This book was cute but predictable (maybe I’m just not a contemporary romance lover idk) but Tessa Bailey’s writing is amazing and her steamy scenes are drool worthy!

If you love Tessa Bailey and her previous books you’ll love this one!

Very cute read. I love the fact that 15 years of love can either be strong or fade away. This book shows that no matter what... love can find its way.

Thank you to Net Galley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC! I'm such a huge Tessa Bailey fan that I could not wait to read Secretly Yours!

Hallie Welch is a go-with-the-flow, eccentric gardener trying to figure out her life after the loss of her grandma which usually includes pranking the new business threatening her beloved wine bar. When her teenage crush, Julian Vos, comes back to town with his rigid schedules - Hallie, of course, finds a way to spend time with him again and soon realizes her chaotic energy doesn't mix with his uptight tendencies despite their chemistry. But after a night of drinking, Hallie sends Julian a secret admirer letter to help her express her feelings which eventually helps them both address their issues.

I really enjoyed Tessa's anxiety and grief representation in this book, and I'm a sucker for a grumpy/sunshine trope and Hallie and Julian are the epitome of that! Although they're polar opposites, they really opened up to each other, and it was really sweet to see. I truly enjoyed Secretly Yours and can't wait for Julian's sister Natalie's book, Unfortunately Yours!

The love and adoration I have for Secretly Yours cemented the fact that Tessa Bailey can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes. I have loved the previous books I’ve read by her (the Bellinger Sisters duology is one of my all-time favorites) and this is no different. I am not-so-secretly in love with her as an author, so this should come as no surprise to anyone that I adored this! It’s set in Napa, which already is absolute perfection, but then you add in completely opposites-attract MCs and a male main character named Julian who is a hot WRITER?! I’ve added another book boyfriend to my collection. Honestly, this review at this point should just be a giant thank you letter to Tessa. From the first chapter, I was laughing, but then this book started to pull at my heartstrings! You did it again, Tessa!

Pick this up if you love:
🍷 A vineyard setting 🍇
👩‍❤️‍👨 A second chance romance
🗣 Witty banter - it’s a Tessa Bailey book, duh
🌸 A female main character who is a gardener
✍️ A male main character who’s a type A writer
🔥 Spice - there are scenes that are just so, so hot
🧠 Mental health rep - anxiety is realistically portrayed
🐶 Dogs 🐾

I am very much looking forward to the second book in the A Vine Mess series, Unfortunately Yours, and seeing what happens next between two other characters who we’ve already met in Secretly Yours and who REALLY don’t get along. The setup in this book has me chomping at the bit to read more!

A big thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this eARC. You truly made my day.

3.5 Stars. While this was enjoyable, it wasn't one of my favorites of Tessa Bailey. I liked the concept of the story and the grumpy sunshine trope, but struggled with Hallie as a character. Without giving spoilers, I didn't like how she has pretty much been in love with Julian for 15 years without really even knowing the guy. I did like that Hallie helped Julian break out of his routine. They definitely had the opposites attract vibe going on. Even though I didn't rate this one as high, I do still want to read the second book in the series, Natalie's story.

Not quite grumpy x sunshine, more like stuffy x quirky

Hallie is a down to earth, dog loving gardener who goes with the flow and Julian is a straight laced professor trying to write a book. The two first met at a party in high school, but 15 years have since passed and their worlds are about to collide.

I truly enjoyed this book from start to finish. I wish we got a little more of the letters, as the title of the book and the synopsis make it seem like the entire book is centered around them. It’s okay, because it was still a great romance read, and the letters that were in the story were beautifully written and gave each character more depth.

The spice was on point, and Tessa never disappoints in that area 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well, you couldn’t help but enjoy this curvy, eccentric gardener vs handsome, stodgy professor story.  When such a mis-matched pair comes together, you know that there is going to be a little bit of heart-ache and a whole lot of fun.  Cheeky humor and witty banter fill Secretly Yours with nothing but enjoyable fun.

Hallie is trying her best to stop Uncorked from putting Corked out of business.  Her heart is breaking for her grandmother’s best friend, Lorna.  She grew up sitting at a table with her grandmother in Corked and the flashing disco ball, loud music and daily specials are putting an end to a historic site.  She can’t help but try to make trouble for Uncorked and one of these days she is going to find her face on one of those flyers with “Wanted” underneath it.  Now, in addition to that, she finds out that her crush is back in town … one Julian Vos – the Prince of Napa Valley.  So, in one of her don’t think first moments, she offers to do the landscaping outside of his cottage.  Oh, and write an anonymous love letter to him.

Julian is home.  A place where he doesn’t feel like he belongs anymore.  But, desperate times call for desperate measures.  Looking for peace and quiet to write his novel, he has every day (minute) planned out.  Yes, he is anal retentive when it comes to his schedule.  The last thing he needs is some flighty woman without any consideration for his schedule, to be showing up at his house and planting flowers just willy-nilly.  No plan, no exact times, no thought for him at all.  Or, at least that’s what he thinks.  As days go on and his precise schedule keeps getting interrupted by the beautiful, curvaceous woman, he can’t help but wonder just what it is he’s feeling.  Then, the letters start.  What does he do?  He has a secret admirer and a woman who he can’t get off of his mind.  Especially after that kiss.

Secretly Yours was hilarious.  Hallie was wonderful.  She did what she did, when she wanted to do it, how she wanted to do it.  Yes, she knew she was drifting off into lala land but, she didn’t have her grandmother here to tether her. Until Julian. He was really a pompous ass in the beginning of the book. Until you saw just who he was, what he was capable of and how much he really did care even when he thought he wasn’t wanted. You fell in love with both of these characters.

Tessa Bailey can write a Rom-Com. She will keep you in stitches and just draw you into her characters. She makes you laugh and then brings a tear to your eyes. But, she never, ever leaves you disappointed in a story.

“Only God can save you now, Hallie Welch.”

First, I have to start off by saying that I would read Miss Tessa’s grocery lists. The woman is practically a rom-com genius and has produced some of my favorites in the genre, which makes me a *little* biased.

Some things I liked:
-the MC’s were extremely likeable! Their emotions, motivations, and personalities were thought out and really made me want to root for them
-the weaving of the tropes were well done, and it made the story feel different than others like it
-Virginity representation! (This one could have gone either way for me) It’s not often that romance books with heavy sexual experiences have a virgin as the FMC. I liked that Tessa didn’t make this Hallie’s main personality trait, like other authors have. In other ways, having Hallie be a 29 year old virgin didn’t resonate to her overall character and plot.

Things I wish could’ve been better:
-The introductory chapters had a lot going on and I felt like the setting, character intros, and conflict were all presented within the same few paragraphs, making it very info-dumpy and hard to invest in
-Julian’s constant “I will go out of my way to throw money at/alleviate all of Hallie’s problems because I can’t stand to see her upset for the briefest moment” came off too misogynistic and felt icky rather than making me like him more. It’s almost as if he wanted to take away Hallie’s character growth in some instances.
-the secret admirer letters didn’t add much to the story and felt like they were written to be more eloquent or prose-like, which neither character’s voice sounded like. Also, it didn’t give anything to the overall plot.
-the intimacy scenes were some of the cringy-est that TB has written and didn’t get me going like her past novels.

Overall, if you’re a Tessa stan, I’d recommend it, but lover of rom-coms as a genre may not be as invested or love this one.
My biased rating: 4 star
My *attempted unbiased* rating: 3 star

“When she isn’t smiling, the world becomes a terrible place.”

Tessa Bailey is an author who just does not let me down. Of the books I’ve read by her, I have not once been disappointed. She has this way of providing the exact right book at the right time.

Hallie has had a crush on Julian since she was fourteen, after they almost kissed. Now, years later, she’s hired to revamp the gardens at his family’s estate. But he’s an absolute grump and seems like her polar opposite. She upends his right schedules and his whole outlook on life.

I love a grumpy/sunshine romance, especially when they seem to be complete opposites. Hallie is a bit all over the place, struggling to figure out where she fits in the world. She wants to desperately save the charm of her small town, despite the trendy new wine bar threatening it. She is loyal and smart, but since the death of her grandmother, she has no one to keep he tethered.

Julian is that tether. He is infatuated with her from the start, and the more he learns about her, the more he likes her. Their chemistry is incredible; it jumps off the pages. Julian’s backstory is more complicated, and I do think there was an opportunity to explore this further. He pieces together the actual triggers of his panic attacks by the end, but I think a bit more could have been done here.

Overall, I did enjoy this one. It’s cute and steamy, and I can’t wait to see where it’s series goes.

*In solidarity with the HarperCollins Union, I will be withholding my review from all social media until the strike is over and they receive a fair contract.*

I’m a huge Tessa Bailey fan so jumped at the chance to get this galley! I love her sweet with heat romances so much.

The premise of the book, secret letters to your previous high school crush, was charming. The character dynamic of grumpy/sunshine worked week for the plot. It was a bit predictable and relies heavily on Insta love, which is not a problem for me, but understand it’s not for e wet one. A solid read that I’ll recommend!

DNF
unfortunately I could not get into this one and DNF’d at 20%. I have liked previous TB books but this one didn’t work out for me.

This is a grumpy/sunshine & opposites track romance about a gardener (Hallie) and a professor (Julian) who comes back to the Napa area to write a book and help out at his family’s vineyard. And who may you guess is his family’s gardener… you guessed it - Hallie. These two also have a bit of history …. second chance, anyone?

These two could not me more of polar opposites - she is a free spirit and he is the definition of Type A. Their romance was so fun to read - the chemistry was 🔥and honestly, their personal growth stories were wonderful. They both are overcoming struggles and it’s clear from the get-go that despite their differences, they really complement each other and make each other better.

I loved the small town setting and the family/friends who are part of this story.

Very excited for Natalie’s story next - I think it’s going to be veryyy interesting!

*2.5 stars

it makes me sad to say that this book disappointed me because i was so excited for it. i was intrigued by the secret admirer premise, but something about the execution didn’t work for me.

i was so frustrated when hallie kept getting hurt that julian was responding to and talking about the letter he was receiving, and how he seemed like he was more interested in the person behind the letters instead of her, when all along it WAS her behind the letters. that situation happened multiple times and she just would not tell him it was her. i also did not feel a ton of chemistry between hallie and julian.

there were some cute moments that i did enjoy, but the entire book just felt too drawn out and felt like it was going on forever. i did skim the last 20% or so.


*thank you to netgalley, tessa bailey, and avon and harper voyager for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!!

Secretly Yours is the first book in Tessa Baily's new series A Vine Mess. Hallie Welch fell in love with Julian Vos after a serendipitous vineyard meetup at age 14. When Julian returns home to work on his next book, Hallie hopes to reignite the chemistry and finally get that kiss. Unfortunately, Julian doesn't remember their teenage encounter so Hallie decides to leave him anonymous secret admirer notes to reveal her feelings. This grumpy sunshine duo might just be too different to work out in the end.

Hallie has had a rough road growing up. Her mother's transient nature made her life chaotic. Hallie's grandmother was the calming force her her life but passed away recently. She's trying to grow her landscaping company, help her grandmother's friend reinvigorate her business, and keep her feelings to Julian under wraps.

On the outside, Julian is focused, meticulous and exacting. He rules his life with order and schedules. Hallie's life is the complete opposite. He has crippling anxiety if his life steps outside the norms. Hallie helps him to loosen his grip on schedules and feel confident enough to step in and help his family's vineyard.

This book had a lot going on: secret admirer letters, vineyard in crisis, sister in crisis, local businesses in crisis...it was all a little too much. I saw comparisons to It Happened One Summer and I have to disagree. I really loved IHOS and had such a hard time connecting to the characters in this story. I definitely liked Hallie more than Julian but neither were my favorite. I feel like the secret admirer aspect was kind of an afterthought. Also, I LOVE Tessa Bailey's signature dirty talking heroes but I didn't feel like it fit with Julian's character. I hate a miscommunication trope and this one was especially unnecessary. I did like the set up for the next book featuring Julian's sister. Their chemistry on page with how little we saw them together gave me something to look forward to.

Tropes include: grumpy/sunshine, small town, wineries, opposites attract, second chance, secret admirer, dirty talking hero, slow burn, childhood crush

Thank you to Tessa Bailey, NetGalley, and Avon Harper Voyager for an eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. #netgalley #avonharpervoyager #secretlyyoursbook #avinemessseries

As always, TB does not disappoint. The spice she writes is always perfectttttt 👌🏼 and her characters and the way they’re able to become vulnerable and develop over the course of the story are even better.

Julian is a stuffy, straight laced professor and Hallie is a free-spirited gardener. These two could not be more opposite of one another but they just clicked!

I loved the Napa Valley setting of this one, it is a perfect spring time read with all the flowers, vineyards and quaint downtown setting.

I loved that Julian and Hallie each had a reason outside of their relationship with one another to develop a little bit. I never want to feel like the characters are changing who they are to be with the other person so this part of the story was really well done. I felt that each character was changing to better themselves rather than to fit into the relationship they had together. I also appreciated the representation of anxiety.

It Happened One Summer is still my fav but book two in this series got me looking over my shoulder… 👀 a tatted ex-navy seal turned wine maker… SAY NO MORE 👏🏼

2.5 stars

This might be the summery easy romcom read for some, but it just missed the mark for me. It is a book that I knew I won’t like from the second chapter. I could just tell from all of the eye-roll worthy moments from the very beginning.

Some random thoughts that annoyed me:

~ The whole secret admirer thing added nothing to the story. It was put there for the sake of creating an unnecessary conflict by an unnecessary side plot. It was all so pointless??

~ The way Julian thought or acted was making me feel uncomfortable. Like the way he kept staring at her breasts from the first time he met her, he couldn’t take his eyes away from her breasts, then again after the second, third, and fourth meeting?? I don’t know it just made me feel so uncomfortable the way he was objectifying her like that, specially that there were no connection between them. The way he was obsessed with her breasts the first thing from the first meeting was making me get some creepy uncomfortable vibes from him.

~ The third act conflict was simply STUPID! It made me think that if this has ever happened to me and he just left and refused to talk to me, I’ll just let him be. Like fine go be a child because where’s the freakin problem??

The whole book and the main characters really annoyed me. It was all just so eye-roll worthy, unfortunately. I loved it happened one summer and I hoped this would be as good, but it’s not. At least for me.

Huge Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy. I wish I could’ve loved it more.

Tropes:/topics: men’s mental health, kind of grumpy sunshine, opposites attract, virgin, jealous of another guy who is in love with Hallie (not really a love triangle but she doesn’t feel the same towards the guy)

Quotes to convince you to read:
🌷“You need control and punctuality. I’m like a leaf blower to those things.”
⛈️ “Why would she admire someone who was a rainstorm compared to her sunshine.”
☀️ “She’s a rare spot of sunshine, and you’re committed to huddling in the shade.”
🔥 “But I can’t do that with you anymore, because you’re worth burning for. You’re worth turning and driving straight into the fire.”


Hallie Welch, a gardener, is an impulsive, tornado whirl wind of a girl who has a had a crush on the same guy for 15 years.

Julian Vos, a professor, is a meticulous stick to the script guy who doesn’t like anything off schedule.

Hallie & Julian almost kissed when she was a freshman & he a senior in high school. She’s been in love with him from a distance ever since. Julian moves home to take a break from school & while staying at his mothers guest house Hallie is the one who gets to revamp the florals outside his home. When Hallie is finished she mentions that it was good to see him again & leaves. Of course, Julian doesn’t remember her.

Julian calls her to help with a gopher hole situation which gives Hallie a way to tell him how they know each other. Of course she agrees to help him because why would she give up an opportunity to see him. But Hallie does have an admirer named Owen who wants a chance with her.

This book has a lot of extra details that i don’t want to spoil for any one but there is lots of wine talk & sabotaging of a new business. It has small town vibes although it’s definitely not a small town. Julian does eventually figure out how they know each other & he feels bad that he didn’t remember right away.

Hallie ends up writing Julian some secret admirer notes & I truly don’t know how he didn’t know it was her after the second one. I’m glad he decided to write her back. Hallie’s friend Lavinia is hilarious & I love their banter.

There’s the right amount of spice/smut & Julian’s fantasies about Hallie while he’s “infatuated”with her are pretty hot. The first sexual scene is *chefs kiss*. I wish we had a little more of them but the book was truly adorable. I cried, smiled & didn’t want to put it down.

Thank you to the publisher Avon, NetGalley & Tessa Bailey for letting me read this right before release day. 🖤

I am really hit or miss with Tessa Bailey and this one was just okay for me. I needed more meat to my story and more character growth. The world building was great, and the small town is on point, but I needed to know more with Hallie and Julian.

This book was a DNF for me. I stopped about 4 or so chapters in. This book is unlike any other Tessa books you'd normally read. I didn't care for the main characters and it was just a bit dorky if you ask me.

You know reading about secret admirer letters makes me wonder whether people find them cute, creepy or a mix of things? I think it ptobably depends on the scenario and perhaps the content of the letter? I'd also think it depends on the preferences of the recipient - kinda like Ted Mosby's Dobler-Dalmer theory(how you feel about the other person might make the same actions cute or creepy) on HIMYM, but when it's anonymous would one judge it based on the content or their preferences?
This came to my mind because I finished reading the ARC of Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey this weekend and it had a really interesting premise that I'd been excited for. I love Tessa Bailey's writing and I totally loved the Bellinger sisters series and many other books of hers, but I have mixed feelings about this one 😂😅

We have Hallie - the chaotic, hot mess who runs a gardening business and her high school crush - Julian, a strait-laced professor who's taken a break to work on his book. He's back at his family's estate(they have a winery) and is trying to work on his book when Hallie comes to work on their garden. Despite being complete opposites he finds himself attracted to her and at the same time he receives a secret admirer letter too(written by Hallie of course).

The writing was amazing as always and so were the characters, but what had me feeling a bit eh was the romance. Both Hallie and Julian are excellent as individual characters - relatable and likable, but I just couldn't see them together. They were just too opposite and I didn't really feel that connection - except for the insta-lust between them, I don't know what Julian liked about her. Similarly, Hallie's unrequited crush(girl's literally been cyber-stalking him for years) was explained but I couldn't see why she kept liking him for so many years?
Also, I was a bit disappointed that the secret admirer thing was just a plot point(they could have turned it into a You've Got Mail scenario and showed us how they fell for each other despite being opposites) but it really didn't add much to the story. The plot outside the romance also kept switching between many points - them trying to save a wine shop owned by her grandma's friend and then trying to help Julian's family business(which was something that he'd stayed away from after his dad has berated him for not being capable enough to run it due to his anxiety)

Another weird part was that third act conflict - like I understand why it happened but at the same time I didn't understand why it had to happen🤣 like a simple conversation would have solved it and it did later, but it felt so redundant. Anyway, I enjoyed some parts but I didn't love all of it. You might like it though if you're looking for an opposites-attract romance mixed with some unrequited love that's set in wine country! I'll still be reading Natalie's book because I'm getting such good hate-to-love vibes. Fingers crossed I like that one more!🤞