Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and author Tessa Bailey for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review. Secretly Yours came out comes out on February 7, 2023!

I love Tessa Bailey - some of my favorites have been from her Hot and Hammered Series. Pick up this book if you love starchy hero gets unstarched and a sunshine heroine. This book took the character troupes too far to extremes for me. Hallie's quirks of living in the moment read as selfish and inconsiderate - always late and impulsive. Also, Julian who is supposed to be incredibly intelligent can't figure out how the one girl in his life is writing him secret admirer letters???

I am a fan of the Romcom and enjoy many contemporary romance authors, This one I really struggled with. I liked the main character Hallie but I couldn’t stand the love interest, Julian. Their interactions were cringy and I felt uncomfortable with their relationship. I have enjoyed some of her other books so I am not opposed to some spicy scenes but this just didn’t work for me. The story just kind of fell apart at the end and didnt make sense to me. That being said I did enjoy Natalie and look forward to her story. Sorry this was just not a winner for me

2 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review..

Secretly Yours is a sweet romcom set in cozy small-town wine country with a cast of endearing characters, plenty of lols, and TB’s signature spice.

This felt a bit different from TB’s previous books with a story driven by the main characters and their growth. That being said, I truly enjoyed living inside the MCs’ heads. TB gives her characters such depth and personality that they evolve from words on a page to taking on a life of their own. They’re relatable, imperfect, and endearing.

FMC Hallie is creative, charming, messy, and impulsive. She treats time and deadlines as suggestions, and the idea of planning sends her running in the other direction. She’s a loveable bundle of chaos who will go to great lengths for the people she cares for.

MMC Julian is, to be frank, an uptight control freak (I say this AS an uptight control freak). He plans his time down to the minute to maximize efficiency, and has no concept of - wait for it - stopping to smell the flowers (yw). So imagine his surprise when a chaotic, dirt-covered lady with an unruly pack of dogs becomes the object of his distraction during what was supposed to be a regimented summer of novel writing.

The MCs are peak grumpy/sunshine vibes with their own personal twists. There are so many sweet moments throughout their romance that you’ll feel your heart squeeze.

Ultimately, the main theme here is about growth– which is apt given Hallie’s work. They gain self-confidence while recognizing the importance of having people who are a stabilizing force and love you no matter what.

TB does a great job of peppering in plenty of banter, shenanigans, and spice to counterbalance the angst. I really fell more in love with the characters than some of the story’s elements. There were a few things that felt out of place, especially (and ironically) the secret admirer letters.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and I’m excited for the next book in this series. If it’s not already, I definitely recommend adding this to your TBR!

I started and stopped this book multiple times before I finally finished it after the news from Harpercollins Union that they had reached an agreement and it was okay to post reviews for their books again. I wanted this to have the same magic as It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line, and Sinker– which were both 5-star, A+ reads for me. Alas, while I did enjoy this book and plan to read the next installment in the series, it did not have the same level of magic as some of this author’s previous releases.

In Secretly Yours, readers are introduced to Hallie Welch, a local landscape artist and business owner, and Julian Vos, a professor on leave who has come home to some peace and quiet while he writes a novel. Hallie fell in love with Julian in high school and hasn’t quite let go of that almost kiss in his family’s vineyards. But now he’s back, and this is her chance to see if the older version of Julian is just as compelling as the younger version.

I wanted to love this book. I don’t know if it was that my expectations were so high, or if I just didn’t connect with the characters like I wanted to, but I didn’t have the same level of engagement as I have with other novels by this author. I think my main issue was that the pacing was slow and caused me to disconnect with both the characters, their relationship, and the narrative. It was easy for me to bookmark my location, pick up another read (or reads) and then take my time coming back to this couple’s story. There was no urgency to find out how they would find their HEA.

I did enjoy the setting and the secondary characters, even though there was a sense that some of their behavior and the situations they put themselves in were over the top. But they were fun and loyal to the MCs.

As you can see from both the title and blurb, there is an aspect of secret admirer letters from one MC to the other, and for some reason I expected it to add some lighthearted and fun moments to the story, but instead, it added to the angst and conflict at the end of the book before the big happily ever after at the end.

This book is a whole lot deeper than that cutesy cover and blurb allude to, there is anxiety, panic attacks, mentions of the death of a grandparent, and grief. These two characters are opposites in every way, but they are attracted to each other deeply and secretly yearn for each other. Miscommunication is not my favorite trope, so it tracks that I would be annoyed by the back-and-forth “will they or won’t they?”. The super hot sex scenes kind of come out of nowhere, and felt like they were thrown in because this author is known for dirty-talking heroes. Julian goes from being Mr. Straightlaced, always in control to dirty-talker extraordinaire and it just felt kind of odd.

I did push through to the end and did enjoy seeing this couple find their HEA.

Content Notes- Grief, off-page death of a grandparent, anxiety, panic attacks

Final grade- C

While not my favorite Tessa Bailey book, this one still manages to be a fantastic read. The story was fast-paced and clever, although it almost felt like the letter portion was unnecessary. It became the catalyst, but it still felt forced and strange somehow.

Hallie has had a crush on Julian since high school. When he comes back to town and Hallie is hired to tend to the garden at his family’s vineyard, those feelings come rushing back to her - but he does not remember her at all. Hallie makes a drunken decision to leave him a secret admirer letter, and when she starts falling for him in both real life and the letters chaos ensues. The two are complete opposites who just might be perfect for each other.

This one was steamyyyyyy as we’d expect from Tessa Bailey, and I am here for it! I loved these seriously flawed characters - Hallie being wild and impulsive, Julian being structured and timely. It was an interesting way to portray how anxiety can affect people differently. And now let’s talk about the sexual tension between these two - wow! Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

You know how rom-coms aren't actually usually that funny? Tessa Bailey writes these hot, sweet stories that are genuinely hilarious. Great dialogue, great pacing. This one was no exception. Grumpy-sunshine, plus size lead, AND second chance romance? I'm hooked out of the gate.

I loved Julian Vos as the perfect romance hero archetype--total wish fulfillment MMC. Hallie was a lot more fully developed than many romance heroines. I feel like in another author's hands, she would have ventured into manic pixie dreamgirl territory, but I feel like her back story justified her quirky behavior and she felt like she could be a real person.

The plot of this book was honestly a little thin (the Corked vs Uncorked winery plot was a little underwhelming and I think the entire secret admirer thing could have been scrapped from the story), but I really enjoyed the characters and their banter. The setting of this book (Napa Valley) was also a perfect setting for an escapist read.

If you are looking for something low angst, pretty spicy, and fun, I recommend this book (and really anything by Tessa Bailey). I was so excited to see that the next one in the series is going to be about Julian's sister.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is cute, gooey, Romcom goodness. An adorable second chance romance with a chaotic gardener and the hot professor (not hers) that she’s been listing after since high school. The angst was perfect in my opinion, and I love the mental health representation!

4.25/5 ⭐️
I fully plan on reading the sequel!

Read if you want:
❤️ A chaotic FMC
❤️ Dreamy winery setting
❤️ Anxiety and panic attack representation
❤️ Second Chance romance
❤️ Lots of personal growth

I love this authors story telling. This was great,
The communication between the character's of the story. I enjoyed this and can’t wait for more from this author.

Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have loved the Tessa Bailey books I have read so far, but this was a big miss for me. I liked Hallie’s angle of trying to get the attention of a former crush. I liked Julian’s rigidness and the evolution of him losing the need to have control over everything based on past events. I liked that it was a typical spicy Tessa book. I liked the friendships and small-town setting.

What I did not like was Julian’s domineering tendencies towards Hallie, even when he was not sure who she was. The sexy scenes were awkward, and the virginity angle felt unrealistic and gross. I also did not feel like the secret admirer notes were insignificant. To me the bigger story was the changes Julian made to overcome his past was a more compelling story.

2 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #avonbooks #ltbreaderteam

Secretly Yours was a fun read about a messy landscaper with a messy life and a huge lifelong crush on her uptight, staunch neighbor. There are some secret admirer letters exchanged and lots of wine since it's set in Napa valley. Oh, and it has Tessa Bailey's signature hero giving good dirty talk.

I'll forever read Tessa Bailey's books, but this one felt a little too formulaic for my taste.

Tessa Bailey consistently writes books I absolutely can't put down. Secretly Yours is such a good read and I would honestly recommend it to any romance lover. Who doesn't love a sunshine-y character with a strictly in-control one? You need to pick up this book if you're looking for something that'll satisfy that romance (and winery) craving.

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me. I read through 40% of the book and I just couldn’t care less about either of the main characters. I never felt any chemistry at all between the two and their story was not compelling me to read more about them.

I get where the author was trying to go with the two wine stores, but with their names being so similar it ended up confusing me a lot of the time.

I DNF’d this one, it’s not what I typically would expect from Tessa Bailey and I will for sure give her new books another try in the future.

If you love Tessa Bailey's smut and the grumpy/sunshine trope, then there's a good chance you'll like this book! While this wasn't my favorite Tessa Bailey read, as I didn't particularly connect with the characters or the secret admirer plot, it's a fun, opposites-attract story with steam and heart. I'm looking forward to Natalie's story in book #2!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you @avonbooks for the #gifted copy of SECRETLY YOURS.

Okay so I love Tessa Bailey. Her Bellinger Sisters series is one of my favorites so I was incredibly excited to receive a copy of her newest release, SECRETLY YOURS. But this one just did not work for me.

I found Hallie to be incredibly chaotic and immature. First of all, she’s harbored a crush on Julian for 15 years. She’s so obsessed with this man that she watches YouTube videos of his lectures and talks to them. She’s so in love with the man she thinks he is, that no other man can compare and she’s a virgin at 29. I found it all a little stalkerish and much.

And then Hallie finally meets Julian again as an adult and does she act like a normal adult? No. She instead decides to write him a secret admirer letter like a child. When he later mentions the letter to her, instead of owning up to it, she plays dumb. It drove me nuts.

I kept reading because I loved the glimpses of Julian’s sister Natalie. She cracked me up and I’m excited for her and August’s book which comes out later this summer, UNFORTUNATELY YOURS.

SECRETLY YOURS came out on February 7, 2023!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5327690794
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Coz6mFgJbQB/

4.5 stars. Tessa Bailey is the best in the game. Another winning start to a great series and within seconds of finishing the last page I was ready for more.

Hallie is a curvaceous, chaotic gardener who lives her life unapologetically bold and never planned beyond the next hour. She has harbored a secret crush on Julian Vos, the serious Stanford professor, since the two were in high school. Julian is back in town trying to write a novel and battle his anxiety, which led to him leaving the family wine business four years ago. She is sweet and wholesome and he is serious but can’t control himself (or his filthy mouth) when he’s around her and the chemistry truly doesn’t get better than this folks.

Not only does she create incredibly lovable and messy and fun characters, but she always puts them in the perfect backdrop too. I could totally picture every aspect of this sweet small town.

I liked this book. It was a cute live story with a little tension added in. It could have been four stars but I found the secret admirer letters a little corny.

Tessa Bailey has a way of just pulling you into a story and keeping your interest. I loved these two characters and their interactions through out the book. It was playful and fun and still had that bit of reality that keeps you interested till the end.

Tessa Bailey is one of my auto buy authors. So, when I saw this one was coming out, I honestly could. not. wait. But sadly, I was kind of disappointed! I loved the premise of a messy gal and a clean cut guy, but it was almost TOO overdone… if that’s a thing.

She changed far too much, and too quickly, for it to be believable. Same for him… too quick to be “in love” with someone that’s a mess when he’s used to MEGA tidy.

I loved the idea she was a gardener who could just lay down the law and call it a day, but she seemed almost unbelievable as a character as much as he did. She was a 29 year old who had never loved… really? Truly? And he forgets about her after a steamy night in the vineyard and can’t place her years down the line, yet loves her immediately? Yeesh… it just went way too quick for me.

Loved the idea of dogs and a sister who had a traumatic time, too, but the character development just wasn’t there, along with lack of plot development, too. Thanks for the ARC!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This book was pretty good! I've really enjoyed previous books from Tessa Bailey, so I was excited to read this. I enjoyed it a lot and read it super quickly, but I wouldn't say it's my fave of hers.

This book is the first in a new series from the author, and I definitely want to read the next in the series when it comes out. I really enjoy Tessa's writing style and she certainly knows how to bring the steam! The romance in this book was very open door and hot, hot, hot! I enjoyed the character's confidence and the body positivity.

There was just something lacking in this book and I'm not even 100% sure what it is. I felt like while I liked the characters, their relationship seemed a little forced at times. They didn't seem overly compatible to be honest. I really liked the wine country setting and I loved the quaint little restaurant called Corked. To me, a lot more attention could have been given to that aspect of the story.

While not a fave, this book was still really good and if you enjoy the author, I'd pick it up!