All in all, this romance was a lot of fun and entertaining. It made me smile multiple times and was quite endearing. If you're searching for your next sports romance, I strongly suggest this book!

I am really grateful to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review copy of this wonderful book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Daphne and her best friend attend a baseball game to cheer her up. She has been feeling down after her divorce, and a night out is bound to help her feel better. Maybe she should have laid off the beers because she ended up heckling the star player, causing him to have an emotional outburst in the middle of the game.

A sobered-up Daphne realizes her big mistake and ends up apologizing to him via ‘DM’ later without exactly explaining who she is. Now, she is working with the team and has to encounter him every day. The only problem is that he hates her because she is the heckler. How can she get him to like the real her?

The beginning of the relationship is very rocky. Daphne doesn’t know how to confess the truth to Chris. I really wish she had come clean sooner. It would have spared the drama and the ultimate pain. However, it was very fun watching them fall in love twice. They connect online and then finally in person.

I really didn’t know what to expect going into this one. Honestly, I’m not the biggest sports romance lover. Maybe it’s because I don’t actively watch sports a lot, though I find them entertaining. The author does a good job of meshing sports and romance without neglecting either.

Chris is the real reason I enjoyed the storyline. He is a masculine guy who has a lot of issues and is somehow very vulnerable and kind. The author really does a good job of peeling back the layers of his character. Daphne is the perfect match for him, as she has been hurt and deserves a loving man.

Overall, a nice read for sports romance lovers. I would pick up another book by the author.

The cover is A+ and I was so hoping to love this one, but I was easily distracted throughout it and I had a really hard connecting with our FMC. I love the dual POV, and I enjoyed seeing the characters work through their trauma and post divorce / death, but I didn’t really believe that a famous baseball player would chat with a weird IG name with barely any photos, and then it just felt like catfishing entire time when she should’ve said something so much sooner… I think lots of people will enjoy just wasn’t for me

4⭐️
2🔥
 
Quick Breakdown:
 
Baseball Romance
Workplace
Epistolary Vibes
Secret Identity
Cinnamon Roll Hero
Friends w/ Benefits
Divorced Heroine
Dual POV
Open Door – Mild to Moderate Detail
 
Thank you @berkleyromance for the gifted eARC and & finished copy & @prhaudio for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.
 
Shortly after signing her divorce papers, Daphne gets drunk at an MLB game & ends up heckling player Chris Kepler. Feeling awful & out of character, she DMs Chris to apologize, not expecting a response, but forgets to own up to the actual heckling. What comes about is an unexpected friendship & connection that only becomes more complex once Daphne starts to work with Chris’s team.
 
There is nothing better than finding a book that makes you rethink one of your least favorite tropes. I typically steer clear of miscommunication & I must be honest, there is a big undertone of that here. Daphne essentially catfishes Chris, although it’s genuinely unintentional. The events of the books felt so realistic, as if the circumstances could easily have happened to me & I couldn’t help enjoying myself. The romance was so soft & full of pining. I adored how Daphne & Chris seemed to help heal each other’s wounds from their previous emotional baggage.
 
Outside of relating to Daphne, Chris was a huge selling point. He is the BIGGEST cinnamon roll hero. Gimme more emotional men who wear their heart on their sleeve, please! He was equal parts hesitant to open himself up, but searching for the right person to open up to, & he found that in Daphne twice.
 
I listened to this on audio. It’s narrated by Kristen Sieh & I instantly became a fan. While this is told in dual POV, both parts are read by Kristen & I love how her voice sounds when narrating male voices. Something about it brought out how earnest Chris is & it had me hooked from the very beginning.

Daphne is having a rough day and is at the baseball game she was supposed to attend with her not ex. Of course she spends the game drinking beers which leads her to some heckling. But when she makes one player cry, Daphne realizes she may have taken things a bit too far. She reaches out to Chris after the game to apologize, only to accidentally leave out the part of the message where she says that she is the person who was heckling him. The two begin an unusual friendship, DMing back and forth through social media. But when Daphne gets a job working with Chris’s team, she isn’t sure how to tell him that she is Duckie, the woman he’s been talking to.

Miscommunication, or rather a huge omission is a big part of this story, so if that doesn’t vibe with you, take this as your warning. I did get frustrated with Daphne at times and wanted her to be honest, but it was not a deal breaker for me. Chris and Daphne were such a good match and despite their individual struggles, it was nice to see them slowly open up to each other and let their walls down. Chris in particular was the star of this book in my opinion. He was the sweetest book boyfriend of all time and I just wanted to give him a hug through most of the story.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This was a sweet story that I will recommend to those that love a sports romance. Also perfect for those that like a lead character with something realistic like suffering from panic attacks (as Chris does in this book). I am recommending this one to fans of romance (even for those who don't prefer a sports romance - I think they will find something to like here with Daphne and Chris). This was my first book from Alicia Thompson and I look forward to reading more from her.

Chris Kepler doesn’t wear gloves because he wants to “feel the bat” and I DON’T KNOW WHY I LOVE THAT SO MUCH.

About the book: Reeling from a recent divorce (and from one too many beers), Daphne Brink heckles professional baseball player, Chris Kepler. The heckling footage circulates all of the regional television networks, and partially due to her newfound infamy, Daphne becomes a temporary sideline reporter for Chris’s team, the Carolina Battery.

This book was really cute! There is a massive mistaken identity element, which can be a really tough sell. That kind of dishonesty really rankles me. Like, at one point in this book I said to myself “is this… unforgivable?” But I do think Thompson did a great job of bringing everything together in the end.

I gotta award bonus points for the phone call scene because that one’s going to be living in my head for a loooong time 🥵 After reading this and With Love, from Cold World I can confirm that Alicia Thompson knows how to write a steeeeaaamy scene!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC!

This started out so promising but it was really frustrating that Daphne wouldn't just say who she was. Letting it go on as long as it did was unnecessary and uncomfortable. That said, the baseball setting was fun and the banter between Chris and his teammates was good.

This was a fun read! As someone who loves a good messy romance, adding baseball into the mix was an absolute win for me. While some readers might not appreciate the heroine keeping her true identity a secret from the hero, I found that it added a lot of depth to both the plot and the romance, keeping me hooked from start to finish.

From the cover, I was expecting a lighthearted story, but the book also tackles some pretty heavy themes. I thought the author did an excellent job balancing these with the romance, creating a narrative that was both engaging and meaningful. The spice level was quite strong, which added an extra layer of excitement to the story.

The pacing of the plot was generally good, but I did feel that the characters developed feelings too quickly after just a few text messages. The author could have done a better job of gradually showcasing how Daphne and Chris fell for each other. Despite this, the chemistry and tension between Daphne and Chris made up for the rapid shift in their relationship.

All in all, this was a really fun and entertaining romance. It was heartwarming and brought a smile to my face several times. I would highly recommend this book if you’re looking for your next sports romance read!

The way this book gave me secondhand embarrassment for Daphne whenever she heckled Chris and he cried. If I was Daphne the book would’ve ended because I would’ve had to move to a new state and change my name. But that isn’t the point lol. The only reason I gave this book 4 stars and not 5 are because I hate when the main character is intentionally lying about something because they are afraid of the outcome. Also the fact that Daphne was so well connected and could just get a job on the team was super unrealistic. Other than that, I loved seeing Daphne and Chris’ relationship(s) develop and seeing both of them open up to each other.

After signing her divorce papers, Daphne just wanted to blow off steam. Unfortunately for Chris Kepler, the 3rd baseman for the Carolina Battery, that came in the form of heckling him during a home game. And with tears in his eyes, neither Chris nor Daphne will get to pretend it never happened. But when Daphne tries to apologize via DM, she accidentally forgets to identify herself as the heckler. As Chris and Daphne talk more, they begin to fall for each other - first in writing, then in real life. But the longer their relationship goes on, the harder it is for Daphne to fess up to being Chris’s heckler. When the truth comes out, both Daphne and Chris will have to decide if being together is worth the pain and sacrifice, or if they’ve struck out of love.

I have to say up front: I am not a baseball girl. While I enjoy sports romances in general, I’ve never been so eager to read a baseball one. But Alicia Thompson may have converted me.

I’ve loved Thompson’s previous books; With Love, from Cold World was one of my favorite reads of 2023. If you’ve loved her previous books, you won’t want to pass on The Art of Catching Feelings. I’m sure if you love baseball, you will love this romance even more, but Chris and Daphne’s relationship is so great on the page that non-baseball fans (or non-sports fans in general) will still find a lot to love in this book.

Thompson did include a good deal of baseball terminology and/or references within this story, but thankfully, Daphne is also clueless when it comes to the sport, so many things are explained or answered in plot. Readers can thoroughly enjoy Chris’s chosen profession without needing to know much about it.

One of my least favorite things about romances is the third act breakup. Of course, with a plot like this book has, I knew going in that Chris would inevitably find out that Daphne was his heckler. Knowing what would inevitably happen definitely made the last part of the book a lot easier to read, so even when I’m not a fan of the third act breakup, I actually didn’t mind seeing it here.

The Art of Catching Feelings was fun, had plenty of steamy goodness, and had more internal conflict than external. Thompson does include some heavier topics, especially regarding Chris, but it was all handled well by both the characters and the author. I really enjoyed this read, and it firmly placed Alicia Thompson on my auto-buy list.

Thanks to Berkley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I admit I'm struggling with this book and have finished about 50% before putting it down. I'm not really a fan of the deception from Daphne, the FMC and how she is KNOWINGLY lying to Chris, the MMC. I just can't see how they can have a loving, trusting relationship when it's all being built on deception. It gives me the ick.

I honestly don't know if I'll finish the book.

I completely devoured this book! I fell in love with Chris and Daphne and how their story evolved. The themes on grief and suicide of a loved one was written with care. I sometimes don’t like books with a secret that one character has on the other. However, I think it was done really well and I was satisfied with the ending! I appreciated that Daphne was able to connect with Chris as herself and not just as “Duckie” and stopped talking as “Duckie” when she became more serious with Chris. This was such a heartwarming, emotional, and fun book! Alicia Thompson is for sure an auto-buy author for me. Thank you Netgally for the ARC!

This was cute and sweet. if you love cozy romances it's a must! I loved every minute of it. A total must read!

This book was really not for me. And mostly that is on me, I think I wanted it to be something it wasn't. I wanted the drama or stakes to not be the heckle and her identity as the heckler. It didn't sit well with me that she had so many opportunities early on to tell the truth and move past it, and while he was being nothing but painfully honest and exposed with her, she chose to lie again and again. I couldn't get behind that premise.

Don't ask me why it took me a whole 6 weeks to get to chapter 8 and then devour the rest in about three hours. Maybe knowing the secret identity/deception was going to blow up their relationship and I just didn't want to experience that awkwardness? Perhaps. But now I'm kicking myself because despite that, the Art of Catching Feelings was an emotional delight.

Daphne Brink is in the post-divorce doldrums and a drunken night at a ballgame lands her in the spotlight for heckling one of the home team players, Chris Kepler, leading to his breakdown on the field. Horrified, Daphne DMs Chris later and apologizes but forgets to actually mention she's the heckler. Casual anonymous texting relationship blooms into a friendship, all the while Daphne actually lands a job with Chris' team. The secret relationship and growing in-person attraction come to heads when Daphne needs to decide when to come clean.

Like I mentioned, I had a hard time with the start because you just can see the cringey reveal of the secret identity and the ensuing conflict, but once I got over myself, I really enjoyed the story. Both Daphne and Chris are trying to find their footing after huge changes in their life, and figure out how to stand on their own two feet again, and their friendship and gentleness toward each other is delightfully mature and brings a nice depth to both of the characters. Thompson's writing is compelling and well-paced, even if the wait for Daphne to come clean was TORTUROUS (maybe just me?).

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and was particularly surprised at how tight this was in comparison Thompson's "Love in the Time of Serial Killers," which was just a meandering, weirdly-paced narrative that never gripped me.

I loved the premise for this one and enjoyed it well enough. However, I felt like Chris got attached too easily, and I didn’t really feel the initial spark/chemistry. I felt like a fly on the way rather than immersed in their relationship. Overall, both of them need to work on communicating their needs omg.

listen these two are hot as hell... and I enjoyed a lot of things about this book... I JUST WANT US TO STOP MAKING WOMEN GROVEL THATS A MANS JOB!!! support women's rights and wrongs!!! this book is a case of mistaken identity where she has every opportunity to clarity who she is but doesn't and it makes it incredibly hard for me to have sympathy for her and her situation and I'm sitting there the whole book waiting for everything to implode when it is so easily preventable that being said I do think this is an excellent romcom. excellent characters and excellent writing and EXCELLENT chemistry. I just cannot do entire plots built on something that could've been so easily communicated in the first chapter.

Thank you @prhaudio for the free audiobook #gifted, and Berkley for sending me a digital review copy.
I’m glad I waited a few weeks after finishing this book to write my review because I feel like I’ve needed time to process all of the feelings Alicia packed into her third novel. The way the story sets up - baseball player is heckled by fan, interaction goes viral, then in a twist she becomes the sideline reporter and the animosity is palpable – is so unique and on its own is fun. But then you have what happens behind the scenes, when the spotlights are turned off and Chris is just a man who is struggling and finds consolation from his online penpal (and bookstagrammer, you know the way to our heart Alicia), D. When reading (and listening) to this book, I found myself screaming at the characters about the impending metaphorical train wreck that everyone reading sees coming, and yet you have to watch it unfold in real time and experience the angst and fallout and romantic redemption.

If you like the secret identity element of “You’ve Got Mail,” paired with the full spectrum of emotions baseball elicits, with some honest discussions about mental health (specifically men), with some truly scorching romance woven in, I think you’ll enjoy The Art of Catching Feelings. It’s a book I can’t stop thinking about and am craving to read again.

As a lifelong fan of baseball and player of softball, this book was a refreshing take on sports romances. I found the the world of baseball that the author built to be believable and I thoroughly enjoyed the shout out to real MLB teams. The characters were relatable, charming, and fun. I had a great time reading this and wish more sports romances were written in a way that didn't take you out of the story when and if the facts of the sport in question weren't quite accurate.