Angie's Reviews > Secretly Yours

2.5 ⭐️ A sweet, second-chance romance that takes place in beautiful wine country


"All time is not created equal. I know that now. Time with you is the most substantial of all. I'll probably never be able to stop counting the minutes that we're apart, but the ones when we're together, I'm leaving room for anything."


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ small town setting
✨ dual POV
✨ second chance romance
✨ opposites attract
✨ grumpy x sunshine
✨ fun-loving, messy, virgin gardener
✨ serious, organized, secret cinnamon roll professor
✨ secret admirer letters
✨ miscommunication
✨ lies by omission
✨ so much tension
✨ smut
✨ mental health discussions


Summary:

Haille is a carefree gardener who's had a crush on Julian Vos since 9th grade. He was a senior. They almost kissed in the vineyards during a high school party, but when he realized her age, he turned her down. Fifteen years later, Julian is back home after needing a bit of a mental health break when his mother hires Haille to spruce up the carriage house garden. Julian doesn't initially remember her, but once he does, sparks fly and romance blossoms. However, upon Julian's return, Haille wrote him secret admirer letters and doesn't know how to broach the topic without ruining what they have.


Thoughts

It's a fine story, but I must say, I liked the first half of the story more than the second.


Here's what I liked:

Tessa Bailey did a great job introducing us to the characters and setting up the story.

The small-town vibes. I've never read anything that takes place in wine country, so this was different for me, and it worked. I also enjoyed the side drama about saving local businesses.

The romance. During the first half, there was so much tension between these two, and I loved how different they are from each other. The second chance romance with grumpy x sunshine characters was fun, sweet, and often clashed. But in the end, they were able to bring out the best in each other.

Julian. He was such an interesting character. He's a history professor at Stanford on a sabbatical to reevaluate his life. We learn that he has anxiety and suffers from panic attacks, and to feel in control, he develops a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder and keeps himself on a very strict schedule. I've never read a story with an MMC with these struggles, so I found it refreshing. Julian is also a secret cinnamon roll who falls hard for Haille, and his inner thoughts about her were steamy and sweet. She's chaotic and messy, everything that scares him and his orderly life, but by being around her, he forgets time and can relax. I loved his character development.


Here's what I didn't like:

Hailee. I loved her sunshine vibes and chaotic nature, but she was incredibly immature. First off, she has been pining after and cyber-stalking Julian for 15 years. She would watch his lecture videos online because she was that obsessed. Also, she's a virgin at the age of 29. I'm not saying that's good or bad, I was just shocked. And her reasoning for not having sexual relationships in the past is that no one has ever compared to Julian, which is psycho behavior since she didn't really know him at all to begin with. Honestly, if this wasn't a rom-com things could have quickly turned into a psychological thriller story.

The secret admirer letters. I didn't really understand their purpose in the story. She writes them AFTER they have their first sexual encounter. So at this point, there is an already established connection, so why write the letters now? Wouldn't it have made more sense if she wrote them before meeting him again? I also just think secret admirer letters are creepy, so that didn't help.

Julian's dirty talk. Not only was I not a fan of the actual dirty talk, but it seemed completely out of place with his character. He is a super reserved, serious, straight-laced guy but all of a sudden he's saying things like,

"You've been doing such bad things to my dick, sweetheart. Just bouncing with those curls in your tight shorts, not a care in the world, huh? Well, you've got to deal with me now. You've got to let those beautiful tits out and deal with me."

OR

"Your curves shake when I'm packing this thing tight. I know it for a fact now. The parts you're nervous to show me are actually what make me hard, Haille."

OR

"You're going to get so comfortable with me looking and touching and tasting every part of your naked body that you'll learn to bend over with your butt in the air, just like this, and ask me to eat it whole."

OMG WHAT?! (lol) EW, NO TO ALL OF THIS! Also, he has a dirty knee fetish which I'm assuming is because Haille is a gardener. But again, Julian's character did not match up with his persona during sexual encounters.


The conflict at the end. I just felt it was weak/pointless. Using the letters to create an issue with his anxiety isn't something I expected, and it just didn't work.



Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.