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.

It is not surprising that Tessa Bailey is romance royalty but I think we can all agree that she is also the Queen of Dirty talk because WOW Julian Vos is a serious main character. Bailey loves delivering men who are just obsessed with her female main characters, who just come undone at a single look from them and it is so fun to read. Hallie was really loveable, as were her motivations and mistakes. We also get to watch Julian really deal with some family trauma and anxiety while support Hallie in her work (behind the scenes) to clean up her disordered life. This was so good and you truly cannot go wrong with any Tessa Bailey book - I just hate that it took me so long to dive into this title!! Granted it has only been out since 2/07/23 BUT a month and a half feels like too much time to go without this book in my life.

This book was chaotic, and steamy with some of the best writing just as Tessa Bailey always does in her writing. A crush since high school = is the best and cutest but absolutely messy rom-com. This book was cute and happy I loved how completely opposite Hallie and Julian were but how perfectly they were together. As always I absolutely adored this novel and can't wait for more from the fantastic Tessa bailey.

I really loved this one. Tessa bailey is one of my favorite authors. Definitely will continue on in the series!!

Hallie is a humongous ray of sunshine throughout the book. This is my third Tessa Bailey romance. She fully delivered with Julian and Hallie. Their town was amazing and made me want to go visit. The author does a great job of developing the surrounding characters as well. The book made me laugh and it pulled at the heartstrings. Hope everyone enjoys the read.

I loved Tessa’s Bellinger Sisters series, so I was excited to read a new series from her - and that cover! I couldn’t resist requesting this one.

Julian and Hallie are opposites - he lives his life in absolutes, strict and scheduled, and she very much goes with the flow. But she’s also had a massive crush on him since high school and when he comes back into town, she can’t resist making sure they cross paths again. And when they do, it’s instant sparks, despite him not remembering her. One night, Hallie drunkenly leaves him a secret admirer letter, and then a whole new layer of confusion begins - he feels connected to the letter writer AND Hallie, and subsequently feels guilty. Meanwhile, Hallie writes a few more letters and also feels guilty. Chaos ensues.

I read this one fairly quickly, but overall, it was definitely not my favorite of hers. I wasn’t invested in Julian and Hallie as a couple, their decisions together and separately annoyed me, and I found the secret admirer plot line to be unnecessary. The best part of this book was Julian’s sister Natalie’s verbally combative relationship with August, who luckily will be the center of the next book in the series.

Ok, I’ll be the first to say that Tessa Bailey books are really hit or miss for me, and that half the time they’re so unrealistic that I can’t get into them but…I actually loved this one.

Hallie’s been in love with Julian Vos since their almost-kiss at a high school party when he found out she was a freshman and walked away (bonus points for not being a creep 👏). Now, 15 years later, Julian is back in town and Hallie has been hired to landscape the garden in front of his cottage. They know right off the bat that they’re completely wrong for each other but can’t seem to stay away.

I always love a complex manic pixie dream girl and having the love interest be polar opposite was fantastic. I also thought the anxiety rep was really well done, especially the internal struggle with believing you’re not good enough.

I hate a miscommunication trope as much as the next bookstagrammer but I was surprised by how well it worked in the story. I also loved that it framed “changing yourself for someone else” as more of a compromise between two people, since that’s basically what a functioning relationship is.

I'm basically just waiting for book 2 now because I freaking loved Julian's sister.

Secretly Yours, Tessa Bailey’s newest novel, is set in the Napa vineyards and features a romance between opposites Hallie and Julian. Haley is an eccentric, chronically late, mess of a gardner and Julian is a hot, uptight college professor. The two almost kissed in high school and Haley has been obsessed with Julian since…⁣
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⁣This was an easy read, but honestly I never quite got hooked by either Julian or Hallie. The secret admirer aspect of the plot didn’t really work and felt like a silly side story meant to add conflict. The pacing was SLOW and the rest of the plot was just iffy. I didn’t care about the vineyards or any of the side characters. ⁣
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⁣On a positive note, there is plenty of chemistry and fantastic smut. I just wish the plot would have been better! ⁣
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⁣Three stars! This isn’t Tessa Bailey’s best work, but I’ll totally read the next in this series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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⁣Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in return for my honest review.

I really loved the personalities in this book. Hallie, Julian, Natalie, Lavinia, almost all the characters in the book were great, funny, relatable. The spice was decent. That said, this book is a whole bunch of miscommunication/lack of communication trope on steroids. I really dislike this trope as a plot device because I'm really big on communicating, so books about characters that don't communicate and just make a lot of assumptions are frustrating and unrelatable. A solid 63% of this book would be non-existent if Julian and Hallie had just talked to each other. I personally like my books to have more substance than that, but I understand why some people like them. The characters were endearing enough to keep me reading though, so that's a bonus!

This book had all the marks of a good romance book, Location-Wine country Occupation-Florist/writer, and a crush that has been brewing since high school. And course there is some drama in there.

There was some really cute parts in the book, like he says he will do anything just to see her smile and he stepping in when someone is yelling at her. The only complaint I have is about the main character. Sometimes her actions just seemed so juvenile and I just didn't want to continue on with the book. Lucky I did, it turned at to be a sweet romance read. I ended giving this book 3/5 stars. I had to rank it against the authors' other books that I read and while this was good it didn't beat out her other books that I loved like "My Killer Vacation"

It started off with sooooo much potential….but it fell so flat. I ended up skimming a lot of the book bc it just dragged on so much. I loved the idea of the letters but they ended up being a big part of the book even though there were a total of 4 letters and then the lie by omission was annoying and seemed a bit overkill.

I will say Julian has my heart- and that dirty talk was literally 10/10!

Don’t get me wrong, I will be reading the next book and anything by Tessa I can get my hands on! She’s still one of my go to authors!

What a delicious novel by Tessa Bailey!

I started reading Secretly Yours right when I needed to. It has endearing characteristics and is the ideal palate cleanser.

Even though it wasn't your typical grumpy/sunshine combination, Hallie the chaotic sunshine and Julian the strait-laced grump were in the same ballpark. Hallie is a hilarious female main character who occasionally made me laugh aloud. Her exchanges with Julian were sweet and funny. The character of Hallie's best friend Lavinia was one of my favorites. She strategically injected humor and color.

Slow burn, lots of wine, a small-town atmosphere, messages from secret admirers, and belly-laughs FMC

I had a love hate feeling with this read. It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line, & Sinker will continue to be her best work in my opinion! I loved her chaotic gardening and his strict schedule. Grumpy/sunshine & opposites attract!! I was not a fan of the letters and virginity scene. Overall, I was more invested in the sister’s story and can’t wait to read it when it comes out! Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review!

Ya'll, it's no secret that Tessa is one of my favorite writers. I've probably said this before, but I'd read the phone book if she were the author. She always finds a way to make her characters a little different and quirky, yet relatable and relevant. Hallie definitely fit that bill as the unorganized gardener who needed a little guidance, especially when matched against our hero, Julian. These two characters could not have been more different, but it's true what they say: opposites attract, and while Hallie needed someone in her life to help her (for lack of a better term) 'clean up' a little, Julian definitely needed someone to make his life a little bit messy. And their chemistry was amazing.

My only issue was that I really thought the letters would be a bigger part of the story (considering the title of the book). It felt like there would have been more letters exchanged, and a bit more connection between the characters in secret while they were growing together in person.

All in all, though, as usual, Tessa knocked it out of the park with the start to this latest series, and I'm looking forward to what's next!

Oh man, the potential! I love a quirky curvy female main character, but just once could the guy be the one who is scattered with nothing figured out? Also, the shift in someone so buttoned up and reserved to straight up filthy talk...was a little bit much. Listen, I love some spicy talk (like a lot) but it was so out of character that I just couldn't get on board with this one.

I honestly don't shame anyone for their sexual choices, to either have or not have it. But when you have a MC who is 29 and (ugh I don't like any of the terminology I could use here) inexperienced, I have to imagine that even in the heat of the moment there's going to be some reservations. But no. Nope. Not for this MC. Straight to dj'ing and banging it out in the dirt.

The absolute most relatable moments of this book are Julian's anxiety attacks. Everything else, from the weak as heck "miscommunications" and the angst between then just fell flat for me. Typically, I am here for Tessa's sexy scenes, but this one had language that had me legit dry heaving. Like, why? Why? There's so many better ways to describe things sexually.

Did I have fun? For the most part. I'm not sorry I gave it a read, but it's not making.a fave list for the year. But, there's a book for everyone and there's nothing categorically wrong with it (except for one problematic comment about a non-matching outfit being schizophrenic, which isn't cool). I'll still read from the author, but I do hope to see more curvy rep in a book that I can rave about soon!

2.5 stars. I marked this book as read over a month ago, but I noticed recently that I’d actually stopped at 77%. I don’t feel compelled to go back and finish because—for a Tessa Bailey book—this story was weak. For me, the miscommunication between the MCs carried on too long which caused frustration and boredom. That being said, I’ll definitely read the 2nd book in the series because the next pairing appeals to me more.