I don't know if this was my favorite Tessa Bailey book ever but I definitely still enjoyed this dual POV romance between a Professor and a Gardner with secret pining, anonymous love letters and a SUPER steamy virgin who finally gets her high school crush love story!

Full of Tessa's trademark spicy scenes, this was a slow burn, small town romance full of quirky characters you can't help cheering for. Good on audio narrated by Callie Dalton too! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

Hallie is in a rough patch. After her grandmother passed away, she's been struggling to keep herself moving, keep her business afloat and fighting new businesses coming in and taking over. Even worse, her high school crush Julian is back in town, writing a book and hiding out at his family's vineyard. Though she tries to stay away, life keeps throwing the two of them together, upending Julian's firm controlled life, and helping Hallie put her life back on track.

A cute little rom-com, this book layers psychology with family dynamics and the families that one creates. Plus the wit, heat and humor that only Tessa Bailey can weave together in a way that makes for a hard to put down book.

#arc
#netgalley
#secretlyyours

4 Stars!
Hallie Welch is a beautiful, quirky gardener from St. Helena that's life was always a bit chaotic. She's an impulsive, free spirit who is still finding her way since the passing of her beloved grandmother. She's carrying on her legacy with Becca's Blooms when a blast from the past returns to town. She was infatuated with Julian Vos her freshman year of high school, and she's crushed on him ever since their almost kiss fifteen years ago. She's never forgotten him, or met anyone like him. He's still the man of her dreams that lived in her fantasies. When they finally meet again it's clear she still carries a torch for him. Could this be her chance with the intelligent, kind, intense professor, or are her feelings one sided?

Julian Vos is a history professor at Stanford who is taking a break from teaching to write a book. He's looking for some peace and quiet, and is headed home to his family Vineyard in Napa for the next several months. He's living and working in the guest house when he hears a bunch of noise outside his window. The last thing he needs is a distraction in the form of a gorgeous, eccentric gardener. He finds her fascinating, and soon looks forward to her sunshine and smiles. He likes routines and structure, and lives life by a schedule, but everything suddenly changes when Hallie is near. Then he gets a secret admirer and things turn even more complicated. Could love be in his future even though it maybe wasn't part of his plan?

Secretly Yours (Vine Mess Book 1) by Tessa Bailey is the first in an all new duet that can be read as a standalone. It's a heartwarming, Grumpy/Sunshine, opposites attract, second chance, small town romantic comedy full of humor, chemistry and fabulous banter. I love Tessa Bailey's writing and look forward to the next story in the duet! :))

• Insta-love
• Small Town
• Secret Admirer / Childhood Crush
• Virgin MC (characters are in their 30s)

Full disclosure this one was a DNF for me. I was having trouble getting into the story and connecting with the plot and characters – I did try to keep going and did do some skim reading as well, but I’m afraid this was just a case of not the right reader for this book.

I was drawn to this one by the excellent cover art (it’s gorgeous) and based on the author – I read and really enjoyed Hook Line and Sinker by Tessa Bailey. I was intrigued by the premise for this one, but unfortunately it just did not click with me as a reader.

I’m not really a fan of the Insta-love trope and that one was strongly present here. The start to the story itself had a lot going on and that and the pacing made it feel a bit chaotic.

While this particular read was not a good fit for me, I do think this will appeal to others who enjoy the author and/or the tropes present. Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for the opportunity to try an early copy.

Hallie and Julian had a missed romantic opportunity when they were younger. Flash forward to present day when their paths cross again when her bubbly personality messes with his best laid plans of writing a book while on teaching sabbatical.

This one included of a lot of different tropes:
Sunshine/Grump
Dash of miscommunication
Opposites Attract
Small town romance

One thing I can appreciate with Tessa's books is that none of her characters are perfect, each has their own flaws/faults. Sign me up for a vineyard setting any day of the week. I enjoyed the efforts to save the local wine shop Corked and the Voss Vineyard overhaul, wish there had been more of that in the second half. I'll be checking out Unfortunately Yours this Summer to see how Natalie's story plays out.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Special thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the ARC of Secretly Yours for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

I loved Hallie and Julian. The Grumpy/Sunshine is *chefs kiss* goodness! Harkening me back to the “One Summer” greatness that is Tessa Bailey, I not only devoured—DEVOURED!—this story but immediately went out on Release Day (aka today Feb 7) to get a hard copy.
**HINT** if you get your copy at Target there’s ~bonus content~!!

Oh, Tessa Bailey.

Who better to write a romance perfect for Valentine’s Day than the queen of spicy rom coms herself?

This novel is the perfect opposites attract with a tinge of steam and sweetness. This novel has the perfect Napa setting, a FMC with a cool job, and a MMC who wants to protect her.

Loved it.

Thank you Avon and Netgalley for an advanced copy.

Hallie is trying to save a local wine shop. Julian is trying to write a book and take a break from work. They met once in high school and Hallie hasn't stopped thinking about it ever since. She makes a plan to write him secret admirer letters to confess her feelings. This is great until they start getting closer and Julian doesn't know it's Hallie writing the letters.

I have read several books by Tessa Bailey. All of them have been enjoyable, except this one. First the things that I did like. I liked the setting. I felt like I was in wine country. It was very laid back, probably like most of California. The smut is pretty good.

Things I didn't like:
-Julian first sees Hallie and immediately only notices her boobs. Gross.
-Julian comments that he can tell she's a virgin during their first encounter because he can feel that. That's not how anatomy works.
-Hallie brought her dogs to job sites? That's super unprofessional and weird. There's no reason for that.
-The 3rd act break up was bad. It didn't make sense why Julian was mad.
-Hallie uses the word "schizophrenic" to describe clothes. That's gross.

A delightful romp through the garden with sunshiny Hallie and grumpy Julian. Hallie has had a crush on Julian since an almost kiss in high school but Julian doesn’t remember her or that particular night.

Sweet and spicy from our gal, Tessa.

4-4.25 stars. This was a good book. Tessa Bailey has been hit or miss for me as a reader, and her hits are her older books for me with the newer ones being misses. But I would put this book in the hit category. Secretly Yours is Hallie and Julian's story. Hallie is a gardener/landscaper who specializes in out of the box, unstructured designs and lives in her small, winery town in the Napa Valley. Julian's family owns a winery there where he grew up, but he now lives a few hours away, working as a professor. JHe is back in town on a break from work, staying in his mother's guesthouse and writing a novel. Hallie had a crush on Julian as a teen and has spent the years since wondering what could have been between them. For Julian's part, he doesn't recognize her at first, but soon wonders how he could have forgotten someone who enchants him so. When Hallie is hired to do the gardens at his property, she begins writing him secret admirer letters, in a completely harmless not creepy way, not expecting him to ever be interested in her, but wanting him to realize how amazing she thinks he is. Meanwhile, as she works on the gardens, Julian and Hallie soon find themselves forming a connection in person as well and falling for each other.

This was a good book with a cute story. I liked Hallie and Julian. Both of these characters are quirky and unusual. Julian is very structured and can't deviate from his very strict daily routine or else. He keeps to himself and doesn't have close friends or relationships. Hallie is funny, scattered and endearing. They are very much opposites who attract. Neither can quite believe that each other could be interested in them. The book had lots of romantic, swoony, poignant moments and the couple was very sweet together. Their relationship was a slow burn, second chance one with some super spicy moments. These two adored and worshipped each other. They had great chemistry and connection, both being each other's first loves and Hallie is a virgin. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the Napa Valley small town and the descriptions of Hallie's gardening. I would have loved an epilogue and a glimpse into the future for these two.

Overall, this was a good book. Hallie and Julian's relationship journey was sweet and romantic. I really enjoyed this story and I look forward to more from this series and Miss Bailey in the future.

Hallie Welsh has been pining for Julian Vos for about fifteen years. When he comes back to town her feelings are still there, but she begins to realize that they are polar opposites. She is the sunshine to his grumpy, and he is the order to her chaos. Could such polar opposites have a successful relationship or is it doomed to fail?

While the overall concept around this opposites attract pair appealed to me, there was something about the execution of the plot that left me feeling that this was a miss. Each character had attributes that were intriguing, but when combined, the chemistry of this pair just did not do it for this reader. I think this is the classic case of "it's not you, it's me" to some extent. I enjoy Bailey's writing overall, and with so many hits there are bound to be one or two misses.

I would recommend this book to fans of Bailey and fans of extremely opposite main characters who are working on their own personal challenges while imbibing in some mutual pining and secret letter writing.

I received an advanced copy of this eARC thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Tessa Bailey does it again! I really feel like she has the formula to write adorable and fun romances that demand to be consumed all at once. I read through this book in two days. The chemistry between the main characters was great. I loved seeing a very buttoned up male lead loose his cool. The cast of characters around the main couple were fun as well and I can't wait to read what Nat is up to in her book!

Another great Tessa Bailey romcom! In classic Tessa fashion we have romcom hijinks, dirty talk, an anxious perfectionist MC I just want to hug and say "I love you, go to therapy," and the setup for the sister's sequel I am already foaming at the mouth for.

But in Secretly Yours, we enter St. Helena's of Napa Valley where Hallie is full of chaos and a bit of disaster. After losing her grandmother 6 months ago, Hallie feels unmoored without her grandma's stable presence and a changing St. Helena's. Combined with Napa's famous beverage, who could blame her for petty pranks against the new business out to ruin her grandma's favorite shop?

At 29, you'd hope she'd be past prank calls, but she is still hung up on her high school crush, Julian Vos. When he returns to town and she has work at his house updating the gardens, why she liked him for so long is thrown back at her. As they talk, get to know each other, and his actions begin to aim solely to make her smile, that long standing crush is justified and deepens from infatuation to love.

Only issue, in a drunken idea that soon helps them to open up to each other, Hallie left Julian secret admirer notes and has to find the courage to tell him. Little does she know, he wishes those notes are from her.

This story was pretty bonkers in the best romcom way where the leads are both totally into each other and are looking for ways to be connected to the other.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed that the conflict was miscommunication - I know, hear me out. As you'd expect the reveal of the notes instigates the third act heart ache, but it was due to the two not sharing why the event made them upset. The story ended up centered on mental health and anxiety, and the conflict actually felt relatable because of the truth of how difficult it can be to communicate regarding ones mental illnesses and how that can affect your relationships.

Both characters are struggling to be their best version: Hallie with her chaotic impulses and lack of structure versus Julian with his highly scheduled life and anxiety from change. They begin by thinking they are too different, but find that through active work and communication, they can bring out the best in each other.

I will admit that in peak romcom fashion (and because I'm much more Julian than Hallie), some of Hallie's impulsive moments had my secondhand embarrassment flaming, but I got through, especially because of how it was so obvious from the beginning how into each other they were. Julian is a caretaker and ready to protect Hallie's smile, and work to make her smile, at all times.

Through compromise and communication, Julian and Hallie get their happy ending, revive a local business, start to heal a family, and christen several outdoor spaces.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Feat: opposites attract, dirty talk, worshiping in nature ;), protective hero, secret admirer, grumpy/sunshine

4 stars
2.5 spice

4/5 Stars

Honestly, I adore Tessa Bailey's books, but it is really a hit or miss at times. The more recent books have not been my favorite, but I did not dislike them.

I LOVE ‘It Happened One Summer’, and I couldn't help but compare "Secrety Yours" to it. Both with a cozy small town, a "Grump-ish and Sunshine trope, and Spice.

I enjoyed the banter and steamy relationship between Julian and Hallie! The Gardener and the Professor, are opposites in many ways (Type A vs. Type B personalities), but passionate when together. Hallie has kept a crush on Julian since High School when she and Julian had shared her first kiss...however, Julian doesn't remember it. Julian feels this connection with Hallie but just can't put his finger on where he knows her from and struggles with trying to jog the memories.

Overall, I enjoyed Secretly Yours, but I feel that the "Secret Admirer" portion of the story hadn't added anything to the overall story. I savor those types of stories when two people are talking to each other and/or to someone and don't know that the person they like is the very same person to who they've been talking. However, in this instance, I don't think it added anything but the typical "miscommunication" trope toward the end (which is a trope I can live without).

I recommend Secretly Yours to those who love Tessa Bailey books and want a perfect romance for Valentine's season.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my review!

Thank you @avonbooks @netgalley for my review copy!

📖Hallie has been in love with Julian Vos since they were in high school. When Julian returns home to his family’s vineyard and Hallie starts work as a gardener on their estate, she hopes to get reacquainted with her old crush. After a drunken night, she leaves him an anonymous secret admirer letter and that’s when things really start to get interesting.

💭Tessa Bailey is a hit or miss author for me, so I was a little nervous to pick this one up. I loved it though and I didn’t want to put it down. I loved the chemistry between Hallie and Julian (the chemistry in Bailey’s books don’t always work for me), and I really enjoyed the setting. I’m a sucker for the grumpy/sunshine trope too. I didn’t love this one quite as much as the Bellinger sister books, but it’s a close second! I can’t wait to continue the series.

✍️How I rated other books by this author:
It Happened One Summer- 5⭐️
Hook, Line, and Sinker- 4⭐️
Window Shopping- 3⭐️
Fix Her Up- 3⭐️

Hallie, chaotic professional gardener, has had a crush on Julian Vos since he almost kissed her in high school. Julian, son of the owners of the best vineyard in town, escaped small town life to become a Stanford professor, but returns for a sabbatical to write his book. Obviously his mother hires said gardener to landscape, their paths cross, and sparks fly. But then Julian starts finding letters from a secret admirer. TWO women interested? Hmmm….
This was a cute, fluffy romance, sprinkled with wine, humor, and a touch of anxiety (albeit without much professional help involved). The characters are pretty 1 dimensional but they’re fun. I read this in just 36 hours, so it’s fast paced and kept me interested and entertained.

Hallie Welch has had a crush on Julian Vos since she was a teenager. Fast forward 15 years and Hallie has been hired to plant flower gardens at the Vos Vineyards. Imagine Hallie's surprise when she finds Julian, now a professor at Stanford there. Ends up he is home for the summer writing a book that he wants to publish. Of course these two clash. Hallie is a laid back, go with the flow colorful person and Julian is very rigid and very strict on his schedules. The more these two interact, the more Julian stars to realize that maybe his life does need a little more color in it.

Hallie is at a crossroad....Julian obviously doesn't remember their almost kiss in the vineyard all those years ago but she still does have a crush on him. Hallie decides to write Julian a letter explaining her feelings, but doesn't sign it. She puts it somewhere that only he would find it during his morning run. Julian finds the letter and is intrigued, but he is still drawn to Hallie. These two opposites finally get together and they have a chemistry that is combustible. Everything is going perfectly until secrets are revealed and everything implodes. It will take some time and soul searching but in the end these two come back together in a beautiful way.

I just adored this opposites attract, steamy romance. I can relate to Hallie A LOT! I just loved her attitude about things.....especially against Uncorked! ;) Julian really needed someone like Hallie in his life. She helped him to see the things that really mattered and she was good for his anxiety. Together they were a perfect match! We got a sneak peek into Julian sister, Natalie's story and I cannot wait! Great start to a new series.

Best grab yourself a glass of wine and settle in for Hallie and Julian's not-so-secret sweetness! Secretly Yours is a romcom-y treat that is perfect for Valentine's season with its Napa Valley charm, its blushing and beguiling flower beds, its chaotic vs. orderly cast of characters, and its secret admirer letters that are bursting full of heart, humor, and happenstance.

Hallie is a gardener. A frazzled but lovable, curly-haired, dirt-stained-on-her-bum ray of sunshine who has harbored a secret and unrequited crush on the same guy since high school. Only, now that guy is back in town. On sabbatical from his prestigious ivy league teaching job. Writing a book and staying in an apartment on the Vos family vineyard, where she has just been hired to revamp the bland terrain with flowers.

Julian is a professor battling anxiety. He's returned home to write, to take stock of his life, the vineyard, and his mental health in a way that's all about order, schedules, and maintaining control. What he isn't anticipating is the clamor and clangor Hallie ushers into his life with her dogs and her unsystematic way of doing things, which seems to color every facet of her being from gardening to flirting to pranking a wine shop in town. It's enough to drive a man mad!

So, could their newly forced proximity spark something between them? Like a connection? Like an acknowledgment of the almost-kiss they shared in the vineyard as teenagers? Or does he not remember her? And if not, then maybe Hallie's biggest heart's truth would be less frightening to admit if she expressed it in anonymous letters...

At first, it seems like Hallie and Julian's personalities are too marked, too different to coalesce, that they'll clash hard enough to burn out, but it isn't long before that begins to change and you see how they blossom together because of them. By being around Hallie, Julian learns to push aside his strict rigidity and be present, giving himself leave to "stop and smell the roses" more. Likewise, by being around him, Hallie is able to stop hiding, to eddy her thoughts and feelings into soil where they can not only grow but be seen for what they truly are. It's cute, y'all. Very cute.

All in all, this was an endearing read! I do wish it hadn't been so insta-lusty (I'm more of a slow burn gal myself, what can I say?), and Julian's dirty talk came across as more jarring than sexy to me, but the small town setting added considerable charm and the summer romance was the sweet 'n spicy escape I needed.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Harper and Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review.

After 15 years of pining, Hallie finally has a second chance to connect with her crush, Julian Vos. The problem is, he doesn't remember her from their "almost moment" back in high school, and he seems to have changed quite a bit from the teenager she knew.
A drunken night leads Hallie to send Julian a secret admirer letter. And now, not only is Julian curious about this admirer, but he seems to become more entranced by the presence of Hallie.

This one, unfortunately, did fall a bit flat for me... even though it had its sweet moments and funny bits, the 15 year pining turned into insta-lust, and i found the letter concept uninteresting.

Julian was definitely an interesting character, and i adored his protectiveness over Hallie and his family. But i did feel that his relationship with Hallie was too physical, and he turned into a completely different person "in the bedroom," which felt a bit cringe at times.
They both had their moments, but i just didn't feel a proper connection between the two.
The drama was also just a bit mehh in the end...

It was still enjoyable, and i did go through it relatively fast. I'll still be reading book two, which will follow Julian's sister, Natalie.

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘝𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯-𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸*

I recently read this book as an eARC from NetGalley. I went into this expecting a typical spicy romcom and that is exactly what I got. This book follows Julian and Hallie who grew up in wine country, Napa. Julian has just returned home after years away and Hallie has always held a torch for him, but they literally could not be more opposite. Hallie bringing the chaotic energy with Julian is all strict schedules. (this point I loved because it reminded me of my own relationship) Both characters get their own POV's which is great and, typical for TB, I enjoyed the spicy scenes very much.

I will admit I was hoping for a bit more in the character development side of things given that I felt like the conflict just did not add up, or even matter at all. I do not want to give away the plot considering it was just released today, but the biggest reason I could not give this one 4 stars was the v-card plot line. This main character is 29... let the girl live a little! Other than that, Julian's sister Natalie is an absolutely fantastic side character and I would for sure read a book about her. She was the comedic relief the whole book needed.

This will not be my last Tessa Bailey book, but unfortunately it was not my favorite.