Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
A Vine Mess #1
Contemporary Romance
February 7, 2023- Avon
ARC

Review by Angela

I started and stopped this book multiple times before I finally finished it after the news from Harpercollins Union that they had reached an agreement and it was okay to post reviews for their books again. I wanted this to have the same magic as It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line, and Sinker– which were both 5-star, A+ reads for me. Alas, while I did enjoy this book and plan to read the next installment in the series, it did not have the same level of magic as some of this author’s previous releases.

In Secretly Yours, readers are introduced to Hallie Welch, a local landscape artist and business owner, and Julian Vos, a professor on leave who has come home to some peace and quiet while he writes a novel. Hallie fell in love with Julian in high school and hasn’t quite let go of that almost kiss in his family’s vineyards. But now he’s back, and this is her chance to see if the older version of Julian is just as compelling as the younger version.

I wanted to love this book. I don’t know if it was that my expectations were so high, or if I just didn’t connect with the characters like I wanted to, but I didn’t have the same level of engagement as I have with other novels by this author. I think my main issue was that the pacing was slow and caused me to disconnect with both the characters, their relationship, and the narrative. It was easy for me to bookmark my location, pick up another read (or reads) and then take my time coming back to this couple’s story. There was no urgency to find out how they would find their HEA.

I did enjoy the setting and the secondary characters, even though there was a sense that some of their behavior and the situations they put themselves in were over the top. But they were fun and loyal to the MCs.

As you can see from both the title and blurb, there is an aspect of secret admirer letters from one MC to the other, and for some reason I expected it to add some lighthearted and fun moments to the story, but instead, it added to the angst and conflict at the end of the book before the big happily ever after at the end.

This book is a whole lot deeper than that cutesy cover and blurb allude to, there is anxiety, panic attacks, mentions of the death of a grandparent, and grief. These two characters are opposites in every way, but they are attracted to each other deeply and secretly yearn for each other. Miscommunication is not my favorite trope, so it tracks that I would be annoyed by the back-and-forth “will they or won’t they?”. The super hot sex scenes kind of come out of nowhere, and felt like they were thrown in because this author is known for dirty-talking heroes. Julian goes from being Mr. Straightlaced, always in control to dirty-talker extraordinaire and it just felt kind of odd.

I did push through to the end and did enjoy seeing this couple find their HEA.

Content Notes- Grief, off-page death of a grandparent, anxiety, panic attacks

Final grade- C

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