REVIEW: Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey: For Julian Vos everything in his life has a place, time and a plan. Which is why he chose to return to his families vineyard to write his first book in the peace and quiet with his writing plans and time schedules. The one thing he did not factor into any of his plans was one very distracting wild and carefree gardener. While Julian should be focusing on completing his book he just can’t help but find himself more and more absorbed into the messy wonder that is Hallie!

If having Hallie shake up his boring mundane life wasn’t enough it would seem Julian also has himself a secret admire! For a man that has always liked to keep feelings at arms length it would seem that being back home has brought on a flooding of new feelings, including some with his family that he didn’t even know about! Maybe this sabbatical is just the thing that Julian has been needing to figure out what exactly he needs in his life…starting with keeping that smile on Hallie’s face.

Secretly Yours is just the cutest! This book has all the Tessa Bailey charm that I have come to love, with one super cute grump meets sunshine couple that had me smiling from start to end. I loved every moment of this book, right from the cute Napa location to the old close knit residents with their quirky cute bonds. I think one of the things that I really like about Bailey’s books is how easy she gets you to fall in love with the town and all the residents, this was very much the case in this book for both me and clearly Julian.

Hallie was such a hoot to read. I loved her crazy messy unplanned attitude and the fact that she couldn’t pick just one necklace to wear so she would wear all of them! She really was a gem of a character, while trying to figure out her identity in a town that was so lied to her late grandmother, I think she really came into her own and if anything at all just proved that this was her home regardless. Also I loved the fact that she was a gardener and the way she let the plant ‘find’ their place in each garden!

Now I don’t think it would be fair to say that Julian was a grumpy hero, I think he was just a bit more reserved, however he was a total sweetheart. I loved the fact that he wanted to do anything to make Hallie happy even if that meant helping save the wine bar that she loved. For all his rigid schedule and plans he was actually a really great guy and I loved getting to unwrap his story. I really liked getting to see him reconnect with both his mother and sister and really learn to accept his fears and anxiety. I have to say that Bailey has done a great job with the topic of anxiety and how it can actually bring your entire world to a standstill.

I loved all the pent up tension between Julian and Hallie, for the majority of the book these two dance around their feelings for each other and let me just tell you it was good! I was a bit torn on if I liked he secret admirer letters or not, on one hand they felt like an unneeded part to the book but on the other hand I liked that it helped bring Julian and Hallie closer together. What I will say is that I did enjoy getting to see these two finally coming together, like talk about one long build up but it was worth it.

I really liked Julian’s sister Natalie, she clearly has a story in her and I can not wait to read her book next! There is definitely going to be some hot banter between her and August! Secretly Yours is a total must read, this book was silly cute and will leave you wanting to head to Napa to find yourself a cute love story.

Book Info:

Publication: February 7, 2023 | Avon US | A Vine Mess #1

Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family’s winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she’ll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn’t the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls’ night later, Hallie can’t shake the sense that she did something reckless–and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian. Oh shit.

On sabbatical from his ivy league job, Julian plans to write a novel. But having Hallie gardening right outside his window is the ultimate distraction. She’s eccentric, chronically late, often literally covered in dirt–and so unbelievably beautiful, he can’t focus on anything else. Until he finds an anonymous letter sent by a woman from his past. Even as Julian wonders about this admirer, he’s sucked further into Hallie’s orbit. Like the flowers she plants all over town, Hallie is a burst of color in Julian’s gray-scale life. For a man who irons his socks and runs on tight schedules, her sunny chaotic energy makes zero sense. But there’s something so familiar about her… and her very presence is turning his world upside down.