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.