A review by karina_dreamsinwords
Secret love by Willow Aster

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."

𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 is the second installment of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐝 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 series following professional wide receiver Henley Ward & the new-to-town teacher, Tru Seymour. 

Henley is a busy girl dad to 3 daughters and has a great coparenting relationship with his ex wife. As a recent Silver Hills resident, Tru is still trying to find her place within the community. After meeting a heart throb next to the cinnamon buns at the grocery store, she doesn’t expect him to unload a piece of his mind upon her during her first day as a substitute teacher. When one of her students (who just so happens to be Henley’s daughter) has trouble reading aloud, she offers to help with lessons outside of class. These reading lessons along with Tru being the dance instructor to Henley’s other daughter, this forced proximity element really allows them to build on their initial connection that first sparked among the baked goods. 

I really enjoyed reading this and watching both of these characters finally allow themselves to be loved fully. I just loved the relationship development between them and their own growth throughout the book as well. A microtrope I love is the caretaker trope. In this one we get to see both Henley & Tru shine while caring for the other in different ways. 

I think Willow has created such a fun series with the Single Dad Playbook aspect! I truly enjoy getting to see snippets of advice this group of single dads continue to share with each other. The banter and camaraderie of the group is one of my favorite things about the series. If you love found family stories, be sure to add this series to your tbr ASAP! I cannot wait to see what happen in the next book 😍

✨trope round up— 

age gap (H is 36, h is 24)

caretaking 

he falls first & harder

single dad 

small town vibes

found family 

~𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙋𝙍 & 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠.