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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I listened to the audiobook, narrated by January LaVoy. I was so sad when the book ended! A delightful story, delicious slow-burn, some really good groveling, great humor, just a delight!
I recently saw the third book in this series recommended, but I decided to start with the first in the series, and I will definitely be going on to read more by Alexa Martin! I loved the characters, and it is my favorite kind of romance, with elements of humor and steaminess. Marlee and her friends are a riot, and I laughed out loud more than once. A really fun read!
Loved this book for the imperfect and relatable characters. All kinds of people. Football players who are not portrayed as superstars but fallible men. Brown, black and white people. Intelligent and capable women. Except the mean girl who is just a bully.
I’m in love with this whole series. Relationships in an around the world of NFL football that feel incredibly real, told with humor and heart. Alexa Martin’s writing is utterly delightful.
Sports and romance? Yep. And it’s funny, too.
This was my first time reading a novel written by this author. I’m not an NFL fan in real life, but I don’t mind reading sports romances set in the professional football world.
Narrated by: January LaVoy
Series: The Playbook, Book 1
Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 09-11-18
Language: English
Publisher: Penguin Audio
My Spoiler Free Review
What I liked most about this sports romance novel…
Easy-to-read / Entertaining / Happily Ever After / Football world setting
Ratings
Overall – 4 stars!
Performance – 4 stars!
Narrator January LaVoy has a lovely acting voice. I enjoyed her style a lot and hope that she’s selected to do the next one in this standalone series.
Story – 4 stars!
Marlee had a complicated life. I liked her commitment level to her relationships overall, but I thought she should have put distance between herself and her ex-boyfriend sooner. Her soft heart wouldn’t allow that though, so Gavin had a tough time convincing her to embrace giving their past romance a 2nd chance 100%. But of course, his perseverance paid off…eventually!
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Coming up next:Fumbled
Now THIS is a fun tingle book. Marlee is real and interesting and smart-mouthed and hilarious, but most of all, honest. So why does no one believe her?
She’s been with NFL player Chris since high school, but he still won’t get engaged…or let her feel any control in their life together. The NFL wives give her a constant hard time about her lack of betrothed status (along with other things that gave me rage).
Then the one guy she had one incredible night with years ago in a different city while she and Chris were briefly broken up shows up as his new teammate. You can already guess how hot and good Gavin is. I mean, C’mon.
So of course she discovers Chris’s true colors and ends up single, as well as thrown in the path of Gavin’s desire to continue what they had that one night.
Which leads us all on a path of games and mind games, descriptive steamy scenes, laugh-out-loud comebacks, drama and introspection, and discovering who people are while going through it all.
This debut was great (though the hashtags were distracting at times when overused), and I will definitely look for her follow-up at my library.
Great New Voice in Romance!
Intercepted is fast paced and extremely funny! (I mean Donny’s Barney line and Marlee’s love of carbs and cheese had me laughing my butt off!) But it’s also sexy and emotional.
I loved Marlee’s strength at every turn, including knowing she needed to figure herself out at what could be the ultimate cost. Gavin was absolutely the sweetest and I loved how he always took Marlee’s side. The politics of the WAGs and the players was a lot of fun and of course had an authenticity that other sports romances lack. I also really appreciated that it wasn’t another woman or the WAGs that caused issues for Marlee and Gavin, it’s so easy and a little cliched.
While I love a sports romance, doesn’t even matter the sport!, you don’t have to be a fan of sports romances to love Intercepted, as the actual football talk is minimal. I’m very excited to read Fumbled and can’t wait for Blitzed to come out later this year!
This is a book that a my new bestie romance reader buddy at the bookstore where I work recommended. Once I picked it up, I totally was hooked and knew what the fuss was about it. I really enjoyed this look at the wives and girlfriends of professional football players and how they all interacted. Knowing that the author has personal experience with this made it that much better! I only had one issue and that was when she got upset with Gavin for him getting on someone who had insulted her in front of him, and she was mad because she was going to fight her own battles and didn’t need him. That has nothing to do with someone fighting your battle, it has to do with standing up for someone you care about. Anyway, can’t wait to read the next book. We’ll see when I get the money and time!
I loved this book so much! I love Martin’s writing style and I even laughed out loud at several moments. This was a sexy, stunning debut. I couldn’t read it fast enough. If you like Susan Elizabeth Phillips, you should definitely read this book.
TOSS UP-
I really wanted to like this because of the hype, but too many hashtags, too much unnecessary drama, a heroine who is annoying and a lackluster romance. Put all of that together and it’s too little substance.
Simply put, I really loved this book!
Sports romance and even more specifically, football romance is one of my favorite subgenres. So, you could say that my standards are fairly high for them as well.
Intercepted was a really fun read. I adored Marlee and Gavin and I really enjoyed how Ms. Martin developed their relationship. Gavin and Marlee had great chemistry and I especially loved how Gavin treated Marlee. Gavin is definitely book boyfriend material!
Intercepted is a strong start to the Playbook series and an outstanding debut for Ms. Martin.
*Copy provided by Netgalley
INTERCEPTED has been recommended on various blogs and book lists I have read, and perhaps it’s the hype that had me expecting more. I found the book enjoyable in parts but overall it did not wow me.
The book is fast paced and a light read. The writing is reasonable and I enjoyed it enough that I would give future work by this debut author a go.
For a book touted as a romance, I felt too little time was dedicated to Marlee and Gavin’s relationship. After she dumps her cheating boyfriend, she’s in a relationship with Gavin quick smart. From here, much of the focus is on Marlee, her work and the challenges she faces as a girlfriend – not wife – of an NFL player. There are so many over the top occurrences, characters and reactions, it felt farcical. And those life summaries via hashtags? Please, stop!
The time Marlee does spend with Gavin gives us no reasons why these two remain together. As a couple, they never explore their feelings, or what they want, or how they see the future. Instead off they go on their merry way, making assumptions about these issues and just expect the other person to fall in with their plans.
It’s not until the final 10% that an incident has them both question what a joint life together might look like. I enjoyed this part the most because it’s here that we finally get to see some depth to Marlee and Gavin. It just came too late in the book to save it.
Loved the banter and pop culture references in this book. Fast paced with a sharp tongued heroine. Right up my alley!
4.5 Stars
Alexa Martin’s debut novel was fantastic! I love sports romances and this one lived up to all my expectations. I adored this book and the characters.
Marlee was dating an NFL receiver on and off for a while. She was just waiting on him to make it official and she could join the elite wives club of the football players. She wasn’t expected the teams new QB to be someone from her past.
Gavin is sweet, sexy, a great athlete and fiercely loyal. He is a great player and tried to get along with everyone. Gavin is the perfect book boyfriend you can’t help but love.
Intercepted has the perfect amount of drama and romance mixed with football. I devoured this book and can’t wait for the book by this author.
This debut novel was right up my alley. Smart, witty and a sports romance – everything I love and adore.
INTERCEPTED was a typical sports romance. A cheating jock boyfriend, another ball carrying knight in shining armor and a feisty and hilarious heroine.
I read INTERCEPTED in one sitting, even took it with me to work and finished the last 50 pages there. Throughout the book I caught myself smiling quite a few times and wish I had such a hilarious personality like Marlee as my friend – with her, it would never be boring. I loved how independent Marlee was. Maybe a little too forgiving for my taste, but it all worked out for the better in the end.
Marlee was if I’m honest the personality that outshone everyone else.
She was fun, self confident, and always good for a chuckle. Her mouth was the star in this book. It was in all honestly never boring when Marlee was around – which was pretty much all the time – lol!
The story on its own was predictable, but satisfying nonetheless. Towards the end there were a few things that I thought were unnecessary, and the story would have been even better without them. A little too much back and forth for my taste. And a few hang ups that were blown out of proportion.
But all in all, this book was an amazing debut novel. Quick witted dialogues, a wonderful supporting cast and a sweet guy that swept Marlee off her feet if she wanted it or not.
So, if you love a quick and easy read, that makes you smile and chuckle, this book is for you.
4.5 Stars
Audiobook
The narrator was amazing and I loved the h’s internal thoughts.
She’s hilarious and refreshing.
I laughed out loud so many times and her hashtags were epic.
Gavin Gavin Gavin
I fell in love with this sweet, patient, family-loving, loyal, and dirty talking man.
He was alpha without being an a**hole.
I’m so glad there were no games between the two of them.
I’m so over the “I’m going to do this to make the guy/girl jealous” thing.
They took each other’s back in public and in private.
I was extremely sad when the audiobook said, “Audible hopes you enjoyed this program”.
I may or may not have screamed, “Hashtag Announcer Say What?”
June 2019 cannot come fast enough.
Intercepted is witty, fast-paced, and fun. At least in the beginning. I really liked Marley with her sass and attitude, and Gavin is like someone cloned all the perfect boyfriend qualities into one and came up with him. A bit too perfect, yes, but it’s impossible not to love him. However, my high opinion of this one waned a bit with the second half of the book. The many hashtags that seemed amusing in the beginning grew tedious, and the little dramas just kept going on and on. When I say little dramas, I mean exactly that. Something would happen, Gavin would step up and save the day, and all would be sunshine and roses again, repeatedly. We do get a bigger bit of angst toward the end, but Marley’s epiphany and resulting need to find who I am soul search could’ve come so much sooner. Plus the thing that brings it all on is so completely out of character for Gavin that it was all a little bit of a let down for me. That said, I did enjoy the author’s wit, minus all the hashtags, and really liked the first half of this book. It is well worth the read and I’ll be interested to see how the author’s writing grows with future books.
Intercepted is a solid sports romance debut from an author I’ll be keeping an eye out for moving forward.
Seriously. The writing, for the most part, was smart and snappy. The characters were multi-dimensional and likable. And the story hooked me immediately and kept me on the line with it for pretty much the entire thing. Marlee is my favorite type of heroine: smart, strong, and sassy. She took a few blows throughout the course of the book, but she gave as good as she got and she stayed true to herself. I loved her indomitable spirit, and the chemistry she shared with Gavin, who was a pretty irresistible character in his own right – the sort of sensitive, protective alpha hero that gets me every time.
I loved the way their relationship started and that Ms. Martin didn’t shove me right into it. Some of the time transitions were a little clunky for me, but that was balanced out by the witty banter, and clever exchanges these two gave – not only to each other – but to the secondary characters they were surrounded by (friend and foe). There’s a fair amount of drama here, but most of it played off as fun, sometimes almost campy, and – of course – it is always gratifying to see the good guys win in the end.
I also loved that Ms. Martin didn’t shy away from the sports aspect of this sports romance. I loved that Marlee was a sort of intense fan (actually, I loved that quite a bit). As a fan of all things football (and maybe most especially football romance), the fact that Gavin’s career wasn’t glossed over added an extra layer of fun for me.
All that said, it wasn’t quite a perfect read. As I mentioned, some of the transitions were a little awkward for me, and I felt like some of the “quirks” in the writing could have been dialed back a bit. It was a little inconsistent sometimes, but not in a way that ruined the book for me. Not at all. I enjoyed it quite a bit and feel like this is one of the strongest debut books I’ve read in quite some time. I’m excited to see where Ms. Martin goes from here and I will absolutely be back for more. ~ 3.5 Stars
Wow, Alexa Martin absolutely blew me away with her debut novel, Intercepted. It’s a contemporary sports romance with a heroine, Marlee, who is wonderfully relatable, insanely likable and absolutely hilarious. After she discovers that her long-term boyfriend has been cheating on her, Marlee is reunited with the man she had an unforgettable one-night stand with four years ago, Gavin, and he still wants her. She’s not ready to date or fall in love again, but Gavin is hard to resist. (Gah. I am not sure how anyone could ever resist him. Gavin Pope is swoony.) He patiently woos her, and it’s a captivating blend of sweet, romantic and sexy as he gives Marlee the space she needs to find herself and stand on her own. The writing is snappy, the pacing is quick, the romance is sublime, and the humor is off-the-charts. Alexa Martin delivers a stellar love story, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.