One of NPR’s Best Books of 2019A second chance doesn’t guarantee a touchdown in this new contemporary romance from the author of Intercepted.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 … and more stretch marks than she anticipated, but it’s all hers, and nobody can take that away. Well, except for one person.
T.K. 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.
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Alexa Martin’s follow-up to her debut proves she’s here to stay!
There’s a lot to unravel, but if you are a fan of second chance romances, secret babies or even some Real Housewives lifestyle stuff this book is for you.
I am on a romcom kick lately—I need more laughs these days. I loved Alexa Martin’s first book, Intercepted, so much that I reviewed in on my blog. Her sophomore football romance is also hilarious. Poppy, the heroine, is feisty and independent. The book touches on the serious subject of CTE, and apparently the NFL is even laxer than the NHL at post-concussion care.
The perfect summer book. Read it with your feet up and a glass of blush wine at your side.
I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book after reading and loving ‘Intercepted’ by this author. I love me a good second chance romance and this was a sign I needed to read. I have to say that this book has one particular trope that I don’t care for BUT the author was able to execute it in a way that I was able to enjoy. It wasn’t dragged out for the entire book and the reasoning was legit.
I really loved Poppy in this story. She was a strong single mother who did the best she could with the crappy hand she was dealt at such a young age.
T.K. took some time to grow on me after his initial reaction to Poppy’s news. I get that several years have passed and he was blindsided but still….that was no way to conduct yourself. I did love that he was able to redeem himself throughout the book. It was nice seeing him adjust to his new role and he was such a sweetheart.
Martin has created such a cast of characters that I’ve come to adore and wish were in my tribe. It was nice to see characters from the first book as well. I also liked that Martin touched on the seriousness of CTE in football without it coming off as a public service announcement. I look forward to reading “Blitzed” later this year! If you’re a fan of sport romance I highly recommend you reading this book/series.
Sports Romances are one of my favorite tropes to read. And Alexa Martin definitely did not drop the ball when it came to Fumbled.
I adored everything about this book. It has that perfect mix of fun, football, flirty, friendships and family sprinkled over with a dose of seriousness. I loved how Poppy owned everything she was and wasn’t. She was not apologetic in the least for who she was and how she got here. Her relationship with her son was adorable.
I found it very interesting to see how the downsides of playing football professionally were handled. I thought it was done very well and appreciated that it came from the spouse’s pov.
TK is absolutely swoonworthy! He is fun and playful and all kinds of hot. His interactions with Poppy and Ace just melted me. His mom… not so much!
Friendship played such a central role to this story. The women that Poppy is surrounded by – what a fabulous, fun group! I want to head out to HERS to have a drink with them! Plus how wonderful would it be to have friends that really ALWAYS have your back?!
I am loving Alexa Martin’s words and can’t wait for her to publish more!
Alexa Martin achieves what many sports romances miss, a keen understanding of the sport and an authentic voice. It is clear from the topics she decides to include and how she chooses to tackle these issues, she has an insider’s perspective that is both educational and refreshing. With a perfect blend of humor and drama, Fumbled is a great sports romance that deserves your consideration.
Running into your significant ex can be awkward at the best of times, but when your ex is an NFL star TK Moore who happens upon you at your waitressing gig at a strip club; it’s safe to say the awkwardness goes off the Richter scale.
As shocked as Poppy Patterson is, she’s thrown by his excitement at seeing her. As far as she is concerned they ended acrimoniously, and after raising their son alone for the last nine years, the excitement is certainly not reciprocated.
She’s not the pregnant and heartbroken sixteen year old girl she once was. She’s strong, hardworking and an exemplary mother to her son, and because of that, she decides to give TK a second chance at being a dad.
My love for TK was instant, but his knee jerk reaction to Poppy’s news cast a temporary shadow on the affection I had for him. Once his shock passed my admiration was back with a vengeance as we saw him navigate fatherhood and make know his hope to start anew with Poppy.
After the success of INTERCEPTED it was a given that Alexa Martin would added to my roster of auto authors. I enjoyed the sense of fun and easy readability she offered, and the added bonus of it being a sport romance was more than I cared to resist.
I was sure I would be in safe hands when it came to her sophomore novel FUMBLED, and with second chance romance a particular favourite trope of mine, I was not surprised she once again scored a winning touchdown of a read.
This was a page-turner for me and I loved Poppy’s humorous internal thoughts.
I loved it so much, I re-read her 1st book, Intercepted (standalone). I love Alexa’s sense of humor.
These books were inspired by the eight years Alexa spent as an NFL wife.
I rated this story 4.5 Stars for the clever banter and the fact that I couldn’t stop reading and when I had to, I couldn’t wait to go back to it and find out what happened.
Poppy and T.K. Moore were high school sweethearts. T.K. is white, Poppy is bi-racial.
Sadly, even in this day in age when love should be love no matter the gender, race or religion it’s still can be a factor in a relative’s objection, but add in an unexpected pregnancy, and an upcoming long distance relationship and they had so many obstacles at such a young age.
They broke up before T.K. left for college – you find out why in the story.
Fast forward several years and Poppy accidentally runs into T.K. at her job dressed in her scantily clad uniform she is required to wear.
She doesn’t tell him about their son, Ace right away and the anticipation of T.K.’s reaction had me speed reading to arrive at that part.
I loved how much Poppy loved their son and how true and loyal she was with her friends.
She was the right combination of feisty, sassy and soft
I loved T.K. in Intercepted and was glad he got his own book.
Who can’t help falling in love with a man who says things like –
“You just showed me what was important in life. You gave me the purpose I’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to find in football.”
“I want our lives to become so intertwined we can’t figure out where one starts and the other ends. I want you and Ace around as much as I can have you around. I want you both.”
I did want to shake him over one bone-head thing, but I got over it.
I’m easy that way.
It’s a 2nd-chance, surprise pregnancy, sports romance and I can’t wait to read whatever she writes in the future.
Alexa Martin has become an automatic one-click author for me.
Alexa Martin’s debut, Intercepted, was one of my top reads of 2018. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the follow up, Fumbled. I finally read it last week and it was everything I wanted and more.
Y’all know how much I love sports romance, right? Particularly football romance? The Playbook series has quickly become one of my favorite series and Alexa one of my go-to authors. I’m an avid football fan. (I think y’all know that, too.) I especially appreciate football romance when it’s obvious the author knows the sport. It adds another level to the story and it’s one I appreciate. But, I love all (or at least most) things football. There’s a big difference between just making the hero an athlete and making the sport part of the story. What Alexa did was definitely the latter. While the second chance “secret” baby romance between Poppy and TK was fire, one of my favorite parts of the story was the honest look given at the safety of the game. Particularly with regards to CTE.
But, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself and I don’t really want to spoil things for you. Just know you’re going to get more than just romance with Fumbled. I mean, the romance is amazing, but there’s so much more to this story. I loved Poppy and TK. They were both fantastic characters, even if I did spend some time side-eyeing TK for his reactions at times. Poppy was a bad ass, a fierce mom and a woman I’d love to call a friend. I was 100% Team Poppy. I loved her relationship with her and TK’s son, Ace, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching TK get to know both of them. This whole book was addictive and I couldn’t put it down once I started.
Fumbled was a fantastic follow up to Intercepted. It gave me the perfect combination of romance and reality, with plenty of swoons, laughs, sexy times and feels. I’m already anxiously awaiting the the third book, Blitzed. I can’t wait for Maxwell and Brynn.
Favorite Quotes:
“I’m not yours and you can’t fix me.”
“Poppy, my eyes are up here.”
“Yeah, but the rest of you is down here.”
“I want our lives to become so intertwined we can’t figure out where one starts and the other ends.”
Fumbled is the second of the Playbook series. There is so much to love about it! It is a second chance contemporary sports romance. There are some clichés but it was overall very enjoyable and swoony!
The women of Fumbled are awesome! Poppy Patterson is a super single parent. She is amazing and so lovable! Sadie is her best friend and she loves to be dramatic! The two of them are hilarious together!
“Single-mother Poppy Patterson moved across the country when she was sixteen and pregnant to find a new normal.”
Poppy has been doing her thing and raising her son the best way she knows how. Poppy crosses paths with her high school sweetheart TK Moore and things get interesting…
“TK Moore, the starting wide receiver for the Denver Mustangs, dreamt his entire life about being in the NFL. ”
A chance encounter brings Poppy & TK together. They have a lot of unfinished business that is mixed up with some drama, secrets, lies and confusion. I found TK to be charming and sweet. There was one particular scene (no spoilers but chapter 9) that was amazing! Don’t get me wrong- he definitely had a few “jerk” moments but the sweet side won out.
The story could have gone in many directions and I was surprised at the route chosen. It was not an easy road. Although the topic chosen can be very heavy, it was not done as a doom-and-gloom. It was informative.
Fumbled has all the things we love about sports romance: hot players, crazy WAGS (wives & girlfriends) all mixed up with a hearty dose of drama. Alexa Martin is a new-to-me author. I did not read her first book, Intercepted, but I will be! I am not sure who it involves so I am also not sure if I missed anything by reading Fumbled first.
I like Alexa Martin’s writing style which is clean and straightforward. My only “complaint” is that the ending is a bit open ended. It is HEA but I would have loved a bit more. I think that there may be another book coming so I am happy to see where things go in the future! There are also so many secondary characters I would love to read about! Sadie and Brynn are two who I know have great stories to tell!
4 swoony stars!
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