Welcome to Hawthorne, Texas, a place where many former citizens return, drawn to their hometown’s slower pace and family values, finding lasting love and happiness.

A man who’s gained fortune and fame. A woman who’s known heartbreak and despair. A second chance for a couple who went their separate ways years ago . . .

As a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, West Sutherland walks away at the peak of his career, ready to find a quieter life in his hometown of Hawthorne, Texas. He’s been hired by his former high school coach and mentor and will have a place on the Hawks’ coaching staff next year. He’s surprised to find Kelby Blackstone in town, the girl he’s never forgotten.

Kelby Blackstone married her college boyfriend, who was drafted into the NFL. Injury-prone, he turns to alcohol and drugs, and Kelby divorces him. She moves to Dallas and forges a new career path and life, until she receives devastating news that her father has suffered a stroke.

Although as teenagers, West and Kelby maturely agreed to go their separate ways after high school, running into one another in Hawthorne fourteen years later causes unresolved feelings to surface for them both. They decide to explore what they missed out on the first time, finding their shared past, and old friendship soon grows into deep feelings for one another.

The road to love is never easy, however, and they must deal with obstacles in their professional lives, even as they find strength in their shared passion for their hometown and each other.

Will a second chance at finding lasting happiness be in store for West and Kelby?

~Trigger Warning: off-page mention of marital abuse, drugs, alcohol, and parental death 

Titles in the Hearts in Hawthorne series include: Heartstrings and Helmets ~ Heartbeat Harmony ~ Agent of the Heart ~ Hearts and Hooves ~ Hoops and Hearts ~

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Heartstrings and Helmets
Series:  Hearts in Hawthorne #1
Author:  Alexa Aston
Published:  June 17, 2025
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Heartstrings and Helmets begins the Hearts in Hawthorne series with Kelby and West, who parted ways, mutually, fourteen years ago, but now might have a second chance to get their love right…If they are brave enough to take the risk.

West is a professional NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys. He’s at a point in his career where he’s achieved his goals, and with an injury that he’s fought back from, but knows it’s time to move on to the next phase of his life.  He wants to return home to his small hometown, perhaps if everything falls into place, to work with his high school coach, teaching high school football, lending his expertise to another generation. He’s also ready to settle down, to find that one person to build a life with, far away from the lights of fame.

West and Kelby were dating in high school, yet each knew that they had different paths at that time and moved on with no ill feelings between them.  Unfortunately, Kelby married another NFL player who had nowhere near the success of West.  A man who would turn ugly when his star didn’t rise, when injury changed his future, and when drugs and alcohol were more important than his wife, his career. One violent moment, and Kelby left, divorced his sorry butt, and returned home to care for her ailing father.  She and West will reconnect, but she’s far too leery of any relationship, and West does come on a bit strong at first. If he wants Kelby in his life, and he does, he’s going to have to win her trust again, and that’s a risk he’s willing to take.

I loved everything about Heartstrings and Helmets by Alexa Aston, and I’m honestly not a big sports romance person.  Yet this story has football as a backdrop to a couple who have matured, faced challenges and situations in life that formed who they are now.  The interactions of their small-town residents, many of whom played a part in their younger lives, add another interesting layer to their second-chance romance.  Their epilogue was *chef’s kiss*, everything I wanted to see how their lives together evolved through time.  If you love a well-written, emotional, and at times, intense romance where love gets another chance to thrive, then you’d love this one.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)