Super cute grumpy x sunshine book. I really enjoyed the beginning, but felt that the story was a little drawn out. The love letter aspect was a little strange. I was expecting it to be more of them getting to know each other through the letters but ended up being a little awkward and one sided.

Bubbly gardener, Hallie Welch, fell hard for Julian Vos after their almost-kiss years ago. After being hired to landscape the gardens of the Vos family vineyards, Hallie can't resist the temptation of her old crush being back in town--even if he might not remember her--and one drunken girl's night mistake later, decides to leave a secret admirer letter for Julian. As they continue to clash each time they meet, will her secret letters be enough to make things right?


Tessa Bailey has made quite a name for herself in the contemporary romance genre and for good reason! Secretly Yours is an adorable take on the grumpy/sunshine trope. With fantastic character growth and a cast of side characters you can't help but love, this is the first of a new duology that's going to be just as big as It Happened One Summer!

3.5/5 stars!

Fun! This was a sweet and easy to ready romcom. I feel like it was a bit different than Tessa's normal writing, but overall enjoyed the story.

Hallie has had the hots for Julian since they almost kissed! Now they are both in town to work but they couldn't be more opposite. She's a free spirit and he's in total control. Hallie gets drunk one night and writes him a secret admirer letter and leaves it where he can find it. She does throw him off kilter and he is having a hard time writing his book. Can they get it together this time? This is my first book by this author, and I enjoyed it a lot. I received an ARC from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Ok I love Tessa Bailey. Always. She’s my ride or die. So I feel so bad saying that this book just took me some time to get into. I wanted to love it, and in ways I totally did, it just missed the mark of immediately grabbing my attention.

Tessa Bailey is the queen of fun and easy romance novels. I really enjoyed this one! I liked Julia and Hallie, the way they balanced each other out and getting to know Julian's family. I loved that there was anxiety rep thrown in and I would have liked to see more about Julian and his mom. I really loved Julian. This was fun!

I was absolutely enamored with this story and the characters!! Tessa Bailey has done it again with this one. I found the main characters absolutely endearing and the differences in their personalities were so funny and their banter was next level!

Hallie Welch has been infatuated with Julian Vos since they were in high school, and she was the lowly freshman he didn’t notice after their almost kiss in his family’s vineyards. Now he’s returned to their small town and Hallie has been hired to refresh the gardens at the guesthouse where he’s staying. She wonders if her fantasies of kissing him might finally be realized, but soon sees how unlikely that is given the starchy professor is her polar opposite. That doesn’t stop Hallie from leaving him a secret admirer letter after too much wine at girls’ night.

Julian has taken a break from his job as a professor at Stanford to write a fiction novel. He certainly doesn’t need the distraction of Hallie gardening outside his window and her refusal to adhere to a timetable is wreaking havoc on his schedule. He can’t help but find Hallie beautiful, even when she’s covered in dirt. With his focus already shaken, Julian is completely taken aback to find an anonymous love note addressed to him. Even as he wonders at the author’s identity, he’s drawn even closer to Hallie’s vivaciousness. For someone who thrives on strict order, Julian soon comes to realize that Hallie’s cheery chaos is exactly what he’s been missing in his well-ordered life.

This was a fine read but after how much I adored this author’s previous two releases, I was a little letdown by this one. So much was done right, but other parts fell a bit flat for me. I loved that we got anxiety rep here and bonus points that it was the hero. Yet again in this season of grief for me personally, I’ve found a main character who is struggling with grief, Hallie in this case, though that was also handled quite well. Julian and Hallie felt like such a mismatch, but I also really liked how they each brought about a change in the other that resulted in more happiness and less rigidity and chaos, respectively. I wasn’t crazy about how abrupt the ending felt. After such a slow burn, it definitely felt rushed, so their relationship didn’t feel as permanent as I would like. I loved how hard Julian fell for Hallie and I wanted to see more of him embracing that rather than having so much of him fighting his emerging feelings. I guess I just wanted more of a balance between those two sides of his character. Also, this could’ve been a super-hot book but thanks to that agonizingly slow burn, it ran right up to that potential and then ran away just as quickly. Overall, I did like Hallie and Julian, and I loved the supporting characters and the themes of self-acceptance, but I wanted somehow just a bit more from it all the same. I’m nonetheless charmed by the premise and setting and am looking forward to Natalie’s book and actually hoping for a HEA for Owen as well.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#SecretlyYours #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel. A funny, witty, cute novel of romance.

DNF. I don't finish a book that often, but the immaturity level of the characters put me off almost immediately.

I tend to love all of Tessa Bailey’s books, this one being no exception. If you like opposites attract, second chance, and maybe a bit of grumpy/sunshine, give this one a go. It’s just a nice lighthearted romcom that had me giggling and smiling, and the spice is 🔥 as usual! Can’t wait to read book 2!

DNF 22%

The FMC is insufferably immature.
Rather than using her words or taking actual impactful action she vandalizes, prank calls and steals cheese from a business. She is an adult that still has a school girl crush on a man she barely knows and has had a crush for 15 years.

Can’t stomach it anymore

I wouldn't call this grumpy vs sunshine but this is definitely an opposites attract situation. The letters didn't do it for me but the vineyard setting and the spice certainly did. Looking forward to book 2!

Frankly, this felt like not the best-written book. I love Tessa Bailey's writing, but it wasn't cutting it for me. Didn't enjoy the characters or the romance.

Thank you Netgalley for the book, this is my honest opinion.

This book is trademark Tessa Bailey. There is her humor, spice, charm, and chemistry all wrapped in a cute pink book.

This book had me giggling and kicking my feet in joy. I absolutely loved how in love Julian was with Hallie. I wished we got to see them fall in love a little more instead of it being so quick and kind of insta-lovey but I did love the parts where they were together.

Overall this book is just comforting and cute and I can't wait for the next one!

A grumpy/sunshine romance that is classic Tessa Bailey, but not a favorite of mine. I had a hard time connecting or getting into this story, but I will still be giving the next one a shot.

Tessa Bailey never disappoints and this was another book that I absolutely devoured! Julian and Hallie were perfect and I had the best time reading their story. Tessa Bailey has never disappointed with the spice, either. The difference in their personalities was fantastic,

Thank you #netgalley for an early read of #secretlyyours

3.5 stars

She’s pure chaos and he’s pure structure. Wouldn’t think this match up would ever, ever work.

They also both need therapy. They go to unhealthy extremes, her in grief and him in control.

Read if you like: grumpy/sunshine, a teenage crush
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Hallie had a crush on Julian science she was fourteen, and when Julian returns to town to write a book, she can't help but still like him. She works in his mother's garden, distracting Julian from his work.
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I thought this was cute! I liked how different Hallie and Julian were, and how fun and eccentric Hallie was. Overall a cute romance!

Another stellar read from Tessa Bailey!! Love opposites attract plus second chance romance. Julian & Hallie are super cute