Review: Fumbled by Alexa Martin

Fumbled
(Playbook #2)
by Alexa Martin
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Publication date: April 23, 2019
Genre: Romance
Rating:

 

Single-mother Poppy Patterson moved across the country when she was sixteen and pregnant to find a new normal. After years of hard work, she’s built a life she loves. It may include a job at a nightclub, weekend soccer games, and more stretch marks than she anticipated, but it’s all hers, and nobody can take that away. Well, except for one person.

TK Moore, the starting wide receiver for the Denver Mustangs, dreamt his entire life about being in the NFL. His world is football, parties, and women. Maybe at one point he thought his future would play out with his high school sweetheart by his side, but Poppy is long gone and he’s moved on.

When Poppy and TK cross paths in the most unlikely of places, emotions they’ve suppressed for years come rushing back. But with all the secrets they never told each other lying between them, they’ll need more than a dating playbook to help them navigate their relationship.

 

 

Fumbled was a lot more enjoyable to read than Intercepted was. I will admit that at first I wasn’t sure I was going to like Poppy and was afraid that this would be a DNF for me. You see, when Poppy was in high school, she dated a football player. When she wound up pregnant, the boy texted her that he didn’t want anything to do with the baby and his mom gave her money to have an abortion. Almost a decade later, Poppy is a single mom to the little boy she was supposed to abort. His father being none other than TK, the starting wide receiver for the Denver Mustangs. When Poppy bumps into TK at her work, she decides to leave Ace (their son) out of the conversation. I was a little worried with that going on, that Poppy’s decision to go through with having their kid, and TK never knowing about it would ruin the book for me, but it didn’t.

Now don’t get me wrong, secret babies are a huge turnoff for me. However, she did tell him that she was pregnant, and he did tell her he didn’t want to be a father. Then shortly after that, Poppy’s life unraveled and she found herself being kicked out of her house. So, I mean, I can’t overly fault her for the way events happened. However, as the reader we are able to read between the lines and see the background story for what it truly is. Thankfully, Poppy tells TK that she didn’t have an abortion and that he has a son relatively early in the story. So, it wasn’t like it was this huge secret throughout the entirety of the book.

Enough about that, let’s get on with the actual characters, shall we? I really liked TK and Poppy. Both characters were strong, independent, and able to hold their own. Between TK finding out he’s a dad and after a bit of shock, decides to be in his son’s life full force. I mean, the way he reacts when he sees his son for the first time and the boy calls him Mister instead of dad, let’s just say it was a bit sad to witness. Poppy has had to learn to stand on her own two feet from a young age. She raised a beautiful young boy who’s respectful and disciplined. She goes complete Mama Bear on anyone who threatens her son’s happiness, even if it’s someone close to them. Both TK and Poppy were great characters. Normally there’s always one character that needs the other to balance them out, but these two were pretty similar on the playing field.

I really liked that this story dealt with a single mom who gets dropped into the middle of the NFL lifestyle. She not only has to navigate the NFL aspect, but she also went form being a single mom to being part of a team with her old high school sweetheart. There was always something going on with this story and I found it hard to put the book down sometimes. If you’re looking for a sports romance style book that deals with more of the significant others than the actual  players, than I would give this a shot.

 

Previous reviews from Playbook
Intercepted

 

 

 

 

6 Thoughts on “Review: Fumbled by Alexa Martin

  1. I don’t mind secret babies when the father is told about it and decides to be an ass and doesn’t want to be a father. I think from that point forward she has no reason to share anything with him about her kid. And that’s the end of my rant. lol

  2. I had the first book on hold at my library but then I had the move and never got to it. I really want to read this series though!

    Karen @ For What It’s Worth

  3. Oh this sounds good. Not normally something I’d pick up but you have me curious. I haven’t read many sports romances.

  4. I don’t mind the secret baby trope but it has to be handled correctly and I like that it wasn’t a big secret dragged on all through the book. I do need to pick up this author and soon especially with Intercepted being turned into a movie.

    Great review darling.

  5. I’ve seen this cover around a lot but never paid the slightest bit of attention to what the story was about. Now I’ve not only read your blurb but your review, I want to read it.
    I’m so glad that the secret baby plot wasn’t horrendous. I don’t mind a ‘secret baby’ as long as it’s done right and sadly they most often are not… Typically because there are so few reasons that can actually make it acceptable.

    Book blogs are severely detrimental to whittling down the TBR, lol.

  6. The first sports romance novels I fell in love with were from Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who back then was a master, then Lori Foster. I’ve never heard of this author, but it sounds like it would be a good romance. Hugs, RO

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