“Because you said you loved him. Because you deserve your fairy-tale ending. And because I’d do anything for you, Gracie Cooper. Even if it means letting you go.”

Title: To Sir, With Love
Author: Lauren Layne
Type: Standalone
Genres: Adult, Romance, Clean Adult, Contemporary Romance

The very best thing a romance can have is good writing and a good plot. The steamy scenes and the characters are a big plus, but for me the writing NEEDS to be good. Without good writing and a good plot, romance stories become a bit underwhelming. The ones that have sex in them become just porn or enjoyable for the steam, and the one's that don't and also lack good writing really are just a fan fiction. To Sir, With Love regretfully does not have steamy scenes (sad as it would have made the story dashingly better since our main character is so delightful to look at), but the good writing makes up for that and the lack of an incredible plot.

Don't get me wrong, the plot is great. It is fluffy, a true romantic comedy, a fantasy and a little princessy. However, we don't get big plot twists, we really don't get much angst, and the whole mystery is really all very obvious. BUT, no matter how cliche it was or how predictable the story was I found myself really really enamored by the writing and the whimsical narrator that I enjoyed the ride.

Gracie is a lover of all things romance and has been waiting for her Prince Charming - well all her life really. She has had no luck, yet she continues looking (in vain) for THE ONE. She has a whole list of qualities and attributions that make him the one, her family thinks she needs to give this idea of finding the perfect man and try out the field. However, this is not the only one of Gracie's problems. Her job is on the verge of collapse as a very sexy (yet unobtainable) suit type of guy wants to buy her property since she is almost going bankrupt. Seeing her family's legacy closed makes her eyes water and she does not want to give this up as well. To make matters worse the only guy she seems to be interested in, is one she hasn't even met. Using a new dating app she continues messaging her SIR back and forth, but he is also not available, but that doesn't stop her heart from fluttering for the two men she cannot have.

Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was the characters. Gracie is basically a real life princess or she wants to be, and although many people would find her a bit weak I found her intriguing. She was sweet and very pink, and sometimes its good to hear about the type of woman who struggles to find her voice. Yet when they do, they're invincible. I loved her journey in finding "the one" and ending up wanting to fight for her own dreams not the dreams other had for her. Through it all it was more of a "her" journey, and not only a romance story.

--- 3.5 stars ---

Listen, I love a good Meg Ryan Movie. While When Harry Met Sally is one of my all-time favs, You’ve Got Mail is definitely up there. So, when I read that TO SIR, WITH LOVE was a modern retelling of You’ve Got Mail - with an app instead of AOL email - I requested it immediately. And, instead of a bookstore, we have a family-owned champagne store, Bubbles & More.

This was just an incredibly sweet read - we love a good enemies to lovers, especially when the heroine is ambitious and a bit headstrong. And the ending? Swoon.


TO SIR, WITH LOVE publishes on June 29th! Thank you to @netgalley and @gallerybooks for the eARC to read and review.


CW // grief; death of a parent

A modern day retelling of You've Got Mail by Lauren Layne? Sign me up!! I loved everything about this book, from the initial meet cute, to the drunken checklist phone call, the adorable messages back and forth between Sir and Lady, to the hilarious cooking lesson (anyone imagine themselves ruining each course like Gracie and Sebastian or was that just me?!), the gallery opening and everything else in between. Gracie and Sebastian were such fun, loveable characters, as were their friends and family. Another winning book from Lauren Layne- can't wait for more!

Great Rom- Com. I love Lauren Layne's books but this is one of my favorites. I loved watching Gracie quit trying to please everyone and finally believe in herself.

3.5 stars ⭐️
First time reading a Lauren Layne book and was not disappointed..This book just gave me You’ve Got Mail vibes and it made it very enjoyable..

You know exactly what's going to happen, once they say its a 'Got Mail retelling and once you start reading it. However, You've got mail is one of my favorite movies, so I was all in for the ride. I really enjoyed the characters, they had depth and their connection is believable and very well described. Bonus points that most of the story happens in a champagne store! I thought the ending was very well done. I loved the correspondence and would actually have liked to see more of it. One of my favorite lines, and one that i might apply is the "cinderella mode" - what she calls having high standards. Another great line: Wine isn't about science. wine, especially the sparkling kind, is about the moment. A 10 dollar sparkler sipped out of plastic cups to celebrate an engagement beat the pants off a three hundred dollar bottle of Crystal sipped from a crystal glass by someone bored by life."

You Got Mail retelling Yes Please! i really love Lauren Layne's writing. This book was super slow burn with a kiss at the very end which felt very Nora Ephron-esque.

Lauren is going to be a guest at the What to Read Next Podcast on publication week.

I really enjoyed this cute contemporary romance! Gracie was such a fun, likeable main character and I loved the atmospheric setting of New York City. Definitely a slow burn, low steam romance. I enjoyed the side characters and family dynamics also at play, and it managed to make me smile and cry in this rather short read.

I will say that the love interest wasn't my favorite. I really think we would have benefited from his POV instead of Gracie's alone as I missed seeing some of his reasoning and a bit more character depth. We jump into when she has already fallen for the 'Sir' on the app, and the conversations between them are so short that it feels like I didn't buy her love of him as much as she stated. Sebastian's little looks and descriptions of his facial expressions though were just ♥

Overall I recommend!

3.5 stars. It was a super cute read, but Gracie was very much stuck in the Disney fantasy. I'm grateful it was pointed out in the end, but it seemed odd to have her hold so tightly to a physical ideation of her dream man? Sebastian was wonderful and I almost wish the story was told from his perspective.

I would include a TW for infertility, which is not always solved with miracle pregnancies.

Such a great modernization of You’ve Got Mail. I am a huge fan of epistolary romance and that whole “loving someone for what’s on the inside” first.

Gracie has two potential love interests: one who wants to steal her business, the other she’s never seen. This story poses a few interesting questions - Can you love two men at the same time? And should you love either?

Gracie learns to face some hard truths about herself with help both of these influences. And, I really enjoyed that even the most powerful men can be vulnerable about admitting their feelings.

I loved how there were so many facets to these characters. Just when you thought you had them figured out, some new side emerged to give more depth.

I’m also happy that their wasn’t a lot of subterfuge in the story. That one didn’t know the real truth significantly longer than the other.

Overall, this is a great romcom with lots of swoony moments to melt your heart!

Thanks to NetGalley and Galley Books for the advance copy of the book. These are my honest opinions.

Gracie Cooper has spent her entire life holding out hope for that fairy tale ending. After her father passes away, Gracie puts all her dreams on hold to take over the family business. Unfortunately, a small champagne shop in Manhattan isn’t all that profitable and Gracie finds herself struggling to make ends meet. When a giant corporation proposes a buyout, Gracie knows she should take it, but she can’t bring herself to throw away her father’s dream to the frustratingly handsome Sebastian Andrews. Not wanting to admit to her family how overwhelmed she truly is, Gracie turns to “Sir”-- the faceless mystery man she met on a blind dating app. Despite never meeting or even seeing one another, Grace and Sir connect on so many levels and the flirty messages they’re constantly trading have Gracie falling hard and fast. But what happens when they finally meet and it turns out Sir has been closer to Gracie than she thought?

The moment I saw this was compared to You’ve Got Mail, I was sold. It had all the charm I was hoping for and then some. Gracie had such a vivacious whimsy to her that I thought was so infectious and I admired her positive outlook on life. Sebastian came across as this gruff broody guy, but you could tell he had a soft squishy side underneath. I think they complemented each other really well, and their chemistry felt very natural. I loved seeing their relationship blossom both through anonymous messages and in real life. The side characters also brought such a nice dynamic to the story. They were all so quirky and supportive of Gracie. If you’re looking for an unbelievable sweet less steamy romance to binge in one sitting, pick this us.

I've never seen any of the adaptations of To Sir, with Love's source material (most recently You've Got Mail) but now I'm pretty sure I don't want to. This book is a quick read that attempts sustenance but feels more like champagne drunk on an empty stomach. Readers know going in that Gracie's MysteryMate match is the same man as her buff, discerning landlord, but I still held out hope that Sir stayed in her app notifications. I'm very fond of online dating but thought Gracie's rose-colored "but we're just friends!" view of her "non-romantic wink-wink" correspondence with Sir while she knows he's in a relationship unappealing. (If she really thinks she could fall in love with him over text, that's pretty much emotional cheating!!) I really wanted Gracie and Sebastian to get together because they liked each other IRL and not because they realized they'd found an emotional connection online. Most of all, though, I wanted Gracie to actually learn that "those sort of long-distance flirtations are well and good... but they aren't the real deal" (yes, this was the only quote I highlighted because it seemed to be the only good advice).

To Sir, with Love feels perfect for readers who enjoy breezy romances where everything seems to work out and there's a textbook HEA at the end—and maybe as a movie, this story is more appealing—but this Grinch prefers her romances with a bit more bite.

**Review will be published on my sites June 24th**

HOW ADORABLE.

Ahhhhh so happy I got an ARC of this one because Y’ALL.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD.

Okay, first I need to preface this by saying, I have NOT seen You’ve Got Mail. I will in no way be able to convey if it’s like it or not (the summary says it is). So with that skeleton thrown out of my closet, lets get into the review!

I couldn’t get enough of this couple. Gracie and Sebastian play a perfectly sweet sunshine/grump + hidden identities (a FAV) scenario that had me grinning from ear to ear. All of their interactions were spot on and they were easy to fall in love with. The whole cast was easy to fall in love with for that matter.

This seemed to play on a little bit of an insta-love, but in a realistic style. I had no issues with the progression and timeline. Everything felt so natural that Sebastian and Gracie would fall in love. If anything I would have loved even more page time with them. I love how sweet they were on each other without even trying. Gosh the chemistry was fantastic.

Aaaand the family dynamics!! This had some of the best sibling relationships I’ve read about in a long time. They were all so kind!! And supportive!! And there for each other!! Ahhhh, I loved it. It was so meaningful to see these connections along side the romantic one. Graice had a lot of solid friendships as well. I really think all of these other people in Gracie’s life made this book sing. Nothing felt lacking even with the romance at the forefront.

There was so much to this story (and for under 300 pages I am wowza impressed). I found myself absolutely invested in that final movie ending moment and how CUTE. Just gave me all of the giddy, sunshiney feelings.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: very little
Romance: kisses
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents (happened prior to timeline in book), a side couple struggles with infertility

What a cute, little romcom. Lauren Layne created very likable characters between Gracie, her siblings & friends, and her employers at the Bubbles champagne shop. The Disney princess references were a little childish and frequent for me, so I much preferred the 90s movies, dating app, and New York City references. The whole big businessman overtaking the local shop gave me You’ve Got Mail vibes- one of my favorite movies. Overall, it’s a sweet, well-written book. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of romcoms, NYC, and blind-date-style books.

I love a good You've Got Mail story! The characters were so cute and even though I knew what was coming because I have indeed seen You've Got Mail, I still was caught up in the magic. Loved it!

To Sir, with Love is a wonderful book, I really loved it, and will read it again soon. I’ve you’re a fan of the movie, You’ve Got Mail, then you’ll enjoy this book too.

Gracie Cooper runs the family Champagne store in Manhattan, a legacy left to her and her siblings after her father passed away a few years back. Her brother and sister are not interested in the store, so all the management and day to day of running the store is up to Gracie.

Gracie has a secret, faceless, nameless “friend” that she met on a dating app named Sir. The app allows matches people up without using names or photos, so potential mates can get to know each other through words and conversations before they see each other in real life. Sir, is the one person who seems to understand Gracie, and she finds herself looking forward to their messages, instead of concentrating on her real life.

Sebastian Anderson needs Gracie to break her lease so he can use her store to build another office building, but she’s not going to budge on leaving her family’s legacy to some corporate takeover.

This is such a fun, romantic book, similar to the movie, You’ve Got Mail, but updated and modern. I naturally had a young Meg Ryan in my head as Gracie, and a young Tom hanks as Sebastian! It is such a sweet, lovable story, and I couldn’t put this book down. I just loved it.

I liked the little shout-out to the old 1940 movie, Shop Around the Corner, with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, which is the precursor to You’ve Got Mail, and a movie I watch almost every holiday season.

Falling in love with someone, though words, and faceless communications is so romantic, either through letters, email, or a dating app, being able to fall for someone’s thoughts and ideas before you even see what they look like is the ultimate in romance, in my opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more from this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

This book is a 5 star book. The story, the characters and the writing are all so very good. I strongly recommend this book!

Being such a huge fan of You've Got Mail, I couldn't resist diving into a novel with a premise that had so many similarities - and I was not disappointed! It was such a sweet story! I caught myself smiling so often I lost count thanks to the charm of the lovable characters, comical conversations, and overall storyline. I'm a ridiculous romantic at heart, and this story was exactly what I needed after my last heart-wrenching read. I haven't read many novels by Lauren Layne, but I think I've become a quick fan after this lovely tale!

I received this advanced copy from Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.

In 2013, I saw the play "Parfumerie" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and "You've Got Mail" is a movie that I watch anytime it airs, so I am more than familiar with the story that Lauren Layne beautifully modernized in To Sir, With Love. She balances the anonymous pen pals with the feisty love-hate relationship between the Gracie Cooper and Sebastian Andrews (a.k.a. Lady and Sir via the dating app that they both use) - a testament to old school love letters and letting down one's boundaries to foster a powerful connection . While the plot is unsurprising, I was still affected by these characters and their path to a fairy tale ending. Swoony and sweet, To Sir, With Love delivers!

The second I was approved for To Sir, With Love, I dropped everything I was doing and all other books I was reading to immediately start this. I devoured Lauren Layne's Central Park Pact series once I'd learned of them, and when I found out she was doing a re-telling of my favourite movie (You've Got Mail)??? I knew it was going to be a match made in rom-com heaven.

And boy, was it! I loved this book so much. It was the perfect character development of Gracie and her beloved family business, as well as evil, might-not-be-so-coldhearted businessman Sebastian. Gracie's zany friends, neighbours, and employees were also such a great mix of personalities and perspectives, and I really felt like they were full-bodied, unique characters who each get their moments to shine in this story.

The story stays true to the narrative we know and love -- online meeting, and unknowingly meeting IRL, and while both reactions are pretty equal in how visceral they are, it has two very different results: one with immediate desire, the other with immediate hatred. And even though it's a story I know and love, I loved Lauren Layne's take on it. I loved how she modernized how they met and how it was integrated into small, blink-and-you-may-miss-it details throughout the story, I also really loved watching Gracie and Sebastian's world's eventually intertwining, and all the ways he was slowly let into her life. More than once I found myself smiling down at my Kindle as I read, so taken by their emotions and feelings and budding...tolerance of each other.

I have to say, all the details and the storytelling are what make this book so good. It is a story we know, and love, and can probably predict in our own ways--but it was just so captivating still! The cooking nights, Gracie's sister's sub-story, even Cannoli the Cat, all make up such a fun, charming book. I think a testament to how much I enjoyed it is that even days after I finished it, I was still thinking about Gracie and Sebastian, as if they were real people to me (because in a way, they are!). I wanted to go see her paintings, I wanted to meet his parents, I just wanted to be a part in their friendship since I loved it so much.

Even if you're weary of a story you already know, I encourage everyone to pick this one up - it will feel new and fresh while still having the comfort of a beloved tale.