Fifteen years ago, Hallie Welch almost kissed her teenage crush, Julian Vos, in his family's Napa Valley vineyard. It was a moment Hallie never forgot. Julian, however, apparently did. Now back in St. Helena on a professorial sabbatical to work on his first novel, Julian doesn't recognize Hallie one iota. So Hallie does what any self-respecting woman would do after sampling more than her fair share of Napa Valley's finest export, she pens Julian a secret-admirer letter. While Julian might be puzzled by the anonymous love note, what is really bothering him is his reaction to Hallie, who is completely throwing him off his strict writing routine. With her latest addictively readable rom-com, the cheeky humor and full-blown sexiness that are organic elements in all of Bailey's (Hook, Line, and Sinker, 2022) writing are in full, glorious bloom. The end result is a lushly sensual romance that brilliantly exploits the opposites-attract trope between a buttoned-up, by-the-book academic and a cheerfully chaotic Earth goddess-gardener for the maximum amount of love and laughter. Watch for the follow-up, Unfortunately Yours.

Hallie Welch fell for Julian Vos when she was a teenager. They almost kissed once, but then Julian graduated and moved away. Now Julian is back in their small town, and it's all Hallie can think about since she's revamping the gardens on the Vos estate. When she turns up at the guesthouse where Julian is staying, he doesn't remember her--at all. Julian is on a sabbatical writing a book, but ever since the gardener showed up, he can't concentrate on anything else. He has kept his life strictly organized and scheduled for years, but this curvy, dirty, complete mess of a woman is demolishing his perfect planning. And he finds that he doesn't mind so much. This sexy opposites-attract romantic comedy features witty banter, steamy dialogue, and well-developed characters. Backstories of anxiety, family drama, emotional abuse, and grief flesh out the novel, creating depth and character motivation. VERDICT Readers will devour Bailey's latest (after Hook, Line, and Sinker) in one sitting, then go back to again and again to pick up on its intricate subtleties. Highly recommended.--Heather Miller Cover

A woman writes secret letters to the man she had a crush on in high school. When her beloved grandmother died, Hallie Welch became the sole owner of Becca's Blooms, a gardening and landscaping company in St. Helena, a small town in Napa Valley. Hallie is facing old anxieties about where she belongs without her grandmother's anchoring presence. Rather than face her feelings, Hallie channels her grief through childish acts of sabotage and petty thievery against the new wine store threatening to put her grandmother's best friend out of business. When Hallie hears that Julian Vos is back in town on sabbatical to write a novel, she's determined to finally rid herself of the crush she's been harboring for 15 years. Julian doesn't remember Hallie, but he's strongly attracted to her despite the fact that her special brand of chaos wreaks havoc on all his carefully timed schedules and plans. The winery owned by Julian's family, Vos Vineyards, was once one of Napa's preeminent wineries, but it's struggling to recover after wildfires almost destroyed the business. When Julian's sister, who's dealing with untreated alcoholism, returns home as well, Julian realizes the depth of his family's dysfunction. Bailey's characteristic banter and instant chemistry between her main characters aren't enough to salvage the novel, which feels entirely constructed of scenes and tropes but without any real plot. Characters do things--prank calls are made, letters are written, grapes are picked, speeches are given--but very little of it makes coherent sense given the way characters have been described. Of note, Julian suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, but they are used as a plot device. Readers looking for a nuanced exploration of how people live with and manage mental illnesses will not find it here. Frenetic, fast-paced, and hollow. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A haughty professor and a spirited gardener face off in this raunchy and enchanting rom-com from bestseller Bailey (My Killer Vacation). Small-town St. Helena, Calif., native Hallie Welch struggles to find her footing after her grandmother's death, toiling for the prestigious gardening business she inherited from her grandmother and drinking at her grandmother's favorite winery to stay grounded. When the estranged scion of local Vos Vineyards, Julian Vos, now a Stanford professor, returns to his family's estate, Hallie grapples with an entirely different set of emotions, spurred by the memory of their almost-kiss back in high school. Hallie eagerly offers her services to refurbish the Vos Vineyards' gardens, determined to reconnect with Julian. For Julian, however, his time at Vos Vineyards is strictly business; he's there to finish writing his novel without interruption. But as the vibrant, chaotic Hallie enters his life, so too do a series of strange letters from a secret admirer, throwing his meticulous work schedule off course. Bailey delivers a second-chance romance with vigor and passion, despite the characters falling a bit too neatly and exaggeratedly into a familiar grumpy/sunshine dichotomy. The witty banter and gripping tension will make this a treat for the author's many fans. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary. (Feb.)