Member Reviews

This is my new favorite book by Tessa Bailey! Natalie and August had me laughing, slapping my forehead, and believing in true love. Natalie and August at first make no sense to one another- all they do is take jabs at one another and outwardly seem to sincerely hate one another. But it quickly becomes clear that they are just fighting their true feelings. In an attempt to get her trust fund (through an outdated term of “needing to be married” to get it) and to help August get a loan to keep his vineyard alive they decide to have a fake marriage. Quickly they realize they may be saying the marriage is “for the money”, but when that isn’t the case any longer they use every excuse to not tell the other and still follow through. August and Natalie are completely obsessed with one another. Their love and connection is so strong you can’t help but want to shake them into realizing and admitting their feelings sooner. And yes… this is a Tessa Bailey book so there is ample *spice*. This book had me in my feels the ENTIRE time… in the best way. I couldn’t stop reading and never wanted it to end.

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Marriage of convenience done right! Absolutely loved this book! Tessa Bailey nailed it with the witty banter and sexual tension between Natalie and August. Their relationship hooked me from the very beginning and I was absolutely obsessed! Their growth both on individually and as a couple was perfectly written. I would highly recommend this book!

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When a down-on-her-luck Napa heiress proposes a mutually beneficial marriage of convenience to the Navy Seal who can’t make wine to save his life but owns a vineyard... and just happens to be her enemy, things are about to get interesting. Natalie Vos has returned home after losing her job and her fiance, she wants to do something for herself and find some way to start over. In order to get the funds to start her new business venture she has to get married according to her father’s rules. Cue Navy Seal August Cates, August bought a vineyard and has been trying to make wine but nothing seems to be working. He bought the vineyard in order to honor his best friend who died. From the moment Natalie and August met each other there was a spark but then he messed things up and now they can’t stand one another or rather, August can’t help but antagonize her every single time they’re in a room together despite how badly he wants her. August is so bad at winemaking that he is about to give up and sell the vineyard because he just doesn’t have the money and he can’t get a loan. Natalie knows that August needs help so she proposes a deal: they have a marriage of convenience which will allow her to get her trust fund and she will help him get the loan he needs to sustain his vineyard. Yet the more time they have to spend pretending to be deeply in love the more it’s actually coming true and now they’ll have to ask each other if they are truly ready to share everything about themselves and make this work or if this was just one big unfortunate mess. No matter how hard Natalie tries to deny it she is unfortunately very very attracted to August and the more she learns about him the more she discovers she might have misjudged him and the same goes for August. This was a cute continuation of the first book, though you don’t necessarily have to read the first one to get this one. Natalie and August have that kind of banter that is playful and meant to be the line from New Girl from Nick: " Stop being mean to me or I swear to God I'm gonna fall in love with you." They both try and communicate with one another and they really do care for the other which was sweet. Overall its a cute romance read !

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

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I received an advance reader's copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I've been on a Tessa Bailey kick lately, apparently. Natalie and August were first introduced in the Julian and Hallie's story. My first thought was that Natalie is a mess and might need some professional help - and I wish she had gotten some throughout the story. For me, it's understandable to wallow after some devastating news or events, but with that much drinking (that was remarked upon a lot by several different characters in both books) leads me to think that Natalie does have a drinking problem, and how great it would have been if Bailey showed her seeking out the professional help or tools to deal with her traumas. Also, I felt their emotions moved waaaaay too quickly, from one day declaring that they hated each other to being madly in love the next day. I did really like August as a character. I appreciate the emotional growth the characters had, although it seemed to have taken place over a week. But Bailey definitely delivered on steamy scenes and dialogue.

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A solid second book in the Vos family books. It doesn't a good job of giving a reason for a fake wedding while also realizing it is ridiculous. Both characters felt well rounded it was nice that we had been introduced to both of them before.

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Once upon a time, Tessa Bailey wrote a book. This reviewer read that book and immediately decided that all other books by this author must be read as soon as they are released. This book was no exception. I laughed, it was heartwarming, and I am hopeful about love once again.

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Another phenomenal novel by Tessa Bailey! She's on my list of authors that I just automatically read anything she publishes. This book was wonderful and full of depth about family, responsibility, acceptance, and trust that just strikes a chord. Bailey writes believeable romance even when everything is so magical and fantastical because at the core of her characters is real human struggle and emotion. The way grief is portrayed in this book is honest and real.
This one is topping the charts as one of my favorites of Bailey's. As always, it was sexy, smart, and just the right touch of fun.

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High powered financier in New York has risen to the top quite quickly but when she make a costly error she is fired and dumped. She limps home to regroup but needs a fake marriage to get access to her trust fund to start again. Broke, dumped and desperately needing a husband. August owns a winery but sucks as a vintner and needs a loan he can’t guarantee so he needs a fake wife to look better on paper. Since Natalie has the winery skills and he has the vines it seems like a good exchange for a while. Or it would, if they weren’t antagonists.

It is an enemies to lovers and marriage of convenience novel …and… a Tessa Bailey novel so you know it is going to be good. And it will be HOT! The banter is hilarious- they begin by using insults to communicate then those insults turn in to coded love words. Watching August fall in love with Natalie is a wondrous thing. He’s in her thrall- he adores her- and is obsessively protective. But Natalie feels so left out, so unconnected to her family and to August. He must learn to tone down his protectiveness to let her in. But did I mention it is rocking hot?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

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Man alive, I'm sad that these books didn't hit it out of the park for me!

I enjoyed Unfortunately Yours, there's something about two people who love to mess with each other that I find greatly endearing. I just couldn't make myself care about wine country or wall street or any of that. I will say, this book was far spicier than the first book, like whoa.

Overall, it was a cute but fairly forgettable contemporary romance for me. If you're a fan of Bailey's definitely read it, but I think I will forever be chasing the high of Hook, Line, and Sinker.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

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I started my year with Tessa Bailey and it seemed fitting that I ended it the same way. I liked Secretly Yours very much and was so excited to read book two and I honestly had so much fun.

I didn’t know what to make of August in the beginning, but I really grew to love him. I also loved seeing the family dynamics between Natalie and the other members of her family. I hope we get more books set in this series, they are a lot of fun!

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This was not my favorite Tessa Bailey book, and I'm not sure why. I liked her first entry in the VOS vineyards series, but this one was tougher for me. It meets all the criteria and I should have loved it, so I suspect I was just in the wrong headspace for this type of book at the time. Tessa Bailey fans will love it.

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Secretly Yours was good... Unfortunately Yours was great!

Natalie, who we met in Secretly Yours, is trapped in St. Helena while trying to put some space between her and her missteps in New York. When she becomes frustrated and restless at her families vineyard, she decides she needs to do whatever it takes to get the necessary funds, her trust fund, and make her way back to the city. Unfortunately, the terms of her trust fund release include being married and employed. Natalie's best option for marriage, August, is also her worst option for peace and quiet. Conveniently, August could also benefit from adding Natalie's family legacy to his business. But can they stomach each other enough to convince everyone or will death do them part when they forced under the same roof?

This book was soooooo fun. I literally laughed out loud multiple times. The attraction and build up were great. I loved Natalie in the first book so I had a feeling I would love her in this. It was wonderful seeing her grow and develop as the book went on. And clearly August was the perfect match to help her along. I was a little disappointed in how often August was made into an idiot meathead though. These two are definitely my favorite couple that I have read from Bailey.

As always, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Tessa Bailey for my copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion!! <3

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Wow, wow, wow! Tessa Bailey hit it out of the park with this one. I love a good marriage of convenience trope but sometimes they can go wrong. This one did a phenomenal job of making the tension feel real but not gimmick.

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I’m a big fan of Tessa Bailey and while this wasn’t the best book of hers, I still liked it. August was a fun character but his reluctance to let anyone help with his wine started to frustrate me at times. It had the signature Tessa Bailey heat and dirty talk which I loved and I love the Napa setting.

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My favorite Tessa Bailey book so far!! I laughed out loud, I cringed when things went to far in the banter, I smiled when it was the perfect amount of banter, the spice 🔥 😍 and I was teary at the end of the book. It really just boils down that we all just want to be seen and valued……. Natalie ……. We see you girl.

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As someone who reads a lot of Tessa Bailey books, this followed the formula you can come to expect from her. Quick dialogue, steamy love scenes, opposites attract, etc. However, I much preferred Secretly Yours, the first book of this series. As with many of Bailey's series, the strongest characters are usually in the first book and the follow ups struggle to create more developed storylines for the supporting characters. August's overwhelming attraction to Natalie felt forced and their "fighting" was really mean, there are some words you can't come back from, and the switch when August decided to stop making fun of Natalie because he realized it hurt her was too abrupt and, also, kind of obvious. Their love story was just a little clunky and rushed. Not to say I didn't enjoy the book; the setting is great and when the fighting stopped, Natalie and Vos became a couple to root for.

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Likeable, fun characters. Witty banter. Enemies to lovers. Wine country. Sweet and spicy. What's not to love here? Overall another fun read by Tessa Bailey.

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Thank you #netgalley for this ARC. Oh wow, I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down once I started! Tessa Bailey may be my new favorite author!!

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I enjoyed this second book in the series. Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy. #NetGalley #UnfortunatelyYours

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I have read nearly every Tessa Bailey book and have loved them all but Unfortunately Yours takes the cake. August and Natalie were everything! The chemistry and connection was absolutely perfect. Fake marriage, enemies to lovers, witty banter, it had everything to make this my favorite book by her.

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