Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis was a sweet contemporary romance.
I fell completely for this charming story. It's lovely, with such wonderful characters in Millie and also the side characters, whom I found myself rooting for from the beginning.
This was such a sweet, hopeful book, full of wonderful relationships. I also loved the mystery.
It's very well written and if you've liked any of Lia Louis's previous books (Dear Emmie Blue or Eight Perfect Hours) it's worth checking out.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Coming from someone who waits until I’ve typed everything out before putting in the recipient’s email address to avoid sending the email too early, I cannot IMAGINE so casually hitting reply and typing out my innermost thoughts. Imagine my nerves when Millie finds out over 100 of her drafts have been unknowingly sent!!! Ahh!!

Aside from my nerves being wrecked, this was a sweet, wholesome story of self-discovery, true friendships, with a touch of finding love in utter chaos. It felt a little far fetched and slow-paced at times, but I think it was cozy, sweet, and wrapped up quite nicely.

Thank you Atria Books and Emily Bestler Books for my #gifted copy of Better Left Unsent! #AtriaPartner

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐋𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

𝟰.𝟱★

This was my first book by Lia Louis and it will NOT be my last! I knew as soon as I read the description that this was going to be such a fun concept for a book and I loved it! What happened to Millie is the type of thing that gives me nightmares!

Millie had her heart broken in public two years ago. Since then, she has kept her feelings and emotions to herself. She does, however, write emails that she keeps as drafts. Those email drafts are snarky responses to her boss, her love letters to her ex, or hard truths to her friends. But when a server outage at work accidentally causes all of her emails to send, she has a lot of explaining to do. Now, every thought she has had, every word she has typed, is out there for those who she never intended to see it. Will Millie be able to fix the harm her words have caused?

I found Millie to be such a charming and quirky character and I loved her! I found this book to be such a fun and light read! I loved how this was a rom-rom that had some depth to it. The ending was absolutely perfect! Lia Louis has a new fan in me and I can’t wait to read some of her other work!

Posted on Goodreads on May 20, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around May 21, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on May 21, 2024
**-will post on designated date

In Better Left Unsent, Millie Chandler channels all of her secrets into emails she never plans to send, and then one day, when they all *somehow* were sent, everyone she works with now knows her inner thoughts, secrets and her feelings towards her ex-boyfriend/coworker Owen.

I liked this one, but wasnt a love for me. Mainly because I don’t particularly LOVE workplace romances, and I felt like Millie was a little “woe is me” throughout the whole book.

I did think the emails were hilarious, and that the book had the Lia Louis charm, but I didn’t really feel the yearning I normally feel with her characters. I thought Jack was sweet, but tbh the whole time I thought maybe he sent the emails lol. And maybe he did…no spoilers here 🙂

Better Left Unsent begins as receptionist Millie learns that her whole email draft folder has been sent due to a glitch in the company's server. Understandably Millie is panicked, and bit scattered as she tries to remember what, given her habit of using draft emails as a diary, was about to be released into the world. The writing style matches this chaotic feeling, and was a bit difficult to follow. However as Millie starts to settle into life AE (after emails), the story settles into a lovely workplace romance, and the reevaluating that often comes with approaching thirty. The side characters are interesting, and well developed, as is the dialogue.

Thoughts: This was a bingeable lighthearted romance with a premise anyone can relate to. Imagining all of my venting was sent in email format to each person I ever vented about is terrifying! Not only is the situation relatable, but so is the MC. She's a "fixer" who hates that people might now be mad at her, especially since the whole point of her draft emails was so that she could vent without them knowing, and therefore not getting upset. Imperfect friendships, over-analysis of social situations, and bottling of feelings really round out the realistic aspects of this story. The male love interest isn't too perfect and the ex is just terrible enough without being an actual villain -- author Lia Louis leaves the low-hanging fruit still hanging, which this reader very much appreciates. But we still get the grand gesture at the end that will satiate the romance readers with an adorable yet still mostly-realistic HEA.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**

I'm setting this one aside and DNF'ing at about 30%. This was a hard call to make because I have been such a huge fan of every single book from Lia Louis up until this one. As other reviewers have said, this is a departure in tone from her previous books and I was missing the depth of character development that I've come to expect from this author. I also suffer from extreme secondhand embarrassment and the entire first third of the book was just awkward encounters with people who received Millie's draft emails that were mistakenly sent. Pro tip from a corporate girlie: when drafting emails, always leave the 'To' field empty until you're ready to send.

I voluntarily read a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Oh I loved this so much, Lia Louis is one of my absolute favorite authors because the way she can pull you into the story - I can literally feel what the character feels. I think this is also why I get so frustrated with the characters because I am so consumed by the story. I love that Millie is someone so relatable. She entered this job as a stopgap and somehow she became stuck there, I feel like so many people get similarly stuck like this. I loved watching her growth, and this terrible thing that happened to her was just a stepping stone to her learning to express herself. I can't wait until this is published, I plan to buy!

Lia Louis is such a charming writer! This book started off a little slow for me, but ended up being a ray of sunshine at the end.

Millie uses her email drafts as a journal and they provide all the outlets that she needs for all the frustrating co-workers, heartbreaking ex-boyfriend, and conflicting friend situations. But when those drafts all get sent out accidentally, Millie has to face the music. Can she repair the relationship and maybe find some truths about herself along the way?

This book is like a big hug or a warm cup of tea. It's just comforting and gentle. It did start out a little slow for me with the angst about the emails, but once it settled in and got over that initial 20% of "I can't believe this happened to me," the book really picked up. I loved the romantic relationship and friendships that were featured. Millie had a great growth arc about not caring so much about what other people thought and learning to be vulnerable and brave. It was a charming read that will be great for fans of Sophie Cousens or Beth O'Leary!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Read if you like:
📧 Email Errors
🔥 Slow-burn Romances
❌ Exes back in the picture
⁉️ Finding Yourself
📥 Stop-Gap jobs that become Long-term
👯‍♀️ Friendships

This book has quite the slow pace for the romance aspects, but it really is so much more than a romance with Millie being faced to confront the things she was always too nice to say when her many email drafts of her real thoughts mysteriously get sent from her work computer.

There are so many receivers of her emails including her best friends, her parents, rude coworkers, her ex (& his fiancée and the rest of the company), but luckily the email she sent disclosing her feelings for a coworker went undelivered.

I really enjoyed the journey Millie was forced to embark on as a result of this mess created and enjoyed the feelings of a love triangle or two as well as her working on the relationships in her life and the impacts of her honesty in her email drafts.

All in all, if you enjoy slower paced romances that also focus on self-discovery, family, and friendships I think you will really enjoy this one!

Thank you Atria for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Better Left Unsent-a standalone

By Lia Louis -a new to me author

Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publication 5-21-24 Read 5-19-24

Format: e-book, 380 pgs.

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this ARC💛! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

✔️ Rom-Com
✔️ workplace romance
✔️ friendship/found family
✔️ mother/daughter relationship
✔️ emails/communication tools

Summary- Millie(30) is a receptionist at Flye TV-a sports broadcasting company. She is the type of person to keep everything to herself and be unproblematic. She does draft emails for herself only to get out her feelings and dreams. Her office experiences a power outage, and all her draft emails are erroneously sent. She wrote about her bosses, colleagues, friends, and family. She spends her time trying to make amends, especially with her ex-boyfriend Owen- who works at the station, broke up w/ her, and got engaged to Chloe( another co-worker).

The plot centers around Millie feeling awful about what she said to everyone, and trying to get people to like her again. She has a serious issue with not being liked, probably the result of her strained relationship w/ her mother. Millie feels like the black sheep and a failure to her family. Her mother writes and illustrates children's books, her father works at an oil rig on the Atlantic, and her brother Kieran is a married bio scientist. Millie has never pursued her wants, but dreams of being more than a receptionist. Most of the emails were a blessing in disguise because it got Millie to express herself to people who needed hard truths. I loved how playful and flirty she and Jack Shurlock-one of her bosses- were with each other. Jack, Petra-another boss, Cate-her BFF, and her landlord Ralph comfort her, and tell her that she doesn't have to apologize for who she is and how she feels. Her rude and racist bosses needed to know, her "friend" Alexis needed a reality check, Owen needed to apologize to her, and Millie's mother needed to hear how she made Millie feel.

Overall, Maggie reminded me of a few movie/TV characters. She modeled after Pam from "The Office" for both being receptionists who wish for more. Her crush on her co-worker/boss Jack is Jim and Pam's relationship, and Petra s the boss who believed in her- AKA her Michael Scott. I also saw a little of Iris/Kate Winslet from "The Holiday." Iris/Kate is in love with her co-worker Jasper who used her, dumped her, and then married someone they work with. And finally, "Bridget Jones's Diary" because Millie has everything turned upside down in her life, when all she wants is true love.

Honestly, if I'd blindly went into this book without knowing the author's name, I wouldn't have known this was written by Lia Louis (in a good way, of course!). This book was something light-hearted & humorous than her previous ones.

I loved Millie & her quirks. To be honest, some of those emails were hilarious & had to be sent out. Also, what an amazing friend group she had! Millie's journey throughout was very character-driven & I enjoyed it. There were some issues that were handled in a nice manner without blowing it up.

And the love interest was absolutely swoony. Their whole romance/banter reminded me so much of "Bridget Jones' Diary." The romance was soft, humorous, supportive, & wildly comforting.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An overall enjoyable book. It started out a little slow but ended up picking up around the halfway mark. The concept was interesting and not something I’ve read about too often. The romance also ended up being super sweet in the end.


Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the eARC.

Better Left Unsent is a contemporary romance novel about a receptionist at a TV broadcast company whose world is upended when the entire contents of her email drafts folder are sent to her co-workers, friends, family, and an ex-boyfriend.

Twenty-nine-year-old Millie Chandler has been writing bluntly honest, semi-savage, and emotionally vulnerable emails to the people in both her work and personal life for two years without the intention of ever sending them. But overnight, all of the emails were sent like little truth bombs, and Millie is left to face the consequences. Helping her navigate feelings of guilt and remorse are her adorable roommate Ralph, best friends Cate and Petra, and possible love interest Jack.

This is really a book about emotional honesty and how keeping so much of ourselves hidden and secret out of fear and shame is to our detriment. Millie had to have some honest conversations with everyone to get past what happened and start living life on her own terms. There is a lot of cute banter, strong friendships, and I loved the coastal U.K. setting. I did not enjoy the storyline about her parents and the issues they were having in their marriage (ick for including their daughter in this conversation) and felt like it wasn’t really that big of a deal and could have been left out. But it did add to the overall thread about keeping secrets.

Although I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as some of her previous books, it was still enjoyable and a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read.

Let this be known: this is a SLOOOOWWWW burn. The tension tensions hard. And it is has zero spice. So if that is a must have for you, then this is definitely not the book for you.

HOWEVER, this book is a lot about growth, and working to overcome the shitty situations we are dealt in this life.

Jack was just a beautiful voice of reason. His outlook on life was “so what?” So what if people judge you. So what if you didn’t get what you wanted? It’s what you do with the information. All that matters in this life is how you see yourself. Your happiness should come first.

Millie was trying to find her drive. Find what she could be passionate about, while healing her heart. The growth she went through, and actually all characters, was so well written.

It was just a heartwarming, healing journey.

Better left unsent by Lia Louis was a quick rom-com read. The story follows Millie, a 29 year woman who has her (truthful, somewhat unkind) draft emails sent to everyone at work. Oopsie! No one was supposed to read those! We see how she copes with the fallout of that. Millie comes across as very immature at the beginning of the book but shows character growth throughout. The MMC is swooony. The romance is definitely secondary to the storyline. Ended up loving this book and will continue to recommend all of her books!

Thanks Net Galley for the arc and a chance to read early.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the ARC.

Normally, I am a huge fan of Lia Louis Books. I absolutely loved Eight Perfect Hours and I was so excited to get my hands on this book. However, I just felt that this book came off a little flat.

Mostly, it was because I was so aggravated with Millie. She came off as a caricature of a people pleaser and incredibly naive for someone who was in their 30s. The fact that she still held a candle for Owen despite the numerous red flags really turned me away from her character as a whole and the situation with the emails where she tried to "win" everyone over after the fact even though they were people she didn't really want to be around seemed incredibly over the top to me.

I also really wanted to like Jack, but this free-spirited, "time is a construct" mentality that he had was good for someone in their 20s trying to explore life for the first time, not someone in their 30s who apparently has never really been happy by the lack of confines in their life or their ability to settle down in one place. His view on life aggravated me so much, and while I can understand that his character was supposed to be the "who cares" to Millie's "I care too much" it came across as very disingenuous.

Not my favorite book, but it still has that Lia Louis charm that she is so well known for. I still love her as an author even if this book wasn't for me.

The concept for this book sounded so fun but I unfortunately did not love this book. I definitely liked a lot of parts of the story and the characters, but overall this dragged. U also almost DNFed it at 96% because of Millie’s speech at the end. It was so cringey and missed the mark for me. I felt like there was a lot of random drama thrown in that didn’t propel the plot and it was a very slow read for how short of a book this was. Overall, not for me.

This one just didn’t work for me, I found it to be slow and felt like it meandered but never really found a lane that worked. I expected a really emotional read from the author but overall I was bored.

I always enjoy Lia Louis’ stories, and this was no exception. It starts with an email mishap - young Millie works at a tv station and likes to put all her inner thoughts into email drafts that never get sent. Until one night a server glitch sends all her private thoughts out to the world. The worst layer in this sh!t sandwich is the email to her ex Owen - who is now engaged to a fellow coworker - about how she still misses and loves him. Humiliating. The one bright spot seems to be Jack, the operations director who she had written a smitten email draft after a flirtation at a holiday party - an email that miraculously never got send. She finally feels seen and respected by Jack, despite all the drama that’s been heaped upon her. As the pair get closer, she’s faced with a choice - continue to dwell upon the email fallout she’s found herself in, or let it all fall away for a chance of happiness. Equal parts humor and heart, Better Left Unsent was a joy to read.