This story follows former high school classmates, and somewhat enemies, as they find themselves in the same MFA program. There’s bad blood, tortured poets, family drama, and competition throughout. Overall, this was a sweet, lighthearted story with characters sorting through deep emotional baggage.

Thank you, Katie Naymon, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this audiobook! The sound quality was excellent. The narrator, Sarah Beth Goer, did a great job bringing the characters to life.

I fell in love with this cover and was intrigued by the premise. Rivals to lovers in a writing program? Sign me up.

There's a lot to like in You Between the Lines. The writing itself is great. I really enjoyed Naymon's writing style and her descriptions. She has great prose that doesn't feel too flowery so it doesn't take you out of the story. I definitely highlighted a lot. The MMC, Will, is good. i liked Will as an MMC and love interest. I thought he was complicated but also willing to be vulnerable. He isn't perfect which made him a relatable character. Plus, I liked the academic setting of a MFA program. It felt different and refreshing to have a romance set in the MFA writing world. I feel liked we don't see that at all. There's also a great emotional journey for both characters.

My main issue with the story was the FMC Leigh. She came off as immature/childish throughout most of the book. It made her hard to like at times.

I did enjoy the romance. It had it's ups and downs but overall the Will & Leigh had good chemistry and tension. It's low steam but has plenty of swoon!

Narrator Sarah Beth Goer does a wonderful job. I really liked her voice for Leigh and thought she characterized her perfectly. If you're going to pick this up, I would say go with the audiobook.

Overall a good read, especially if you like emotional contemporary romances.

This book wasn’t for me but I think the narrator did a wonderful job! I did like that the author focused on therapy and mental health. I think that’s super important and very relatable. I could definitely relate to Leigh and her people pleasing anxiety. The writing program held no interest to me.

If you are a fan of Taylor swift, I’d definitely recommend this book. It wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio and Katie for the ALC!

#NetGalley #YouBetweenTheLines

Publication Date: Feb 18th 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was an addicting romance full of poets & poetry and I blew through it. I'm sure it'll be one of my favorite spicy romances this year. The narrator was great as well- even for us weirdos who listen to audiobooks at 2x speed. Thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the ARC!

Sarah Beth Goer narrates this slow-burn, swoony but angsty academia romance about finding your voice and courage.

After quitting her soul-destroying copywriting job to study a poetry MFA, Leigh is stunned one of her classmates is Will, her high school crush who said her poem was ‘style but no substance’ then rejected her after a chance encounter a few years later. Both nurse deep insecurities and feel the other is out of their league.

This is a wonderfully slow, but satisfying romance, however, the emotional beats needed to hit earlier. The push/pull with Will was frustrating and I'd like for Leigh to have reached her growth earlier so we could see more of her making amends with Will. I also wasn’t a fan of her stereotyping her classmates while behaving like a stereotype herself (URGH NO MORE Taylor Swift references please!). I loved the depiction of academia, especially the duality of the comradery and competition.

Goer is an engaging narrator, though I'd have expected a lighter younger voice given Leigh's outwardly 'sorority girl' persona, instead she sounded a bit more serious and older than 20s. Overall though a great listening experience.

Thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the ALC.

I’ll start with the good…. I loved the tension and raw emotion the narrator brought to the table. I thought she did a great job capturing the feelings of the characters and portraying it. The chemistry between Leigh and Will was palpable, and the intimate scenes were written well….

Now for the not so great….. I heard so many wonderful early reviews for this one, so I may be a total outlier opinion on this, but I was not a fan of Leigh AT ALL. She was self deprecating, self sabotaging, insecure, and just very wrapped up in herself. I didn’t really connect with Will either, and I struggled to fully emerge myself in the book with all of the poetry. Apparently it’s not my thing, and it just got too repetitive throughout. I was hoping for a lot more character growth through the book, but to me it all felt jammed into the very end, and while I was glad it ended up the way it did, I was hoping for it to be more gradual. The book had good bones and potential, and hit on important topics with anxiety and counseling, but the delivery with the rest fell a little flat.

Thank you NetGalley and Hatchett Audio for my ALC in exchange for my honest feedback! This was a 2.5 rounded up to a 3 for me

I love love love when a narrator is able to pull out the emotions that are seeping through the pages. Sara Beth Goer did a great job capturing Leigh's raw emotions and franticness. She also gave Will just a great voice. So soft and pleasant. I was able to full immerse myself into this story because of the narration. It fit the book so well.

I clung to every single word. I will definitely be interested in hearing more from Sara Beth and reading whatever else Katie Naymon releases.

I appreciate the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this book but I have to DNF @ 50%! I just didn’t care to keep going🥲

I really wanted to love this one because it’s been getting such good early reviews but I didn’t feel connected to it at all. The FMC wasn’t likable and it was overly repetitive🥴 plus I’m not a big fan of poetry - maybe it would’ve been different to read it bs listen to it - but all went right over my head!

The narrator was good! but the content just wasn’t for me!

Leigh is starting her MFA with a specialty in poetry. On the first day, she discovers Will, a guy from high school, is also in the program. They have a love hate relationship, that's mostly in her head, as they've never really talked much.

This was a great story on one hand, but it was tough to like because Leigh doesn't believe in herself and makes poor choices throughout., I'd have liked to see her growth a little faster and separate from her relationship. The romance part of the book was great and I really liked the whole storyline.

An excellent job by the narrator! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book

This book is not for me. The narrator did a good job but the FMC was not someone I could stomach for long.

I loved this! I thought it was so sweet! Will and Leigh had so much to work through it was nice to finally see them work it all out.

Once high school classmates, Leigh Simon and Will Langford now find themselves back in each others lives a MFA program. Now that they’re back sharing a classroom and vying for the same fellowship Leigh needs to work out how she really feels about Will.

🖊 Rivals to Lovers

🖋 Forced Proximity

🖋 Slow Burn

🖊 Found Family

🖊 Second Chance (Third Chance, Fourth Chance… yikes)



Romance ✔️ Cute Cover ✔️ Taylor Swift References ✔️✔️

This book? Eh….

So let me start off by saying I listened to the audio book of this. I have a feeling looking at some of the other reviews that the audiobook version just didn’t sit right with people. I want to be clear that I did like Sarah Beth Goer’s, the narrator, voice but it may have been the delivery on top of a “just ok” plot that tipped the balance. There were times it felt as though our FMC was manic.

Like others, I didn’t really connect with Leigh. While I do appreciate more novels broaching the subject of mental health and therapy, Leigh’s character growth seems like it was shoved in right at the end. The majority of the book she is self sabotaging and riddled with people pleasing anxiety which often resulted in her lashing out or making rude comments. Her character didn’t seem to have the maturity level of someone who is post grad, entering a MFA program.

I didn’t love that she leaned so heavily into hating the “straight, white male poet” but then also admits she doesn’t really read their work. If I was Will, I don’t know if I’d be able to get over comments about the poetry I was writing about my dead dad or how she felt about my work in general.

I was never really routing for Leigh and Will as a couple. The back and forth between “yes we can and no we can’t” didn’t build up a slow burn, longing that other romances have. It mostly made me think that they aren’t right for each other at all and didn’t really believe that they had any love between them.

I’m not sure I would market this book as a Julie Soto-eque book. I’ve read her two published books and one of her upcoming books and I can’t really find the comparison between them.

While I like the concept of the plot, this book fell flat for me. It’s hard to enjoy a romance book when you’re not rooting for the main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced copy! You Between the Lines
by Katie Naymon is set to be released on Feb 18 2025

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever Publishing, Hachette Audio & Katie Naymon for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Oh the pining. Oh the angst. This is TTPD come to life. This is a debut? Hoollllly smokes.

Truly, if TTPD is your vibe- Down Bad, The Tortured Poets Department, Fortnight, I Hate It Here, The Prophecy, I look in people's windows, The bolter-- but MINUS a Matty Healy-esque Love Interest-- then this book is for you.

Now narration- I love narrators. They always bring so much to the table but this one. This one. Her cadence was perfect while reading the poetry. She brought this to life.

This has a cute concept, but I don’t think I was the intended audience for this one. The writing was very YA, but it had spice so it clearly wasn’t YA? And I’m sorry but I was over hearing “toxic cis straight white literary artist” after the 10th time.

Regardless of the plot, the narrator for the audio book did a fantastic job. She really encapsulated the characters and her narrations were poetic in a sense.

Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Forever Publishing for providing me with the audio arc in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Katie Naymon and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook -- so glad I saw Katie's post on the Theta alumni page (TLAM 🖤💛) and requested the book right away!

⭐️4.75

This book drew me in very quickly, I sometimes have hard time with books that jump back and forth through time, but I really enjoyed what both the flashbacks and Lee and Will's poems throughout the years add to the story. As I first started reading the book, I really wished that it was a dual POV because I wanted so badly to know what was going on inside of Will's head, but I actually LOVED the way that Will's letters and poems gave sneak peaks of his feelings throughout the story that made the 'he fell first' aspect so much more satisfying than a standard dual pov. There were so many times when we would get more snippets of Will's feelings through his writing that gave me actual chills or I would have to pause the audio just to process what we were finding out.

As a former sorority girl, current graduate student, and perpetually anxious and people pleasing person, I really connected with Lee's character. I liked the way that her mental health was discussed throughout the book in a way that did not make her seem less than, but was just included as a sort of fact of her life.

***SPOILER BELOW***
I also really appreciated that Lee did not get the fellowship. I think a lot of times in romance books everything is happy ending and everybody gets exactly what they want, but I think it was so much more impactful that Lee learned to overcome the need for reassurance and validation from others and I think if she would have gotten the fellowship she would have never gotten over that.

All in all, really liked this book. It gave me Emily Henry vibes -- probably because of the characters being writers component that happen throughout most of Emily Henry's books. The narration was also really good, I liked the emotion the narrator put behind Lee's character. I am definitely interested in reading more books by Katie in the future!

I fear that this book has permanently altered my brain chemistry. The yearning and pining are absolutely off the charts. The characters are clever, likeable, and flawed in ways that are relatable and not too infuriating. If your favorite Emily Henry book is Beach Read, you'll love this one. Excellent audiobook narration, too; I can't wait to read a paper copy soon so that I can hyperventilate about the pinky scene again.

My only complaint: I'm profoundly tired of constant Taylor Swift references. Otherwise, this is a total slam dunk for me, and I can't wait to read more by this author.

I wanted to get into this, but I gave up 25% of the way in. It was too much for about the writing program and not enough romance. I was bored and just couldn't connect.

A very strong debut novel with excellent writing and a unique premise. While I loved the writing style in this book and the characters were well written, I kept hoping the romance would be a little more developed. When the third act breakup began, I found I was rooting for the characters to continue to grow, but wasn't very invested in their relationship.

In the audiobook, Sarah Beth Goer did an amazing job bringing this story to life! Although there is only one narrator, her narration makes it feel like there are multiple people narrating the story.

3.75⭐️

I’ll be honest with reading so much contemporary romance lately I am drawn to comparing the different books insofar as rating them. This could be a case where if I read this book at a different time, my rating may have been higher since some outstanding romcoms wouldn’t be fresh in my mind.

One other thing is I recently discovered that to be called a Romance book it MUST have a happily ever after. This completely took the steam out of the problems that inevitably come in the third act as they have nothing beneath them since you know it’s all going to be ok. So this may also be impacting my rating.

Overall, it was a good read where ai wanted to me o what happened. I didn’t particularly like the FMC and there were things that were so repetitive that it took me out of the story but I enjoyed the poetry connection. I’m not a fan of poetry really but I thought it was fun to listen to poems in the book and also learn a bit as they got dissected.

I did however like the MMC which helped me stay with it and want to find out what happens.


I am thankful to have gotten the ALC for free from Hachette Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

The narrator did a decent job. I did have to speed it up significantly though to make it easier to listen to as it was painfully slow and she drew out certain words that didn’t match the FMCs personality. But speeding it up made it better.

This title comes out February 18, 2025 so check it out!
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

I think he narrator did a great job with this one, her style was nice and the difference voices were really nice.

The story itself, well, let's just say I wasn't a big fan of it. My rate here is for the audiobook narration, my rate for the actual book it's way different tho