Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey Review!⁠
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Star rating: 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁠
Spice level: 4 ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥⁠
Tropes: opposites attract, possessive/jealous mmc, anxiety rep, 15-year crush/missed connection, virgin fmc⁠
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Tessa Bailey is the queen of dirty talk y'all. Her books are always fun and exciting but they are also full of the best sexy scenes out there. I would literally die to have a man like Julian be protective over me the way he is over Hallie. ⁠
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Julian's family owns a winery, Hallie is a gardener who is trying to save her Grandmother's favorite wine shop from going bankrupt. There are also some secret love letters going on, this book really has it all! I also thought it was hilarious that the fmc's last name is Welch which reminded me of Welch's grape juice and wine is a huge part of the story. ⁠
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This is also the first book in a new series/duology called A Vine Mess! The next story features Julian's sister and I honestly can't wait to read it too! The plot is a marriage of convenience and that plotline is my literal favorite!!

A great read for all grumpy/sunshine trope lovers. The book had great spice and good character development. I do feel as though the book was slow paced and left a lot of things up in the air. I can't wait to read the next book in the duology in hopes that it answers a lot of the loose ends.
Thank you Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

Secretly Yours is a contemporary romance book about a chaotic gardener and an ordered professor. Hallie, a gardener who never plans anything, is constantly late and never thinks before acting, finally has a chance to see again her crush of fifteen years, Julian. Julian is a history professor, who schedules every moment of every day and is committed to the routine. Basically, Hallie and Julian are total opposites and there is no way a relationship between them would work. However, when they meet, the pull between them is undeniable.

Hallie and Julian are both great characters, both are very complex and have their own issues. I loved how they both accept each other, but also they are both changing under the influence of one other. The tensions and desire between them was obvious from their first meeting and, as always, Tessa Bailey did not despite in terms of spice. Hallie could be frustrating at times, as she is constantly making the worst decision possible, but overall I really enjoyed her character. I loved her dedication to her grandmother, and her three dogs were such a cute detail. Julian was a bit annoying at the beginning with his obsession with order and routine, but he grew on me (and his arms might have convinced me).

The story was well-paced, and I loved the building tension between Hallie and Julian! Mostly, however, I loved reading how Julian did everything he could to make Hallie smile – those scenes had me grinning at my book! I loved the sneak peek we got of Natalie and August’s story! I cannot wait for their book next year!

3.5/5 ⭐️‘s

This wasn’t my favorite Tessa book, but it was still a v cute read with relatable characters! Hallie is a bright and chaotic ray of sunshine, while Julian is a starchy/grumpy professor who likes routines and organization. Hallie’s harbored this secret crush on Julian since high school (which is a trope I will eat up every!! single!! time!! 😛) and I really loved the way this played into the story with the secret admirer letters.

Secretly Yours is sweet and funny and endearingly vulnerable, and I think my favorite part was how neither Hallie nor Julian ever tried to change one another. They’re both kind of tough nuts to crack in terms of opening themselves up to love, but they’re also well worth the work!

All that being said, I did have a hard time with the pacing. I felt like from the 50-75ish% mark of the book things were kind of slow and then suddenly at the end everything felt very rushed. I also didn’t love the way that the anxiety rep played out, especially towards the end.

All in all, the characters are lovable and I would honestly still read this one again if only for natalie’s wine-drunk antics (v excited for her book!!) & the spice (bc Julian’s dirty talk is 😮‍💨🥵)

Thank you sm to Avon & Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

tessa bailey never misses. i am so thankful that i finally listened to the never ending lost of people telling me to read her books because i have loved every single one and this is no exception!

Hello. What is happening in romance books at the moment? This is the third book I have read where the male character has anxiety. I am here for it. Tessa Bailey’s characters are flawed but not emotionally constipated. And the sexy time is hot hot hot! It is also the second book that featured letter writing. It is so intimate and romantic. Read if you still have a thing for your high school crush or if you like wine and are slightly adhd. Your chaos is beautiful. I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley, thank you to them. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you’re a rom com fan who enjoys the grumpy/sunshine trope, flowers, wine, small towns, I’m-trying-to-write-but-am-being-distracted-by-the-beautiful-woman-outside, READ THIS BOOK.

I loved the banter in this book between Hallie & Julian, and how their relationship developed. The secret admirer part was also very cute. The characters are great and I loved how Julian’s family worked everything out and other things I can’t say because *spoilers*.

Hallie Welch had a huge crush on Julian Vos her freshman year of high school. He was a senior and someone many crushed on as well. She attended a party at his family's vineyard and was almost kissed by him. She never got over her feelings for him and had since measured all men by her memories of Julian. Julian decided to take the summer off from teaching history at Stanford to write a historical novel. He had not taken a sabbatical from teaching in years and planned to write at his childhood home. Hallie was contracted by Julian's mother to spruce up the plantings surrounding the guesthouse where Julian was staying. Hallie was free spirited, spontaneous, and marched to the beat of her own drum. Julian was regimented, scheduled, and over thought everything he did. Being around each other while Hallie updated the outside of the guesthouse, intensified Hallie's feelings and gave Julian a potential new way of thinking about life.

I loved Hallie and Julian. The gumpy/sunshine opposites were adorable together. They made each other reflect on how they approached life and opened up new pathways of being. The book was very spicy and had plenty of amusing banter. The side characters were fantastic. Who wouldn't want to go to a bakery named, Fudge Judy? Tessa Bailey has written another great book. I will definitely read the next in the duology.

I received an e-ARC for Secretly Yours and want to thank Tessa Bailey, Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the opportunity to voluntarily read and give an honest review of this book.

Secretly Yours takes place in my backyard, so I was ready nd willing to live this book. But even with a delightful setting, there was too much strange wish fulfilment going on for me to really lose myself in the book.

Sweet and spicy, but I wanted more from Hallie. She felt like a caricature of the sunshine girl without enough to make her feel like an actual person. The pacing was off and the "anonymous" love letters frankly felt unnecessary.

So cute and so sweet I absolutely loved this. It’s no doubt that tessa Bailey is one of my go to authors. Her characters and romances make me unbelievably happy! I cannot wait for the second book in the duet. I devoured this!

Maybe it's because I love Tessa Bailey and was expecting this to be a 5-star book, which was why this fell a little flat for me, I don't know. I felt like something was off a little with this one, and I can't place it, and it's bothering me.

I do like how both MCs were opposites and balanced each other out, and I liked how they needed to realize their strengths and weaknesses together.

I liked it, but I just felt like the pacing was off or something, and I was getting impatient as well. Also, I felt like it just ended and I wanted more, but I am excited for book #2 and hopefully I'll see Hallie and Julian again.

I don't know this was a little messy, but it's also part of the Vine Mess series so maybe that was the point.

*I was given a eARC from NetGalley and the publishers for an honest review, thank you!

This was fine; entertaining but not my favorite. I didn't like the characters and wanted more from the setting and circumstances. Could have used more development of the characters and the setting. Didn't feel like much actually happened. A quick, predictable read.

I didn't realize Napa was the new Big City for romances. I appreciated the change from Bailey's most recent works, but it was very apparent that this was setup for other books. Very pleasant read, probably not a high demand title.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing an arc for an honest review.

I adore this book! Hallie is such a whirlwind of a person and crashes into Julian’s life throwing off his schedules and perfectly laid out plans. Of course what he doesn’t know is that she has had a serious crush on him since high school and in a drunken moment Hallie decides to confess these feelings in a secret admirer letter. Like clockwork Julian finds the letter and thus begins his journey to letting go. Through her letters and her presence Hallie challenges Julian to break free of the constraints of his schedules and learn to live life again.

There was wonderful dialogue around anxiety and grief and how both can affect an individual in a myriad of ways. As usual the spice was amazing and I was happy that it was later in the book when they both have a better understanding of each other outside of high school crushes and first impressions. Also the side characters are amazing and I absolutely cannot wait for Natalie and August’s book!

You can't go wrong with a Tessa Bailey title and this one was no exception. From teen dreams to real-life opportunities, this was a delightful read. I love her uplifting and funny books!

Love Tessa Bailey, and this one was no exception for me! I loved the small town and vineyard setting, and the steam factor was there too!

Tessa Bailey does NOT miss. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I LOVED it more than I ever thought I would. This reverse harem love story has Tessa Bailey’s signature rom-com touch and is filled with incredibly lovable main characters.

I’ve recently discovered Tessa’s books and have become a rapid fan. I laugh out loud several times in each book, and am struck by how different each of the characters are in the books in this series. Westport holds a place in my imagination similar to Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. I enjoy the opposites attract dynamic here and the sensuality between Julian and Hallie. It’s great to see a sassy plus sized protagonist that Julian is busy listing after. I remain a big fan and recent convert. I’m busy spreading the word on TikTok about how great the book is and people are excited! That’s no surprise though.

I didn't particularly like either of our main characters, but they grew on me and won me over by the end. However, I still liked the books with the Bellinger sisters better. I think Natalie's story will be a fun one.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.