Member Reviews
Did we all collectively fall for the dad in The Parent Trap? If you did, you need to read Unfortunately Yours. Enemies to lovers? Set in a Vineyard? Reluctantly pushed together? Marriage of convenience?!? What are you waiting for? Tessa Bailey made this book for us. I had the best time reading this book. It was so fun, flirty, and absolutely something I could read again and again.
This took me a little bit to get into, but once I was in, I was hooked! Tessa Bailey creates characters that are just so fun and lovely, you can't help but root for them. This was such a fun premise and I absolutely devoured this book!
Such a cute story! I love a good "marriage of convenience" and this one didn't disappoint. I usually am not a fan of SEALs as love interests, but August changed my mind!
I enjoyed Secretly Yours overall, but I liked this a lot better. Our main characters are Natalie Vos, sister to Julian Vos from Secretly Yours, and August Cates, former Navy Seal and current terrible wine maker. These two had an explosive argument in the first book and they spend much of this book still throwing verbal barbs at one another. Natalie, who was ousted from her Wall Street job after a bad trade and subsequently dumped by her fiance, has been back in St. Helena at her family winery, drinking a lot and trying to figure out how to get back to New York. She has an opportunity to start her own boutique firm, but she needs capital. Unfortunately, her trust fund was set up with some pretty archaic rules by her now absent father - in order to get access to the funds, she has to be both gainfully employed and married. She comes up with a way to get her money and help August get the small business loan he needs to get his failing winery back on solid ground - a marriage of convenience. I found these two very funny together and I really enjoyed their chemistry and banter. I also liked that both of them had some wounds to heal from, and that they managed to help each other get part of the way there. Another solid contemporary from Tessa Bailey.
Loved finishing up the duo. The second in the series captures Natalie and August relationship.
Tessa Bailey captures the dirty talk perfectly between this enemies to lovers novel.
The beginning of the book was definitely a little choppy but I ended up enjoying the second half. I did find the two main characters to be pretty cheesy and occasionally funny. As always Tessa Bailey is the queen of dirty scenes.
A diehard fan of Tessa Bailey and a lover of the first book in this duet, SECRETLY YOURS, I was eager to get my hands on the sequel, UNFORTUNATELY YOURS. Unfortunately (rather aptly), this one missed the mark. The romance did not capture me, neither did either character's personal journeys.
A really steamy, fun follow up to Secretly Yours, with characters that I was intrigued about from the first book. Loved the banter and tension. Another great read from Tessa Bailey!
My expectations for Natalie & August's story was high after reading "Secretly Yours" and this just didn't do it for me! Both the individuals and their relationship felt like a letdown after their introduction in the first book.
I got major vibes of "he's pulling your hair because he likes you" throughout the book. I just couldn't appreciate all the trash talk. Natalie and August never managed to get over the antagonism or the dramatics. I feel like both leads had a long way to go in their own growth before this story could really come together.
"Unfortunately Yours" could be read as a standalone, but I think is better appreciated after reading the first title in the series. Natalie and August's relationship has a strong start in "Secretly Yours" and their story relies quite heavily on the dynamics of the Vos family.
This was swoony, spicy, and super fun! It was back to Napa to see if Natalie Vos can piece her life together again after a devastating job and relationship loss in NYC. Along comes August Cates, with his emotional trauma and inability to make wine anywhere close to drinkable. What follows is an enemies to lovers, forced proximity rom com that you won't want to put down!
I struggled to get into this one, even though I LOVE Tessa Bailey and always will read her titles. I think it just took me longer than normally to get invested in their relationship and be hooked to their chemistry. I think readers of the series will enjoy!
I was skeptical because I did it like the first one in this series however for once the sequel is better than the first. The pairing of Natalie and August made a much better pairing and a more dynamic story. Both characters started out a bit broke and grew together by listening and working through issues. It’s not prefect but it earned 4 stars in my book.
4.5 stars
Tessa Bailey writes incredibly binge-able books, and this is no exception. I started this book and hours later emerged having read the entire thing. Natalie and August’s lust to hate to love marriage of convenience relationship was a whole ride, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I really liked that even though this is a book that can be read on its own, we see a lot of the developments from the first book continue through this one. Natalie figuring out what she wants in her career, and seeing how she continually feels undermined by her family and tries to prove herself gives a lot of insight into how she behaved in Secretly Yours. While I do think some of her issues could have used more addressing, I was glad to see her growth throughout this installment. August is such a gem, and his desire to fulfill his best friend’s wishes to own a vineyard on his own with no help will tug at your heartstrings. They are pure chemistry, and even their disagreements do nothing but build the tension for when they finally get together. Overall, this is a book I think most Tessa Bailey fans will enjoy, and I’ll continue to read everything she publishes, and eagerly await the next one!!
Side note - a big reason I’m calling this 4.5 rather than 5 stars is that I read Secretly Yours and Unfortunately Yours back to back, and Julian the dirty talking professor just deserves the slightly higher rating!
Thank you Avon and NetGalley for sending this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
A fun companion to Secretly Yours, set the same small Napa Valley town with wine flowing in every scene. New vineyard owner and ex Navy SEAL August Cates spars with sophisticated down on her luck Natalie Vos. When Natalie needs a marriage and a job to release her trust fund, who else can tick both boxes but August, who needs the shine of the Vos family name to get a loan? The marriage of convenience starts to become less of a farce as they live together and stop fighting their instant attraction.
Super fun read, very excited to see more from Tessa Bailey!
Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey was great! It is the second book in a series, but it can also be read alone. This story is full of humor and lots of romance. There is also great banter and intense chemistry between Natalie and August. I loved these characters, hopefully you’ll give them a try!
I love most things Tessa Bailey, but Natalie and August’s story is my favorite! (Don’t tell Piper and Brendan)
This is the second in a series, but you don’t have to have read the first in order to enjoy Unfortunately Yours. Although, Hallie seems like a treat, so I’ll definitely be visiting that tale.
I loved Natalie and August’s banter. It felt organic and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. I’m a sucker for marriage of convenience and this totally did it for me.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Unfortunately Yours. It’s 5/5 for me!
Tessa added humor and romance in this book. It kept my attention throughout the book and I was so happy with the ending.
I am honestly hit or miss with Tessa Bailey, I love her older books more then the last four books.
That being said, this book was a fast read, that I actually wished was longer. I enjoyed the banter between Natalie and August, and the chemistry was on fire, I just wish there was more meat to their story. I didn't care for the parts right when it was getting deep with character building something random or childish would happen and stop the situation. I wanted to know so much more about Natalie and August past/ trauma issues they are where going through and felt if there was more of that this story would have been a five start yearly re read for me.
I think this was better than her first “vine mess” book in the series. I thought it had all the perfect romance tropes and was fun while still being emotional. I love Tessa Bailey’s books!
In the small California wine town Natalie's family and their winery are well respected but Natalie is not. She grew up as a prankster that enjoyed the family product a little too much and was not respected. She proved them wrong by making a life in New York City and excelling at her career. Now she is back home and back to the only expectations are that she is going to mess things up. August has bought a vineyard to owner his best friend but has no skill in making wine. When Natalie hatches a plan to get her trust fund to escape the town August becomes a part of it. The chemistry between them is unmistakable but can they find a way to trust each other and themselves? Could not put this down as I wanted to see what happened next.