I don't know where to begin. I love the "You've Got Mail" concept anyway, so I was sold just from reading the book's description. Then I was worried that the 'final reveal' wouldn't be good/romantic enough. I was wrong. It made me SWOON.

This was a fairly short book so obviously there wasn't as much room to see a full and clear story or character development, but this didn't bother me at all. I loved the focus on Gracie's relationship with her family, as well as her developing relationship with the 'men' in her life.

I just had the best time reading this. It's the perfect quick read for anyone who loves You've Got Mail. I cannot wait to read whatever the author writes next!

This book contained everything I love in a feel-good, rom-com stylenovel. It made me laugh, cry and warmed my heart! Gracie is such a likeable character and I loved reading her developing page-by-page.

Gracie is a real-life wannabe Disney princess who keeps her artistic aspirations tempered in order to run the champagne shop her parents started before they passed away. We meet Gracie as she’s approached by not-so-cold-hearted rich guy Sebastian Andrews who is looking to buy the building her shop is in for a re-development. Gracie hasn’t got the patience to deal with his gruffness because she’s got an online beau she hasn’t met but has slowly fallen for via their slow-burn relationship via text message.

The premise of this hooked me in. I love a good trope and enemies to lovers + mystery romance? Yes please! Unfortunately, this didn’t quite hit the spot for me. I didn’t connect with either Gracie or Sebastian and the set up of the messaging app never felt fully fleshed out. I’m a fussy reader though. I’m sure plenty of people would enjoy this as a cutesie romance and quick read.

To Stir with love
By Lauren Layne
Pub Date 29june2021

This has to be a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I loved this book the writing style was amazing a fluffy good story I fell in love with the characters were so enjoyable and it’s a very addictive read you enjoy x

To Sir, With Love is Lauren Layne’s latest NYC romance. I’ve just finished her Oxford series and love it so I’m so excited to be posting this review today!

This story is all about main character and narrator throughout - Gracie. Gracie runs her family business which is a boutique champagne shop in Manhattan and has put her spin on it selling art she’s created in her home studio. Gracie bumps onto Sebastian in the street in a serendipity-esque moment at a pop up florist however he’s with his girlfriend. Later that day he turns up at her boutique and it turns out he’s even further from Gracie’s Prince Charming than she thought.

I love reading books set in NYC, it gives me all the vicarious thrills and makes me long to go back like mad. I loved the champagne boutique setting and I can imagine popping in to pick up a souvenir!

This love story is a modern day retelling of You’ve Got Mail and instead of emails the interactions take place on a dating app. There’s tension between the characters in real life and a spark between them in their digital life.

If you’ve not read anything by this author I can highly recommend this, along with her Oxford series.

What a gorgeous book. Filled to the brim with bubbly warmth, To Sir, with Love is a delight from start to finish. I loved the idea of the champagne shop, Gracie's loyalty to her father's wishes and the wonderful ensemble cast around her and the enigmatic Sebastian. The conceit of the modern equivalent of letters is completely charming matched with the 'old fashioned' feel to the language used in the messages.
I heartily recommend this book to put a smile on your face and a warm glow in your heart. Lovely 💖💖💖💖💖

Classic romantic comedy storyline gets a quirk update with a champagne shop and a conversation dating app...and it's actually quite cute.

As the author goes to great lengths in the acknowledgements to, well, acknowledge, the similarities between 'To Sir, with Love' and 'You've Got Mail' are numerous. It is essentially a twist on the classic story, dating all the way back 18th century plays. A girl has been talking to a guy - be it through letters, emails or in this case, a dating app focused entirely on conversation and not image - and is in love with him. She meets a guy in real life, dislikes him immensely, but finds a begrudging respect as they get to know each other.

This is a really sweet book. The characters are fun, if a little under-developed because there's so damn many of them. I could see this making an excellent feature film because it has such an extensive cast - with some great comic actors, it could be something really special. You look past the obvious ending and enjoy the ride of this heart-warming story. Plus there's plenty of food and wine references to keep everyone happy. Reading this made me really want to drink champagne. I flew through this book. It's a perfect addition to your summer reading list if you're in the mood for a comforting, big hearted romantic comedy - emphasis on the romantic.

Love Is Blind meets You’ve Got Mail in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy following two thirty-somethings who meet on a blind dating app—only to realize that their online chemistry is nothing compared to their offline rivalry.

Perpetually cheerful and eager to please, Gracie Cooper strives to make the best out of every situation. So when her father dies just months after a lung cancer diagnosis, she sets aside her dreams of pursuing her passion for art to take over his Midtown Manhattan champagne shop. She soon finds out that the store’s profit margins are being squeezed perilously tight, and complicating matters further, a giant corporation headed by the impossibly handsome, but irritatingly arrogant Sebastian Andrews is proposing a buyout. But Gracie can’t bear the thought of throwing away her father’s dream like she did her own.

Overwhelmed and not wanting to admit to her friends or family that she’s having second thoughts about the shop, Gracie seeks advice and solace from someone she’s never met—the faceless “Sir”, with whom she connected on a blind dating app where matches get to know each other through messages and common interests before exchanging real names or photos.

But although Gracie finds herself slowly falling for Sir online, she has no idea she’s already met him in real life…and they can’t stand each other.

Just pure delight! Lauren Layne is on my auto-buy and she never fails. I absolutely loved this one! Enemies to lovers, funny, smart and about reaching your dreams!

To Sir, With Love - Lauren Layne
🌟🌟🌟

Overwhelmed after taking over her fathers champagne shop, Gracie seeks advice and solace from someone she’s never met—the faceless “Sir”, with whom she connected on a blind dating app.

But although Gracie finds herself slowly falling for Sir online, she has no idea she’s already met him in real life…and they can’t stand each other.

--

Thank you to @netgalley and @headlineeternal for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. To Sir, With Love is officially released today! 🎉

When I saw the blurb for this book, I knew it would bring some cheesy romance goodness and it definitely delivered on that promise.

However, the parts that I actually liked best about this were centered around Gracie's self-growth. I enjoyed seeing her adjust her idea of perfection, and learn that actually some those unreachable standards aren't all they're cracked up to be. I also liked her realisation that she'd got caught up in living someone else's dream whilst her own got lost along the way, a situation I'm sure many people have dealt with.

However, for a skeptic like me, the actual romance element of this book was a little too clichéd and farfetched for my taste. I just can't get my head around that two people, even when speaking on a 'blind date' type app could start falling for one another without knowing a single detail about one another's personal lives. I understood the no names, but nothing about jobs, family, anything?! This is where it kind of lost me. But I do also understand why this didn't work with the concept of the story, so I was kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Overall, if you're all about that fairytale romance, then you'll love this. I enjoyed Lauren's writing and have heard she's got some fab books, so I'd definitely try another in future! But if you're a realist with romance like me, this one may not be your favourite.

It is a well know fact that I love enemies to lovers, pair this up with the internet connection trope where the couple "meet" online and you have a sweet and captivating story.

Gracie manages the family champagne shop since her father died. The shop wasn't her dream job but she feels responsible for it in order to keep her parents legacy alive. When a big corporation offers a deal to buy her out she enlists her siblings help so that they can work together and help the shop survive.

Sebastian knows a bussiness opportunity when he sees one and the champagne shop's location is ideal for a more prosperous bussiness.

At the same time we see the friendship that Gracie has with Sir. A person she meet through a dating app where she doesn't know the name or face of the person she is talking to. This doesn't make her connection their connection or their feelings any less meaningful.

This story reads like a movie, it is a quick and enjoyable read. It has a " You got mail" vibe but in the dating apps world. I enjoyed rrading it very much.


* I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.

While this was an enjoyable read and I did like it, I found this to be more women fiction than an actual romance. I personally didn't like that they didn't find out about who each other actually was until the very end of the book because you couldn't really see their relationship evolve fully. This is a quite funny book and it did have my laughing out loud a couple of times and I did find some of the things that he did for her to be swoon worthy. But there was quite a few things that could have made the book better if included which is why I give it three stars.

Finished this in one day. Such a lovely, romantic read. Loved the messages between Lady and Sir which were cute and old fashioned. Liked Gracie a lot and her road to following her own dreams. Great mix of supporting characters as well. Gracie and Sebastian were loveable idiots with great chemistry throughout. Yes the endgame was pretty clear but the journey was a lot of fun and really enjoyable (4 ⭐️)

‘To Sir, With Love’ was exactly what I needed today. After a busy week, and getting the first dose of the vaccine, I needed something light-hearted and nice to read, and Laurence Layne’s book delivered on this front!

Gracie works at the family shop, Bubbles (now Bubbles & More) since her father’s death. Though the business was left to the three of his children, it is Gracie who put her dreams on hold and taken over the business. Only that, the times have changed and in central New York, Bubbles & More isn’t exactly profitable, and the building’s owner wants to buy out the remaining years of their lease. Determined to save her family’s legacy, Gracie tries to protect Bubbles & More from a charming businessman Sebastian, all while developing feeling for him and a mystery guy she’s talking with on a dating app at the same time. Things couldn’t get more complicated!

I enjoyed the banter between Gracie and Sebastian, but I kind of wished we could have seen a little bit more interaction between ‘Sir’ and Gracie through the dating app.

Overall, it’s has been a nice read for a Sunday morning, and I had fun reading it.

I haven't read a romance book in about a month (because I read so many of them that I ended up in a slump), but I decided to pick this one up because I have been so excited for it for months, and I am so glad that I did!! 'To Sir, With Love' reminds me why I love romance books so much. This book was so sweet and soft and made me smile the whole time whilst I was reading it. I fell in love with Gracie instantly and loved Sebastian as soon as he entered the book, and I loved seeing them fall in love.

I flew through this book in a few hours and didn't want to put it down because I was enjoying it so much. The writing was so easy to fly through which is what I love about romance books. I love being able to easily get lost into a world with these characters and being able to be apart of their lives, and that is exactly what this book did for me.

I loved seeing Gracie's relationship with her brother and sister and how close they were, and I loved seeing how healthy and happy every single one of the relationships Gracie had in her life were.

Honestly, this book is so comforting and just pure happiness in a story. I don't know how else to describe this book other than that. If you want a delightful book that will make you smile, this is the one for you!!

Thank you to Headline Eternal for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne a true romance of a five-star read. I simply adored this story, from the simplicity of the app, I am an old-fashioned letter writer so the premise of such an app appeals to me so much. But Gracie, appealed to me so much more than I expected, on paper she sounds too much like a people pleaser, but as you get to know her story, you get to see the true her, and how effervescent she is much like the champagne she knows so well. It was so nice to have Sebastian, someone we should hate for what he stands for but secretly love, for being him. This will leave you all warm and fuzzy and wanting romance in your life. Sit back, relax and enjoy this sublime story.

A super cute, fun and charming, feel-good romance about following your dreams, which made me smile so hard!

I hadn't read a Lauren Layne book in ages! I forgot how much I enjoy her writing! I've seen other reviewers mention that this reminded them of 'You've got Mail.' I haven't seen that, but thought I would mention it because that fact might make this book appealing to a lot of people!

This adorable rom-com features:
🍾Enemies to lovers,
🍾Art,
🍾Great food,
🍾Off the charts chemistry, sexual tension and banter,
🍾A swoony, old timey feel in the text messages,
🍾A cat called cannoli,
🍾Fab side characters.

Seriously, To Sir, with Love put me in a good mood! Yes it was quite predictable and cheesy in places, and it was quite obvious who Sir was, but I felt like I was in on the secret, and felt so invested! The characters all felt real to me, they weren't perfect, but had flaws and worries. Some parts really touched my heart, and a tear or two might have leaked out..

Gracie was such a likeable main character! Smart, strong and funny, she was a dreamer looking for a fairy-tale ending, whilst struggling after the death of a parent. Desperate to follow her own dreams, but weighed down by the pressure and duty of following her parent's dreams, by keeping the champagne shop running and in the family, Gracie was in a tough spot! I really felt for her!

Sebastian.. swoon! Although at first he comes across as the bad guy, from Gracie's POV, I soon fell in love with this clever, hot and funny guy! Head of a family run huge corporation, he had his own pressures and stress to deal with.

Sir, well I loved the little messages between Lady and Sir! Anonymous, so they could be themselves, and unburden their souls 😍

I loved some of the side characters! Keva was an awesome friend, and I really hope her and Grady get their own book!! I also loved May, Gracie's late father's girlfriend, the unofficial maternal figure in their lives! Gracie and her siblings Lily and Caleb had a complicated relationship, filled with love, and it felt realistic. I got super invested in Lily and her husband Alec's relationship too!

The reason that this didn't score top marks from me, is personal preference; this was a clean romance. Some of you will like that fact, but for me, it was a little too PG! The sexual tension was built up so well, but then there were no steamy scenes, not even a closed door, fade to black scene! From what I remember of this author's previous books that I've read, they did have some 🔥, but I haven't read any of her more recent books. Maybe she has purposely changed this, in order to find a larger audience?

I definitely recommend this charming rom-com, if you're looking for a feel-good read!
🥂🥂🥂🥂

Woo! Slap me silly and colour me all colours of the rainbow! This book was amazing.

It was fun yet angsty (oh my the angst). I will never think about aqua blue eyes the same way again.

I adored the anonymous pen pal trope, albeit digital, and this one had it in spades. The banter between the main characters was on point and pour a good dose of angst on top of all of that and I could not get enough.

Props to Lauren and her writing. Her descriptions truly created the atmosphere, from New York City, to the store and all its merchandise to the paintings that had me wishing they were actually available for purchase!

If you’re a Nora Ephron fan, you’ll ADORE this!
It’s a modern spin on You’ve got Mail - but with a dating app!

Gracie Cooper put her dreams on hold to take over her family’s champagne shop after her parents died. But with money being tight and the annoying Sebastian Andrews and his company pressuring her to sell the shop, Gracie is struggling. Overwhelmed, she confides in “Sir”, a man she’s been chatting up on a dating app and whom she quickly starts to fall for, even though they’ve never met… or have they?

This book was sooooooo cute! Happy vibes all over! I loved Sir and Lady’s exchanges, but it was Sebastian that MELT me! I was genuinely rooting for him all the time and begging Gracie to choose him over Sir. Also, can we talk about how great it is that our heroine is 33 years old? You don’t come across “older” heroines very often, and I am totally here for it!

In conclusion, this is romantic comedy PERFECTION and if you don’t read it, you really are missing out!

This was adorable, and just what I needed to bring me out of my slump. A sweet, you've got mail inspired rom-com with a sprinkling of a few of my favourite tropes; enemies to lovers & opposites attract. I really enjoyed Gracie's dreamer 'Disney princessey' personality' - I think there was a very thin line to walk when writing in that element of her character in not taking it too far and 'I think the author walked it well. Gracie also had some grit - which I appreciated - and and wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, she had her own real problems going on too.

I wasn't initially sure how I'd feel about the 'To Sir' part of this plot line because to be honest the sir nickname is just a bit weird, but I got over it (kinda). The messages start off innocently enough, but the later messages are really sweet, and as you can see how they intertwine with what is going on with the real world, you just wish you could tell Gracie who Sir really is FOR GODS SAKE. (But then we wouldn't have this book with all the great pining.)

While all this is going on the enemies-to- lovers plot aka what I am here for is going on, which is where my dear Sebastian comes in. Sebastian is looking to buy out Gracie's Champagne shop, and while Gracie stands her ground (#girlboss) Sebastian just kinda keeps popping up. Everywhere. And somehow he stops being so irritating to her. The tension and chemistry between these two was great, as was each others apparent utter obliviousness to the other's feelings.

This was a light, quick fluffy read, exactly what I needed to warm me up inside 🥰 My only gripe - the epilogue. It ruined it a bit for me honestly.

To Sir With Love is such a delightful read. It tells the story of Gracie Cooper and her struggle to keep her family owned and run Champagne store open amidst a corporate buyout possibility. Whilst she's dealing with corporate shark Sebastian Andrews, she's also been sending messages back and forth with Sir; a man she's never seen or met but communicates with on an online platform. Gracie finds herself falling for both men and can't figure out how it's possible to, except she doesn't know that they're not actually two different people.

I really enjoyed reading this and struggled to put it down, wanting to know what would happen next every time I finished a chapter. The secondary characters in this were great and I especially loved Gracie's relationship with her siblings. There was a freshness and honesty in the story and the ending had me literally at the edge of my seat and then left a big goofy smile on my face. The New York backdrop was classic Lauren Layne as was the banter and I loved her modern day spin on this fairy tale romance.