Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey Book Review

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey Book Review

A sort of grumpy meets with sunshine romance, and it was absolutely delightful. A perfect Tessa Bailey romance that has everything we expect from her: great chemistry between our MCs, a romance that just leaves you smiling by the end, and great development from our MCs as well as a humanity that just leaks from the pages and you cannot help but empathize with them. Our two main characters, Hallie and Julian, met when they were younger and had an almost kiss moment that was absolutely world changing for Hallie. Since then, she has carried a torch for Julian Vos, and when their path’s meet again fifteen years later, she feels this could be the chance to finally kiss the person she has fantasized about for years. She decides to offer her gardening services to Julian’s mother at their vineyard, and she starts spending her days outside Julian’s rooms. Their personalities crash: she has no structure and no rules, while he always lives a life of structure, maintaining a strict timetable and a plan for his sabbatical year from his teaching position. However, after a drunken night with her best friend, she remembers the next day that she left an admirer letter in his morning running path to find. And she starts developing a sort of friendship with him, while still sending one or two more letters as the admirer, all the while keeping him in the dark that it’s her. I really enjoyed getting to know them, and the world that they live in. The fact that they knew each other from the past but now life has thrown them again together is also perfect, since it also adds tension to their dynamic. As always, Tessa Bailey’s romance is incredible, and it was GREAT smut. I was so ready to see them together and the heat between them almost jumped out of the pages. Another part that I loved was the character development.

It’s a romantic comedy with perfect moments, but there is also something so human about each of them and how the relationship develops. It just feels relatable, and I happily read the pages of their story. Of course, the tension at the end was expected, but it still left me smiling and wanting to clutch the book to my chest. And as a nice addition to the story, we get to meet and know a little bit about Natalie Vos’s story, the sister of Julian and the protagonist of the next story in this world, and I cannot wait to read this one too. Like always, Tessa Bailey’s stories are a fun time and you can always expect great romance, smut, and characters.