Catching Feelings

For some, first love is never forgotten—even when left behind. A story of queer love that never ends, new beginnings, and the town that steals two hearts from award-winning author Ana Hartnett.

Tanya Brees enjoyed an idyllic childhood in the small coastal tourist town of Coral Bay, skimboarding, racing ATVs through sandy trails, and getting into mischief with her small band of friends. Things are clear: stick with the locals and hope the high-rises don’t take over their small fishing community.

When Tanya is thirteen, Juliette Peralta walks into the restaurant at the Coral Bay Inn with her parents and catches the eye of all the teens in town, especially Tanya. Every summer Juliette spends in Coral Bay brings them closer until first love blooms. But Juliette always leaves, her parents keep acquiring property to develop in town, and Tanya can’t take it anymore. No matter how much she loves Juliette, their family values are too different, and they lose touch as adults. That is, until a hurricane forces Juliette to return to Coral Bay indefinitely.

What’s worse than still being attracted to your first crush? Realizing the storm that tore you apart has gotten a lot more complicated.

Emma Wilson has it all figured out. She’s the starting point guard for the Alder Lions. She’s got a post-grad job lined up. Every queer woman on campus wants her. And she’s definitely over her old flame. The one she never even got to date.

She’s coasting. 

Until the new basketball coach arrives on campus and clearly dislikes her. So does Lake Palmer, the arrogant new player the coach brought with her. Sure, Lake’s gorgeous, and Emma wants to kiss those annoyingly enticing lips, but she plans to steal Emma’s spot. And that just can’t happen. It won’t happen. Their epic arguments are the stuff of courtside legend, but the more Lake pushes her to play better, the harder it is for Emma to resist her attraction.

Oh, and maybe Emma’s major makes her want to rip her own hair out as much as being Lake’s teammate does. With her future anything but a slam dunk, coasting is beginning to feel a whole lot like crashing.

Josie Sanchez is the head winemaker at Cadieux Vineyards, and all her dreams ride on the upcoming crush. If she can produce a gold medal pinot noir, the owner will give Josie her own wine label. Finally. She’s worked years for this opportunity, and nothing will stand in her way. Not even Mac, the owner’s annoyingly beautiful niece who doesn’t know anything about wine, but whom Josie’s forced to hire as her only harvest intern. Josie can’t imagine a more ill-suited partner for the most important harvest of her life.

After a lackluster start in her marketing career, Mackenzie Layton is eager to jump headfirst into the illustrious Willamette Valley wine industry. Thanks to her uncle, her first harvest job is with one of the most prestigious wineries in town. But when she meets Josie, it’s clear her presence is a nuisance, even if she does occasionally catch Josie’s gaze lingering on her. Mac has a proclivity for misadventure, and she is unable to resist the one person who is off limits.

This crush will be a messy one, indeed.

All Maggie Hyde wants is to graduate from the School of Agriculture at Alder University and settle into her legacy by taking over Hyde Hill Farm, the apple orchard that’s been in her family for four generations. Well, okay, it’s not all she wants. Finding someone who loves her small hometown of East Sparrow, Georgia, is high on her list of priorities, too. Who wouldn’t want to fall in love and settle down?

Olivia Cypress, that’s who. A free-spirited traveler at heart, Olivia is enjoying life way too much to limit her options, especially by settling down in nowheresville East Sparrow. But when Olivia walks into Maggie’s horticulture class, she’s charmed by Maggie’s gorgeous smile. It’s fine, though. They can’t seem to agree on anything, especially farming.

Maggie is sure Olivia will leave, just like her mother did. Olivia is sure Maggie doesn’t need a 30-year life plan. Opposites don’t really attract, right?

Montessori teacher Sky Roberts doesn’t think twice about entering a charity raffle for a free vacation. She can hardly believe it when the winning ticket turns out to be hers, but the trip conflicts with the summer school program she’s scheduled to teach. She can’t give up on her students.

Drew Mitchell excels in her job as a travel agent, and her success makes up for never quite measuring up to her family’s gender expectations and her disappointingly single status. That’s why she’s determined to win her company’s latest competition for best travel package and be named the top regional agent.

Drew can’t believe Sky is turning down a free vacation. She <i>has</i> to take this trip. In a desperate attempt to get Sky to change her mind and ask another teacher to step in for her, Drew suggests they go on the vacation together. What better way to relax than with your very own travel guide? Plus, she can win the competition by keeping tabs on her travel plan as it unfolds.

As Sky and Drew travel beautiful Fiji together, they’re about to discover that the trip of a lifetime may just lead to the kind of love they've been searching for.