This novel is either going to work for you or not. It’s an easy read and I appreciated getting some insider knowledge on life as a professional athlete’s girlfriend. I liked getting to see a racially diverse NFL team (just like real life!) and that the story centers on a biracial heroine. However, my mileage varied greatly when it came to the plot and the humor. Case in point: too many hashtags.

I struggled with Marlee’s character at times. A big part of this is just me: I have a hard time with characters that date douchecanoes or lackluster men for YEARS and have just gotten out of the relationship at the start of the novel. My impulse is to put them in therapy so they can figure out why they stayed in what was clearly not a healthy relationship before they even think about start dating again. Now Marlee did get bonus points in that she broke off her relationship but it only happened because she learned Chris was cheating. And everything we learn about Chris had me scratching my head in confusion. Why did she stay with this tool for ten years?? It reflected poorly on her.

So I was pretty skeptical when Gavin came around. Marlee needed time to figure stuff out, not figure him out! But Gavin was the star of this novel. He was so persistent and kind and I loved how he pursued Marlee and took care of her.

That is, up until the end when he did something that was so out of character, I found it completely unbelievable. It didn’t match what we knew of his personality up to that point and it was rather predictable plot choice. While I appreciated Marlee’s eventual decision, I also thought it should have happened at the beginning of the novel, not the end. But like I said, that’s my own personal preference.

Lastly, I would have found this much more enjoyable if it didn’t have the Mean Girls subplot. I'm tired of stories which involve women tearing each other down instead of lifting each other up. I couldn’t understand why Marlee and Naomi spent any time with the other WAGs, much less participated in the committee. They were vicious! Why do that to yourselves? I’m sure such cattiness exists among real-life WAGs but I sincerely hope it’s not as widespread as portrayed in this novel.

A three star rating isn’t a bad rating from me. It means I liked the book and I did. I just wanted more from it as well.

WOWWW…. This book was sooo much fun to read !!!! I went in expecting a sexy romance with some gossip on the side but this was full on chick lit drama and I was thoroughly entertained. Also, the author mentions in the note that she is an NFL wife, so I was really surprised to see some of the WAGs in the story and I really hope the author didn’t have to deal with so much bitchiness and drama during her time.

Marlee is an awesome protagonist to read about. She may have been an NFL girlfriend for a long while and just found out she was being cheated on all this time, but she is no pushover. She is confident, sassy, doesn’t take any shit from anyone and gives back as good as she gets. I loved her comebacks, how she deals with anyone trying to behave badly towards her. She can be a tad bit dramatic and lets go of her temper when it comes to football, but she is an amazing woman who loves her family, friends and her job. I loved her growth through the book, especially the decisions she makes towards the end, deciding to find herself before she makes one of the most important decisions of her life.

Gavin is too good to be true and the kind of guy who only exists in fiction and our imaginations😍😍😍 He is an excellent quarterback, is extremely hot, very charming and chivalrous and swoon worthy. But he can also be protective and overbearing sometimes. I liked that Gavin and Marlee could just be themselves with each other and not put up a front due to his celebrity status. They were like a normal couple, enjoying their dates, having fun without any care until the outside world comes knocking in. The slander that Marlee is put through just for being his girlfriend is very painful to watch but I was very impressed that he never wavered in his feelings and always had her back. I hated the conflict at around 85% of the book where Gavin messes everything up, because it felt so out of character for me. But I liked the way it was resolved, in a mature and reasonable way and it wasn’t what I expected.

I also enjoyed Marlee’s friendship with Naomi and Brynn. Because of the extreme bitchiness, girl on girl hate and slut shaming in this book, I was glad to see she had atleast a couple of female friends who understood her and always backed her up. Their banter and interactions are so much fun to read about and reminded me of my own girl gang. We only get glimpses of both the families and it was nice to see such supportive parents, but I particularly loved Marlee’s dad. His protective nature was just too cute. The less I talk about the other WAGs in the team and Marlee’s ex, the better – they are bitter, nasty and extremely offensive and I’m glad Marlee always takes a stand, but they really put her through hell.

The writing is very easy flowing and it’s very hard to put this book down. I finished it in a single sitting and laughed out loud many times. There is some sports talk but not a lot, so even a football noob like me could follow along comfortably. My only complaint is that Marlee thinks in terms of hashtags a lot and it got repetitive very soon… and I definitely didn’t want a hashtag in the middle of a lovemaking scene. However, the book is very easy to read and lots of fun and I’m definitely very excited to read more by this author.

This was a fun read. I like my romance with a dash of humor and Marlee had the sass down. And I liked that her story broke the mold a little in my opinion. This wasn't the classic will they/won't they drama for the entirety of the book. They will, they do, they have a real relationship with problems and THAT's what almost kills our HEA, not a silly miscommunication or someone being too stubborn to admit their feelings. And that's what made this story feel real to me.

Marlee and Gavin were great together. Yeah, I was pretty pissed at him by the end, but I'm sure this is the reality of the football world. And the reality of relationships in general. We get mad at each other - it's how we handle it that's telling. I love that Alexa Martin drew from her own experience and I hope there are some catty football wives out there who realize that Court and Madison are based on them and it makes their blood boil.

The hashtags were a little much for me, but that's one of my only complaints about the writing style. Other than more sex...but that's a constant for me. I'm excited to see what's to come from Alexa Martin!

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were a lot of fun. Marlee may be little (5'2") but she was big in mouth. She didn't like confrontation but when someone went after her best friend or her man, she did not back down, even if it caused a fight to break out in the stands. There are always bitchy women who instead of supporting other women, they are jealous and try to knock those women down. That is how I saw the Mustangs wives. I'm sure there are wives like them and there are wives like Naomi. I enjoyed Marlee and Gavin's relationship. They seemed to have a fun relationship that was filled with a mutual respect. I thought the storyline flowed smoothly, the characters were engaging and I was entertained. This is a typical chick lit story. I'm just glad that Marlee wasn't kidnapped like what usually happens with couples in chick lit books. I found this a fun book that would make a great summer read. Although it doesn't come out until September so it will be a perfect read for football season. Curl up with a blanket and a hot chocolate and enjoy

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

OMG, Gavin. Just yes, please. He wasn't perfect because who wants that anyway, but he was pretty close. I LOVED Marlee although she got in her own way sometimes. Together, they WERE perfection. Just an absolute joy to read. And no, I didn't buy into the reviews saying there was slut shaming, because she had strong female friendships so not all the female relationships were portrayed in a bad way.

Loved the clever banter in this book. It felt like there was a lot of action moments in between the comedy, the sweet, the sexy and the serious.

An absolutely fun read. Lead character sassy as hell and fun. The romance and chemistry was also off the page, in the best way possible.

An eye-opening view of the interaction between wives and girlfriends of professional football players. Marlee who finds herself ridiculed and mocked by the media and players' jealous girlfriends and wives tells her story in an entertaining and amusing way.

This was a very quick read. I actually finished it in two days. Unfortunately, I did not like this at all. I haven't read romance in quite some time, but this one reminded me very strongly of the type that were released in the 90's and early 2000's. The women were overly catty and out to get the heroine. There was too much attempted rape with the hero always around to save her. Marlee could be a national statistic on her own. I did like her though. I thought she was well written, I understood her viewpoint. The same cannot be said for Gavin. He was such a cipher. The author did very little to flesh him out or make him an interesting character in his own right. I honestly don't know what she saw in him other than he wasn't her cheating ex.

The last sports related romance I read was by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. This was way back in the day. It's interesting that those fair much better than this one. Intercepted has way too many archaic romance tropes. The author should have made an effort to modernize her story. Of course, when she did, it failed badly. Those hastags were incredibly overused and annoying. People don't think that way or speak that way. Every time Marlee popped out another one I wanted to scream.

If I am going to jump back into the romance genre, I am pretty sure there are better books out there.

i read this book in one sitting - i really enjoyed it. i went into it no expectations and was pleasantly surprised. warning, a bit spoilery!

i agree with another reviewer that the summary gives away too much - i'm glad i read it when i requested the book and promptly forgot the details except for sports romance with a breakup and previous one night stand. because if i'd read the summary again right before i read the book, i would have been annoyed and bored, knowing what was coming. as it was, i was shocked when appropriate.

it was funny and sexy, though a little bit oddly paced. the Chris thing stretches out a bit longer than I'd like at the beginning, I really couldn't wrap my head around why Marlee was with him when he treated her so bad. Then that blows up and Gavin comes along. I expected more of a chase or the 'wait I'm not ready for a relationship', even though a bit of time passes it does seem a bit soon after getting out of a long term relationship. yes, i realise this is a problem later on and why she does what she does, i guess i thought it was odd that's all. Also, the end with chris was unnecessary and unrealistic.

Continuing on with the pacing thing, it didn't flow as well as I would have liked. weeks/months go by in a sentence and I'm like, wait, slow down. I think we missed some of the fun falling in love stuff, which sucked. There were a lot of conflicts, possibly too many. The mean girls got a bit old. I think Madison could have been enough, though the whole Courtney thing was funny at the beginning, but the sister too and the southern girl that is nice in the beginning... It was just a lot. I don't know.

I loved Brynn and Naomi of course. They were fantastic side characters. The hashtags got old super fast. I thought it was funny at first but then just became grating. Especially at really dramatic points - 'he made this huge decision without telling me' #personalfoul. like wtf? i tried to ignore them but they just stood out. They might have been less annoying if there weren't so many, or weren't used when they shouldn't have been.

Gavin was fantastic and amazing. The thing he does at the end seemed a little out of character if I'm being honest, not consistent with what we'd seen so far. That was a bit of a bummer. Other than that, I adored him.

Marlee was a fabulous character as well. They were both really realistic and well developed. Now all this complaining and it sounds like I hated it - not at all! I really debated on giving it 5 stars but the things I mentioned above are what knocked it to a 4 star for me. But it had a lot going for it. As I mentioned, I loved all the characters. The writing was overall very good. I laughed several times and it was adorable with the right dash of sexy. Like I said, I read it in one sitting and I rarely do that if I hate the book. the epilogue was gah, so adorable. LOVE. I definitely recommend this one and will 100% read more from this author.

While the hashtags throughout the book were cheesy the plot was not. A sports romance that can hang. There was drama, gossip, juicy scenes this book has something for everything. Where can I find a Gavin Pope?

I loved it,it was so good!It has drama,it was fun and the romance was cute!Such a nice surprise from a new author to me!I have to admit from the moment I read the synopsis I couldn't wait to read it!

Gavin is the perfect hero, protective,swoon worthy and sexy!Marlee is fantastic, I liked her, she is so funny!I could easily relate with her!I loved that she is so down to earth and not like the other girls!I love the relationship between Marlee and Gavin!The are sweet and cute, they make me smile most of the time.

"'You just complimented me while yelling at me. Now I don't know if we're still fighting or if I get to kiss you yet."

I love the writing it was refreshing and easy to read!I'm excited to read more books from Alexa Martin, I still can't believe it's her first book!

Fair warning if you haven't already: Do NOT read the summary of this book, because it pretty much gives everything away. *sad face* I was disappointed by that, but otherwise I enjoyed this story immensely! Alexa Martin brought a fantastic sense of humor to this romance, and it made it extremely difficult to put down! I look forward to reading other works from this author (I see there's another one coming next year!) and seeing how her stories continue!

<b>3.75 - 4 Stars</b>

This is Alexa Martin's debut novel and what a debut it is.

I really enjoyed her writing style, her characters, and her sense of humor.

I'm not going to rehash the blurb or story line at length; however, the main character (Marlee) is a longtime NFL girlfriend in a sea of NFL wives and, because Martin herself is a former NFL wife (her husband is retired), I felt like we were getting a backstage pass to one of those players' wives TV shows - with none of the cameras, but ALL the drama.

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Part of me hopes that they aren't all really <i>this</i> heinous - and I'm sure some of the snark was dramatized for the story - but another part of me realizes some of the shit Marlee dealt with probably legit goes down.

I mean, we have all seen some of those wife interviews/comments in which they say, "Well, we WE got traded," or "when WE started with [insert team name], blah, blah, blah..."

I always think to myself, I don't see WE out there with the football, lady.

But alas, I'm letting my jealously show...if only we could ALL be wives who lunch.

Or whatever it is that rich, <s>surgically</s> genetically gifted trophy wives do with their free time.

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But I digress.

Back to the story.

Shit goes down, obviously, and Marlee is forced to...reassess her life circumstances a bit.

Insert romance.

I really liked the H here, although some of his actions in the end didn't feel like they jived with who he was up until that point.

Also, there was a LOT of fabricated OTT drama here, a little bit of funny hashtag insertion overkill as well..and let's just say the steamy times need some work; but all in all, this was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to more from Martin.

This as a debut novel bodes for a promising career.

Well well what a gem Intercepted turned out to be! Oh my goodness, I need a Marlee and Naomi in my life right this minute. Marlee was #Awesome. Speaking of I loved the use of hashtags in this book. First off I want to speak on Marlee. She was this down to earth woman who despite being a wag did not let that go to her head. She was pretentious and snooty. She was just there to support her man and enjoy the game. I loved her sass and in all she was just an awesome heroine. Now on the Gavin with his bad self. He was a dream, I mean he was humble in this cutthroat career. He didn't think he was better than anybody, he was sweeter than sugar, and the love he had for Marlee was so so beautiful. There is more that goes on with the other wags but I won't get into. It's best left to experience it for yourself. The words were poignant and I enjoyed the journey with Marlee and Gavin.
"It's just that with him, next to him everything shines brighter".
That right there folks was my favorite line in the whole book! You all have got to read this!!

Alexa did a phenomenal job on this debut and I can't wait to read what she has in store for us next.

Arc provided by Netgalley for an honest review

I'm just going to make this review short and sweet. Intercepted is the debut novel from author Alexa Martin and I gotta tell you, when I first heard about this book, I couldn't get over all the buzz over it. I knew I had to take a look at it. I had to read the synopsis. I had to get my hands on this book. And for me, this book was totally worth the wait. It is a great debut novel. The story was fun and engaging. I found it to be refreshing and loved this author's take on a sports romance. I loved that it wasn't your typical sports romance, but that it gave you a more behind the scenes look at things. 

Intercepted is a fast paced read with terrific flow. The characters hooked me right away and kept me on my toes. From laughs to drama to romance and great chemistry, this book had it all. Intercepted is a great read to spend the day getting lost in. It's fun. It's easy. And it will leave you with a smile on your face. For me, Intercepted was worth all the hype and has me really excited to see what fun stories this author has in store for us next.

Intercepted is the debut book by Alexa Martin... and boy does she deliver a great story. Marlee is developed really well and is a strong female lead that doesn't take anything from anyone. Not only is this a romance, it is also about a strong woman who has lost herself and is on a journey to reclaim her freedom and sense of self. I can't wait to read more of Martin's books.

This is a fun romance, featuring a diverse cast that is usually lacking in contemporary romances. It was a delight to read and I look forward to recommending the book to patrons at my library.

I really enjoyed this romance! Needs to be a movie, ASAP. Actually, every romance I've read from Berkley has been a true delight. I hope to read more from Alexa Martin!