✩3.5

✦What to Expect✦
• Marriage of convenience
• Enemies to lovers
• Prank wars
• Napa & wine vibes

✦Thoughts ✦
I think this book was definitely better than the first book. I loved the banter between August & Natalie. They took no mercy when it came to their jabs, but also would defend the other in heartbeat. I thought August was very funny, a little ridiculous at times…but I still found him entertaining. I felt sympathy for Natalie and found her very relatable. In typical Tessa fashion, the spice in this one is top tier and super fun.

Tessa Bailey's novels are always a solid read. Bailey's writing is fluid and clear, her characters are well crafted, and her plots feel believable. Unfortunately Yours is another solid book by Bailey, it is an easy entry point into her writing, it has a more tame feel compared to some of her indie and older works, and is a very easy and enjoyable read. In this novel Bailey explores the marriage of convenience trope, which is currently very prominent in a lot of new traditionally published contemporary romances. This novel is fairly fun, and light hearted. There is nothing crazy build around the need to get married and is a predictable set up. I found this novel to be a quick and easy read, perfect beach style read that has a nice level of sensuality. It also has a hero who has some unrequited love for the heroine, which makes him super endearing and someone the reader can easily fall and root for. The wit and banter between the hero and heroine really sparks of the page and make this novel so much fun to read.

If you are looking for a lighthearted, funny romance then Unfortunately Yours is a wonderful novel to check out. If you adore Tessa Bailey I am sure you are going to enjoy this novel. I also find this a really easy place to start with Tessa Bailey, it beautifully highlights her humor and character building, while being easily accessible for someone new to her works.

CW: PTSD, absent parent, destructive fire.

Marriage of convenience + enemies to lovers= August and Natalie Cates.

Their story technically began at the end of Secretly Yours, so while these can be read as standalones, I do recommend reading SY first.

Marriage of convenience is a favorite of mine, but so rarely is it in contemporary romance. Tessa found credible reasons for it, which I appreciated.

The hate, which so often in enemies to lovers makes zero sense to me, has some foundation in this situation, which makes the slow burn romance beautiful.

Note: slow burn romance. Not slow burn steam. The steam is more like fireworks. And yes, in true Queen Tessa fashion, it is a wide open door romance.

He falls first (which you know I love), but it's more than finding her attractive. He truly wants nothing more than to see her happy, from the beginning. And when Natalie realized she wants the same for her fake husband...some moments made me laugh (prank war), while others (Natalie comforting August after a triggering experience), made me tear up.

The one issue I have is that August, a retired Navy SEAL, is referred to as a soldier multiple times. Including by his CO. This would not happen, ever. So that was upsetting.

That said, I loved the story itself. The ending and epilogue gave me the warm fuzzies.

Be ready for a whirlwind.

I was nervous I wouldn't like this book as much as the first one but I ended up liking it more. Fake marriage, enemies to lovers, lots of smut!!!! Everything about Natalie that annoyed me in book one ended up being why I loved her more in this book. Fully understanding why she is the way she is and her trouble not feeling like she fits in makes me feel for her.
August Cates... oh boy he is so stubborn. Hearing all about why he got into wine making is so heartbreaking and beautiful and watching Natalie and him start to understand why they are the way they are and love each other for it was so cute.
Obviously with books like this you basically know they end up together in the end but watching the events unfold and the drama makes it amazing and reminds me why I love reading anytime I pick up a new book. Thoroughly enjoyed this one!!!

Ugh this was amazing ! Absolutely loved Natalie and august, their banter and chemistry and one of the best character arcs (in both of them) Tessa Bailey has written !

Unfortunately Yours is a predictable marriage of convenience book. I enjoyed the story. The sex scenes and discussion seemed a little forced. I really liked the epilogue, but the rest of the book was just ok.

August is trying (for reasons reserved close to his heart) to open a winery... and he is miserably failing. He has exhausted all his capital and maybe all his will?
Natalie, a wine empire princess chased her dreams and struck on her own, made something of her self without her family's shadow. But one mistake costs her everything. To start over she will need her trust fund... only thing is daddy's stipulations says she has to be married to receive it. Maybe these 2 could get fake married and pull it off long enough to get some cash? Problem is they hate each other... maybe they won't survive it.
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Guys!! I feell so hard for August!!! He is an ex Navy SEALS but contrary to what these characters are typically portrayed as... he is the biggest goofball ever!! He is a loose cannon of crazy nonsense and joy and I absolutely adored him for it!! He had me laughing, swooning and even tearing up! He was so true to himself with absolutely zero filter and it was everything. He falls first and he falls hard!
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It was so much fun to read these 2. Their banter was so on point, I laughed multiple times and kept wanting more. I enjoyed Natalie letting go of herself a little and letting this ball of sunchine just rob on her a bit.
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No 3rd act brakeup up for the win guys!!
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I absolutely enjoyed this read and absolutely recommend it!! Tessa Bailey never fails to provide us with fresh humor and swoony moments to fill our hearts desire. Reading her work is such a fun and satisfying ride!
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Thank you @avonbooks for finally giving me a opportunity to read a Tessa Bailey ARC through @Netgalley! 😅 You guys made my day!!💜 Hopefully this won't be the last🤞

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey. I didn't really like book one in the A Vine Mess series but I have enjoyed a bunch of Tessa's books so was ready to start a new one and I'm my opinion it was only marginally better than Secretly Yours.

I'm always down for fake dating or marriage of convenience and mix it with enemies to lovers and Tessa Bailey's banter I was excited for this but it was super cringy. I liked the plot more but otherwise it was okay.

I'm not sure why The Bellinger Sisters series was so different for me but since she wrote those I haven't enjoyed any of her more rece books....

Hooked from the first sentence! I really enjoyed the second book in the series A Vine Mess. This book follows Julian’s sister Natalie. Natalie is back home after losing her job and fiancé at the same time. Natalie needs money to open her own company and the only way to get it is from her trust fund. There is one condition, she must marry. August is a retired navy seal who is trying to open a winery in the name of his belated best friend Sam. He is out of money and is going to have to give up on the business. The two enter into a marriage of convenience! Wonderful. I really enjoyed these characters more than those in book 1. The chemistry was fantastic.
*thank you to NetGalley for an arc.

There’s a fine line between loathe you and can’t live without you in Unfortunately Yours. Tessa Bailey gives Natalie Vos her happily ever after in this second Vine Mess book that, unfortunately, was not my cup of tea (or glass of Cabernet, if we’re going to be on-theme).

Natalie has long been an outsider, even among her own family. She’s both worked hard and acted out all her life to not be ignored but there’s a core of loneliness to her that broke my heart. I liked seeing the vulnerable side of Natalie whose smarts and insight had a lot to offer, and I really wish I’d seen more of that developed because it gave her character depth. August Cates is the one man who sees her and he drives her absolutely batty. The former Navy SEAL is now running a winery in memory of his best friend, but he sucks at it. When Natalie needs access to her trust fund (hampered by archaic terms) and August needs to be taken seriously by the wine community to get a small business loan, they decide on a marriage of convenience. A sham wedding and close quarters mean it’s impossible for these two stubborn people to go from locking horns to…well, you get the idea.

I wanted to love Unfortunately Yours as much as I’ve loved other books of Bailey’s. However, I simply struggled with this one. August just didn’t work for me. No matter how many times Bailey reminds readers that he’s huge and a former Navy SEAL, August came off as a caricature of a giant, protective alpha male to me. Between his cringy jokes and absurd horniness he came off like a teenager rather than a thirty-something veteran. The banter between he and Natalie didn’t work for me at all and the whole book just came off as hyper-hormonal rather than hot, shallow rather than believable, and the insta-love strained credulity to the breaking point. There were some good points to the book (Menace the cat) and some opportunities for more development that were sadly missed (Natalie’s relationship with her family). Not every book will be for every reader and Natalie and August’s story is a case of the characters just not being for me.

Let me start off by saying I love anything that Tessa Bailey writes and Unfortunately Yours is now my favorite (sorry It Happened One Summer). This enemies to lover, marriage of convenience is full of funny retorts and spice.

I absolutely enjoyed it and I hope there’s another book in this realm; maybe mama Voss?

I love a marriage of convenience book, but I felt like August’s insta-love of Natalie was missing something. Maybe it would’ve helped if I’d seen more of their early interactions/when they met? I liked August, but he was not quite self aware enough. I was frustrated over and over by his justifications for keeping secrets. And the way he wanted to do everything himself and somehow didn’t understand that he was doing the exact thing that he was mad at her family for doing to her? And that it was a colossal waste of money to keep doing something he’s bad at and refusing help. This book was okay overall but there are many other Tessa Bailey books that I’ve enjoyed more.

This is my second Tessa Bailey book that I’ve completed. I still have yet to read the Bellinger Sister series, but it is next on my list!

I absolutely adored Unfortunately Yours. The banter between August and Natalie was so fun and you could really feel a connection with them. They both had their own ghosts, but they worked out everything to be with each other. And that’s exactly the dreamy romance Tessa Bailey excels at. So far, this is my favorite book of hers - 10/10

Really excited about this book. It was an Absolutely phenomenal read. High will recommended to others to pick up as soon as it was released. Tessa Bailey never lets me down.

Unfortunately (ha), I didn't like this quite as much as Secretly Yours. While it wasn't my least favorite Tessa Bailey I've read, it definitely left a lot to be desired. The book features a marriage of convenience trope-a favorite-but it just didn't work here. The pacing felt off, there wasn't enough angst to convince me of anything imho, and sadly I did not like August. He gave off big himbo/goofball energy and I was not about it. I don't know, I just found it lacking honestly.

I am a Tessa Bailey fan, there's no denying that. I read the first book in this series and felt very underwhelmed by the plot and characters, but this premise intrigued me so I was determined to give it.a go and.... I am glad I did. This is my favourite MMC of hers to date. This book is full of booktoks favourite tropes and the usual Bailey humour. Third person stories aren't my fave but Bailey does them well. A great read and one to add to the TBR pile if you need an easy read!

I enjoyed this book more and more as I continued to read through it. I personally did not care for the characters at first and their personalities due to the childish pranks at their age. However, it was nice to see the love between the two bloom and see how they each embraced themselves and the other. I did wish I read the other book in the series first but still enjoyed the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. I received a copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review

I enjoyed this fun read. A plethora of incandescent sparks and razor-sharp barbs fly between August and Natalie as their story unfolds. It is a very cute, funny, steamy, and a bit over the top, easy to read romance that was simply a great way to get my read on.

I loved this book. It had me laughing hysterically at times. August and Natalie couldn’t be more opposite but also more perfect for each other. Their banter and little digs that were playful had me cracking up. The pranks they pulled on each other. So good.⁣
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But even amongst the laughs, enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience story; they both were dealing with some of their own demons, being afraid to let your guard down, having a hard time trusting people, allowing others to see the pain you hide behind spiteful digs sometimes; when these two finally let their walls crumble for each other, their softer sides came out and they were truly beautiful together. August only ever wanted to see Natalie smile and she saw him for the broken man grieving his best friend, who was also a hunk and a hero like captain America. ⁣
I adored their story.⁣
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This book was 100 times better than Secretly Yours.. which I had basically DNFed. Natalie and August were so much more likable and relatable. The enemies-to-lovers in this story was done SO WELL. August wasn’t a huge asshole, and I loved how playful he was with her in a smart ass, I just want to push your buttons to see you pissed off, kind of way. Secretly Yours definitely missed the mark for me, but Unfortunately Yours redeemed the series imo.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the digital and finished copies of this book in exchange for an honest review.