By Rachel Lacey

The second Kindle read while in Covid isolation, Read Between the Lines comes from the “Little Shop Around the Corner/You’ve Got Mail” family of romantic plots. Two people who have a complicated business relationship are also secretly and anonymously communicating and falling in love with each other. The two twists here are: this is a lesbian love story and the secret is found out much earlier than in either movie.

This is a competently written romance novel – not my cup of tea, but doing interesting things with the tropes. The one thing I especially liked was that because the secret is out a chunk of the tension in the book is two people with physical chemistry and a lot of things in common (and a lot of conversations had) that then have to unravel how the business side of the equation impacts their relationship. My one nitpick – for a book taking place in New York City not one friend or family member suggested going to talk to their shrink, rabbi, priest, hairdresser, anyone to talk through their feelings. Like many rom-coms communications and counseling would have helped (not solved) the tension in their relationship.

331 Pages

2.5/5