Secretly Yours

A Novel

De: Tessa Bailey

Narrado por: Callie Dalton

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From Tessa Bailey—#1 New York Times bestselling author, TikTok favorite, and ""the Michelangelo of dirty talk"" (Entertainment Weekly)—comes a spicy small town rom-com about a grumpy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn...

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 Napa Valley, and when Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she'll finally get that smooch. But the starchy 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 grayscale 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.

""Tessa Bailey is the queen of rom-coms. Long may she reign!"" — Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Merry Little Meet Cute

©2023 Tessa Bailey (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Really good read

The characters were good - the narrative was good. Could have been just a little longer!

Good but not great

I love Tessa Bailey’s other books but this one felt like something was missing throughout. And I do not like how the end conflict was portrayed or resolved. It just seems like it could have been written a little differently. It’s a cute love story though.

Good Read

I enjoyed the characters and storyline . Was a little slow to get started but other that than all good .

Heats up

Slow to start but worth sticking with it. I thought I was on par with some of her other summer beach reads.

A Cute Spring Romance

***4.5 stars***

This was such a perfect springy, Valentine's Day read. While it may not be quite as perfect as "It Happened One Summer", it's pretty close. I adore this romance and has such a fun time reading it. I loved the small town, Napa Valley setting. Wine country will always be a winning setting for me and it really leant itself to the late spring vibes of this book. The plot was deliciously slow, and I loved the buildup of Hallie and Julian's relationship. I also really enjoyed the anxiety representation in this. In my opinion, it was done well and added another layer to the story.

I think the only thing keeping this from being a five-star read for me was the whole secret admirer plot point. It didn't feel necessary to the story at all, especially because Hallie and Julian were coming together without that. It doesn't really add anything to the story and Julian doesn't even really react when he finds out that Hallie was the one sending them.

Overall, this was such a sweet, tender romance. And I can't wait to pick up book two in this new series in June!

Tessa Bailey does it again!!

I loved this book!! The characters were lovable, the performance was great and the spice was perfect. Can’t wait Tessa’s next adventure.

Grumpy-sunshine

So I really enjoyed the characters in this book. A great grumpy-sunshine dynamic. But I had an issue with the conflict in the book. Hallie was so upset with some of Julians actions. But she's the reason he did them. It's her fault but she decides to not pursue him because of it. It just made no sense to me.
But it was still a fun and steamy read that I was able to enjoy for the most part.
Callie Dalton gives a brilliant performance.

Flowers, Flirting and Spice!

Rating 3.5

I've read many of Tessa Bailey's romcoms and always enjoyed them for their fun, flirtation, tension and spice, which when it's there is fire, but is never at the expense of story.

Therefore, when I found myself in the mood for a little lighthearted romance, I dove into book 1, Secretly Yours, of Bailey's A Vine Mess series. In this story, we meet Hallie Welch, a gardener living in Napa Valley and bringing sunshine and her unique brand of charming chaos wherever she goes. Hallie has been nurturing a 15 year-old crush on Julian Vos, the dark haired, serious, eldest son of the Vos Vineyard family, whose need for structure and order has always ruled how he lives.

Through a series of events, Hallie and Julian are reunited when he returns home on sabbatical and she finds that the reality of the adult Julian far exceeds the teenage image she has long harbored. After a wine induced meal, Hallie decides that it might best to put pen to paper about her feelings and so starts a series of secret admirer letters to Julian. As Hallie and Julian's relationship begins to heat up and bloom (pun intended), she worries that the longer she goes without admitting the truth to Julian, the greater the possibility he will choose to walk away from her. Both Julian and Hallie struggle with the seemingly vast differences in their personalities and in accepting those flaws they see in themselves as something that another could never love and accept.

While not my favorite of Tessa Bailer's stories, I particularly appreciated Bailey's inclusion and representation of mental health through Julian's lifelong struggle with anxiety that at times cripples him to the point where he detaches himself from those he cares about most. Seeing how both Julian and Hallie navigate this struggle together, was something that I really connected with.

I listened really loved Callie Dalton's VO performance in brining the unique voices of each character to life. The way she reads an intense and brooding male character is fantastic. If you are lookin for a quick, light romance with some nice spark-filled moments between the main couple, this book will do the trick. I will be reading book 2 in the series to see where Julian's sister, Natalie Vos, goes in her journey!

Loved it

Loved it! It kept me not wanting to stop listening, just to see what the next mishap was!

Swoon!

This story was so freaking sweet it made my teeth ache! Lol I could not get enough of Julian and Hallie! They were so meant for each other!

After an almost kiss in the vineyard 15 years ago, Hallies crush on Julian Vos has never waned! When she finds out he’s back in town she gets herself a gardening job at the estate where he’s staying. After their first meeting Julian is totally smitten and having not remembered her from 15 years prior, he’s finding ways to keep her around. But of course chaos ensues when Hallie gets it in her head she’s going to write secret admirer letters to the man of her dreams. Only she realizes that he’s not what her imagination has conjured over these past years! He’s so much better and he cannot seem to stay away from her!

Their chemistry was freaking magical! I could not stop reading this book! I feel in love with these two the moment Julian couldn’t stop staring at her boobs. Lol

Would highly recommend this funny and chaotic and romantic story!

Can’t wait for the second book, and I loved that there were already bits and pieces of Natalie and Augusts story in this book! It’s going to be amazing!!!