To Sir, with Love is an excellent enemies-to-lovers story. Very fun, with a heavy nod to the movie "You've Got Mail". To Sir, with Love is a story of love for one's city, one's family, and one's dreams. The rich details had me picturing the little shop, Bubbles &amp; More as well as the small apartment where Gracie lives. All of the characters are incredibly likable and well thought out. I love how Gracie learned that it's never too late to dream new dreams or to follow old ones.<

Gracie Young runs her family’s champagne boutique in Manhattan, but times have changed and customers are moving to online sales, leaving running the small business a challenge. She loves the family business, but keeping the business afloat requires creative thinking. Her love life is non-existent but maybe her Prince Charming is online? In walks the gorgeous Sebastian Andrews determined to buy her lease out and turn her family legacy into another parking garage. Underneath his arrogance, there seems to be a connection. Soon she finds herself with feelings for two guys—and both are available. Or are they?

When I read the summary and the comparison to “You’ve Got Mail” I was in. To Sir is a charming and modern update of You’ve Got Mail, with a better ending. The characters are likable and the book was impossible to put down. A charming and fun romance enjoyable from start to finish that will keep you laughing. I found the novel relatable and believable, but that maybe because I met my boyfriend on Bumble.

I love Lauren Layne but this one just fell flat for me. I figured it out/knew from the very beginning who "Sir" was going to be so it kind of just dragged on. I wished for a little more action and a little bit more steam. I did like the idea of a champagne shop though. I need to find one of those in my city. Can't want for whatever Lauren writes next... this just wasn't it for me.

Gracie Young runs her family’s champagne boutique in Manhattan. But times have changed, and customers are moving to online sales, leaving running the small business a challenge. She loves the family business, but keeping the business afloat requires creative thinking. Her love life is non-existent, but maybe her Prince Charming may be online? Then in walks the gorgeous Sebastian Andrews determined to buy her lease out and turn her family legacy into another parking garage. But underneath his arrogance, there seems to be a connection. Soon she finds herself with feelings for two guys—and a either are available. Or are they?

When I read the summary and the comparison to “You’ve Got Mail” I was in. To Sir is a charming and modern update of You’ve Got Mail, with a better ending. The characters were likable, and the book was impossible to put down. A charming and fun romance.

This was an excellent enemies-to-lovers story. Very fun. With a heavy nod to the movie "You've Got Mail", To Sir, with Love is a story of love for one's city, one's family, and one's dreams. The rich details had me picturing the little shop, Bubbles & More as well as the small apartment where Gracie lives. All of the characters are incredibly likable and well thought out. I love how Gracie learned that it's never too late to dream new dreams or to follow old ones.

I don't even know if I could have loved this more. Super sweet and cutesy, but done tastefully and enjoyably. Even though you start out knowing the basic plot line, it keeps you hanging on to see how it gets there.

OMG To Sir, with Love is adorable. I am already a Lauren Layne lifer, but this is one that I am going to be pressing into my friends hands. It's so sweet and fun and the banter is fantastic. I didn't even notice that it was closed door because the pacing and story swept me away. If you are a fan, you must read. For my friends who love British rom-com, family stories and all of the versions of the Shop Around the Corner/You've Got Mail - you probably need this one.

To Sir, with Love
Rating: 5 awesome stars
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

To Sir, with Love was wonderful! I can honestly say that it has been the best book I've read so far this year. It was just so sweet and I loved Sebastian and Gracie. Their romance was a slow burn, but I never got bored or annoyed with the story. If you are a fan of "You've Got Mail" you're going to love this one.
It actually left me with a happy heart at the end and was hesitant to pick up my next read. My review is not long because I really have no bad things to say about it.

I highly recommend it!!

I loved how this was a little bit Sleepless in Seattle and a little bit unconventional. The female main character is older than your typical romance heroine and classic hero who is a bit arrogant but soft inside. I love the play of her perfect dating app man vs the actual man who has inserted into her life. It's a fun little story and I always enjoy my time spent in the uptown worlds Lauren Layne creates.

I absolutely loved this book. With all the tension between Sebastian and Gracie made this a really good book. The slow burn and the little mystery of who Sir was kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading this. This book will also pull all of your emotions out and have you on the verge of tears the whole time you are reading. I will definitely be reading this one again. Such a great book.

I am a huge You’ve Got Mail fan so when I read the description of To Sir, With Love I knew I had to read it. It was such a sweet story with definite You’ve Got Mail vibes. Gracie Cooper put her dreams of becoming an artist aside to take over her family’s struggling champagne store, Bubbles. Her love life is also struggling. She is in love with a man she’s never actually met and who has a girlfriend, a man she connected with on an online dating app. When Sebastian Andrews enters her store and makes an offer to buy the building, Gracie never expects to form a friendship with the man who wants to destroy her store but Gracie’s feelings for Sebastian grow leaving Gracie confused as to how she could be falling for two people.

If you are a fan of You’ve Got Mail (and really, who isn’t??) you will fall in love with this story just like I did. The entire cast of characters was super relatable, and the love story was adorable. Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Lauren Layne book and won’t be my last. Really cute rom com. This story is about Gracie who has taken over running her fathers champagne store in NY. The store is struggling and Gracie is having a hard time making it work. Gracie has always loved the fairy tale and is waiting for hers. She meets “Sir” on a dating app and begins talking to him but has no idea who he is. Then she meets Sebastian whose company is trying to buy out the lease on the champagne shop. There is an initial attraction on both their parts but things are complicated. Gracie figures some things out along the way about what she really wants. Good clean romance story.

Lauren Layne once again delivers a heartfelt romcom centered around a couple who are enemies in real life, but close friends online. This book has a few tropes including hidden identity, miscommunication, enemies-to-lovers, and friends-to-lovers. The short excerpts of online conversations between Sir and Lady are sweet and sometimes prompt laughter.

“He has a girlfriend. I have a . . . pen pal.”

I found myself getting frustrated that the pair didn’t recognize each other as the online penpal. This was definitely more realistic, but as the reader with all the information, it felt so obvious. Naturally—to add tension—one of them finds out and doesn’t tell the other. This is another part of the hidden identity trope that bothers me, because it’s a thin line between protecting yourself from getting hurt, and manipulating the person you’re falling for. Regardless, I really enjoyed this book. The ending was better than I imagined for both Gracie and Sebastian. The epilogue in particular has me laughing and simultaneously swooning.

Quick read, sweet story, and a clean romance. Gracie inherited her parents' NYC champagne store. She's spent her life believing in fairy tales, and she's been corresponding with "sir" on a dating app where the users only write messages to each other, no identifying info. Sebastian is the attractive and interesting man who wants her to sell the shop to his company. They butt heads, but a mutual attraction sparks, and it takes quite a while for any realization to occur. I wish there'd been a bit more of the characters as a couple, but I did enjoy the book.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books and Lauren Layne for gifting me a copy of this book in advance in exchange for my honest review!
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QOTD: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE 90’s ROMANCE?
A: I LOVE 90’s romance movies and I pride myself on owning quite the collection but
Hope Floats will always be my favorite! In early high school there was one summer where I watched that movie and that movie only, on repeat, for three days straight. Give me Sandra Bullock, a cute guy and stuffed cats and I’m sold.
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Needless to say when I saw that Lauren Layne wrote her own version of You’ve Got Mail, I clicked on the request button so stinkin fast. I HAD to read this book! If you’re like me and a major fan of 90's era romances, light angst, likeable characters and a sweet story that makes you feel all the nostalgia, this one's for you! The romance was clean and I wouldn't say the chemistry was necessarily jumping off the page for me, but this worked as the perfect palate cleanser and just makes me want to read more!

This is the perfect quick-read romance that you need on your shelf!

Set in NYC, Gracie Cooper has taken over her family business, a champagne shop that businessman Sebastian Andrews wants to buy her out of.

Gracie confides in "Sir" the man she 'met' on a blind dating app and things get complicated as she debates taking their online relationship into the real world.

The middle child in me fell in love with Gracie, the romantic in me adored the texts in between chapters and once I started, I couldn't put this book down.

Even though you know this storyline, to author Lauren Layne's credit, the characters, dialogue and setting pull you in--even if you know how the story may end. There's a lot of depth in the sub-plots and family dynamics, outside of the romance, that I really enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of this and the opportunity to share my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was super cute! A very quick and easy read. It’s on the fairytale romance side of the scale; meaning not quite believable (as it’s a little over the top), but it’s absolutely a feel good!

I enjoyed the enemies to lovers and friends to lovers troupe combination most of all. I found myself very excited in between scenes to see the dialogue between Lady and Sir.

While the main characters had great on page chemistry, the book has a low steam factor as there is not much happening on the physical side of things.

If you are a diehard romance reader, definitely pick this one up! If you lean towards more of a realistic romance that isn’t a modern-day fairytale, maybe skip this one. The little bit of cynicism I do have prevented me from giving this one five stars, but overall I really enjoyed it.

4.5 stars rounded up.

This book perfectly captures the warm gooey feeling of romcom movies at their best, particularly those of the master: Nora Ephron.

You feel like you’re in on the secret the whole time. You know this is a two person love triangle. You know the online flirtation and the in person animosity are one and the same. And yet it’s still such a stomach-churning joy to see the characters work it out.

It’s just abso-freaking-lately adorable.

There’s a lush cast of supporting characters, but it never felt like they overwhelmed our main couple. The business bickering was there, but not overwhelming.

I just loved the low-angst fluffiness of it all. No overdramatic dark moment. No conflict for the sole purpose of conflict. This is the kind of book that makes you happy.

Only a couple of nitpicky complaints — First, I would have liked to see more of Sebastian, particularly at the beginning. He’s a bit of a non-entity for a while, which isn’t my favorite in romance. And second, I feel like Sebastian and Gracie jumped a bit too quickly into close friends territory after their dinner, which felt a bit jarring to me.

Also there is so much sexual tension and the hero is hot as hell (a given, since he’s named Sebastian), but there’s no release. Not even a closed door scene. Which left me a bit wanting.

Steam: 0/5 🔥 (nothing more than kisses shown or implied)

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy. This review was left voluntarily.

To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne is another one of her wonderful sweet romantic novels. Gracie Cooper, our heroine, runs the family Champagne shop, after the death of her father; putting aside her passion for painting. She is determined to find ways to increase the low profits for the shop. Gracie is sweet, smart, loyal and liked by everyone. A big corporation has been trying to buy her out, which she continually refuses, and now meets the man behind the proposal, who immediately comes across as arrogant, as well as extremely handsome.

Sebastian Andrews is determined to convince Gracie to sell to his company, though they both get off on the wrong foot. Despite his showing her that she cannot survive in the long term, and could lose the business; he also tries to propose that she can move to a different location with success. As stubborn as they both are, Gracie fights off her attraction to Sebastian; and he knows that he is beginning to have feelings for her. In a short time, their relationship heats up, but Gracie also has someone else she is falling for.

Gracie meets ‘Sir’ on a faceless dating app, as they have fun texting to each other; the banter between them was cute. Though she is enjoying her texting, Gracie spends more time with Sebastian, and their chemistry is off the wall. Who will Gracie choose the handsome sexy Sebastian or the fun unknown ‘Sir”?

As time went on, I loved Sebastian and Gracie together, especially when he praised and pushed her to go back to her love of art, which he thought were the signs of a great painter. I really loved all the secondary characters that were great; as Lauren Layne always creates wonderful and likeable characters. To Sir, With Love was a sweet, heartwarming, romantic and uplifting story. I have enjoyed everything I have read by Layne, as she writes such wonderful fun pure romances. If you like heartwarming romances, great couple, sexy and fun, look no further than anything by Lauren Layne.

If you’ve seen the movie “The Shop Around the Corner” with Jimmy Stewart or “You’ve Got Mail” with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, you know what will happen in this story. Since I enjoyed “You’ve Got Mail,” I enjoyed this updated version where the heroine owns a Manhattan Champagne store that the sexy guy wants to buy out so he can develop a new high-rise. Sparks fly between the H and h although the heroine rudely refuses his generous purchase offer. And then there is the anonymous guy she’s been texting with for several months. He seems to understand her innermost feelings and even though they’ve never met, she is kinda, sorta falling for him in a fairy-tale sort of way. Guess where this is going.

The problem is that I just didn’t buy that their texting was all that enthralling - I didn’t believe for one moment that they were bonding so deeply over a bunch of generalities without ever sharing any specific details about themselves.

The irony involved in “You’ve Got Mail” is that the Tom Hanks character runs a set of giant bookstores which a few years after the movie came out will be sinking fast as they can’t compete with Amazon. And developing skyscrapers in Manhattan is probably also going to be a declining investment given the economy in NYC, especially after Covid-19. I have a feeling that romance authors are going to have to get innovative with their career choices for their characters in the future.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Although this was a decent romance I was disappointed at how clichéd and predictable the story was. The heroine falls for a guy she meets online and also falls for her nemises who wants her to sell her store. Of course they turn out to be the same person and all is forgiven. There just wasn't enough there to keep me entranced, that's what I've experienced with other novels by this author.