I received an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately Yours is Tessa Bailey's newest romance novel. It's the second novel in the A Vine Mess series, which takes place in Napa Valley among the backdrop of vineyards. Tessa Bailey is most famous for her novel It Happened One Summer which exploded on Tiktok. Unfortunately Yours falls into the marriage of convenience trope, which I feel like is more common in regency romances than in modern settings.

This was the third romance novel I've read from Bailey and I'm starting to notice her modus operandi. She's really into dirty talk, which some people might find attractive, but there's something about Bailey's dirty talk that makes me cringe. And her novels are raunchy. Unfortunately Yours doesn't quite reach champagne on the kitchen table level (if you know you know) but I think Bailey leans more into the sex side of things rather than the romance in her novels.

Unfortunately Yours was an easy read but most of the conflict came from miscommunication. I don't know if it's because I'm in my 30s or because I've been reading a lot of romance novels in the last year, but I'm tired of the main conflict in romance novels coming from a miscommunication that could've been cleared up in a 3 minute conversation. Plus the two main characters were forgettable, especially the male lead August.

This book was a 3 star book for me. There were a lot of small things that got on my nerves when it came to the romance and there were a few sex scenes that I found cringy, but it was enjoyable enough.

I have to admit, in the first book of the series, I didn't quite connect with Julien and Hallie's story. However, from the moment Natalie, Julian's hotshot Wall Street aspiring businesswoman sister, entered the scene, my interest was piqued. And when I stumbled upon the blurb that promised a delicious combination of enemies to lovers and fake marriage, I couldn't resist diving headfirst into the world of ex-Navy SEAL August and the betrayed, privileged, smart, and tough cookie Natalie. The prospect of their intense chemistry, the kind that can make your pants melt and leave you hyperventilating, was too enticing to pass up. So, blindfolded and ready for the wild ride, I embarked on their journey of financial benefits, where they were equally likely to rip each other's clothes off or each other's throats. Yes, hate-like sex was always on the table! And let me tell you, I became fully engaged with their characters and their story.

The tension between Natalie and August crackled like a bonfire, with sparks flying through their witty banters and the sizzling heat that seemed to radiate from every page. It was like their chemistry had a life of its own, setting the chapters ablaze with its intensity. It became impossible to resist the allure of their love story, which was as tempting as a decadent dessert and as addictive as your favorite guilty pleasure.

But let's rewind a bit and set the stage for their fiery romance. It all began when Natalie found herself trapped in the family vineyard, forced to endure the relentless noise of her brother Julian and his girlfriend's amorous escapades. As if that wasn't enough, she also had to contend with her mother's constant criticism and dismissal of her ideas for the family business. It was as if her mother still saw her as the troubled drunk teenager who had brought shame upon the family name. Natalie desperately needed an escape route back to New York, a chance to avenge her ex-fiancé who had callously abandoned her after a business deal went sour, leaving her as the scapegoat for the entire disastrous investment.

And so, the stage was set for Natalie's grand plan: to secure the funds for her new business idea and make use of her trust fund. The only catch? The strict condition that she must get married. Enter August Cates, a financially struggling winery owner with his own set of troubles. In a desperate bid to secure a bank loan and keep his dreams afloat, August agrees to Natalie's proposal, despite their history of clashes and public fights. Little did they know that their journey to their dreamy opportunities would blur the line between love and hate, revealing a connection that neither of them could resist. Perhaps this marriage wasn't just a convenient arrangement but a chance for them to discover that they were meant for each other all along, even amidst their initial animosity.

I wholeheartedly recommend this heartwarming, sweet, and undeniably steamy novel that will sweep you off your feet and leave you craving more. August and Natalie are a perfect match, and their love story is one you won't want to miss.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager/Avon for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this captivating read. In exchange, I offer my honest and enthusiastic review, as this book truly deserves all the praise it can get. So, grab a copy, buckle up, and prepare to be whisked away into the captivating world of August and Natalie's love affair. Enjoy the ride!

UNFORTUNATELY YOURS – Tessa Bailey
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06-323903-6
June 6, 2023
Romantic Comedy

St. Helena, California – Present Day

Natalie Vos returned home from New York City after losing her job and her fiancé. Now she is living under the same roof as her brother and his girlfriend, which isn’t the most ideal situation. As one of the Vos family members, she is heralded for her expert knowledge of wine and asked to judge wines. One of the newest wineries in the area is owned by August Cates, a big burly guy who seems more at home in a gym than in a winery. As it turns out, his winemaking skills are questionable as his results are nearly undrinkable. Natalie and August have had several confrontations about his wine, and it’s clear that they hate one another. But soon, they may have to make peace in order to…marry each other.

Natalie wants to make a comeback in New York City by launching a financial firm but needs the money to do so. Her massive trust fund is sitting there untouched, but her father has made it inaccessible to Natalie except for one condition: she must be married before she can access it. August needs funds to improve his winery in hopes that it will help him in his winemaking. He is only in the business to honor a late military buddy of his. A bank loan can’t come through unless he has financial backing behind him. To his surprise, the woman who hates his guts and makes his life miserable offers him a lifeline. They marry for a month, and she gets her trust fund, and she will help him get a $200,000 bank loan. The marriage will be in name only, but soon their hate for each other turns into insatiable lust.

UNFORTUNATELY YOURS is a classic enemies-to-lovers tale. Natalie and August have literally argued every time they’ve been around each other. But once they get the chance to get to know each other, lust soon pulses between them. Natalie is from the super-rich Vos family while August is a blue-collar worker. He’s rough and tough with his hands, while she has sharp words for people she doesn’t care for. They appear to be opposites and that is exactly the case in this funny tale. While sex wasn’t on the table for their marriage, they can’t keep their hands off one another on their wedding night. Her family watches in amazement as Natalie falls for the ex-military man. As for August, he can only think about how crazy Natalie drives him.

Things aren’t easy for Natalie and August at first in UNFORTUNATELY YOURS. Their first instinct is to wonder if they are crazy about their plan. Both figure they can keep their hands off each other but their sizzling hot attraction has their bodies wanting other things. Living under the same roof has them seeing each other in a different light. Natalie isn’t the brainless twerp who lost a financial company millions of dollars. She is smart and savvy. August isn’t a dummy when it comes to winemaking as he just needs some guidance because the will is there. But they are keeping secrets from each other. I won’t go into what they are because it will spoil the plot twist. Will the decisions they make be the right ones?

Of course, there will be some bumpy roads before Natalie and August find their happiness. Readers are in for a treat as they go along for the ride in UNFORTUNATELY YOURS.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

You’ve got to give it to a book that makes you tear up from happiness at the end. Literally, the last paragraph had to be one of the sweetest I’ve read from Tessa Bailey (who honestly doesn’t write those kinds of romances lol).

This one is BETTER than Yours Truly. He falls first. She’s hilarious. It’s spice and small town.

Perfect summer read!

Thank you Avon for a gifted copy of this book.

A marriage of convenience in 2023?! NO ONE is doing it like Tessa Bailey!

Devoured it in a day! This is a steamy rom com filled with chemistry, oozing with baneter and is an absolutely stellar follow-up to Secretly Yours!

Upon realizing that a marriage of convenience could benefit them both financially, Natalie and August enter into a business arrangement that quickly turns difficult when unexpected feelings complicate the situation.

Natalie is a strong FMC and I loved her blunt nature and strong will. And August's protectiveness had me absolutely melting - and did I mention he calls her princess? swoon!

I’m a huge Tessa Bailey fan. But this might not be my favorite series. I also read and reviewed Secretly Yours. They seem a little repeat. The character development isn’t as deep as some of her other series. But to be fair I might just not be into the stories where one person is massively rich and the other is a carefree artsy type. If you’re into Long Island/Hampton like wino love stories with some enemies to lovers this will be a story for you for sure.

Having been introduced to Natalie and August in Secretly Yours, I knew I wanted to see where their story went (if they didn’t kill each other first). Always a fan of the larger than life characters Bailey is able to create, Unfortunately Yours picks up where Secretly Yours left off - transitioning the storyline from one sibling to the next as we continue to love and embrace the Vos Clan.

One mistake! One mistake and that’s all it took for Natalie Vos’s world to come crashing down. Granted, it was one mistake with a lot of zeroes behind it but nevertheless, Natalie has found herself back in St. Helena, licking her wounds. If she wasn’t a wine bottle (or two) deep, she was trying to figure out how to make her way back to where she belonged. Sure, her firm may have voted her out and her fiancé may have dumped her, but Natalie was down, not out. She just needed capital to rebuild and she knew just how to get it. Setting pride aside, Natalie asks her mother for access to her trust fund, only to discover her father has placed the most absurd archaic stipulations in her way. She must be gainfully employed AND married! When did we re-enter the 1950s?! Reeling in her everlasting bad luck, Natalie makes the mistake of wondering how things could get any worse. That question is quickly answered when she happens upon the ONE person she would rather not deal with, even on her best day. August - the bane of her existence. Yes, Natalie almost slept with him and he was the mold from which heartthrobs were made but his arrogance knew no bounds! Flustered that her body still reacted to him and frustrated by her predicament, Natalie's unfortunate run-in births a brilliant idea! If she works for August’s vineyard AND marries him, she can get her trust fund. The problem is, if he helps her, if their deal is one-sided, he will have the upper hand and she will never live it down. When she learns the bank has denied his loan for his vineyard and he is heading out of town, Natalie approaches him with the idea that would help them both and make them even. One month of martial bliss to convince everyone their union is real and they both get what they want. Easy enough - as long as they don’t maim each other in the process.

The chemistry between Natalie and August was off the charts in Secretly Yours. Their love/hate dynamic had a life of its own. I was hoping that same energy was present in Unfortunately Yours. Sadly, we lost the intensity within this story by knowing what was going on in their minds. Being on the outside, we only saw the attraction, the build up, and the fire. When we were privy to their inner thoughts, it just made all the fighting, bickering, and animosity childish. Our perspectives of August shifted as we had access to his secrets, including WHY he was running a vineyard, despite his severe lack of knowledge and his stubbornness to not receive help (providing clarity to his reactions to Natalie's criticism). All of that painted such a different picture of the August we previously met that the tension and rift between him and Natalie just seemed off-kilter. Understandable that the need to maintain their outward relationship - that love to hate each other dynamic was the foundation of the story. Their digs at each other, the banter, the way they simply antagonized each other constantly was the kindling to their fire.

The intimate scenes when August and Natalie were together were insane! No matter how Natalie felt about August, she was putty in his hands behind closed doors. Tessa knows how to set the bar and rise above it in her books and the spice in this book did not disappoint. There were parts that were so intense, you kinda worried about Natalie a little bit (while envying her at the same time!)

Natalie’s struggle to be seen, heard, and valued was echoed throughout the book. She was good enough until she wasn’t. She was at the top of her game in the investment world until she tripped and no one offered to catch her. She clawed, she fought, she screamed to be heard but constantly felt like no one would miss her if she simply disappeared into the shadows. The one thing that she never lost, that she wouldn’t sacrifice was her integrity.

While Unfortunately Yours wasn’t what I expected, I did enjoy the witty banter, the overall story, and the surprise depth of August’s background.

I’ll be honest – I went into this book with low expectations. Secretly Yours was cute, but it just didn’t hit for me the way the Bellinger Sisters’ books did (especially Hook, Line, and Sinker). I thought I’d have the same reaction to Unfortunately Yours, but luckily for me, August and Natalie made for a fab story.

This book has all the fun tropes. “Enemies” to lovers, but they’ve really been interested in each other all alone. A modern-day marriage of convenience. MMC falls first and falls hard. Natalie is fierce and a little lonely, and you want to see her succeed in business AND realize August can be her home. Because I really think August is the heart of the book. He’s so damn earnest and sweet and protective under his gruff exterior. And their chemistry is so good. They really complement each other.

That’s not to say this book is perfect. Bailey’s dirty talk is popular, but I have to admit, it’s just Not For Me. I actually find it the opposite of sexy, but I know most of her readers love it and they won’t be disappointed. (It made me cringe a bit less than her other books, so there’s that!) And there were mentions throughout of Natalie’s drinking, but that storyline felt pretty unresolved to me. If you’re going to include something so heavy, you’ve got to do it justice.

Overall, this was a really fun book, and I really liked Natalie and August.

As Tessa Bailey has always been a hit-or-miss author for me and when it comes to “Unfortunately Yours”—it was an unexpected hit!

“Unfortunately Yours” is one of the best enemies to lovers marriage of convenience I’ve read in a long time and thus far one of the best rom-coms I have had the pleasure of picking up in 2023.

It had the right amount of banter/cumbacks, extremely likeable and relatable leads, sizzling chemistry between August and Natalie that wasn’t forced/awkward, scenes that had me swooning and fanning myself, laugh out loud moments, and a storyline that was engaging and was able to draw me in.

It’s really hard to explain it but “Unfortunately Yours” was a really fun read and I have to give myself a pat on the back for not picking up “Secretly Yours”. Something tells me it would have been a dub and because of that alone, I wouldn’t have bothered picking up this gem.

All in all, I need a physical copy of “Unfortunately Yours”—STAT!

After meeting Natalie Vos in Tessa Bailey's Secretly Yours (first in the A Vine Mess series), I wasn't sure how I'd end up feeling about her. Her redemption arc, the rebuilding of her life, the acceptance of herself, and the ultimate vulnerability that she shows as she stars in a delightful enemies to lovers/marriage of convenience all add up to another great release by Tessa.

And can we please discuss August Cates? *SWOON* Whew. He's been toiling away attempting to create the dream winery of his late best friend and coming up short each and every time. His heart is so big and yet he doesn't believe that he deserves great things. He and Natalie had gotten off to a bad start but he steps back in just when she needs a little help. These two have incredible chemistry and it definitely leaves you in a warm and fuzzy place.

Thanks, Tessa, for another swoony book boyfriend!

Set in Napa Valley, Natalie and August decide it is beneficial for both of them to tie the knot in a fake marriage. They start off as enemies, taking jabs at each other. But as the attraction and feelings blossom, the marriage starts to feel very real.

I really think you guys are going to love this book! First off it was hilarious. I found myself laughing and smiling so many times. The tropes....I mean come on it had marriage of convenience with loads of forced proximity. The chemistry between Natalie and August was strong from start to finish. They had great banter and tension but also swoony, emotional scenes too.

August had this playful and charming side to him but was also a selfless character. He was dedicated to honoring his best friend by way of trying to make his winery a success. He was completely devoted to Natalie as a husband. His POV was my favorite as you could feel how deeply he cared for her. He fell hard and I adored how intensely protective he was. With Natalie being a bit broken from her past, it was August who stood by her side as she grew to find her self-worth.

The build up to the spicy scenes was written in such a perfect way that felt right for this couple. This book was a total win for me!

AUGUST. FREAKING. CATES. Softie himbo extraordinaire. Gentle giant (except in the bedroom).

August is a former Navy SEAL who's taken over the dream of his fallen best friend to open a winery...except he sucks at making wine. Natalie is a disgraced Wall Street whiz licking her wounds at her family's winery and plotting her comeback. August needs help getting a loan, and Natalie needs help accessing her trust fund (which requires her to get married), so a marriage of convenience proves to be a good option for both of them...even though they can't stand each other.

The banter between these two had me literally chuckling out loud throughout the book. I loved watching them get over their prejudices about each other as they realized they were falling in love. I've said it before and I'll say it again: NO ONE writes men who are so absolutely gone for their women like Tessa Bailey does.

I also loved the Hallie and Julian cameos. I wish we could stay in this world for a few more books!

Unfortunately Yours is the second installment in Tessa Bailey’s A Vine Mess series. I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was immediately curious about this one as soon as I read that it features a marriage of convenience between an ex-Navy Seal and a Napa wine heiress who can’t stand each other. It sounded like a recipe for a good time and I’m happy to share that that’s exactly what it was.

August Cates is a former Navy Seal who is mourning the loss of his best friend, Sam, who died while on a Seal mission. Sam had always dreamed of opening his own winery, and so to honor his fallen friend, August is attempting to start a winery. There are just two problems: 1) he’s terrible at making wine, and 2) he needs additional funds if he’s going to get any better at it but no bank will give him a loan. When we meet August, he’s frustrated and feels guilty because he thinks he’s failing Sam. Even though he comes across as gruff and tough outside, August is an incredibly likeable character because he obviously has such a big heart.

Natalie Vos may be a wine heiress, but she has her own issues that she is working through. She was recently fired from a job on Wall Street because she made a bad trade and lost a lot of money. She has come home to lick her wounds and regroup. Her trust fund would go a long way to helping her get back on her feet and make a fresh start, but thanks to some archaic thinking by her father, Natalie isn’t allowed access to the trust fund until she is married. Natalie has the added annoyance that her reputation as a party girl precedes her and she’s tired of being underestimated by everyone she knows. When Natalie learns that August also needs money, even though all they ever do is insult one another, she proposes that the two of them get married. That way she can secure her trust fund, and the Vos name should make it easier for August to get his business loan.

I think the marriage of convenience is such a fun romance trope since it means the couple will inconveniently catch feelings for one another. Bailey always writes great dialogue and it was such a fun time watching Natalie and August go from trading hilariously snarky barbs with one another to eventually trading flirty albeit still somewhat snarky barbs. The snark was definitely a key part of their chemistry and I enjoyed every word of it.

Bailey also excels at bringing the heat, so when these two finally give in to their attraction, you can expect plenty of steam and sizzle. Beyond that physical attraction, I also loved how their relationship progressed to the point where they became each other’s biggest supporter. Mistakes are definitely made along the way because both characters are all too human, but whether they realize it or not, they really are a dream team.

If you’re a fan of the marriage of convenience trope and enemies to lovers romances, Unfortunately Yours is the book for you!

This is my first foray into Tessa Bailey's work, so I don't have context for her style. Overall, it was a decent read. The characters' motivations were understandable and had the right amount of complexity, the characters themselves were the kind of likeable you want in a romance novel, and the sex scenes were dirty in a great way. However, I did find the characters' depictions were sliding a little past trope-y into stereotype territory - descriptions of August were leaning hard into "big dumb sex animal." I especially didn't like the moment where it seemed like he might have considered anal sex without consent first. I also thought the beginning was a little rushed.

🍷 Marriage of convenience
✨ Emotional Traumas
🍷 Trust funds
✨ Ex Military
🍷 Mental Health



August Cates is an ex navy seal who is a terrible wine maker, like barf worthy wine. He sank all of his savings into his last chance and failed.

Natalie Vos is the daughter of a legendary winemaker who abandoned his family and left for Italy years before. Natalie is fresh out of a relationship & job that abruptly ended in NYC where she flees home to Napa to drink away her sorrows.

She meets August but things turn bad quickly & they now hate each other. (If you haven’t read Secretly Yours you’ll miss the fight at the end of that book). Truthfully they both wouldn’t even call it hate. They both are obsessed with the other but would never admit it.

They both have pride & really don’t want to ask the other for any help. In order for Natalie to secure her trust fund to start her own business back in NY she has to be married & working for it to be released to her. August needs a second chance for the winery because it’s named for his best friend who sadly was shot in the war. Wine making was his dream, not August’s. Natalie proposes, quite literally, to August that they should have a marriage of convenience so they can both get what they want.

His friends dad arrives to say he’ll be an investor so he could have a second chance at the business. Of course August doesn’t tell Natalie because he knows she still needs her trust fund unlocked by getting married.

The wedding is beautiful. I teared up because they both are in love with the other & still going through with the wedding. They cry & even Menace the cat is there in a suit. 🥹

The wedding night was hot & of course we are only half way through the book. They both still have secrets from each other so it’ll be crazy when it’s finally out in the open.

As all romcoms go you have to have a falling out before things are resolved in the end. The falling out was well done. I really enjoyed this book. All of the trauma & sadness is conveyed and makes me feel like I am the characters & I’m feeling whatever is happening.

The epilogue is adorable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved book 1 but book 2 just hit home for me. Thank you Tessa Bailey, NetGalley, & Harper Collins for letting me read this early!


💜 “Love means letting go of your pride, after all.”
✨ “He needed her for sixty years, not sixty minutes.”
💜 “Love turned the heart into a liability. If something happened to him, she’d never get the damn thing to beat properly again. It seemed to be beating for him now.”

4.5 Loved this book! Natalie and August were honestly the best part of the previous book Secretly Yours and I was soooo excited to read their story. Let me tell you Tessa Bailey really thought the spice in this one!

Summary in one sentence: Natalie and August agree to a marriage of convenience so they each get money the desperately need to fulfill what they think their dreams are but could it turn into more.

These two are polar opposites and their verbal sparring was epic! Such amazing banter. The opposites attract made the spicy scenes spiciest and dang does Tessa give August a dirty mouth. 🥵 I truly love show we get to see August fall first and how he spends so much time taking Natalie’s side even against her family and just supporting her. You get to really root for them to recognize their feelings and moving through that process with them was lovely.

My one small thing is I wish we had more of their angsty times. More of August’s grief, how his friend passed and how he’s healing with it. More of Natalie and her family thinking she’s a screw up we got but we needed more of her family understanding her and apologizing for year of crap. It doesn’t take away from the great story written just would have been nice.

If you’re looking for a summer romance this is it!

Thank you to the author and Avon/Harper Voyager for the gifted book ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read if you like: Dual POV (third person), fake dating/marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, spicy 🔥

I liked this more than Secretly Yours. The chemistry between August and Natalie is good. So much tension. Top notch banter. Enemies to lovers and fake dating are my favorite tropes. This lived up to the tropes. It was funny, clever, and spicy for the most part. I adore how protective they are of each other. I found the pacing to be very inconsistent and August was a bit too much sometimes. I loved the epilogue. I recommend it!

Omg this is my new favorite Tessa Bailey book! While I didn’t necessarily connect with Julian and Hallie in Secretly Yours I already knew I was going to love Natalie and August’s story from the snippets we got of them in it and I was right! I just love a he falls first, enemies to lovers with fake dating/a marriage of convenience.

Natalie and August are such great characters and the yin to each others Yang. I love how Natalie is all tough on the outside but warm and just wanting to be recognized on the inside (like how dare everyone only see her as a screw up?!) And then there’s gruff on the outside but full of love on the inside (but also locked in his own grief and perpetually sticking his foot in his mouth) You just can’t help but love them and root for them as a couple.

Their banter is spot on! The best part of an enemies to lovers is the banter and Tessa does it so well. And then there’s the spice! It was the perfect balance of adding spice while staying true to the characters for me.

Loved everything about this book!

This whole series in Napa St. Helena makes me happy. I don't know who would be next but I want more.
This book took serious looks at PTSD, internal psychological scars, amd the ways they keep coming around as you try to work through the and with them. The depth and levity of Bailey's books are hard to match.

#netgalley
#arc
#unfortunatelyyours

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager for this ARC. I’m a fan of Tessa Bailey and I did enjoy Secretly Yours, so I requested Unfortunately Yours on a whim.

I unfortunately didn’t love this one. August and Natalie’s relationship felt too much like insta love for me. This was my first time reading a book with marriage of convenience and I think i have decided that it’s not for me 🤷‍♀️

I enjoy Tessa’s books and I’ll continue to read them in the future even though this one wasn’t for me.