Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family’s winery. Now, Julian is back in Napa Valley to write his first novel and Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens of the Vos estate. Hallie’s crush is as strong as ever, even causing her to leave a secret admirer note for Julian after one wine-filled night. Julian doesn’t remember fourteen-year-old Hallie, but he can’t deny his attraction for her, even though she’s always arriving to garden frustratingly late, bringing her loud dogs with her and disrupting his writing time. Will Hallie and Julian find a way to fit into each other’s lives, or will Hallie’s carefree attitude be too much for Julian’s tightly scheduled life?

Tessa Bailey is known for her steamy sex scenes, and she certainly doesn’t disappoint in Secretly Yours. I mean, can you imagine finally being with your high school crush when he’s had over a decade to grow into an even more attractive man? Read Chapter 10, and you won’t have to imagine any more.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Tessa Bailey for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I so desperately wanted to like it, but the characters were two dimensional, and the story was slow. That’s really all I have to say unfortunately.

I'm sad to say I didn't enjoy this book that much. I absolutely loved It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line & Sinker so I was really excited about this one! Unfortunately it just didn't do it for me. One thing I did love was the setting. The wine country vibes were immaculate. I also really loved the anxiety/mental health representation. I thought it was well done. It was super visceral and it felt like I was right there with Julian. However, the bad outweighed the good in my opinion. It became super repetitive with the '"she's chaos and he's calm" thing. I'm not really sure why but I didn't really feel the connection and chemistry between the Hallie and Julian. Overall though, I see the appeal of the story and am sure other people love it, but it fell flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

As a huge lover of romantic comedies, I am very picky about the ones that I read. There are so many great books out there that I don't want to waste time reading books that are meh. Thankfully, this fun romcom hit the spot :)

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for the e-ARC of the book.

Hallie is secretly in love with Julian since their high school days, but they never had a chance for a relationship as Julian moved away. Now he is back visiting his family’s vineyard where Hallie is hired to do some gardening work. There could not be more opposite people than the chaotic Hallie and orderly Julian who follows the schedule religiously, but there is a spark between them that threatens to shake these two polar opposites.

This was my first experience with Tessa Bailey’s books so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I really like Hallie’s character and small town vibes, but in my opinion Julian was too intense. Otherwise, good book that contains some smut. Looking forward to reading more books in A Vine Mess series.

Tessa Bailey writes some fantastic smut, but I have to admit that I didnt vibe with this couple like I did in her previous novels.

Tessa Bailey’s Secretly Yours is book 1 in the A Vine Mess series and I just simply adored this opposites attract couple. Hallie is a free spirited gardener and Julian is a professor on sabbatical to write a book at his family’s vineyard. They went to school together but he doesn’t recognize her so watching their relationship unfold through some anonymous love letters was a fun twist.

I think I’ve outgrown Tessa Baliey as an author. This book just didn’t work for me overall. I didn't understand why the conflict was the conflict. The two MCs embodied their stereotypes in a way that wasn't cute...just annoying. I get it, one is chaos and one is organized. The both were also immature times 10...I spent a lot of time questioning their ages since apparently, we were the same age.

This book wasn’t exactly a grumpyxsunshine, because Julien wasn’t necessarily “grumpy” more than he was rigid. Hallie is a resident of St. Helena, and took over her grandmother’s gardening company after she passed away in January. When she’s invited to complete the garden in front of the Vos family’s guest house, she runs into Julien, the boy she was in love with 15 years ago and almost had a first kiss with. As the story progressed, Julien’s rigid ways started to fall to the wayside as Hallie and her chaotic self began weasleing her way into his life. One night, drinking with her best friend, she decides to write him secret admirer letters and leave them on the trail he runs every single day. These allow them both to open up more, with only Hallie knowing that she is the one on the other end of the letters. Julien finally owns up to wanting to date Hallie, and to “learn” her, as he says it. Hallie doesn’t want to change for a man, but Julien doesn’t want anything about her to change - he changes himself in ways he doesn’t even realize for her.

Tessa Bailey is killing it lately with her new contemporary romances. This was absolutely delightful and I enjoyed every single second. Julian and Hallie were PERFECT for each other! I also really loved the setting of the vineyard this takes place at. It was truly the perfect summer read. I cannot wait for the next one with Julian's sister. She was very fun and hilarious, and I'm sure Tessa will bring out all the sexiness and feels too.

*notice that this book is 2.5/5 stars but I have read Bailey's other novels and have rated then over 4 stars*

2.5/5 stars
This book follows Hallie and Julian who almost kissed long ago but now Hallie runs a gardening company and Julian is a professor back in town to write his book. Both have their own issues and are the complete opposites but drawn to each other. I have to say that I love Tessa Bailey and her books but sadly this one disappointed me. I felt the writing changed from her other books as the conflicts were bland and there weren't cute aweing moments. Now I know I can't compare it to It Happened One Summer which is my favorite book by Bailey but this book didn't have much of a story development. The whole secret admirer part of the story didn't feel as much of a conflict as it should have been but more of a filler. For this book, I didn't vibe with the story and the characters were okay. This book is told from both of the character's pov.

Hallie is the FMC of this book and I just feel connected with her story. There was not much information given about her until the end along with Julian. She did have a character development which I enjoyed. Julian is the professor/author who has been traumatized by his past. Not my favorite book boyfriend but he wasn't a bad character. He also had great character development and I liked finding the little bit of story that we could get. There were many side characters but I'm excited to find out about Natalie and August because I can already tell their story is going to be amazing. This is a steamy book which Bailey is great at writing with also the best tropes, secret admirer, grumpy x sunshine, opposites attract, and slow burn. I liked seeing the romance and chemistry between the MCs as I think they are great for each other.

The ending was well done but after writing this review, I feel as though there are many plot holes that need to be filled. I feel as though there was information in the book that went missing and I don't think it will be in the next book now. Though will I be reading the next book? For sure. Even though I didn't enjoy this book, Bailey is still an incredible author. I have loved her past books and this one was just not for me. I'm excited to see what comes next for Bailey and can't wait to support her.

This was a good read I gave it a 3.5 out of five stars I liked the growth of the characters. I just wish there a little more to it I guess.

This was a slowwwwww burn. Like the first 75% of the book was build up. But I loved every second of it. Hallie Welch has been in unrequited love with Julian Vos for 15 years since they (almost) kissed in high school. She's extremely chaotic while he has to have every second of his day planned out in advance. They're complete opposites and that's what makes them so perfect. Also, Hallie is the most relatable main character, like, ever.

It took me an extremely long time to get through this book (thank you college), but I'm so glad I was finally able to finish reading it. I was also able to meet Tessa Bailey yesterday (!!!) and get a signed copy of Unfortunately Yours so I can't wait to hear Natalie Vos's story.

Thank you, NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is an absolute pleasure. Transported to Napa, we meet hot-mess Hallie and overly efficient Julian. These two opposites are bound to attract! Hallie has had a crush on Julian since high school and watched him from afar. When Hallie finds out that Julian is back in town, she devises a plan to put herself in his very orderly path. Romance follows. I don't read a lot of contemporary romance but loved this one! It is funny, sweet, and spicy.

Everyone who knows me knows that I love Tessa Bailey's books. Hook Line and Sinker is my comfort read and her writing tends to draw me in easily, even in a reading slump. I was thrilled to get approved for an ARC of Secretly Yours.

This is a cute romcom that takes place in Napa and focuses on Hallie, a chaotic gardener, and Julian, a slightly reclusive professor. Both of them have their own issues to work through which adds to the plot outside of the romantic aspect.

Hallie was a fun character but occasionally got on my nerves with her secret admirer letters. It was almost like she was a quirky high schooler trapped in an adult body. Hallie kinda had manic pixie dream girl energy. Julian was the classic grump who is secretly soft.

Overall, I liked the book but it wasn't my favorite Tessa Bailey book. The spicy scenes were good! They're open door but nothing too crazy. Just some garden themed dirty talk (iykyk).

If you like wine, cheese theft, broody men, and quirky characters, go ahead and read this book!

Happy Reading!
Bookish Bay

All thoughts and opinions expressed in the above review are my own. Thank you to Tessa Bailey and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's release date.

I have adored everything I’ve ever read by Tessa Bailey. Most of this book was super enjoyable, but the conflict in the third act felt so forced. Not the world’s worst offense considering everything that preceded it was much better.

I typically love Tessa Bailey but dang, this was just very meh to me. The characters were boring and I just really didn’t like them. I’ll still try the next novel because I’m hoping to like it more!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5
❤️‍🔥Long time crush to lovers
🖤🤍 Opposites attract
🩷RomCom
🌻Gardener
📚 Professor
🍷 Wine
🏡 SmallTown

Hallie is chaotic, wild, unpredictable. Julian is anxious, orderly, strict. What will happen when their two worlds collide?

This was the cutest book I’ve read in a long time. It had me laughing at Hallie’s shenanigans out loud, and my heart aching for Julian in places. A quick easy must read.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Secretly Yours*

With dual POVs and lots of emotional highs and lows, it was surprising how easy and quickly Secretly Yours was to read. It's a romcom, for sure, and one that takes place in a wine country small town chock full of cheesy and oftentimes unrealistic tropes.

The story leans heavily on the "opposites attract" trope as well as a childhood crush and secret admirer letters. Unfortunately, this Tessa Bailey spicy romance felt much shallower than her previous work, even with the emotional discussions of anxiety and self-doubt.

The female main character Hallie is a quirky, disaster gardener who's been lost since her grandmother passed months prior. Beyond her confusing self-destructive behavior, nothing else about her personality really stood out to me. While Julian may have found her chaos charming, many of her decisions came off immature, especially for being a 29-year-old small business owner.

Julian, on the other hand, was the most fascinating character in the book. He felt real, authentic, and relatable. I was way more fascinated by his and his family's wine-making history and his struggles with anxiety than I was by Hallie's indecisiveness.

Still, I enjoyed reading Secretly Yours - a sweet and spicy summery romcom that's perfect for a vacation to wine country. And with book 2 focusing on Julian's sister Natalie, I'll definitely continue reading this series.

Tessa Bailey is my girl but I picked up this book three times and couldn’t get into it for the life of me! I think Hallie could have been cute after a while but either Julian or their budding relationship threw me off completely. Maybe fourth time is the charm? DNF