Name: Very Sincerely Yours
ISBN: 9781638080121

Kerry Winfrey

Teddy Phillips never thought she would still be spending every day surrounded by toys at almost thirty years old. But working at a vintage toy store is pretty much all she has going on in her life after being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend. The one joy that she has kept is her not-so-guilty pleasure: Everett's Place, a local children's show hosted by Everett St. James, a man whom Teddy finds very soothing . . . and, okay, cute.

Very Sincerely Yours

A charming and heartwarming new romantic comedy by the acclaimed author of Waiting for Tom Hanks, Kerry Winfrey. Teddy Phillips never thought she would still be spending every day surrounded by toys at almost thirty years old. But working at a vintage toy store is pretty much all she has going on in her life after being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend. The one joy that she has kept is her not-so-guilty pleasure: Everett's Place, a local children's show hosted by Everett St. James, a man whom Teddy finds very soothing . . . and, okay, cute. Teddy finds the courage to write to him, feeling slightly like one of the children who write to him on his show. He always gives sound advice and seems like he has everything figured out--and he pretty much does: Everett has a great support system, wonderful friends, and his dream job. But there is still that persistent feeling in the back of his mind that something is missing. When a woman named Theodora starts writing to Everett, he is drawn to her honesty and vulnerability. They continue writing to each other, all the while living their lives without meeting. When their worlds collide, however, they must both let go of their fears and figure out what they truly want--and if the future they want includes each other.

Petaco

Too weird for me. They were both strange. (view spoiler)[No growth from Teddy at all. She was the same the whole way through. She just wish washed and did what others told her. Didn't seem like she had much ambition to grow and wanted to go with the flow of life. No. Grow up. Also the whole puppeteer/ Mr. Rogers angle was not good for me. It was too weird.  (hide spoiler)]perfect Hallmark move. Not a good book at all.

What a slow burn. I loved Everett I’m pretty sure that I would die for him to be in my life 

Eliza adkins 

thea lockburn 

** spoiler alert **
           Such a cute light read. It's absolutely adorable! The plot of the story and the characters are written so well. ❤️ (Absolutely in love with the chemistry between Eleanor, Kirsten and Teddy) This one is definitely for people who do not know what they want to do yet and are still exploring!

Connor 

4.5 but rounding up because this was soft and sweet and felt like when you’re watching You’ve Got Mail and Shopgirl is talking about autumn.

Caitlyn Baldwin

Kerry Winfrey once again succeeds at writing a book that just makes you feel good. She puts so much work into representing Columbus in her books and it's so cozy to picture these stories unfolding on the same streets you walk on. Her characters are always relatable but this time around I really recognized and connected with Teddy's character. My only complaint is that I have to wait for the next novel!

Liz Carpenter

Laura Yaneth Martinez

This is a book very few will like. It is not a typical easy read. Not a typical contemporary romance. This is Intended for certain people and that’s alright. Better than alright for me, because I’m one of those people. 

When I started this book, I had to take mannnny deep breaths. I had to put the book multiple times down in just the first 15% of the book. this book confronted a lot of what i've been struggling with-- feeling aimless in life. this was a book that took a leap into the mind of someone undergoing an existential crisis- not knowing what their purpose is, what life will be for them, judgin their past choices, conflicted with who they are and who they want to be. i completely resonated with the main character teddy. this is how i feel constantly, without direction. i like many things, but i dont have one solid thing that makes all the pain adn fustration to get there worth it like everrrett. 

im also a bit of a workaholic and people pleaser, just easily pushed around by others needs and my fear of my own. this book helped me confront a lot of those "what am i doing with my life" thoughts. and for that reason i loved this book, because it made me feel a little less alone with those thoughts. 

the romance was not at the center stage and sometimes i wanted that so badly, because all the realness of the book was hitting a ltttle to close to home, but wow was it worth it. im excited to get into all this author's other works, but by the titles of those books i can tell im going to have to take my time readinh them

Heather Harrington

When her long-time boyfriend breaks up with her rather than proposing, Theodora "Teddy" Phillips is left facing the fact that she has no idea what to do with her life. She's spent years focused on supporting the wants and needs of one person receiving next to nothing in return. Teddy has never been one to forge her path, always content to go along with whatever other people thought was best for her, and now she's pushing thirty, working at a vintage toy store, and left to move in with her two best friends in what is essentially a closet. The only happiness Teddy finds is through watching a local children's show hosted by Everett St. James. While the show is more geared towards teaching kids how to deal with their feelings and offering moral lessons with the aid of animal puppets, Teddy can't help but find comfort in Everett's calm and supportive demeanor. On a whim, and after being convinced by her friends to break out of her shell, Teddy emails Everett asking for advice. Not expecting a reply, Teddy is pleasantly surprised when Everett answers, and soon the pair strike up an email correspondence, and Teddy can't help but develop feelings with each increasingly charming reply.

Everett has always been a workaholic. He'd rather spend every waking moment planning his local TV show or designing a new puppet amongst the endless take-out containers littering his kitchen table. Everett has always fancied the idea of a relationship but knows his brain can never shut off long enough to get to know someone. While he takes pride in what his hard work has achieved, in the back of his mind he knows there are experiences he's been missing out on. So when he gets a random email from a woman named Theodora asking for advice, he's shocked to fall so easily into conversation with someone he's never even met before. Soon the emails become the highlight of both his and Teddy's days and they each find themselves falling for the other, but will their virtual attraction translate to real life?

You've Got Mail is my go-to comfort film and this is now my go-to comfort book. While there's no rivalry aspect here, two strangers are falling in love via email and I was here for every moment of it. I sacrificed sleep because I couldn't pull myself away but at the same time never wanted it to end. I saw so much of myself in both characters--from Teddy's need to please everyone and her Taco Bell obsession to Everett's love of the Muppets--which made me fully invested in their lives and made me root for them to get their HEA. Teddy and Everett were such a joy to follow and their relationship felt so natural and effortless. I loved all the email exchanges and had a smile on my face the entire time reading them. Of course, there were some corny bits, but I thought they made this feel more endearing. My only tiny gripe was that this does fall into that category of having a young character that acts/talks like they're middle-aged and there was the occasional abuse of exclamation points. Other than that, this was utterly charismatic and delightful and it's absolutely a new favorite of mine.

Emily

This was a cute read. It was fun & flirty & sweet. However, I enjoyed it less than Winfrey's previous books, and there were a few things that kept it from being as highly rated as Waiting for Tom Hanks or Not Like the Movies for me. 

Firstly, I found the references to some other great romances a bit too on the nose. It’s great to take inspiration from movies, but I think there comes a point where it’s just…copying? I mean, the opening scene of Teddy’s mix-up is LITERALLY exactly what happens in Legally Blonde? Richard is so clearly meant to be Warner, all throughout the book. And when Everett suggests they meet & Teddy freaks out a bit? It is almost laughable how much it seems that scene is just lifted straight from You’ve Got Mail (which is the movie this book is marketed as being sorta the modern-day equivalent to). I think there is a way to pay homage to these rom-coms & reference them in a way that respects both the author’s own creativity, the love we all have for these movies, and the intelligence of the reader, and this was not the way to do it. 

Secondly, I thought the timing of the characters’ growth was all a bit wonky. Teddy is doing things that scare her throughout the book, and of course that is leading to some growth, but honestly she is still a pushover and struggling to be her own woman right up until the time that her and Everett hookup and then all of the sudden, she does a complete 180 & is comfortable yelling at him (which, she’s totally right for btw - it’s just completely out of line with her character growth so far.). And Everett’s sudden dedication to giving work less than his all, without much struggle or thought beforehand, seems too easy. Overall, I just found some of their characterization just plain annoying. 

Lastly, the ending was disappointing. (view spoiler)[ I know asking Winfrey to solve this issue of “what do i do with my life if I have no passion?” in a romance novel is a bit much, but I think it was weird that Teddy’s issue was never resolved. Even if she didn’t find her “passion job", there should have been a moment where she was like “yeah, that’s totally fine, bc I’m loving the people who I care about in the best way I know how, and I’m working on being happy and brave, and maybe that’s what life is all about.” There is a little bit of that, in like 2 sentences on the last page, but what the ending message seems to be is, “it doesn’t matter what I do with my life as long as Everett is there.” And of course, it’s a romance, so that is to be expected and I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong, but isn’t that LITERALLY the exact issue with Richard? That she didn’t care what direction her life was taking as long as she could hide behind a man and his dreams? This may be being too harsh, but “true love can solve all your self-esteem issues and floundering for meaning as long as you’re floundering alongside a man who isn’t a total douchebag” seems a little bit of a sexist take for 2021.  (hide spoiler)]

These critiques sound harsh even to my own ears, but I think that might be because, having read Winfrey’s previous books, it is obvious that she can pull off a really sweet rom-com with good characterization that pays respects to the larger rom-com community and our collective consciousness within it, and this just wasn’t it and it's extra disappointing because I know she can do it well. I still think this is a good option if you’re looking for a quick, fun read, but if you haven’t read any of Winfrey’s books before, I would suggest you spend your time on her previous books instead of this one.

Lynn Braden

Teddy Phillips has learned to live life in the background as a supporting character to others especially her boyfriend, Richard; that is until he breaks up with her and kicks her out of his apartment. Reluctantly, Teddy goes to live with her two friends, Kirsten and Eleanor, who convince her to take Teddy Time, which includes taking some risks and figuring out what she wants in life. Her first risk is to email Everett St. James who has his own television show for kids, giving advice about how to deal with their feelings. Even though Teddy isn't a kid any longer, she hopes Everett can help her find out what it is she really wants to do with her life.

Although Very Sincerely Yours is more chick-lit than romance, it still satisfies the need for the two main characters to be involved with one another. Each learn valuable lessons along the way as they begin a tentative relationship. Teddy goes from being extremely wishy-washy in the beginning to almost so hard core that she loses the most important things in her life, while Everett learns about the balance of work life and personal life. I would like to have seen more of Everett's precocious sister, but overall, Very Sincerely Yours is a fun story about two people finding their way in our complicated world.

Marisa Williams

I demolished the bulk of this book in one sitting. This is Kerry Winfrey’s third book and they keep getting better and better. I really enjoyed it. It was a little slow to start but overall really good. Stick with it. I promise you’ll love it. 

Grace

What an unbearably cute book. It was a bit of a slow start but once Teddy and Everett started their correspondences, things really started to pick up. I loved how cozy this book felt. It was almost too sweet to the point of it being saccharine, but sometimes, you just need that kind of feel-good book.

Kaylee Z

3.5⭐

This book is a delightful mix of You’ve Got Mail, a dash of Mr. Rogers (who just so happens to be a dashing workaholic cinnamon roll) with a heaping spoonful of an all-too relate-able going-on-30 life crisis.

I really enjoyed Winfrey’s Waiting on Tom Hanks duology and consider her a must-read author now. Her characters are so heartwarming and flawed and you just want them all to be happy. Such is the case with Teddy and Everett.

Surprisingly, I did find myself more invested in Everett’s story than in Teddy’s though. Having the dual perspective of the two mains is always a plus in my books. They both had some growing pains in their lives in terms of how to handle relationships and general life-stress but also how they can each lead healthy and fulfilling lives. I felt that this was more apparent with Everett since he looks like he has it all figured out from the outside, but his issues with being a workaholic are so well written and unique for a leading man. There was also an important event that he missed due to this and it felt like a gut-punch because you knew it wasn’t intentional but it also made it hurt more because of that. Everett also had a stand-out line for me near the end that honestly had me laughing out loud. Loved his character!

Teddy I had more issues with because of her personality type but also her, frankly, weird obsession with Everett’s show. There could have been other options to have her cross paths with his character but a grown woman watching a children’s show just sits weird with me. I get that it is innocent and kind of like therapy for her but she would be better off going to an actual therapist… but then we wouldn’t have this story… so it’s conflicting. Teddy being a people-pleaser who had the rug pulled out from under her is very relate-able but her child-like worldview was not my favourite. Yes our own life plans can be placed on hold and we eventually need to find our way back to them sometimes, but it felt like Teddy was perpetually 13 while trying to figure things out in the body of a 30-year old. And maybe that’s another reason why her obsession with the show was awkward for me.

The side characters are also a staple with Winfrey’s writing that I always enjoy and the wonderful nod to the characters from the Tom Hanks books was perfect. I really liked both Teddy and Everett’s friend groups and while the familial struggles for Teddy felt a little forced, it definitely added to the story.

All in all I really did love this book and know I will always pick up Winfrey’s books and have a good time. She is probably the only author that I willingly read who tends to have aspects of fame that I enjoy.

For more thoughts and reviews, check out my blog! 
https://www.theenchantedlibrary.org/

Joy Salo

A charming and heartwarming new romantic comedy by the acclaimed author of Waiting for Tom Hanks, Kerry Winfrey. Teddy Phillips never thought she would still be spending every day surrounded by toys at almost thirty years old. But working at a vintage toy store is pretty much all she has going on in her life after being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend. The one joy that she has kept is her not-so-guilty pleasure: Everett’s Place, a local children’s show hosted by Everett St. James, a man whom Teddy finds very soothing . . . and, okay, cute. Teddy finds the courage to write to him, feeling slightly like one of the children who write to him on his show. He always gives sound advice and seems like he has everything figured out—and he pretty much does: Everett has a great support system, wonderful friends, and his dream job. But there is still that persistent feeling in the back of his mind that something is missing. When a woman named Theodora starts writing to Everett, he is drawn to her honesty and vulnerability. They continue writing to each other, all the while living their lives without meeting. When their worlds collide, however, they must both let go of their fears and figure out what they truly want—and if the future they want includes each other.

Very Sincerely Yours

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