DNF - I had high expectations for this book, but after starting it, my attention was not grabbed in the way I prefer. This is not necessarily a bad book, but I'm not interested in finishing it at this time.

A beautifully written book, with a wonderful prose, an original plot that varies from your run of the mill love stories. A charming story full of yearning with a satisfying ending and lots of character development. The prose was a standout, it was gorgeous! I loved the scattered poems and the metaphor they created throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for my eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was charming and emotional and so freaking romantic!!! Katie Naymon I am a big fan and can't wait to see what you write next. I also want a man in glasses to write me poetry, @ god above.

I ended up listening to the audio-arc of this rather than reading but I really enjoyed it and tore through it in two days. I loved the MFA setting and the Cleveland references (I too am a Power of the Pen alum), and thought the world of the MFA program was well-drawn.

This was a fun debut from Katie Naymon. I did not know what to expect when I picked the book up, but I was pleasantly surprised with the pacing and the plot!

One aspect I liked about this book is how the author portrayed the FMC.s anxiety. She’s dealing with the competitiveness of the MFA program and the other students who she perceives as better writers. She’s also dealing with the drama of her parents and their relationship. And then there’s the MMC and the history and past feelings that he brings back to her life. I think this book does a good job of capturing those feelings of your early 20s when you sometimes feel like everything is happening all at once and you don’t know how to handle it. Sometimes I did find myself questioning the FMC and her decisions, but I think they all do start to make sense once you realize that she has no sure footing in any of the relationships in her life - with her peers, parents and love interest.

While this book does deal with anxiety, there are also a lot of sweet moments between the FMC and MMC. You are rooting for them to figure out their relationship because it is so obvious that they are interested in each other.

Overall, this was a fun and quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for giving me an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

You Between the Lines is a fresh, witty, and unexpectedly heartfelt debut that delivers all the tension and charm of a great enemies-to-lovers romance. Katie Naymon has a gift for sharp banter, slow-burning chemistry, and characters that feel so real you want to jump into the pages and hang out with them.

The dynamic between the leads is electric—equal parts frustration and longing—and the emotional growth throughout the story adds so much depth to the romance. It’s clever, it’s modern, and it’s full of moments that made me laugh, swoon, and ache all at once.

Perfect for fans of smart, character-driven rom-coms with just the right edge of spice and a whole lot of heart.

The characters were witty and relatable. The author brought a fresh perspective to the romance world with this one and I can’t wait to see what else she does!

This was such an easy and reflective book for me to read. I resonated heavily with Leigh as a former English major turned marketing career path, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities we possess. Will was a true perfect book boyfriend and was very kind and patient with Leigh on her own trip to self discovery and vulnerability. One of the main reasons I neglected my English major path was because I felt I did not belong ESPECIALLY as a lover of romance books. Leigh is a true representation of how I was feeling in those college courses and how I felt like there must be something wrong with myself even though I’ve always had a passion for reading.

I'm not exaggerating when I state that I am absolutely devastated over this book. I wanted to love it, I wanted to run around screaming about how much I love this book only, I can't do that.

I read this and I kept trying to feel engaged with the characters, engaged with the story - but I just felt dumb and way too old to be reading something that felt so juvenile. The constant references back to Leigh's sorority days, and calling all men old white dudes, lit bros, or frat guys just felt so wrong and not like how a 27 year old should be acting. There seemed to be no growth for her for so long in this book, and then what was there just felt superficial and shallow. The entire supposed connection between Will and Leigh felt forced and I truly felt that I was being shown something that really was not there - the chemistry was not there, the banter was ok but nothing remarkable, and the way they just both acted really bothered me.

I would have expected the wishy washy feelings and insecurity in a book about college freshman or so - that would have worked far better but the ages just threw me for a loop. Leigh in particular was just too whiney and I couldn't see past that.

So sadly this one didn't work for me - but I know that it has for others and that so many love this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7201386471 also shared on Goodreads, this book was good but I felt the characters were trying to be more deep than they actually were and that dragged it out for me a bit

This debut novel from Katie Naymon was absolutely lovely with the perfect balance of emotion and tension and chemistry. I found myself having a love/hate relationship with the characters but I really enjoyed the story as a whole.

While there are definitely changes that I would make to the FMC/MMC to make them more lovable (to me), I really loved Katie’s writing most of all. I loved how she told the story with so much emotion. The Taylor Swift references didn’t hurt (as a fellow swiftie. LOL)

Overall, I’m excited for more books from this author and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 out of 5 stars!

I already had a very good feeling about You Between the Lines before I started reading it and when I finished it it became one of my favorite books of this year. I'm definitely going to re-read this book in the fututre.

I really really really wanted to love this book so badly. It had everything that should have made it a perfect read for me: an emotional rom-com with mental health representation, an cute poetry setting, and a super cute cover. I was ready to be obsessed. And at first, I really thought I would be. The prologue pulled me in, and the setup had so much potential.

But somewhere along the way, I started to disengage. The biggest issue? They kept having the same argument over and over. "We’re not good for each other, let’s stay friends." The first time, I thought, okay, that makes sense. The second time, I wasn’t thrilled, but I let it slide. By the third time, I was frustrated. By the fourth or fifth, I was just done. It felt like the story was stuck on repeat, and instead of feeling the emotional weight of it all, I just felt exhausted.

Leigh, the FMC, started to annoy me. She felt immature, and the constant miscommunication didn’t help. And while Will had some really sweet moments, I eventually stopped caring because their relationship felt forced. Even the romantic tension, especially the spicy moments, just didn’t land for me.

I don’t think this is a bad book by any means. It has its moments, and I can see it hitting differently for people who really connect with the academic/literary themes. But for me? It just fell flat, and I walked away feeling more frustrated than anything else.

Thank you Forever Publishing for the eARC.

This one's premise was good. However neither the MMC of FMC were likeable and not just part of the books. Because an unlikeable character can become likeable with character building. That was something that this book lacked. I would give the author another chance but this book wasn't for me.

Loved this one! Such a sweet story. I couldn’t read this one fast enough once I got started. Despite never being in an MFA program, I found the MCs very relatable.

Of course! Here’s the revised version:

5/5 Stars – ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED

This book?? UGH, it slayed and i am so obsessed. I was hooked from page one, and let me tell you—Katie Naymon gets it. The way she wrote the characters and their struggles felt so real—like, for once, the reasons they couldn’t be together actually made sense instead of being some overdramatic nonsense. And don’t even get me started on Will. Perfect MMC. The standard. The blueprint. I love him.

Everything about this book just worked—the tension, the emotions, the way it all played out. If you love romance that feels genuine and doesn’t rely on unnecessary drama, this one is IT. Run, don’t walk, to read it!!

A romance for readers who love Julie Soto's style of emotional writing! If you're a romance reader who loves poetry as well, then this is the book for you. The main characters initially meet in high school in a negative encounter, but reconnect years later (not "enemies" to lovers but dis-like.) This is a forced-proximity novel with beautiful poetry (the mc's are both doing a fellowship for poetry) that was well written, but had a lot of highs and lows. The mc was unlikeable at times, but I did enjoy the characters and the tensions/chemistry between them. Realistically, those two would NOT last in the real world, but the happy ending was cute nonetheless. Bonus points for mental health representation.

A new MFA student looking for a fresh start gets more than she bargained for when her high school nemesis is in the same program, and cannot stop writing poetry about her.

Such a fun read, rivals to lovers is one of my favorites! I adored the banter, pacing and overall vibe of the whole book. It's truly a good time, yet still had depth in the both the FMC and love interest's self discovery journeys and overall character arcs. Absolutely recommend, excellent debut!

A huge thank you to Katie Naymon, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for the ARC xx

This was excellent. So many good lessons in here too. The romance was an epic slow burn. I felt like this touched on a lot of real issues and actually had realistic resolutions to it. It was very well done. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

YOU BETWEEN THE LINES by Katie Naymon is a poetic romance with beautiful writing and tenderheartedness. We get pining, yearning, and pop-culture poems (amazing!). Naymon put so much love into these characters.