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booklovinmamas's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read Intercepted a while ago and meant to pick up the next book in the Playbook series. Thanks to my local library, I was able to borrow a physical copy of Fumbled, the second book in the series. This time, it’s Denver Mustangs’ starting wide receiver, TK Moore’s turn to find his HEA.
Fumbled is a second-chance romance story about Poppy Patterson and TK Moore, who were high school sweethearts. I really enjoy this trope and couldn’t wait to read about Poppy and TK’s second chance at romance. Poppy moved far away from home to start over and never expected to run into TK Moore again, especially at her place of work. Now, emotions she had buried for years come rushing back with TK around, and he’s more determined than ever to have a second chance with her. The problem is that Poppy has a big secret that she’s kept from TK for years, and she’s unsure how he’ll handle it, but she knows she’ll have to tell him.
(Trope Spoiler) I’m not usually a big fan of the secret baby/child trope, but after finding out what happened with Poppy when she was pregnant, I understood her hesitation in telling TK the truth when she decided to give him a second chance. Poppy was a hard-working, kickbutt single mother who had been taking care of her adorable son, Ace, for a while now. She didn’t want her son’s life to be turned upside down if TK decided to react badly about having a son. I loved that she had a support system of friends who were there for her, especially when things were not always going well in life and with TK. She also gained some friends with the football wives/girlfriends, too, who supported her.
Now, with that being said, just with the first book, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. Poppy and her son, Ace, stole the show for me in this book, while the MMC, TK Moore, drove me batty with constant flip-flopping in the book. The first red flag with him was how he reacted to finding out about Ace; then there was the issue of how he responded to Poppy not liking what happened to him during a football game. He did end up doing a 360, but after he broke Poppy’s heart and even Ace’s heart. I did like how he handled someone in his family that caused drama between him and Poppy from the beginning.
Overall, this was an okay read for me, and I’m giving it 3.5 stars. I wish I would have enjoyed it more. I do plan on reading the next book in the series because I need more football romances in my life and need to read Maxwell’s book next.
Standalone or Part of Series: It’s an interconnected standalone in the Playbook series.
Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you’re looking for a Second Chance Football Romance story, then check out this book from Alexa Martin.
What to Expect:
🏈Sports/Football Romance
🏈Interracial Romance
🏈Second Chance
🏈Single Mother
🏈Sports/Football Romance
🏈Interracial Romance
🏈Second Chance
🏈Single Mother
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking and Abandonment
Minor: Body shaming, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
deidrelj's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Medical trauma, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
sdupont's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fumbled is an improved sequel to Intercepted. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the unknown pregnancy and child but it was handled okay. TK is in general very sweet and you will find yourself rooting for him and Poppy. I didn’t care for the delivery of the 3rd act breakup. I was so happy to see Donny return in this book, I find him so entertaining- he would’ve been an interesting love interest in the series. Overall, this book is a fun read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking
bookishplantmom's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was addictive. I could not put it down! Despite this I did have some issues with it which prevented me from truly enjoying it wholeheartedly. The story follows Poppy and TK as they reconnect after being apart for a decade. They have both changed drastically since their split a decade ago and they must get to know each other all over again and contend with major factors in each other’s lives.
The writing style was fun and relatable. I chuckled on more than one occasion and very much enjoyed some of the character relationships and banter. It was a fast paced plot and nothing felt superfluous. My main issue with the book came down to the overuse of miscommunication and the profound stubbornness of Poppy. I read her character as having deep seated trauma and anxiety which went pretty much unaddressed in the book which was disappointing. I found that the MCs had major issues that needed to be worked through - past hurt, miscommunication, lies/omissions - which I felt they never really talked about. There were some conversations but I didn’t feel like any of the big red flags were addressed and resolved appropriately. I also had some major reservations about how quickly Poppy allowed TK back into her life and home after the way he reacted when he got the full story. TK needed to atone and earn the right to be back in her life and I didn’t see that happen. I found there were moments where she was also being unfair towards him and those were not addressed either. The chemistry and steamy scenes were good but not my favourite. Overall I liked it. I ate this book up like a giant bag of candy but it kind of left me feeling meh.
The writing style was fun and relatable. I chuckled on more than one occasion and very much enjoyed some of the character relationships and banter. It was a fast paced plot and nothing felt superfluous. My main issue with the book came down to the overuse of miscommunication and the profound stubbornness of Poppy. I read her character as having deep seated trauma and anxiety which went pretty much unaddressed in the book which was disappointing. I found that the MCs had major issues that needed to be worked through - past hurt, miscommunication, lies/omissions - which I felt they never really talked about. There were some conversations but I didn’t feel like any of the big red flags were addressed and resolved appropriately. I also had some major reservations about how quickly Poppy allowed TK back into her life and home after the way he reacted when he got the full story. TK needed to atone and earn the right to be back in her life and I didn’t see that happen. I found there were moments where she was also being unfair towards him and those were not addressed either. The chemistry and steamy scenes were good but not my favourite. Overall I liked it. I ate this book up like a giant bag of candy but it kind of left me feeling meh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
sarahsxbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking
karlisimp's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Omg! Love this book. Definitely predictable for a sports romance and the series in general but I loved it more than the initial book of the series, intercepted!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
brittanyisbooked's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved Intercepted (the first book of the series) and I think Fumbled was even better. They are different books- while both are romance, Intercepted is more of a lighthearted romance whereas Fumbled deals with some very real issues (teen pregnancy and chronic traumatic encephalopathy). I am a lover of football and have so much respect for Martin for including the harder side of the game that we don’t always think about/face head on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
meg_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was cute and lighthearted. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one, but did find the family dynamics to make the characters more loveable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
biblio_jordyn's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fumbled by Alexa Martin follows single-mother Poppy when she runs into TK, football player for the mustangs...her high school sweetheart who she hasn’t seen since well...high school. However, when they see each other the feelings all come rushing back, but Poppy has a secret.
💭Here are my thought 💭
Poppy hates football for all the reasons I hate football (I mean the anxiety and long term injuries people? *shudder*) AND I LOVE HER just like @alexambooks said I would.
Though, less steamy than Intercepted, I really enjoyed this read. Martin intertwines romance with some serious topics regarding football, learning to love again, learning to parent together and so much more, while still keeping it light and fun!
Martin has a way of being able to pack a punch in a short amount of time and make me binge her books in one sitting. I can’t wait to read Blitz next!
If you’re looking for a fun, fluffy, and fast paced romance? Diverse characters? Moments that make you go awww and LOL? Characters you want to hug? Pick this up!
💭Here are my thought 💭
Poppy hates football for all the reasons I hate football (I mean the anxiety and long term injuries people? *shudder*) AND I LOVE HER just like @alexambooks said I would.
Though, less steamy than Intercepted, I really enjoyed this read. Martin intertwines romance with some serious topics regarding football, learning to love again, learning to parent together and so much more, while still keeping it light and fun!
Martin has a way of being able to pack a punch in a short amount of time and make me binge her books in one sitting. I can’t wait to read Blitz next!
If you’re looking for a fun, fluffy, and fast paced romance? Diverse characters? Moments that make you go awww and LOL? Characters you want to hug? Pick this up!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma and Stalking
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Body shaming, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Dementia, and Abortion
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