Better Left Unsent: A Novel

So many ways to torpedo your career and your love life… So little time.

A woman accidentally reveals all her secrets in this witty and charming novel from the author of Eight Perfect Hours.

Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herself—her feelings, her truths, even her dreams—in an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.

But Millie does write emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One.

As every truth, lie, and secret she’s worked so hard to keep only to herself are catapulted out into the open, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused, and face everything she’s ever swept under the carpet.

With her signature “tender and heartwarming” (Anstey Harris, author of When I First Held You) prose, Lia Louis presents another unforgettable and moving novel that is perfect for fans of Rebecca Serle and Emily Henry.

Lia Louis lives in the United Kingdom with her partner and three young children. Before raising a family, she worked as a freelance copywriter and proofreader. She was the 2015 winner of Elle magazine’s annual writing competition and has been a contributor for Bloomsbury’s Writers and Artists blog for aspiring writers. She is the author of Somewhere Close to Happy, Dear Emmie Blue, Eight Perfect Hours, The Key to My Heart, and Better Left Unsent.

ISBN: 9781668001295
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Published: May 21, 2024

"Adorably addictive! Sometimes happily ever afters have messy beginnings--and I am here for it! BETTER LEFT UNSENT is best read with a clear schedule because it's an up-all-nighter. Who needs sleep when you can read Lia Louis stories?"“No one writes a romcom like Lia Louis. Better Left Unsent is beyond wonderful; so funny, so sweet, very, very romantic, and somehow managed to make me feel better about every email I've ever sent accidentally (I've sent a lot of accidental emails). Lia is and always will be my autobuy author, this is the perfect book to brighten up your day.""Who among us hasn’t accidentally sent an email we wished we hadn’t to the wrong person? This cringe-worthy setup — the premise of Lia Louis’ BETTER LEFT UNSENT — blossoms into a charming story about living with authenticity, owning our mistakes, and being brave enough to stop chasing love…and to let it find us instead.""Such a brilliant premise and an unrelenting delight! I opened this one to peek and ended up reading it in one, breathless sitting. Voicy, hilarious, vulnerable, and triumphant, BETTER LEFT UNSENT is an absolute blast. Pure romance magic!""I am such a huge Lia Louis fan. BETTER LEFT UNSENT is an absolutely gorgeous, laugh-out-loud, heartwarming tale of a life fully lived, with one of the smartest rom-com concepts I've ever come across. Such a joyous read."