Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me an ARC for review!

I'm going to level with you: I forgot I requested this at the same time as the first in the series, and I was NOT a fan of the first. So when I got the notification that I'd been approved for the second, I was quite honestly less than enthused and expected it to require a similar level of trudging through.

This was decidedly not trudge-worthy, though! I've landed on a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars, and it was sincerely enjoyable. Though the tropes are different, I think this will really speak to the crowd who loved Brendan and Piper in It Happened One Summer.

Natalie Vos is a sharp, fun lead character who, after being excommunicated from her Wall Street finance sphere, feels lost and in need of feeling useful while trying to claw her way back up the investment ranks. August Cates is a former Navy SEAL unsuccessfully trying to run a winery in memoriam of his best friend. Both of them need capital—Natalie, to launch her own investment firm, and August, to keep his failing winery in business. Good thing Natalie has a trust fund that unlocks when she marries, and the local loan officer trusts the Vos family name so much that a marriage-level cosign is apparently enough to secure a business loan!!!!!

I've complained before that Tessa Bailey occasionally seems to fall into a trap of writing a book completely centered around smutty scenes, to the point that any additional plot feels thrown together and nonsensical. The reason this worked for me so much more than the first is because the characters' motivations really made sense to me. With Natalie in particular, we spend a lot of time getting to understand her and see her insecurities and struggles in a way that makes it easy to buy into her choices throughout the story, something that I'm so glad to see after feeling it was missing entirely in the previous installment.

But here's where Tessa Bailey and I REALLY link up: we both love a woman calling the shots and a man who's constantly ready to grovel, and THAT is the winning combo we have here!

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to, and I think others who have enjoyed Tessa's past work will as well.

After reading the previous book and meeting Natalie and (briefly) August, i wanted this book in my greedy eyeballs so badly.

I am straight up obsessed with these two. Natalie is all crunchy exterior while she's nursing past hurts. August is the gooiest inside his SEAL exterior. Together they have banter, button pushing, and chemistry for days, but also a line of open communication. Each gets and supports the other so wonderfully.

Plot wise, it was exactly what I wanted. The angsty part was no where near what I was expecting and the last few chapters were so perfect, I read each one about 3 times before I could continue. And don't get me started on the epilogue...

Overall, this is probably one of my top Tessa books ever and definitely making the top 10 of 2023 list. I already can't wait to read it again.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

I approached this novel with some caution, as I wasn’t the biggest fan of Secretly Yours (the first book in this duology). I was so thrilled that Tessa put a little bit of her spark back into this one!! I found myself giggling at the dialogue and losing it over the spice!

As always in Tessa Bailey novels, there is a level of cheesiness involved in this story, but the romance and pining from the MMC balances this well! Both characters are very well developed, and the plot had enough layers that there was never a dull moment.

One thing I wish the author would’ve explored more was Natalie’s relationship to alcohol. It’s hinted that she may be bordering on alcoholism; however, this was skimmed over and not addressed as much as I would have wanted. Natalie very clearly has familial and emotional trauma, but it seems as though being with August magically fixes this side to her, which is unrealistic.

Also, the readers get the majority of closure to the HEA at the 90-95% mark and then all of a sudden in the LAST CHAPTER, the CO reveals the investment to Natalie, opening up a new can of worms. I felt like this was way too close to the book’s end and made the last few pages feel too rushed to reveal that A & N never “needed” to get married in the first place.

Overall, this one was *significantly* better than Secretly Yours and I will be an August and Natalie supporter until I die.

This was so cute! I always love a marriage of convenience trope and Tessa Bailey always delivers. I just loved the banter between Natalie and August throughout the entire book.

Another incredibly steamy, sexy love story from Tessa Bailey featuring a heroine with a plan and a hunky hero! I loved this enemies to lovers, fake marriage, Napa based romance. The cameos from the characters from the first novel were fun and I LOVED the sassy cat references. I appreciated the heart and humor of the plot. And of course the swoon and dirty talk was off the charts!

Thanks Avon and Netgalley for my copy!

After not loving Secretly Yours, I was slightly unsure about picking up Unfortunately Yours - however, I was so happy to be proved wrong. UY is Bailey back at her best, full of banter & steam, this one is another winner from Tessa!

I loved Tessa Bailey's interpretation of a marriage of convenience romance! It was a super cute read! I was smiling so much during this, but I also did cry unexpectedly too.

I didn't really like the first book too much, but I was curious about these two characters and decided to read it. I liked the second book much more.

Overall, I liked this read. This could have been a five-star read for me, but the pacing and a few things were just a little off to bump it up, but this was a strong 4 star-read for me.

I’ve liked but not loved most of the releases post the Bellinger Sister books but Unfortunately Yours is Tessa Bailey at her best! Marriage of convenience and enemies to lovers in the way that the hero is so obsessed with the heroine but he can’t help from saying the wrong thing. The banter between Natalie and August was so funny and you just can’t help but root for them.

- marriage of convenience
- he falls first
- steamy!

Tessa Bailey books are always fun and steamy, and Unfortunately Yours was much of the same! The banter between Natalie and August was great, and their chemistry was fiiiire!

This was quick, fun and light!

I've mostly enjoyed all my previous experiences with Tessa Bailey, and this is no different! A sequel that tops its predecessor with amazing tropes like "enemies to lovers" "marriage of convenience" and "he falls first". This book will make you blush and cry and laugh and leave you satisfied! Highly recommend!

Tessa Bailey is the Queen of Steam and Dirty Talk and this book delivered.

Natalie is back in town after losing her job. August owns the local winery. They have incredible chemistry.

He needs to turn his business around. She's a trust fund baby.

They think a sham wedding will help them both with some things...

It was so nice to return to Napa again for another chapter in the Vos' family's story. "Unfortunately Yours" is the second book in Tessa Bailey's A Vine Mess series following "Secretly Yours." "Unfortunately Yours" follows a marriage of convenience relationship between enemies Natalie Vos and former Navy Seal August Cates. Both agree to the sham marriage as they each need money for their own investments in a mix of the enemies-to-lovers and fake marriage tropes.
Bailey does a fantastic job with the banter between our main characters and the dynamic of their relationship is believable. As usual, Bailey does a great job with the spice. However, the pacing felt a bit off and parts of the book felt a bit... cheesy (i.e. the water rescue scene, the damaged veteran stereotype, the epilogue, etc.).
Overall, "Unfortunately Yours" is a fun and enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Book for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
3.5/5

Bailey didn't disappoint. I was very happy to take a journey back to Napa to visit the Vos' Winery. I loved August. He was the perfect hero for Natalie. Enemies to lovers is such a fun troupe. I enjoyed their banter and their fire in the bedroom. I enjoyed their journey in their fake marriage to find out it wasn't fake at all. The cameos with Julian and Hallie didn't hurt either. I hope there are more stories to spill out of Napa like fine wine. As long as Tessa Bailey writes them, I will read them.

I truly loved both books in this series! The enemies to lovers trope will always be a favorite, but I liked how Tessa let her characters make mistakes and apologize for it. Most of the time the enemies will stay mad and never share their struggles or what they are thinking. I love that they were able to put aside differences and deal with each others mental struggles together. Unfortunately Yours was funny, spicy, and made me say "AWWW" multiple times! It dealt with anxiety, PTSD, and family issues while still staying light and upbeat.

I think Natalie and August might be my favorite Tessa Bailey couple to date. Let me go in by saying that generally I really dislike the marriage of convenience trope. But August is SO lovable, that I just could not stop reading. The banter between him and Natalie is hypnotic and I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions. The relationship felt organic and sweet and I loved how there were tie ins back to secretly yours. Overall a really great read. Easy 4.5 stars

Thank you to #partner Avon Books for our copy of Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey.

👉 This book comes out on June 6, 2023.

Rating: 4 ⭐️
Genre: Romance 📖

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book more than the first in this series!

I enjoyed both of the main characters and connected so much more with August and Natalie's story!

If you like marriage of convenience or fake marriage tropes, you definitely want to add this one to your TBR👏👏👏

Tessa Bailey does it again. Badass female lead, sexy as hell male lead, undeniable chemistry, absolutely amazing banter… Unfortunately Yours has it ALL! There are not enough stars to give! Possibly my favorite Tessa Bailey EVER! What Tessa wrote in her forward about what she truly wants to see out of an enemies to lovers romance came to life on the pages of this book. I laughed (a lot and out loud), I cried, I felt my chest get all tight and squeezy. I couldn’t get enough of Natalie and August. I knew from the little blip we got of them in Secretly Yours, that their love story was going to be a good one!

Loveable Goofball meets Wall Street Ice Queen in this second installment of Tessa Bailey's Wine Country romance series!

I loved August soo much!! What a dork. His banter with Natalie was just superb. It had me laughing out loud so many times. Would totally recommend if you're looking for a quick spring/summer read!

✒️ Writing Quality: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
🖤 Characterization: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
😈 Playful Banter: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
📍 Plot: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
🌶️ Smut & Spice: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
✈️ Running-through-the-Airport-Love Declarations: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
😇 Enjoyment Level: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

「 Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★」

Tessa Bailey has done it again folks.
At this point I should just pre-order any book that she announces.
August and Natalie have stolen my heart and I don't want it back. Ok, I want it back but they can keep a piece of it, I will need it for future characters Tessa writes.
A complete and absolute sucker that I am for grumpy sunshine, fake marriage trope this book is right up my alley.
The mouth on this man. Ufffff. I needed to put the book down several times. And that resque scene, and the restaurant😍 not to be repetitive BUT THAT EPILOG MADE ME TEAR UP WITH HOW SWEET IT WAS.
The spice was as always chef's kiss...
Suffice to say 5 STARTS!

5 stars. I really enjoyed Secretly Yours. So much so that I gave it 5 stars. But Unfortunately Yours was even better. How does Tessa do it!!!

There was so much to love about Unfortunately Yours. I loved the enemies to lovers and marriage of convenience tropes. I loved the banter between August and Natalie. And I loved that Natalie was this totally amazing and formidable character who wound up being underestimated by seemingly everyone. And the scenes where she was able to prove herself were just incredible and had me fist pumping. August is totally this golden retriever type of character, but don’t let the goofiness fool you. He’s also a super protective former Seal and I think he will be making a lot of readers’ book boyfriend lists. And of course, this wouldn’t be a Tessa Bailey book without a plethora of spicy scenes, which were pure perfection. I absolutely recommend this one and I’m so grateful to Tessa and Avon for allowing me to read an early copy.