Book Review | Second Down Darling – Lex Martin (Varsity Dads Series,

Second Down Darling
By: Lex Martin

Series: Varisty Dad’s Series
Book # in Series: 4 out of 4
Genre/Trope: Sports Romance, Single Father, Best Friends To Lovers
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: August 7th, 2023
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮
My Reading Format: Advanced Copy Received For My Honest Review

Synopsis:

Jake’s my best friend and first love. There’s just one problem—he belongs to my sister.

I’ve been crushing on Jake for years, but never had the guts to tell him. One drunken night with my sister and two pink lines later, and he’s lost to me forever.

She doesn’t care that I met Jake Ramirez first. That he and I were best friends first. That I fell in love with him first. Because what my sister wants, my sister gets.

When she video-calls me and Jake accidentally walks by in the buff, something in me snaps.

Transferring to a different college might seem like a copout, but I have to get away from Jake and my sister before I say or do something I’ll regret. In an act of desperation, I ghost my old life.

For the next two years, everything is great—until I come face-to-face with Jake and his son, who my sister abandoned.
Jake’s the new wide receiver at my school, and he wants nothing to do with me, which is fine because I plan to keep my distance. Except we’re thrown together in the most dire circumstances that bring back all those old feelings.

They say everyone deserves a second chance, but my heart can’t handle breaking one more time.

Second Down Darling is an angsty, friends-to-lovers, forbidden romance, featuring a sexy single dad who’s a down-and-out college football player and a nerdy girl determined to overcome her wallflower ways. It has major second chance vibes and lots of steam! Second Down Darling is a dual POV standalone in the USA Today-bestselling series Varsity Dads.

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Second Down Darling by Lex Martin is a standalone within The Varsity Dads series. If you love sexy single fathers who conquer the football field, while tackling raising a child, this series is definitely for you.

There has only ever been one guy for Charlotte Darling, from high school and into college life her heart beat only for Jake Ramirez. But you see, Charlotte’s sister, Dakota, had other plans for Jake’s happily ever after; with a vindictive streak, she makes sure Charlotte will never see her happily ever after….ever again.

Jake found himself in the hot seat when a one night stand with his best friend’s older sister ended up with a surprise pregnancy. He promised to be there for Dakota and his son. As long as he has his best friend, Charlotte by his side, he can conquer the world.

Charlotte and Jake had life dreams, and goals, they both dreamed of going to Lone Star State University. But when Dakota’s pregnancy was announced, they all three decided to stick closer to home. But with the constant in-your face romance, Charlotte decides to move on from the man she can never have. So on a random day, with her bags packed and her phone number changed, she enrolls at Lone Star State University.

Now, Charlotte is living her best life with a strong group of friends and a dream to become a professional photographer and help the local animal rescue center stay in business. She promised a photo shoot for a calendar, so with help from her best friend and roommate Roxie, they set up an athlete/rescue animal photo shoot, unknowingly setting herself up for the ultimate blast from the past. An angry as hell Jake Ramirez with his baby boy Asher. I can feel the tension from here!!

My Thoughts:

So far, I have read three books in the Varsity Dads Series and I have loved every single one of them! From the strong single fathers, to the happily ever after they all find. I’ve walked away from all these novels with my heart feeling light and happy. So imagine my excitement when an advanced copy of Second Down Darling showed up on my kindle!! I was over the moon with excitement.

I spent all night reading this novel, I couldn’t put Jake and Charlotte’s book down! There was so much I loved about this one, and there was also a few moments of critique. So let’s get started!

Let’s start with the characters. First off, let’s dive in to the single father himself, Mr. Jake Ramirez. This man has a very soft heart. He’ll give a homeless man the shirt off his back if it would warrant a smile. When he found out Dakota was pregnant, he eased her worries and made promises that he intended on keeping. And honestly, he would have kept those promises and stayed with his son’s mother, if shit hadn’t hit the fan giving him a great way out. Through all the highs and all the lows, I can say this, Jake is a great man. We need more human beings like Jake. Tackling college courses, raising a son, football practice, football games, and training for the draft… this man is a rockstar! I loved his ambition and his drive. I also loved the fact that he was tender and caring to those who he trusts and gives his love to. What more can I say, I loved this character.

And then we have Charlotte Darling. Charlotte lived her childhood life in the spotlight due to her older sister’s health issues being televised. You can imagine, having to watch your older sister go through medical procedures and constant stays in a hospital would be enough trauma, but then add in the fact that the whole nation is watching what your going through also, is a lot for a child to take on. So Charlotte pretty much kept to herself and found a way to effortlessly hide her emotions and her thoughts. My heart broke for Charlotte over and over and over again. This woman was put through way too much as a child. But through all of that, and then dealing with her sister, Jake, and there son becoming one small happy family, she found the strength to stand on her own, take control of her life, and move on. I loved watching Charlotte grow from a shy girl to an independent woman. All it took was to cut herself away from all the drama that infiltrated her life. My heart felt the freedom Charlotte had to have felt. 

I always had hope for Jake and Charlotte, I knew that once they blocked out the outside noise they would be fine. And my wish came true!! Lex Martin delivered another ultimate happily ever after! I loved Charlotte and Jake’s friendship, I loved the fact that they teased one another and had a fairly happy and healthy relationship where friendship was concerned. Their banter was endless and at times funny as hell. A few issues I had was I wanted to see Asher and Charlotte together more. I wanted them to have a closeness and I didn’t feel like that was delivered as much. I also, kind of, wanted to see Dakota grow up and become less villainous. So those are the reason’s why I dropped a star on my rating.

Overall, Lex Martin gave us another great and somewhat emotional single father tale! I can’t say anything else that I haven’t already said. This was a great novel, with great characters, and one epic happily ever after. I loved every moment!

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Read Today:
*Available with kindleunlimited*

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Yor5je
Amazon Universal: https://mybook.to/seconddowndarlinglm

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Peace Love and Happy Reading,