Personally, I loved this new novel from Tessa Bailey. It was fun to enter into a “new world” and meet a new cast of characters after the pleasure of the “It Happened One Summer” duopoly.

We won’t be bringing this into our store as we have trouble selling inventory of seasonal/holiday based stories but I have no doubt this title will do well!

Let me say this up front: I love Tessa Bailey and will ALWAYS love Tessa Bailey. She is an absolute goddess of romance, and I will buy every single book she puts out. That being said....

I had some issues with this one. The premise is simple: Hallie is a nutty florist who has had a crush on Julian Vos since the 9th grade. He was a senior, so he didn't want to date her. Well, fifteen years later, Professor Julian comes back to Napa for a much-needed break, and to help his family's vineyard. The two MCs meet again, and once he remembers who she is, start a hot fling. In between this, Hallie has been putting anonymous secret admirer letters to Julian in the trunk of a tree. These letters quickly turn philosophical, and of course, they have an HEA.

I have no issue with the story. The plot was fun and interesting. I love the idea of a professor and a florist. Here's the main problems I had:

1. Hallie was absolutely ridiculous. Hallie acted like a 14-year-old throughout the entire book. Seriously. And she's 29! It's one thing to be adorably quirky, but it's another thing all together to be super immature and crazy. She literally made me cringe. I can see what Tessa was going for; an adorable, messy florist and a strict, anxious professor. However, it was like she made Hallie a giant caricature. It was grating. I think Bailey was going for a screwball-comedy type vibe, but it just didn't work to me. She was reduced to an immature stereotype. I couldn't stand Hallie from the first page. She definitely didn't deserve Julian.

2. The secret admirer letters were an obvious attempt to show that even though Hallie and Julian are complete opposites, they still connect over more than just sex. It was so obvious that it was like being beat over the head with "These two are complete opposites, but look! They connect on a deeper level!" And already knowing how immature Hallie is, her letters to him sound way too intelligent. And Hallie's backstory isn't really explained, either. Not enough, at least, to understand why she is the way she is. The letters were completely unnecessary to the story.


Now on to the few things I liked:

1. The storyline (minus the secret admirer letters).. I loved the IDEA of a quirky florist and a starchy professor having sexual tension and then finding their HEA. Napa as the setting was an interesting, unique choice for a location. With more three-dimensional characters, the plot would've been a home run.

2. Julian. JULIAN.. What can I say about Julian? Bailey writes the hottest dirty-talkers better than any romance novelist I've ever read. There were quite a few lines from him that had me fanning myself. Whoa. If you have a thing for grumpy, starchy MMCs, you'll love him. I loved Julian's story, too. He's a history professor at Stanford who has really, really bad anxiety, and because of this, has structured his life with strict timetables that he has to follow. Julian seems to have some form of obsessive compulsive disorder because of this. His backstory is also unique, as is his family and their dynamics. The entire time I was reading, I just kept wishing he had a better love interest. He truly deserved more. However, because Tessa Bailey wrote this book, he will still go down as a 2023 Book Boyfriend, because WOW, can she write a sexy MMC.

It boils down to this, though: you either love Hallie or you don't. The secret admirer letters and Hallie are the only reasons I'm giving this book 3 stars. Otherwise, it would have easily been a 5-star. And as I've stated before, I will buy and read anything Tessa Bailey puts out. She's amazing and I can't wait to read her next one.

I am so torn! First: I L O V E Tessa Bailey. Period. Second: I wasn't super feeling this one. I think the problem is that I have set the bar SO HIGH for Tessa Bailey, that this one fell short. Another problem could be that there were several things in this book that are not my cup of tea- no matter who writes them.

A drive-by summary:
Hallie is a rainbow tornado. Her smile brightens any room she walks into and then she leaves it messy. She is unapologetic in her chaos and can make fun of herself. She has been harboring a crush for fifteen years-- that's right, read that again-- 15 years! for the Julian Vos, eldest son of the vineyard royal family turned Stanford professor. After 4 years away from home, Julian is back to hunker down and write his book. He is ruthlessly regimented and never deviates from a plan or schedule. That is, until Hallie is hired to redo the garden bed in his guest house. They become friends who are desperately attracted to each other, which only gets complicated when she writes him a secret admirer letter on drunken evening.

I liked Hallie and Julian's banter and interactions, what I wasn't a fan of were the circumstances surrounding the story. The secret admirer thing was fun at first and then I think dragged the story down. The whole time, it felt like it was an easy thing to fix (on Hallie's part). Harboring a crush for 15 years is....oof! I wouldn't have minded if she still went out and tried to find another romantic connection. But this was NOT the case. Hence, this was a personal peeve of mine.

Was it well written? yes
Did it have the typical Bailey humor we all love? YES
Did we have a dirty talking hero? Hell to the yeah
Was it my favorite? Nope.

Now, I am SO SO looking forward to reading the sister's story. She was funny and just came alive on the pages. Even the short interactions we got of her and August was enough to have me running to read it when it comes out.

Thank you #NetGalley and for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Oh wow, I loved this book. Tessa Bailey is one of my new favorite authors. I love how she builds her characters, and, of course, the spice. This is the prequel to Unfortunately Yours, which I inadvertently read first, so I was familiar with the characters. It was awesome to learn more about Hallie and Julian, and to get even more backstory for Natalie and August.

Free-spirited florist Hallie is the perfect foil to uptight professor Julian, and it doesn't hurt that Hallie has had a crush on Julian since high school. Of course, both Hallie and Julian have some issues they need to iron out, but this second chance romance hits all the marks for me.

I recommend reading this first before Unfortunately Yours, because, trust me, you will want more after Secretly Yours!

This book, like all Tessa Bailey books, was pure magic. The characters were extremely flawed and yet completely lovable, they were characters I rooted for the entire time. It’s the perfect rom-com, and the humor was perfectly timed. I can’t wait to read the 2nd in this new series.

When opposites attract, what does one do when the guy you’ve secretly been pining over for years come back to town? Hallie is a great character who hasn’t been able to let go of the one guy that shouldn’t work but somehow does. Julian finally sees the girl after so many years of being blind. Great story!

Will give feedback and my review when the HCP union gets a fair contract. Thank you so much for the book and can't wait to leave a review in the future.

If there’s a Venn Diagram of contemporary romance readers and watchers of Hallmark movies, Secretly Yours is the perfect book for the fans in the overlap.

On its face, Julian and Hailey’s love story is familiar and comfortable romcom fare: Julian is a grumpy professor home to write a novel and get some personal time for reflection. Hallie is a sweet, scatter-brained girl trying to find her place after a personal loss.

This familiar ground still feels fresh, however, as we see beyond the brave facades of the two characters.

Tessa Bailey writes heroes who struggle with emotional expression exceptionally well, as evidenced in books like It Happened One Summer. Many a grumpy/sunshine or enemies-to-lovers trope will give a cruel or narcissistic undercurrent to the male main character and there isn’t enough groveling in the world to smooth that over. In Secretly Yours, Julian may make mistakes, but he never becomes the kind of man undeserving of Hallie.

Instead, we get to see a stoic, smart, sexy hero who learns to love Hallie and her quirks without trying to change her.

As to be expected in a Tessa Bailey book, Julian Vos is a dirty talk champion. That facet feels well-placed as a part of his character development and not tacked on as fan service. Julian being able to express his baser feelings paves the way to facing the rest of what’s swirling around in his head.

Hallie doesn’t require as much emotional growth as Julian, but she does realize that she deserves to receive love, and give it, on her own terms. Insecurity exists within her, but it was good to see a curvy heroine not obsess about her size as the reason why the hero is messing up.

My sole quibble with the story was the secret admirer letters Hallie leaves Julian. For this to be the complication, both characters were forced to behave rather childishly to something that, in the real world, would be a one minute conversation with a good laugh after. This book could lose the epistolary part without suffering much.

I’d recommend Secretly Yours if you are looking for a breezy contemporary romance or a Hallmark movie-style plot with plenty of spicy times.
___________________________________________
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication Feb 7, 2023.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.75/5
Spice: 🌶️ 1.5/5


Tropes/Topics:
Small Town Romance ✔️
Rom/Com ✔️
Grumpy/Sunshine ✔️
Slow Burn🔥✔️
Opposites Attract ✔️

Hallie fell hard for Julian at 14 & ever since, her heart has belonged to him. Now, he's back in town to focus on writing a novel but it's impossible, when Hallie ( the eccentric & chaotic gardener) is around. Each time, she shows up on his family's vineyard, he feels off kilter. She's his complete opposite yet he can't seem to stop thinking about her. Even when he finds a letter sent by a woman from his past, signed.. Secretly Yours.


H A L L I E:
is my CHAOTIC CURVY QUEEN👸🏼!! & I'm here for it! 🥰 She's 100% my spirit animal & the THINGS that would come out of her mouth & her inner thoughts?! It had me CRACKING UP!
But there were OTHER sides to Hallie as well,.. & those sides were the ones that gave MORE to her character.


J U L I A N
He didn't need STRUCTURE or SCHEDULES. He needed SUPPORT & his FAMILY. I wanted to tell him that he will find someone that would LOVE him, FAULTS & ALL💔 . That all he would need is, to give in to a little mayhem. & when he DID? GAWDDDDD 😩!!! The way he lost his composure just to KISS her?! 🥵
The way he wanted to do ANYTHING just to see her HAPPY?! S W O O N I N G 🥰


H&J
Hallie = CHAOS & Julian = CONTROL
They both KNEW that they were complete opposites & UNDERSTOOD that they DIDN'T make sense, together. But that PULLLLLLL? 🥰

While I enjoyed it & some parts had my heart EXPLODING with JOY.. I felt like it was missing SOMETHING.

What I NEEDED:
- love letters.. (there wasn't enough!) 🥺
- MORE Natalie VOS (Julian's sister had me cackling & I love her ALREADY!)
- AN EPILOGUE!!!


Tessa Bailey had me laughing, giggling AND giddy! Secretly Yours is a SWOONY & SWEET romance with some light S T E A M.

Secretly Yours is the exciting new slow-burning romance from author Tessa Bailey.

Secretly Yours follows the story of Hallie and Julian. Hallie is a bit of a hot mess, trying to find her place in the world, now that her grandma has passed. She gets into a lot of shenanigans, but her heart is in the right place. When the object of her affection, Julian returns to town, he turns her world upside down in more ways than one…

Overall, I thought this book was a really cute read. I loved the premise of it. I loved how over-the-top and messy Hallie was. She has a heart of gold and isn’t afraid to stand up for the things that are most important to her. She is the complete opposite of Julian in every way, but you know what they say, opposites attract 🙂 Julian is a reserved and grumpy professor. He likes to have everything in order and isn’t sure what to make of Hallie. Everything about her should make him want to run in the other direction, but somehow, Hallie pulls him out of his shell and he can’t fight the pull he feels toward her. I adored the slow burn between Julian and Hallie and loved watching the two of them try to figure things out.

As much as I adored this story, I did have a few issues with it. The first one being a personal issue, I still very much struggle with the third-person point of view. It’s not my favorite and is always something that takes me a while to adjust to. My other issue with the story was the pacing. It started off a bit slow in the beginning and the slower pace made it feel like forever before anything happened.

Even though I had a few issues with this story, I still found it to be a delightful read. The characters are full of life and you can’t help but want to get to know them more. This story has entertaining shenanigans and light drama for the most part. But, don’t be fooled, this book has all the spice one would expect from this author. I think this series is off to a great start and I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

First, let me say I literally cried when I got approved to read this one. Tessa is a romance powerhouse and she never lets me down.

I don't want to give anything away about this book but DANG, I was sucked in from the first page and couldn't put it down till I finished reading it at 4:00 am this morning. Julian and Hallie draw you in from the first page with their totally opposite personalities and lives and they don't let you go. Honestly, they may be my second fav couple written by Tessa behind Fox and Hannah. Plus, as someone who loves wine what could be a better novel setting than Napa?

Since I don't wanna give anything away here are some general things I loved about this one
- The character development of both Hallie and Julian. They both had so much to overcome but they did.
- How much I relate to Hallie, (my husband even lovingly (I think) calls me f5)
- How far each character is willing to go for what and who they love.
- Julians possessive side that's only there for Hallie
- Again, the setting of the book. LOVE LOVE LOVE
- Pretty much everything lol

I cannot wait till this comes out so I can pick up a physical copy and annotate tf out of it! 5 out of 5.

Before I started this, I was seated firmly in a rom-com binge era. Afterward, it was brought to a screeching halt because it felt like nothing would top it.

Good lord, do I love when TB gets heartfelt.

I absolutely adored this. I’m not sure if I loved it *quite* as much as Hook, Line & Sinker, but it’s pretty damn close. Hallie & Julian stole my heart SO fast. I loved the depictions of Julian’s mental health. I loved the contrast of his strict order & routine up against her warmth and chaos. But this book really did feel like more than a rom-com to me. It was about healing and learning to trust yourself, to love yourself despite your flaws. To realize that if you can adore the messy parts of someone else, you can certainly learn to love them in yourself.

There was a moment where I found myself head scratching over the 3rd act conflict, but then as it went on, everything actually just made sense. The pacing was perfect. The romance was swoon worthy and touching. And it’s Tessa Bailey, so you know she is going to deliver on the spice. Not to mention, I am completely obsessed with this entire cast of characters. Lavinia’s dry British humor, Natalie’s rough edges, the charming older Lorna and her wine tasting shop. All of this against a stunning backdrop of wine country, and I couldn’t get enough.

In conclusion, I literally read this in less than 24 hours, and I was smiling goofily most of the time. Thank you so so so much to Avon& Harper Voyager for this eArc, I genuinely squealed when I got the approval. Now to begin the countdown to Natalie’s story!!

I DEVOURED this book! It's no secret that I love everything Tessa Bailey writes. But I really, really loved this one.

Julien is an up-tight, play by the schedule, type A personality to a tee. Hallie is a literally human tornado in sunshine and flowers form. It's not secret from the beginning of this book that Julien and Hallie are all kinds of wrong for each other, but that's what made them perfect together. They both force each other out of their own comfort zones, pushing one another to be brave, take risks, and basically grab life by the gonads.

The story was entertaining. I loved the dual POV for this one, and loved reading how they are both being affected in so many different ways by falling back into each others lives as adults. The witty and sassy banter was hilarious, and the spice was spicy. But I expect nothing less from Tessa Bailey.

Julien Vos can literally wine and dine me any day. Already added him to my newest book boyfriend obsession after finishing this book.

A huge, huge thank you to NetGalley and Avon or Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Secretly Yours is set to release on February 7, 2023!

Secretly Yours started out so strong and I was here for it. Compared to my absolute favorite Tessa Bailey novel, It Happened One Summer, I was giddy as I saw the tropes falling into place.

Hallie is a chronically late, plus size, chaos woman who owns her own floral shop. If that is not absolute goals, in all her flaws, I do not know what is. Jullian, the object of her desire, is the complete opposite of her. He is collected and organized, the opposite of everything Hallie is. Despite their obvious chemistry, Jullian's heart and mind are at war over whether he can actually commit to her.

There was something missing, though, and I can't put my finger on it. I loved the love letter aspect. Tessa Bailey has a way with dirty talk that has me closing my book to gather myself. Those moments shined like Hallie's personality.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect read to get you into that spring time, world awakening, love is in the air feeling that we are all missing in the winter. Hallie's demeanor is contagious and Jullian only wanting to make her smile and have her light directed at him made me swoon time and time again.

Will preface by saying that this just wasn't for me. But since you require a review anyway: It just wasn't my favorite Tessa Bailey. I think Hallie is one of my least favorite Bailey heroines; sweet and femme to the point of caricature who the reader is supposed to buy as fun and quirky, but it just missed the mark for me. Julian is stale, and watching him watch Hallie wasn't insightful or riveting as much as it was just perverted.

First big thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Normally I absolutely love Tessa Bailey’s books. Did I enjoy this book? Yeah. It has some great parts, but it wasn’t really my favorite.

This book is a story of polar opposites attracting. Julian is an orderly everything is planned down to the min professor who is currently on sabbatical from his ivy league job and is back at his family’s winery trying to work on a book. Hallie is all about sunshine and flowers and getting messy, with her life and her gardening.

Sometimes the trope was a bit much and made the conflict seem silly. But Tessa does pull out the hotness between these two and it’s easy to get swept away in it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I don’t know if it’s one I really need to read again which is why I am giving it 3 stars. However, the setup for the next characters in the series has me salivating to read Julian’s sister’s book.

This book was as wonderful as I knew it would be. It was sweet and spicy. Hallie and Julian were an amazing couple to follow. I loved Hallie's haphazard personality, and how she pulled Julian out of his rut. He was so straight laced and regimented he needed to learn how to color outside the lines. I flew through the book and did not want it to end. I have read so many by Tessa Bailey, and I have never been let down. The book is 3rd person, but you get both characters thoughts and feelings. I definitely can't wait for Natalie's book!

This book exceeded all my expectations. The characters were well-developed, and their romance was believable. It was a fun sizzling romance, and I can't wait to read the sequel.

Tessa Bailey is typically an auto read/buy author for me but this one is glad I won't be purchasing. While the grump and sunshine trope is a favorite of mine the execution of this story was a bit all over the place between the shifting perspectives and inconsistent side characters. In the end for me the repetitive use of the word "folds" made me skip over a good chunk of the steamy scenes.

If a romance novel has the grumpy/sunshine trope, it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ll love it. This one was no exception! Add in a charming Napa setting, a dysfunctional family, a cast of perfectly imperfect characters, and mental health and body positivity topics, and this book becomes a home run. Hallie, our female MC, is a lovable, disorganized gardener in Napa harboring a 15 year old crush on Julian. When anxious,, structured Julian returns home to his family’s vineyard, he can’t seem to stay away from Hallie, even if she brings too much chaos to his routine. Secretly Yours earned 3.5/5, rounded up to 4 stars from me. For the sake of not providing spoilers, I’ll just say that it didn’t get 5 stars because a couple of plot components weren’t quite right to me. However, I’d still recommend this sweet romance to most lovers of the genre.