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

You know a book is gonna be a doozy when you can’t stop picturing the hero as Niles Crane from the 90s sitcom, Frasier #notsexy. Needless to say this was another DNF for me, dog. 2023 is the year of the DNF.

Hallie is a gardener in Napa with seemingly no frontal lobe. She acts impulsive, irresponsible, and immature. It’s like 30 going on 13. She brings her annoying dogs everywhere and has no ability to control them (audacious)- listen bitch not everyone likes a dog. She’s also a virgin and writes Julian secret admirer letters that make me think she is for sure going to make a skin suit out of him.

Julian is a buttoned up Sanford professor who must be rigid and obsessively timely to control his anxiety. His attitude about his anxiety is so archaic, like send the hysterical lady to the seashore archaic. Dude- get some meds and therapy and live your life.

These two dingdongs are pretty boring. Hallie is a spaz. Julian is hot for her but can’t understand why. She writes him anon love letters. He writes back even tho he doesn’t know she’s the writer which is sorta shady. I didn’t even make it to the point of him devirginizing her, but the first hookup of theirs was so cringy…Julian’s dirty talk literally mentions Hallie’s dirty knees and then he tells about scheduling masturbating to her on his daily calendar #timliness.

This book wasn’t good. I’ve decided I’m not a Tessa Bailey fan. Her characters are cartoonish and unrelatable. The relationship between Hallie and Julian made little sense to me and his immediate possessiveness of her was off putting. I made it 50% of the way into this one, but should have quit sooner. It was boring, the characters were garbage, nothing made sense. Read at your own risk.

Smut- unstageable
Romance- 1 star
Story- 1 star
Niles from Frasier as a love interest- neg 781 stars
Using literal dirt talk as dirty talk- neg 912 stars

This book was a mess for me.
First off, the male main character gave me the ick. The first encounter Julian had with Hailey, the can only focus on her boobs. It’s creepy and very sexist. There are also several times in the book where Julian gets really territorial over Hailey in almost an animal like way that was a total turn off. Finally, his dirty talk was weird and dominating in a very forced and aggressive way. Overall, he was a tough main character to root for because he had all of these red flags.

Now onto Hailey. I appreciated the author trying to create a messy character that was sunshine on the outside but battling things inside. But for me, this just didn’t work. Hailey was really immature for her age. She was cyber stalking Juliane, committing childish pranks, and overall a total mess. She felt like a sterotype and not an actual person.

Overall this book just did not work for me and it was a rough read.

Secretly Yours is the first book in the A Vine Mess series, but it is still considered a standalone. A small-town, grumpy/sunshine book that revolves around Hallie Welcher, who has had a crush for years on Julian Vos. Their paths crossed again years later when Hallie was hired to patch the Vos estate. Knowing full well they are extreme opposites; they are still drawn to each other. One drunken night, Hallie did something reckless by leaving a secret admirer letter for Julian. As they insert themselves into the other’s personal and professional problems, along with the private letters, they begin to realize specific characteristics about themselves they tend to ignore… as well as strong feelings for each other.

If you’re expecting something as lighthearted and amusing as the Bellinger Sisters series (especially It Happened one Summer), this is nothing like that. There are fun moments in this book too, but it felt a bit more subdued than her recently released books. I like that both our main characters have an equal focus in this book and don’t feel one-dimensional. I like their opposite personalities; it works well for the plot of this book. I also love their thoughts and process as they realize their tendencies to significantly impact their lives and take the courage to change themselves for their betterment. I didn’t like the horny thoughts though. I would have preferred less of it in certain scenes in the book; it felt unnecessary.

I do enjoy how much impact they make on each other, which leads to positive character development. It’s something I look for in romance books, and this book delivers.

Thank you, NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"If you can’t hold still….. make it count.”
"You want me to-“
"Touch yourself. Yes. It’s only fair, since I’ve been fucking my hand on a regular basis since you started working outside my window.”

This book started out pretty slow for me. As much as the characters interested me I found the pacing slow and kind of boring. Then it all picked up about a little less than halfway through from that scene I quoted! Hallie has had a crush on Julian for over ten years. It was infatuation but when he comes back to his family’s winery in need of a desperate break, she gets to know who he really is as a person and just falls harder. I really enjoyed all those scenes where Hallie is hired and works for the Vos’s estate. It was fun reading how Julian is just enrapture by her. He can’t help but follow her wherever she goes. He finds her so freeing while he lives by schedules. Now I got to talk about those steamy scenes! You would not think with Julian being so stuffy and time managing that he would be such a dirty talker! The things that come out of his mouth! 🔥🔥🔥 This is the first book in the new series and I can’t wait to read the second book featuring Julian’s sister, Natalie!

Read if you like:
3rd person Dual POVs
Small town romance
Vineyard romance
Opposites attract
Forced proximity
Professor hero
Virgin romance
Dirty talk hero
Open door romance
Pen pals

Secretly Yours is an opposites-attract rom-com, grumpy/sunshine. Hallie has had a crush on Julian since high school. When Julian returns to their small town, she decides it is her chance to see if it's more than just a crush. As Hallie and Julian figure out their feelings for each other and how they can make it work, we get a lot of laughs. I loved how protective Julian was of Hallie and how he always came to her rescue.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

(3.5⭐️) This is my fourth Tessa Bailey read, and as per usual, I am definitely not disappointed! From past reads, it’s clear that she excels at writing romances with the perfect mix of comedic charm and profound language.

Although this was not my favorite of her books, I really enjoyed the small town atmosphere and the unique occupations of the main characters — it made the story blend together smoothly, but certainly added to my interest in Hallie and Julian’s connection. They were both likable characters that had very fleshed out backstories, which I appreciated, especially in a rom-com such as this one! However, I didn’t care as much for the side conflict with the vineyard. I found myself wanting all the pages to focus on the main couple, which is a testament to how much I liked their chemistry!


Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins, and Tessa Bailey for an eARC in exchange for an honest review :)

Secretly Yours is book 1 of the A Vine Mess series by Tessa Bailey. It is a rom-com told from both points of view with a happy ending.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
✔️ small town
✔️ grumpy / sunshine
✔️ unrequited love / secret admirer

Hallie Welch has had a crush on Julian Vos since she was a teen. Now that Professor Vos is back, staying at his family’s winery for a writing sabbatical, she’s thrilled to be able to beautify the estate’s gardens and perhaps get a chance to interact with Julian.

Julian though, has no patience for Hallie’s noisy, bumbling disruption to his very structured and precise work ethic, or does he? Her joyful presence is magnetic and he can’t seem to stay away from her cheerful chaos, especially once he remembers their almost kiss.

This was a cute opposites attract rom-com. The blurb led me to believe the letters would play a more prominent role in the plot, which was ok, but I did I have some trouble connecting with Hallie who was bit too stalker-y/obsessed with Julian.

Although her chaotic, all over the place personality was the perfect opposite to Julian’s need for control. I did enjoy the initial tension between them and all the shenanigans Hallie was doing to try to save her grandmother’s friend’s failing winery.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Harper Voyager for the ARC of this!

I think I just might be obsessed with Tessa Bailey’s writing. I absolutely loved this. The anxiety-rep, the needs-everything-just-so and the tornado-of-energy-and-spontaneity, the backstory, the fact that he just worships her body, the dirty talk, this was so good from start to finish. I was almost immediately invested and like tearing up at the emotional bits. I’m so excited there’s going to be more in this series so soon!

4.5 stars

Another winner from Tessa Bailey! I really loved Hallie and Julian’s story. These two could not be any more different but they just worked. It took a while for them to figure it out but it was so fun witnessing all the banter and frustrations between these two.

When Hallie was fourteen, she had the biggest crush on Julian, and now fifteen years later with Julian back in their small town, she realizes her feelings had never really gone away. Julian doesn’t quite remember her at the beginning, which breaks Hallie’s heart, but when he realized they had met before, he was determined to find out how. With Hallie hired to plant flowers on his family’s property, these two are in contact with each other. Julian can’t figure out his attraction to this chaotic, bubbly, sunshiny free spirit. With his anxiety, he needs order, structure, and a regimented schedule, but something about this woman lessens his anxiety and all he wants is to make sure she is always happy. The chemistry between these two is strong so I anxiously waited for them to finally give in to their attraction. The dirty talk that came out of this uptight professor was pleasantly surprising. I’m not quite sure how I feel about the secret admirer letter plot and thinking of all the problems it could cause had me bracing, but in the end, I was happy.

Overall, Hallie and Julian’s story was sweet and fun with some spice mixed in. I also really liked the dual POV to see what really made these two tick. I am definitely looking forward to more in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.