RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
SPICE: 🔥🔥

I’m always in my baseball era and I knew I was going to enjoy this one. Hidden identity when done right is a trope I absolutely love, and this one had a huge focus on that aspect of the couples relationship. You are going to have to love miscommunication trope though to get into this book though, because it’s a huge part of the book.

But you know what makes this book worth the read: CHRIS KEPLER. This man is swoony book boyfriend material and his vulnerability just drew me to this man like catnip.

TROPES
✨ Baseball Romance
✨ Hidden Identity
✨ Slow Burn
✨ Workplace Romance
✨ Mental Health Rep

Daphne and Chris “meet” when Daphne’s I’ll time heckling of the baseball star cause him to spiral. Feeling terrible she writes a letter of apology and the two connect only, he doesn’t know she is his heckler. Daphne starts falling for Chris and doesn’t want to hurt him by revealing the truth.

This book made me happy with the deep emotional connection Chris and Daphne formed but also stressed me big time knowing the secret Daphne was keeping.. Still the book was a good read, the spice was great (I did get a little pick that he still didn’t know who she truly was) and the ending was a great payoff.

What made this book was Chris though. The mental health rep was so good in this book and really added emotional depth. Chris was a top tier man and the ultimate book boyfriend.

Now, I am usually not a major sports romance girly, but I so enjoyed this fun, romcom! Any book that references both Theranos and my favorite book, The Phantom Tollbooth - you got me!

Overall, I loved the premise of this book - a heckler and a baseball player get together - both off and online. Like many, I don't love that dishonesty and hidden identity is the basis of the relationship, but this was still an engaging story, and I ended up enjoying it.

This book tackles some heavier topics, namely suicide and mental health, but handles them with care and nuance - and they truly are there are pivotal moments in character development - and not just thrown in for shock or minor plot progression.

I loved the dual POV and thought the audiobook was exceptionally done.

this was a super quick and fun read. it wasn't my absolute favorite but I had a fun time with the tropes that were included!

If there ever comes a day where I do not want to talk about Alicia Thompson books, I fear that means I will be dead.

The Art of Catching Feelings was such a phenomenal book. You should read it for the following reasons:
- it’s perfect
- Chris Kepler
- Chris Kepler’s butt

In all seriousness, Chris and Daphne’s story is so sweet. These two are both learning so much about themselves and watching the character development happen as their love story unfolds was one of the best things. This book deals with processing grief, moving on after divorce, friendships, family and some really good baseball. Alicia’s writing is so good that I genuinely forgot I was reading a book for a second and was rudely reminded that these are fictional characters.

I truly loved this book and could not recommend it more.

Thank you to Berkley for the ARC 🫶🏻

Yeah…this wasn’t it. In theory, this would be the perfect book for me. deceit. dishonesty. catfishing. whatever you want to call this book, it wasn’t true love. if we are 70% through the book and you’re still lying to the person you’re falling in love with (instantly, might i add) then it’s not my kinda story!

This was a quick, fun read. I enjoyed this while reading, but honestly, I wasn't as pulled into the relationship as I would have liked tobe. It was cute but nothing particularly special about it

I started this one and it just felt.... immature? She's heckling some dude, like grow up? And then he cries? It was just very cringe for me - we love a sensitive guy but this wasn't working for me.

Spicy, flirty, and fun! It was a fun take on a forbidden/enemies/friends to lovers romance. This book really combined a lot of tropes and it worked surprisingly well!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC and opportunity to review this book.

I love reading Alicia Thompson's romances and seeing each book get better than the last. I was weary of a sports romance and particularly a baseball romance because it's just not my thing but she made me a convert!! Baseball was firmly at the center of this story and as someone who has never seen a single game, I still understood and enjoyed myself while watching Daphne and Chris' story play out. As Nora Ephron's #1 fan, I simply cannot NOT read any You've Got Mail variation out there. This one was perfectly sweet, endearing, and human. In order for a You've Got Mail misunderstanding to work, you have gottttt to care about and empathize with the deceiver. Daphne is such a sweetie (big lovable Tom Hanks energy) that you can't help but preemptively forgive her for her sins. I personally have never been too crazy about Thompson's MMCs but Chris Kepler had big Emily Henry MMC energy, which is the highest compliment I can give a man. Thank you to this book for making me kick my feet with glee and being the reason I'll swipe right the next time I come across a minor league baseball player on a dating app just in case.

Alicia Thompson strikes again with this cute and emotional summer baseball romance!

When Daphne Brink goes to a baseball game with her best friend days after her signing her divorce papers, she gets drunk and heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kelper, who cries. Racked with guilt, Daphne slides into his DMs to apologize. But she forgets to do one thing: identify herself as the heckler. After going through an emotional and grief-stricken few months, Chris checks social media and sees a DM from "Duckie" and responds. Soon Duckie and Chris are messaging each other constantly, sharing things about themselves they haven't shared with anyone else. But when Daphne gets a job with Chris' team in real life, and their feelings continue to deepen online, Daphne worries about Chris finding out the truth about "Duckie."

I'm a huge fan of epistolary romances, probably because I love You've Got Mail. So when I read the blurb for this book, I was already in. Having read Alicia's other two books, which I loved, I couldn't wait to read her spin on the epistolary trope. I think Alicia really knocks it out of the park. It was such a great premise. And just like in You've Got Mail, we watch Daphne and Chris fall in love online and in real life -- the best of both worlds.

Alicia does a great job of giving Daphne and Chris their own emotional journeys that they have to come to terms with in order to get their happy endings. It's also such touching how both of them help one another heal.

Now, if you're not a fan of lying/hidden identity, you might not be a fan of the premise. But, the book is so emotional and sweet, and you can't help but love Daphne and Chris.

It was the perfect summer read and I highly recommend. I can't wait to read Alicia's next book! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was not the book for me unfortunately. DNF about a quarter through because I couldn’t handle how ~ quirky ~ Daphne is. I couldn’t stop cringing at the opening scene of her reading at the baseball game and then getting drunk and screaming with the guy next to her. I’m not a fan of messy characters.

I have really mixed opinions on this one... I'm always looking for more baseball romances so I wanted to love it. But, I found this one easy to put down and walk away from. It's definitely not bad, but I wasn't obsessed like I wanted to be. However, I did like the way that the author handled sensitive topics.

This had a ton of promise - a heckler and the athlete she heckled in a You've Got Mail situation? What a fun concept! I had fun reading this book - it had the elements of sports romances I enjoy. However, it's only been a few days since I finished it and I've already forgotten pretty much all of it. It was fun, but nothing to write home about.

A woman strikes up a secret texting relationship with an MLB player who she heckled, only to land a job as the team sideline reporter, where she falls for him in real life. Chris and Daphne were both so easy to root for. Even though the reader KNOWS Daphne's dual personas are going to blow up in her face, you're on the edge of your seat hoping it all works out. know sports romance is popping off as of late, and I'm LOVING all of these baseball books. The details in this one had me craving a trip to my beloved Camden Yards. I think the third act break-up/conflict came too late. It didn't hit until about 80% in, and it seemed like it was resolved a little too quickly/easily.

Newly divorced Daphne attends a baseball game with free tickets her brother (who works for the team) gifted to her and her now ex-husband (who also happens to be his best friend) in a last-ditch effort to pair them back up. Daphne decides instead to take her best friend to the game, and after a few too many drinks, she fully gets into it and causes quite a stir when she decides to heckle the third-baseman, Chris Kepler, on the sidelines…and makes him cry.

Feeling guilty, Daphne decides to reach out to Chris on Instagram as DuckiesBooks to apologize, but in her state of drunkenness, neglects to identify herself to him. What follows is a budding friendship between the two, and then more…but Chris still has no idea she’s his heckler, which becomes even more complicated when her sister in law (who also works for the team) is put on bed rest due to complications with her pregnancy, and Daphne has the opportunity to join the team and fill in for her on air, opening up the possibility of an in-person friendship as her true self.

I really enjoyed the build up on this one. I liked the writing, the story itself, and the baseball involvement (even though I’m not a fan). I adored the Instagram relationship building, and then the in-person interactions made it even better. BUT. BUUUUTTTTTT…I absolutely hated that this book was majorly built on the secret that Duckie and Daphne were the same person and she was lying to him throughout a majority of their story. After all he’d been through, I just wanted her to be honest with him. This could have been a five star read if not for the lies.

This is another great romance from Alicia Thompson, perfect for hot summer days. This is emotional, sweet, and a bit spicy. You don't even have to be a fan of baseball to love this one!

This was a fun book, and I really appreciated the opportunity to read it! I will recommend this book.

Admittedly, I did not know anything about the plot of this going in. I saw romance, spice and sportsball, and that is generally enough for me.

Baseball is the only sport I know a bit about--I didn't play softball in second grade for nothing. And still, I do not find it interesting! As always, it does not seem to matter.

Anyway, this book has a two-sided love triangle, which is historically the only kind I like. But I guess I have never read one from this POV before? Or maybe I've never read one with this kind of stakes? I don't know. I just found myself getting SO ANNOYED with Daphne because why didn't she just freaking TELL Chris already?

But then I realized that I was getting so annoyed because I think I would have done exactly the same thing as she did? I would totally have messed up my initial DM without realizing it, and then not want to say anything because he's just saying thanks for the message, it's not like you're going to be involved with him. And then all of a sudden you're talking more and how do you tell him NOW? And then you meet in person and how do you tell him that not only are you this online person, but that the online person is a lie? At every step it just feels like you're in too deep now, and you keep hoping that things are going to somehow right themselves.

Is there a third-act breakup? Yeah, but you know it's coming the whole time. Because Chris is going to find out eventually, and you know he's going to be devastated. It's like this storm building throughout the entire book, and you're just waiting for it to hit.

It's so good though! Romantic and spicy, and I think Chris was meant to be grumpy but honestly I found him delightful.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Daphne is officially divorced and ends up at a baseball game. After a few too many drinks, she joins in with the heckler beside her not realizing that the players can actually hear her. When she heckles Chris as he goes up to bat, with a Winnie the Pooh reference, everyone is shocked when he gets emotional. She wants to apologize for her behavior and decides to send him a message on Instagram. Only the next morning when she reads back the message, she realizes she removed the actual apology part of the message meaning Chris has no idea that she's the heckler.

Chris has a secret. His brother passed away before the beginning of the season. He's keeping it to himself and not telling anyone. When he gets a seemingly random DM on Instagram he starts falling for the mysterious woman he's been opening up to.

Really enjoyed this one, it's more then a romance as Chris navigates through his grief. Recommended!

This book is great to read when you want a Sports RomCom! I really enjoyed the lighthearted touches but felt like this book really stuck with me when it talked about the loss of a family member and dealing with the aftermath.

Daphne was just trying to get over a divorce by enjoying a little heckling at a baseball game; she didn’t know that Chris would react so strongly to something she thought was harmless. When she realizes just how badly Chris Kepler took her joke; she decides to reach out to him on social media to apologize but forgets to mention she was the heckler!

I enjoyed the back and forth harmless flirting happening between Daphne and Chris but I was so irritated with Daphne! Like she had so many ample opportunities tell Chris the truth but decided to just keep it a secret until it blew up in her face. I wish she didn’t string Chris along. It felt really cringy when she kept the lie through most of the book. Especially when Chris was confused in his growing attraction for someone he knew ‘online’ while also falling for the new sports reporter for the team! Daphne had redemption at the end but it was hard to finish this book because of her. I wish she was not so complicated.