Book Review | Falling Stars – Lex Martin (Wild At Heart Series, Book Two)

Falling Stars
By: Lex Martin

Series: Wild At Heart
Book # in Series: 2 of 3
Genre: Romance
Trope(s): Single Mom, Best Friends To Lovers, Not His Baby
Publisher: Lex Martin
Publication Date: July 24th, 2025
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
My Reading Format: I received an advanced copy to review honestly

Synopsis:

Falling for the guy who broke my heart years ago wasn’t on my to-do list when I snuck into his condo.

Maverick Walker was my best friend, my safe place—the boy I trusted with my whole heart—until one reckless kiss in high school ruined everything. Now, he’s an NFL football player, and I’m a struggling small-town hairstylist, newly single and expecting a baby. With my ex gone and someone vandalizing my business, my life feels like it’s crumbling beneath me.

When my best friend Paige suggests hiding out in Maverick’s swanky condo to regroup while he’s recovering from an injury in New York, it seems like a lifeline.

Except he comes home. Unexpectedly. When I’m half-dressed.

Now I’m stuck in his orbit again, unprepared for the way he still makes my heart race. Maverick is charming, ridiculously hot, and as off-limits as ever. But I have bigger problems than his smoldering smile—like figuring out who’s targeting me and why they won’t stop.

As the threats escalate, so do Maverick’s protective instincts. But with his life in New York and mine in Texas, our worlds couldn’t be further apart. And yet, with danger closing in, his arms are the only safe haven I have left.

But how do I let him protect me without risking my heart again—when loving him feels as out of reach as a falling star?

Falling Stars is a single mom, forced proximity, friends to lovers romance with second chance vibes. If you enjoy charming cowboys, sassy heroines, or secretive small towns, this book is for you!

honey-script.light

Falling Stars is the second book in the Wild At Heart Series by Lex Martin. If you haven’t had the chance to start this series yet, have no fear, Falling Stars can be read as a standalone! Maverick and Baylee’s best friends to lovers romance was extremely hard to put down. This is a definite drop everything in your life and read kind of romance!!

Lex Martin has a way of grasping my attention every time I pick up one of her novels. If I had to pick a favorite trope, I think it would be the best friends to lovers trope. I love the vulnerability this evokes throughout the whole novel. Imagine my excitement when I first read the blurb! Let’s just say, I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time swooning over the ‘kissing my best friend’ challenge on tiktok. I was invested since the moment I finished reading the blurb. My heart loved every moment of Maverick and Baylee’s story! Let’s dive into what this novel is about!

In high school Baylee had a plan that played out perfectly in her mind. She would take part in the ‘kiss your best friend’ challenge and finally put the attraction that has been brewing between her and her best friend, Maverick, to motion. But, what Baylee didn’t anticipate was the fact that her feelings were once sided. So with a broken heart, and a video to prove her embarrassment, Baylee chooses to bury her feelings and her heartbreak and continue down the best friend lane. Now, a few years and a newborn baby later, Baylee finds herself running into her past and the feelings she thought she once buried deep down, come back with a vengeance…and this time, her feelings may not be unrequited…. You have to read to find out the rest!

Now, let’s talk about these characters. Baylee has to be one of my favorite characters by Lex Martin, so far. I rather enjoyed the fact that her emotions, her fears, her happiness, her sadness, and her ability to do the right thing shined so bright in this novel. There was never a moment where I questioned her decisions. I always understood the endgame because I understood her. I also loved the fact that she never put her son’s needs on hold to fulfill her own. She’s as fierce and as feisty as they come, but with a soft heartedness about her. Baylee was easily relatable in personality and in an emotional stance. I couldn’t get enough moments where she doted on her son and showed her heart to the man she knew she was always meant to be with.

And then we have Maverick. Rather quickly in this novel, I felt the overwhelming urge to shake some sense into this boy. But, having read books by Lex Martin in the past, I knew there was a reasoning behind why Maverick was being so bullheaded and I trusted the process. My heart loved the grown man that Maverick had turned into. I loved how gently he was with Baylee’s son, and I loved how he stepped into that nurturing fatherly role, even though the baby wasn’t his. My heart darn near exploded with happiness.

But before that happiness occurred, there were tears! And that’s why I gave Falling Stars a five star rating. I used to cry all the time while reading romance novels. Now, it’s rare for me to shed a tear. However, with Baylee and Maverick’s story, the tears were FLOWING! I cried from pure joy and from sadness. My heart broke, healed, broke and healed… It was a constant array of emotions! I loved it!! Lex Martin keeps climbing the ladder for my top favorite author!

Overall, there isn’t a word for how incredible of a read Falling Stars by Lex Martin is! I am obsessed with this series and with Lex Martin’s writing and storytelling! My heart is still invested! I can’t wait to see what’s next in the Wild At Heart series. If you’re a fan of the best friends to lovers trope with single mom vibes. I highly recommend this novel! You all won’t be sorry for picking this one up!!

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