3.5 stars. This was a delightful brain candy book. An updated You've Got Mail with dating apps, its predictable and cheesy in the best ways. My favorite book of the author's so far!

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

Gracie Cooper took over her father's novelty champagne shop when he passed away...but the shop hasn't been doing too great, and her landlord, Sebastian Andrews, keeps attempting to buy out her lease (but she's just not ready to give in yet). I loved Gracie's can-do attitude, and Sebastian really was the perfect leading man once he opened up a little. Lauren Layne has written another great story! It truly is You've Got Mail, retold for the 21st century!

This story follows a woman, Gracie Cooper, who after her father passed away, takes over his novelty champagne shop in Manhattan. With the world changing, the store is not able to keep up financially the way it once had. Gracie is approached by her handsome yet arrogant landlord of sorts, Sebastian Andrews, who proposes a buyout. But Gracie can’t bear the thought of throwing her father’s dream away like she did her own.

Overwhelmed, she seeks the advice of her penpal of sorts, a faceless “Sir”, with whom she connected on a blind dating app where matches get to know each other solely by messaging each other before sending names or pictures.

Slowly, she finds herself falling for her “Sir”, but little does she know she has met him in real life. And she can’t stand him.

Oh my GOODNESS. This book was so cute!! Perfect summer read. If you like You’ve Got Mail and a good hate-to-love story definitely put this one on your to-read list for June! I just loved it. It’s definitely a slow burn, but I loved that about it. Just my cup of tea. It took me a while to get through, but I think it was because I didn’t want it to end. ...Also May might be my favorite side character ever. I love her.
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

My review: I'm going to let you in on a secret. Lauren Layne has smashed it out of the park. This is her best yet! I read this in a day! This is romance at its finest. A retelling of You've Got Mail, Sebastian and Gracie are enemies. But, dang! They're chemistry is off the charts! I could not get enough of the two of them. I'm buying the hard copy of this when it comes out in June. That's how much I loved it!

I loved this story. I have a book hangover from it.
I slept maybe 5 hours and it was my 1st thought. Finish the book Mare, finish the book.

It had some wonderful UST dammit. And it was PG12 but I still really enjoyed it.

The UST was delish.
The storyline easy to follow, and the UST. Did I say that again.

Mare~Slitsread

Thank you Lauren Layne, Net Galley, and Gallery Books for sharing this with me in exchange for my honest review.

What a well written love story. If you’re looking for an adorable, quick, and You’ve Got Mail vibe read, this one’s for you!

Even though I knew exactly how this book goes/ends, I still couldn’t get enough. I quickly attached myself to all of the characters from the beginning. They were connected beautifully together, I loved them all! I needed an easy-to-follow read and I loved this one so so so much. Thank you Lauren Layne for an excellent one!

This book was so cute! Funny, witty and just a joy to read. It was unique but so relatable to this time of social media and online dating. As the reader, you figure out what is going on from the beginning and reading/watching the journey of the two main characters come together. At times I was tortured because all I wanted was for the characters to end up together and have a happily ever after. I finished this book in one day and couldn't put it down. I would definitely recommend this book to friends and family. Loved it!

This is the perfect book to binge on a warm day with a bottle (or two) of champagne!
To Sir, With Love was so well written! It was clean but full of swoon worthy moments. This was a modern take on You’ve Got Mail and it was so easy to fly through it. I loved the chemistry and banter between Gracie and Sebastian. The supporting characters were all very likable which is a huge plus in my book! I wish there was a little bit more in the epilogue of once the characters got together but overall it was such a fun and light hearted read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Gallery books for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

📖 REVIEW 📖

To Sir, with Love by Lauren Layne.
Coming 6/28/21 by @gallerybooks
Received from @netgalley

Synopsis:
“Perpetually cheerful and eager to please, Gracie Cooper strives to make the best out of every situation. So when her father dies just five months after a lung cancer diagnosis, she sets aside her dreams of pursuing her passion for art to take over his Midtown Manhattan champagne shop. She soon finds out that the store’s profit margins are being squeezed perilously tight, and complicating matters further, a giant corporation headed by the impossibly handsome, but irritatingly arrogant Sebastian Andrews is proposing a buyout to turn the store into a parking garage. But Gracie can’t bear the thought of throwing away her father’s dream like she did her own.

Overwhelmed and not wanting to admit to her friends or family that she’s having second thoughts about the shop, Gracie seeks advice and solace from someone she’s never met—the faceless “Sir”, with whom she connected on a blind dating app where matches get to know each other through messages and common interests before exchanging real names or photos.

But although Gracie finds herself slowly falling for Sir online, she has no idea she’s already met him in real life…and they can’t stand each other.”

REVIEW: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I loved story. I devoured it last night and just couldn’t get enough. Very much you’ve got mail vibes and just a well written love story with a few surprises in there! I loved the characters and how they were deceived, their sass, and their relationships with people. This author is new to me, but #laurennlayne did an amazing job and I can’t wait to read more from her.

#gallerybooks #laurenlayne #netgalley

Thank you to Netgalley, GalleryBooks, and Lauren Layne for the access of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Gracie is a thirty-something year old hopeless romantic who is looking for her Mr. Right. She is in a complicated relationship with a man she never met - known as “Sir”, and she happily runs a champagne store called Bubbles and More...until she meets Sebastian. Sebastian is looking to buy out her store, and she instantly develops a hate for him. That is, until she starts to fall for him. Is it possible to be in love with two men at once??

This was the cutest book I’ve read in a while!!

Looking for her fairy tale prince, Gracie uses an app that matches people but there is no meeting involved, only texting. Every time she gets a text from Sir, she lights up. Gracie finds she can share her inner most thoughts while trying to keep the family business, Bubbles and More, from closing. Her dream job is to be an artist, but she is intent in keeping her dad’s dream alive by running the business after his death. Sebastian’s family owns the building housing Bubbles and More and they would like to buy Gracie out. She believes she owes it to her parents to keep the store, but it does not look like she will make enough profit to keep it going. Sebastian and Gracie have an ongoing love hate relationship. Gracie feels badly about caring for her mystery man and Sebastian. Sebastian knows Gracie has another suitor and is reluctant to tell her how he feels. This is a great story with wonderful characters who care about each other. Maybe one can find a fairy tale ending if you can take chances. I loved the idea of sharing one’s feelings with someone you have not met.

You've got mail is one of my absolute favorite movies, so I was delighted to get a chance to read this ARC from Net Galley. It's definitely on the predictable side, but in a lovely whimsical way. I finished this book in a day, because I couldn't tear myself away from the characters. I was rooting for them the entire time. The only thing that I sort of disliked was the title of the book, I don't know why the "sir" gave me weird vibes. Otherwise, I would highlight recommend for fans of quirky main characters, lovable side characters and a happily ever ending.

This book was a really sweet, good book. It kind of reminded me of a Hallmark movie but better. It’s a very PG book, but I didn’t mind that. It was still angsty enough without any sex. I really love pen pal romances, and I liked both main characters.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Lauren Layne. I wasn’t disappointed. I loved Gracie and her voice. The story flowed along. It was a delight to read and I’ll be looking into more of her books.

You've Got Mail is one of my all-time favorite movies, and even though the technology is a little dated, the story holds up over the years. To Sir, with Love, is a similar story, with very appealing characters who meet online via a dating site that allows people to get to know each other well before they meet in person. Really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to recommending it to readers who are looking for a fresh, modern romance.

With her signature wit and humor, Lauren Layne’s To Sir, With Love, captivated me from the first message between Sir and Lady. The cleverness of the method of communication...with the short quips, lending hilarious implications...between the two, elevated what very well have been just another “dating app” rom-com, to totally different level of sophistication and writing mastery...Ms Layne took a timeless classic storyline and breathed a freshness into it that served to demonstrate her writing prowess.

As the interactions between Sebastian and Gracie progressed from contentious to caring, and the notifications between Sir and Lady grew more personal, I found myself more and more emotionally invested with their interactions, eagerly awaiting the next message to come through between Sir and Lady...I might as well have been sitting next to Gracie on the couch awaiting the next communique.

As always, when I’ve been immersed in one of this author’s stories, I’m saddened when it has ended...these are characters I will truly miss being a part of...if only through print...their lives...although I do anxiously await the next story and characters to which I can fall in love with all over again!

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

TO SIR, WITH LOVE is about living the life you were meant to live. It is a romance that grips the reader’s heart as the sparkling would-be artist Gracie fights to keep her father’s legacy safe from demolition by the reserved developer Sebastian.

I loved the heart gripping romance of this story. It builds slowly amid “complications” and insecurities. While the narrative is from Gracie’s point of view I often found myself feeling more for Sebastian’s plight because he only let glimpses of what he was feeling occasionally reach his eyes.

This is a must read if you were a You’ve Got Mail, The Shop Around the Corner, or In the Good Old Summertime fan. It is clearly inspired by these whimsical movies, but shines with its own unique plot elements and excellent writing.

I received an advance copy of this book. This is my voluntary review.

arc provided by netgalley for an honest review

Although I am usually a fan of Lauren Layne’s books, this one was just very lacking and fell flat. Instead of being able to follow her dreams, Gracie has to keep her family’s champagne shop afloat but she is able to find some comfort in a penpal that she has been writing to…and is starting to fall for. And in comes in Sebastian, heir to the Andrews Corporation, swoops in with a buyout offer…and offer that Gracie has thrown out countless times.

Now she must choose between Sebastian, the possible jerk who she is insantely attracted to, and Sir, her penpal that she repeatedly gets mixed signals from, or maybe realize that they’re one and the same.

I was looking forward to some sort of climax especially once we could see the similarities between Sebastian and Sir but it fell flat and the ending left me unsatisfied. The attraction between Sebastian and Gracie was instant but not very developed especially when they jumped from enemies to acquaintances within two chapters, which ended up being far too cheesy for me.

Lauren Layne's updated You've Got Mail retelling managed to be the anonymous-dating-app-penpal to real-world-adversaries-to-lovers romance that I wanted it to be. Cheers for that!

Any romcom lover will delight in the opportunity this story offers to fall in love twice, because fall in love twice you will. At least I did. Once, when I was thrown amid the clever messages Sir and Lady exchange on MysteryMate, a dating app where users connect through words first instead of photos. And second, when Gracie Cooper and Sebastian Andrews engage in a battle of wills over what to do with Bubbles & More, the struggling family champagne shop she's inherited, owns, and runs in honor of her late father.

The plot was rather formulaic. Nothing all that subversive or surprising in its midst, but I didn't mind. I found I liked the predictable momentum that existed between the Sir/Lady and Gracie/Sebastian storylines.

It didn't hurt that the dialogue was lively, either. Or that the side characters added to my bevy of enjoyment. I think Keva, the friend/neighbor/cook, was my favorite--she was just so infectious, so vivacious!

The rivals to lovers romance part of the story perhaps was not as developed as I wanted it to be, especially since they had an "at hello" attraction, but it worked well enough. Gracie and Sebastian's development was sweet, entertaining. I was more than happy to see my way through their meet cute to their cooking class shenanigans to their Sir/Lady reveal.

It was worth every fluffy, fizzy sip of sparkling wine!

Much like Nora Ephron's beloved romcom, this was cute, hopeful, jolly, and fizzy with champagne feelings. Like Kathleen Kelly would say, it was full of all those dating/courting nothings that, at the end of it all, "turn out to mean so many somethings."

3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC in exchange for my review!

I absolutely adored this book! I have always enjoyed Lauren's books and this one is no different. If you haven't seen You've Got Mail, you're going to want to watch it asap after finishing this book. I loved all the characters and all the individual relationships. Reading this was like drinking champagne, pistachio gelato, and cuddling with a cat. (All book references you will love once you read it)