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After growing up on stories of beautiful princesses, Prince Charming, and that One True Love, it’s easy to get caught up in the notion that life should be like a fairy tale. But in To Sir, with Love by Lauren Layne, one woman is forced to reconsider those fairy tale notions.
The story searches for love and direction in life with Gracie Cooper, the owner of her family’s champagne shop in Midtown Manhattan. Gracie has always dreamed of living a fairy tale—but, instead, she finds herself single and running the family’s shop instead of living her own dream. In her spare time, she sends messages to a man known only as Sir, a connection from a dating app where matches begin relationships with no pictures—just messages. But when wealthy developer Sebastian Andrews walks into the shop, looking to buy out her lease, she experiences a flood of conflicting feelings.
Though Gracie has always believed in that grand, magical moment when she would meet The One and they’d live happily ever after, she suddenly finds herself conflicted about, well, everything. Many of us have been there—when we’re hit with the realization that nothing is turning out as we once expected. And readers will fall in love with this struggling romantic as she tries to figure out what to do with her life. She’s happy to carry on the family business, but while her additions to the business have helped, it’s still struggling. And her fairy tale romance definitely isn’t panning out, either.
Her relationship with Sir is complicated and amore than a little bit strange. They know so little about each other, and they communicate in just short, anonymous messages. But each of those little messages brings a smile to Gracie’s face—and she thinks that maybe he could be her Prince Charming.
But then there’s Sebastian. When they first bump into each other on the street, Gracie feels that fairy tale connection—that zing—which is seriously complicated by the fact that he ends up trying to close down her family business. But as much as she wants to hate him, she just can’t.
Of course, it’s not much of a surprise where this story is heading. It’s a story that’s been told before, in so many different forms through the years. But there’s just something about these characters—and about the small-business-in-a-big-city setting—that makes it a light and charming read. And Gracie’s struggles along the way make it relatable.
To Sir, with Love is a cute romance for the phone app age. It may not be full of surprises, but the likable main character and the challenges she faces help to make it a fun summer beach read.
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