To Sir, With Love | Review

Perpetually cheerful and eager to please, Gracie Cooper strives to make the best out of every situation. So when her father dies just five 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 to turn the store into a parking garage. 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.

I am RUINED! This book has absolutely wrecked me and I don’t know if I will ever be able to love another romance novel as much as this one! It was practically perfect in every way so get ready for some major fangirling below.

I have to start with the leading man, Sebastian Andrews. I swooned as soon as I read his name. What a NAME. And what a man to go along with it. This was an enemies-to-lovers novel so of course, we got the grumpy and evil version of Sebastian before anything else. But, unlike other enemies-to-lovers, his name was cleared pretty quickly. It became clear pretty quickly that he was actually a good guy rather than having to wait until the very end to clear up misconceptions. Now, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t an awesome conflict between him and Gracie, but I liked that he was likable early on. And wayyyyyy too swoony. Seriously. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Now, onto the leading lady. Gracie was equally as amazing in so many ways. She was a dreamer, but a little too scared to leave the dream behind in case she would be disappointed. She was doing the right thing for everyone around her, but not necessarily for herself. She had a healthy Frank Sinatra obsession (loved that so much, btw) and a great love of the city. She reminded me so much of myself in many ways that it was a bit scary.

Now, onto why Gracie and Sebastian were the absolute greatest together. They had a slow burn romance that was angsty, and loveable, and heartbreaking, and perfect. When I say I want a slow burn, this is what I mean!!!! They had an instant connection even if it was shadowed by the fact that Sebastian’s company was looking to buy out Gracie’s. Also, Layne did an excellent job of pulling from You’ve Got Mail. It can be a tough retelling because the characters are falling for two different people who are the same person, etc. But Layne executed the story perfectly. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Also, all the subplot romances had me deceased. Heart stopped, practically six feet under, never to be heard from again, deceased. They were something I didn’t know I needed until they were there and I’m happy they were!!

Overall, I can’t praise this book enough. It was perfection in the flesh and you can’t change my mind.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a gifted and advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

To check out my other reviews, click here. Or to check out more books by Lauren Layne, go to her Goodreads profile or visit her website.

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