The perfect spicy book to get you in the mood for Valentine's day, it has a love at first sight romance, secret admirer and lots of wine. Plus it will make you want to have a wine tasting.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another Tessa Bailey book finished and I’m so happy I gave this a chance! I’m a sucker for a trope where they help each other recognize and overcome their flaws, so I loved Julian and Hallie’s relationship.

This is set in Napa and the small town/wine country vibes was a nice touch and made the book feel very homey. It almost feels like you’re a part of their little community.

As far as the main characters themselves, Hallie is chaos and Julian is all stiff schedules and no funny business. They theoretically shouldn’t work as a couple, but the progress they make was lovely to read. The spice is also an added bonus, just sayin’.

I also loved that grief and mental health were some topics that Tessa incorporated. As an anxious girly, it’s refreshing seeing more “real world” issues included in romance books.

Overall, I do think this was a quick and fun read and I’ll definitely be checking out the next book!

In true Tessa Bailey form I loved this book. We have Hallie who is such a free spirit (hella cliche, but so what), she’s flighty and a go with the flow, she runs a cute little landscaping business that once’s was owned by her grandma who recently passed away, then we meet Julian who is her crush of many years, and he’s back in town. Julian is the opposite, he likes order and everything has to be planned. But when he meets her, he can’t seem to get away from her, he likes all of these things about her, but she’s throwing him off. I love how mental health is represented in this book especially in Julian and also a little in Hallie. I will say this, Julian is not what I expected when it came to showing Hallie how he really feels, lol. The characters in this book like Hallies best friend and Julian’s sister made me laugh so hard, I can’t stop thinking about them even now that I finished the book.

This book gave me, a ton of humor, amazing romance and steam, funny female characters, amazing mental health representation, WINE, and supporting the community. This book had it all, this is exactly what I needed to read to start off the month of Love. Thanks NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥

🌸Small Town
🌸Second Chance
🌸Grumpy/Sunshine
🌸Opposites Attract

Secretly Yours is the first book in the A Vine Mess series and I am so here for it! I loved this one so much…almost as much as It Happened One Summer! I absolutely adore Hallie! She is a fun FMC that is bubbly, funny and a chaotic mess. And she has been in love with Julian since she was a teenager. So when he comes back to town she calls up his mom and lands herself a job at their home! Julian is working on his writing, sticks to a strict schedule and the last thing he wants is a distraction in the way of a chaotic gardener. And the mouth on this man…holy heck! Was not excepting that from him! These two are so opposite and the banter between them is everything! I live for this kind of banter! They are perfect for each other in every way!

Thank you to Netgalley, Tessa Bailey and Avon and Harper Voyager for the arc copy! I loved Hallie and Julian’s story I can’t wait for Natalie’s and more of this fantastic world!

Tessa Bailey writes perfect romances, to me. And this one ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I love how her characters evolve and we, the readers, get to see them evolve and learn, etc, the perfect amount of miscommunication and communication, engage in excellent, sex scenes (or fantasies), that are laugh out old funny along with being very, very nicely spicy, and we get to read about the fall into love. To me, a Tessa Bailey book is one I already know I’m going to really enjoy.

I adored Secretly Yours, and ’m so glad that this is the first book in a new series because I’m already looking forward to reading Natalie and August‘s story next!

📖recommendation 📖



Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the DRC!

I’ve enjoyed many of Tessa’s books, but this might be the first one I’ve read where I truly related to the main couple. The put together and sometimes uptight Julian returns home to his family’s vineyard, years after a fire. He’s put himself into a self-imposed purgatory thanks to a mistake that happened years ago.

Hallie is mourning the loss of her beloved grandmother and almost spiraling without her guidance. When Hallie is asked to do some gardening at the vineyard, it puts her directly into Julian’s path. And she has long held a crush for Julian.

This steamy book really gives a satisfying and surprisingly deep romance between two polar opposite individuals who are both hunting and desperately seeking stability and solace.

I highly recommend and hope to read the second installment ASAP!

This is the first Tessa Bailey book I’ve read and if this is what the rest of her books are like, I don’t think I’m interested in reading further. Spoilers ahead.

Starting with the positives:
- Julian and Hallie did have chemistry

- The first sexual scene is one of the hottest things I’ve read and the rest of the other scenes were pretty well written.

- Hallie is plus-sized, or at least that's how I understood it. It is a con that this wasn't blatant though.

The negatives:
- First, UNCORKED being in all caps really drove me nuts. Also, the whole setup of Hallie being a blatant menace was very unrealistic and I just rolled my eyes. (Did anyone else catch that there wasn’t a lot wrapped up at the end either? I thought we were going to have a whole thing about how the town planning committee fucked up/got bribed etc.)

- I wish more care was put into all the other scenes instead of just the sex scenes. I thought this was a debut novel until I remembered who it was by. I love well-written sex scenes but it just doesn’t feel right to have that be the only well-written part.

- At first I thought Hallie was a pick-me, but then she just ended up being a borderline stalker with a ridiculous amount of immaturity.

- The second sex scene was hot until OF COURSE Julian had to be able to tell just by feeling that Hallie was a virgin.. And then went on a weird inner monologue about being her first and it just gave me the ick.

- The ending was overall rushed, a lot of things between the two were not resolved. Ending actions weren’t really explained?

I dunno, this had potential but really just fell flat and I’m surprised that something like this came from an author a lot of people praise so often.

A rom com set in Napa is an immediately yes for me. Bailey does a great job writing characters who are polar opposites. I enjoyed that one of the MCs had anxiety issues - I love that authors are normalizing mental health more and more. There was definitely some unnecessary drama and a bit of a miscommunication towards the end which knocked this one down a bit for me. I'm so glad bookstagram introduced me to Tessa Bailey!

"That butt had aged like a Cabernet. Full-bodied and - she assumed - delicious."

Thank you NeGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the eARC of Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey!

Tessa Bailey is one of my auto-buy authors. I have yet to be disappointed by a Tessa Bailey book and I'm happy to report, that streak is still going strong!

I absolutely loved the setting and found myself dreaming of sitting on my porch sipping a glass of wine - if only it wasn't negative temps outside! Hallie Welch is an adorable FMC that is also a badass business owner. I found myself drawn to her personality and as a result loved her relationship with Julian.

And you guys as someone who struggles with panic attacks and OCD, I freaking LOVED Julian. It was sooooo refreshing reading a MMC that wasn't super strong with zero flaws but was actually a human dealing with some actual challenges. It made him so relatable.

But don't worry, in true Tessa Bailey style, he could dirty talk with the best of them!

This book is definitely worth the read, especially if you like:
Grumpy x Sunshine Trope
Small Town Settings
Dual POV
Second Chance Romance
Opposites Attract
This book did have a couple of open-door scenes so if that isn't your thing, you've been warned, but the plot remained the focus of the story and this *felt* like one of Tessa's more tame books!

Loved the main character. So spunky and impulsive and passionate. This was a fun book to read. Entertaining and interesting enough to keep the pages turning !

My full review and star rating will be withheld until HarperCollins Publishers reaches an agreement with HarperCollins Union. At that time my review will be updated with all my thoughts included.

Tessa Bailey is one of a kind! I have been enjoying her romance novels for year and think they keep getting better and better. If you're looking for an adorable romcom to read for Valentines day then pick up Secretly Yours! You can't go wrong with it!

Grumpy, regimented, master-of-lists-and-schedules college professor meets a sunshiny, impulsive, disorganized gardener when Hallie Welch is hired to beautify the grounds outside the guest house of the Vos estate where Julian Vos is making his temporary home. Except this isn’t the first time they've met, and Hallie has been enamored with Julian since they were teenagers.

As opposite as two people can possibly be, it doesn’t look like Hallie stands a chance. And just when it seems Julian might be warming up to her, despite his best efforts, he starts getting notes from a secret admirer, which further complicates and confuses things.

I wondered what all the hubbub was about since I see this author's books talked about repeatedly in social media groups, so I thought I’d give it a shot. The writing is terrific, and I love the storyline and characters. My only critique comes from me being an impatient reader, so the repetitive contemplation and introspection added little. I found myself skimming through paragraphs to get the action and dialog.

I can definitely see why this talented lady's work is so popular. Bringing two such opposite characters together while having them learn and grow along the way takes a skilled, careful hand, and I loved Julian and Hallie's story!

Julian and Hallie were total opposites but couldn’t control their magnetic pull they had toward each other. They both have their flaws and hurts but it seemed that when they were with each other everything was better. They go through their doubts of being right for each other. Will they both conquer their fears for their own fairy tale before it’s too late.
Tessa did a wonderful job with Julian and Hallie being put together in places to get to know each other. Love the scenes when she is gardening and he is trying to work. Their banter and meet ups were cute and enjoyable. We see Julian’s softer side by how protective he is of Hallie. Some of the racier parts were not for me and that is why this would be 3.5 stars for me.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this for my honest opinion.

This book was amazing and the character development was also amazing. I always enjoy Tessa Bailey's writing and her dirty talk, and this book didn’t disappoint. I loved how loose and chaotic the heroine was and how buttoned up the hero was. It was great seeing how they changed throughout the book. Something I wasn’t expecting to see but loved was that the heroine had three dogs.

So funny, sweet, medium spice. This had me grinning from ear to ear! Maybe not my favorite of hers, but a great romcom to escape into and the Napa setting and cast of quirky characters makes it all the more fun. Releases February 7th and the Target edition will have a bonus chapter with the couple from It Happened One Summer so I’ll need to own that for sure!

When Hallie Welch’s teenage crush, Julian Vos, returns on sabbatical from his job as an Ivy League professor, it’s the first time they’ve seen each other in fifteen years and he doesn’t remember her. At all. Which is devastating to Hallie because they had once had an almost kiss and now it seems they couldn’t be more different even if they were doing it on purpose. She’s chaos that falls together into something that actually works and he’s time-tables, lifeplans, and minute organization. Drunk one night, Hallie decides in typical chaotic fashion to write him a secret admirer letter, and once she remembers what she’s done, it’s too late to take back. Julian finds her absolutely infuriating, yet he cannot seem to stay away from her. Time seems to stop when she’s around, and time never stops for him. Plus, they just really don’t work on paper. Not everything can be determined by timetables, charts, and paper though, and what shouldn’t make any sense sometimes makes perfect sense.

For me this novel really focuses on time–what we do with it. Not the ways in which we plan it or waste it, but rather in how we use it and enjoy it. There’s no right answer to how things have to be done.

The idea of Hallie writing a drunken secret admirer letter is so Hallie and sweet. It also lets Julian be seen through someone else’s eyes. I don’t have to tell you just how necessary that is for him–and for all of us. We can’t just get stuck in our heads or else we will constantly feel like time is getting away from us and that we’re not good enough. An outside perspective is just what is needed, and anonymity allows us to say the things we might never have the courage to otherwise.

This book was sweet and comical, but it was also extremely hot (don’t let the pink cover fool you). It also made me feel good about myself in a way I hadn’t really in a long time. There are no right answers–except that there is to be written in the same setting/series. That’s definitely the perfect answer.

I loved the Bellinger sisters series, but this one just did not do it for me. I don’t like the "touch her and you die" trope - ESPECIALLY when their relationship isn't even established yet. Like what?? It also dragged for me and the secret admirer letters was a weird/juvenile storyline. And then for him to get so upset about it? I know the MMC has mental health issues (anxiety and who knows what else?), but he gave me the ick. They don't really even address it - just chalk it up to extreme anxiety but don't provide any help. Weird.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyage for the ARC! I really enjoyed this book! The romance was spicy & the characters were great! I especially loved how they normalized the importance of a man’s mental health!

** Thanks for NetGalley and Tessa Bailey for an eArc of this book! **

I really enjoyed this book, but I will say that it wasn't nearly as emotional as other Tessa Bailey titles. While I was attached to Hallie and Julian and rooting for them, my heartstrings weren't pulled any which way. I felt like the anxiety / mental health rep here was really well done. I think my main complaint was the letters - there either needed to be more of them, or none at all. The amount felt like too few for them to be the main driving point for the plot.

Overall, time well spent, and I will read the rest of the series, because I like the way Bailey ties her characters together.

Recommend for readers who liked Bailey's other series, Jasmine Guillory, or Alyssa Cole.