A review by sheenamy
Fumbled by Alexa Martin

3.0

The thing is: I do really like the writing style and this book really has a lot of great characters and female friendships. However I have questions about the entire trajectory of this whole thing.
Imagine you spent ten years thinking your boyfriend dropped your 16 y/o pregnant self and went no contact the moment you told him you were pregnant, even letting his mother execute the whole breakup thing. Imagine you meet that guy again after ten years. Would you kiss him and go on a date with him?
Also imagine you spent 10 years thinking you girlfriend has just completely ghosted you. Like for no reason, out of nowhere. And you went on to have a very successful career. Would you go after her for more than an explanation?
And after ten years they meet and they resolve absolutely nothing on their first meeting, then they have a fight on their date, which followed by him meeting his son for the first time, then they have a very emotional talk in the middle of the night, followed by a nice family outing and if I haven't forgotten anything that's all the interaction there is before she agrees to be his girlfriend again.
Like...I get they were together like 10 years ago, but 10 years is a long time especially in that age range and being kicked out by your parents and becoming a single mother for her as well as being wildly successful and generally worshipped for him will absolutely alter your personality. So the rekindling feelings that never quite left-explanation does feel forced.
And I know nothing about kids, but Ace is very calm and even-tempered about the fact that his mom just pulls out some guy and tells him that's his dad, who moves in quite quickly and turns his life upside down and, mind you, takes up time and attention from Ace's mom who he had to himself for 9 years. Like what kind of amazing ways to emotionally regulate and handle change has this kid discovered? Can he teach me?
It also turned quite dark in the second half? Like I do know that football is very dangerous and what we put people through for mere entertainment ist beyond me, but like this is a romance book about a single mom and her highschool sweetheart and I did not expect to be educated in detail about the many ways football is terrible for your health.
It is easy to read, in many ways a captivating story with endearing characters, but...the plot is really something.