s Eve, Sumner’s teammates, including Britta’s brother, suggest a wild solution: Britta should marry Sumner to help him stay in the country and continue pursuing his dream.
Sumner, who is secretly in love with Britta, feels embarrassed but hopeful about the idea. Britta, however, is initially reluctant, finding the idea absurd.
Sumner’s soulful eyes and her own lingering affection for him eventually lead her to reconsider, but only under strict terms.
She demands that the marriage remain strictly a business transaction, with no romantic or physical involvement, and Sumner agrees despite his true feelings, hoping for more in the long run.
As the marriage progresses, the couple navigates their fake relationship while getting to know each other more deeply. Sumner, who has been celibate for a year out of his devotion to Britta, patiently waits for her to realize that he’s deeply in love with her.
His obsession with Britta is one of the novella’s defining elements; Sumner is wholly devoted to her, with no interest in other women.
The growing tension between them builds as Sumner becomes more overt about his feelings while Britta grapples with her fear of commitment.
Despite the agreement to avoid intimacy, the attraction between them becomes impossible to ignore. Time passes, and the couple spends months apart, particularly during the hockey off-season when Sumner returns to Canada to visit family.
The distance only intensifies their longing for one another, and when Sumner returns, they can no longer deny that their relationship has become more than just a transactional marriage.
The novella focuses on Britta’s internal struggle as she begins to trust Sumner and realizes that her feelings for him have evolved beyond friendship.
Sumner, ever faithful and patient, continues to show her through his actions that he is deeply committed.
The story culminates in a full-circle moment when, on the next New Year’s Eve, Britta finally overcomes her fears, and the couple embraces the idea of a real, loving marriage.
In sum, Same Time Next Year is a fun, spicy read about a fake marriage that turns into a heartwarming romance, filled with humor, passion, and personal growth for both characters.
Characters
Britta
Britta, the female protagonist of Same Time Next Year, is portrayed as an ambitious woman with a strong work ethic, committed to her career and aspirations. She works at Sluggers, a bar that holds sentimental value for her, and which she has dreams of owning one day.
Despite her fierce independence and determination to achieve her goals, Britta carries emotional baggage that makes her reluctant to commit to relationships, particularly romantic ones. Her commitment phobia stems from deep-seated trust issues caused by her father’s infidelity, which led to the discovery of a half-brother.
As a result, Britta is wary of marriage, believing it to be fraught with deception, as evidenced by her own family’s experiences. Throughout the novella, Britta’s emotional evolution becomes a central theme.
Initially, she agrees to the fake marriage with Sumner under the pretext of it being a mere business transaction, further emphasizing her refusal to engage emotionally. However, over time, Britta is forced to confront her feelings for Sumner, as his steadfast devotion challenges her preconceived notions of love and commitment.
Her emotional journey is one of self-discovery, as she learns to reconcile her fear of commitment with the possibility of genuine love. Britta’s development is a crucial element in the story, culminating in her realization that love can be faithful and lasting, unlike the broken relationships she had previously known.
Sumner Mayfield
Sumner Mayfield is depicted as the quintessential “boy obsessed” hero, a trait that plays into the novella’s emotional core. A professional hockey player on the verge of a significant breakthrough into the NHL, Sumner’s predicament arises from his impending deportation due to the expiration of his work visa.
While the story sets up this legal conflict as the catalyst for the marriage of convenience, Sumner’s motivations go far deeper. Unlike the pragmatic deal Britta initially imagines, Sumner has been quietly in love with her for a year, a fact that gives his actions a deeper, more emotional resonance.
His unspoken devotion and willingness to enter into the marriage without expecting anything in return demonstrate his patient, selfless nature. Sumner’s character is a blend of sweetness and intensity.
While he’s clearly infatuated with Britta, he respects her boundaries, even agreeing to a marriage with no physical or romantic expectations. His faithfulness and obsession with Britta are often highlighted in the reviews, positioning him as a refreshing take on the romance hero who falls first and falls hard.
His dedication to Britta is almost reverential, with some readers noting that he never even looks at another woman, focusing all his energy on winning her love. This sense of obsession, while romantic for some readers, might feel unrealistic or exaggerated to others, but it remains consistent throughout the novella.
His sexual desire for Britta, although intense, is always tempered by his deep emotional connection to her, further cementing his role as a loyal, committed hero.
Britta’s Half-Brother
Britta’s half-brother plays a relatively minor role in the novella, but his presence serves as a narrative device that pushes the plot forward. It is through his suggestion that Britta considers the possibility of marrying Sumner to help him stay in the United States.
This familial relationship also ties into Britta’s emotional backstory, particularly her issues with trust and commitment, which stem largely from her father’s affair that resulted in her half-brother. While the brother’s relationship with Britta is not explored in great depth, his role as a teammate and friend of Sumner helps to establish a sense of camaraderie between the characters.
His significance lies more in his connection to Britta’s emotional wounds than in his direct interactions with her.
The Hockey Team
The Bridgeport Bandits, the local hockey team Sumner plays for, collectively serve as a backdrop for the novella’s events. They also act as a secondary source of pressure on Britta.
The team’s affection for Sumner and their desire to help him stay in the country adds a sense of urgency to the plot. Their insistence on Britta marrying Sumner during the New Year’s Eve celebration highlights the lighthearted yet earnest nature of their relationship with both Sumner and Britta.
The team members are more symbolic than individual characters, representing a supportive community that contrasts with Britta’s internal emotional turmoil. Their push for the marriage reflects a broader social pressure that influences Britta’s decision, showing how external forces can shape the choices of the protagonists.
Themes
Romantic Idealism versus Commitment Phobia in a Fast-Paced, High-Stakes Context
In Same Time Next Year, Tessa Bailey juxtaposes two opposing emotional states: Sumner’s obsessive, almost idealistic view of love and Britta’s deep-seated commitment phobia. Sumner, the celibate and single-minded hero, embodies a romantic idealism that borders on fantasy.
His obsession with Britta, while often exaggerated for effect, reflects a yearning for permanence, fidelity, and an emotionally intense connection. All of this contrasts starkly with Britta’s wariness of emotional entanglement.
Her aversion to commitment is rooted in her past, shaped by her father’s infidelity and her half-brother’s presence, a constant reminder of fractured familial ties. The dynamic between the two characters challenges conventional notions of love, asking whether obsessive devotion can overcome deep-seated fears of betrayal and loss.
The Power Dynamics and Emotional Transactions Embedded in “Convenience” Marriages
Bailey’s narrative delves into the inherent power dynamics at play in marriages of convenience, highlighting the transactional nature of such arrangements. In this case, Britta’s agreement to marry Sumner is initially framed as a purely pragmatic decision: he needs a green card, and she needs financial capital to buy into the bar.
However, the emotional undercurrents beneath this transaction reveal the vulnerabilities that surface when relationships are built on convenience rather than genuine mutual affection from the start. Britta’s demand for $50,000 in exchange for her cooperation and her insistence on no physical or romantic involvement are attempts to retain power and autonomy.
Meanwhile, Sumner’s willingness to enter into this uneven exchange—and his concealed hopes that their relationship will evolve into something real—demonstrate the subtle ways in which one partner can hold emotional leverage. This theme interrogates the complexities of power, vulnerability, and emotional manipulation in relationships that start under practical, rather than emotional, pretenses.
The Intersection of Nationality, Identity, and Immigration in Personal Relationships
Immigration plays a critical role in the unfolding of the narrative, placing the characters in a high-stakes environment that forces quick decisions and dramatic life changes. The book’s exploration of Sumner’s nationality as a Canadian and the looming threat of deportation lends an urgency to the plot, framing the marriage not just as a romantic entanglement but as a matter of survival.
Through Sumner’s predicament, Bailey introduces a theme that examines how the bureaucracy of immigration, particularly the quest for a green card, can complicate personal identity and interpersonal relationships. Sumner’s drive to succeed in the NHL, juxtaposed with the threat of losing his place in the U.S., adds an additional layer of complexity to his character.
This theme touches on how external societal and political pressures, such as immigration status, can dictate the terms of intimate relationships, challenging the idea of romantic love being free from outside influences.
Gendered Expectations of Emotional Labor and Fidelity in Contemporary Romance
Bailey also examines the gendered expectations surrounding emotional labor and fidelity, particularly through the lens of Sumner’s character. His celibacy and unwavering loyalty to Britta, even before their marriage of convenience, positions him as an idealized romantic hero who subverts traditional gender roles.
In contrast to the “player” stereotype often associated with male characters in sports-themed romances, Sumner’s total emotional and physical devotion to Britta challenges conventional depictions of masculinity. Meanwhile, Britta’s reluctance to engage in a romantic relationship due to past trauma reflects the pressure women often face to reconcile their emotional history with the possibility of future relationships.
The novel thus questions how emotional labor and expectations of faithfulness are distributed within romantic relationships, especially in situations where one partner is more emotionally invested from the start.
The Role of Time and Absence in the Development of Emotional Intimacy
In Same Time Next Year, time is not only a plot device but a thematic element that drives emotional transformation. The novella’s condensed timeline, punctuated by time jumps, explores how emotional intimacy is often forged in absence rather than presence.
When Sumner returns to Canada during the off-season, the physical separation forces both characters to confront their feelings. For Britta, Sumner’s absence creates the emotional space she needs to reassess her fears of commitment, while for Sumner, the time apart only solidifies his longing and deep emotional investment.
This theme illustrates how time can function paradoxically in relationships, serving both as a barrier to emotional intimacy and as a catalyst for it. The absence forces the characters to reckon with the reality of their feelings in ways that proximity might not have allowed.
The Commodification of Relationships in an Age of Transactional Love
One of the more subtle yet pervasive themes in the novel is the commodification of relationships, particularly in the context of modern romance narratives. Britta’s agreement to marry Sumner for $50,000 in order to further her business ambitions foregrounds a transactional approach to love and marriage that reflects the commodification of personal relationships in contemporary society.
This theme questions the boundary between emotional connection and financial motivation, blurring the lines between love and economic necessity. By framing the marriage as a business deal, the narrative raises questions about how modern relationships often balance personal desires with practical concerns.
Britta’s initial coldness and Sumner’s willingness to pay any price—emotionally and financially—critique the extent to which people are willing to commodify themselves or their feelings for stability, security, or future gains. The story probes how love, sex, and marriage can be negotiated, bought, and sold, challenging traditional romantic ideals.