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.

So this author is a hit or miss for me. while this book was entertaining, it fell just a tad flat in some areas. I did enjoy the “grumpy x sunshine” trope ( wasn’t technically that) but you get my drift. I love when characters are opposite in books, it just brings so much depth of done right. I wanted more from the letters, I thought that would be a main point in this but it was like the author forgot and then made space to throw it in the story. I also really hate the miscommunication trope when done wrong and I just didn’t care for this one. 3.5⭐️

This book was fine.

It had everything you’d expect from a Tessa Bailey novel (big, protective man with a dirty mouth + stunning woman with a solid cast of side characters), with the addition of what I believe to be fantastic anxiety/panic attack representation, as well as a look at grief.

But I found myself skimming a lot and my inner “chemistry meter” never really went off for Hallie and Julian. The spicy scenes were hot, definitely, but the rest was just kind of… meh.

But will I still read the next book in this series? Duh.

I had an ARC of this book and I loved it so much I had to buy a copy the minute it was released. I am a huge Tessa Bailey fan and this book did not disappoint!

Hallie and Julian are so cute together, and I loved the grumpy-sunshine nature of their relationship. Hallie and Julian really had amazing character development throughout the book making me fall more in love with their characters and with them as a couple.

Such a good read, I would highly recommend to friends.

I wanted to like this book but it was really really not for me.

I didn't understand why the conflict was the conflict. The two MCs embodied their stereotypes in a way that wasn't cute...just annoying. I get it, one is chaos and one is organized. The both were also immature times 10...I spent a lot of time questioning their ages since apparently, we were the same age.

I also wanted to note, I was quite uncomfortable with the first sex scene (this isn't the first time with a TB book, Fix Her Up lives rent free in my head and not in a good way). it was his sexual fantasy and it just didn't work for me as the first intro. I spent a lot of time cringing.

I did enjoy the setting....Napa is such a setting more authors should use because it's perfect.

Okay we’ve got a gardener and an author and I honestly couldn’t ask for anything better. Wait… but this is grumpy sunshine too!! And it takes place at a CA vineyard!!

I truly adored this story, and in true Tessa Bailey fashion, I absolutely devoured it IMMEDIATELY after starting it. Tessa always incorporates wonderful family dynamics to accompany the romance, and while that’s not necessary, it does add so much depth and complexity to characters, making them feel real. I’m constantly impressed and amazed with Tessa, this book is no exception!

DNF at 28%. I feel like ever since Tessa Bailey got a multiple book deal and has been pumping out books so quickly, the quality of her novels has been so painful. Her last release, My Killer Vacation was a 3 star read for me and this one I couldn’t even get through after trying to push past the first 3rd of the books for weeks.

This book was absolutely perfect. I loved the characters and definitely found myself rooting for them from the get go. I think this will be forever my new favorite Tessa Bailey novel.

I don’t know if it is me or what but this book was just so cheesy?? It was cute but just way too much cheddar for my tastes.

I have had a bit of a rollercoaster ride with Tessa Bailey books. I either love them with a ferocity that only the truest fangirl can know, or I...just really don't. And maybe it's a mood thing? But unfortunately Secretly Yours did not deliver the high I was looking for.

I really struggled to connect with the characters, and it was giving "zany" vibes, when I was looking for quirky cute - and ultimately it was a disconnect that I couldn't get over and this was a DNF for me at 20%.

I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to read and review. I do love Tessa Bailey and am positive I will fall in love with future offerings. This one was just a swing and a miss for me.

I have really enjoyed Tessa Bailey's previous books, but this one didn't hit the mark for me. Maybe because I was expecting something more than her others had provided? Not sure.

Overall it was. cute story about opposites attracting, with solid character development and story line. At times though, it seemed that the story dragged a bit, especially near the end and could have possibly been wrapped up a bit more succinctly.

I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC of this book.