Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this read. This was okay but a bit unrealistic in the way that it was started. I understand it had to happen somewhere but I do not think this could ever happen. draft remain drafts and...I am an IT person and this made it hard for me to read but it was funny if you remove your belief.

I am such a big Lia Louis fan! I fell in love with Dear Emmie Blue (was already feeling a reread and this clinched it) and then read everything else she's published, so I was very excited I got an ARC for her newest book.

Something goes terribly awry and all of the ranty, venting, never supposed to be seen by anyone, get it off her chest messages in her work email drafts folder get sent out to colleagues, friends, and family. Including her ex and his fiance, both of whom she works with. One email that didn't go through was to Hot Jack, a manager in the office she had a pleasant drunken evening conversing with at an office party and wondered if there was a moment that they almost kissed. Thankfully, she has her best friend, roommate, her boss, and apparently Jack in her corner while she navigates life A.E. (after emails).

I really enjoyed this book right from the jump, as Louis did a wonderful job with Millie like she has with so many of her MCs. Millie is chaotic, sarcastic, dramatic, kind of a mess, and so so relatable. I adored her POV from the first page on. I mean, who hasn't had conversations in their head or typed out a message and then never sent it? Two options you can learn from from Millie: don't put in the recipient's address while you're in drafting mode OR just learn to speak and own your truth, you never know who you could affect positively.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy!

PUB DAY REVIEW

Thank you #partners #emilybestlerbooks @atriabooks @librofm & @simon.audio for my #gifted copies 💕

Better Left Unsent
Lia Louis

4.5 rounded up

In February of last year I saw @lialouisauthor post a reel about the book she was writing, and it immediately jumped to the top of my "OMG I NEED TO READ THIS BOOK" list. 🎉

Here's the premise: A woman named Millie writes emails to the people in her life, spilling her innermost thoughts and feelings in a draft that she never actually sends. It's a way for the closed-off Millie to vent — to get things off her chest without actually harming anyone. But one night, a server outage occurs, and in the process every single one of Millie's email drafts gets sent to the recipient! 😱 From coworkers to friends to family to her now-engaged ex — everyone now knows Millie's true feelings. 😫 Though even as her life comes crumbling down around her, some good may actually come into Millie's life as a result of this cringeworthy fiasco.

Better Left Unsent is a gem! It was everything I'd hoped it would be and more! Humorous and heartwarming, with a charming, loveable protagonist who readers can't help but root for; a tender, slow burn romance; and a moving exploration of honesty in relationships, Better Left Unsent checked all of my romcom boxes!

🎧 Narrator Ashley Tucker is spectacular! Though this was my first time hearing her, her voice has a familiarity and warmth that I just love! She made this such a wonderful listening experience and I look forward to seeking out other books she's narrated.

📌 Available now!

° ° ° ° °

⭐️rating: 4.5/5

Loved it! From the first couple chapters, I was immediately hooked. The writing flows so well and is hilarious. Such a joy to read!

Millie was a great FMC and so relatable. She’s dealing with a major fiasco, but you really feel for her. And it’s so satisfying to see how everything works out amid this chaos. It’s full of drama and realizations, but everything gets answered and resolved in such satisfying ways!

And Jack😍, can’t forget Jack! He’s such a perfect match for Millie, and I love him so much. He’s just what she needs and, while there’s no spice, I love their sweet romance. Screw Owen. But all the other side characters are wonderful! Everyone needs a Cate as their best friend💙

I’d definitely recommend this if it sounds interesting to you! A great rom-com with delicious drama, personal growth, and an ending that leaves you all warm and fuzzy inside.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was totally captivated by this non-traditional romcom story! Millie is at a job that was supposed to be temporary, continuing to nurse her broken heart when her manipulative boyfriend, Owen, left her 2 years ago, and harbors feelings of inadequacies in her parents eyes. She does not feel like she has lived up to the expectations of others, instead of living up to her own. I felt Millie was very relateable with her real albeit self-imposed insecurities. Jack was such a sweet, caring, swoon-worthy hero who helped remind Millie to be her authentic self. "I'm asking you to be you". Something she has forgotten over the last 5 years. I just loved Millie and Jack together.

I also enjoyed watching Cate and Ralph get to know each other. Maybe they could end up having their own story?

The beginning fell a little flat for me. Millie has been keeping a diary, so to speak, in the form of unsent email drafts. One day she wakes up to find that they ALL have been sent. Some of them are angry and bitter, others are overtly embarrassing. For Millie, it is a lot of 'whoa is me', 'what can I do to fix this?',' how does this makes me look?' But, once Millie and Jack started becoming friends and went out to 'Backdonald's' I was HOOKED! Their interaction and growing relationship was cute, funny, and made my heart soar.

I won't give away the ending, but suffice it to say it kept me guessing and hoping through it all This is one of the best books I have read in awhile!

**Thankyou to Netgalley, the published, and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review**

This book had a really interesting premise - that Millie has been writing draft emails to everyone basically in her life, but not sending them. As a way to vent, or spill her heart out without any consequences. But unfortunately they all get sent at the same time. I think where the book takes a turn, and ultimately why it doesn’t work for me, is that it felt super repetitive and overdone. Millie goes on for pages and pages on how awful it is, how embarrassed she feels, but she hides from the reality for as long as she can. I think if maybe it wasn’t such a large breadth of people she had emailed, it wouldn’t have felt so repetitive. Because of this, the book unfortunately really drags. The romance felt like an afterthought, which is fine, but it didn’t pull the story along at all either. Unfortunately this was a miss for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

this was bad. who would write a story like this? what adult, fictitious or real, would draft emails (from a work email!!!) to get the feelings out and leave them to possibly be sent out sometime?

Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herself—her feelings, her truths, even her dreams—in an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.
But Millie does write emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One.
First time reading from this author, and I loved it! A fun lighthearted workplace romance that had me laughing. I loved the characters and the friendships along with Millie and Jacks Banter. I did at times feel like the book dragged at times and sometimes felt repetitive. Still an enjoyable book and worth the read.

3.5 stars rounded down.

I’m really on the fence with this one. On the one hand, it’s everything you expect from Lia Louis. It’s full of heart, with lovely characters, breezy romance, deep friendships, and family ties. It’s set in quaint Leigh-on-Sea, which I had never heard of but looks absolutely delightful.

On the other hand, I really struggled with the basic premise of the story. Millie’s been using her work email as a journal of sorts, word vomiting everything she’s afraid to say out loud in email drafts. She doesn’t hold back. When her drafts somehow get sent out one night, all hell breaks loose. The emails reveal a lie lurking between her parents and lead to her ex-boyfriend splitting up with his fiance, her best friend breaking up with her boyfriend, her other best friend blocking her in anger, and many strained work relationships after unkind and unprofessional emails flooded colleagues’ inboxes.

I just cannot get past this. I would never even draft a normal/kind/professional email with anyone’s email address in the recipient field, just in case it accidentally got sent before I was ready — it’s easy to accidentally hit the send button! To not only put down her deepest secrets on her work email account but to do so in email drafts that have the recipients’ address in them?! It’s beyond unbelievable for anyone with two pennies of common sense.

Ok, rant over. Except for this admittedly major part of the story, I really enjoyed the book. It was obvious where it was headed and I guessed the reveal from the beginning, but the journey was still engaging. I loved seeing their little town and learning about forced rhubarb. I loved seeing Millie learn to handle her problems head on rather than ducking from them. I loved Millie’s roommates — their goofiness and their sincere affection for her.

I literally squealed when I received a copy of Lia Louis’s latest book, Better Left Unsent. I first read The Key to my Heart over the holidays and LOVED it!

Her new book tells the story of thirty-year-old receptionist, Millie Chandler who falls victim to a major IT issue after hundreds of draft emails addressed to friends, family, an ex boyfriend and colleagues are delivered in error. Used as somewhat of a diary, the emails describe her secret feelings towards each email recipient - some good, some bad. Millie must now face these people whether she would like to or not. If you like wit and charm with a side of romance, you’ll want to pick up Better Left Unsent!

Thank you Atria Books for the ARC. This was one of my most anticipated releases not only because I loved Eight Perfect Hours, but the premise is so unique. I enjoy Lia Louis' writing style (very Lindsey Kelk adjacent) and there was some funny moments in here, but it was a bit of a drag and melodramatic at times. I would LOVE to see this as a movie. Fabulous cover. Can't wait for her next book.

Better Left Unsent is the new book by Lia Louis and every single time, I’m never disappointed. Louis is my favorite author and being able read another one of her books is a gift.

This book follows Millie, she’s interesting and lovable, and experiences the worst thing that can happen to a person. Everything she’s ever written about someone gets leaked … and it’s stuff that you shouldn’t say outloud sometimes.
So what happens when your thoughts get leaked? Well, you have this book. You have to read it to find out.

The comedy and romance are so fun! There’s also realistic and quiet moments. And of course Millie is someone you want to root for. As always, Lia Louis creates amazing female characters and each of them unique. There’s always a magical atmosphere when you pick up her books and this one is no different. Better Left Unsent is a fun and entertaining novel full of heart and love

Since I read, "Dear Emma Blue" by this author I've been hooked. That is my absolute favourite one of hers. I've also enjoyed, "The key to my heart" and "Eight perfect hours." This premise sounded very interesting.

Millie's e-mail draft folder at work is like a therapeutic diary that she keeps all her private thoughts in. She writes e-mails to people with things she'd "like" to say but never would say. They are her private true thoughts and one day a glitch happens at work and all her e-mails have been sent out. Yes, those ones in her draft folder that she never wanted anyone to see! Wow, now that's a promising premise!

I really was invested in finding out what did actually happen with the e-mails. That kept me reading. There were some funny and cute moments with her love interest Jack but for the most part I didn't feel a strong love connection and emotion with these characters. I also found the pacing was a bit too slow for my liking. For me this one was not up to par with her other books but I'd certainly read another Lia Louis book again.

This was a buddy read with my dear friend Darla. I really enjoyed discussing the book with her. Please be sure to check out her wonderful review. Did we feel the same way? Have a look to find out.

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Atria books for granting me access to this Advanced Reader Copy.

Better Left Unsent is absolute perfection! I delighted in every word from start to finish. It is more of a finding-oneself story with a bit of romantic comedy added to the mix. The story begins the day after Millie’s unsent, diary-like emails to unkind, obtuse co-workers, friends and family are mysteriously sent from her work email’s draft folder. Millie who is unsure of her worth as a daughter, girlfriend, etc., goes from feeling invisible to feeling the laughing stock of the office.

Millie spends much of the book either trying to make amends to or avoiding the email recipients. Additionally, she passively searches for answers as to how this mass email sending—from only her computer—could possibly have happened. Along the way there are some touching moments, some swoon-worth scenes and some absolutely hilarious scenes. Best of all is the slow-burn office romance between Millie and Jack. Their chemistry is obvious, and the relationship is positive as Jack clearly accepts and appreciates Millie as she is. Other positive characters are Millie’s delightful roommates and friends, Cate and Richard.

While the plot was occasionally slow due to Millie’s seemingly constant debate as to who undid her by sending her secret emails, the overall arc of the story is great. Author Lia Louis’ writing is solid, and I appreciated the meaningful messages about friendship, family, and self worth. I was happy to be with Millie on her sometimes angsty journey from a mouse to a confident woman. Better Left Unsent is a lighthearted, humorous read that left me with a happy heart.

4.5⭐️ for this cute cozy romance that has a lot of great different relationship and friendship dynamics we get to explore. I loved the setting of Leigh-by-the-Sea this stormy seaside village in England where our protagonist Millie, her love interest, Jack, and her ex, Owen work at a sports television studio.

All of Millie’s email drafts get sent out one night of a server outage and Millie’s friends, family, and colleagues receive emails that never should have been sent! This puts Millie in full damage control and she copes in pretty interesting ways (like just shutting her phone off for a few days). While one of Millie’s drafts was an email professing she still had feelings for her ex (in a reply all to the entire company), she also sent emails about hating her best friend’s boyfriend and thinking her boss is hot. ::facepalm::

The book covers a lot of ground with exploring unresolved issues with her ex, Owen, some troubles in her parents marriage where her Mom is lying to her Dad, her best friend being in an emotionally manipulative relationship, her other friend acting out and flaking, and lastly her feelings for her hot boss Jack. But I have to say I really enjoyed it all! The parents dilemma had a lot of quotes about lying and trust that I really resonated with:

“That’s what I can’t get past. That’s what hurts. The intention of it. The lie. Something she carried around and didn’t tell me.”

“I think lies hurt more than any truth ever could,” Dad says. “Because it turns the person into something else. You start to wonder what else they’ve been concealing, even if it’s nothing at all. It’s like someone turned the lights on, and for the first time you can see something you never knew was there. And you have to trust again. Trust that there is nothing else concealed, to see. That’s the hard bit.”

“the truth always matters the most. Even when it’s hard or painful. Especially when it’s painful.”

And I loved her friendships with roommate Ralph and best friend Cate. They were both really sweet aspects of the book that elevated and supported Millie’s character without taking away from the main story.

And of course, Jack Sherlock was such a gem of a leading man. I mean I could really see and picture him in almost every scene and that’s credit to Lia Louis for her descriptions and scene setting. I loved getting to see Millie and Jack slowly fall in love from one small encounter to another that all seemed so realistic like you could see this happening to you in an office setting, too. I liked that he constantly pushed Millie to think beyond what she’s used to doing like being small since her breakup with Owen and closing herself off and instead to say ‘so what’ and do whatever you want. He wasn’t pushing her to be someone she wasn’t just a better version of herself, a version he knew was in there but had been so diminished by Owen she was having trouble finding her way out of the dark.

“So what? As Jack would say. So what?”

“I haven’t rescued you, Millie. You do a decent job of rescuing yourself.”

“I can’t just be like you,” I say.
“I’m not asking you to be me, Millie,” he says. “I’m asking you to be you.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for access to the ARC!

Solid romcom, definitely a crazy ride for our FMC. Anyway, I love the romance. Jack is a great male lead, he is fun and kind. Millie is great! She deals with a ton of fallout from friends and family and coworkers, it’s a mess, and it’s interesting to see how she processes all of the problems this caused. Cate and Ralph are fantastic, they were probably my favorite part. It’s a great one to read if you like a romcom with lots of twists!

I was very excited to read Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis. This book has such a great premise! There are some people that find writing down their thoughts and feelings about people who have hurt, embarrassed, offended them, etc. in order to deal with their feelings instead of actually sending the email or confronting them. But what happens if those draft emails accidentally get SENT?! Well, Millie, our main character has just that scenario happen...and boy does this story deliver!

I will say, the early part of the book was slow for me. I think it had to do with the number of characters that we were dealing with in that part of the book. There was a lot to keep up with and a lot of people to keep straight. Once I got to a certain point in the story, it started to move more quickly and I was in for the duration.

I absolutely felt for Millie as she navigated the fallout from the emails being sent. This was a very different read for me from what I typically read, but that was fantastic. It was entertaining, well written, and just a really good change of pace!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

“For the last couple of years, my email drafts have become—my diary. A confessional. A haunted crypt of unsaid things; things I wish I could say, things I really, really want to say but don’t, in pursuit of a peaceful life.”

Better Left Unsent is the first Lia Louis book I’ve read where there isn’t a gone-too-soon premise and I’m glad. I still cried but not from missing someone I love who has passed. In this novel, Millie is a receptionist who has gone a bit off track in life after an awful breakup with a coworker. Then one day, life hands her even more lemons when her entire draft box is emailed out in one fell swoop. These are not just rude replies to rude requests from coworkers, but humiliatingly enough, one is an email telling her ex, who has become engaged to another coworker, that she still miss him.

“I think lies hurt more than any truth ever could,” Dad says. “Because it turns the person into something else. You start to wonder what else they’ve been concealing, even if it’s nothing at all. It’s like someone turned the lights on, and for the first time you can see something you never knew was there. And you have to trust again. Trust that there is nothing else concealed, to see. That’s the hard bit.”

And that email to her ex about how much she missed him, still? She replied all. She immediately has an entire posse of people who think she’s trying to break the couple up. And then rumor has it they have broken up. Millie tries to show a bigger commitment to her job at a sports TV network, so she starts volunteering to do more work, and her ex starts finding excuses to talk to her. The guilt is eating her alive.

“And I sort of realized . . . we all have these unsaid things. All of us. Everyone. I drove away from there and thought, nobody is exactly who they tell you they are. Are they? I spend my life holding myself to everyone else’s standards. Comparing myself to everyone else, what they’re doing, what they’re posting online, what they’re saying at brunches or announcing on Facebook. But what I’m comparing myself to a lot of the time isn’t even real, anyway.”

There’s a love interest and two subplots involving Millie’s parents and one of her best friends, respectively. But the heart of the book is Millie’s crush Jack, who is much beloved at work even though he works for a while to save up and then quits again to travel. It’s hard to potentially start a romance when one party believes the other just feels sorry for her.

3.75 rounded up!

Lia Louis stole my heart with Dear Emmie Blue and I’ve been a fan of everything she’s written since. So I was excited to pick up Better Left Unsent, her next romance, and I was hooked from the start, loving Millie AND her friends.

Who hasn’t sent an email or text to the wrong person? What about something you wrote and never intended for anyone to read? It’s something anyone can sympathize with, and I felt every ounce of Millie’s distress when her folder of email drafts—thoughts she wrote out like a diary with no intention of ever sending—were mysteriously sent from her work computer. All her private thoughts and gripes were sent to their sources: co-workers, friends, and family.

And the fall-out is not surprising. Secrets revealed, feelings hurt, and friendships strained.

I was thoroughly enjoying this one…. until we got more time with Jack, Millie’s co-worker and crush. Sometimes he was kind and sweet but other times I didn’t feel like he could be trusted, which skewed my reading experience. There were a few times I felt like he came across as uncharacteristically selfish. I think I needed more of Jack’s backstory and more time with Millie and Jack together to get a more complete picture of who Jack was.

But I did enjoy the side characters and stories of Millie’s best friend Cate, Millie’s roommate Ralph, and Millie’s parents and how they were incorporated into Millie’s story. There was even a surprising twist in the story involving a side character that I didn’t expect, and I was happy to discover I didn’t mind it.

Better Left Unsent seemed to be lighter than Louis’ previous three books, which was fun, but I do think I prefer her more layered stories. This one is still well-written, I would have just liked a bit more depth. The ending also wrapped up a little too nicely and quickly for me; I wanted a little more time with Millie in a good place.

I had fun with Better Left Unsent and would recommend it to other romance readers. It’s a heartwarming story with a relatable plot that kept me turning pages, eager for Millie to find her happiness.

I really liked the way this book was written. Although I didn't think this book was amazing by any means but I still enjoyed it and will pick up more from this author.,