Taylor and Mari are former childhood best friends after a large misunderstanding has gone unaddressed for many years. But then Mari winds up back at Taylor's high school and the two girls are on the same cross country team--finding themselves forced together at every turn.

This is a cute story--nothing revolutionary, but an interesting YA lesbian romance is always a plus. I believe this would resonate well with its intended audience.

There's plenty of drama (so much drama). Some of it seems a little forced, but they are teens, after all. Somehow teenagers are seeming both incredibly juvenile and wise beyond their years anymore (I say this as a parent of two teens). Mari feels the burden of caring for her younger siblings while her mom works multiple shifts to make rent, and Taylor is dealing with a critically ill father. The book plays off the stereotypes of class, between Mari's working class background and Taylor's wealthier one.

Overall, this story is simplistic at times and can rely on tropes, but Mari and Taylor are well-drawn teen characters, and the younger audience should identify with their struggles, including best friend troubles, parental drama, sports teams dynamics, and Taylor's quest to figure out her sexual identity.

First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review

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⚝ Rating ⚝: 2.75✩ / 5✩’s (Rounded up)

⚝ Review ⚝: I wanted to love this book. I was so excited for so long and was absolutely giddy when I was given the opportunity to read this as an ARC. Unfortunately, I wound up very disappointed in how this played out.

While I wouldn't say there are any direct spoilers in the following review, some aspects of my review could be considered spoiler adjacent.

Personally, I believe there is a point of no return when it comes to relationships, lines that can't be uncrossed that show a personal relationship is not a good fit for either individual. The way Mari and Taylor treat and react to each other, the choices they made, the fact that their past friendship not having been as solid as they both seemed to have previously thought, I frankly do not believe these two should be in a personal relationship (romantic or platonic).

Out of Step, Into You follows Mari and Taylor as they traverse through not only the perils of high school, but problems taking place in their own home lives. Three years ago, they were best friends, but after an incident at 13 years old and Mari moving to a new school, they haven't spoken to each other since. Now they are both captain's of their schools' track teams and only catch glimpses of each other at meets. Until Mari's mom (once again) suddenly springs moving BACK to their old area on Mari. Taylor and Mari now need to come to terms with the fact that Mari is running for a team she used to compete against, captained by the girl she kissed three years ago right before being told by Taylor that she no longer wants to be friends with Mari.

While I feel the writing STYLE itself was well done, there was also the problem of pushing SO much into this storyline. Taylor is trying to live up to her father's legacy who when he was younger, almost made it to the Olympics in basketball. So she started running track? And now her father is dealing with a failed kidney transplant, and Taylor is suffering from massive insomnia. Mari runs because she enjoys it, but also because it gets her away from the house where she is basically a second mother to the eight year old twins as their single mother works multiple jobs and expects Mari to make sure the twins are taken care of before doing a 180 and telling Mari to just let the kids be home alone. Yeah, they're 8??? But apparently, that's what Mari's mother did with her and now Mari struggles with massive abandonment issues, and twice now, her mother has sprung a sudden move on her and expected Mari to be completely fine with it. And now Mari's former team is trying to manipulate her into getting the inside scoop on the team she's running with now and---

IT'S MESSY.

With the fights these two girls got into, with the decisions they made, at the end of the day, they should have left it at teammates and called it good. For me, it was hard to be invested in their relationship with everything else going on.

I really wanted to love this, but it felt like you needed to choose between like six different competing storylines. Not subplots, but full on competing plots.

⚝ Representation ⚝: Black FMCs, Sapphic/Lesbian FMCs, Nonbinary SC

⚝ TWs ⚝: Hospital/Medical Content, Chronic Illness, Toxic relationships, Abandonment

This was a cute and fun opposites attract sapphic romance. I enjoyed reading this story, although I found myself wanting more depth and having some difficulty connecting to the characters and story because everything seemed to move so quickly!

A long time ago, I saw someone posting that their favorite trope was friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, which I hadn’t thought much about. Since then, I’ve read several books that qualify, and I tend to enjoy them (as long as the reconnection and romance don’t seem forced). While Taylor and Marianna aren’t precisely enemies, they begin the story on rival cross-country teams after an estrangement in their friendship. So, just about as close as you can get to that trope in a contemporary romance.

The story alternates between each girl’s point of view, and I liked both right away. Marianna is under so much pressure at home with her mom needing her help with her younger siblings. Taylor’s dad has a serious health issue that she can’t always count on her parents to be honest with her about. They both have a lot on their plates in addition to competing on the cross-country team.

The romance develops tentatively, and it has several really sweet moments between the girls. They dance around whether they can be friends again (or even want to) while they each feel a growing warmth toward one another that is definitely more than friendship.

I’m also not super familiar with cross-country as a sport, so it was cool reading something that informed me about it and helped me understand the stakes and celebrate the victories that each girl faced.

All in all, this is a fun romance read, perfect for summer.

This was such a fun read with doggies. I liked the relationship and everything that happened. Pretty feel good.

DNF @ 31%

I love books about sports, so I was really looking forward to this rivals to lovers story about a cross-country team. While the concept is interesting, this one is feeling very slow paced, and the story hasn't gripped me yet. I also don't feel invested in any of the characters. I'm not interested enough to continue reading, but I'm sure this one will be a hit with many other readers

Once I saw the cover of this book I knew I needed to read this. It is a cute story. For me however it was focused more on their friendship than their romance. The characters were so cute and relatable. I loved the story and plot but there was a lot going on. There were to many side plots and storylines going on that the romance between the 2 FMCs wasn't the main focus. I'm not saying that is a bad thing but I wanted to see more of the love. But the writing was beautiful and I would for sure pick up more from this author.

Out of Step, Into You by Ciera Burch completely stole my heart. From the first page, the writing shines—vivid, emotionally rich, and full of rhythm that mirrors the story’s dance-inspired heart. Burch has a gift for capturing the quiet intensity of falling in love and finding yourself at the same time.

The characters felt so real—flawed, vulnerable, and full of growth. Their connection was beautifully layered, with a slow-burn intimacy that felt both authentic and electric. I laughed, I teared up, and I couldn’t put it down.

This book is tender, empowering, and full of soul. If you love contemporary romance with depth, charm, and voice for days, Out of Step, Into You deserves a top spot on your shelf

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I was ecstatic to be approved for this ARC.

I think this was an adorable little story, but I have to admit, I despise the miscommunication trope with a burning passion. Now, I am a person who deals out (more like keeps in) a lot of miscommunications and misunderstandings, so I feel as if I have no room to talk.
And this was a MAJOR part of the storyline, which is why my rating sits on a lower scale.

Besides that, I believe the characters and overall plot were really good. I think if I had read this when I was an early teenager longing for any sort of sapphic media that I could get my hands on, this would have probably been one of the books that would have shaped me as a person (especially seeing that Pretty Little Liars was all I had access to). However, at this point in my life, I can see the toxicity, and I didn't really find myself rooting for the girls to be together in a romantic way; I just wanted them to patch up their friendship or at least find where things went wrong in their relationship to begin with.

This was an adorable novel. I was glad to see that it wasn't some miscommunication trope (in a way it was) but they didn't stop being friends over some petty argument, Taylor told Mari she didn't want to be friends anymore and I can appreciate that. The reasons why she said it was a mystery to Mari but at least it wasn't some mystery to both of them as to why they stopped talking. Although I don't feel like Taylor should have quit running, I did think it was of the best in the end. She had too much to worry about, even though it worked out in the end, so I think it worked best for her arc. It kind of felt like Mari and her mom didn't resolve everything between themselves though. But they seemed okay in the end somehow.

Enemies to lovers but make it cross-country and ✨extra gay✨.

“Out of Step, Into You” is a sweet, swoony YA sapphic rom-com that delivers just the right mix of pining, pain, and personal bests. It’s Childhood Besties to Rivals to Something-More, with every mile charged with longing, frustration, and the kind of unresolved feelings that could fuel a hundred 5Ks.

Taylor and Marianna were inseparable once—until ghosting, distance, and life got in the way. Now they’re back on the same track team, full of undeniable chemistry, pointed glares, and the occasional accidental emotional breakdown during hill sprints. You know. Classic gay teenager behavior.

This book shines with:
🩵 Messy, relatable girls navigating ambition, expectations, and complicated family dynamics
💥 Razor-sharp competitive tension (that’s definitely not flirting, okay??)
🏅 Running metaphors that go hard emotionally (you will cry over a sprint finish)
🌈 A tender, well-earned second chance romance that unfolds with humor, vulnerability, and heart

Whether you’re a sucker for angst-laced yearning or just want to root for two disaster lesbians finding their way back to each other (on and off the trail), this one hits the mark. It’s a rom-com with stamina—and a gold medal in gay pining.

One of the best aspects of an estranged friends becoming lovers narrative is the journey of reigniting their friendship. This story does a fantastic job focusing on rebuilding their dynamic as friends and individuals, learning who the other has become over the last few years apart, before diving into the romance. It's such a supremely satisfying slow burn as they become reacquainted. As for their divide to begin with, there's such a relatability woven throughout of the difficulty in dealing with complex emotions as a kid and how resorting to anger, avoidance or jealousy are common instead of coping with their actual feelings directly.

There's a lot of loss within the story as both of them have a bit of their childhood stripped away. Taylor with her dad's illness and parental expectations. Mari with his sisterly responsibility at home. Both losing their crucial friendship for years. Each of them channel their frustrations into cross country to fill the voids. Taylor's people pleasing tendencies keeping her in the race, while she yearns for the freedom of choice. Mari's avoidance of her familial responsibilities and diving into the escapism of her own natural talent. The longer they spend reunited it helps them both come to necessary personal conclusions, both on and off the track. They're such a magnetic, engaging duo that I was left wanting more. I am still itching to see what they're like together further down the line! Loved the writing style so much.

First of all, can we take a moment to applaud the cover of this book? Sarah Madden, wherever you are, you nailed it. I’m a sucker for good cover art, and this one had me reaching for the book before I even read the blurb. Shallow? Maybe. But I regret nothing.

As for the story—Out of Step, Into You is cute! Sweet, even. Taylor and Mari have some genuinely charming moments, and I really liked the vibe of the Jefferson cross country team. In fact, I found myself wishing we got to hang out with them a bit more. But alas, there just isn’t time—because this book is juggling a lot.

We've got:

Some mysterious middle school fallout between our leads

A frosty dynamic between Mari and her old team (with one specific ex-friend who gives serious drama energy)

Taylor's family stuff

Mari's home-life pressures

And of course, the slow-burn romance developing between Taylor and Mari

It's all compelling! But also... maybe a little too much for one book to carry. I wish the story had more room to breathe—either by trimming a subplot or adding more pages. As it stands, everything felt like it only skimmed the surface, and I was left wanting more depth (especially emotionally).

**Okay, now for my biggest gripe—**and I say this with love—the depiction of high school sports? Ehhh. Let's just say... it's giving fantasy. I won't spoil anything, but as someone who knows how these things actually work, I had a hard time suspending disbelief. It took me out of the story more than once.

That said, there are dogs! And a sapphic romance! And some genuinely heartwarming moments that kept me reading. Just go in knowing the romance isn’t always front and center, and you'll probably have a good time.

Final verdict: Not a perfect read, but definitely a cozy one—with a gorgeous cover to boot.

The cover for this book sold me before I even knew what it was about, but the story itself didn’t let me down.
Mari and Taylor were layered and imperfect, their friends truly reminded me of being back in high school (not in the best way, but very realistic😂), the emotions were all over the place and I loved the dual timeline.
I was excited to pick up the book every time and see where the story went, so that made this an easy 5 stars ⭐️

As a reader who enjoys Black sapphic romances, I knew this would be a book that I would love!

This contemporary sapphic sports romance follows childhood friends turned rivals who are forced to work together towards an end goal. The enemies to lovers, slow burn romance and forced proximity trope lovers? This one is for you!

This was my first novel by the author and I would read more from them. I loved the FMCs character development, it felt authentic to their age group. My inner queer teen would’ve loved this growing up. I heal a bit more every time I read something Black and LGBTQIA+ in literature that I didn’t get growing up.

As a teacher, this a book that I would recommend to my students and have in my classroom on my student bookshelves. It is a book worth reading!

This was my first read from the author and I’m looking forward to reading more from her.

Taylor and Marianna are childhood besties turned cross country rivals. Marianna’s character, fueled by anger and a need to secure a better future, is particularly well-developed, while Taylor’s struggle to meet her parents’ expectations adds depth to her journey.

This story is a worthwhile read for those seeking a sweet and engaging sapphic romance with a sporty twist. The characters are relatable, the plot is well-crafted, and the themes of friendship, competition, and self-discovery are sure to leave a lasting impression. It’s a solid four-star read that will leave you cheering for Taylor and Marianna as they navigate their complicated feelings and strive for victory, both on and off the track.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.25⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: YA contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A sweet YA romance with emotional depth

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Sports romance
Cross country rivals
Dual POV
Coming of age
Slow burn sapphic romance
Friends to rivals to lovers
Personal growth

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Authentic teen POVs- parental illness / family responsibility
Diverse characters

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
The resolution was rushed
Slow pacing in the middle
Repetitive internal monologue

Honestly, I came for the title, the cover (including the colors), and the description!

Before reading, I did my research and I was able to find more of Ciera Burch's works, but actually reading about Taylor and Marianna; it was a wonderful experience!!

I'm squealing and smiling as I write this review 🤭❤️👏🏽 I do not want to give away too much for "Out of Step, Into You" but it was so cuteeeeeee. I enjoyed the moment where the dogs that are on the cover come into play within the story. Honestly, the entire cover made sense to me while reading.

I recommend this story to everyone! Taylor and Marianna both wanted to be seen for them and appreciated for them as they are. Can I see myself purchasing this and re-reading? Yes. Absolutely.

Minor spoilers ahead

A sweet read with a lot of heart.

I've been in a pretty bad reading slump lately. I started reading this months ago and only just now finished... oops. But it's a light, easy read that tackles some big issues without overwhelming the reader. I liked the dual-POV; both Mari and Taylor were intriguing and well-written characters.

I've talked about this before in other reviews, but the childhood beef doesn't do it for me, unfortunately. I just have a hard time believing that they hate each other so much because of something that happened when they were like 12. Maybe that's because I'm not a teenager anymore, but that always makes the tension feel... less to me.

However, other than that, I enjoyed the evolution of their relationship. They had a lot of cute moments, and the build-up was good. There were a few parts that felt rushed, especially towards the climax, but all things I could look past.

Both girls have complex family dynamics: Mari is struggling raising her two younger siblings while her mother works to support them. Taylor's father is in and out of the hospital, recovering from a kidney transplant that is rejecting. They both had lots of really deep, meaningful moments with their families that were high points of the entire book.

When the two girls end up on the same track team, old sparks (and tensions) are reignited. Since we start with Mari on a different team, those characters remain present throughout the rest of the story. I had a hard time at points keeping track of who was on what team and who liked/hated who.

Where this book struggles, I would say, is that it's just... too much. Too many characters, too many plotlines, too much happening all at once. What's developed is very good, but unfortunately, there's a lot that doesn't get a chance to flesh out. For example, the actual running part. We barely get to see the team dynamics, and races are just jumped over quickly. Also, the dog walking. The cover is of them with the dogs, and yet I think we see them doing that maybe two or three times? Adding all of that on top of the friendship revival, the romance, Taylor's father, Mari's siblings and mom, Mari's relationship with Sarita, the flashbacks... It's a lot all at once.

Overall, though, I really liked this book and enjoyed reading it. The romance was sweet and there were parts that brought tears to my eyes. I also thought the pacing was good and the writing was stellar.

3.5 stars rounded up

I would like to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this book. Due to personal circumstances going on, I did not get to finish reading it. The author of this book, from what I read (25%) surprised me with the beginnings of a second chance romance. Probably one of my favorite tropes but especially when it involves people who were in our lives from early starts and who we meet again as older versions of ourselves. I didn’t get to finish but I do hope the author gets recognized for how she has something special going on here.((only rating what I read))