One of my recent favorite tropes is fake dating + marriage of convenience. Before bookstagram, the only marriage of convenience books I had read were historical fiction and I didn’t love them. But with the discovery of much more modern romances with that trope, I’ve been loving it!

Tessa Bailey’s marriage of convenience worked perfectly in Unfortunately Yours, with all the tension, shenanigans, and “we’re just pretending” moments the trope needs. Although I initially had a hard time understanding the motivations of main character Natalie. As the book went on she became more likable to me and felt like a better match to August, who I loved. Sweet, sweet cinnamon roll August!

Bailey is one of the queens of writing tense, angsty chemistry between characters who are trying to deny an attraction to each other. And a queen at writing the best spicy scenes when the inevitable hookup happens! This book is as steamy as the first in the series and I can’t decide which book I like better.

This was steamy in parts and witty in other parts making it an easy read. It went quick and held my interest. However, other parts felt a little forced too. Their physical relationship at the start is just…rough. The premise of the romance is really cute though.

🌀Synopsis
Natalie’s life is falling off the rails. A big mistake at work causes her to lose her job, which causes her to lose her relationship, which causes her to move back home. She’s determined to find her way back though. She’ll do whatever it takes to get her old life back. Including a fake marriage.
August needs Natalie’s fake marriage too. He’s about to lose the vineyard that he’s trying to run for a friend he lost in combat. The two come together to help each other.
Both of them realize there’s more to the relationship though and they start to develop feelings. Both are guarded though and continue to face difficulties letting each other in. Natalie is still determined to get back to her old life and it seems August is going to let her go. In the end, they both surprise each other.

This was not my favorite Tessa Bailey book, but it was still an enjoyable read. There’s a nice level of spice and some very good character development, the plot was just a bit lacking for me. I think anyone looking a fun romance novel will enjoy this one.

This is my 3rd book from this author and probably my favorite of them. I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers and the chemistry between the MC’s was perfect. I loved this romance.

I have the unfortunate trait of reading books out of order in a series. However I never felt out of place reading this one first. The characters were spicy and had the perfect balance of enemies to lovers, sometimes its like were they really enemies at all but here you felt their anger in the beginning. I loved the drama that was included making the stakes higher in the story.

this book ATE UP the marriage of convenience trope!! this sequel was definitely a heavy step up from the previous one. tessa bailey’s writing is always funny and so damn creative. i love these characters so much!! it was giving she’s the black cat to his golden retriever personality. announce to lovers if you will.

3/5 ⭐️‘s

I really loved a large chunk of this book and overall did really like it a lot more than the first book. It’s fast-paced, the spice was ✨spectacular✨, and the vineyard setting is soooooo much fun! /However/ my main problem with this book was the whole kind of lie of omission in regards to the marriage. I don’t want to give specifics, bc spoilers, but IYKYK 🫣 That plot line + the way that Natalie found out about said lie of omission just made me feel kind of icky about everything and it took me a long time to get back into the book & finish it after that. If it hadn’t been for that, I think this would have been more of a 4-4.5 star read for me, because it really did have sooo many good elements to it.

Thank you to Avon for kindly providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I would recommend this book to any public library looking for new additions to their contemporary romance collection.

This is another amazing hit by the talented hands of Tessa Bailey! I loved getting to more of her masterfully chiseled characters and the banter between them. The spice was perfect, the plot awesome and I was up until the wee hours of the morning reading this one! Great job to Tessa Bailey! Highly recommend!

I love Tessa Bailey so much! I think I actually liked this one more than the first, but honestly Tessa can do no wrong in my eyes.

i liked this one better than the first, but the insta-love on the august's end made the whole thing lose the tension for me! unfortunately, i think i'm finding that tessa's books just aren't for me.

*thank you netgalley and avon for the eARC!

This books seems like the same as the last… Rom/Com with the premise of enemies to friends is fine, but I just didn’t like the dialogue of princess or other names August called Natalie …and too many steamy scenes. It is the same over and over with this author . The growth of both character was over shadowed by too many annoying thing. The biggest issue I have with this book is lack of military research by the author. A Navy seal is not a “soldier” and his friend Sam would not have been under his own father’s command. So August’s “CO” wouldn’t have been Sam’s Dad. Military people know this . (Also, in Kansas we don’t call a Cook out a Barbecue, as Sam claims. It’s a cookout and Barbecue is the meat, usually beef brisket, that has been slow-cooked in a barbecue pit, where the heat and smoke come from burning wood…, FYI).
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

Big, burly retired Navy Seal meets girl. Girl is stuck in Napa when she really wants to be in NY making investments to prove to her family she can do it. August and Natalie both need money to invest and it seems that the only way they can get the money is to fake a marriage. What will happen when the marriage doesn’t feel so fake anymore?

It’s a tale as old as time…enemies become lovers. This is a spicy story of a couple that has so much chemistry they can’t see straight. I still wanted to follow their story to see how it played out and if chemistry was enough to mold them together into a real couple. This is a cute follow up book to Hallie and Julian’s story that also took place in Napa.

This book felt very fast paced, but not in a good way. While the plot felt like it moved too fast for me to really connect with the characters, I really loved the banter (as is usually the case with TB's books).

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Thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc of this book. This review contains my honest feedback.

I loved this book so much more than I thought I would! August was such a big softie and Natalie was hilarious. I loved their banter so much.

Tessa Bailey never fails! I will say it was better than the first one.. I really loved their banter in this book it was cute funny.

I have only read a few books by Tessa Bailey and I have loved every single one. This one was no different

I've been enjoying Tessa Bailey's Napa Valley-set contemporary romance duology, A Vine Mess, quite a bit, even if I did prefer the first book Secretly Yours to its sequel, Unfortunately Yours. The story centers around a marriage of convenience between Natalie, who was fired from her high-powered job and needs a husband to claim her trust fund, and August, an ex-Navy SEAL who is failing miserably at winemaking as he attempts to honor his friend who passed away by making his dream vineyard a reality. I tend to really enjoy fake dating tropes and the hijinks that ensue, even if I wasn't completely sold on the main characters; they just weren't as well-rounded as others of Bailey's have been for me. I also enjoyed the wine-centric setting; I've never been to Napa but have always wanted to go. I received an eARC of Unfortunately Yours from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What do you get when you add Tessa Bailey and the marriage of convenience trope? One of my fave rom-coms of the year! This was even better than the first and I loved it so much. Tessa is an auto-buy author for me, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

I always enjoy Tessa Bailey books. This was no different. Highly recommend if you enjoy a romance read.