I think this book made me like baseball?! I loved it and binged it over the weekend! I was so invested in the characters and the story; I could not put it down! I love this author and adored her last two books! Highly recommend!

This is my third book by Alicia Thompson and all of them are five stars in my opinion! A baseball romance publishing the week of the College World Series — if that wasn’t on purpose, the stars definitely aligned for this one! I was already in my baseball era in reality so listening to this while watching baseball was a real treat! Kristen Sieh knocked it out of the park! (Pun intended) I laughed so much from the banter and Kristen delivered it all flawlessly!

Daphne is getting divorced and the one petty thing she can keep in the settlement are the two tickets to a Major League Baseball game. The only problem is Daphne does NOT follow sports. She tries to follow along but ends up heckling a player from the home team. Chris Kepler is having a rough day so the words that would usually roll off his back hit him right in the feels and he proves that sometimes there is a little crying in baseball. Daphne feels bad, reaches out to him on social media, and he actually responds! They build a rapport but when Daphne gets hired by the team with her identity as the heckler known, she doesn’t know how or when she’ll be able to tell Chris that she’s also the person he’s been talking to online. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out or a walk off win in the bottom of the ninth?

this one is hard to review - i really enjoyed the writing and the characters, but having that huge lie hanging over most of the story was really difficult for me. the author builds the tension well, but i had a hard time with the female lead because of everything. it just took away a lot of the fun!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! I really enjoy Alicia Thompson, and this book had some great elements, but overall I was just too bothered by the catfishing and miscommunication trope in this book to truly enjoy the other elements. Alicia Thompson is great at banter and inner dialogue. She writes lovable and relatable characters. But with how long the catfishing went on - and this was flat out catfishing - I was just too bothered, leaving me mostly annoyed at the FMC Daphne. Yes, she had her reasons, but it was not good enough and distracted from their very sweet romance. I just feel like these characters could have shined without that plot point, but I am not the writer. Also, this book took me a long time to read, and though I have stuff going on in my life, this also shows me it wasn’t one of her best if I was struggling to finish it. To be clear, Thompson’s writing is great and I do recommend this book for fans of her, but again, TOO MUCH CATFISHING.

Despite being a baseball hater, I loved this book! I could deeply relate to Daphne in all her thoughts and choices, and I really loved Chris' vulnerability with her as both Duckie and Daphne. This is a great bingeable summer romance!

I loved this book so much! The pen pal "You've Got Mail" aspect was very fun and their banter over text and in person was fantastic. I enjoyed the baseball aspects of the book and that we got to see some play. Daphne and Chris had amazing chemistry and both characters were likable while also being complex. The writing was witty and also covered some heavier topics. I am absolutely obsessed with this book!

This was great! I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by Alicia Thompson, so I was happy to get my hands on this ARC (even though I totally messed up my deadlines and read it a bit later than I meant to!)
I loved the humor and the lightheartedness that meshed with some heavier themes. I love when romcoms have something beyond the surface and I felt like Daphne and Chris truly connected before actually having a physical relationship. I loved that it was both light and heavy at the same time.
The miscommunication thing can drive people crazy, but I feel like the conflict worked and I enjoyed watching it all unfold. I wondered how it would all go down and I was super engrossed. The characters were likable and I flew through this book. I highly recommend it and I can’t wait to read more from the author because I’m clearly a fan at this point!

Daphne is freshly divorced and while not a fan of baseball, goes to a game and has a few too many beers, eventually heckling one of the players, Chris, with a Winnie the Pooh line…and he ends up crying. She’s now the viral heckler and to smooth things over, she’s hired by the team to interview Chris. But what no one realizes is that she’s also behind the anonymous account named after her nickname Duckie, developing a connection with Chris through their messages. A tricky situation that can easily strike out, proving there *is* crying in baseball.
Some parts of the story I really loved (gave me big A Cinderella Story vibes with the texting/mystery) but I did struggle with some of the disjointedness between the Duckie period and Daphne period of Chris’s life, not to mention the heavy topics (TW: suicide) that were kind of passed over. Would’ve liked to learn more about Chris and his brother and why no one seemed to know about his death.
Thank you to Berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Art of Catching Feelings is the story of a woman at a baseball game (Daphne), a few drinks in, who heckles a player in a slump (Chris). It turns into a thing so she attempts to apologize over instagram but fails to explain she is the heckler so they just start chatting. Yup, you can see where this is going…. Because oh yeah, she gets hired by his team and he doesn’t realize she is the same person he has been texting. Let me be clear, I hate miscommunication and stories centered around people not being open. But something about this story really struck a chord with me. Chris’s slump was due to a recent tragedy and his mental health was in shambles. Daphne was trying to regain her footing after a divorce. The two of them were just inherently likable, their banter was off the charts and they just felt like real people caught in this awkward situation. And the baseball bits were fun and not over the top and made for a perfect sports romance. All in all, it was a sweet summer romance that I flew through and really enjoyed.

⚾️ The Art of Catching Feelings ⚾️
Alicia Thompson
#BerkleyPartner

I was so excited to read this one! I haven’t read a lot of baseball romance and the concept of the heckler and the heckled coming together sounded fun! I really enjoyed this one. I know that the secret identity and lying is going to cause issue for some of you, but it did give me some You’ve Got Mail type vibes….I mean I wish she would have told him sooner than she does. The way this all wrapped up is what made me more ok with it in the end and oh the angst and spice was HOT I liked the texting conversations that happen between Daphne/Duckie and Chris. Overall, this is a great twist on a baseball, secret identity, workplace romance that I think a lot of you would enjoy!

After drunkenly heckling a baseball player whose emotional reaction goes viral, Daphne reaches out to apologize on Instagram, sparking a friendship that evolves into a friends-with-benefits relationship, complicated by her new job with the team and her uncertainty about revealing her identity.

Read if you vibe with….
⚾️ Baseball Romance
🤫 Secret Identity
💬 Texting
🎤 Workplace Romance
❣️ Friends with Benefits
🔥 Slow Burn
💞Dual POV

Daphne Brink is not a baseball fan at all, but she ends up at a Carolina Battery game after signing divorce papers. After having a few drinks, she gets into the spirit of the game and heckles one of the players, literally driving him to tears.

Chris Kepler can’t believe he became emotional over a fan’s taunts. That never happened before, but he’s in a pretty bad state. He’s grieving and not playing the best baseball. When a fan named Duckie sends him a text message empathizing with him, he is quite receptive and begins a friendship with her. The unique thing is that the friendship is strictly through text messages, so he never comes face to face with her.

Meanwhile, Daphne gets a job with the baseball team. What Chris doesn’t know is Duckie and Daphne are one and the same person. What’s going to happen when the truth comes out?

I’m a huge baseball fan so I couldn’t resist this one. I’m always looking for some good fiction set to the backdrop of baseball. This is a good, solid romance, although I thought it took a bit too long for the truth to come out.

There were a few steamy love scenes. I was afraid Chris and Daphne’s chemistry would melt my e-reader. I liked both characters very much, even when I wanted to shake Daphne into coming clean with Chris.

The supporting characters were all portrayed realistically. I cared about them almost as much as I cared about the main characters. I could even see a sequel in the making.

This is the first book I've read by this author, but I'll be checking out her backlist. Overall, a hot romance with emotional characters you can truly care about.





FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book is a wonderful delight. You can feel the conflict coming a mile away but it doesn't really matter because you've fallen in love with these characters and want everything to work out for them. Daphne makes some really terrible choices but always in the name of saving someone she loves pain or putting herself first for once in her life. I think everyone is going to fall in love with Chris. This book was so much fun from start to finish and I hope everyone gets a chance to check it out!

Many thanks to Berkley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Read If You Like:

-Hidden Identity
-Mental Health Representation
-Sports Romance
-Friends w/Benefits
-Slow Burn
-Dual POV
-Workplace Romance-

The Art of Catching Feelings is a cute yet emotional romance following Chris, a struggling baseball player, and Daphne his one-time heckler. The tension between these two was SO GOOD!
I loved Chris and Daphne together but also loved them on their own. Felt very real in a sense like you know they are lasting past the book! Such a good read

This was such a heartfelt, swoon-worthy sports romance!
Daphne is a new divorcee who knows next to nothing about baseball. After having one too many beers at a game, she heckles Chris Kepler and makes him cry. She DMs him to apologize only to fail to identify herself as his heckler and when he responds, they strike up a friendship. When Daphne starts working with the team in real life she has a hard time dealing with her guilt and ends their online relationship.

Daphne and Chris were great together. Chris was a caring, cinnamon roll of a man struggling with loss and Daphne’s a bit of a mess but completely relatable.
I wasn’t always the biggest fan of her decision making but I couldn’t actually be mad at her. Their connection was so genuine and her fear of losing that was understandable.
The chemistry and angst were just so good!

I loved their text conversations as “Duckie” and Chris and how vulnerable they were with each other.
The mental health rep in this was so well done!
The closer they became, the more anxious I was for her to tell him the truth. I do wish he’d found out sooner but I was happy with how everything worked out because that ending was PERFECTION!

The Art Of Catching Feelings: ⁣
⁣
Thank you @prhaudio @berkleyromance for my gifted copies! #PRHAudioPartner #BerkleyPartner ⁣
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“If you love something, there’s no reason to deprive yourself of it. Love’s not a superstition. It’s not a game of failure.”⁣
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I’m sorry, but I thought I was the only one who felt this way about Fastball’s 90s banger? Are we like a kindred spirit Alicia Thompson? Also, my husband once told me in an argument that for a Communications major, I’m horrible at clear communication, so I’d like to invite Daphne to the same miscommunication/com major party. Hello. ⁣
⁣
If you take out the entire “I’ve been lying these entire time and can’t find a way to tell you” miscommunication/dishonesty trope, it’s a 5 🏃‍♀️ for sure. But the “just tell him already”s got very loud and very insistent, so we’re gonna knock it down a bit. Also, I feel like it someone is that sketchy in not talking in the phone. ⁣
⁣
The audio was amazing. Kristen Sieh has got the dubious husky male lead and male goofy best friend down pat. It was very fun listening to the different characters. This is a little bit tamale spicy, so as always, wear headphones if you must, or don’t. Do you boo.⁣
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Overall, I don’t do miscommunication tropes, but here we are, really enjoying and liking this one. Is The Art of Catching Feelings the exception to the rule? I believe so. ⁣
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Out June 18th.⁣
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QOTD: What sports team do you cheer for? Don’t do sports, that’s ok! What is your ideal snack?

The Art of Catching Feelings by @aliciabooks is a must read if you love sports romance or enjoy baseball.

⚾ Probaseball MMC
⚾ Broadcaster FMC
⚾ Secret Identity
⚾ He Falls First
⚾ Lots of chemistry
☕🔥🔥 Spicy
**There are also other sensitive subject content (please check trigger warnings).**

One night out at the ballpark will leave Daphne having to make amends. Is she able to show remorse for the damage she's caused? When the opportunity strikes she must decide if she'll reveal her identity or continue the charade.

Chris Kepler loves to play baseball but is still trying to work through a painful loss that sometimes gets in the way of his game. What will happen when a fan impacts his game?

This is a tender story about navigating through loss, overcome dissapointment, defeat, and finding a space to share feelings.

The way Alicia writes captures the tenderness and complex layers in the world of social media. Lines are blurred, trust is broken, and family expectations are challenged.

I can't wait to read her next book!

There is a lot to like about this book. To start, the male lead is a well rounded man, with emotional depth and compelling character. In other words, he’s not some postage stamp of a man. He’s got complexities, and I think seeing leading men like this in our romance novels is important.

I also found the other main characters to have depth, and I liked them all.

For me, though, the book moved slowly and I had to push myself through it.

In spite of my complaints about the book moving slowly, I think a lot of fans of contemporary rom coms, especially sports romances, will enjoy the depth of the main romance and the depth of the characters.

Thanks to @prhaudio and @berkleyromance @berkleypub for the #gifted ALC and eARC.

The Art of Catching Feelings
By Alicia Thompson
Narrated by Kristen Sieh

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall: 3.5/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 It’s written in third person dual POV, so one narrator works, and the narrator is a good storyteller.
🤩 Baseball romance!
🤩 I love how we start right away at the baseball game, Daphne celebrating her divorce.
🤩 The heckling is hilarious but brings all the feels fast with Chris’ reaction.
🤩 The storyline is captivating and so very cute.
🤩 The social media chatting/texting is very cleverly written as part of the plot.
🤩 The miscommunication/deceitful secrets didn’t bother me at first just built anticipation, excitement, and fun.
🤩 Lots of laugh-out-loud moments.
🤩 That first phone call. That first kiss—I’m a sucker for elevators.
🤩 Daphne and Chris are hot!!
🤩 Chris is total book boyfriend material—caring in all the ways. “Why don’t you want me to, sweetheart?”
🤩 Amazing friends.
🤩 The mental health representation.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 I think it might have been my limit when the miscommunication/deceitfulness went on way past the halfway.
🤩 Which is too bad because EVERYTHING else is perfect: the Sharpie drawings, the on-field and sidelines of baseball season fun, the steamy goodness and intimacy.
💫 Some actual practice (steamy goodness) after the time apart would have been good.

Thank you to Berkley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book did not do it for me. Right from the start I was more frustrated with the miscommunication and lies than intrigued to see where things go. The budding romance seemed almost immature for the age of the characters and it definitely turned me off. I ended up DNFing at about 80 pages in.

I love me an Alicia Thompson book! This was such a cute romance and it was just so easy to read. Overall I really liked the characters but I would say I was frustrated with the FMC times (a lot of times.) However, I did appreciate the character development and thought the pacing of the book was well executed. The story was entertaining and felt realistic. I would recommend this book to other romance lovers