Meet Natalie and August: oh how they can’t STAND each other. Natalie’s family owns a vineyard dynasty and she recently moved home after losing her job and fiancé in NY. Stuck in a rut, she comes up with a plan to start a new finance business but she needs her trust fund to do it. The catch? She has to be married to receive the money. August is a Navy veteran who has a troubled past and an ambition to make his wine vineyard a success, only one problem: NOBODY likes his wine and he can’t figure out how to fix it without spending buckets of money that he doesn’t have. Do they marry each other and put up with each other long enough to receive the trust fund money and make both their dreams come true or do they steer clear of each other with all their snarky, condescending remarks bouncing off each other?

This is the sequel to Secretly Yours but can be read as a stand alone!
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
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Sorry but this just wasn’t my favorite of hers. I wasn’t convinced with the chemistry or realness of how quickly they got married. I realize it was a marriage of convenience, but I just couldn’t get in to it. I tried and tried.

Tessa Bailey is one of my favorite authors! This wasn’t my favorite by her but I still really enjoyed it. I loved the banter between the characters and the chemistry was insane!!! I would totally recommend this to romance readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn’t my favorite Tessa Bailey book; however, I very much enjoyed that the man fell first. The banter between the characters was great, but the jump from enemies to spouses was quick and hard to root for given the rapidity of the marriage (obviously I’m aware it was a marriage of convenience, but it still was missing something at the beginning).

I'm a fan of Tessa's quick, easy reads and this was another one. I didn't think it was very best, but it was enjoyable.

I just did not care. It took me *weeks* to slog through this one because I never found myself wanting to go back to it.

Loved this one THE BEST out of all of them!

Had the best enemies to lovers I’ve read in a long time.

Give this one a go!

OBSESSED. I got a physical copy of this and I tabbed it so much!!! I loved the characters, the romance, and the banter. Grumpy x sunshine is my favorite and this did not disappoint. Plus who doesn’t love a rom-com in wine country. 1000/10

I'm glad i decided to stick to this book after really not liking Secretly Yours, because it was a much better experience. What was better? MY two main reasons to like this one much more was that there was more wine! and also Natalie was actually quite a cool character. I still feel the disjointed voices between in and out of the bedroom here. Also August was a bit of a caricature I felt, not as developed a character as Natalie, but still entertaining.

Okay, I loved this book a lot more than the first one. This book had me laughing, fanning myself, just overall addicted. I really loved the main characters. Watching them fight and bicker, but fight their attraction to one another had me squealing. This book just had so many things I love.

✨ romcom
✨ dislike to love
✨ marriage of convenience
✨ boy obsessed

Natalie is back in her hometown after flaming out in New York but she has a plan for her come back, the only thing in her way is a stipulation to her trust.. she has to be married. And who better than the former Navy Seal she hates but also needs her name to get a loan and save his failing winery.

In true Tessa Bailey fashion this was hot. I loved Natalie and Augusts story. There was so much banter in this enemies to lovers story. The spice was incredible and even the tender moments were some of my favorite.

Both Natalie and August are struggling with what to do next. Natalie lost her job and fiancé and can only think of making a name for herself and getting out of the place that always made her feel less than, while August needs to sage his winery for Sam. I love how much August cared for Natalie even in the moments she thought he hated him and watching them slowly get closer and fall for one another was done so well.

We also get to see Hallie and Julian from the last story and how they interact with this story. Natalie finds herself and what really matters and August always shows up for her and decides he needs to let her fully in.

This book was funny and lighthearted with some sadder moments as we find out what these characters have been through. The spice was spicy and in Tessa Bailey fashion we get a hero obsessed with a filthy mouth.

5/5 ⭐️

Bailey has the ability to write a million mc and couples and always make them unique and this is no exception. Personally this was not my favorite of hers, but I think a lot of people will love it! The two factors I didn't love were that they main couple was so antagonistic, it just isn't my thing. And that the main guy love interest whole personality was that he was former military. It's not something I have only found in this book, and historically it doesn't work for me, so I don't hold that against the author. But as with all this authors work, the spice scenes and pacing were on point. All in all not a bad read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF'd about 20% of the way through. Not particularly captured by the story, but looking forward to trying more of Tessa's books! Potentially may try again at a later moment. Thank you NetGalley and Avon books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. My 1 star rating is simply because I needed to rate it, but does not accurately reflect how I feel about the novel as I did not finish it.

I was a bit nervous to read this one after not loving Secretly Yours. I will say that I did enjoy this one more.While not my favorite by Tessa Bailey, it was a cute read with a touch of spice.

That marriage of convenience trope!! I love me some Tessa Bailey. Queen of spice. August and Natalie are two of my favorite MCs in awhile. Soulmates! Even if you didn’t like Secretly Yours, this one will knock you off your feet!

I always love Tessa Bailey’s writing style and this was the perfect book to kick off summer. While I don’t love August and Natalie as much as I love past Tessa Bailey characters, the book was still such a fun read! And the characters did grow on me as it progressed.
I am also always a fan of the marriage of convenience trope, so I loved that part of it. I overall though think my favorite part was seeing more of Hallie and Julian.

I read this book while on a camping weekend and it was the exact amount of perfection I needed. Was it super predictable. Yes. But did I enjoy it, yes. Tessa Bailey's books are those easy=going reads that you can jump into no matter how many times you get interrupted and enjoy them. You don't have to focus to hard and there is quite a bit of steam to enjoy. But warning, the steam levels are high. So if you don't enjoy a lot of spice than Tessa Bailey books might not be the best - or at least skin through them.
I did really enjoy the family aspect in the book, especially with the ending. Perfect, easy summer read.

You know what? I liked it. I didn’t think I would. I had some reservations. Their story seemed primed for some miscommunications. And then it just… wasn’t like that. August had so many feelings and I loved it. The steamy scenes were all very Tessa Bailey, so take from that what you will. I would certainly read the first book in this series, I don’t think it will stand alone entirely with it.

3.5 stars rounded up

Always thrilled to get the chance to read a new Tessa Bailey book--whether it's an ARC or not!
The first in this series was not my favorite, but I am such a fun of a prickly female protagonist I knew this one was going to be great. Did I mention I also love hunky himbo heroes?
Basically this was written for me, and I cannot say enough good things about it.

I will start by saying, I love Tessa Bailey and think she is one of the best romance writers currently. However, I didn't love this book. I felt like it jumped in too quickly to the story. I didn't understand the dynamic of the relationship between the main characters (and I read the previous book in the series). I also didn't quite buy their chemistry. The sexy times scenes were hot but I didn't quite understand the attraction to each other. It wasn't awful. I enjoyed myself for sure. I just wished for a little more build up and a little slower pace in the beginning. While it wasn't my favorite, I'll always read anything she puts out and that will never change.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tessa Bailey for my ARC.