Ratings18
Average rating3.4
#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey returns with the hilarious follow-up to Secretly Yours, in which 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.
Featured Series
2 primary booksA Vine Mess is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2023 with contributions by Tessa Bailey.
Reviews with the most likes.
It's been a while since I have read something from Tessa Bailey and I was so excited and shocked when I got the email that I had received this arc.
Something that I love about Tessa Bailey's works is that her character's banter and chemistry with one another are always off the charts and never fail to disappoint. August and Natalie were prime examples of this. I found myself giggling on multiple occasions.
August and Natalie felt like real people to me and not just two people on a page. Natalie was a character I could see myself in, especially when it came to her relationship with her family. August was charming and for once, he was an alpha male type that wasn't infuriatingly overbearing. He had me kicking my feet on more than one occasion. They were so fun to read and get to know.
This has to be one of my favourite works by Bailey so far.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
4⭐
song: august by taylor swift
“sleep right here. on me.” he leaned over and kissed her forehead hard. “it's the safest place you'll ever be.”
“as long as you need me, i'm with you. whatever you decide, whatever happens, i'm your goddamn man.”
“i need my wife. i'll always fucking need my wife.”
“if the key to her happiness was at the bottom of the ocean, he'd strap on some flippers and goggles to dive down and get it. if she showed any signs of illness, even a common cold, he would consider bringing her to the ER. if she asked him to dress like Zack Morris at Halloween so she could dress like Kelly Kapowski . . . he'd already have suggested it first.”