thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Unfortunately Yours
A Vine Mess, #2
By Tessa Bailey

I loved the marriage of convenience trope in this book so much! I ate it up! The writing was fun and witty, the characters were flashy out well, and the plot was good! I do think that the author spent a little too much time in establishing the characters feelings, it felt pretty repetitive. It was way better than the first book in the series, I love August (an amazing book boyfriend) and Natalie is a strong woman that has been shut out for so long that she doesn’t trust when her “husband” tells her that he loves her. Swoon…

Natalie Vos just lost her job and fiancé in New York, so she goes back home to her mother’s vineyard in Napa to lick her wounds and drink her body weight in wine. When she is finally ready to head back to the city, she needs her trust fund… the only catch is she has to be married before she can get the trust fund. But Natalie is so desperate that she is willing to propose a plan to a man that she dislikes to the Earth’s end.

August Cates is a retired navy seal, that started a winery for his best friend that he lost in the navy. The only thing is August is terrible at making wine, he needs a loan to get new equipment and to start fresh but he can’t get one on his own.

Could a marriage to Natalie save both of them, they just have to live together for a couple of weeks and then go their separate ways. But with the sizzling chemistry and constant insults August can’t imagine his life with anyone else.

Romance: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶
Plot points: 💥💥💥💥
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

UNFORTUNATELY, YOURS sparked with lots of vibrancy and verve. I enjoyed the intense sexual tension between the characters and their sparring. Recommended.

Must say it was better than the first one in this duo. I really enjoyed the marriage of convenience.
I really enjoyed their banter as always it’s funny with Tessa’s writing. It was a huge step up from secretly yours I enjoyed the MMC a lot more. If you’re a huge romance girly you will definitely enjoy it.

Natalie returns home to the Voss vineyard and needs to get married to receive her inheritance. August needs a loan to get his own Vineyard running so what’s better than a marriage of convenience.

If there's anything Tessa Bailey knows how to do -- is how to write a fun, steamy romance! I will gladly gobble up anything this author writes, and UNFORTUNATELY YOURS is some of her best stuff yet!

Tessa Bailey never disappoints in giving you characters you love, the spice you crave and very satisfying endings. This is the second book in the series and I love the first one, and loved the second. August and Natalie are great and easy to love, the tension is there but not overdone and the complications are fairly easily resolved. And you get a great epilogue, what’s not to love.

I just love Tessa Bailey! Her books are always fun and spicy good time! This series is just fun, fun, fun. I actually have enjoyed this one more than the others.

Four Stars! ****

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the ARC!

We first meet Natalie and August in the first book of this series, <i>Secretly Yours</i> but you don't need to have read that one first. <i>Secretly Yours</i> gives more back story to Natalie and her family and you get to see the very first meeting of Natalie and August which is not revisited in <i>Unfortunately Yours</i>. On one hand, I liked that we didn't have a copy/paste scene that was in the previous book and on the other hand, I kind of wish I could have seen that scene from Natalie/August's perspective.

<i>Unfortunately Yours</i> has two great tropes; enemies to lovers and marriage of convenience. What more can you ask for? August falls pretty hard and quickly for Natalie which is nice. He may not admit it to her for a while, but he isn't denying it to himself. Natalie is a bit of a harder nut to crack but was still likable.

Overall, I really liked this one!

Yes, Tessa Bailey is back. I tried to read the first in this series, "Secretly Yours", and couldn't do it. The characters were so annoying. Luckily, you don't need to read the first to understand "Unfortunately Yours". And you should read this book. I love the banter, the spice, the marriage of convenience, and the characters. Phew.

I really enjoyed this one more than the first book in the series! I felt the characters were way more genuine and the story line itself was way more interesting. This was a fun and humor filled light read with some spice! Tessa Bailey books are definitely the best choice in general for something quick and easy and entertaining. Would definitely recommend!

A sweet, heartfelt, funny story and continuation of the universe. August and Natalie are dynamic characters. I love the journey they go through together and how much they help each other grow. I love their banter and passion and romance, it’s so cute, funny, romantic and sexy. Must read!

Tessa Bailey is an incredibly prolific author, and I love her work. I love that she explores different kinds of people and different settings in her different series. I was intrigued by the premise of the Vine Mess books, which center around wineries in California’s Napa Valley. It also didn’t hurt that the town where the books are set has my name.

I love books in a series where each installment centers on a different interconnected character. Secretly Yours is about professor Julian Vos and his romance with landscaper Hallie, and Unfortunately Yours features Julian’s sister, Natalie.

I thoroughly enjoyed Secretly Yours, and the end so perfectly set up Perfectly Yours. Natalie and August and the tension between them are introduced at the end of the first book. I was intrigued and already looking forward to reading about them even before I picked up Unfortunately Yours.

I haven’t read a lot of books using the marriage of convenience trope (although, the musical & Juliet which I’ve seen MANY times uses it). It took me a minute to get into Natalie and August’s relationship because I found their constant bickering a little grating. However, it becomes clear pretty quickly that they care deeply about one another and that their marriage might be more than just a business arrangement.

Bailey lets the reader into the minds of both August and Natalie. I love when writers do this because of the dramatic irony it creates. Natalie and August are both riddled with insecurities, but it takes them some time to open up to one another. Being privvy to both of their innermost thoughts and feelings increased the impact when they finally shared them with one another.

There is definitely a Hallmark movie element to this story: big city girl returns to her hometown after a career setback and finds love with a “rugged” man who works with his hands. As an avid fan of Hallmark movies, that made me very happy. Bailey definitely gives her characters more wit and depth than the average Hallmark character, making this book even more enjoyable than your average made for television romance.

Bailey proves once again why she is at the top of the romance genre with this series. I look forward to her next book. I already have an ARC of Wreck the Halls that I’m excited to dive into.

Overall, this was much better than the first book in the series. However, I wished there had been a lot more backstory and build up around them meeting and spending time together the first few times. This book jumped in seemingly where the first one ended, but the first had very little info on these characters to go off of. It was not overtly clear why exactly they disliked each other beyond just making snap judgments about each other? Nat was not my favorite female lead and was hard to get behind and root for. She was just a little too intense and I didn't feel a ton of character development from her. August was more likable (how can you not be attracted to a fictional character who was formerly a Navy Seal?!) and he did seem to have some character development and grew to be more emotionally aware and expressive. All in all, not my favorite series from Bailey so far. I'm wondering if there will be a book three?

So cute! I don’t love books marketed under enemies to lovers when really someone has been in love from the beginning. I think the only expedition to this might be this book. August being just absolutely head over heels in love, smitten to his absolute core, was just so adorable. Loved their story!

I want to preface this by saying I’m a huge Tessa Bailey fan. However, Unfortunately Yours just wasn’t for me. It took me a really long time to get into it and I didn’t feel connected to the protagonists.

This book was SO GOOD!! I love the fake marriage and enemies to lovers tropes, and this book SMASHED them both out of the park! Tessa Bailey's writing is always a breath of fresh air and a good palette cleanser from some heavier ones - she is SO funny, too! I loved the characters so much, especially the MMC. The way he calls her princess - OMG! It gets to her so bad, but he is always so attentive. The spice was also *chefs kiss*! Overall, this book had me laughing and crying the whole time.

My favorite quote: "you want the truth? I've been through hell week, injuries, training that nearly killed me, giving myself stitches, without so much as an Advil. And none of it, Natalie, is worse, physical torture than being away from you.”

The cover is also SUPER CUTE! Love these covers. No one wants a cover with a guy with his shirt off. We need more discreet covers like this.

I honestly loved this book more than the first. The banter was top tier, and I thought the plot moved along quickly enough that I didn't get bored!

Oh. My. Goodness. Most likely my top favorite Tessa Bailey book by FAR. I absolutely loved the banter between Natalie and August, and how they went from enemies to true lovers. August fell fast and hard, and Natalie was cautious but also fell just as hard. The way Tessa approached a military man’s PTSD was so sensitive and well done, you’d think she was beyond familiar with the subject. I loved the way the family warmed up throughout the story and while marriage between August and Natalie was for convenience, everyone who was in the path of their romance could see it was REAL. From the start! I loved the character development, the spicy scenes, the way August worshiped the ground Natalie walked on and never let her forget it. Ugh. SWOONY at best. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read. Tessa Bailey is my fav, and this book topped the charts for me!

Book two in the A Vine Mess duology.
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Natalie Vos made a mess of her job and left an ex-fiancé back in NYC. Home in Napa Valley the only thing she wants is to get access to her trust fund so she can go back to the city and start her own hedge fund. Too bad her traditional Italian father put a clause in her trust that says she has to be married to get it. Enter August Cates. He’s trying so hard to make his winery work because it’s the dream of his late best friend and military brother. He needs money; she needs a marriage certificate. What’s a sham wedding in between enemies?
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I read the first book in this duology and was underwhelmed so I didn’t read the second, but when my friend Allie texted me I had to read it, I’m kicking myself for waiting so long. This was a picture perfect adult romance novel that couldn’t have been better. Loved it!

CW: panic attack, misogyny, death of a friend, grief, alcohol

I did not read the first book in the A Vine Mess series and I was able to fully enjoy this title without feeling as if I was missing out on "inside jokes".

The bantering was top notch. The "they just need to communicate" feelings are borderline, but bearable. The relationship between Natalie and her mother felt forced because we weren't given much background in this book even after some of Natalie's history was revealed.

August, the hero, bless him, such an intuitive, sensitive, and attentive man. Love it.

Overall, this book was a joy to read. I'm a fan of the marriage of convenience trope and if you are too this book is for you.