I really enjoyed this opposites attract second chance romantic comedy.

Hallie first had a crush on Julian and tried to kiss him when they are teenagers. Now, she found out he is back in the small California wine town where they grew up and she wants a second chance.

Julian is all structure and control where as Hallie is sunshine and chaos. They perfectly foil each other and their contrasting personalities made for some very funny moments.

This story was the perfect mix of sweet and spicy. Julian and Hallie had amazing banter and tension. I also enjoyed the story being set on the winery. I really enjoyed this story and characters. I can't wait for the next book to release!

This might be my first book by this author (if I have read another, it's been a while) but I will be checking out more! It was sweet, funny and lighthearted, but also dealt with some real issues!

Hallie Welch is a hurricane of a personality! Her life is a bit chaotic, she's unorganized and cannot keep to a schedule. She's well loved by everyone and is a gardener by trade. She has had a serious crush on Julian Vos, of Vos Wineries, since she was a freshman in high school and he was a senior. She hears Julian is back in town and she doesn't know whether to jump for joy or hide.

Julian has had a successful career as a professor, but when a coworker has a bit of a breakdown, he decides it's time to take a break. He returns home and lives in his mother's guesthouse to work on a book. He plans his day to the second. Since a family tragedy several years ago, followed by a panic attack, the planning makes him feel in control.

Then Hallie is working on the grounds near his guesthouse. One glimpse of her and he is smitten. As he starts to fall, his planning and scheduling falls by the wayside and his life becomes a bit chaotic as well.

This is a sweet (with a little steam) story that shows learning to love yourself, dealing with loss, and mental health issues.

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

Thanks #NetGalley for the advanced copy of #SecretlyYours by Tessa Bailey in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest and Tessa Bailey's books are hit or miss with me and this one falls into the "Hit" category. There were times that I didn't like the heroine's actions but in the end I was rooting for these two to end up together. I loved seeing Hallie's arc unfold as she figured out who she was since her grandmother passed away. But as much as I loved Hallie's arc, Julian's arc is what made this book a hit for me. I was a little worried that this was going to be one of those books where the sex makes all the mental health issues go away and there is a little bit of this but even more, the reader gets to see Julian learn to love himself through his "weaknesses" and we see him realize the need to seek help for his anxiety. The last chapter really pulled it all together beautifully.

I think I’m still in shock that I got this ARC. Tessa Bailey is one of my favorite authors and I love everything she writes. This one was no different.
I enjoyed Hallie’s character, she was fun and quirky but she was obviously going through something after the lose of her grandmother.
Julian was 🔥 or maybe it was just his mouth. Im not really sure. Either way he was a great character. His struggles were more evident than Hallie’s and I really appreciated the focus and importance of mental health in this book.
Hallie is a fabulous gardener living in Napa Valley trying to figure out where exactly she belongs after the death of her beloved grandmother.
Julian has some home to his family vineyard after being away for 4 years after a traumatic experience.
When Hallie and Julian come face to face her crush on him from high school on grows stronger, however he can’t remember her at all, yikes!
This is a lovely, heartwarming and spicy romance. Now I need Natalie and that sexy ex-navy seal’s book!

I understand where the author was trying to go with the plot line but the execution wasn’t amazing. I found the main character, Hallie, a little too childish and annoying. I get she’s suppose to be the complete opposite of the love interest, Julian, but I think it could’ve been done without making Hallie a 29 year old virgin who has been pining for the same guy for 15 years after she’s had one conversation with him in the middle of a party. I did like Julian a lot and thought his character had a lot of depth. It’s still a cute book with smutty scenes that screams classic Tessa Bailey. I would recommend Secretly Yours if you like cheesy, fluffy, romance novels with a glass of wine.

I’ve loved all the Tessa Bailey books I’ve read thus far, but I just wasn’t super invested in these main characters. Especially odd after this long of a book. There was some solid spice and slow burn action. I just felt like the same things were said over and over and over, and I eventually got worn out and skimmed through to the end.

Secretly Yours was a cute and spicy book. I would say it was a typical Tessa Bailey book in terms of spice. Hallie is a very quirky character while Julian likes clean, order, and control. They are completely different in so many ways yet compliment each other so well. I liked how although they were so unique there were parts of each of them that I found to be very relatable. My favorite parts of this book was how in their own ways they went out of the way for one another with their actions. I feel like in many books the MMC will say a lot, be protective but doesn't always show it. In this book actions spoke as loud, if not louder than the words they spoke. My least favorite part of this book was the letters. I honestly did not feel like they were needed. I would rather have heard more about Corked, or them building their relationship in other ways. I think they could have shown a deeper or more in depth connection of how the two opposites attracted. This is probably rated in the middle of the Tessa Bailey books I have read. I still liked It Happened One Summer, and Hook Like and Sinker better, as those are some of my all time favorite books, but I still enjoyed this book and am curious to read about Natalie in the next book. I also wouldn't mind Owen getting a HEA.

Thanks Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the free ARC.

This was my first Tessa Bailey book and overall I really enjoyed this book. Julian and Hallie are opposites and second change couple. Hallie is the type to fly by the seat of her pants and is very carefree. Julian likes his routines and strict schedules. Julian falls for Hallie fast and will do anything to make her smile. This was a sweet small town romance with some good spice. I rated it 3.75 stars and 2 spice.

I’ve read 5 of Tessa Bailey’s book, and I don’t think this one is my favorite. It all just felt too rushed between Hallie and Julian. this is an opposites attract romance but it felt too rushed and I didn’t really connect with the characters.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. I tried desperately to get into the story but it all kind of felt ridiculous. The story line was a bit uninteresting and the characters were nothing special. I’m just a tad bit disappointed

n Tessa Bailey's newest book, Secretly Yours, Hallie Welch runs her own gardening company in the small town she (mostly) grew up in. Hallie's life is somewhat a mess and full of chaos, so her long standing crush on the upstanding and predictable Julian Vos doesn't make sense. She's had thing for him since she was 14, but the feelings weren't returned. She doesn't know what to expect when he turns up back in town to work on his novel, but getting drunk and writing him a secret admirer letter is where she ends up. Meanwhile, she wrangles herself a job redoing the gardens at his family vineyard and the two find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other despite their differences. Through their unlikely friendship in real life and their anonymous one on paper, can Hallie and Julian heal from their past and embrace a different future?

There are a lot of tropes at play in this steamy romcom- a bit grumpy-sunshine, secret admirer, opposite attract, miscommunication, and second chance romance all in a small wine town setting. I really wanted to love this book. The wine country setting intrigued and I loved seeing Hallie owning her own business. However, the plot just didn't do it for me. I didn't really like how the letters would used. They seemed to be there to create drama that was unnecessary in my opinion and led to a frustrating final conflict.

I also found some of the dialogue made me cringe. I should know by now that the steam scenes in Bailey's work probably aren't for me. I had the same response to It Happened One Summer, though I overall enjoyed that book. Some of what Julian said was just bleh and came out of nowhere because it didn't match his personality in the entire rest of the book. It seemed out of character which made it feel forced.

Overall, I think I may be in a minority on this one. It wasn't for me, but it could be for you! It publishes February 7th, just in time for Valentine's Day if reading romance is in your plans!

Girl and boy share an almost-kiss back in high school. Boy completely forgets about it, girl spends the next fifteen years daydreaming about it. Then boy shows up back in town. Despite their completely opposite nature - he's anxious and driven by schedules, she's wild and impulsive and chaotic - they can't stay away from each other.

Does anybody else find it interesting how romance books have really similar pacing? I can think of SO many books across multiple authors and romance sub-genres (contemporary, historical) that follow a similar plot structure. For example:
10% mark: the main leads meet and have sort of physical attraction that starts to build
45% mark: first physical event (usually a kiss that gets interrupted)
75% mark: expressing love/devotion to each other; usually a big physical culmination (cough cough, they bang)
80% mark: some unnecessary conflict (miscommunication, secrets, etc.)
100% mark: happily ever after

Does this kind of pacing get old? Sometimes, but usually it doesn’t bother me too much as long as the plot isn’t too ridiculous and the characters are entertaining. <I>Secretly Yours</I> definitely had the latter, but the 80% mark conflict felt particularly silly. IMO miscommunication as a romance trope is already over-used, but felt really blown out of proportion here, and left me finishing <I>Secretly Yours</I> slightly annoyed.

That being said, Bailey knows how to write romantic tension and spicy dialogue. For this reason alone, I’ll keep reading her contemporary romances. I’d probably recommend the <I>Bellinger Sisters</I> series over <I>A Vine Mess</I> for better pacing and characters, but I’ve been entertained by both.

I voluntarily obtained an eBook version of this book free from Netgalley and Avon in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/5 ⭐️

Tessa is Queen and nothing will ever change my mind on this.

Secretly yours had a fast moving plot, and I'll chalk that up to the fact this was a 2nd chance romance. So cute! The MMC anexity was delt with in a good way, especially at the end of the book. TW for wildfires, if you were in Tubbs/any of the fires in 17/18/19 this might be a little triggering.

When opposites attract, my favorite HEAs happen.

Wildly-out-of-control Hallie Welch has been hung up on strict-schedule Julian Vos since high school. She has followed his career and when he returns to their home town, she is cautiously excited to see him again. They re-meet while Hallie is working on the garden in front of his place and learn all about one another. Can these two find a common ground to find love with each other?

Thank you to Tessa Bailey, Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm such a Tessa Bailey fan but I have to say that this one did not live up to my expectations.

Now those expectations were super high given her two latest releases which I absolutely adored but I just couldn't get into this story and didn't care for the characters to continue.

Unfortunately, I think this was a result of the first chapter. I was kind of lost with Hallie's rant about the new wine store. I'm sure the story would circle back to this issue but I just found it boring and not a great opener.

Even if I can't initially get into a story, I'll stick with it if I fall for the characters. But again, unfortunately, I just couldn't connect with either character and didn't care to see where things went with either of them.

It was hard to buy into and understand the torch Hallie was holding onto for Julian for so long when it seemed very childish and without much substance given the slight non-kiss. Maybe there was more to their connection then but I wasn't seeing it nor cared to learn more.

While I was intrigued by Julian's OCD-like behavior and issues with anxiety, it wasn't enough to sustain my interest. His immediate reactions to seeing Hallie work outside his window felt forced and odd.

I'll forever read Bailey's new releases but this one just wasn't a hit for me.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

It truly pains me to write this review, this was a highly anticipated book for me and i had high hopes for it so when I received it the other day for an arc I was bouncing off the walls about it. Until I finished the first chapter and realized there was no shot I was going to like the book. However I kept on reading, stopping myself from DNFing multiple times until I hit about 60% and had to start skimming because I was just really over it.

I want to state that this book quite literally put me to sleep multiple times.. 😬

I liked Hallie and Julian as separate people however together they were just.. not it. The book itself felt way too all over the place and lacked any real structure. Everything felt either extremely forced or extremely weird. (Especially the spicy times)

There were some really cute or funny moments during the book which is why I gave it two stars instead of one. But all in all this book was a let down for me and I hate that because I adore Tessa Bailey, I’m still going to give Natalies story a shot when it is released so hopefully her story will be better suited for me 🤞🏼

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for my e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Tessa Bailey is a hit or miss author for me. I really loved her Bellinger Sisters series. This book is sadly another miss for me. The plot felt all over the place. There's the anonymous love letters and the rival wine stores; but neither of these plot points feel well thought out or executed. The relationship felt way too rushed on Julian's side; Hallie at least had a lifelong crush on him so it made sense why she had feelings.

Hallie also is supposed to be 29 years old, but she is very immature. She comes across very unprofessional. Overall, I didn't connect with either characters. The plot/pacing felt slow and boring. Not even the spice was enough to save this book for me.

This was my first book by Tessa Bailey and now I know she is just not for me. I do love romance books but this felt like that plot was just filler to get from one sex scene to the next. I needed a bit more story to keep me interested. I also didn’t love the dark and brooding man who thinks he’s broken and then is a totally different person in the bedroom. That scares me.

I know these books certainly have an audience. I appreciate getting the chance to test it out but it’s just not my thing.

I will not be doing a full review on my page do to the Harper’s Union strike.

4/5 stars

A spicy little rom com about optimistic Hailee who’s high school crush Julian returns to town and shakes up her life. The chemistry was great, the plot moved quickly and the spice was just right.

A few things that I’m not a fan of that played out pulling it down from a 5 star read
- the Virgin who’s also really into sex, just feels like a bullshit male fantasy and just irks me every time.
- Theres a comment early on that basically implies Hallie had been causally drunk driving (she had to stop the afternoon wine tastings the car keys were in the microwave…) which went against her good girl standing and also just bothers me…


All in all a fun little read, thanks to Net Galley for the arc