Review of Catch and Cradle by Katia Rose

This is my first book by this author and it is a very good NA sports romance about a university lacrosse team in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I must admit, I had to watch a video about this sport to understand how the game works. It’s an exciting and fast game.

Becca is the captain of the UNS Women’s Lacrosse team and she is very pedantic when it comes to following rules (in Switzerland we would say she is a Tüpflischiesser), she has learned from past mistakes – she thinks. The team is like her family and she won’t do anything to risk them. She has everything under control, including her emotions but there is only this one player in her team who could jeopardize her goals.

Hope Hastings has been on the team for two years and since day one she has had a secret crush on Becca. But it’s pointless anyway, as the captain is adamant about the no-dating rule on the team – Becca would never do that. Hope is everybody’s darling and has a natural gift for pulling the team together, she is a born leader. But she is much more complex than just the good buddy. Not many people know that she suffers from the disorder dyslexia, which makes her learning process much more difficult than for others.

I personally knew nothing about dyslexia until a little over a year ago. I only learned a lot about it when a good reader friend told me about her own experiences and problems with it. I am impressed by how the author addresses this disorder in Catch and Cradle without putting too much emphasis on it. We learn how it affects Hope and how her roommates help and support her. Nevertheless, it also has an impact on her self-confidence as she usually second-guesses herself.

Hope and Becca are an absolutely adorable couple, as adorable as young people can be. The extroverted Hope, who makes everyone laugh, and the reserved, controlled Becca, who shows more and more layers of herself the more time they spend together. The characters are complex and realistic, they are confident and yet sometimes insecure. There is miscommunication from missed opportunities to talk to each other that make the two women think about their problems critically.

The story is told alternately from the point of view of the two MCs. And that makes the story all the more endearing, as we get to hear the thoughts and desires and dreams of both. I really love it when a book makes me feel emotions, and together with Becca and Hope I’ve laughed, cried, cheered them on in lost and won games and celebrated with them. The way the author described the first love scene, especially because their sexual experiences were very different, was stunningly beautiful and steaming hot.

Lacrosse played a big role in the MC’s life and there are some games and training sessions, but you can read it also if you aren’t a sports fan. It addresses many issues that are extremely important for young people, such as trust, exposure, team spirit, acceptance, self-confidence, and what you can achieve together. And especially about finding your own way, not only defining yourself through (in this case) your sport and not being afraid to change your plans. The secondary characters are also very well developed, especially Hope’s roommates and friends, who contribute a lot to this well-rounded story.

Lately, I’ve read a few very good YA/NA romances (for example: When Sparks Fly by Kristen Zimmer or The One To Hold Your Hand by Erica Lee), and it makes me happy that today young queer women can find themselves in books, which maybe have a positive impact on them. 4.5 stars

ARC provided by the author to LezReviewBooks.com in exchange for an honest review.