Secretly Yours: Opposites Attract in this Spicy Rom-Com Set in a Small-Town Winery (Vine Mess, 1)

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

BUY THE BOOK

Published Feb 7, 2023

384 pages

Average rating: 6.3

208 RATINGS

|

These clubs recently read this book...

besties who read romance

hello fellow romance lovers!! this is a club where we read all things swoon, spice, and everything nice! 💗

Not Your Mother's Book Club

Freeport Public Library's romance book club! We meet on the last Friday of the month at 10AM. Great discussion and lots of laughter :)

Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Secretly Yours* by Tessa Bailey is a cozy, spicy rom-com set in a charming small-town winery with a warm, personal vibe. Reviewers apprec...

TheLifeOfJello
Feb 08, 2026
3/10 stars
⭐️⭐️ 2-Star Review Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey I went into Secretly Yours really excited because I usually enjoy Tessa Bailey’s writing style and witty banter, but this one unfortunately missed the mark for me. Hallie’s character, in particular, was hard for me to connect with. Her quirky behavior often came across as immature rather than endearing, and some of her choices felt frustrating instead of relatable. Julian, while more grounded, felt somewhat flat and underdeveloped. I kept waiting for deeper moments that would make me root for them as a couple, but those moments never fully landed. The pacing also felt uneven. Some scenes dragged on while others that needed more depth were glossed over quickly. While there were a few cute moments and flashes of Tessa Bailey’s signature humor, it wasn’t enough to carry the story for me. Overall, this book just didn’t have the emotional depth or romantic spark I was hoping for. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t memorable either which is disappointing coming from an author I usually enjoy.
Aundrea todd
Jan 07, 2026
8/10 stars
Such an adorable love story!
Sassy amd sweet
MollyRoy
Jan 03, 2026
9/10 stars
Oh wow, Secretly Yours sounds like the perfect cozy rom-com! I love small-town settings where everyone knows the neighbors and the winery vibe just feels warm and personal. This reminds me of when I was browsing reviews online—funny how one link like https://authorhouse.pissedconsumer.com/review.html can lead you down a rabbit hole of people sharing their honest feelings and stories. In real life, opposites attracting always makes for the best memories, like when you meet someone completely different and somehow it just clicks. Can’t wait to dive into this book and laugh along with the characters in Vine Mess!
Alliecat_grrr
Aug 09, 2025
4/10 stars
Way too many emotions and not enough sex
hillary_scholz
Jan 13, 2025
8/10 stars
Tessa Bailey just knows what to do to make me melt! Excellent start of a series and I can’t wait to read the next book. 

Julian, stern and buttoned up professor and Hallie, the bubbly, fly by the seat of her pants gardener, wouldn’t mix. Or at least, you’d think that. She’s messy - he’s neat. She wouldn’t know a schedule if it hit her in the face - he completely times out his day. She can’t stick to a plan - he can’t go without one. You get the picture. Hallie has been infatuated with Julian since high school and he’s returned home for a sabbatical to write a book. Now’s her chance to get her feelings off her chest. With a drunkenly written love letter. Suddenly they’re exchanging anonymous letters, while also connecting in person. 

The growth of each character was inspiring and I highlighted so many passages in this book. It just really hit me in the feels. 

Tropes: opposites attract, stern brunch daddy, dirty talk, secret identity, second chance-ish

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.