Read Between the Lines was such a fun read! I found the plot very orginal, didn't expect it at all! I really enjoyed following Kat and Leo during their quest. I didn't expect the plot to take such a big part of the book though and would have loved a bit more from Kat and Leo's relationship. I liked their dynamic and their chemistry in the second part of the book, but wished we had a bit more flirting (and have it earlier) in the book! I found myself a bit annoyed at all the "he's so far out of my league" and "I don't believe someone like him could like me" kind of comments from Kat and I thank her sister for shaking some sense into her. Overall cute and fun read!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion 🫶🏽

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I do not like the male main character immediately so I had no choice but to DNF it. I like for me in a rom com these days I need to like the male love interest of i immediately loose interest and get the ick.

oh i needed this book in my life and heart right now. it did exactly what i hoped for from seeing both the cover and blurb. it was a fun and joyful read. the type of book thats story just feel you lifting more and more throughout. the books that seem to have contagious sunshine feelings bouncing out the pages to our hearts.
i love the bookish setting and could really feel myself inner giggling and smile as these two interacted. and that slowly went on to form that goofy book reader grin you get in a book like this.
we are taken to the uk for this book which automatically gave me some nostalgia homely vibes too. Kat is our romantic of the story. but dont be fooled into thinking this is her being a push over or not whip smart. shes a great girl but boy does she fall far too quickly for whats good for her. and she definitely feels like she is waiting for her Prince.
we also have Leo. who is to have more of a vital role in her life than she could ever thought possible. shes going to need him in more ways than she thinks and watching these two come together was a joy.
i love how this book wasnt just the typical romance between the two. they also had to come together for a much bigger cause. and i loved how for this part Leos past work really came to the fore. Kat needed him to help her locate who was cheating her online. but it turns out they needed each other or might just want each other for a whole lot more than finding love cheats. there progression from Leo irritating her with how he left HER library to coming together as a team was just so cute and even from the stat you could see the spark between the pair. but it builds naturally. its builds into something you truly feel is authentic. and you feel so much warmth for them both and definitely a duo i was rooting for.
not only did i love the story and our two main characters but woven throughout was a great cast of others who come into the library. i truly reminds you of how important these spaces are,far more than they are ever given credit for. they are safe spaces and beyond for many a folk. and so so so important for individuals and community alike. not least for the community's grown within them.
a gorgeous read. loved it.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Kat works in a library, and her dream is to find someone who is just like her book boyfriends. But, after meeting someone on a dating app she finds herself duped.

Leo is in the library a lot, he’s in the process of making a plan for his business and used to be a detective.

She wants to find who the person was and asks Leo to help her. It was interesting to see the two become close as they solve the mystery.

I loved the characters who come into the library, with their funny moments.

There’s some twists throughout the story which keeps you engrossed.

I recommend this book.

If you love cozy mysteries wrapped in slow-burn romance with a touch of humor, Read Between the Lines is the perfect escape. Librarian Kat Fisher is a hopeless romantic who thinks she’s finally found “the one” online—until she realizes she’s been catfished. Determined to uncover the truth, Kat reluctantly teams up with Leo Taylor, a former detective whose messy habits and smug grin drive her absolutely mad.

What follows is a charming, twisty adventure as the unlikely pair chase down a scammer, navigate hilarious hijinks, and slowly discover that their best match might be standing right in front of them. Kat’s feisty spirit and Leo’s dry wit make for irresistible banter, and the chemistry between them crackles on every page.

Emily Kerr delivers a delightful mix of heartfelt moments, clever plot turns, and lovable side characters that bring warmth and depth to the story. The pacing may feel gentle at times, but it’s worth every page for the satisfying conclusion and emotional payoff.

Read Between the Lines is a feel-good blend of rom-com and mystery that leaves you smiling long after the last page. Fans of witty dialogue, charming leads, and unexpected romance will want to cozy up with this one!

The premise of this book caught my attention, along with the book cover. As a child, I wanted to be a librarian and just loved this idea.
However, I couldn't get past chapter 4.
There is a lot of unnecessary info dumping and I just do not like the FMC. She starts out as a lovely woman who wants love and then just immediately turns unlikeable in her approach to Leo, who seems like he is just a flirty banter guy and she just insults him from the start. She straight away assumes he is picking at her. She comes across as toxic already, like a decent person would see that he is flirting and thinks he is making witty banter to her.
I felt in chapter 1 that this book wasn't for me based on the info dump and writing style but pushed on a bit more.
I think this book had potential to be great, but it's just not for me.

If you like this kind of communication/miscommunication trope in books, then it's probably a good book!

I thank the author and netgalley for the opportunity.

Kat's been catfished! The librarian signed up for a dating app, met Brian (well, on line) and thought things were going well but he turned out to be a scammer. Now Leo, a former police officer who has been the bane of her existence thanks to his messy ways, helps her investigate the rat. The romance between Kat and Leo is pushed aside for a long time in favor of the investigation but know that they do eventually turn to one another. This has a good supporting cast and fans of novels set in libraries will enjoy the atmospherics. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I was really intrigued once I saw the general premise of this book... and who can resist a book-related romance?? Kat is a librarian, constantly irritated with Leo's messy, unorganized presentation in the library. Even worse, he ends up overhearing an embarrassing moment in her life that she wishes he would not have heard. Fortunately for her, this event turns into an investigation for which Kat seeks help from Leo, who is a former police officer. The cover of this book is ADORABLE and I felt like Kat was such a cute, funny character that I enjoyed reading about. And the supporting characters in the book like Moira and Doris were added fun and entertainment that truly made me envious I didn't work with them at this library!

While I was initially stoked to read this romance, I was disappointed that the actual romance did not occur until the very very end of the book (literally like 90% into the book). Most of the book was centered around Kats' investigation, and the romance did not truly start to flourish until the book was wrapping up. While I think the investigation part of the book was super interesting, I was hoping for a lot more romance! However, overall I enjoyed Emily's writing (hey name twin!) and felt that the plot of the book was unique and exciting! Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and Emily Kerr for allowing me to read this book earlier. Read Between the Lines will be published on Jun 13th, 2025, just in time for summer!

Set overseas, surrounded by books, romance? This has every element for a fantastic beach/pool/summer read. This was so incredibly enjoyable from start to finish.

Set in the UK, this book is quaint and sweet.

Librarian Kat is head over heels for her online sweetheart Brian, but he starts showing some red flags and she enlists ex-cop Leo to help sleuth out whether Brian is who he says he is and whether the dating app is legit.

The investigation is the main part of the book, it probably takes up 20-80% of the chapters and so the romance between the main characters feels lacking unfortunately.

⭐️ 3

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

I was really excited for this book, but sadly, it didn’t meet my expectations. It took me longer than usual to finish because I struggled to stay invested. This is a very slow-burn romance with zero spice, which is perfect if that’s your thing, but it didn’t work for me. I didn’t feel much chemistry between Kat and Leo, and honestly, Leo came off as a bit moody, while Kat I just found annoying.

The plot focused heavily on the romance scam artist mystery rather than the actual romance.As i say for all books that are single POV i think this book would have really benefited from leo’s persepective.

Not sure if the authors is British, but as a British reader whith family who live in Cambridge (Very similar to Oxford, where this book is set), I found the dialogue overly posh and stereotypical—it felt more Victorian than modern oxford!

That said, I did enjoy the idea of an ex-cop and a librarian teaming up to catch a scammer. The mystery element was engaging, but the lack of romance made it feel more YA than adult fiction.

Emily Kerr whips up a romantic study of contrasts, a down on her luck librarian who dreams of romantic gestures and forever afters and a jaded ex-cop who is trying to find his own after a defeat at the hands of the system that was meant to protect.

Kat Fisher loves books, romance and her library flock (Mrs and Mr Moira being my absolute delight!!!) - when she signs up for a dating app she dreams of romance with her Military dreamboat, only to be crushed when she gets stood up and demanded of funds. She turns to an unlikely expert, Leo Taylor, ex-cop who complains about her squeaky trolley and puts his boots up on the furniture. Unfortunately, he also had front row seats to her getting ready for her romantic rendez vous which didn't transpire.

The banter between the two is exquisite and Emily Kerr rides a fine balance between the does he does she, and adding in the mystery of who the actual catfisher is. The story is fast paced and I polished it off in a day - perfect for a lazy beach read any day of the week!

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK, One more chapter for the ARC! It was a roaring delight to devour!

Firstly thank you so much to Harper Collins UK for a copy of this eARC!

The premise for this book is what really caught my eye. A librarian and an ex police officer set in the UK were the perfect ingredients for a contemporary romance for me.

As Kat is a librarian, there are lots of great nods to classic literature that I really enjoyed.

The side characters (Doris and Moira) were my absolute favourites. With their witty remarks about young people and dating (especially when Kat goes through her bad experience at the start). Doris is also such a legend in her own right. An older lady reading spicy books with demons and has a successful bookstagram? She is who I want to be when I grow up!

Other than this, I’m gutted to say I found the book severely lacking.

Kat goes through a bad dating experience at the start of the book and decides to ask Leo, an ex police officer, for help. However, from the point of first meeting him up, she is incredibly rude and quite unprofessional. Despite this, she still has the audacity to ask him for help and then continues to be rude to him? I know you can read books where you don’t like the FMC but there was nothing I enjoyed about her that made me want to continue.

Leo is.. understandably, frustrated at the cards he’s been given in life. However his, what I can only describe as greasy flirtation attempts at the start of the book came across as creepy and cringe and then he went straight to cold attitude towards Kat. I felt like the author couldn’t decide how she wanted to write Leo and couldn’t settle on how his personality was to be.

The writing itself was okay but felt very… meta? Quotes like ‘I do love a bit of demon action’ in relation to fantasy books with spice, or mentions of bookstagram with 10k followers and advance copies and proofs, or ‘the holy grail of fits’ and my personal favourite ‘the ref flags are so big I’m amazed you’ve not been knocked over by the strength of them blowing in the breeze’ all just felt like the author was trying to be with the times and used language that was too conversational for a book.

I honestly wish I loved this book and could finish it but the writing and the characters were just not for me.

I’ve not read any of this author before so I’m unsure if this is just a style of writing or unique to this book but if you enjoyed this author’s work before I would be interested to know if I should give her other work a go.

I stopped reading this book at 23% therefore all my views are only on this part of the book.

This is my first from this author and I thought it was such a fun premise! I love the slight mystery element and the opposites attract vibe we got. I did feel like the MMC was a bit too grumpy and a bit rude. I feel like there's a fine line of when too grumpy becomes rude and disrespectful and messes with the flow of the story. I loved the UK setting and was so intrigued by it! I also think the title name was very fitting!

What a perfect little book! I was hooked from page one. The characters, the humor, the plot, the romance, all of it was so well written and engaging. I ended up reading it all in one day. This is a book I could see myself coming back and reading again as a comfort read and is one I wish I could read again for the first time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book.

I believe that the description for this book has changed since I requested it, I remember the description including the reason behind Kat and Leo's acquaintanceship. I would have loved to revisit the original synopsis rather than see all the five star reviews. Personally the plot that I was enticed with was what drew me into the book. I thought the idea of Kat and Leo teaming up to find the scammer to be unique and appealing. I anticipated adventures and time spent together were they would get to know one another better. However, I did not anticipate that 80% of the book would be discussing the scammer with the other 20% being occasional conversation, banter, or Kat agonizing over her attraction for Leo while he constantly gives her and the audience mixed signals. While the book does describe Kat as a romantic I think that her infatuation with books and fiction makes her seem extremely naive and she fails to separate reality from fiction by using her book knowledge as law for real life situations without considering that she is extremely unqualified for any kind of sleuthing. While I like that she does acknowledge some of the flaws about her character I would have liked it more if she had done something about them. Overall, I just found her character a little inconsistent and I was never sure what to expect from her and yet all her decision were a little questionable. Leo on the other hand had some nice protective male lead moments and also some moments where he too was calling Kat out on her naivety and impulsiveness. I just didn't feel the chemistry between the characters and I feel like they spent more time arguing about how to catch the scammer and discussing their one life problem that led them to each other that they didn't really learn much else about one another. I also figured out who the scammer was the moment that they were introduced which may have lessened my enjoyment for the search but I did enjoy the idea. Overall, I was a fan of the mini mystery of finding the scammer, I was a big fan of all the side characters from the library and Kat's sister, I do think that this book worked well as a slow burn. I just really wish I liked the main characters more and that they had more time together to connect and not just to plot and argue.

Read Between the Lines is a sweet, cozy romcom set in Oxford, where librarian Kat teams up with grumpy ex-cop Leo to track down a romance scammer. What starts as a reluctant partnership slowly turns into a gentle, slow-burn connection.

The romance is subtle think more soft smiles than sparks, but their banter and friendship are fun to watch grow. The mystery adds a light twist, and while it’s easy to guess, it keeps things moving. The charming Oxford setting and quirky library regulars add warmth and personality.

It’s not a swoony romance, but it’s heartfelt, witty, and comforting.

A romance with a little mystery thrown in. Good story but felt like it dragged a bit in the middle.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Read Between the Lines to come out June 13, 2025.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc! All thoughts are my own.

This was a short, easy read with a cozy setting - I barely find romances set in the UK so Oxford was nice! - and the mystery aspect of this was so fun and intriguing. However, I didn't quite enjoy the book as much as I'd hoped to. It was hard to get into with the extra dialogue and slight info dump, which didn't feel necessary to begin with and made for a slow start, but I kept reading for the mystery of it all. I think, while I thought the chats at the beginning were realistic and I could hear them in my head with familiar voices, being set in a local library, it didn't do anything for the plot and I think it just wasn't neededfor a book like this.

I also didn't quite gel with the characters and it was hard to connect with Kat, but I appreciated the slow burn of Kat and Leo's romance!

I think it was missing some heat or a bit more depth to their chemistry, but overall this was a sweet read and I enjoyed the plot more than the characters,

A sweet easy read set in Oxford. I loved the characters of Kat and Leo and the setting of Oxford. Recommended.