Gracie Cooper set aside her dreams of an art career to take over her dad's Manhattan champagne shop after he died, but she was unaware how much the store was struggling to stay open. Totally overwhelmed and faced with an evil corporate overlord who keeps trying to buy out her lease, Gracie turns to an anonymous pen pal on a dating app for solace and business advice. Gracie finds herself slowly falling for her online bestie, and she has no idea she actually knows (and hates) this prince charming in real life.

To Sir, with Love is the perfect modern homage to You've Got Mail. I loved every second of this sweet and totally PG romcom. It hit just the right Valentine's spot! Everything about this oozes Lauren Layne's NYC charm - the champagne shop! the funny cat name! the swoony and gorgeous leading man!

This love story isn't angsty and isn't steamy, but it is perfectly happy and I will definitely be rereading it when it comes out!

Thank you to Gallery Books, netgalley, and Lauren Layne for the eARC in exchange for my review.

Lauren Layne always delivers a fun, sweet story. Gracie is a hopeless romantic dealing with the reality of everyday life. She dreams of a career as an artist but runs the family business that her father left to her and her siblings. She has a thrilling online flirtation with a man she knows as “sir” but has to deal with a stoic businessman set on buying out the lease on her shop. Sebastian comes across as cold and formal but quickly falls for Gracie in the sweetest way. They have to find their way through the mess of life to get their grand romance and it’s so entertaining to read. The ending is easy to anticipate, as is true in most romance novels, but it’s exactly the heartwarming content we all need right now. Loved it.

Thanks to Lauren Layne, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of To Sir, with Love (thank you NetGalley). Huge fan of Lauren Layne over here!
Like all of her books, I could not put this one down. Lauren hit it out of the park with witty dialogue that keeps you engaged and entertained. She also created lovable main characters with undeniable chemistry - I was rooting for them throughout the entire book. I definitely felt the You've Got Mail vibe, but the modern twist brought that trope back to life for me. The story goes beyond falling in love and deals with heartbreaking issues such as infertility and the loss of a parent. The ending was predictable and a little, um, cheesy (?). But I still loved it.

Delightful. Another amazing story from Lauren Layne.
Gracie is the perfect storybook heroine of 2021, meaning of course that she's not perfect, just trying to figure out life like the rest of us. Her belief that fairytale love does exist is refreshing and exactly what I needed this year. Like Gracie and Sebastian it's easy to settle and follow the role laid out for you without realizing it, but what's life without a little dreaming?

Lauren Layne does it again! Everything she writes I devour! This book was the perfect balance of independent woman and hopeless romantic. It gave me definite you’ve got mail vibes!

5 out of 5 stars.

Gracie Cooper loves New York, Cinderella, and the idea of being in love. She also loves her family. So much, in fact, that when her father passed away, she stepped up and continued the family business instead of going to art school. When business mogul Sebastian Andrews starts pressuring her to allow him to buy out the lease on her shop, Gracie quickly makes him Enemy #1. Even if she can’t stop thinking about those eyes…

The other main character in all Gracie’s daydreams? Sir. A match she made on a dating website whose profile was set up by his friends as a prank. They’ve never met and he has a girlfriend. But he sure seems great via text message. 🤷🏼‍♀️

This book is adorable. Hands down, 100% adorable. I loved that we, the reader, know exactly how this book is going to turn out and we get to watch the characters cutely fumble around the inevitable outcome. Lauren Layne crafted an excellent tribute to You’ve Got Mail that will leave readers laughing, crying, and just downright feeling good.

Thanks to Lauren Layne, Gallery Books, and Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This book was super cute, however, if you've seen You've Got Mail then you pretty much know what's going to happen. Exchange a book store for a champagne shop and that's pretty much it. The characters were cute and quirky, but the story was just predictable.


Thanks to #netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.

All the feels. You’ve got mail is also my favorite RomCom movies and this book brought me such joy, I could just see it perfectly
Playing out. I love both Gracie and Sebastian, I loved their banter and I love a good enemy to lovers trope. My critique would be that I could’ve used a little more of their conversations tho - maybe a bit more back and forth messaging to see that side of the relationship more, perhaps more in depth messages about their lives. I love that the book made me feel, made me feel. I feel I felt the love more between real life Sebastian than phone version.
The emotions Gracie was going through, when he was mad at her giving the icy cold stare I also felt sadness and a a ping to my heart, it’s rare when a book can do that. I enjoyed their cute meetups also, the food and wine bits added charm. Also living in nyc myself I knew exactly where the book was taking place and also love my some halal :)
I’ll for sure be reccomending this book, and was so lovely see you’ve got mail played out more in 2021 book form . Well done !

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy as well as the opportunity to read and review this lovely book.

This was a great read. Gracie allows herself to put her wants and needs aside to keep her fathers dreams alive after his death. Gracie is struggling with keeping the store open and has difficulty sharing her feelings with her siblings. She has a pen pal of sorts Sir who she she shares her thoughts with and frustrations. At the same time Sebastian is trying to take over the store lease. She's conflicted with her attraction to both men.

*******************************I received an ARC for my honest opinion from Net Galley.***********************************

Lauren Layne has done it again! She has created another beautiful couple and beautiful story. From the beginning you can’t help but completely fall in love with this story. Lauren Layne does a wonderful job of making you fall in love with her characters. I absolute adored this book. From the second I started it, I didn’t put it down. I fell in love with Sir and Lady’s story. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This adorable story is derivative of “You’ve Got Mail,” as the author acknowledges in her Afterword. She stated that she wanted to bring that story into the 21st Century by updating the premise a bit: the two protagonists fall in love, sight unseen and anonymously, not via email but via a dating app (called “MysteryMate”), and by texting.

MysteryMate isn’t like other dating apps in that there are no photos, or even names. The app matches you with potential mates and you communicate under pseudonyms. Gracie Cooper, 33, under the name “Lady” got matched with “Sir,” and they seem to have a lot in common. As Gracie explains to her best friend: “We both live in Manhattan, we’re both highly suspicious of oatmeal, we both lost our dads to lung cancer four years ago, we both put mustard on our scrambled eggs…”

Gracie owns the champagne shop “Bubbles & More” opened by her late father, but it is struggling to survive in a world increasingly characterized by online sales. She has an offer to buy her out from her lease-holder, the disturbingly handsome Sebastian Andrews. But Gracie is resisting: it’s not about the numbers, she feels, it’s about family, her family, and her father’s dream. Gracie’s own dream was to be an artist, but then her father died and she has made his dream her own. And only resents and regrets it sometimes….

Gracie increasingly turns to “Sir” for advice and emotional support, all the while having additional encounters with Sebastian, whom she likes more and more in spite of her determination to hate him.

Of course we know how this will end, but the path to get there will keep you entertained and interested in spite of an overall arc of predictability.

Moreover, the story ends with an Epilogue that takes place one year later, and it is absolutely delightful.

Evaluation: As the author writes in the Afterward, this is a story about the folly of first impressions, about optimism, and about forgiveness and growth. But it’s also just a darn good romcom that's a lot of fun.

Although I've never actually fully watched You've Got Mail from start to finish (whenever it's showing on the TV, it's always already halfway through), the synopsis of this book had immediately captured my interest. It's also not wrong to say that I was very excited for this upon seeing the author as I've been recently bingeing Lauren Layne's addictive-in-nature books and was already on a high when I requested for an ARC. Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that my request was approved!

As a romantic at heart like Gracie, there's nothing more beautiful than reading a romance where everything is cheesy and works out in favour of a Happily Ever After, and I'm really happy to say that To Sir, With Love delivers exactly that.

Just like Lauren Layne's other books, this one got me hooked from the prologue right until the end. I found myself unable to tear my eyes away from my Kindle as I devoured word after word. Right from the get go, we learn that Gracie (h) is already in contact with her Sir on an online dating app. Their messages to each other are humourous and left me yearning for more of their interactions. I also found Gracie's first meeting with Sebastian (H) equally funny and their banter in this was glorious to witness. Gracie and Sebastian are enemies during the day, and potential lovers at night. If you've read the author's previous books, it is proven that she writes witty banter well and that is something I thoroughly enjoy. If you're the kind of reader who gets on a high from seeing two characters who hate each other but are able to connect through an exchange of quips, this one is for you.

However, it wasn't only the romance that made me love this—the secondary characters were equally as charming. We have Caleb, Lily and Alec, Gracie's two siblings and brother-in-law; Keva, her neighbour; May, a funny and sweet old lady who works with Gracie; and Robyn and Josh, her employees. It was very uplifiting to see that Gracie has a strong group of people who are always ready to help and support her in any way they can. Just like witty banter, Lauren Layne also delivers this in her other books and has a track record of writing happy and healthy friendships. This, of course, was no exception. Even though these characters are just secondary, I was invested in their mini-lives especially Lily and Alec, who are happily married high school sweethearts. I was hoping we'd potentially get a book about them but their story had seemed perfectly wrapped up by the end of this book.

However, as adorable as the romance was, I also noticed that there was a bit of a cheesy instalove. Gracie starts developing an interest in Sebastian right from the moment she bumped into him on the street. Although this fits Gracie's description of being a hopeless romantic living in a fantasy world, it didn't quite help in the hate-to-love department. I found the romance moving a bit too quickly for my liking and would have loved to see a slightly slower development between Sebastian and Gracie from enemies to not-so enemies. Ergo, I would have appreciated if we had gotten more scenes of them warming up to each other as friends and then them slowly progressing toward something more.

In conclusion, albeit the instalove and attraction, I still enjoyed reading about Sebastian and Gracie. In dark times like this, a little bit of cheesy romance won't hurt anyone and if you're looking for something light and sure to put you in a whimsical mood after finishing, To Sir, with Love would be right up your alley.

Romance is just magical.

I could not put this book down once I started it! I loved the plot that you thought you knew the obvious romance but still kept you guessing in case you weren’t sure. Would recommend to all my friends! Best book of 2021 so far!

I'm a longtime fan of Lauren Layne's. I can always count on her books for a feel-good escape and some modern romance. However, I think I'm going to make the bold declaration that To Sir, With Love is officially my favorite one yet.

There's something exceedingly charming and timeless about the story. (I'm sure that's not a coincidence, given its inspiration.) It made me feel that rare combination of optimism and wistfulness that lingers long after the last pages. Admittedly, I'll pick up anything by Layne, but I'd love to see her write more books in this vein.

okay stop the pressed i freaking loved this book way to dang much!
i loved every to sir with love message in this book i think a few more personal detail ones would have made the TADAAAA even better.. but omg these two characters were EVERYTHING i needed.
this author omg she can write a love story and its pure joy!

This was an absolute delight!

Thank you so much for the ARC copy of this book. This sweet romantic comedy was uplifting and inspiring. I loved how the entire “you’ve got mail” concept was modernized into text messages through a dating app. Their interactions were funny, flirty and very romantic.

I loved both Gracie and Sebastian. Gracie was always so positive and had a great attitude about everything she did. I loved how protective and enthusiastic she was about her family’s legacy and how much effort she put into everything she did to make the flourish, even if it meant to give it up. Sebastan was thoughtful and understanding, and I loved that after all, he had the best intentions at heart. The connection and chemistry was obvious since the very beginning and I loved how all the events led to that beautiful ending.

The only thing that I could say was missing for me, was his point of view due to the type of story. Still, I think it was a beautiful book and I can’t wait to read more of this author.

This seemed really close to You've Got Mail, but I still really loved it. Lauren Layne is one of my favorite authors and this was one of the best of hers that I've read.

Gracie Cooper owns her late father’s business along with her siblings. She loves it but she is the only one out of her siblings that actually deals with it and she is getting tired of trying to keep it afloat. She holds resentment as well because of art dreams sailing further away as each year passes. Her biggest piece of happiness is a faceless man who she messages through a dating app. I really enjoyed this story. It is a modern day fairy tale with layered characters. The location was wonderful and easy to picture. I especially loved Bubbles & More. Gracie had many great qualities and she definitely deserves more from life than her situation at the start of the book but I was a little disappointed in some of her choices in men. She prided herself on having high standards yet she fell twice for men that were already in relationships and let them really affect her life. As you read along, you begin to understand her choices but I didn’t particularly enjoy that she treated her crush so poorly because of her jealousy when he really didn’t do anything and he was at that point in a relationship. The leading man was honestly perfect. I loved the dialogue between Gracie and him and despite being filtered through Gracie’s perspective. He was actually a really good person so does she realize it in the end? You will have to read to find out. Overall, a great story about going for what you want in life and in love with very real and lovable characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review!

I have enjoyed every single Lauren Layne book I have had the pleasure to read. Nevertheless, I came to this one with slight trepidation since it's a version of a beloved classic (You've Got Mail). Turns out that my worries were unfounded and "To Sir, with Love" may be my favorite Lauren Layne book to date. The basic story is the same, but it is a modern version with two delightfully romantic characters that are also somewhat old-fashioned in a charming way. The full cast of characters and their incredible dialogues are very much in Laynes style: charming, witty, layered. Even in the moments that paralleled the movie, it was in a way that made me smile, but never felt out of place in this author's world and with her characters. This was the book I needed right now, adorable, a joy to read and a delightful escape. I loved Gracie and Sebastian and will be rereading this one.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really sweet take on the Nora Ephron classic You've got Mail! It was certainly a more modern take on the story and all of the characters were charmingly sincere. The villan/hero character was convincing and it really seemed as if he was struggling to figure out what to do (and did not seem blatantly manipulative or catfishy, which is so often the pitfall of this trope). The chemistry was strong and the romantic moments were cute, I would definitely recommend giving this book a shot!