Having been introduced to Natalie and August in Secretly Yours, I knew I wanted to see where their story went (if they didn’t kill each other first). Always a fan of the larger than life characters Bailey is able to create, Unfortunately Yours picks up where Secretly Yours left off – transitioning the storyline from one sibling to the next as we continue to love and embrace the Vos Clan. 

One mistake! One mistake and that’s all it took for Natalie Vos’s world to come crashing down. Granted, it was one mistake with a lot of zeroes behind it but nevertheless, Natalie has found herself back in St. Helena, licking her wounds. If she wasn’t a wine bottle (or two) deep, she was trying to figure out how to make her way back to where she belonged. Sure, her firm may have voted her out and her fiancé may have dumped her, but Natalie was down, not out. She just needed capital to rebuild and she knew just how to get it. Setting pride aside, Natalie asks her mother for access to her trust fund, only to discover her father has placed the most absurd archaic stipulations in her way. She must be gainfully employed AND married! When did we re-enter the 1950s?! Reeling in her everlasting bad luck, Natalie makes the mistake of wondering how things could get any worse. That question is quickly answered when she happens upon the ONE person she would rather not deal with, even on her best day. August – the bane of her existence. Yes, Natalie almost slept with him and he was the mold from which heartthrobs were made but his arrogance knew no bounds! Flustered that her body still reacted to him and frustrated by her predicament, Natalie’s unfortunate run-in births a brilliant idea! If she works for August’s vineyard AND marries him, she can get her trust fund. The problem is, if he helps her, if their deal is one-sided, he will have the upper hand and she will never live it down. When she learns the bank has denied his loan for his vineyard and he is heading out of town, Natalie approaches him with the idea that would help them both and make them even. One month of martial bliss to convince everyone their union is real and they both get what they want. Easy enough – as long as they don’t maim each other in the process.

The chemistry between Natalie and August was off the charts in Secretly Yours. Their love/hate dynamic had a life of its own. I was hoping that same energy was present in Unfortunately Yours. Sadly, we lost the intensity within this story by knowing what was going on in their minds. Being on the outside, we only saw the attraction, the build up, and the fire. When we were privy to their inner thoughts, it just made all the fighting, bickering, and animosity childish. Our perspectives of August shifted as we learned that he was crazy about Natalie but had a deadly case of “foot in mouth” syndrome. We also learned about WHY he was running a vineyard, despite his severe lack of knowledge and his stubbornness to not receive help (providing clarity to his reactions to Natalie’s criticism). All of that painted such a different picture of the August we previously met that the tension and rift between him and Natalie just seemed off-kilter. Understandable that the need to maintain their outward relationship – that love to hate each other dynamic was the foundation of the story. Their digs at each other, the banter, the way they simply antagonized each other constantly was the kindling to their fire.

August and Sam’s story nearly brought me to tears. Those vulnerable moments were what made this book so confusing for me. You wanted to be frustrated in some of the derogatory comments that came out of August’s mouth but then he would have his moments with Sam and you just wanted to grab him, hug him, and tell him it would be ok. His panic attacks over Natalie’s safety were just flooring. She wasn’t Sam but you knew she had the same place in his heart that Sam held. I am not EVEN going to touch the heroic scene in the book but when August was back in his element, you understood completely why Natalie could never walk away – no matter how crazy August made her.

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!)

Natalie’s struggle to be seen, heard, and valued was echoed throughout the book. She was good enough until she wasn’t. She was at the top of her game in the investment world until she tripped and no one offered to catch her. She was ousted by her family at the vineyard and even August shut her out on his grieving process. She clawed, she fought, she screamed to be heard but constantly felt like no one would miss her if she simply disappeared into the shadows. New York was moving on without her, Vos Vineyard was rebuilding with Julian at the helm, and she was floundering. The one thing that she never lost, that she wouldn’t sacrifice was her integrity. When she turned down her father’s offer for her trust fund, when August let her down for the bank meeting, when her family shut her out – she didn’t crawl into the wine cave and wait to be missed, wait to be noticed. She did what she had to do and I agree with August – that type of bravery isn’t easy to come by and I applaud her for never letting life knock her down and keep her pinned to the ground.

While Unfortunately Yours wasn’t what I expected, I did enjoy the witty banter, the overall story, and the surprise depth of August’s background. I loved the ending of this book so much and loved how it had the same wrap-up as Bailey did with Hook, Line, and Sinker – giving the reader a wonderful ending to this delightful series.