I love a sports romance and the cover of this had me running to request a copy! I was expecting to struggle with the third person POV but it was hardly noticeable and I loved the baseball side, something I don’t often read about!

This was such a charming and witty story, really fast paced and although there was a bit of drama between the main characters I was still hooked!

Not only am I the biggest romantic reader, I’m the biggest Hallmarker girl too, so I am more than used to suspending all rational reality when I watch and read my favourite films and books but I have to say even for me this story was a *little* far fetched, like you know it’s intense when even I find myself saying ‘I just don’t think that is even possible’ 😅

But in saying that, I loved this!! I thought it was so fun, I really liked both main characters and their stories and even though I found my self cringing at how in disbelief I was at the way the story was going, I actually even enjoyed that. Like it was kinda ridiculous and amazing and I really loved it!

Also I think this is maybe like my 4th baseball book of the year and I’m totally into it! I have legit no idea how it works but it’s fun to read about in books!

Do you guys that have Baseball (because I really don’t think we have it here?!) have the outside game you play as a kid called Rounders? Because I’ve always thought they kinda seemed like the same thing…let me know if you know if they are 😂

If you’re looking for a really fun and intriguing friends to lovers, mistaken identity read then this is for you!

From the Blurb -
Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.

Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but when a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.

Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?

*ARC from NetGalley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

book: the art of catching feelings
author: alicia thompson

i was a little bit cautious going into this because i was not a huge fan of “love in the time of serial killers” by the same author, but i LOVED this book! it was such a fun read. The miscommunication trope was definitely there, which i usually hate, but it actually worked super well in this book. did i want to shake the FMC multiple times? yes. but did it add to the reading experience? absolutely.

read if you enjoy:
🧡 sports romance
🧡 dual POV
🧡 hidden identity
🧡 friends to lovers
🧡 mental health rep
🧡 baseball romance
🧡 text messages on page

i’m super ill at the minute so catching up on reviews, i thought i reviewed this months ago 🤦🏻‍♀️

(thank you so much to @what_emreadnext for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 🫶🏻)

I found the writing style easy to read. The chapter legnths were just right. However, this book just wasn't for me, I didn't enjoy the story line at all, and I didn't gel with the main character in order for me to enjoy the book.

Oh man! Why did I leave this on my shelf for so long! What a brilliant book. Swoon worthy. Banter. Just dreamy. Loved both the MCs. A definite new fave author

Firstly, a big thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Net Galley for the ARC.

This was a 4⭐️ read for me. I think this is a great sports romance and definitely a welcome change from the usual sport choice of ice hockey or American football.

Okay, I have to rip the plaster off straight away - I really wasn’t on board with the whole ‘catfishing’ element of this story. Daphne definitely let it get too deep with Chris and should have told him the truth as soon as she realised her apology didn’t make it into her original message to him. This is a serious character flaw for Daphne because a. She knows how much Chris is struggling and b. She’s lying to his face every time she sees him at work.

If we separate the online situation from their real life relationship, then we can focus on a real friendship turned relationship developing. I think they are quite sweet together and they became quite the support system for one another. I’m glad they resolved things once the truth came out about her online identity.

I loved Chris; a character that truly brings awareness to men’s mental health. Chris has a lot of personal struggles paired with not feeling like he’s good enough at the sport he loves. It’s clear he develops this online situation with Daphne out of loneliness and that definitely hurts one’s heart to see. It’s great to see him finding his feet and getting his stride back as the book progresses. Daphne is also dealing with personal struggles and is trying to find her feet post divorce and her friendship turned relationship with Chris really helps her with her personal growth.

Ultimately this book is a romance-filled yet emotional read with a great sports element (and spice) that is a perfect read for any sports romance lovers (if you don’t mind the miscommunication trope).

I have mixed feelings about this one. As a romance there were some great moments, but they were overshadowed by her lying throughout the whole book, and that’s hard to look past. Sometimes there’s a sort of valid reason for lying between the characters and you can understand it, but it felt like Daphne was just being mean and dishonest and the fact that he was grieving a loss made that ten times worse. I’m glad they managed to work through it and get their HEA. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher.

I really enjoyed this read. I love a sports romance and know nothing about baseball so found it interesting reading about that. I really liked the 2 MC, the accidental catfish storyline was really well thought out and written well.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of the ARC

Another great book from this author! I absolutely loved it! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

The book follows Daphne who just got divorced and her life is rather messy. She goes to a baseball game, gets drunk and heckles one of the players on the team, Chris Kepler. The next day the video of her heckling and Chris crying becomes viral and she is ridden with guilt and reaches to apologise to Chris via his social media. Yet, only after she sends the message she realises that she didn’t include her name or that she was a heckler. As their friendship online heats up, Daphne starts working for the team in real life. How long she will be able to keep her two identities separate?

I adored Alicia’s first two books, so when I saw that this was her newest release, of course, I had to read it. However, as much as I loved the past books, this just didn’t hit the mark for me. The writing and the story were great, but I think I just didn’t like the fact that it was centred around baseball and I don’t understand nor like baseball. Also, although it was a quick read, I just couldn’t connect with the two main characters. For me, they didn’t have any chemistry apart from physical lust for one another. Also, some aspects of this book were a bit too unrealistic, which not only made me cringe but also made me rather bored.

I definitely wanted more depth with the characters, which I felt I hadn’t got in this romance. I also didn’t appreciate the main heroine lying to the main male characters throughout the book for no apparent reason. In all romance did feel a bit toxic and miscommunication was there from the very first pages.

This book didn’t convince me to like the main characters, especially the main female character. I also didn’t like that it was about baseball and the fact that the main couple didn’t have any spark or chemistry besides sexual attraction. Sadly, it’s a big miss for me.

I really enjoyed reading this. I loved Alicia’s previous books so I was excited to get to this. I’m not necessarily a baseball fan but it was fun to have a different sport in the sport romance genre. I loved the characters so much and their depth. I wasn’t sure how exactly they’d get over the big lie but it worked out really well!

Really enjoyable read, the premise of the novel is a little far fetched - a woman heckles a baseball player and then ends up apologising for her actions on social media. A white lie becomes a bigger problem when she is employed by the team and ends up falling for the player that she originally heckled. Both characters have had to overcome trauma - a divorce and a family bereavement and its a lovely HEA for two souls that have lost their way a little in adult life. Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced copy

I enjoyed the book, particularly the "You've Got Mail" concept where the couple falls in love through online messaging. I appreciated how their connection developed over time. However, I did find it frustrating that she kept lying almost until the very end of the story.

sport romance? hell yeah
Baseball? yeah

This was fun! To be fair, I do love a good messy romance.
Only thing is that the main female character was lying until the very end of the book but i did enjoy it overall-

A fun read. After Daphne upsets Chris at a ball game, her apology goes wrong. Soon they are friends and more, but what will happen when he finds out the secret she is keeping?

After reading With Love, from Cold World and absolutely loving it, I was excited to start Alicia Thompson’s next novel. Sport romance? I’ll read it all. In ‘The Art of Catching Feelings’, baseball player Chris Kepler is heckled at a game resulting in him getting upset and causing a bit of a stir in the media. Said heckler, new divorcee Daphne Brink was drunk and wanted to fit in with the sports loving crowd. She ended up saying some silly joke she came up with but reality soon hit when she witnessed Chris’s reaction.
Following this, Daphne decides to DM Chris, apologising for the heckling but not quite admitting her part in it all, deciding to remain anonymous in her messages. Low and behold Chris reads this message and the pair spark up an easy back and forth talking about anything and everything.
Meanwhile, Daphne’s sister-in-law Layla is experiencing complications in her new pregnancy and has to step back from her position as interviewer for the Carolina Battery media team. She decides that bosses should take advantage of the media attention and recruit Daphne to become the new interviewer. In real life, encounters between Daphne and Chris are awkward and frosty but through social media their relationship is heating up.
These two separate relationships progress differently until a penultimate discovery is made towards the end of the book.
I enjoyed this book, but there were times I felt bored and like nothing was progressing or taking place. I think Thompson discussed some serious topics very well including suicide, grief, anxiety and finding yourself after ending a long term relationship where a spouse was critical and dismissive. In all of her novels, Alicia always weaves important topics flawlessly.
As a couple there was chemistry between Daphne and Chris but it almost felt disconnected at times.
I look forward to Thompson’s next release. Thank you for the eARC!

This novel was swoony, fun, sexy and exciting. I enjoyed the characters and the journey they went on together. A fantastic read!

This book was so much fun!!

I loved getting to know Daphne and Chris and see them find happiness together after a rough year. Neither of them was in a happy place at the start of the book and it was so heartwarming to see them find comfort and understanding in each other.

I sometimes struggle to really enjoy the hidden identity trope but I had a great time reading this book. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that the revelation wasn’t left until too late and we actually got to see them happy for a little while after they got back together.

Overall, a really enjoyable read whether you know anything about baseball or not (like me lol).

I was really excited to read this book after seeing it around on social media a lot.
Unfortunately I have to stop reading halfway through. I couldn’t get pass the fact that the female main character was such a narcissist and very unlikeable person. I just didn’t want to see her being mean and annoying all over again.

Very grateful for this opportunity to read and review to the publisher.

Daphne is reeling after finally signing her divorce papers so getting drunk at a baseball game seems like a good way to blow off some stream. The tickets were originally for her and her ex-husband, so she brings along her best friend for support, and to drive her home. While Daphne knows nothing about baseball, she does know a thing or two about wordplay and she finds herself swept up in the crowd, and begins to heckle a few players, she just didn’t expect one of them to hear her.

After the game when Daphne sobers up, she decides to reach out to the player she heckled to apologize and explain herself. However, she unfortunately forgets to include the piece about who she is and surprisingly, he responds. Soon, they are texting non-stop, and she’s really starting to develop feelings, but he has no idea who she is.

This was so unhealthy. I truly felt like the way Daphne acted throughout this entire book was narcissistic, and just plain mean. She played with a man who was grieving the loss of his brother, and consistently lied and put her feelings above his. I will go a long way to believe in a romance trope, but catfishing and lying was too far.

I love this author’s other works and really wanted to enjoy this book. I enjoy the authors writing style, however, I couldn’t get past the plot.

Thank you NetGalley, Alicia Thompson, and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.