This was a good not great Tessa Bailey book BUT I still couldn’t put it down and devoured it in one day. The best part of the book is Hallie and Julian. She’s a free-spirited gardener and he’s a type-A professor, opposites in every way. Their grump/sunshine dynamic was on point and their chemistry was really spicy!

So why was it just good?

I Loved:
💕 Hallie is a body positive woman with curves in all the right places.
💕 Hallie & Julian’s chemistry is so 🔥 Their relationship is a perfect mix of sweet and spicy moments.

I didn’t love:
▪️Hallie was low key obsessed with Julian in high-school and to be honest it came across as a bit borderline creepy
▪️ I don’t want to give anything away but their second hook up had a cringe element.
▪️ Supporting characters didn’t stand out at all.

I was so, so disappointed by this book. When I read a Tessa Bailey book, I expect fun characters, sexy times, and a tight plot. I didn't really get any of those at the level I expect from her. The characterization was messy throughout - I never really knew how the characters were going to react in a certain situation and neither of them really endeared me much, so I wasn't rooting for them. The plot was oddly paced. It also felt incredibly unbelievable that Julian wouldn't have realized who his secret admirerer was. I think the book was trying to do way too much with flat characters, so nothing really got accomplished over than disappointing the reader entirely.

This was a cute book and my first by Tessa Bailey! It was definitely more of a lust-based love, but Tessa Bailey’s witty and funny writing style definitely sold it for me. Excited to read the next one!

I love Tessa Bailey books, but unfortunately I didn't connect well with the characters of this one. It's definitely a case of me and not the book! I recommend if you are a fan of fun, steamy rom coms!

2.25

I picked this up because I’ve heard great things about Tessa Bailey, but it was mostly a miss for me. On the one hand it was a quick summery rom com, but for this book I found myself rolling my eyes more than anything else.

The characters felt like caricatures. Hallie’s quirkiness felt forced and tiring and I had a hard time buying into her whining that Julian was “the one who got away” when it turns out they’d had one conversation. And Julian’s 180 from anxious, uptight professor to dirty talking suave “sex god” was jarring. Also if this is indicative of how Tessa Bailey usually writes dirty talk/smut, I’m questioning everyone who has claimed she does it best because I was cringing through all of the sex scenes.

I will not be continuing the series because while I liked Natalie as a character, I did not love the arguing between her and the presumed love interest of the next book. The only thing that’s keeping me from saying that I won’t give Tessa Bailey books another chance is that other reviewers who are big fans of hers have some similar complaints to me on this one.

Tessa Bailey can do no wrong!!! This book is absolutely amazing and has caused me to desperately want to visit Napa Valley. Wineries and love interests, count me in!

Hallie Welch has been in love with Julian Vos since their almost kiss in high school. He is now back in town and Hallie has realized she has never gotten over this moment. Her grandmother has also recently died causing her to spiral and lose herself.

Julian Vos has not been back to his family's vineyard since the fire. He is working on his manuscript when the local gardener comes over to fix the flower beds, causing him to go off schedule and get uncomfortable.

Together they work together to figure out who they are. This may or may not lead to love and an understanding of who they are despite their losses.

Thank you so much to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to arc-read this book.

Thank you to the Tessa Bailey gods and Netgalley for making sure I always have her new releases. We have a good thing going here!

I was so excited for Tessa's newest traditionally published series (duology?), and this did not disappoint! The steam keeps these ratings high, no one can do it the same. Loved our love interests here, a chaotic (dare I say) mid-sized female love interest who does her landscaping shenanigans.. on hands and knees, don't you forget it! With our male love interest who needs that schedule and structure (it hurts how much I relate) and could use a little loosening up!

The only downfall of this one was the actual secret admirer love letters that this plot centers around. It was drug on a little too long and ended up just being the secret between them far past the precipice!

I really enjoyed this book! It manages to have intense depictions of panic attacks/anxiety/grief but also be funny (cheese robbery amongst other general sbsurdity), sweet, and super romantic. A 20-something woman (Hallie) had an unrequited crush on Julian when she was a freshman in high school and he was her friend’s older brother. They reconnect 15 years later and he….doesn’t remember her! .Hallie is discouraged but can’t seem to give up on him. The ultimate in grumpy/sunshine, uptight/hot mess relationships.
Thanks NetGalley for access to this ARC (though the book is out now! So read it!)

***ARC Provided by the Publisher via NetGalley***

3.5 Stars

I make no secret of the fact that I love Tessa Bailey's books. I like the heroes, the heroines, the story lines, and OMG the dirty talk. It's just fun.

Hallie and Julian are likeable, and I believed their relationship, and I believed their connection...and the dirty talk was hot. That said, I am not a huge fan of the secret admirer trope. Would I read it were it another author? It depends on who it is. When it's Tessa Bailey, the answer is a yes.

I did enjoy it, but I can't lie this was a little more on the comedy side than I was expecting, and the secret admirer trope felt unnecessary (although that could be because it's not a favorite of mine) and I would have liked to see them develop their connection without the other plot line.

That said, I enjoyed it, I laughed and I do recommend this title.

SO GOOD! I absolutely enjoyed this book and the characters. They’re so easy to get to know and love.

When will we get half stars on this website? It's so unfair to have to pick a firm full star rating 😭 This was a 2.5 for me. I'm coming off a fantasy streak - including a reread of one of my favorite series - so that may have colored my thoughts, but I just didn't love this one at all. The quirky girl MC doesn't speak to me, and then we have our other POV being so tightly wound that it was almost hard to empathize with him at all? And the insta-love didn't feel trope-y and fun, it was just like really? That's all it takes? I don't know, I'm sad. I'll still pick up the next one, but this is definitely at the bottom of my list for TB books.

Who's ready for some steam? I love reading Tessa's steamy romance - and this was no exception. Have a glass of water, or something else you desire, ready to go when you crack open this book.

Think childhood crush, but as adults. You still yearn for that person, right? Hallie is still yearning for Julian despite the years it's been. Sharing those feelings in a letter during a weak, drunk moment is probably not something smart though. Hallie is that fun girl we all want to spend time with. She's colorful and vibrant and kind. And secretly, Julian feels this too!

Fireworks are about to explode and you won't want to miss it!

secretly yours follows hallie and jack in an opposites attract, small town romance! this had me hooked as soon as i found out julian was a jeopardy super fan, but unfortunately, that was my favorite part about the book. a lot of the conflict felt repetitive, and so did the descriptions (bourbon brown eyes, i'm looking at you!). it felt like this could've just been a novella🤷🏻‍♀️

I really wanted to love this book… I did not. It started out promising and then it just got weird. Halley and Julian went from 0 to 100 and the things Julian was saying did not match with the personality that was given to him.

There are some aspects that I loved: the small wine town, the characters, Julian’s sister… which is why I’m giving it a 3. That being said, I will probably read the next book in the series because I’m too invested by now.

3⭐️

Tessa Bailey is a favorite of mine. Secretly Yours is a sweet new addition by the author. It won't be going into my favorites pile but there is so much to love. Set in a small town surrounded by vineyards the locals are frontal in their relationships and trying to keep up their businesses. Hallie is such an endearing heroine. I love that she is a professional gardner, loves her friendss and wine. Julian is an adorable hero who is dealing with his anxiety throughout the story. Bailey captures this all in a realistic way with secret admirer letters (Shop around the Corner, You've Got Mail). The entire book is well paced, but the ending felt very rushed. I wished there had been a bit more conclusion to the ending.

Thank you so much to #Netgalley, #Avon and #HarperVoyager for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

I would say for Tessa Bailey this definitely counts as a slow burn, but I'm not mad about it because this story had me literally on the edge of my seat waiting for the trademark TB spice ( and it didn't disappoint)

At the age of 29 Hallie is unfocused, unreliable and drifting through life. And when she finds out her crush of 15 years, Julian is returning to town she can't resist trying to get closer to him.

Julien is the complete opposite to Hallie - he's regimented, painfully organised and not a minute of his time is unscheduled but he's drawn to the chaotic Hallie. And even though he knows they would be terrible together he can't help but open up to Hallie in a way he hasn't with anyone else.

Set against a backdrop of Juliens family vineyard in napa this pair have really lovely growth as they navigate their own issues with grief, anxiety, panic attacks, family drama and their own flaws.

I got so swept up in this book that I read it in a day and absolutely adored the characters - I can't wait for Natalie & Austen's story in June.

Is this the best written book in the history of ever? No. But did I have a good time reading it? Absolutely. This story follows Hallie, a young woman who took over her late grandmother's gardening business. She's hired to work on a family's garden who owns a local winery and just so happens to be home to the man she once almost kissed back as a teenager. It's an unrequited love, grumpy and sunshine type of story. It was fun and fairly light. A good amount of angst. There was a bit of miscommunication but not too much and not overdone.

I have loved all the Tessa Bailey books that I’ve read, but this one fell a little bit flat for me. I love Hallie and how much she loved her grandmother and wanted to keep to make her proud and keep her favorite things from being forgotten. I loved how Julian stepped up even when he wasn’t asked to and did what he thought was right even when no one knew who was doing it. The instalove was a bit much for me but even with how I felt about this book, Tessa Bailey is still an auto read author for me.

Set in wine country, this quirky rom-com throws together a type A professor and his bubbly gardener. Hallie has had a long time crush on Julien, who left his family’s vineyard but has returned to write a novel. Hallie makes sure to put herself in front of Julien by convincing his mother that the guest house garden needs a little upkeep.

This was a fun read, but the sex scenes often felt a little forced and like they didn’t flow with the story.

I’ve seen a lot of not so favorable reviews on this book so I was quite intrigued and wanted to dive into this one and judge myself. I’m so glad I did because I ended up really liking this one!

What I loved:
▪️The tension and angst between Hallie and Julian. I felt like it was the perfect amount and it kept me very invested in the story.
▪️The anxiety representation. Anxiety is so widespread and so many of us suffer from anxiety and panic attacks (me included), so for me Julian was very relatable. I loved his character and adored his personality. He was so caring and sweet toward Hallie. I also very much enjoyed his journey on finding his true self as the book progressed.
▪️The added in parts between the stores Corked and Uncorked. The goofy pranks Hailey played. Some may call it immature, but I thought it was silly in a fun and harmless way.
▪️I liked the innocence that was Hallie. I didn’t classify her as immature…more innocent. I really enjoyed her inner thoughts. She knew what her heart wanted and she took the chance and went for it. I like how she jumped into things so fearlessly.
▪️This had the perfect amount of spice between the MC’s…not too much and not too little.
▪️Julian’s dirty talk 👀🥵😂 Tessa Bailey excels in this category for sure.
▪️I was hooked on the secret admire letters and couldn’t wait to see how that unfolded.
▪️No repetitive pet name for the female MC (IYKYK) 😂

I would definitely recommend this one. Thank you to @netgalley for this #arc in exchange for my honest opinion.