It’s better than the first book in the series, which made me itch for that 2 maaaaaaybe even 3 ⭐️ BUT I realized that comparing this to Secretly Yours would essentially be the same thing as comparing this to my Wattpad fanfiction from 2012: pointless, as both of those works are utter shite (sorry sofie from the past, but you spelled immediately like immedyatly in that book…) But I also have two niggles about this: First, the cover and the blurb suggest we have a fake marriage/marriage of convenience at our hands but that wedding didn’t happen until around 50% of the book and our two main characters are already half-way in love with each other by that point. And secondly, these two too think that a condom’s only purpose is to prevent pregnancies and with her being on the pill they just don’t need one. august…god i need him in a way that is concerning to feminism. he’s so down bad for natalie. he’s so attentive and sensitive that i wish he was real and MINE! he so effortlessly bows at natalie’s feet. calls her princess and cooks for her. the dirty filthy things that came out of him mouth when they were doing the nasty had my jaw dropped. it’s always the sunshine characters 🤭🤭🤭

Natalie was easy to relate to. Her family and colleagues always underestimating her, and her intelligence, and her ability to be an asset. So of course she's suspicious of August when he keeps certain parts of himself from her. August is a retired SEAL who is trying to fulfill the wish of his best friend who he lost during his last deployment. The problem is that he knows nothing about wine or wine making. The way he would talk about her plsss it would make me shut the book and stare into space with this face 🥹🥹🥹🥹 (this was when he was being cute) and then like this when he was being HAWT ASF 🤭😋😮‍💨👹😩 The plot was great and interesting, the animosities between Natalie and August refreshingly relatable and honest and I at least was not able to not fall in love with them. ♡i love how they initially get married because they have something to gain from one another, but they stay married (even when they dont have to anymore) because they grow feelings for each other. their banter was 🤌 and i always appreciate the humor in Tessa Baileys writing. what frustrated me was how the MCs could communicate well on some things but not on others. i didnt like how the H withheld a certain information from the h until the last minute. overall, this didnt FULLY hit, but im rounding up for the tropes and the author. 🙌

The intimate scenes when August and Natalie were together were insane! No matter how Natalie felt about August, she was putty in his hands behind closed doors. Tessa knows how to set the bar and rise above it in her books and the spice in this book did not disappoint. There were parts that were so intense, you kinda worried about Natalie a little bit (while envying her at the same time!) August also works through some struggles. As a military man, he's not good at feeling helpless. He was there the day Sam died and has lived with guilt ever since. It was his job to protect Sam, and he failed. So the winery is a way for him to honor and atone, in a way. But August feels he needs to do this on his own and ends up shutting Natalie out, which further triggers her feelings of not being enough. Eventually, August realizes he made mistakes and makes it his mission to fix them. Watching him work through this was really lovely. Look, might as well warn you, I’m going to get hard.” August says this when Natalie falls into his lap.. is he going through puberty like how can he not control that???

Unfortunately Yours

If you have never read a Tessa Bailey book before just know that her steamy scenes and dirty talk should be the industry standard. Wow. These two characters nearly set my book on fire.

My favourite scene was the prank gone wrong and the utter love and protectiveness August has for Natalie everyone deserves that in real life. Having read some other duology’s by Tessa I knew there would be an epilogue and I wasn’t disappointed, it perfect draws the two stories to a close and leaves the reader content with knowing where the characters end up in the future.

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August is such a fantastic MMC! He's a burly ex-Navy SEAL - loyal, honest, caring, kind, and protective. He sunk all his money into making wine to honor his late best friend and fellow soldier since it was his dream *cue to waterworks*. He's just a huge teddy bear that could snap you in half. Oh he's also a cat dad *swoon*. But best of all, he's a BIG, FREAKING SIMP for the heroine, Natalie. He falls fast, hard, and is so far gone, she can do absolutely no wrong. All August wants is for Natalie to be happy and safe, and he will do everything in his power to make it so. Enter the marriage of convenience. Natalie can access her trust fund under one condition: get married! August and Natalie decide to enter into marriage to fulfil both of their dreams. Turns out though, while they don’t like each other, they do have sizzling sexual tension that can’t be ignored. I love vulnerability in my main characters and while August was a rough around the edges and tough ex-Navy SEAL, and Natalie clearly projected sharp edges and no nonsense, they both had such deep emotions and hopes and sadness they were carrying with them. Once they allowed themselves to show that to each other it was beautiful. Particularly August just seemed to KNOW what Natalie needed out of him as a partner. It was so sweet. Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.