Series in development with Starz & G-Unit Films and Television by 50 Cent and La La AnthonyOne of NPR’s Best Books of 2018An Amazon Best Romance of 2018 PickAn iBooks “Best of September” PickA GoodReads Best of the Month pick for SeptemberOne of Booklist’s Top 10 Romance Debuts for 2018 One of BookBubs Best Fall Romances of 2018Marlee thought she scored the man of her dreams only to be … 2018
Marlee thought she scored the man of her dreams only to be scorched by a bad breakup. But there’s a new player on the horizon, and he’s in a league of his own…
Marlee Harper is the perfect girlfriend. She’s definitely had enough practice by dating her NFL-star boyfriend for the last ten years. But when she discovers he has been tackling other women on the sly, she vows to never date an athlete again. There’s just one problem: Gavin Pope, the new hotshot quarterback and a fling from the past, has Marlee in his sights.
Gavin fights to show Marlee he’s nothing like her ex. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready to let her escape her past. The team’s wives, who never led the welcome wagon, are not happy with Marlee’s return. They have only one thing on their minds: taking her down. But when the gossip makes Marlee public enemy number one, she worries about more than just her reputation.
Between their own fumbles and the wicked wives, it will take a Hail Mary for Marlee and Gavin’s relationship to survive the season.
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This book was so funny that I was making a scene on the airplane, laughing out loud. It felt so fresh and truly contemporary, with the heroine hashtagging her life, her overprotective and completely loveable daddy and a hero who brings some challenges to the relationship…it’s not easy dating Mr. Perfect. The pace never flagged, and the humor was razor-sharp. Romantic comedy at its very best.
Wow! This book is everything I love about romance. Characters so vivid and real, I wish they were my own friends, and drama around every corner. I couldn’t keep from smiling and laughing out for most of the book. I also could not put it down #WhoNeedsToWorkThisWeek I listened to the audio, and January LaVoy did a fantastic job. Can’t wait for more books by Alexa Martin!
I’m not normally into sports romance books, but this one knocked my socks off. It was cute and funny and had a serious dose of sexy. Highly recommend!
I laughed out loud throughout this book! It reminded me so much of the UPN/BET sitcom “The Game” in the early years when it was on UPN (CW).
As a book, it’s a refreshing new take on a sports romance. For those who aren’t versed in NFL football, I feel bad for you! But seriously, if you aren’t, it’s not a hindrance here. Very little of the play-by-play of the games is here, and she even explains a stadium site/team name misnomer for those who aren’t aware.
The only drawback wasn’t really a drawback: I thought the timeline in the end seemed a little rushed (don’t want to spoil it, but you’ll see what I mean in Ch. 43), but again, this is marketed as a romance, and extending that time line and showing what happens would put it into Women’s Fiction territory.
Overall: This was entertaining, funny, and had some awesome characters.
This book is just my type of romance crack. Smart, funny, steamy and heartfelt. Alexa Martin has a fun, fresh author voice. I blazed through this and Fumbled in three days, and I can’t wait for Blitzed.
I devoured this in one sitting. It made me super happy. The voice and the references were so fun and the world was so easily pictured. I will say I adored Marlee so much I never quite thought Gavin was good enough for her. He was nice and all, and funny, but she was just so fab. But , I totally approve her getting an HEA.
From the first page, I was hooked. Marlee’s voice crackled throughout the entire book with charm, wit, sarcasm, and pathos. After a long drought, I finally found a contemporary romance I literally inhaled in one day. I highly recommend this book to lovers of contemporary romance, football, and unforgettable characters.
Loved this book. I can’t wait for the next in the series.
If you need a laugh out loud book you’ll stay up all night reading, check out Intercepted! Loved it.
Intercepted is the first installment in a new sports romance series titled: Playbook. Being married to a former NFL player, author Alexa Martin knows firsthand all about the world of football, both on and off the field. As rich and glamorous as it may appear at first glance, you wouldn’t catch me anywhere near that world if Martin’s fictional debut is any indication of how cutthroat it all is. Inspired by her real life experiences when her husband played professional football, Intercepted deals with it all from backstabbing, envious, and aggressive WAGS (wives and girlfriends of high-profile athletes) to the strategy involved in handling the media, fans, other players, as well as protective family and friends.
Our heroine, Marlee, was burned one too many times when dating in the professional football world so the last thing she expects is to be reconnected with Gavin, a former one-night stand, who … yes, you guessed it … was just added to the team. Intercepted offers humor, diversity, plenty of romance, and even some unexpected suspense. Marlee has these hilarious hashtags scattered throughout the novel that add clever zingers at the most appropriate times, and this was my favorite part of the book. Marlee is a strong character that still possesses surprising vulnerability, and she was easy to like. As a reader, I did get annoyed by her over-the-top independence, but trust issues impact people in a variety of ways. Overall, an enjoyable and easy-to-read romance.
I will forever be grateful to Alexa Martin for snapping my week-long book/bookstagram/blogging slump, which I’m now referring to as the Great Slump of Late Summer 2018. Intercepted was one of my most highly-anticipated releases of the year and it exceeded all of my expectations. It was such a fun, swoony and sexy book.
I absolutely loved Marlee. I spent a good portion of the book literally laughing out loud thanks to her. She was super sassy, too. Gavin was everything I want in a hero, too. He was so sexy and swoony and he treated Marlee how she deserved to be treated. (Unlike the POS she was dating at the beginning of the book.) Who doesn’t love a sweet and devoted quarterback? Rawr. They played so well off each other and their chemistry was fantastic. I loved their second chance romance.
So, I have to admit, I was a little concerned when I started reading the book. But it was my own fault. I have a terrible habit of not reading a blurb before starting a book. So here’s this amazing heroine paired with this complete jackass and I’m like “Oh man, what did I get myself into? I can’t read an entire book with this dude.” Except with more profanity. Thankfully that is NOT the story I got. That’ll teach me not to read blurbs. (No it won’t.) But, I digress. Marlee and Gavin get an A+.
As a rabid football fan, I loved the behind-the-scenes look at the world of the NFL, too. If the WAGs in real life are anything like the ones in this book… whoa. The cattiness, the drama? Dang. It made for a good book, though. Marlee did a good job handling these women and I appreciated it. No doormat heroines for me, please and thank you! Such a great book all around. I loved the diversity and, well, everything about Intercepted. I can’t wait to get my hands on Fumbled!
FAVORITE QUOTES
Sometimes I like to hashtag my life. #CheaperThanTherapy
The problem with being an adult is absolutely everything. Bills. Work. The bone crushing disappointment of knowing the guy you want isn’t right for you. A slowed metabolism.
In the words of the infamous Ice Cube, today was a good day. #GangstaRapInspiration
“The way he watches me, the way he touches me? He makes me feel beautiful . . . That I’m beautiful not in spite of the flaws I work so hard to hide, but because of them.”- Alexa Martin, Intercepted
I’ve had this book on my Kindle FOREVER and I’m so glad I finally checked it off my TBR because it was friggen adorable. Witty and flirty and fun with just the right amount of steam. And knowing that Alexa Martin was an IRL NFL wife made the pro-football behind the scenes feel that much more authentic.
I absolutely loved the Heroine and the hero, and I loved to hate the villiains (because they were deliciously horrid). Plus I am a sucker for a good female friendship and this book had two!
Intercepted was a great read, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of this series!
I enjoyed this series. Fun read
I have never fell in love with an author so fast in all my life. The writing was fun and witty. Besides a few more solemn moments, Intercepted had me grinning and laughing out loud throughout. I was practically giddy with happiness while reading. Not only was I entertained, but also empowered by Marlee and her journey. Plus, it helped to have such a sexy and sweet hero. #obsessed
Intercepted was a really funny romance. I laughed, gasped and yelled. For the most part, I listened to this book because I had a busy week. I have to say the narrator does an excellent job conveying Marlee’s attitude.
Marlee’s inner monologue is hilarious and her obsessive use of hashtags made me laugh. #hellaclassy The book is full of pop culture references, like quoting Ice Cube “Today was a good day”. Football wives are the ultimate mean girls and their relationships make for some fun action in the page. And we can’t forget Gavin Pope, the hot quarterback who’s also a sweetheart. I really enjoyed Alexa Martin’s writing.
CW: There are a lot of F-bombs in this book. I mean, we’re talking pro football players, so ya know.
Intercepted is hilarious and diverting. If you are at all in to audiobooks, the narrator is fantastic. I laughed out loud multiple times.
Marlee is done with football, but mostly done with the players. Their big egos and selfish ways can go somewhere else. After losing her not-so-great job and her equally not-so-great football boyfriend, the last thing she wants is the quarterback’s attention. Gavin is somewhat relentless and happens to be a knight in shining armor more than once, despite Marlee’s go-away attititude.
I listened to a snippet of an author chat between a bookstagrammer and Alexa prior to reading her work. Her personality that I witnessed is clearly on the page. It’s fun and sassy, honest and vibrant. After reading another book that I didn’t at all care for, this was the perfect antidote for February.
TW – steam and language
A fun romantic comedy which focuses on Marlee, one of the Lady Mustangs (the wives of the Denver NFL team). Marlee quickly finds out that the world she was used to can all come crashing down at a moment’s notice. How will Marlee pick up the pieces and who will still be there for her? Although the focus of the story is based around football, there is not a lot of talk about the sport other than little glimmers with a game and the signing process. I plan to continue with the Playbook series.
I do love me some Marlee and Gavin and he was such an amazing man so that is why I’m rounding up from 3.5 here. I love the fact he never forgot her and as soon as he gets a chance to be with her he takes advantage of that. He is super swoony but her ex is super creepy so I’m not sure anyone would be worse than that. The drama that came from this one wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it was a great lesson. I feel like Marlee did jump into this new relationship pretty quickly, but I also feel like Gavin forced her hand a bit. All in all I enjoyed the read.
I have read the first three books in Alexa Martin’s football series (out of order, but I do that sometimes.) Each is a standalone book with characters that inhabit one another’s books. Very quick, fun writing. The heroine jumped from one player’s bed to another’s fairly quickly. She had her reasons, but it made me hold back on the relationship for a bit. Also, you expect the football players to be super macho and that wasn’t the case with this hero, maybe because he was the quarterback. Likable guy, fun characters, enjoyable.
Marlee and Gavin’s story is fantastic but I really LOVED Marlee’s journaling and her wonderfully supportive friendships. Alexa Martin has created a wonderful world with great characters and I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series. #FanasticRead #WillReadAgain