Contemporary Romance published by Gallery Books 29 Jun 21
This story sparkles with wit and humor as these two adversaries unknowingly start falling in love online through text messages, even as they hate each other’s guts in person. Despite their antagonism, Sebastian is there to cheer Gracie on through all her trials and tribulations with her shop, even as he’s proposing a much hated buyout. The sparks will really fly when all is revealed.
Ms. Layne has rapidly become one of my favorite contemporary authors who offers a sweet escape from the day-to-day humdrum. Her characters – and not just the protagonists but the entire supporting cast – have a personality that adds to the story. The witty repartee and dialogue keeps readers involved and enthralled.
I absolutely love the contrast between how Gracie destroys the letters with the buyout offers while she can’t wait for messages from Sir, little realizing that they are one and the same. As much as she wants to meet Sir and see what he looks like in person, she can barely avoid running over the gorgeous Sebastian everywhere she turns.
I also love how the author puts her own delightful twist on some tried and true tropes to make them new and sparking. I can’t wait for what comes next from her talented pen.
Grade: A
Summary:
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.
No excerpt available.
