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A review by bayleereads
Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.75
Oof y'all... buckle up. This one was a doozy. If this had been written by any other author, I probably would have DNF'd. But since it's TB (my favorite author), I forced myself to finish it. I don't want to rage-rant about this book because that's not in my nature, but I just want to point some things out that made this a rough read for me.
Hallie has to be the most immature FMC I've ever encountered. She gave me stalker vibes-- who continues to crush on a man from high school for FIFTEEN YEARS without him knowing you exist? That was c r e e p y to me. She also makes all her problems everyone else's problems and I *hate* when people do that. She's inconveniencing other people because she has time management issues and doesn't know how to process her grief healthily. Hallie and Julian had no chemistry whatsoever. And why is he so obsessed with her smile and KNEES?!? Istg her knees and/or smile was mentioned every five pages (probably even more frequently). The storyline was somewhat entertaining, but what was that ending??? It felt rushed and last-minute added.
TBH, the only things going for this book (imo of course) was the smut (which actually sometimes made me cringe???) and Julian's sister Natalie. She was genuinely the only character I liked (so I'm looking forward to Unfortunately, Yours). I just found myself wanting the book to end and did not enjoy having to pick it up-- it felt like a chore.
This book wasn't as bad as a 2.5, but doesn't deserve 3 either. So I split it down the middle. Definitely my most disappointing read of the year, which breaks my heart because it was written by my fav author.
Hallie has to be the most immature FMC I've ever encountered. She gave me stalker vibes-- who continues to crush on a man from high school for FIFTEEN YEARS without him knowing you exist? That was c r e e p y to me. She also makes all her problems everyone else's problems and I *hate* when people do that. She's inconveniencing other people because she has time management issues and doesn't know how to process her grief healthily. Hallie and Julian had no chemistry whatsoever. And why is he so obsessed with her smile and KNEES?!? Istg her knees and/or smile was mentioned every five pages (probably even more frequently). The storyline was somewhat entertaining, but what was that ending??? It felt rushed and last-minute added.
TBH, the only things going for this book (imo of course) was the smut (which actually sometimes made me cringe???) and Julian's sister Natalie. She was genuinely the only character I liked (so I'm looking forward to Unfortunately, Yours). I just found myself wanting the book to end and did not enjoy having to pick it up-- it felt like a chore.
This book wasn't as bad as a 2.5, but doesn't deserve 3 either. So I split it down the middle. Definitely my most disappointing read of the year, which breaks my heart because it was written by my fav author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Fire/Fire injury