Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Media/RBmedia for this ALC of Out of Step Into You by Ciera Burch and narrated by LaNesha Edmonds. I love this cover. It immediately peaked my interest.

On audio: This was my first time listening to LaNesha Edmonds. She captured the angsty teen voice well, but I struggled at times distinguishing Mari and Taylor’s voices at times unless they are talking directly to each other. Since it’s dual POV, I felt the narration could have been sharper in separating their voices still. Having the ebook alongside the audio really helped me. Since these are two different characters with very different personalities, two narrators would’ve enhanced the story for me.

Overall, this book has a lot of heart, with two girls learning to rebuild trust, confront their vulnerabilities, and take a chance on love. If you’re a fan of YA sapphic romances, teen dramas, sports settings, or frenemies to lovers with heavy doses of angst, this may work for you. It also has the classic theme of the have and have nots.

Mari, is quintessential big sister/oldest daughter. With her mom working long hours, she’s essentially raising her younger siblings while trying to chase her dream of earning a scholarship through running cross country as team captain for her team. Taylor, meanwhile, is the only child of a former pro athlete. She’s captain of her team, balancing the pressure of making her parents proud dealing with her dad’s ongoing illness.

I felt the ending was a bit rushed with everything into starting to pick up 85% (Part 3) into the book with the chapters shorter kind of like the pacing of a race which is on theme for this book.

For me, I wasn’t a fan of the slow pacing and then quick pacing at the end of the book. It felt rushed but with some loose ends being tied up. I was hoping for a better resolution with Mari and her mom but I guess I’ll have to settle for what we got. Like life lol. Also listening on audio the narrator helps me think we are getting to the end of a race. I still appreciated this story that embodies black girl magic and the teen experience in the discovery/exploration phase of their life.

Out of Step, Into You is a cute second chance YA romance, but very light on the romance. Mari and Taylor used to be best friends, running partners, close as sisters, etc. until Mari moves and they're suddenly on rival cross country teams. There is a little bit of rival Bring It On energy at the beginning and then Mari is forced to move back and they are back on the same team. When they're both used to being number one of the team (and captain) and they must suddenly deal with both being in the same space and addressing the friendship they lost.
Both Mari and Taylor are mostly likeable- Mari has huge responsibilities at home and is forced into taking care of her younger siblings to keep up, Taylor has family problems with her dad being sick and I honestly kept waiting for there to be an awful event to bring them together. This is a SLOW BURN and I wish there was a bit more growth between them but overall, an easy read.

This will be published 9 September 2025 and I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for my review.

this was such a quick, breezy read! i listened to it along with the ebook and was immediately hooked. the narration was solid and truly brought these characters to life!

my only gripe would be the mc’s not really getting together the entirety of the book?? at first i thought it was simply a slow burn but then they never got together which left me wanting more from their relationship…that was never an official relationship? i digress, still a cute read ✨

This was a good sapphic romance! I wasn't expecting all the emotional parts but I'm glad it had more depth to it. I really liked both MCs and the narration was very good.

This was an adorable sapphic ya sports romance. It dealt with a lot of issues and went deeper than I thought it would. There were some big emotional trials with Mari taking care of her siblings and Taylor taking care of her sick dad. The plot lines got a little clunky and it was a little tricky to figure out whose pov was whose but overall it was an enjoyable book.

4/5 stars
Out of Step, Into You is an adorable and sweet YA sapphic romance! The main characters Taylor and Mari are very well developed and easy to love. Both main characters felt like they had a lot of depth and their chemistry felt really natural. The story was very well paced with some flashbacks to the previous conflict giving clarity to the present plot lines. The cast of characters in this story is also very diverse and entertaining. The audiobook narration of this book was pretty good, with a lot of personality and emotion in their performance. Although the voices used for the two main characters were similar, the chapters beginning with the name of the chapter’s POV was very helpful. Overall this was a really charming and engaging read!
Thank you Tantor Media / RBmedia for providing me with an ARC of the audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love how YA books can be real about friendship, family dynamics and all that makes us grow in the adult we become. This is one of those books. Out of Step, Into You, tells the story of two girls you used to be best friends and became cross-country team rivals.
We follow both Mari and Taylor with double PoV so we understand their feelings towards each other, how they were hurt and hoc they're healing. Both girls have personal responsibilities, Mari has to take care to her 8 yo twin siblings, Taylor has a sick dad who goes through dialysis.
We explore more how the girls become friends again than the romance and it is very well done and heart-warming. And the dog walking is so cute and funny.
The narrator, LaNecia Edmonds is very good at expressing feelings through her voice, i really enjoyed the audiobook.

👟friends to rivals to teammates to friends to lovers
🐕dog walking is how they bond again
👟 running and training 
🐕family dynamics 

Rating :
Book 4,25⭐
Audiobook 4,5⭐

Cute second chance, sapphic YA. Taylor and Mari both have well developed backstories, dealing with some big emotional struggles, but they figure out a way back to friendship, maybe more? I am a sucker for fort building and animal shelter rescue plot lines.

Some of the timeline shifts felt a little clunky, and at times I struggled to remember whose POV I was in (this could have just been a me-ADHD to the max-thing).

Thank you Net Galley and Tantor media for the ALC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Media for approving my request to listen to an audiobook arc of this book

Taylor and Mari were childhood best friends who shared their first kiss with each other, but when Mari had to move away, Taylor cut all ties with her- that is until Mari moves again and they end up in the same high school cross country team. Former best friends turned rivals on the way to something more.

I really enjoyed this book and both characters were so easy to love and root for. I'd definitely recommend this book.

3.75 🌟
Spice: YA, couple of kisses
Format: ALC

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the alc in exchange for an honest review.

For so much happening in this story, it also felt like nothing at all happened. I struggled not to tune it out at times when it just got to be boring. I liked the characters well enough, I think the author just tried to add too much filler. I do think it needs two narrators though. Dual pov with one narrator makes kt hard to differentiate between the characters. I think I wanted more or Taylor & Mari and their cross country team and less of their family life. Cute story though, just wish it pulled me in a bit more.

This was a cute YA sapphic book!

Part of it was triggering for me (her dad having renal failure) but overall it was a very relatable book that a lot of teens will be able to vibe with!

Thanks NetGalley for giving me an ALC of this book!

Thank you Netgalley and Tantor Media for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I really liked this second chance sapphic sports romance. The narrators were very good and kept my interest. I liked the banter the friends to enemies to lovers Is a favourite of mine. It felt like a very fluid book and glad youth can see them selves in the Ya that's coming out in the last few years.

Suggest giving it a try if you read sapphic ya

4.5/5☆

This focused heavily on the friendship (flashbacks included), and felt like it forgot it was a romance. No feels, no stomach flutters, nada. The friendship and dealing with life as a teen was good, centering around being a high school cross-country runner as well as heavier topics such as having a parent going through kidney failure, and the parentifying of an eldest daughter. But overall I can't see my own teen being engaged while reading this (and they prefer sapphic stories). I read via audio and while the narrator was good, I found the two MC voices to be very similar.

✨ I am updating my review because I also listened to the audiobook✨

👟Bookish Thoughts
This was a fun YA second chance romance! Mari and Taylor used to be best friends and ended up on rival cross country teams… until Mari moves and suddenly they are on the same team again. So very awkward! This was definitely a slow burn, angsty romance, and I liked how their relationship developed, especially with their coach assigning mandatory volunteering at the animal shelter 🤭

I really liked both Taylor and Mari. Mari is so parentified at home and my heart broke for her more than once. She is working, taking care of her siblings, and still trying to show up for school and running. Taylor is also dealing with a lot, between the pressure from her parents and her dad’s kidney disease, I felt stressed for her the whole time. This really felt like a coming of age story. And I really loved the sapphic rep!

The audiobook narration was fantastic and it added so much emotional depth to both Mari and Taylor’s voices. I enjoyed it enough to raise my overall rating.

💗 What You Can Expect
• YA sapphic romance
• Second chance
• Rivals to lovers
• Sports romance
• Slow burn
• Dual POV
• Coming of age
_ _ _ _

⭐ Final Score: 4.25 stars
🎧 Audio Score: 4.5 stars
🎙️ Narration Style: Solo narration
📅 Pub Date (Audiobook): September 9, 2025
📅 Pub Date (Print and ebook): May 20, 2025
Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, RBmedia, and NetGalley for the ARC and audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers, dual POV, forced proximity, Sapphic second chance sports romance that has two rival track runners stuck as running partners and volunteer dog walkers as they find themselves on the same time after a falling out. Each is also dealing with interpersonal family troubles at home as one's father is on dialysis again after his kidney transplant was rejected and the other finds herself more and more acting as main caregiver for her younger twin siblings while her single mother works a lot.

The emotional depth is strong and the relationship building is realistic. I thought it was good on audio and especially loved the nuanced disability rep both with having a parent with a chronic illness and another protagonist with PCOS. Highly recommended for fans of books like It's a love skate/relationship or She drives me crazy. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!