Tessa Bailey is on a roll.
The romance author took TikTok by storm with her “Schitt’s Creek”-inspired rom-com “It Happened One Summer” in July 2021, and has been blessing readers with a steady stream of content ever since. Her latest, “Unfortunately Yours,” hit shelves on June 6 as the second book in the Vine Mess duology. The novel follows Napa Valley heiress Natalie Vos and Navy SEAL August Cates, who enter into a marriage of convenience so Natalie can finance her new business venture using her trust fund and August can get the loans he needs to keep his own vineyard afloat. The two can’t stand each other at first, but, as is typical with any romance novel employing these tropes (or, really, just any romance novel), they slowly discover that their true feelings for each other are something completely different than what’s on the surface.
Both Natalie and August make appearances in “Secretly Yours,” the first book in the duology, which is told partially from the perspective of Natalie’s brother, Julian. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Bailey shared that she knew Natalie was going to get her own book from the time she began planning the series, but August being the love interest took her by surprise.
“I know my core characters (when I start writing), but I didn’t know exactly who the love interest was going to be. When August showed up in ‘Secretly Yours,’ I was like, ‘Oh, my mind just planted a six-foot-five Navy SEAL in the middle of Napa Valley, so I guess that’s the love interest.’ It’s kind of weird how it just happens organically,” Bailey said.
As its name suggests, the Vine Mess duology is set in Napa Valley, California. Bailey grew up in a family of wine drinkers in the Golden State, which served as inspiration for the books’ setting.
“I didn’t have very extensive knowledge of (wine production), so I read a lot and watched a lot of documentaries about winemaking,” she said.
The sunny setting ended up serving a greater purpose by adding another layer of romance to the books. In all of her research, Bailey was surprised to learn that winemaking has no set method. Since there are so many outside factors — the weather and the soil, to name a few — each seller is constantly trying new things to improve their craft.
“I think (winemaking) is romantic in itself,” she said. “The idea of this thing that is really dependent on the earth, and the sunshine and the soil, it’s just a romantic idea. It kind of went hand in hand with the series.”
The couple in “Unfortunately Yours” is the epitome of the enemies-to-lovers trope — one of Bailey’s favorites. But it’s more than the little bits of vulnerability thrown in among the delicious tension that attract her to this kind of storyline.
“It has to be done very specifically,” she said. “I really need proof that he’s loved her since the first chapter in some way, because I think that the fantasy in romance for me is that there is absolutely nothing that could stop him from loving her. I don’t like thinking that he hates her at any point.” She laughed. “I know that’s picky.”
In her acknowledgments, Bailey wrote that Natalie and August are some of her favorite characters she’s ever written. When asked what it was about the pair that earned them this title, she said one of the things she loved about them was the way they worked through their problems on the page.
“They had each other’s back, no matter what, even if they were fighting,” she said. “It didn’t matter that they were supposed to be enemies, they were 100 percent there for each other.”
The “third act breakup” has become common lingo in romance novels, and it’s exactly what it sounds like — about 80% into the book, some kind of conflict briefly pushes the couple apart, only for them to come back together, stronger than ever. It’s also a trope that is notably missing from “Unfortunately Yours,” and for the better. After one particularly bad fight that would normally leave other rom-com relationships in shambles, August stays and immediately asks Natalie how he can make things better. Scenes like this one highlight a different kind of intimacy than ones typically portrayed in romance novels, and to Bailey, they’re a must.
“I try to make sure that my characters know each other a little better on the other side of sex scenes, but there also need to be scenes that are (about) emotional connection, where (the characters) open up and the other person gets a better understanding of them,” she said. “The lust is great, but I think it’s almost better than sex in a romance novel when a man listens and applies it to his behavior.”
Of course, anyone who’s familiar with Bailey’s work knows that sex scenes are also a highlight. As much as her audience enjoys reading them, she also has fun writing them.
“I don’t think it’s about the shock factor, necessarily,” she said. “It’s really about sensuality. To me, I just think that there’s something really sexy about a man almost turning into a baser version of himself, like where a woman has turned a man on to the point where he’s lost his filter (and) sense of control, but he’s trying to hold onto it because he respects her and wants her to feel safe,” she said. “And it’s hotter when the woman is obviously consenting and enjoying herself, being like, ‘Oh my god, this guy knows what he’s doing! This guy’s paying attention!’ The sensuality of … someone anticipating your needs is so addictive.”
May we all be so lucky.
Talking with Bailey about sex in this way felt surprisingly refreshing, given that the fact we’d met only 20 minutes before had no effect on our openness. As an avid romance reader myself, I’m all too familiar with the stigma that’s surrounded the genre in the past. People have been quick to assume that books like Bailey’s are only about the sex and don’t offer any kind of substance. But I’ve learned two things from immersing myself in the genre as much as I have: Romance novels offer so much more to readers than a little bit of spice, and wanting intimacy in any capacity is nothing to be ashamed of.
It’s thanks to authors like Bailey and online communities like BookTok that these kinds of conversations are becoming more commonplace.
“When I started this job 10 years ago, nobody would talk about any kind of kink,” Bailey said. “The amount of Daddy content posted on Father’s Day (compared to in the past), I was like, ‘Excuse everybody!’ And now it’s openly talked about and celebrated.”
She pinpoints the younger generations of romance readers as being the greatest impetus for this shift. “People in this generation like what they like, and they genuinely do not care what anybody else thinks about them,” she said. “They’re expressing it so openly, and that’s a really valuable thing for me to hear as an author.”
“Unfortunately Yours” is Tessa Bailey at her finest — it’s got flawed yet relatable characters, a setting that’s perfect for summer and a romance that’s easy to root for. The novel’s highlighting of different forms of intimacy will raise readers’ standards in the best way possible, something that goes hand in hand with romance as a genre becoming less of a guilty pleasure and more of an outward source of joy.
“I don’t think anybody is ashamed of reading romance novels anymore,” Bailey said. “It’s exciting for not just romance as a genre, but being a woman, being a reader, being young in this world. It’s such a great and bold attitude, and I’d love to see it continue.”
Daily Arts Writer Hannah Carapellotti can be reached at hmcarp@umich.edu.