Lauren Layne’s writing has evolved in an amazing way over the years. From the sexy Stiletto/Oxford series to this delightful, modern take on ‘You’ve Got Mail.’ Although there are similarities, To Sir, With Love is original with Gracie and Sebastian knowing each other before they actually meet. As their ‘romances’ progress, I began to wonder who would ‘figure’ it out first. Another interesting change to Ms. Layne’s writing is the heat without the sex. The missing sex did not take away from the book at all – I guess you could term this a ‘clean’ HEA.

Layne included just the right amount of angst to the book to keep me from putting it down – I wanted desperately to know how it would end. I loved Gracie’s self-journey as she began to look at what she really wants in life. She is independent, yet dependent on the shop for her identity. Gracie gave up her desire for art school to keep her family’s champagne shop going. At times, she is strong, at others, a people pleaser.

Sebastian, at times, seems to be a bit stiff, but I realized fairly quickly he has his own ‘self-defense’ protectors. He, too is living with family expectations, including whom his family wants him to date and, eventually, marry. He does come across as a little insecure, but at the same time, that is what gives him his endearing quality. Sebastian did a bit of self-reflection to find out what he wants of life, too. I loved how he found Gracie to be kind, and told her so. Most of the time he holds his feelings ‘close to vest’ when in person.

The Cinderella ‘shoe’ and underlying fairy tale aspect added to the mystic of the building relationship through the dating app; such a cute idea. I loved Sebastian’s desire to fulfill Gracie’s fairy tale. These two are perfect together. They are supported by an interesting and engaging group of secondary characters, family, friends and employees.

I wanted to love this so much more than I did. The description sounds like a combination of things I love to read in romance novels - the enemies-to-lovers trope & an epistolary novel! Honestly, I thought it would be a win-win… except within 10 pages, it’s revealed that the male main character has a girlfriend.

I’m hoping because that’s revealed almost immediately, that that’s not considered a spoiler, because honestly if I had known that in advance, I don’t think I would have picked up this book. It was said multiple times that they were just friends, he told her upfront that he had a girlfriend when they met, but to me, it just seemed like it very quickly had become an emotional affair that was dismissed because it was online only.

I do want to mention a few things that I did like. I really liked the side characters in this book. They all seemed well developed, and I enjoyed seeing their interactions with each other and Gracie. I also found this book to be a very quick, easy read and the NYC setting was definitely fun. The epistolary aspect was done in a fun way, although I wish there were more online interactions, just because I personally enjoy reading them. There was also a lot of really cute in-person banter.

I didn’t feel a strong connection between Gracie and Sebastian, and I’m wondering if it’s because there was a connection trying to be built between them online & a separate connection being built in person, but they just didn’t come together in a strong way for me.

Spoilers ahead: One of the reasons I think that I didn’t feel their connection the way I wanted to was because when Gracie messaged online to ask to meet, he said no. And he didn’t tell her he was single until she specifically asked! All before he figured out who he was actually talking to. Lastly, I found the timeline confusing. Sebastian tells Gracie that he hasn’t been ‘on’ with Genevieve in a few months. But it didn’t seem like their online chats had been going on for that long. And when she first meets him on the street, Genevieve calls him ‘babe.’ Throughout the book, it seems a bit confusing if things are happening days apart or weeks. And at one point, Gracie mentions that both her and Sir were in relationships when they met - this is only mentioned once, not questioned, and didn’t seem to fit the story.

Thank you to Gallery Books & NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to Gallery Books, NetGalley, and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f rivals to lovers
-opposites attract
-Grump/sunshine
-Modern dating twist on You've got Mail
-a fairytale obsession
-a secret admirer
-a champagne shop I wish was real
-slow burn
-cute flirty anonymous texts

This was such a sweet and cute story. I loved the modern dating update to You've Got Mail. Two people with deep loyalties to their families, continuing on their family businesses. A champagne shop owner and the man offering to buy out her lease. The rivalry yet the instant connection between them was well done. I loved the contrast of Gracie's siblings and her interactions with her family as she realized what she wanted out of her life.

It did feel like Sebastian realized that they had been messaging each other sooner than he said in the book, though this may have been because I'm familiar with the story. I struggled with the fact that he knew and kept waiting to tell her, and left it to Gracie to take the leap twice and take the risk to reveal herself and meet the mean she had been messaging. Overall a sweet story, the ending was just a bit rushed to me.

Rating: 4
Steam: 1

I’m not going to lie, the cover is vibrant and definitely grabbed my attention before even reading the blurb for it. You throw in enemies-to-lovers and communicating without ever meeting, you got yourself a girl willing to give it a try!

Since this is on the shorter side, I didn’t find myself connecting with the characters as much as I would have liked but it didn’t stop me from smiling every once and awhile when it came to them exchanging messages and even their in-person meetings before the realization. I did like how Sebastian was portrayed through Gracie’s eyes it definitely gives off, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. He is very much a cinnamon roll.

The side characters were in and out quick with not a lot of development, besides for one of her sisters and husband. It didn’t bother me too much since most of the focus was on Sebastian and Gracie which left for a lot of development.

The epilogue at the end was short but it gave us a hint into their future and it was cute!

Overall this was a good, light read. If you are looking for something that has cute moments and want a shorter romance, I’d suggest checking this one out.

The penpal trope is proooobably my favorite romance trope, especially when it ties in a good ol’ enemies-to-lovers story by having it turn out that, unbeknownst to the characters, they already know their beloved penpal irl. And they hate each other. THEN I saw that the blurb says this book would be great for fans of the show Love is Blind and the movie You’ve Got Mail...so obviously, I had to get my filthy little gremlin hands on it immediately. This was a cute/fluffy rom-com and even though I didn’t find myself feeling any sort of connection between Sir and Lady in their online chats, I enjoyed the chemistry and banter between Sir and Lady’s irl forms (a/k/a Sebastian and Gracie). The writing itself was well done (no stilted, awkward dialogue here!) and I’d consider this book to be the epitome of a beach read.

Gah! I was a blubbering mess by the end of this book in the best way! This is loosely based on “you’ve got mail” and “the shoppe around the corner”, with a modern twist. Now, “you’ve got mail” is one of my all time favorite movies, and Lauren Layne is one of my all time favorite authors. This was so nicely done! The descriptions of NYC, sir and lady, and Sebastian and Gracie... sigh. It was the best love story. I definitely shed a few tears even though I knew where it was heading. It was just lovely. Thank you so much to netgalley for the ARC. Lauren, 5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the digital arc!

I throughly enjoyed this read, as I've come to with many of Layne's books-- the set-up in the champagne shop is delicious! I liked the cast of characters as well... but there was an element that felt a little (excuse the pun) flat-- maybe it was the reliance on an old plot for inspiration (You've Got Mail) or the very obvious mystery (we know long before the heroine who the hero is, which made me rush towards the end), or the fact that the details of the characters themselves don't seem as fresh or expected as I've come to expect from the portraits of Layne's other characters (her Central Park series, in particular). I enjoyed this read, but was expecting a little more from this author! I did enjoy her depiction of this part of NYC, though. Overall, I enjoyed my time spent in this world.

I fell for LL's books back when she produced New Adult, like the Redemption series. Since then, her books have fallen into very 'meh' collections -- Oxford, Stiletto, Wall Street, Wedding Belles -- there wasn't anything new to these romance in NY books that I haven't read from any other contemporary romance author.

This, however, brings in that classic, old time yarn, but with some good heat. As an AMC and TCM movie buff, I was raised on all her previous references. Since this was set in NYC, I kept thinking Sir & Lady may even meet at the Empire State Building and tragedy would strike a la An Affair to Remember! So, yes, the reader sees exactly where this is going and we are enjoying the ride as we get to the HEA.

LL did a great job organizing this story, demonstrated the art of "want" in very brief text-like exchanges and now has me wanting my own well-suited Tiffany-eyed hunk (I'm envisioning Matthew Goode in my head) for gelato and sorbet in Central Park. Alas, during Covid, I'll have to settle for the NetGalley book boyfriend.

This was a pretty unique read. I would have liked to see the romance heightened a little, but otherwise it was very swoonworthy!!!

A fun, swoony update to the You've Got Mail/Shop Around the Corner story. Romcom fans will enjoy Gracie and Sebastian's chemistry and tension.