This book had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. The writing style was beautiful, I loved the plot idea and characters, but I just didn’t love it. I felt like the story was more about Gracie and her professional/family life and the romance aspect took a major backseat. I would have loved to see more of Lady and Sir’s correspondence and the inner workings of what made her fall in love. I am so grateful for the arc of this book and I will definitely read more Lauren Layne in the future.

This one was a surprise! It's more on the quieter side in the rom com space, but I loved the characters and the way the emails didn't replace good storytelling and character development. A nice, cozy read, perfect for that one rainy day that always happens on your vacation.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc! I really really enjoyed this book and I was originally drawn to this title due to the You Got Mail comparison which is such an iconic movie. If I enjoy all of Lauren Layne's book as much as this one, she might be a new favorite author. Grace and Sebastian's enemies to lovers story was fairy-tale like and I liked the combination of journey to self alongside the slow burn romance. The perfect beach reach or by the pool book that just makes you feel happy and relaxed!

I received an ARC of this novel from Gallery books in exchange for my review. I am a huge Lauren Layne fan and I have read most of her books and loved them. This was wasn't one of my favorites-which is strange because I love the premise of the novel as well-a version of the movie, You've Got Mail. I can't quite pinpoint what it was that I didn't like. The plot was great, the characters-though-just didn't quite ring true. It was predictable-many romances are-but maybe too predictable? I finished the story so I will give it 4 stars, but this wasn't Lauren Layne at her best.

Oh my God. This is a story for serious Romantics only. My eyes keep leaking. Big Sigh.
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I don’t know what it was about the story but it’s seriously left a huge warm spot in my heart. Her characters are real people with real struggles and deserve the happiness that she beautifully encapsulates.

This is a contemporary fiction love story which features people just a little bit older than the young adult category. They’ve been through a lot in their lives, yet continue to move forward and grow but still desire other things. They are missing that one special person in their life and use an app to try to find it. The conversations are fun and witty but also deep and meaningful.

Layne has a wonderful way of developing her characters that makes them so very likable. You find yourself cheering on this couple as they break down the barriers that go from dislike and discontent to warm and fuzzy, sparkling and bubbly.

To Sir, with Love is a positive and uplifting story and I think that’s what gets me. Layne has a beautiful storytelling ability that just gives you all the feels and makes you wish you were there. Fresh and divine!

This is a clean romance and a heartfelt love affair that slowly builds. I found myself reading with tears rolling several times in the story. She leaves us with an amazing happily ever after and a huge smile that will last for days.

Layne is an amazing talent of contemporary fiction and romance, whose words takes your breath away and envelops the definition of Romance Writer.

Didn’t love it or hate it.
This book was okay? I think it was a little too predictable for my liking. I wish it had more of something but l can’t really pin point exactly what it was.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. When I saw this available, read the description, I asked for the ARC thinking in the back of my mind, there is no way anyone can pull off something close to "You've got mail" so why did I ask for it? Because "You've got mail is one of my two favorite movies of all time. Well, Off I went to read 'To Sir with Love' and Lauren Layne did it. I laughed, I even cried. What a great read this was. No it isn't exactly like "You've got Mail" but the bones are there. Perfect clean love story. I will be looking forward to Lauren Layne's next book and I will probably re-read this as I have watched Tom and Meg in You've got mail so many times.

Really cute story. I felt like it was an updated (and better) version of You've Got Mail (still can't forgive Tom Hanks for putting Meg Ryan's adorable store out of business). In this case, you aren't rooting for the main character to fail, but you do want her to find her passion - and maybe the store isn't it?

Oh my goodness. I’ve always loved Shop Around the Corner (more than You’ve Got Mail) so when I saw this book I wasn’t 100% sure I should read it. I’m so glad I took a chance. It was incredible! Even though I knew how it would turn out I was still on the edge of my seat as I read with a smile. I’m sad the book is over and glad I was taken along for a ride. Thanks for the new characters.

I love a good Lauren Layne book, and this was no exception! At the start of lockdown, I binged her Central Park Pack series and it brought me a lot of comfort, and so this book was a welcome feeling of nostalgia and distraction.

To Sir, with Love was a short and sweet read, set in a New York City champagne shop. She meets "Sir" online through a dating app and starts to fall for him; at the same time, she meets Sebastian Andrews, the man attempting to buy out her late father's shop. She realizes that she's in love with both men and realizes that she has to choose... or does she? While the love story was fairly predictable, this was just the fun read I needed!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of To Sir, with Love.

Thanks to Netgalley for this arc.

I will say, this is a slow burn romance book. Rivals to lovers. It is sweet and cute and different from what Lauren has done so it was an interesting change of pace when the couple really does take a while for them to warm up to each other and finally admit their feelings. I enjoyed it. It’s a cute book but definitely you need patience for them because slow burn romance isn’t for everyone

I really love a good variation on "You've Got Mail" and this one has everything: the friendly exchange between Lady and Sir, and their growing relationship, the animosity between Gracie and Sebastian, her failing business, the way they discover to be friends, and, of course, New York.

I also liked the differences and the secondary characters, and how they added to the story, to make it more rounded.

Online, Gracie and Sebastian get closer without knowing who they really are, while in person, they become friends but still butt heads.
I loved the way Sebastian revealed his identity to Gracie.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Lauren Layne has always been one of my guilt pleasure books, and this definitely did not disappoint. This is very much a You've Got Mail retelling with a dash of Sex and the City thrown in. While this makes for a reallllyyyy predictable book, I just found it so satisfying. Being on the outside knowing what's going to happen while Gracie is still stumbling through and Sebastian is being so *chef's kiss** brings such a delicious angst.

At first I was really weirded out by how they SIGN THEIR MESSAGES on an app, which was so weirdly antiquated and things that only you're weird old aunts do. But as the book went on, I just found this little pocket of good old-fashionedness so endearing and really gave this book so much character. Also I feel like Lily's story was kinda resolved in too much of a fairy-tale HEA manner, and I feel like it would have been an amazing opportunity to explore some more serious themes (perhaps in a second book?? 👀👀) but I guess I can't really complain because everyone got their HEA.

This love is just so beautiful and the entire last half of the book I just had my goofy grin plastered on my face and just screaming from the angst. 10/10 recommend

Gracie is a 30-something true a romantic. She finds herself flirting with her sir, a man she never sees his face. Daily banters within a dating application that only connect people with words: she starts thinking she is about to fall for him! Can falling in love be as simple as a guy who gives good words?
Gracie trusts her instincts. She knows deep in her gut she thought she found him at first sight when the first time she met Sebastian Andrews. But as she meets him again at her champagne store she’s inherited from her family, she realizes he was the man who wants to buy her business! The man who made her heart tingle for long time can be the same man she detested with her every fiber!

Sebastian is a very determined to show Gracie she can make her own path. And that she doesn’t have to do things the same way her family did at the Champagne shop. Sebastian is one of those characters that is more than he presents to the world. hid behind his robotic, business oriented, cool manners is a sweet, sensitive man.
The more time Gracie and Sebastian spend together the more her heart will be torn in two pieces: one of them belongs to his secret sir and the other belongs to Sebastian. This story has a You got Mail theme with bottles and bottles of delicious champagne bubbles. Gracie and Sebastian are totally characters that you connect with very quickly in the story. This is really Rom-Com Gold! A swoony worthy ode to the classic rom-com.

Lauren Layne is an easy one click for me! I love her books and the characters she creates. I swear I can feel the pulse of NYC in her writing. This is a well written Rom-Com with to characters that you will absolutely fall in love with.

It's been a long time since I've read a romance novel that was just so dang SWEET. And I don't mean that in a negative way at all - this book was a glass of sweet sparkling wine on a summer afternoon (and it definitely made me crave a glass of nice champagne).

I would have liked to have seen a little bit more of the romance instead of the whole book being a slow build TO the romance...but even that feels like being nitpicky (and I know, I know, it's a retelling of "You've Got Mail" so the endings are similar). I would selfishly like to see some more from these characters, though, so Lauren Layne if you're reading this....a series would make me extremely happy!

Absolutely wonderful. Left me feeling like a sunny Sunday afternoon spent in the park, sipping a sweet prosecco.

I am a devout You’ve Got Mail fan (Let’s be real that period of films for Meg Ryan is just *chefs kiss* totally influenced everything in my life) so when I read the description for To Sir with Love by Lauren Layne, I knew I had to read it. Not to mention the book’s title is the same as a much beloved movie of mine, and I do love the song too! A modern spin on the Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks film of the 90s, this book is a love letter to love and New York city.

All in all, it’s fantastic entry into the romcom friends to lover genre, and a delightful summer evening read. I did feel as though we ended up knowing very little about Sebastian as a person when it all was said and done, but I still greatly enjoyed he and Gracie as a couple. May, Robyn, Lily, Caleb, and Alec all provide lovely supporting characters just like the ensemble in You’ve Got Mail, this one is well worth the read.

Thank you to the publisher Simon and Schuster & Net Galley for the advanced copy.

I love letter to Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail and the move that preceded that, Shoppe Around the Corner, this novel is modern take on falling in love via text (and in person). Recommended for all fans of romance novels.

Fans of “You’ve Got Mail” will fall in love with Lauren Layne’s “To Sir, With Love” I enjoyed getting to know Gracie, a Champagne shop owner in midtown NYC, and Sebastian Andrews a real estate development mogul.

This was a sweet and quick story that would be a fun beach read for anyone who likes a closed door romance. The pair meet when Sebastian’s company offers to buy out Gracie’s story front. Bubbles & More is Gracie’s family’s legacy and it was her Father’s dream to keep the store in the family. Of course Gracie is against the sale, and as the story goes on we have to wonder who’s dream she is living.

The development of Gracie and Sebastian’s relationship, from business rivals, to reluctant friends, is made all the more interesting with the online component to the story. Much like “You’ve Got Mail” the two main characters are also communicating to each other through an online dating site, unbeknownst to either of them of course, leaving the audience with a fun bit of dramatic irony.

This was a fun quick book, just in time for summer. I really enjoyed this retelling of “You’ve Got Mail.”

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

This was just too cute! It's very fluffy and feel good, and it definitely brightened my mood. It's almost like a fairy tale and actually has hilarious references to how much Gracie loves fairy tales/how she builds things up in her mind like they are fairy tales. While it was pretty clear what was going to happen, the actual journey to get there was excellent. I found myself smiling and laughing while reading! The writing is very humorous and bingeable.

In terms of the characters, Gracie does what she thinks her father would have wanted with keeping the store in the family and running it, but she isn't really able to explore her own dreams. I loved seeing her figure out exactly what she wants to do and what she's passionate about! She's very sweet, cheerful, and earnest. I absolutely adored her! Sebastian seems gruff at first, but he's secretly also quite sweet. He knows his job is a tough one, but he seems to genuinely want to help people. The romance was very believable as well. This is an interesting one to categorize because it's both an enemies to lovers romance and a friends to lovers romance.

The side characters are also wonderful! It's great to see Gracie's relationship with her siblings. Her sister is struggling with infertility, and it was heartbreaking at times to watch her relationship with her husband. While we do have great family members, we also have a found family of close friends that was wonderful. I particularly enjoyed Keva! She seems so awesome and funny. She's very supportive but also pushes Gracie in ways that are helpful.

I received a copy of this for review from the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.

My video review can be seen on my channel (around minutes 15:02-18:16 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuF4y7WfGZY

A lovely story with anonymity, strong emotions and more. Lauren Layne weaves a compelling tale of emotions from love to hate and back again.