Vine Mess, Book 2
From the publisher:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey is back in Napa Valley with this hilarious rom-com about a down-on-her-luck heiress who 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 August’s 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.
“This enemies-to-lovers, fake-marriage romance is brimming with witty banter and sizzling with chemistry. The protagonists are fully realized, with painful backstories and emotional growth throughout the novel… Bailey’s fans won’t be disappointed with this hilarious, heartfelt follow-up to Secretly Yours.” — Library Journal
“The latest addition to the author’s Vine Mess books, which follows Secretly Yours (2023), is vintage Bailey with heady notes of earthy sensuality and smoldering sexual chemistry neatly balanced by deliciously dry hints of sassy humor.”— Booklist
https://amzn.to/3J4bgHV
Tessa Bailey is one of my must-read authors; if you haven’t read her, this is as good a place to start as any. Yes, it is the second book of the series after Secretly Yours, but I think this book stands alone beautifully. But I loved the first one, so read that one too!
The setting is a vineyard in Napa, so what’s not to like about that! The winery at the center of the story is owned by August Cates. He is a new, struggling winemaker whose wine is so bad he can’t give it away. But he is nothing if not determined. His best friend from the military was killed in service, and it was always his dream to own a winery, and August is determined to fulfill his friend’s dream.
Natalie Vos is Napa royalty; her father is a much-revered vintner, but he divorced her mother and took off for Italy. Natalie’s mother and brother run the winery, and Natalie, always feeling like a third wheel, took off for New York to work in the hedge fund industry. Unfortunately, she flames out in a big way and loses her fiancé, so she’s back in Napa again, still feeling unworthy and ignored by her family. She hopes to convince her mother to release her trust fund but can’t. Her father made two conditions for her to collect her money – she must be employed and married. His best friend is a banker and the trust administrator, and he will stick to the exact terms, as he should.
August and Natalie have a contentious relationship at best. They really drive each other crazy, and can’t have a civil conversation. But they each have something the other needs. Natalie wants her trust money, and August needs a loan from the bank. The banker will not approve a loan for the struggling winemaker.
Natalie approaches August with a proposition; they should marry. If they are married, she can go with him to the bank, and her presence will be enough to secure him the loan he needs. If they are married, she will gain the proceeds of the trust and can return to NY to start her own hedge fund. A bargain is made for these two enemies to have a fake marriage.
Natalie’s mom instantly realizes the sham marriage for what it is, but nevertheless plans a wedding for her daughter. But something is shifting between August and Natalie, and pretty soon their attraction to one another, despite the bickering or perhaps even because of it, leads them to add sex to the marriage. And with sex comes feelings.
They had decided to stay married for a month, long enough for Natalie to get her trust fund and August to get his loan. But they are both keeping secrets about their businesses, their money, and their growing feelings for one another. There is a lot of drama going on between the laughter and the sex!
This was another terrific read from one of my favorite authors. If you love a good romcom, this one is laugh-out-loud funny, along with steamy sex and a happy resolution. Don’t miss it.
6/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
UNFORTUNATELY YOURS by Tessa Bailey. Avon (June 6, 2023). ISBN: 978-0063239074. 384pp.
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