Secretly Yours is a nice, light rom-com by Tessa Bailey. I loved the small town/wine country/vineyard setting! I also loved both of the characters. Julian is a very straight-laced rule follower with high anxiety. Hallie is a gardener with a big heart but is basically complete chaos. They know they absolutely should not be together, but can't deny their attraction for each other. There is a lot of good angst, but it goes on longer than necessary for what I typically like in a romance. The characters definitely had chemistry, but Julian's 'pillow talk' and even thoughts about Hallie seemed VERY out of character for him - so much so that it made me cringe at times. However they are both very sweet people and I loved all the things Julian did for Hallie. While the secret notes gave you a little more insight into the characters, they also added unnecessary drama and could have been left out entirely.

Overall I would recommend this book for a light summer read. If you like grumpy/sunshine, gardeners, vineyard settings, crazy but hilarious revenge scenarios, and wine country, pick this book up now!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

As always, Tessa Bailey does a great job at worldbuilding and getting her audience attached to her characters. I honestly found the male main character to be more interesting and worthy of my time and attention, I didn't know how to be sympathetic for Hailee who claims to have been obsessed with Julian (since the age of 14) for 15 years. I found Julian's struggle with anxiety and OCD tendencies refreshing to see in a male lead. The story did fall flat for me in the following areas: Julian's dirty talk, build up of tension, and the final conflict. I can excuse Hailee's (flimsy) obsession with Julian because this is a romcom, however, the genre demands tension that makes the audience root for the couple to get the happy ending--it needs to feel earned and this just did not hit the mark. It is a perfectly fine easy breezy summer read but not my cup of tea per se.

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

Hallie Welch has been obsessed with Julian Vos since they were in high school. Now, years later, Julian is back in Napa because he took a sabbatical in order to write a novel. He’s an extremely disciplined person and has a very strict daily schedule. But Julian wasn’t expecting his mother to hire the most disorganized, chaotic and beautiful woman he’s ever seen to do some gardening right outside his window. Cam Julian’s life get a little bit messy or

This is the first book in the “A Vine Mess” series.I loved that it’s set in Napa and I liked the characters too. Hallie brings just the perfect amount of chaos and uncertainty to Julian’s uptight life.

The plot is as chaotic as Hallie’s life. There were lots of conflicts: secret admirer letters, their indecisiveness, the Vos vineyard’s struggles, the Corked vs Uncorked conflict, Hallie’s impostor syndrome and Julian’s anxiety. Some of them were underdeveloped and didn’t even add anything to the plot. The third act conflict felt forced and flat. The spice was fine but I didn’t really enjoyed the sex talk.

I usually like Tessa Bailey’s books but this one wasn’t my favorite. The next one in the series is about Julian’s sister and I really liked her character so maybe that one will work better for me.

Thank you Avon Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC of this title. I enjoyed reading this title. Would recommend for my library.

I always forget the audiobooks are only available on netgalley app which I don't find user friendly

Tessa Bailey does it again! I loved this duology and this was a great first book in it. I loved Hallie and her wild nature, unbound mess, all her dogs and really enjoyed experiencing her growth as she works to be the person she wants while traversing the pain of losing a loved one. I think the rep for anxiety was so well done too as we read from Julian's point of view. These two were the definition of opposites attract and it was funny to watch those moments of interaction where it was evident.

If you've enjoyed any Tessa Bailey, I highly recommend. A perfect blend of spice and plot.

I don’t really know for sure how I feel. It felt unfinished.

The characters didn’t have much depth to them. It almost felt irrelevant that Julian was a Stanford professor, but that was the most interesting thing about him. He also didn’t strike me as being genuinely interested in Hallie and more just physically attracted to her, and Hallie only seemed into him because he was the high school crush that got away. There wasn’t any chemistry. And the secret letters didn’t really DO anything for the plot? I just felt like there was a lot of missed opportunity in this one.

Okay -- I am definitely going to read the second one of this series, but I didn't LOVE this one. The knees in the dirt was just slightly over the border of uncomfy for me; as in, I didn't feel that it really added anything to the spicy scenes. I also felt that it was slightly longer than it needed to be. That being said, I felt like it was really fun, and I enjoyed the character development throughout the story.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the plot development was excellent and the characters were well developed and interacted well. I loved the romance and cannot wait to read another Tessa Bailey book!! I would recommend to others without hesitation.

Who doesn't like a stuffy, buttoned up history professor let loose and a polka dot bra wearing, tornado of curls virgin who needs to run wild? Opposites attract in this new release from steam queen Tessa Bailey. Not my favourite of hers as this one was all over the place but a fun and spicy quick read.

Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family’s winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small Napa town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she’ll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn’t the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls’ night later, Hallie can’t shake the sense that she did something reckless—and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian. Oh shit.

On sabbatical from his ivy league job, Julian plans write a novel. But having Hallie gardening right outside his window is the ultimate distraction. She’s eccentric, chronically late, often literally covered in dirt—and so unbelievably beautiful, he can’t focus on anything else. Until he finds an anonymous letter sent by a woman from his past. Even as Julian wonders about this admirer, he’s sucked further into Hallie’s orbit. Like the flowers she plants all over town, Hallie is a burst of color in Julian’s grey-scale life. For a man who irons his socks and runs on tight schedules, her sunny chaotic energy makes zero sense. But there’s something so familiar about her... and her very presence is turning his world upside down.

I was given opportunity to read this book as an ARC. I found the main character being a virgin at an “older” age very refreshing. However, I didn’t absolutely love it like other books by Tessa Bailey, so I can only give this book 3 stars. I can’t wait to read Natalie’s story.

“Secretly Yours “ by Tessa Bailey was my first read by her.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
It was a predictable romcom book but I can see why she is recommended. Easy and fun read.

Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family's winery.
On sabbatical from his ivy league job, Julian plans to write a novel. But having Hallie gardening right outside his window is the ultimate distraction.
At first I thought Julian was a stick in the mud and boring. I didnt see an attraction between them. Then as I kept reading and the love letters started then I was hooked and couldn't stop reading and was rooting for them.

This book was such a fluffy, fun read for the month of February. You have your typical "finding her place in the world" heroine and the SERIOUS, well-established-but-not-necessarily-happy-about-it hero who is just waiting for the heroine to turn him into an utter gooey cinnamon roll for her. Very standard formula for a Tessa Bailey book and I mean that as a compliment. I love the author's writing and the voices she gives to her characters because while they can be categorized by well-known tropes, I feel like all her characters are unique enough to stand apart and not just blur together as basically the same character just with a different name in a different book. Hailey was so likable as the main character and Julian is just "chef's kiss." He has dethroned Brendan from "It Happened One Summer" as my favorite Tessa Bailey grumpy hero. I think fans of romance novels will really enjoy this book, especially those that have read previous titles by this author.

This was one of the BEST romances I’ve ever read. I related so well to the characters. I laughed and swooned and loved every second!!!! The banter and spice was perfection!!!! 5/5 ⭐️

Another super cute read from Tessa Bailey! I love her writing so much, and she always manages to make her Heroes scorching hot. It was really fascinating to read from a man's POV as he experiences debilitating panic attacks. The storyline is a little silly, what with the love leaders and the lack of transparency between adult lovers, but that's kind of a given for most romances. Still one of my go-to authors for contemporary romance <3

Was a much slower start than many of the books I’ve loved from Tessa, but I still fell in love with the characters by the last page. Love the dynamics of who Hallie and Julian are and who they become as they learn to love each other and themselves.

This book took ne a while to get through because my mood reading was kicking my butt. This is a more like cute read and is kind of on the cheesy side. It was also my first read from this author so I'm not use to her style. Overall, I would say it was a light quick read

Alright I am going to be brutally honest here… this was not one of my favorite books of Tessa’s. There was a lot going on (their relationship, their secret letters, Vos winery problems, Vos family problems, Julian problems, Hallie’s problems, corked problems) She was throwing seven different kinds of smoke at us! I also thought the relationship felt a little…. insta-y 😬. I mean overall it was an OK read. I see where Tessa was trying to go, and loved the premise of a small town wine country feel, and a female gardener/plant enthusiast. Hallie was a ray of sunshine and her personality was my favorite! And even though this book wasn’t an absolute hit for me, I’m still excited to read Unfortunately Yours (book 2) coming out later this year!

Tropes:
- Grumpy/Sunshine
- High school crush
- Insta-y
- Small Town
- Opposites Attract

[thank you @avonbooks for the free copy, all opinions are my own]

This was a fun, easy, and very steamy romance from Tessa Bailey. It wasn't my favorite rom-com, but I'm sure fans of her other books will love it.