I thought it was an amazing read. The author did a really great job! 4 stars and I would definitely read another book by this Author.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher Bold Strokes Books Inc.

Quite a few days late but, A big thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for approving me of a copy of an e-arc of this book!
A pretty good book! I genuinely liked it!

What a fabulous book. I love sports and it was clear the author knew a thing or two about softball which made this book all the more enjoyable,. This book was well written and there were some memorable descriptions which I'm going to borrow. Plenty of angst between Andy and Maya. I want to read more from this author.

ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇꜱ: ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀʏ. ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ. ꜱᴘᴏʀᴛꜱ. ᴄᴏʟʟᴇɢᴇ ʟɪꜰᴇ. ᴇɴᴇᴍɪᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀꜱ.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬:
The story was fine. At first I thought it was a toaster-oven story, those can be stressful esp if the to-be toasted is still in a relationship. Unnecessary angst, I tell you. Just leave that boy. I love single POVs, they keep the attention flowing in a single direction and that is always appreciated because my mind has this multitasking thing it does. The sports theme was really captivating, now I have never played or watched softball, I don't even know what it is though it sounds a lot like baseball. The intensity during some of the games led to better character development and understanding for me as a reader.

ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ:
This is going to sound weird but my favourite character is Emma. So, in another life, I see a book titled "Maybe this time" with Andy and Emma finding their way back to each other. Because I couldn't get past the "Our Emma" that the Alex squared called her. I could say more, especially that reconciliation scene, which by the way gave me more pleasure than the MCs' (just saying).

So the Andrea and Maya. I liked them. I liked their strength and vulnerability. I really liked the way they could communicate (when they chose to). I loved Maya's passion, it was a little extra when she used it wrongly but intriguing nevertheless.

𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙗𝙗𝙡𝙚:
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘌𝘴𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢, "𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦?" 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 "𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦." 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦.


𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘽𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.

Who doesn’t love an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story? I did not read the first book in this series and I definitely think this one can be read as a standalone.

Andy Foster knows she’s a good catcher and deserves to be the starter on her college team. What she doesn’t expect is to be named captain of the team as a sophomore. Andy doesn’t like to speak up and challenge others so she’s not sure why the coaches would pick her to be captain, especially on a team that has such a fiery outspoken pitcher as Maya Gonzalez. As the starting pitcher and catcher, the two have to work together if they’re going to succeed this season but they immediately butt heads and their past dislike doesn’t help. Before long they start to realize their assumptions might be wrong and there’s something more than just friendship between them.

I really liked that this wasn’t about either of the MCs having to completely change their behavior, instead they helped each other realize that both approaches were valid and had their merits. There were a couple of points where time seemed to jump a lot and this was a little disorienting while reading. I also felt like there were moments when the characters emotions changed too quickly and it impacted the believability. There was a good balance between the sports details and the romance.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and would recommend it to anyone looking for a New Adult sports romance.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Five stars. This was pretty amazing. It had everything I liked about the first book in the series, from the well-developed, realistic characters to the glimpse of the genuine struggles that university students face (religion in the previous book, sexism in this one) to the believable level of drama found in new adult relationships. This was a light, cozy read that made me a little melancholy every time I put it down, because then I was that much closer to having it end. I can't wait to see more from this author!

This was a fun story to read. I liked that the story featured a range of LGBTQ+ identities including the leading couple. I like the added drama of sport team dynamics and how that complicated their relationship in addition to the 'normal' drama that comes with starting a new relationship.

This is a cute wlw rom-com with some solid angst, obstacles, triangles and smut.

Catching Feelings does have the trope of saying the name of the book within its pages, if you get your kit off to that kind of thing.

I will say, some parts felt rushed. For example, some games we receive ample information but as the book progresses we get less and less information as we focus on Andy and Maya’s relationship. Why can’t we have both? It took away the sense of urgency and the driving force behind the characters and fizzled out.

So besides strengthening the background story to create more of a loveable team (what a League of Their Own did so well), there’s not much to fault.

Are they my favourite wlw book couple? No, I’m not huge on the miscommunication quote used over and over again paired with insecurity BUT they are still loveable.

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books for the NetGalley Arc.

Catching Feelings is another cute and interesting romance victim of miscommunication and over dramaticising .

Andy's life is a rollercoaster. She's hung up on her best friend for years, her father's health is slowly deteriorating, and against everyone's expectation she's nominated team captain. Now, she has to learn to be less of a pushover and rekindle herself with their best player, Maya, that for some reason hates her and who she totally doesn't have a crush on.

Don't get me wrong. I really liked the actual dynamic between the two girls and how willing the author was to explore flaws and details in each personality. Even supporting characters were very distinct and fleshed out and I have to give praise for that.

But where the book lost me was in the obstacles to them being together. While I'm aware that drama it's a big part of the romance genre, it just isn't my cup of tea, and I much rather when they lean towards lightheartedness.

Considering how many flaws and and humanity the characters carry, it wouldn't be hard for them to actually have issues and make mistakes while getting together, but everytime it all comes down to miscommunication and misunderstandings. I think the author could've been a little braver and made the issues actually be the characters fault.

But I love the overall themes of the story, and how casual the narrative was with representation (can't believe I'm actually typing this. Yes, it's not just screaming HEY LOOK WHAT I DID, as it should). Even if sometimes some discussions were a little too on the nose, a bit too much of having a character monologue about an issue instead of just showing that is an issue, it wasn't enough to bother me and I can really see room for this to develop really nicely in the author's future works.

Overall, it's not a bad book at all, just didn't rock my boat that much; and if you're a fan of passionate, drama fuelled romance, this is definitely the book for you.

Thanks for NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an advanced copy for review purposes.

Enjoyed the book. Catching feels introduces us to MC Andy, the catcher on the university softball team. She believes in a positive approach to everything due to caring for a sick father at home. When she's unexpectedly made the team captain, she has to deal with Maya, the team's best player, and Andy's crush. The story navigates through Andy's attraction to Maya with the softball season as a backdrop.
The leads are quite likable, though I did get confused with Andy oscillating between Maya and Emma. I enjoyed Maya as a character a lot.

'ARC provided by both NetGalley and The Publisher (Bold Strokes Books) in exchange for an unbiased review'

**'Narrative stories must be clear, has constructive dialogue, efficiency and believability but must also be inspirational and entertaining...'

3.5stars!
I did not read book #1 of this series so i cannot give any familiarity with those characters mentioned from that storyline in 'CATCHING FEELINGS' but it feels as if this book #2 can be read as a stand alone. The storytelling is fun, engaging and do read like a New Adult college love story -- surrounding softball practices, games and friends/other players. The overall feel to 'CATCHING FEELINGS' in a few sentence is this; girl (Andrea) has a crush on one of her teammate (Maya) who is their pitcher -- who interns projects this animosity towards Andrea/Andy but beneath all this dislike is that she is really smitten with her and also cares about what Andy thinks about her. And so here begins their unabashedly secret relationship.
After reading this story, I think the only character without a flaw was Alder University.
Additionally, both (Andy & Maya) justified their somewhat unique relationship in their own way because it made them happy because it might be everlasting, who knows, it's the college years.
A recommended book!

Andrea Foster never expected to be named the starting catcher for the Alder women’s softball team and in no universe would she have dreamt she would also be named captain. Superstar pitcher, Maya Gonzalez should be the captain, Andrea knows it and Maya certainly knows it. The more time the two spend together, the more Maya’s chilly demeanor starts to fade away and the crush Andrea had worked so hard to control, becomes something she can’t keep a lid on, even if she tried.

I have yet to read Ana Reichardt’s debut, book one in this series, Changing Majors. That is something I will soon rectify after reading Catching Feelings. There is an ease to her writing, and I was quickly drawn to Andrea, the adorkable lesbian who finds herself having to try to find her voice as the new leader of her team. She isn’t a natural leader; she isn’t charismatic and fiery like Maya is. The two balance each other out. Where Andrea calms Maya, Maya helps Andrea become more comfortable expressing herself. They are opposites in many ways but when they begin to really look at each other, they discover aren’t so different after all.


I don’t read a lot of YA novels, maybe because college was so long ago, I can hardly remember it. Reading this book made me feel wistful and long for those days of crushes and endless possibilities. Any book that evokes such emotions is one I will return to again and again. Catching Feelings is a wonderful sophomore effort by Ana Hartnett Reichardt. The characters are so relatable and their growth both individually and as a couple, was beautifully written. I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author. Her star has only begun to rise.

An ARC was received from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book was not for me. It was way too slow and I didn’t feel the chemistry. Not to mention the whole miscommunication thing went on for wayyyy too long. I have a thing about DNF books so I unfortunately finished it.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy for an honest review.

The starting catcher on a women’s softball team has to figure out how to connect with the fiery ace pitcher. This book is told from the POV of Andrea, the catcher, as she tries to figure out who she is as an independent adult. The book explores her complicated feelings about relationships, friends, family, school, and softball during her sophomore year in college. Her perspective felt very true-to-life and made me reflect on my own experiences at that age.

Maya, the pitcher, is not as well-developed and I found her difficult to get to know. Although this makes sense, given how Andrea also struggles to get to know the real Maya, it made the romantic relationship less satisfying than it might have been if Maya’s perspective were also shown. I did like how the two characters played off each other and how their differences led them both to question and improve themselves.

My biggest issue with the book was that there was a lot more telling than showing Andrea’s feelings, causing her to seem overly self-aware at many points. The author made a lot of interesting, nuanced observations about both Andrea and Maya, but I wish she’d trusted the reader to pick up some of the details from the characters’ actions rather than spelling everything out. The ease with which Andrea identified her problems and shortcomings was at odds with the more realistic sense of youthful confusion present in many scenes in the book.

The book also struggled with showing the passage of time and with creating a sense of tension in the softball scenes. Multiple important events were skipped over and only shown in Andrea’s memories, which further diminished the tension those events could otherwise have created.

Overall, I enjoyed this and think the author has a lot of promise.

I enjoyed this book to the point that I plan to go and read the other in the series. I thought it was a refreshing NA romance. Was well-written and I particularly enjoyed the banter between all the characters. The vibe fit college athletic team for sure. If you’re looking for a down to earth, NA sports romance this is definitely one to check out.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🏳️‍🌈👭⚾️

This book was everything. Friends to enemies to lovers. A case of misunderstandings. Cute. Queer. Everything. Lesbian rep, pan rep. Sapphic best friends. 💋 the disability and mental health rep was amazing to read. Andrea has hearing loss issues so wears hearing aids. She has anxiety and her father has MS. Maya is under pressure with the expectations of her family being the only girl in the family.

This is book number 2 of the Alder series, but I read this one first. I think the characters from the first book are in this one but they are minor characters.

Andy and Maya's relationship was rocky at the start but no doubt the sexual tension was there from the beginning, which is more explained as the book goes on.

I've decided that I really like sports books. Softball sounds fun. 🥎

The hotel scene was 🔥 🥵
So we're all the other scenes.

@ana_reichardt_author has become a must-read author of mine. BRB off to read Changing Majors.

Thanks to NetGalley and bold strokes books for a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review

Andy’s in her sophomore year at Alder U, and has just been promoted to starting catcher and team captain of their softball team. Only problem is that their temperamental star pitcher Maya Gonzales was expecting the team captain role to go to her, oh and the tiny fact that Maya cannot stand Andy might make this whole catcher-pitcher relationship uncomfortable. 👀

Okay so obviously the catcher-pitcher relationship is not the only thing that is bothering Andy, there’s also the delicious pinning that happens in this enemies to lovers / opposites attract romance. Even though the primary POV is Andy’s - both the MCs had incredibly good character development arcs.
Andy is adorable and instantly relatable given that she’s introverted andthrown into the deep end of being team captain means that she has to step outside of her comfort zone and prove herself to her team. Maya is all spitfire and go and I loved the passion that she exuded in every page she was in. The chemistry between these two leads is 🔥and all those “crossing the lines” moments - made it such a fun read.

Yes, this is a romance but I also loved the emotional connections between Andy and her parents as also the exploration of trust between the two MCs both in the context of their romance as also on the field and even among Andy’s friends. There are some seriously poignant moments that may cause some gulping and text suddenly becoming blurry but it was totally fantastic.

This is my first book by Ana Hartnett Reichardt and I really enjoyed the writing style and how easily I was pulled into the storyline and made to care for all of these characters. I love sporty themed romances and this checked all the right boxes from attraction, to romance to all those lovely emotional moments. 🥰

Andy Foster was just promoted to starting catcher and team captain on her college softball team. Her first assignment from the coach is too help the starting pitcher, Maya Gonzalez, keep her head in the game. It's easier said than done but Maya and Andy start to find common ground as the season and their team progress.
I liked this new addition to this series a lot. The characters from the first book pop up a few times and it was nice to check in with them though I'd say this could be read as a standalone. Maya and Andy at first seem like oil and water and it was hard to see them having a future with such volatility but the transition from enemies to more was very well done. Like the first in the series, this was a YA book that portrays the emotions of early adulthood in a very believable way and I am a big fan of this author's writing style. This is her second book and I'm ready for the third!

Catching Feelings is a bad pun and a great title for this second book in the Alder Series. It can easily be read as a stand alone novel.

Alder University sophomore catcher Andrea (Andy) Foster has two surprises at the beginning of the softball season. First, she is the starting catcher and secondly, she is now the captain. Everyone, including starting pitcher Maya Gonzalez expected Maya to claim the captaincy role this season. Too make matters worse, Andy feels Maya hates her for some unknown reason. As captain, the coaches have asked Andy to solidify a strong playing relationship with Maya if they want to make it to the World Series.

It is hard not to like Andy with her studious somewhat nerdy behaviour. She is the adorable fish out of water character. Maya is the extremely talented and high strung counterbalance to Andy.

I am always in my happy place when I read a sports themed romance and Ana Hartnett Reichardt has written an exceptional one. She gets the proportion of softball to romance just right. The writing is exceptional in bringing the characters to life for me. The hectic life of a varsity athlete is presented realistically and will bring back memories if you were lucky enough to be one.

I received a free advance review copy from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I loved this book, the chemistry and angst between Andy and May was off the charts. I fell instantly in love with this story and the fact that it was softball based just made everything that much better. I feel the feels after this one, it was fantastic and I am excited to read more by this author. I did not read the first book in this series but I need to pick it up now, if it is anything like this was it will be another 5 stars.