I really enjoyed this book! I loved the plot and hiw it all started in the library but it actually has a very real, very important theme regarding online dating! The writing was fun and easy ti read, characters were well developed. Really enoyed!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC for an honest review.
This book was absolutely adorable, but if you’re looking for spice, you’re in the wrong place.
I thoroughly enjoyed the banter and dynamic between Kat and Leo. I always appreciate a good grumpy/sunshine trope.
I do have to say though that my favourite characters, and who I was wishing we would’ve read more about, were Moira and Doris! Maybe I’m heading more in to my “old lady” era than I thought, but I so wish we could’ve had more humorous interactions with Moira and Doris.
I was also wishing that there was more romance rather than the beat-around-the-bush, high school type flirtation that was depicted.
At the end of the day, it was a cute read but definitely didn’t hit all the marks that I look for in a romance book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

This was a fun romance novel, and I enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

I just finished reading this book. The plot was absolutely fantastic! It was quite the page turner, and I could not put the book down once I began reading it. I can't wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC!

I liked this one! "Read Between the Lines" by Emily Kerr is such a cute, cozy read. It follows Kat, a librarian in Oxford who’s looking for love on a supposedly secure dating app. Rut roh. She falls for a guy who seems perfect until he doesn’t show up for their first date and asks her for money. That might have lost me, but Kat decides to track him down and stop him from scamming other women (hell yes), with the help of Leo, a grumpy ex-cop who’s been skulking around her library.

The mystery plot was pretty easy to figure out, but I still enjoyed watching it unfold. And while the pacing dragged a bit in spots, the setting and quirky side characters kept it feeling fun. I’d say it leans more toward women’s fiction than romance (no spice!) though, just FYI.

The story follows Kat, a librarian who gets catfished on a dating site. When she realizes the guy is trying to scam her for money, she enlist the help of frequent library patron Leo, an unemployed ex cop who’s trying to start his own business. She barters his detective knowledge for her business knowledge and contacts to try to find the scammer. I had trouble getting through this book. It was just boring. Everything moved slow and there really wasn’t any romance. I didn’t find the characters particularly interesting. If this wasn’t an arc, I would have dnf’d it.

Thank you, HarperCollins UK| One More Chapter, for providing this book for review consideration through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

A nice romance with a little bit of mystery which i didn’t expect. The relationship develops very naturally which was nice, though a little slow. Cozy read for those who live a library read

I think this book was a slow start for me. It definitely was not my favorite romance I ever read. I think the story line was cute. A Librarian looking for love who almost gets herself catfished. I however though the ultimate romance was a slow burn which some might love but it was indeed not my favorite.

Thanks, @netgalley, the author & publisher for the ARC.
I started this a couple of weeks ago and kept meaning to go back and finish it, which I did today
This book has a mixture of mystery & romance, but I can't say it really had a wow factor, and I think that's partly why I just couldn't seem to finish it sooner. I think I persevered because it was an ARC & out of fairness (and I hate DNFing). I did get a bit bored with it & I couldn't seem to gel with the characters, and I felt it went on a bit too long!

I really wanted to love this one but felt like the romance was secondary to the cat-fishing storyline. I would’ve liked several more romantic scenes, even if they were very light and slow-burn. I felt like I didn’t see that connection between the characters, which is a shame as I liked both Kat and Leo and they both had good, fleshed out back-stories. The writing was good and the plot flowed. I just wanted to see that romantic connection a bit more.

4 out of 5 stars

A Cozy, Clever Romance for Book Lovers Everywhere

Read Between the Lines is a charming enemies-to-lovers romcom set in a small-town library, with plenty of warmth, wit, and heart. Kat is a hopeless romantic searching for a real-life version of her book boyfriends. Leo is a recently retired cop who’s a bit rough around the edges—and also occupying far too much space in Kat’s life (and library). When their paths keep crossing, a tentative truce turns into something more.

Emily Kerr nails the small moments: the quiet vulnerability behind Leo’s gruffness, the ways Kat hides her doubts behind jokes and book references, and the awkward beauty of two people figuring themselves out together.

A must-read for fans of:
• Libraries and literature-obsessed heroines
• Grumpy/sunshine dynamics
• Clean but heartfelt romance with just the right dose of tension

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in Kat and Leo’s slow-burning story—and their shared love of books.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for this eARC!

I thought this story and idea were so cute, given how the dating world works in 2025 (and the potential dangers)! However, the story moved extremely slowly, in my opinion, and I found the execution a little awkward. I did expect there to be more romance, too. I made it to the end of the book, then basically nothing happened. I would be open to potentially reading other titles from this author though!

Kat and Leo meet in the library where she works. Some mysteries you keep you guessing and some great characters. Looking forward to more books from this author

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Cosy, witty, and wonderfully bookish.
Read Between the Lines is a charming rom-com set in a cozy Oxford library, with a lovable romantic mess of a heroine and a grumpy ex-cop who’s more softie than storm. The mystery isn’t hard to crack, but the heart and slow-burn chemistry make up for it. Perfect for fans of comfort reads, library settings, and sunshine–grump dynamics.
Thank you to Net Galley for providing the arc copy.

Read Between the Lines is Emily Kerr’s latest romance/Women’s Fiction title set in Oxford, England. It’s a clean romance with some mystery/suspense elements.
Kat Fisher is a librarian at the Oxford Community Library, near the prestigious Oxford University. She is single and seems to be the kind of girl that men date for a short time before settling down with someone else. She registers with a local dating app and is matched with a handsome soldier named Brian James. After several months of exchanging messages and him leaving her sweet voicemails, he says that he’s coming to town later in the week and will take her out to dinner. On the afternoon of their date, he messages her to say that he’s stuck at the London airport and needs money. She suspects that he may be a scam artist, so she shows the message to her library colleagues. They agree that she is being scammed.
Unfortunately for Kat, a male patron who has been a source of irritation for her overhears their conversation. When he says, “… Kat Fisher has been catfished …”, she is so angry that she makes him leave the library. Leo Taylor is a former police detective and has spent the past few weeks at the library studying business books. He arrives at the library the next morning to apologize, and Kat enlists his help to help her identify the scammer. Kat is a book lover who has read a lot of mysteries, so she draws on fiction to help her find the scammer.
Read Between the Lines is an enjoyable story that blends booklovers, mystery, and clean romance. The supporting characters, particularly Kat’s co-workers, Moira and Doris, add a lot of humor to the story. Both Kat and Leo have some personal baggage to work through, and their banter is very good. This story would make an excellent Hallmark movie.
I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The pretty cover and the main character being a librarian really pulled me in! I love a good book about books. However, I found the book a bit slow and hard to get into. I found it hard to relate to the main character.

To be honest this is not one of my favourite books I’ve ever read, I found it very slow and slightly immature at some points. Also couldn’t find myself connecting to any of the characters and that most of the page was filled with unnecessary information, just filler really. I ended up skipping or skimming so much of the novel just trying to finish it.

I was happy with the ending but the rest of the book just bored me to be honest. Is usually love book boyfriends that have a position of power in a community like a police officer but I just couldn’t attach myself to him. I think this is definitely more of a very young adult/teenager novel considering the writing style and choice of language.

Though I do want to say a big thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The gorgeous cover and intriguing premise had me grabbing for this book the second I saw it. A librarian and ex-police officer romance with a library setting had all the elements of a cozy, swoony worthy romance. It started out cute enough but eventually I started to get worn out by Kat’s excessive inner monologue. I would have loved to have gotten the opportunity to be shown rather than be told. Other than that, the writing was still good. I would have loved to see a little more chemistry between the two main characters. Also the pacing could have been a little faster. The Oxford setting was definitely my favorite part about this story. All in all it was a cozy, lighthearted read.

I have mixed feelings about this read. I had previously read a book by this author that I found really sweet. With this book, it started out strong with a cute bookish cover and book title - the synopsis made me think we were going to get really really good banter and humor (which there was some)... sadly, it took me well over 30% to get into the book and even then it wasn't all weaving together for me. I found the FMC a little too insecure (to be fair, I've read several books recently where this is the case so maybe it's just wearing on me) and then the MMC had some mystery to him but then it didn't feel like his story was done to the extent it could've been. I think that the book was decent as a whole, but it just didn't create the page turner I was hoping for.
I think the book adds up to about a 3.25⭐ rating - closed door romance type read so low 🌶️

Kat Fisher is a sweet,romanctic girl who wants to meet her prince charming. She isn't a fan of her name but is hoping to run into the perfect man for her. Leo Taylor is a former police office who is looking for his next step in life when he comes upon Kat. They seem like an unlikely couple but they might just be perfect for each other.