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theeclecticreview's review against another edition
4.0
What a lovely modern fairy tale with a Cinderella, a Prince Charming, a villain, and a fairy godmother. I couldn’t put it down because of the enchanting characters and the beautiful plot set in New York City.
Gracie Cooper has a secret. A pen pal named Sir. A man she has never met. A man she fantasizes about as her Prince Charming. At the same time, she is trying to keep her father’s dream champagne shop in the black, but with the handsome and formidable Sebastian Andrews breathing down her neck to sell it, her life is about to change. In other words, her personal and professional life is not ideal. She has to make some serious decisions. Will she ever have her happily-ever-after ending?
I love the idea of a dating app name MysteryMate where there are only screen names and avatars and the app matches you with a potential mate. Gracie meets SirNYC on the app and they become friends who have a lot in common and who feel comfortable revealing their dreams and fears, but not their faces. It sounds like an interesting way to get to know someone’s inner self without the physical attraction first. As for Gracie and Sebastian’s relationship, it starts with an immediate physical attraction, then enemies when Gracie finds out he wants her shop, then unlikely friends with secrets. Needless to say, Gracie is torn between two men she has feelings for and she is forced to make a choice. As the secrets are revealed, the fairy tale builds to a beautiful grand gesture, a HEA ending, and a rewarding epilogue.
In addition, I would so love to visit Gracie’s champagne shop and I would be delighted to see Gracie’s paintings. They sound fantastic. Kudos to Sebastian for hooking her up with an art gallery. One of many charming acts he does for the adorable and selfless Gracie.
The supporting characters are great additions including Gracie’s disheartened sister Lily and her kind brother-in-law Alec who have a backstory of their own as they unsuccessfully try to have a family while it negatively affects their own relationship. Gracie’s brother, Caleb, lives in New Hampshire, but they stay in contact. May, Gracie’s flamboyant employee, and stepmother who gives wonderful advice and support. Keva, Gracie’s neighbor and feisty friend who is an assistant chef for a catering company, and who made me laugh many times.
Overall, I recommend this enjoyable romantic fairytale comedy with complex and relatable characters, a realistic plot with depth, and a well-developed world.
Thank you to Ms. Layne and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book with no expectation of a positive review.
Gracie Cooper has a secret. A pen pal named Sir. A man she has never met. A man she fantasizes about as her Prince Charming. At the same time, she is trying to keep her father’s dream champagne shop in the black, but with the handsome and formidable Sebastian Andrews breathing down her neck to sell it, her life is about to change. In other words, her personal and professional life is not ideal. She has to make some serious decisions. Will she ever have her happily-ever-after ending?
I love the idea of a dating app name MysteryMate where there are only screen names and avatars and the app matches you with a potential mate. Gracie meets SirNYC on the app and they become friends who have a lot in common and who feel comfortable revealing their dreams and fears, but not their faces. It sounds like an interesting way to get to know someone’s inner self without the physical attraction first. As for Gracie and Sebastian’s relationship, it starts with an immediate physical attraction, then enemies when Gracie finds out he wants her shop, then unlikely friends with secrets. Needless to say, Gracie is torn between two men she has feelings for and she is forced to make a choice. As the secrets are revealed, the fairy tale builds to a beautiful grand gesture, a HEA ending, and a rewarding epilogue.
In addition, I would so love to visit Gracie’s champagne shop and I would be delighted to see Gracie’s paintings. They sound fantastic. Kudos to Sebastian for hooking her up with an art gallery. One of many charming acts he does for the adorable and selfless Gracie.
The supporting characters are great additions including Gracie’s disheartened sister Lily and her kind brother-in-law Alec who have a backstory of their own as they unsuccessfully try to have a family while it negatively affects their own relationship. Gracie’s brother, Caleb, lives in New Hampshire, but they stay in contact. May, Gracie’s flamboyant employee, and stepmother who gives wonderful advice and support. Keva, Gracie’s neighbor and feisty friend who is an assistant chef for a catering company, and who made me laugh many times.
Overall, I recommend this enjoyable romantic fairytale comedy with complex and relatable characters, a realistic plot with depth, and a well-developed world.
Thank you to Ms. Layne and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book with no expectation of a positive review.
bookishinseattle's review against another edition
4.0
Lauren Layne’s retelling of You’ve Got Mail was absolutely adorable! This was my first book by Lauren but definitely will not be my last. This story follows Gracie Cooper who put aside her dream of being an artist to run the family business. She starts to realize that the business is not doing well and in the midst of the store failing, Grace meets Sebastian, who offers to buyout their family business. During this time, Grace is also speaking with Sir on a dating app, who she hasn’t met and doesn’t know his real name.
I absolutely adored this one! Layne does an excellent job of retelling You’ve Got Mail with a modern twist. Grace is romantic, funny and has some excellent character growth throughout the story. Sebastian is so sweet and seeing the two of them connect made me cheer for them throughout the whole story!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a gifted eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
I absolutely adored this one! Layne does an excellent job of retelling You’ve Got Mail with a modern twist. Grace is romantic, funny and has some excellent character growth throughout the story. Sebastian is so sweet and seeing the two of them connect made me cheer for them throughout the whole story!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a gifted eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
jessica_stenstrom's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
moonyslovebott's review against another edition
4.0
i just threw up butterflies and then went to have a nap on the highway
taulkstoomuch's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Girlie is a bit slow but it's okay I guess!
dayingst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
blurrypetals's review against another edition
2.0
Oh dear, my last book of 2021 was a DNF! I've been on a really bad reading slump ever since the summer so even when I do DNF something these days, it doesn't necessarily reflect all that badly on the book, at least in this case! Cute cover, though!
thecandiegirl's review
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
thinkertales's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
manda_reads's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
In this book, we meet Gracie who is a 33-year-old woman with dreams of pursuing an art career. Gracie decides to forgo her dreams to run her deceased father's champagne shop. While trying to figure out the business, Gracie joins a blind dating app looking for companionship. On the app, she meets a man who she affectionately refers to as "sir". Gracie and the mystery sir engage in flirtatious banter daily. The mystery sir refers to Gracie as my dear lady Unbeknownst to both of them Gracie and sir whose actual name is Sebastian have online crushes on each other but offline they are arch enemies. Overall, this book was a cute, fluffy read. While this was cute I found both main characters' personalities to be a bit vanilla. I probably should not have read this being that I didn't like You've Got Mail and this is a modernized version of that. It is what it is. I read another book by this author which was titled You, Again. That book was better than this one. This book is painfully slow.