Fumbled

actual rating: 4.5/5 stars

read for the black romanticathon 2023: feel good read

i love the trope of someone becoming a parent or finding out they're a parent so i absolutely ate this up. i don't know if i enjoy this one more than the first but i loved everything about this and alexa martin's writing is just so excellent and witty. i can't wait to continue on in the series

This is a great read.
Filled with zappy dialogue, friendship between strong women and hot footballers!
Love a good second chance romance, throw in a cute kid, and it's a winner.

Intercepted was one of my surprise favorites of last year, and the only reason it took me this long to read Fumbled is because I read some mixed reviews and I didn't want to be disappointed by the author. I finally decided to pick it up and thanks to my much lowered expectations, it turned out to be an okay read.

The author impressed me a lot in her debut because the characters were well fleshed out and the plot was both deep and entertaining. That same spark was missing a bit in this sophomore attempt. While I do like the second chance romance trope because it can make for some good angst, there wasn't that much of it here. The issues never felt more than superficial, everything getting resolved a bit too quickly and not letting the emotions build up in me as a reader. The pacing of the story felt too rushed, so I wasn't feeling convinced by anything that was happening. I guess I just wanted the characters to breathe and think a little before jumping headlong into every decision. There were also multiple subplots like the stalker and evil mother which added nothing to the story and weren't resolved properly. The one good thing I liked which had some proper emphasis was about the consequences of playing a sport like football and how repeated head injuries can lead to long term brain related ailments like CTE, but I definitely would have enjoyed more if this aspect was a little more fleshed out.

Poppy is a very fierce and sassy protagonist and I mostly liked her. She is a hard working single mom who is doing everything she can to give a good upbringing for her child and I admired her for it. She also never takes any bullshit and stands up for herself, which reminded me a bit of Marlee. But when it comes to TK, she became a totally different person. TK is a great guy and wants to be involved in his son's life completely and I liked him a lot for it. But the author was not able to convince me why it was so easy for them to get together immediately despite a decade long separation. While I was totally rooting for the family to be together, I think the couple never took enough time to get to know each other better after all these years.

Ace is an adorable little nine year old, appropriately mischievous for his age but also very well sorted and polite on other occasions. I loved his relationship with his mother and the easy way he bonded with his dad. But I definitely would have liked to see more of the three of them together. The girl gang in this book is amazing too with some new additions. Sadie and Vonnie are both dramatic af but they brought a lot of laughs to the proceedings and I liked that Poppy was able to find her own tribe whom she could rely on for support. And I'm very very excited that the next book is going to be about the amazing Brynn.

While this book turn out to be as fun as it's predecessor, it's still an okay one time read. You can definitely give it a try if you like a second chance romance with a secret baby trope. I thought the book was kinda rushed but I didn't get bored and I'm definitely looking forward to the final book of the trilogy.