The Art of Catching Feelings (26 in 2026 #8)

Author: Alicia Thompson
Title: The Art of Catching Feelings Publisher: Berkley Date Published: 06/18/2024

Read Dates: 04/19/2026- 04/21/2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Art of Catching Feelings is a dual POV sports romance. Daphne is attending a baseball game with her best friend after finalizing her divorce and gets a little too overenthusiastic with the drinks AND the heckling. Chris is a player dealing with a devastating personal loss, and one of her comments hits exactly the wrong way, bringing him to tears. The moment blows up, and a horrified Daphne reaches out on social media to apologize, but forgets to include that she was the heckler. All Chris sees is a sympathetic message from “Duckie” and he strikes up a conversation. It spins out of control when Daphne is given a temporary opportunity to work with the team, and she can’t figure out how to tell Chris that Daphne and Duckie are the same, but maybe she’ll never have to?

I am not a sports person but I am a “read anything Alicia Thompson writes” person, so I loved this. I wasn’t sure how any of it was going to work out, but I loved watching the story unfold. I loved seeing Daphne become more confident after her divorce and stop shrinking her dreams. I loved the positive mental health representation with Chris’s grief and anxiety. I’m so glad I read this one!

A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for.

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 he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. 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?