“You Between the Lines” by Katie Naymon was such a delightful addition to my TBR. Leigh and Will share a complicated past and find themselves unexpectedly reunited in a graduate poetry cohort. Despite their best efforts to resist, the chemistry between them is undeniable. This romance is beautifully written, with touching poetry woven throughout the story, adding to its depth and charm. If you love second-chance romances with a literary twist, this is definitely one to add to your list! Plus, that cover is just lovely. I need a physical copy as a shelf trophy.
Thanks to NetGallery and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an advanced copy of this eBook in exchange for my honest review.

I love romances about writers but this is PERFECT for me. This is a romance about Creative Writing poetry undergrad students turned professionals entering an MFA poetry program. One of the writers is showing up the program after being disenchanted with working as a copywriter at an agency. This has so many parts of me it's almost scary but it's also interesting to know all millennial poetry majors have lived the same life.

^^If any of these are your parts, you'll fall for this book too.

There's so much vulnerability between these pages. Will is dealing with grief over the death of his 1000% unsupportive father. Leigh is dealing with the recent separation of her parents and her people pleasing needs. We also see Leigh working through a lot of her issues in therapy.

There's nothing more vulnerable though than learning about the characters through their own poetry (yes, there are real poems in this book!). I love how they match the emotional journey of where are characters are and they give me an entirely new reading list (I need to read more poetry after this!).

I'm obsessed with this book and can't wait to see more from this author!

I wanted to love this one....it sounded so cute! But I could not get into it. It took me forever to get through the first 6ish chapters and then I just did not love the female main character, Leigh. She did so much complaining and she had so much hate in her heart. I wanted to root for the characters, Will and Leigh, but honestly, I wanted them not to end up together.

I really wanted to love it. The whole premise had me so hooked, but it fell through in so many areas. I hated the constant push and pull of the same "oh I want you, but you don't want me" vice versa.

I enjoyed the realistic feelings that Leigh had, like not feeling enough as a writer simply because she writes it with pop music in mind. I thought it felt very real as someone who used to write poetry and entered competitions but also lost all interest for it because it felt like no matter what, I didn't right poetic enough. And I related a lot to Leigh saying she hated the college guidelines given but also at the MFA program having no guidelines also is confusing, because wow literally same. William could've been everything, but omg he was annoying too. Like sir, why are you so push and pull, I have a headache. He had some lines that truly were gorgeous, but yeah.

I think this book could have done a lot better as a contemporary fiction rather than romance, maybe? Idk, truly wanted to loveeee it even though I didn't, I definitely enjoyed it! Again, there were lines in the book that definitely pushed my soul!

Thank you so much Forever and NetGalley for the arc, out now!

- Rivals to Lovers
- Mental Health Rep
- He's Her Enemy, She's His Muse
- "Let's Just Get It Out of Our Systems"

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this e-arc!

People pleasing Leigh Simon enters a MFA program where she runs into none other than her ex high school crush William. Tensions are high as we follow these poets as they figure their writing and love lives out.

The concept of this book was super cute and I think the mix of intertwining tension points (the love story and fraught issues with separated parents) kept things interesting. Will also had some banger lines - lots of tension and some especially flirty moments that I ate up.

Unfortunately, I did find Leigh to be insufferable 85% of the time. Being trapped in her head was lowkey kinda vile and horrible - insecure, self absorbed, “people pleasing”, bitchy, petty, I could go on, but I won’t because you get the picture. Luckily she’s in therapy, unlucky for us she’s unhealed for almost the entire book lol.

The pacing could have been better. Also the amount of outfits described in this book was astronomical!! I don’t need to know what every single character was wearing in every single scene!!! Sometimes the small things just bug me.

Anyway, overall this book had potential to be special, but it just ended up falling a little flat. I just can’t get behind Leigh!!

3 ⭐️ would recommend if you’re into fashion, poetry (kinda cringe I won’t lie), and grad school vibes!

Leigh and Will. They knew each other in high school and are back together in a writing program later in life. They both have old wounds that need healing? Can they help one another?

This story was fun. I liked the characters and the plot. Nothing too challenging but that was just fine with me. Thank you Net Galley and Forever Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.

well this was…something…

I unfortunately did not enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. I could not connect with the story and the female main character to me was insufferable. she was very immature, insecure, self destructive and just toxic to everyone around her. a lot of the things that she would say was just plain mean and she would acknowledge that it was wrong but then do it again? very toxic.

I’m also not a fan of the amount of pop culture references in this book. I would just prefer if we leave them out of romance books in general but that’s my personal preference. It made it very hard for me to take this book seriously..

overall it just wasn’t for me and that’s okay. 2 stars for will though! his character saved this book.

thank you to forever for the arc!

Yay for creative writing! Leigh and WIll are a couple that I can definitely get behind. I like the angst, and I love that Leigh is going through big difficulties and is still able to make positive life moves with herself in mind. A great message.

Thank you so much to Forever for the complimentary copy of this!

This book is out now!

I am in a buddy read for this one that was spearheaded by a bookstagrammer who made this book her personality which meant I totally had to read it.

I love that this took place in a college and we really got to see the side characters in this. Of course my focus was on our main couple Leigh and Will. The way Will would always have his eyes on Leigh in class and in the library - swoon. And there was a moment towards the end that we learn that he assists her in a task that she was not able to complete that literally made me go "of course he would do that!" The two have been pining after each other since high school and it's very apparent that those old feelings just don't go away no matter how hard you try. Also who knew hooking up in a library would be SO sexy?!

"I can't write a single poem where you don't exist."

I am very torn on how I feel about the HEA in this. Leading up to the end I thought it was more a Happy For Now until both characters took the time to grow separately and perhaps seek therapy. The turnaround time between the 3rd act break up to reconciling was just not enough. They really needed to work on themselves. Leigh was just TOO competitiveness and insecure and I just found it hard to believe that it wouldn't happen again if she would stay with Will while they were still in classes together.

There was a moment with Leigh and her therapist where I thought "Am I Leigh?" There is a moment when the therapist says, "Your first reaction, when someone ignores you, is to assume that there's something wrong with you. You assign your self worth based on your perception of what others think about you. WOOF - I felt attacked when I read it and attacked again as I type this out. I love that the author made it a point to have Leigh see a therapist on the pages. I also thought it was refreshing to show Leigh's parents relationship unfold in adulthood.

I paired my reading with the audiobook. This was narrated by Sarah Beth Goer and I thought she was a fabulous narrator! She was able to bring out the vulnerable Leigh needed and when she would do Will's dialogue, she would have to bring out a softer side to him too.

Ultimately I still really enjoyed the book and was invested on how the story would end. There were parts that had me smiling from ear to ear and giggly over what their future could be (*cough* pumpkin patch*cough*).

This was a debut and I'm excited to see what Katie Naymon will do in the future.

I recommend this book if you are looking for an academia setting, second chance romance with occasional flashbacks.

PS - I often don't fancast while I read but I could not get German actor Damian Hardung (Maxon Hall) out of my head for Will especially after seeing a photo of him with glasses on.

i don’t like this book… i thought i actually would but i hate it and i wish i could erase it from my brain

I totally understand why everyone says this book is for the Beach Read lovers!!! It totally gives similar vibes. Our main characters, Leigh & Will are poets in an MFA program, but also 10 years prior went to the same high school. The pining in this book is top notch! Seeing Leigh and Will respectively come into who they are was played out beautifully. I was not the biggest fan of the miscommunication between the two mc’s. But overall did enjoy seeing them work through it.

This book centers around two main characters in a renowned MFA program. Leigh and Will are both poets with a past history with each other. They went to the same high school but Will was a year ahead of Leigh. She developed a massive crush on him at the time and that hasn’t abated through the years. I have to admit I don’t know a thing about poetry aside from what I had to learn in school so it was interesting to have such a focus on it throughout the book. The secondary characters were interesting. The writing and pacing were good and I stayed invested in the story throughout the book.

This book was a dream—it was the yearning and the romance that I’ve been waiting for. It felt like it was written for the 20 year old me who sat in a creative writing class in sorority letters and wrote a piece about a boy while my classmates wrote about deeper things. I related so deeply to Leigh and her wounds were so fleshed out believable.

The romantic payoff was HIGH!! The pacing kept me engaged and Will was a soft dreamboat with a surprisingly dirty mouth which made him all the more delicious. I will be tuning into whatever Katie Naymon writes next!

You Between the Lines is the kind of book that sneaks up on you—the yearning, the angst, the messy emotions that feel a little too real. Leigh is trying to figure out her next chapter (literally and figuratively), and running into her high school crush-turned-nemesis in her MFA program was not part of the plan. Especially when he starts writing poetry about her.

Will is that quiet, unreadable guy who somehow says everything without actually saying it (sir, please). Their chemistry is the slow-burn kind that keeps you flipping pages, and the mix of academic rivalry, personal growth, and all-too-relatable therapy sessions made this feel so grounded. It’s a story about finding your voice, facing the past, and realizing that sometimes, the person you can’t stop thinking about might just be thinking about you, too.

If you love pining, tension, and a romance that feels like a well-written poem (a little heartbreaking, but worth it in the end), this book needs to be on your list!!

I can’t write a single poem where you don’t exist. (it’s giving Jack Black the holiday, if I wrote you a melody, I would use only the good notes)

I had such high expectations for this book and I’m so sad it didn’t work out for me. Between the stunning cover and some early comparisons to Emily Henry’s Beach Read, I was ready for this story to ruin me.

With Beach Read being one of my all-time favorite stories, Naymon had big shoes to fill. However, the Beach Read similarities ended up being entirely too much.

Both books are about writers writing the opposite of what the other, both are grumpy/ sunshine, both MMC’s change to their full name, both the FMC is dealing with navigating changes to her parents relationship and her perceptions about their relationships, both males dealing with grief, both it has always been you, both FMC’s have long distance best friends who are much more extroverted (Shadi & Gen). Just lots of similarities and after Beach Read gripped me so thoroughly, this was a letdown.

“A Taylor Swift–enthusiast sorority-girl Ohioan entering a Master of Fine Arts program. In poetry. In other words—a seersucker dress and sandals.”

Honestly, the problems I had with Leigh were the same problems Will had with her poetry. Leigh embodies a pessimistic Elle Woods- we didn’t get any of the montages where she worked her butt off and put herself completely out there. I feel like I don’t really know Leigh aside from her insecurity. I needed Leigh to be more vulnerable, but her fear of judgement and lack of growth kept the reader from truly knowing her.

I couldn’t fully buy into their love story. I think for the most part, Will was a great character. I think it was actually kind of shallow of Leigh to keep putting him in the mold of white male poet… she didn’t want to be stuck in the mold but she had no qualms of sticking him there and thinking he was unable to grown. Ie, “Will—the absolute embodiment of a white upper-middle-class straight male writer in his loafers and expensive glasses and New Yorker.”

The Lucas storyline also seemed unnecessary other than to further the point that men suck.

While I related to her feelings of inferiority, of not fitting in, of being forced to play a specific part, she also repeatedly put herself in that situation by never trying to break out. I wish we had seen more growth from her. I liked the therapy rep, but when the story ended her transformation felt unfinished.

I can tell you that Naymon is an extremely talented storyteller, and I would give her next book a try. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t the story for me.

I struggled with rating this. Would rate 2.5- didn't like the content, but did enjoy the writing style. I also enjoyed the poetry and poetry vocab intertwined in the story.

Am I the only one getting tired of all the Taylor Swift references in books? I wanted to like this one alot but it was just an ok read for me. I feel like the poetry MFA was super niche so if you are into that, you’ll love it!

Thank you for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.


I really enjoyed this one!! It was a unique storyline, and I enjoyed the poetry throughout. I liked the pacing of this.

You Between the Lines is the ultimate literacy lovers dream! Just the cover alone is beautiful! The relationship between Leigh and Will has such tension you could cut it with a knife! Will is also the best book boyfriend!! Leigh (Main Female Character) gets accepted into an MFA Program in a college in North Carolina. All of her classmates have read all of the right authors and they also have been published in many literary journals throughout the country. Leigh's fears truly come true when her high school crush Will, our (Male Main Character) joins the MFA Program that Leigh is apart of. One of Will's poem's is submitted that is very intimate (and is possibly about Leigh), they both realize there is more to what is written in Will's poem. The chemistry and tension in this book is just what you want to find out about.

I enjoyed this book as I could feel the chemistry between Leigh & Will coming off the page. There are some spicy scenes, however, that is not what all the book is about. Throughout the story you learn about Will & Leigh's history personally, and from what they both have been through with their past relationship with each other. I am not the biggest fan of spice so I did skip the spicy scenes (which thankfully were easy to do).

Overall I enjoyed this book and I would definitely read more books by Katie Naymon.

Leigh Simon's greatest nemesis in high school was William Langford. He had nothing good to say about any of her poetry. So color Leigh horrified when she discovers Will is in the same MFA program. She should be rich from all the lemonade she's making from the lemons life throws at her. If there's anyone she wants to best, it's William. She would love nothing more than to win the coveted fellowship. But everything she writes is superficial at best. William can't help but feel this is his chance for Leigh to give him a chance. But she doesn't want the attention he's giving her, and her discovery about one of his poems could finally give her the chance to beat Will. The more time they spend together, the deeper the connection between them gets.

I have to admit that I didn't like Leigh in the beginning. She wasn't someone I wanted to get to know. She seemed superficial, never giving her true self, which seemed to be the greatest stumbling block for her poetry. Once she began really feeling those emotions and not tamping them down, her true character came shining through. I felt that the animosity she felt toward Will was what was holding her back. Only then was she able to see (or read) between the lines of William's poetry that she could be open to loving Will and him loving her.

Sarah Beth Goer was a great narrator! She is new to me, and I can see her becoming a favorite. Her soothing voice was perfect for Leigh and Will's story!

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

This was such a good book and I was very surprised by it. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this one was so well done.

I really liked that we got some background on why they were enemies. The chemistry had me almost screaming because it was so intense and I just wanted them to be lovers already. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Also, this cover is so cute and it had a little bit of spice so don’t let it fool you. I ate it up.