Tessa Bailey set the bar so high with the Bellinger sistrs that this one just was not the same. I'd give this 3 stars. The small town, summer romance was a fun read, but since I read it in January, the feels don't hit the same so I will definitely be re-reading on a beach or something to get a full effect. Overall, the miscommunication was a little hard to read. This book just didn't capture my attention as well as the Bellinger sisters did. The characters may not be as charming as those two.

First off, I adored how Tessa Bailey normalized anxiety in this book, it was so relatable and refreshing. Loved how Hallie and Julian brought out the best in each other without even realizing it. Surprising absolutely no one, I adored every single bit of this book. Julian and Hallie were amazing, the dirty talk was incredible, and I loved the story. *I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Looking for a book with main character chemistry?

I highly recommend Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey! Bailey is a queen of chemistry and it was off the charts in this book. The banter was also terrific and the romance was steamy, making Secretly Yours an all-around win for me.

I loved everything about Hallie and Julian, both who they were individually and together. I’m not sure what trope their relationship/this romance falls under, but it has a bit of one-sided second chance and unrequited love, as well as forced proximity (kind of?). However it’s categorized, the romance is swoony, angsty, and completely binge-worthy.

The characters were relatable and my heart tore to pieces for every grief, trauma, and worry they had to carry. Apart from the MCs, the other relationships in the book were also perfectly written, and we got to know Natalie just enough to make me super excited for her book next.

This might be in my top 5 fave tessa bailey books and i wasn't expecting that given that it is traditionally published. Hallie is like Georgie (of Fix Her Up) 2.0 and I am so here for it. And Julian is for sure one of my favorite Tess Bailey heroes - yes the way he went from anxiety riddled professor to dirty talking sex god was a bit abrupt but I can dig it. From the opposites attract to the second chance to the small town setting, Secretly Yours set my. trope loving heart ablaze. Once I started, i could not put it down and I CAN NOT WAIT for Natalie and August's book!

This book was set in St. Helena with some winery biz and wine shops mixed in. I grew up in Napa and this book talks a lot about the fire that happened a few years ago. It was like a perfect storm - extreme drought conditions, 50 mph winds and a utility company that's too big to fail. So many fires happened that week the week I gave birth to my youngest, she is why we have so many air purifiers. Also if they say the fire jumped the road - it sounds alive and no thanks. Freaking wind.
This was so cute and steamy with the uptight Darcy-ish Napa royalty Julian (they are there). I'm definitely the zany Hallie trying to fit my square piece in all the round holes. Trying to save the mom and pop stores as all the douchey trendy spots pop up everywhere. The secret admirer notes are definitely my favorite - I always wanted admirer notes!

Thank you avonbooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for the honest and voluntary review.

Sunshine meets Grumpy in this sweet romance of wine country love.

Hallie Welch is the town's happiest landscaper who's questioning her life choices after the loss of her grandmother. Jullien Vos (who happens to be Hallie's high school crush) comes back to his family's vineyard after taking a break from his teaching position to write a book. However, Jullien can't get any work down because he's severely distracted by Hallie as she redesigns the gardens right outside his room. Lust swirls as the days pass and Hallie and Jullien must work their way through secret admirer letters, mental health issues, and of course, their raging feelings for one another.

What I liked: I love the trope of Sunshine and Grumpy and in Tessa Bailey's hands its always scrumptiously sexy. I also greatly appreciated the strong representation of anxiety.

Secretly Yours is out now!

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

4.5 stars from me, rounded up to 5! Secretly Yours is a sweet (?????) novel about discovering yourself, forgiving yourself, and finding someone who loves you for you, with the standard Tessa Bailey MC who can DIRTY TALK with the best of them.

I will say, I was excited about this book because I LOVE BOOKS WITH TEXTS/EMAILS/LETTERS EXCHANGED, but I was a little disappointed. While "the letters" were an important plot point, they weren't a PRIMARY form of communication.

I loved Julian as the MC. He left his busy professor life to take a break and write a novel, but this journey back home made him evaluate his life choices and his mental health. Experiencing all those feelings with him, having him let his guard down with Hallie, seeing him lose control and then BE in control... he was probably the best part of this story.

I related to Hallie quite a bit. She's a curvy, quirky virgin going through an identity crisis after the passing of her grandma, but it was super believable and seemed authentic in her community and environment. Her friend group is small, but she cares so much about the people in her life and in her small town.

If you love TB, you'll love this one.

While it’s no secret that I’m a big fam of Tessa Bailey, there was so much to love about this one. Julian is a professor living with anxiety and PTSD while Hallie is a wild and impulsive gardener. Both characters are complex and beautifully written. I enjoyed the character development and the emphasis on overcoming different internal struggles.

The teenage crush turned adult romance part of the plot kept me excited and engaged from the first page. Add in the vivid friend and family ties with some small town shenanigans and you’ve got the perfect blend to get drunk on romance.

If you love grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, secret admirer letters, or small town romance I’m confident you’ll enjoy this book as much as I did!

Thank you NetGalley, Tessa Bailey and Avonbooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
3.75⭐️

First and foremost: Tessa Bailey brings the HEAT in her books. This is your warning 😂

Second: I enjoyed this book for the most part! It was a sweet romance and he was very protective over her, which I’m always a fan of. She fell first. He couldn’t get her out of his head. Overall, a good book and it hooks you so you don’t want to stop reading.

But. I didn’t love how obsessive Hallie was over Julian. I didn’t love how drastically Hallie changed Julian. Those things bugged me a little BUT I did really enjoy reading the story and romance. And that SPICE!

This author can be a little hit or miss for me, but I really enjoyed this one. Julian in particular was a very realistic, relatable character. Hallie was a bit immature and chaotic for my tastes, but she made for a good opposites attract vibe with Julian. I love epistolary romance, so I do wish the secret admirer letters had been as big of a plot point as I thought they might be from the blurb, but this was a fun, enjoyable read nonetheless.

2.5 I think it might be time I admitted Bailey isn’t for me. Everything was just…okay? The characters were slightly annoying, the anxiety rep was half hearted, and the third act was stupid. The sex and dirty talk where Bailey shines were good but the character lacked chemistry so again it ended up being… okay? And it seemed out of character for Julian so all in all it wasn’t that great.

Thank you Avon for the copy of Tessa Bailey's Secretly Yours for review. This is the fun, steamy, light read many are looking for in the romantic but dreary weather month of February. Some stand outs: body positivity, a little social justice advocacy vibes for fighting for a local business, second chance/first crush themes. This book hits all the notes it intends to hit and does it with some humor, fun secondary characters, and a lot of chemistry.

“That did it. His mother was definitely punishing him. She’d sent him this curvaceous gardener to throw off his concentration and flaunt his need for organization. Detailed plans. A schedule. Relative sanity.”

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 Napa Valley. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate by Julian’s mother, 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.

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. She’s eccentric, chronically late, often literally covered in dirt—and so unbelievably beautiful, he can’t focus on anything else. Like the flowers she plants all over town, Hallie is a burst of color in Julian’s grayscale 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. Can he let go of his rigidity and structure and finally find happiness?

Although not quite to the caliber of Hook, Line and Sinker, this second chance romance is still an entertaining and enjoyable read. It has some heat and endearingly adorable characters. I really enjoyed watching the relationship between stickler robotic Julian and free spirit whirlwind Hallie unfold. I laughed out loud multiple times! Oh, and there’s wine! 🍷

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big Tessa Bailey fan and have read pretty much EVERYTHING by her. This wasn't my favorite one of hers, but it was still her typical cute, and steamy romcom. I enjoyed the secret admirer letters but for some reason there was still something missing throughout the story line that did not grab me. Still a sweet Valentine's Day read!

Thank you NetGalley and Publishers for this ARC in exchange for my review!

SECRETLY YOURS is the first book in the A VINE MESS series, and I look forward to reading more. Set in the Napa Valley, this is Julian and Hallie’s story and it involves wineries and wine–of course.

Hallie is a gardener and landscaper who doesn’t like schedules. Her life is chaotic with three dogs that she takes almost everywhere with her. She still misses her grandmother, who has died and with whom she lived and worked. Julian is a professor at Stanford and has taken a break to write a novel. He is nothing but punctual and lives by the clock. When their paths cross, there’s a lot of chaos along with schedules and romance.

Julian and Hallie are nothing alike, but they do say opposites attract—they sure do! She remembers him from high school fifteen years before, though he has no recollection of her. Hallie has pined from afar for all those years and decides to secretly do something about that now. Their miscommunications are what romcom’s are made of, in addition to his comedic, dysfunctional family that he’s trying to make whole again. There are some laugh-out-loud moments as well that gives a lightness to the story.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters, including the secondary ones, which added another layer to the story. Communication is key, and Hallie and Julian definitely have trouble doing so especially when his schedules are disrupted by none other than Hallie, who is planting around the guest house he’s occupying. But there’s definitely chemistry, and when they finally act on it, there are steamy moments (and very rarely are they between the sheets.)

SECRETLY YOURS has a good flow and is filled with angst, romance, and ultimately love in several different forms. There is closure, but do I wish the story went on just a little longer. I look forward to reading more in this series.

If you like some laugh out loud moments along with romance and some loving, give Tessa Bailey books a try.

SECRETLY YOURS - TESSA BAILEY

3.5⭐

PLOT - Hallie Welch always had feelings for Julian Vos since they were in high school and now he is back at his family's winery in the small Napa town when Hallie after a night out with friends does something reckless like leaving a secret admirer letter for Julian.
Grumpy professor Julian has hots for Hallie as she works in his garden and yet he is curious about his secret admirer.
Around Hallie he forgets his own set of rules and routine. Can Julian let go of his past and accept Hallies sunny disposition into his lifestyle forever?
MY THOUGHTS
I enjoyed this one though not as much as her other previous works.
Read this one of you enjoy
Grumpy vs sunshine
Small town setting of a winery
Steam 🔥🔥

Secretly Yours is the sweet and spicy read I needed to warm me up from this cold February. The dialogue back and forth between Hallie and Julian, especially in their first interactions, had me smiling — their polar opposite personalities made for some good laughs.

For me, the highlight of this book was Julian's character. He’s not your conventional “grumpy “male romance hero. An event from his past leaves Julian dependent on to-do lists and strict schedules to keep him centered, and he struggles with anything that pulls him away from that precious structure (Hallie quickly being at the top of that list of dangerous distractions).

The “love letter” aspect of this storyline was probably my least favourite part of the plot. The letters added this extra drama to Hallie and Julian’s IRL relationship, without any drama seeming to unfold at the end. It just fell a bit flat to me.

Nonetheless, although It Happened One Summer continues to be my Tessa Bailey favourite, I think Secretly Yours is a cute read if you’re looking for something light with a sexy edge. Julian has quite a mouth on him— I’ll leave it at that, haha!

As a side note: I’m a sucker for a small-town romance series, so I can’t wait to spend more time with these characters (there was no epilogue for Hallie and Julian so I’m sure we’ll get some peaks into their lives in Natalie’s book). The bits we saw of Natalie (Julian’s sister) in this book have left me excited for her story!

**E-ARC was provided to me by the publisher for review purposes. All opinions are my own***

Perfect romcom. I love all her work and this one just was the best. The fmc and mmc were off the charts on chemistry.

Looking for the perfect rom-com right before Valentine’s Day? Tessa Bailey’s Secretly Yours is a perfect fit.

Secretly Yours is a great contemporary fiction about a grumpy professor and his happy go lucky gardener. Julian Vos moves back into his hometown estate, the beautiful Vineyards of Napa Valley, ready to take a much needed break from teaching at Stanford. When Hallie Welch, the communities bubbly gardener, hears her high school crush is in town, she orchestrates a plan to get closer to him. Instantly clashing due to their polar opposite personalities, the two can’t deny there’s some sizzling chemistry in the air. Julian is determined to stay the course and write his novel, but his plans become foiled by the beautiful gardener outside and anonymous secret admirer letters.

This book was a super fun rom-com, with witty banter and some steamy scenes. It also dealt with some heavy topics like addressing your anxiety’s and battling an identity crisis. The Napa vineyards set a perfect summer romance in a small town. The secret admirer letters didn’t add much, other than a small miscommunication trope, but overall I enjoyed this as a cute contemporary read.

⭐️: 4/5

🌶: 3/5

Tropes and whatnot: grumpy x sunshine, small town romance, high school crush, dual POV, secret admirers, opposite personalities

Thank you Tessa Bailey, Avon, and @netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This book will be out 2/7/2023.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, sweet, steamy and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to find out what was going to happen. I enjoyed this book and will look for others by this author.