Main characters were each very appealing in their own way. Great mental health connection -plot/backstory made it clear that real people can have situations that affect their present lives. I was rooting for them both!

I am always a fan of Tessa Bailey. I jump at the chance to read her books. This book fell a little flat for me. I LOVED that the main character was a curvy girl! The story just stayed a little stale and boring for me. The spicy scenes were on point though! Anyways, where Tessa Bailey leads, I will always follow.

I was disappointed with this one. I’ve read many of Tessa Baileys books and loved them but this one wasn’t my cup of tea. I didn’t like the female or the male main characters. The books didn’t catch my attention the way “It happened one summer”, and “Hook Line and Sinker” did. For me this time around I just didn’t resonate with the characters as much.

Book 1 in a new series set in Napa Valley and I’m already excited about book 2!
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Hallie fell in love with Julian in high school as they almost shared a kiss in his family vineyard but he brushed her off and she hasn’t laid eyes on him in years.
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Now he is a grumpy professor returning home to write a novel, in sharp contrast to her whirlwind of a personality. Hallie still feels the attraction when she starts work as a landscaper at his house. One drunken night she decides to write a secret admirer letter and leave it for him along his running route. This letter alone with her general existence is throwing Julian’s entire world off its axis.
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This is a super fun one and I loved Julian. I can’t wait to watch his sister fall in love in book 2. I would love to have a book 3 where is his mom finds love please!
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Thank you #avonbooks and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really REALLY wanted to fall in love with this one. I love Tessa’s other books, but this one just missed the mark for me.

The spice was GOOD! Great even, but I need more than that from a book.

I just didn’t love the characters. Julian was the most likable, but all the characters felt underdeveloped. And if the characters are undeveloped and the plot isn’t captivating enough I just can’t… feel it.

Try it for yourself! You may feel differently, and I still love this authors writing as a whole.

Thanks to Avon for my copy of Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey.

I want to love this book and I read it on a flight so I was entertained, but there were too many eye roll moments. This isn't anything like It Happened One Summer or Hook Line and Sinker which I absolutely loved, but I actually finished it unlike My Killer Vacation so if that gives you an idea of my feelings.

Hallie was way too immature for me and the whole secret admirer letters and third act breakup was just bad. The best parts of this book were the dirty talk and sex scenes, which we all know is why we keep reading Tessa Bailey.

I think I am finally going to accept that Tessa Bailey is not for me. This book was the worst I've read from her yet.

So unbelievably corny, saccharine and unrealistic. I wanted to put the book down and walk away multiple times, but pushed through for the sake of the review. The bumbling, chaotic woman character is so overdone and boring, and the grumpy x sunshine trope only works if the author isn't hitting you over the head with it every five minutes. Wasn't rooting for the couple, wasn't even rooting for them as characters. None of the relationships in the story rang the slightest bit true. Also—what is with Tessa Bailey's need to include a military character or cop in every goddamn book she writes? It's exhausting.

Safe to say I will no longer be reading anything by this author. I've reached my limit.

Classic Tessa Bailey.

"Secretly Yours" was such a joy to read! Reading Bailey's work is so much fun because at times you're just reading along and then you get to a point where your'e like "HUH?!?!"..but in a really funny/good way.

Tessa is such a solid writer. I don't think I could ever be disappointed with her work. "Secretly Yours" was hilarious, flirty, and deep when it needed to be. The way that the two main characters were such complete opposites was enjoyable.

The next book in the series was teased perfectly in this one. I am super excited to read "Unfortunately Yours" when it comes out!

I always recommend Bailey books to those that are hesitant to pick up romance books, this book is perfect for it's valentine's release. The characters are relatable and funny with just the right amount of spice. Always a no brainer buy and read for me.

I really do like some of Tessa Bailey's books. They are cute yet steamy romance books to read. But I felt disappointed after I finished reading her newest book, Secretly Yours. It had the potential of being a cute romance book, but it fell flat. Let me explain.

Secretly Yours has been advertised as a cute yet steamy romance book. And that's what I was expecting to read, and yet, it was totally different. Secretly Yours tried to be a cute romance book, but it had a lot of heavy tones and topics that made the read so much different.

We are reading about Hallie struggling to deal with her grandmother's death and her grief process as she tries to become closer to her childhood crush, Julian. While Hallie is struggling with her grief and her crush, we also dealing Julian, who struggles with his anxiety and panic attacks. It was never mentioned in the beginning of the book about these heavy topics, so I was a bit surprised when I was reading about it.

What I felt so disappointed about this read was the misrepresentation of grief, anxiety, and panic attacks. It was never discussed in the beginning like a content warning. So I was a bit surprised to read about it in this rom-com book. It makes this read not a rom-com.

Tessa Bailey has done it again folks!! The adoration her characters have for each other is always so unmatched and makes the reader feel all warm inside from it. I love the little quirks that make up Hallie's personality and way of being, and that it gives Julian the push he needs to overcome what hold him back from truly experiencing life.

Another win from Tessa Bailey!! I loved this one so freaking much. Just the sweet love story and the wine, all the freaking wine. I can’t wait until the next book!

Tessa Bailey is a hit and miss for me. This book was okay. I had high hopes for it in the beginning, but got bored easily. I really like Hallies spunk, but I started to dislike how she wrote Julian’s character during the sex scenes. It wasn’t sexy at all. Sometimes, Tessa’s make character seem like predators to me.

I read and really got into two excellent books by this author—It Happened One Summer and also Hook, Line, and Sinker. I expected to feel the same about this book, but I just didn’t.

I liked the main character Hallie, a gardener struggling to find herself after taking over her recently-deceased grandmother’s business. The author did a good job making her appear quirky, creative, and caring.

Hallie, now 29, has been in love with Julian, whose family owns a winery, since high school. Julian, a Stanford professor with anxiety issues, has taken a leave to return to his family’s winery to write a novel. The two connect when Hallie is hired by Julian’s mother to landscape the winery’s grounds. The two seem to be polar opposites, with Julian being super-organized and Hallie being super-spontaneous.

The title, Secretly Yours, refers to some secret admirer/anonymous letter exchanges that the author uses to advance the plot and spur growth and development of the main characters. I would have liked the book better if it included less about the letters and more about the wine and gardening businesses. Overall, the book was a decent rom-com with a satisfying HEA.

Going into this book, I knew I was in for a sweet rom-com, and I can confirm that Tessa Bailey delivered!

Bailey’s books are typically light and fun, and while this one definitely had those qualities, it also had some heavier topics, including anxiety and panic attacks. I liked the romance between Hallie and Julian, but my favorite part of this book would have to be the accurate and relatable representation of anxiety/anxious thoughts.

What I liked about this book:
📈 Anxiety representation
🍷 The winery / small town setting
💥 Hallie’s spontaneity
📆 Julian’s dedication to routine
✌🏻 The opening to the second book in this series

What I didn’t love about this book:
😬 Some cringey scenes
🤦🏼‍♀️ A tiny bit of miscommunication

I am looking forward to reading book two of this series, Unfortunately Yours, out June 2023!

I really wanted to like this as the beginning half had so much potential but the characters feel flat for me. They were very typical of a clumsy girl and a strict boy who both have inner demons they have to overcome. The banter between them was funny as time but there was no physical contact between them until almost 60%. It was more of zany awkward love story set on a winery.

This was cute! I enjoyed it! Not my favorite Tessa Bailey book but I totally recommend if you are looking for a rom-com that's silly and mindless.

Hallie had a crush on Julian in high school, but she was just a freshman. As a senior, he graduated, and she never saw him again. Now he has returned to their hometown in Napa Valley, and she still finds him incredibly attractive.

This is an extreme example of opposites attract. Hallie is a "pinup earth mother" who gardens according to her whim. Julian is a rigorously structured and detailed history professor.

At first, I didn't find Hallie particularly likeable. While I appreciated her lack of planning and structure, she went far beyond that with inappropriate, and even criminal, behavior. Her grief manifests in these destructive behaviors. And while that's understandable, it made the book less enjoyable for me. I cringed frequently while reading the first part of the book.

I liked the book more once the secret admirer letters finally began. Those wete a fun detail and an interesting play on miscommunication tropes. And I greatly liked the setting in Napa Valley and the other characters. The steamy scenes and dirty talk matched my expectations for Tessa Bailey. But most, I appreciated that she included mental health representation, even though parts were tough to read.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

CW: anxiety, stigma about mental health

3.5 stars rounded up

I really wanted to love this book. I really have enjoyed all of Tessa Bailey’s other novels. This one just missed the mark in my mind. I did love Hallie’s character and thought she was precious. I also related to Julian’s need for schedule and timeliness. It took me several days to read this book when normally it would take me a few hours. The plot just felt pretty drawn out and slow.

A new series from Tessa Bailey?! Yes please! I loved the grumpy/sunshine trope here and how Hallie pulled Julian out of his comfort zone.

3.5 stars