This was such a cute story. I loved Maren and Joe and I can't forget to mention his sweet littles, Anders and Lucy who are sooooo sweet and bring so much to the story. The progression of Maren and Joe's relationship was realistic and bumpy, which I loved.

I read this one so fast because I just couldn't get enough of the characters. I enjoyed everyone, except Maren's brother.

If you're looking for a slow burn, older brother's best friend, single dad book then grab Catch and Keep! You won't regret it.

This series has been up and down for me and I am so happy this ended on a big UP!

Maren grew up going to Northern Wisconsin with her family and knew Joe, her brother's best friend, since childhood. When life's circumstances (her boyfriend gets the ranger job she wants and proposes to her in public) leads her to escape back there, where she inherited property, she runs into Joe, now a divorced dad of two. He's all grown up and their chemistry is palpable right from the start. I loved Joe and his commitment to his kids - Lucy has autism and his patience with her was so well written. And Maren coming in and immediately just intuitively knowing what to do was also amazing - I loved how Erin Hahn showed how these two really built their adult relationship WITH these kids, not around them.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Erin Hahn writes big emotions and relatable characters so well. This was a great addition to this series, which is full of heart.

4.25 ⭐
2 🌶️
tropes: small town, brothers’ best friend, starting over, autism rep, single dad, friends to lovers


When her boyfriend of one year tries to propose to her in front of her entire family, Maren returns to her hometown to fix up and sell the property she inherited. Shortly after returning, she runs into Joe- her brother Liam’s best friend and single dad to Lucy and Anders.


This book is pretty formulaic for a romance story, but that’s not a bad thing. This is the kind of love story I enjoy, and why Hallmark movies have such a huge fan base. To be clear, I really enjoyed this book! I do a lot of tandem reading, but this one pulled me in and it was the priority read out of the other books I was reading at the time. It’s just that there wasn’t anything specifically that stood out to me as being special. Catch and Keep is a sweet and spicy comfort read. And the ending was expected but it was still very cute and had me smiling.


I also enjoyed how the chapter titles were actually song titles. I’m a little embarrassed to say it took me until Chapter 17 to notice, but I see you Brand New song title 👀


My only critique is while I loved the autism representation it felt a little heavy handed. It almost felt a little othering. I think you can accurately portray the situation without constantly referring to the fact that Lucy is autistic.

Catch and Keep was a sweet romance. I adored Maren and Joe's relationship. I liked how mature they were. I enjoyed their level-headedness and consideration for each other's feelings. They supported each other perfectly 🤗 The author did a fantastic job with their slow burn. I liked that this book had dual POV's. The dual POV's helped give me a better sense of who Maren and Joe were. Both characters were well-developed and rootable. Maren's character arc was satisfying to read. I liked watching her relationship with Anders and Lucy grow. Hahn's did a great job with Anders and Lucy's characters. I thought she wrote their ages perfectly. I really enjoyed Joe's chapters with the kids and seeing his support and love for them. There were some side characters from previous books. I didn't think my reading experience was hindered by not knowing them. The Northwoods setting was immersive and cozy. I didn't want this book to end. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC.

Synopsis: After rejecting her boyfriend’s proposal, Maren has returned to her childhood vacation spot in Northern Wisconsin to fix up the decrepit bait shop she has inherited. She quickly becomes close to Josiah, a single dad who happens to also be her brother’s best friend.

Thoughts: Catch and Keep is technically the third in a series, but I haven’t read the first two, and it can definitely be read as a standalone. I will be going back to read the other two soon, though! This is such a cozy, feel-good romance. Maren and Joe are just lovely characters, and I was rooting for them the entire time. Joe’s children really steal the show. Sometimes you just need a super sweet, heartwarming story, and this book fits the bill!

Read this if you like:
🎣 fishing
🎣 single dad
🎣 brother’s best friend
🎣 small town
🎣 neurodivergent rep
🎣 cozy romance

"And you're everything I didn't think I wanted but now I don't know if I could live without."

Never have I wanted to pick up a fishing pole more than after reading this book.

What I liked:
I loved everything about this book - I devoured it in a few hours.

Maren & Josiah are fantastic characters, and I adore how their friendship grew into an easy love. Dare I say that friends to lovers may be my new favorite trope!?

Anders and Lucy are the best. Anders is so perceptive, sweet, and just the best big brother. Lucy warming to Maren and coming to trust her and love her was so beautiful to read.

I want one of Lucy's painted lures please and thank you.

This latest from Erin Hahn was a cute, quick read.

Maren’s history with her fishing channel was interesting and gave her a unique hobby and eventual career. I liked how she was with Joe’s kids, especially her interactions with Anders.

Joe was a standup guy who had been through a lot in life and was doing his best. I admired his love for his kids and his family. I liked that he supported Maren without trying to take things over for her and keeping her from speaking her own mind.

Liam was atrocious. Sorry, he really sucked as a brother. I wanted to junk punch him.

Built to Last remains my favorite Erin Hahn book, so I loved seeing Shelby and Cameron again.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had such fun cozy vibes, while also providing excellent tension between the love interest,. The mix of “ahh” moments, and “yes! Get it girl!” Was exactly what I didn’t know I needed. This was the perfect spicy hallmark movie in book form with a hot mountain man with adorable kids. Could there be anything better?

cute and cool romance with some super fun ideas in it. fairly standard as a romance but a worth t read for all the romance lovers

Thank you Spotify Audiobooks and SMP Romance for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

I’ve enjoyed this entire series, but wow did I love this one!

First of all the narration by Zura Johnson and Michael Norman Johnson was so good! Their voices really fit their characters and those of Maren’s friends.

Maren’s world is turned upside down when her fiancée gets the job she’s always wanted (when she didn’t know he applied) and then he publicly proposes. She returns to the lake where she grew up to clean out and restore property she’s left. I loved how she stepped in to help Joe solo parent and how she loved his children. I really appreciated that they were slightly older and how their relationship developed from friends into more. I also loved seeing her friends from the first two books in the series.

I have long been a fan of Erin Hahn, recommending her books (both adult and YA) to all my friends. Catch and Keep rounds out her trilogy of interconnected adult romances, and even though I loved the other two to the moon and back, Catch and Keep *might* just be my favorite. Maren has just upended her life—rejected her boyfriend’s proposal and given up her job as a park ranger—to return to northern Wisconsin to rehab a waterfront bait shop she inherited from an old family friend. While there, she reconnects with her brother’s best friend Josiah—a blond hotty who is now a single dad to two adorable kids. While they know each other is “off limits,” their friendship naturally grows into more as they spend more and more time together. Maren fits seamlessly into Joe’s life and the lives of his kids—she naturally steps into the space left by the kids’ mother who abandoned them. Maren and Joe are in the middle of falling in love before they even realize it’s happening, but the question is, can something that feels this easy actually last?

Erin has done it. She made a blond man sexy. That alone is worth the five stars I’m giving Catch and Keep. I’d give it a hundred stars if I could. I loved the scenes with previous characters from the other books. It made the book feel connected to the others, even though I felt the pacing and the overall feel of this book was slower, cozier, maybe a little more tender than the other two. Sure, the connection between Maren and Joe was sexy, but what I loved even more was the entire family dynamic. The protectiveness she has for his kids. The daily showing up they both do for each other. This book was the DEFINITION of soft but steamy.

Genuinely, this book is a gem.

Catch and Keep is a cozy lake life romance. Erin Hahn did a wonderful job capturing life at the lake in Northern Wisconsin. This is a brothers best friend/forbidden trope, which is one of my favorites. I really enjoyed the build up between the main characters and how honest she wrote about the reality of being a single parent and trying to date. On top of all that, the difficulties that can come with raising an autistic child.
Overall, I loved the entire story about Joe and Maren. I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a romance that isn’t “too much”.

Thank you, Netgalley, for giving me the opportunity to read this early in return for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This novel is like a crisp spring day in the middle of the woods while camping. This novel was so beautifully written and the descriptions of the setting made me almost smell the pines, hear the birds chirping, and hear the sounds of a creek or river flowing through.

I am a huge fan of the brothers best friend trope and this one was no different! I feel for the main characters and cheered for them throughout!

I love a good single dad, older brother's best friend romance, so I dove in head first and was ready to get cozy with a romance. With the setting in the Northwoods in Wisconsin, I wanted to quit my corporate America job and run away under the pines and live a cozy life. It explores life after making a change for you, and finding a second chance with love. If you want a cozy, heartwarming, and slow burn romance, this is the perfect addition to your fall TBR.

This book was so good. I could totally take or leave the brother but it wouldn’t be a brothers best friend book without him. The relationships the fmc builds with the children is so sweet.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for sending me a widget of the story of Maren and Joe. I had previously read Built to Last and Friend's Don't Fall in Love. Maren and Joe's story was just chef's Kiss. The Single Dad is always a trope I'm down for but Mr. Cole was definitely a Zaddy. He was so attentive and good with his kids. Maren did not give herself enough grace and it was great seeing how the story developed and seeing her the way Joe saw her. It is 2 POV and it definitely did not disappoint.
Have tissues ready because you will cry at random moments.

I absolutely adore the way Erin Hahn tells a story. 😍 She makes me care about the characters she creates like they are members of my own extended family. She also has a real gift for pacing and building tension, and eschewing pointless thrid-act breakups. This is the 3rd book of interconnected standalones and I loved being able to check in on the previous stories' protagonists. And hallelujah for older MCs as well ... we got a 34 and 38 year-old who are living grown folk lives? Sensational. ❤️‍🔥

⭐️ 5/5
🌶️ 3/5

This book ticked all of my boxes and more! It was seriously the perfect romance! 🥰 Not to mention it had some of my MOST FAVORITE tropes. Catch and Keep was a small town romance featuring a single dad who is our FMC’s brother’s best friend… Y’ALL, don’t sleep on this one!

I felt a special connection to this story too because it is based in Wisconsin! 😍 The setting was seriously perfect for a fall read and it made me feel completely at home. I cannot wait for our Up North trip this weekend!

Don’t be fooled by the cover, per usual. This was on par with my other favorite spicy reads! There’s just something about a family guy with rolled-up sleeves and a backward baseball cap leaning over a counter and giving you that look… 🥵

Minus all the fabulous fluff, this story also starred a young autistic girl who stole my heart. It balanced the easy moments with the hard ones, but also showed how some people will never fully understand what it takes to care for a neurodivergent child. Honestly, this part of the story was utterly heartbreaking. I know I previously said while reading Love and Other Conspiracies that I’ve never wanted to punch a character so much, WELP, I’ve found another character to add to the list…

This book is technically the third in a series, but it can definitely be read on its own. I read the first book, Built to Last, in 2022, but somehow missed book two! I cannot wait to go back and read Friends Don’t Fall in Love!

Overall, I cannot recommend this story enough. It was absolutely perfect and it made me so excited to pick up more from Erin Hahn! Please, please, please add this to your TBR! 💕

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press (@smpromance) for the advanced copy!

this was such a sweet, heartwarming story 🥰 between a woman who returns to her hometown & her brother’s best friend (who happens to be a single dad 😉).

📖 Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn
⭐️ rating: 5/5
🌶️: open door, a few scenes

💭 overall thoughts:
I love how their relationship developed - Maren literally just started showing up for Josiah, and seamlessly became a part of their family 🥰

As much as I loved the dynamic between Maren & Joe, seeing her fall for his children (and them for her) made the entire book for me 🥹

Both his children have their own unique characteristics, and Maren fully embraces them for who they are.

(their biological mother is AWFUL & I kinda h@te her 😡 she made me irrationally angry)

🎙️ audiobook thoughts:
Zura Johnson & Michael Norman Johnson perfectly captured the MCs 💜

read if you love:
💙 single dad & her brother’s best friend
🐠 fisherwoman
(both in their mid/late 30s)
🧠 autism rep - Joe’s daughter Lucy
🌳 return to (small) hometown
🫶🏼 family & found family
🙅🏻‍♀️ no 3rd act breakup
💞 dual 1st person pov

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Spotify Audiobooks & NetGalley for an advanced copy.
All opinions are my own.