Wicked Love

A Small Town, Single Dad, Sports Romance (The Single Dad Playbook, Book 4)

By: Willow Aster

Narrated by: JF Harding, Samantha Brentmoor, Lily D. Moore - special guest

A sexy, small town, grumpy sunshine, single dad, sports romance from USA Today Bestselling Author Willow Aster. I fell in love with his little girl first. From the moment nine-year-old Becca Fox and I hugged, it was like we’d known each other forever. Precocious, sweet, and kind, I just knew this little girl was exceptional. Her dad, though? Not so much. Bowie Fox checks every box in the looks department—rugged, intense, and the kind of man who makes you forget how to breathe—but his personality? About as warm as a snowstorm.

That is, until we’re seated together at his best friend's wedding, and then…we dance.

For hours.

Beneath that gruff and hard exterior, I catch glimpses of a man who wants to let loose and enjoy life.

After the wedding, when a hotel mixup leaves me without a room and stranded in Landmark Mountain, Bowie invites me to stay in his room. In his bed. It’s innocent at first. Until it’s not. A sizzling one-night stand for the books. Then I wake up alone and when I see him at breakfast, he is as distant as ever. Bowie lets me know his life revolves around Becca, his teammates, and football. He makes it perfectly clear that there is no room for anyone else—especially the bubbly coach of his daughter. As much as our paths keep crossing, I know the broody linebacker isn’t ever planning on falling for me, but when I find out I am pregnant—I wonder, Can he fall for us?

©2025 Willow Aster (P)2025 Willow Aster

Bowie and Poppy

I love this whole series but I think this is my favorite book so far of the series. While this can be read as a stand alone book, it adds so much when you read/listen to them all, since the characters overlap in each book . This is a sweet love story with very little angst and a bit of steam mixed in.

Bowie and Poppy are incredible together. They hit it off on their first meeting but Bowie has been burned in a relationship before and has closed himself off. Poppy slowly melts those walls down till he can admit his feelings.

Samantha Brentmoor and JF Harding did an amazing job narrating this book and with Lily D Moore made the perfect cast for this book.

I was given an ALC to listen to and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Fox family #1 fan 🫶

🩷 single dad
🏈 found family
🩷 surprise pregnancy
🏈 grumpy x sunshine
🩷 small town

Bowie & Poppy make the perfect pair. He's initially cold and closed off since he's been hurt in the past. Poppy brings love, light, and laughter into Bowie & Becca's life. Sweet Becca fulfills her dreams of the family in her picture frames.

Narrated by JF Harding & Samantha Brentmoor. Special guest narrator Lily D Moore as Becca.

Fun read

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

General Thoughts: Second book I've read by this author, and second I've read in the series. After reading the first one, I knew that Willow was a talented writer, and that was confirmed here. She crafts her characters well, plots her stories well, and the pacing is excellent. I have loved reading about the friendship these guys have for each other. Male friendship is important. I also love the friendship amongst the women in the story, too. It's what I call football/sports-lite. Sports is there but definitely in the background. All in all, this was an enjoyable story, and I am glad to have read it. Curious to see what comes next. I received a review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Spice Meter:❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Spicy. Not as spicy as some but still there.

Romantic Tropes
-dual POV
-romance
-contemporary realistic
-one night only
-grump sunshine
-small town
-football
-sports

Loved!

Grumpy x Sunshine
Slow burn
Sports romance
Small town
Accidental pregnancy
Found family

Dual (duetish) Narration - Samantha Brentmoor & JF Harding with Lilly D. Moore playing the daughter.
The narration of this story was “wicked stellar” 😉

I loved this book. The story was sweet and funny. The friendship of the guys and the girls was so heartwarming.

Poppy is a great FMC I loved the development of her relationship with Bowles 9 yr old Daughter Becca. She was absolutely amazing with her. This help Bowie see how wonderful of a woman Poppy is.

A surprise pregnancy after a one night stand throws these two characters into each others lives in a more permanent way. Bowie is trying to reconcile his past with the future he sees ahead.

Overall this is a heartwarming story. I very much enjoyed it. Relatable characters and realistic events happen.

Single Daddy Goodness

Thank you so much to Willow and Valentine PR for an advance audio!

This series of football-playing single dads continues to make me smile, and Bowie may make me smile most of all. I love a grumpy daddy, but even his surliness is no match for his sweet little girl, Becca, who is the absolute light of his life. She has Down Syndrome and is an absolute ray of sunshine constantly burning away the cloud that follows her father around. And she falls head over heels for Poppy, much to her father’s dismay.

Bowie is perfectly content to let it just be he and Becca forever, but there’s no denying the spark that keeps igniting whenever Poppy is around. And it doesn’t help that she works with kids and is completely wrapped around Becca’s little finger. It just makes my heart feel good watching their relationship develop and Bowie finally accept the love he deserves.

I absolutely adore this group of friends and the close-knit family that they’ve formed.

🎧: JF Harding and Samantha Brentmoor are serious masters of their craft, and I will listen to anything and everything that they narrate. They do such an amazing job of embodying Bowie and Poppy. This is mostly dual narration, with special guest Lily doing a phenomenal job voicing sweet Becca. Truly a delightful audio.

𝚝 𝚛 𝚘 𝚙 𝚎 𝚜:
🏈 sports romance (football)
♥️ single dad
🏈 grumpy x sunshine
♥️ one night stand

Excellent Story & Narration🎧 Moving & Delightful!

Wow, this wonderful small town, grumpy sunshine single dad, sports romance, warms your heart and puts a smile on your face. It isn’t a secret that Willow Aster’s “The Single Dad Playbook” series is one of my favorite series, a group of mostly singles dads who play on the same professional football team, the Colorado Mustangs, and get together to let off steam and share tips, not just in single parenting, but some share other wisdoms, including relationship advice. Each book features a different member of that group and this fourth book is Bowie Fox’s story, a single father of the sweetest nine-year-old of daughter, Becca and the grumpiest of the group. Poppy Keane is fairly new in town and became friends with some of the player’s wives and has met Bowie and Becca, who she adored and bonded with. She takes a liking to Bowie, too, but he wasn’t the friendliest and she figured he wasn’t interested. Bowie built an impenetrable fortress around his heart after his ex broke it, and he doesn’t want to bring anyone into his and Becca’s life because her mother leaving left a big absence in their lives, especially Becca’s and he super protective of her and does not trust easily. Things shift for them at their friend’s wedding and the two wind up sharing a bed, and what starts as platonic ends with anything but. The chemistry between those two is undeniable and smoking hot, but he continues to keep his walls up, and they do the friends only approach instead. Poppy is amazing with Becca, understanding her special needs, and they develop a wonderful relationship, which helps with warming the ice around Bowie’s heart. When Poppy finds out she is pregnant, she doesn’t know how Bowie will handle the news and is not sure how to tell him, but does it in the best way, lol. I loved how everything played out in this book, with the perfect balance of drama, angst, charming and heartwarming moments, witty dialogue and banter, heartfelt emotions and steamy romance. Also loved the moments with the single dad, the shared camaraderie amongst them and hearing them share their playbook entries. Willow Aster, thanks for another fabulous story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 J.F. Harding, Samantha Brentmoor and Lily D. Moore were the perfect cast to bring these characters to life and their portrayal of them was incredible, giving each their own voice and was believable in every role. Harding nailed it as Bowie, super grumpy on the outside, but super protective and warm with Becca and those close to him. Brentmoor was a natural in Poppy’s role, showcasing her personality perfectly, from her insecurities to her caring side, including her bubbly positivity and encouragement with Becca and the kids. Both were fantastic performing the roles of the side and secondary characters too. Lily D. Moore was fabulous in Becca’s role, and her performance added so much to her character and the story. The pacing and tone were just right for the story, and they handled the witty banter and dialogue effortlessly and with ease. You could feel how much heart they put into their performance as they captured all the characters’ emotions and had you feeling them all. These exceptional voice performers deliver an exceptional listen.

This was everything

Obsessed. This story was so so good. Probably my second fav out of this series. Poppy and Bowles jour way was beautiful. And the narrators were perfect.

Such a Great Series

5 ⭐ 3.5 🌶️ 5 🎧

Gahhhhhh this series has my whole dang heart and Becca may have taken the cake. She is just too sweet and her relationship with Poppy had me close to tears. Bowie was adorable as well. A little broken between his ex and his dad... But when he finally let Poppy in, it was the best.

I think one of my favorite parts of this series is how the conflicts last about 3 seconds. There's no wild angst from miscommunication. These couples talk to and trust each other so much, it's a really beautiful thing.

The audio 😭 I adore Samantha Brentmoor and JF Harding, but special guest Lily D Moore stole the show, she was fantastic. And I loved that they had an actress with down syndrome perform the lines and had the proper representation. This was a wonderful listen.

Beautiful story

Perfection is the only way to describe this book. Bowie is a single dad to an amazing daughter who has Down syndrome. From the start his daughter Becca immediately gravitates to Poppy. She is the definition of walking sunshine. She is patient, kind, gentle, and genuinely cares for Becca. Poppy is the missing piece to their lives.
Their story is heart warming it's about healing, love and about surrounding yourself with supportive people who choose to love you and don't leave. It's about showing up every single day for the ones you love.
Blood doesn't make a family and this group of friends are amazing family to one another. I absolutely love the guys friend dynamic. They share everything with one another and their single dad playbook entries are everything. They support, love and care for each other.

This story is so unbelievably cute!

This story is so unbelievably cute! I truly adore this story! Of course the guys in the single dad‘s club are just hilarious and adorable, and I love the bond that they share. I love the single Dad playbook that they all write in and share Tibbets of information and kind of treat it like a diary between each other! I think it’s adorable. I absolutely think that the story is so cute and Poppy just made my heart happy. She had a backbone. She didn’t just roll over and show her belly to the professional football player. She was just such a cute adorable character. And the storyline was great! There’s no third act break up! It was just a really nice pallet cleanser read for me!