Review: Read Between the Lines

You’ve Got Mail is one of my favourite classic rom coms. A lot of that has to do with how bookish it is but also because Nora Ephron was a genius. When I heard Read Between the Lines was a kind of sort of retelling of the movie, I had to read it. And, happily, Rachel Lacey’s novel gave me all the same feels that the movie did.

Here’s the book’s description:

Books are Rosie Taft’s life. And ever since she took over her mother’s beloved Manhattan bookstore, they’ve become her home too. The only thing missing is her own real-life romance like the ones she loves to read about, and Rosie has an idea of who she might like to sweep her off her feet. She’s struck up a flirty online friendship with lesbian romance author Brie, and what could be more romantic than falling in love with her favorite author?
Jane Breslin works hard to keep her professional and personal lives neatly separated. By day, she works for the family property development business. By night, she puts her steamier side on paper under her pen name: Brie. Jane hasn’t had much luck with her own love life, but her online connection with a loyal reader makes Jane wonder if she could be the one.
When Rosie learns that her bookstore’s lease has been terminated by Jane’s family’s business, romance moves to the back burner. Even though they’re at odds, there’s no denying the sparks that fly every time they’re together. When their online identities are revealed, will Jane be able to write her way to a happy ending, or is Rosie’s heart a closed book?

This book was a winner for me because of the homage it paid to You’ve Got Mail. Simple as that. Well – maybe not quite that simple. I enjoyed Lacey’s storytelling as well and definitely think the story could have suffered if a less talented author had tried to tackle it. There were small changes to the novel that I really liked. Instead of an online chatroom, the women “met” on Twitter. And Jane isn’t the owner of a big box bookstore but she is involved in the book world because she’s an author. And – get this – Rosie’s dog’s name was Brinkley! Too. Good.

I do have to say that I absolutely hated the third act break up. I knew it was coming and I was just so annoyed that it had to happen. I could tell the women had a lot of stuff they had to work out before they could really commit to a relationship together, but I think I would have appreciated them actually taking the time to work on it instead of creating more unnecessary drama. Given this is a romance novel, I didn’t dock my rating, but it irked me enough that I felt I should mention it. It’s something to keep in mind for mood readers like me who might not be into a cliched break up and Happily Ever After right at the end of a story.

Jane and Rosie had their differences, but they worked so very well together as a couple. They clearly cared about each other – even as their professional lives were at major odds – and, as a reader, you couldn’t help but be drawn to them, just as they were drawn to each other.

And I, like Jane, was also totally drawn to Rosie’s group of friends. Which is a good thing because there’s another book out in this series that features Lia and Grace, Rosie’s two best friends. No Rings Attached sounds absolutely delightful.

Read Between the Lines was such a fun rom com. Rachel Lacey will be an author I keep an eye on and I’ll have to read some of her backlist, too!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Thomas Allen & Son, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*