Jennifer Hartmann always brings ALL THE FEELS! It’s been a minute since I’ve read a true YA romance, and I really enjoyed how Jennifer brought her keen and emotionally immersive depictions of love in the face of trauma to a story that’s also about growing up, and the big feelings of that first love.

Catch the Sun is the breathtaking love story of Ella and Max, former neighbors and childhood friends who reconnect a decade later after Ella moved away. Now she’s back in town, neighbors yet again with Max. But life has radically changed, innocence lost. Ella is confront the grim reality of her brother’s death sentence, and Max is facing his own demons as he deals with his father’s alcoholism and his mother’s absence. Raw and gutting challenges, all confounded by the pressures and trials and drama of being high schoolers. Particularly for Emma, who is ridiculed and harassed by her peers because of her brother’s actions.

Childhood friends to lovers always steals my heart, and Jennifer gives us a gripping and hearthitting love story while we also get to see Ella and Max figure out themselves in a big world that hasn’t always been kind to them. Both of these characters really captured me- they’ve been dealing with a lot, faced true tragedy and pain, and shown up for each other in ways that are really beautiful. I love how their relationship evolved, their connection, the tenderness between them. It gave me all the nostalgia of being a teenager- the big feelings, the big drama, the heaviness of the lows and the soaring of the highs. How important it is to have your person- someone who sees you and gets you and understands you. Their chemistry is just really pure and sweet.

The story did start a bit slow for me, and given the storyline of course the burn is also slow. I enjoyed the second half much more. And I loved how despite it being a book with younger characters Jennifer brings the full gamut of the emotional intensity she always brings to her stories. There is tragedy and pain, but there is also a healing and beautiful love story that traverses it all. And in the end, I found it really sweet and charming.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom/Sourcebooks for this ARC in exchange for and honest review.

This is an emotional coming of age story that will have you feeling every emotion! I love the relationship between Max and Ella. I did wish for more information in a couple areas of the book but overall this was a heartbreakingly beautiful story.

Yet another book by the great Jennifer Hartmann that absolutely destroyed me!! She has this amazing talent for creating these deep characters with complicated storylines that have you completely captivated, falling in love with them, and breaking your heart all at once. Before slowly putting you back together piece by piece and staying with you long after you are finished reading.

Ella and Max are my new favorite characters! They meet as young kids and are inseparable until the day they are heartbreakingly separated for 10 years. Reunited again after Ella moves back after a terrible tragedy, the two are immediately drawn to one another again although it takes them a bit to rekindle their friendship.

Ella is carrying the terrible burden of her brother's actions and Max is the head of his household who has to take care of everyone. The burdens that heavily weigh on them are also one of the reasons they are pulled together. They really support and accept one another despite their present and past circumstances.

The ending of this book was a difficult and emotional one and definitely one that I felt Max and Ella deserved. The story was flawlessly written and another Jennifer Hartmann book that will stay with me for a long time. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next!

Jennifer Hartmann really knows how to evoke all the emotions in one book! She is brilliant and I always always look forward to her books.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Jennifer Hartmann could never disappoint me. Her books always make me cry somehow and I eat up every word of them. I HAD to go out and buy a physical copy of it for my shelf. It was a NEED

This book was such a beautiful love story! Normally with romance and the characters still in high school, I tend to stay away from but with it being from this author, I knew it would be good to go. I was right. Once I started reading, I kind of forgot about the high school thing until it was mentioned by one of the characters. The characters are definitely unique.
With Max, he's a twin, the loner, the one that doesn't really get to enjoy life like his twin does. He doesn't go out and party or do most things teenagers do in high school. His priorities are focused on more of taking care of his dad and keeping the house together. He's never been interested in a girl until Ella came back into his life. He saw her when others didn't. He saw her sunny side even when she didn't. He has this charm about him that just makes you want to root for him and love him even more or at least I thought so.
Ella is a little more complexed than most teenager girls. She's the outcast and the one that no one really sees. Her brother's actions and where he is, hangs over her head. It's all anyone can talk about. She just wants to be left alone but that doesn't happen. Brynn is a happy cheery girl who makes sure you know she is always around. She pushes Ella to do things and with that, she gets to see Max. Max saw her when others were treating her like scum. He was patient with her and showed her how love was possible in her life.
This book will take you on roller coaster of emotions and keep you hooked on it until the very end! So many things happen in this book that you can't even believe it actually happened.. I seriously loved this book and the characters in it..I mean other then McKay and Jonah...

Jennifer….love…why must you hurt me like this? Why must you make me feel these feels? This is starting to feel like an abusive relationship after Still Beating, June First, and Older. Rude.
First off, I would categorize this one more as N/A than Y/A, because it can get pretty heavy/graphic/explicit. This one has a similar progression as June First, where they start out young and progressives from there. Be sure to check the trigger warnings in advance.
Max is so perfect and he loved Ella so hard and so well. I feel like these two could never catch a break, though. There were twists and traumatic surprises that were incredibly heartbreaking, so make sure you’re not in a really heavy place mentally, when you start this book. The first half of the story is a little slow, but it’s necessary relationship building and then the second half is warp speed. My only gripe is I would like to see more of their HEA, but that’s always my gripe with books like these.

Random thoughts while reading:
* F*** you, Dr. Pepper!
* I’m not sure if I like McKay
* My heart breaks for Jonah
* Ella is a feral cat
* Omg family dinner soothed my soul
* Kids, if you get an ominous bad gut feeling that something awful is going to happen if you do what you’re about to do, trust your gut
* I definitely don’t like McKay
* This book has a really great representation of trauma and healing. It doesn’t just go BAM, okay over it
***Spoiler ahead***



Okay, but DID Jonah kill his gf and that guy? It’s super ambiguous and just because he shot Mckay doesn’t necessarily mean he was capable of killing his gf. I think cheating gf and guy who tried to rape your baby sister and then let her fall off a cliff and left her for dead, are two drastically different levels of “motive”. JENNIFER. I need to know. Please.



Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the DRC and allowing me to provide my honest review

Wow!!! This was such an emotional book! I literally was sobbing! Absolutely loved and recommending to everyone!!

“Kissing you feels like catching the sun.”

Goodness. I say it every time, every single time, I always think Jennifer Hartman is at her BEST and then she goes and tops it. And this book, this incredible story of love was that. Max and Ella made their way into my heart and have quickly become one of my favorite book couples.

Ella is quirky and such a real, tangible character. I related to her in a lot of ways. She’s been to hell and back and for that reason she has a lot of walls up. But yet she stood her ground with people. She didn’t cower down or let people walk all over her. Still she struggled inside. Damaged bits of her she thinks won’t be fixed, can’t be undone. Different times I found myself screaming at her to let someone in! That she’s worth it! That’s how you know it’s a great character when audibly yelling at them 😂

And Max. Max is the greenest of all green flags. He can do no wrong in my book ever. Ever. Equally he has been through a lot too, and yet he still tries to help the ones he cares about. Not caring or thinking of what he needs, willing to make sacrifices time and time again. He had me kicking my feet and squealing in the cute moments. And then the level of care, love and respect he shows, was absolutely breathtaking.

This was such an emotional roller coaster of a book that had me crying, sobbing more than once. But it was such a beautiful story, and made up for any emotional damage endured 🧡

Go read Max and Ella’s story and fall madly in love with them!

Thank you so much to @author.jenniferhartmann and @valentine_pr_ for the opportunity to read this arc. It’s something I’ll never take for granted getting to do 🧡

Two childhood friends meet again after a rough few years. They both have family baggage (Ella’s brother is on death row while Max’s father has disabled with a drinking problem) and neither have time nor want a relationship. Despite that, there is a pull between them that cannot be reckoned with. This story consumed me. The young love/ all the firsts, the character development, the plot twists and angst. I will never see the color orange the same way again.

Read if you like:
-mature YA (18+ characters)
-soulmates/ first love
-small town
-lists
-horses
-family drama

I’ve never been disappointed by a Jennifer Hartmann book, and this one is different! This is a wonderful story full of heartbreak, hope and love. I knew at some point my heart was going to get skewered by events, but the journey was well worth it in the end! I certainly will not hesitate to read the next book she writes.

Max Manning is what dreams are made of. Despite their age this story did not feel young. I fell in love with Max word after word and action after action just like Ella did. Their story began and ended only to begin again. Beautifully told. I had to remind myself I was reading a Jennifer Hartmann novel and im going to be broken soon before I can fully heal. She knows how to tell a real story, bruises and all and make it so beautiful and soul wrenching you crave more. Ella and Max both go through more trauma than any one deserves. Max brought Ella back to life just as much as Ella brought Max to life. Never forgetting each other and always finding their way back. I cannot say enough about how deeply invested I was in this story. I felt every emotion as if I was in their shoes. Amazing book by an incredible author.

If you are familiar with Jennifer Hartmanns other works, it’s not surprising this is another 5 star read. The emotions she manages to pull out of me is something few authors can do and Catching the Sun was no different. This story follows Ella and Max. Childhood best friends who lose their friendships due to trauma within their own families. The story follows them on their journey with finding each other again, into lovers and surviving their own battles with those close to them. Ella’s brother being on death row, convicted of murder, to Max’s Alcoholic father this book gets into a lot of emotion abuse from loved ones. So if that is a trigger for you, I’d be cautious. Otherwise if you want a beautiful written happy ever after, this is for you. I highlighted so many little phrases, but of of my favorite quote from this book is …

Don’t live every day like it’s your last. Live every day like it’s your first. Lasts are tragic. Firsts are exciting and full of celebration. Look at every sunrise like it’s the first time you’ve ever seen colors like that before. Listen to your favorite song like you’ve never heard such a precious melody. If you make every day a celebration, you’ll never get bored in your own story.

This book absolutely destroyed me and I mean that in the best way possible. This book had me feeling so many emotions. It was devastatingly, heartbreakingly beautiful.

I went into this book knowing nothing about the plot and I recommend everyone do so. Without giving anything away I just want to say that I was rooting for Ella and Max.. both separately and together. I felt their pain and their heartbreak but also their joy and wonder for the little things in life.

Max Manning will become everything you ever wanted in a boy and Ella will become a beacon of hope.

I also want to say that growing up Winnie the Pooh was my favorite show and a childhood staple so the references mean so much to me personally.

I highly recommend this book but fair warning- prepare for the rollercoaster of emotions and the fact that you will continue to think about this book long after you’ve read it.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom Books and the author for an arc of this book for my honest review.

In true Jennifer Hartmann fashion, this book slowly cracked at my heart until it completely shattered it. But then it put it back together. There is trauma, heartbreak, friendship & love. I loved it.

I teared up at the end and I NEVER cry so yea 5 stars.

I would classify Catch the Sun by Jennifer Hartmann as more “new adult” than “young adult” as sex is a heavy theme in this novel. The sex in the novel is both healthy and unhealthy, physical and emotional. In my head, kept telling the characters that they both needed to go to therapy. Overall I enjoyed the novel, understanding the impact of grief and betrayal.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC

I love Jennifer Hartmann’s books and writing style. While this book is marketed as a YA, I don’t think it should be. The characters are in high school, but the content of this book is definitely not for YA readers. There are heavy content warnings in this book; which goes along with this author’s writing style and I love it, but I don’t think it’s a book for the YA audience. With that said, as an adult reader, I really loved this book and loved the characters.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Jennifer Hartmann can reach my heart like no one else. I have not yet come across her book that would leave me without a broken heart and a whole range of emotions.

Catch the sun stands out from Jennifer's previous books. It's more youd adult and it's not that dark. At first, a slow burn focused on Ella and Max's relationship. But there emotional damage begins and accompanies to the very end.

For the whole book I felt like going inside and hugging Max. No one deserves a bigger sunny hug more than he does. I also wanted to go in and hug McKay because the psychology of this character goes much deeper and you can read a lot from him between the lines - his plot broke my heart. And Ella went through so much in such a short time that she deserved to catch the sun most of them all.

Ella and Max's relationship was something absolutely beautiful. Their friendship and getting to know each other in the worst possible moments of their lives was a beautiful but also painful journey. This relationship developed naturally, had ups and downs - but it was unique and beautiful. As always with Hartmann's books, I marked the passages like crazy (and for the first time in my life I did it in ORANGE). I love the way Hartmann tells painful stories, and it wasn't different here.

List of what I love most about Catch the sun:
☀️ Max and everything related to him
✨ quotes micro-trope
☀️ emotions - this book destroyed me emotionally, like any Hartmann's book
✨ Ella's strength to overcome everything 🧡
☀️ devastation and heartbreak because of McKay 😭
✨ JENNIFER'S WRITING STYLE - no one can reach me like that with a few words put into sentences, NO ONE
☀️ Jonah's secret
✨ Winnie the Pooh 🧡
☀️ Max's lists 🥰

Who doesn't enjoy a good book that, in the end, has the power to both shatter and put you back together. The most genuine friends-to-lovers book I've ever read was this one. Ella & Max = Chef's Kiss!

My favorite quote:

"Don't let me go, Sunny. Don't ever let us go."

This was my first Jennifer Hartmann book and it did not disappoint. This book left me feeling all the emotions. It broke my heart, put it back together and broke it again. I fell in love with the main characters and was rooting for them the entire time. This book was amazing. Thank you so much for the ARC 💕