Read Between Her Lines: A slow-burn, bookish contemporary romance

by Zoey M. Hart

Emma Róza Clarke chases the millennial dream of buying a remote cottage and disappearing from society. The catch is, property prices keep outpacing her budget so she figures out a daring way to rake in that sweet dual income while being single.

By day, Emma is the reliable but unassuming office administrator at West Norton Publishing. After hours, she becomes their most sought-after, prickly romantasy author, Rose Weir, who guards her words as fiercely as a dragon guards its hoard.

Plans threaten to go tits up when West Norton hires Emma’s former university crush to be Rose’s new developmental editor. With a publishing date looming, Emma is forced to face her oldest wounds.

Following a prolonged stress-leave, Daniel Rivers, a jovial editor, gets offered a role to help bring Rose Weir’s vision to life. He is keen to take on the challenge to move on after feeling stuck in life. By bumping into her only joy in life, Daniel meets Emma, his guarded coworker, who feels inexplicably familiar and more intriguing than she first lets on…

As their collaboration starts to blur the lines between personal and professional interest, they must untangle the precarious web of lies and their misaligned past to see if they have a future together.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication November 27, 2026

Reviews

[Merci · Rating 4 out of 5]

An office administrator at a publishing house leads a secret double life as a successful romantasy author, but her hidden identity is threatened when her new editor turns out to be an old crush.

This is a sweet, slow burn love story, with plenty of humour and the most pathetic, down bad love interest. Daniel is a yearner, a walking green flag, who has never done anything wrong in his life, and I am prepared to die on that hill. Emma is a deeply relatable protagonist, if not always likeable, messy in a refreshingly human way. If you're a fan of workplace romance, office banter, and grumpy/sunshine pairings, you'll enjoy this one.

[J.B. Thwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a lovely, feel-good book. I read and enjoyed it in one go yesterday. I could probably nitpick and complain about some small detail in it (I had a few tiny personal grievances that weren't even the sort I'd bother naming since they're just subjective pet peeves), but really, the truth is I had a great time reading it. It's just fun to watch two people falling for each other, oblivious that the other one's falling just as hard.

Thank you so much for the ARC. I much appreciated the chance to just escape and forget the rest of the world for a bit.

[Dani Tukker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitly one of my new fav reads, i loved how relatable the FMC was to me and i could see myself in her very much. Also the MMC is something else, i better start widhing for my own nerdy boyfriend with muscels like his. Everyoneee deff needs to read this

[Ciara Michelle · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

This is a very cute love story. Emma and Daniel are adorable. It is definitely a slow burn and the main characters constantly denying themselves the love they want.