REVIEW: Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey: Putting back the pieces of her crushed life is proving to be a lot harder than Natalie Vos had first expected and being back at her family’s Vinyard is not making it any easier. However if there is one thing Natalie is good at, it’s making a plan, which is how she finds herself proposing a marriage of convenience with none other than gruff and tough former Navy Seal August Cates.

It’s all really simple, if Natalie wants to access her trust fund she needs to get married and if August wants to get granted a bank loan to fund his failing Vinyard he needs the Vos name attached to him, it’s really a win win situation for both of them. That is until feelings begin to get involved and an attraction that burns so hot gets flamed, could what started out as a favor to each other turn into a true happily ever after?

Unfortunately Yours was hands down the best book from Bailey that I have ever read! This book was fake turned real perfection, mixed together with some of the best banter and passion that I have read in a very long time. One of the things that I really liked about this book was the setting, I loved how charming and picturesque St Helena was and how wine quite literally flowed in through its history.

This book centers around the second Vos sibling, we get a bit more background on what happened with Natalie and why she has been so distant with the rest of the family. At first Natalie came across as a bit frosty and stuck up but the more we got to know her character the easier it became to love her. Gosh my heart hurt a few times for Natalie especially when it came to her feelings regarding her family, it’s not easy to come from a loving family but not actually feel loved and this is exactly how our leading lady felt. Though I will say that I did enjoy getting to see her bond and grow her relationship with Julian. Whereas our hero, gosh August was a complicated guy. For the most part he had me in stitches, giggling non stop but then there were moments that I just wanted to shake some sense into him but mostly his story broke my heart. At his core August was a gem of a hero, his desire to run a winery was so beautiful and touching that I couldn’t help love him more. However I think it was his love and compassion for his deaf cat Menace that truly melted my heart.

The relationship between Natalie and August was absolutely everything, I loved their unconditional support for each other. Even while bickering with each other they stood together, the bond that they formed was truly something special. I will say they did have a pretty fast love story, these two progress from insta lust to insta hate and finally into total love, but somehow this just worked for them. I loved getting to see these two support each other as they both grew into better versions of themselves.

Unfortunately Yours is a sassy, cute, fake turned real, marriage of convenience romcom that will have you giggling non stop and rooting this couple on as they find their way to happily ever after one bottle of wine after the other.

Book Info:

Publication: June 6, 2023 | Avon | A Vine Mess #2

A down-on-her-luck Napa heiress suggests a mutually beneficial marriage of convenience to a man she can’t stand… only to discover there’s a fine line between love and hate.

After losing her job and her fiancé in one fell swoop, Natalie Vos returned home to lick her wounds. A few months later, she’s sufficiently drowned her sorrows in cabernet and she’s ready to get back on her feet. She just needs her trust fund to finance her new business venture. Unfortunately, the terms require she marry before she can have the money. And well, dumped, remember? But Natalie is desperate enough to propose to a man who makes her want to kill him–and kiss him, in equal measure.

August Cates may own a vineyard, but he doesn’t know jack about making wine. He’s determined to do his late best friend proud, no matter what it takes. Except his tasting room is empty, his wine is disgusting (seriously, he once saw someone gag), and his buddy’s legacy is circling the drain. No bank will give him the loan he needs to turn the business around… and then the gorgeous, feisty heiress knocks on his door. Natalie has haunted his dreams since the moment they met, but their sizzling chemistry immediately morphed into simmering insults.

Now, a quickie marriage could help them both. A sham wedding, a few weeks living under the same roof, and then they can go their separate ways–assuming they make it out alive. How hard could it be? There’s just one thing they didn’t account for: their unfortunate, unbearable, undeniable attraction.