Intercepting the Chef is the first book in anew series by Rachel Goodman. Logan Stonestreet is the Colorado Blizzards star quarterback & the best friend of Chris Lalonde. Logan & Chris had the luck to be on the same NFL team & play together. So, when Chris asks Logan for a favor, he's happy to oblige. Plus he remembers Chris's twin sister, Gwen & knows she is a great chef.

Gwen Lalonde is a rising star in the restaurant world. On what should have been one of the greatest nights of her life, her boyfriend & boss fired her. The community is a tight one & Gwen ended up being blackballed. She can't believe she ended up back in Denver as Logan's head Chef for his steakhouse called Stonestreet's.

I really enjoyed this story & the interactions between the characters. Both Gwen & Logan had their fears holding them back. For Gwen, it was a fear of risk & failure. After seeing her father fail at his own restaurant three separate times & then pull into himself & settle for a job on a cruise ship, Gwen doesn't think she can make it on her own. Logan's father was a hotshot football player that won 3 Super Bowls. Logan hasn't won any & takes all of the blame on himself. Gwen's brother, Chris, comes across as your typical self centered, arrogant football player that thinks he's the center of everything. The interactions with the other football players & even Logan's dad & Gwen's parents add more color & understanding to the story. I can't wait to see who book 2 is about!

Three and a half stars.

Gwen Lalonde is a chef at a two Michelin-star restaurant in San Francisco, her boss is also her boyfriend. But everything goes spectacularly wrong when the restaurant receives its third star, suddenly her lover is accusing her of trying to claim responsibility (for the menu she designed and cooks) and basically sacks her. Humiliated, especially because her ex doesn't hesitate to spread rumours that he sacked her for incompetence and that she had only got the job by sleeping with him, she goes home to Denver. Gwen's father was also a chef but his ambition led him to open his own restaurants several times and fail spectacularly every time. He and Gwen's mother had an acrimonious divorce and he is now the chef on a cruise ship, although he channels his ambition into Gwen's career now.

Gwen's twin Chris plays for the Denver Blizzards NFL team, alongside his best friend Logan Stonestreet. Gwen has been in love with Logan since she was eight years old but he has always been out of her league: the son of a Superbowl winner, wealthy and Adonis-like appearance. Logan's mother died of ovarian cancer and his father has been living out of a bottle pretty much ever since. He too lives vicariously through Logan's career, pushing him to win a Superbowl ring.

Logan has recently opened a steak restaurant and offers Gwen the job of executive chef, although the idea of cooking crab fishcakes and ribs every night horrifies Gwen she decides any job is better than no job and that she could get a job in a more prestigious restaurant once all the gossip dies down.

Logan will do whatever is necessary to lock-down Gwen, allowing her carte blanche to design a daily specials menu being just one example, but it's a case of once bitten twice shy for Gwen, she doesn't want people to think she's sleeping with her boss again, or that she only got the job because she put out so she keeps him at arms' length. With Logan afraid to push Gwen too hard and Gwen scared of having her heart broken again AND losing all professional credibility in the process, can these two ever be more than just friends with benefits?

I felt that this had too much angst. Logan has clearly lost his love of the game but is doggedly determined to get his team to the Superbowl, even though he has an injured knee which he is constantly nursing and which further injury might result in him being crippled. His father, the coach, the press and frankly everyone in Denver seems to believe that every move on the football pitch is Logan's responsibility as the quarterback. Gwen is desperate for Logan to quit football before he cripples himself, which seems odd given she seems to have no such reservations about her brother. Some of Logan's determination to play despite his injuries clearly comes from his father who, apparently believes that the probability of Logan being seriously injured is worth the risk to reach the Superbowl. Gwen on the other hand is constantly being pushed by her father to advance her career whilst her mother just seems constantly disapproving. Gwen is characterised as being someone who runs when things get difficult but I'm not sure that I agree with that characterisation, she stays long beyond what she needs/should do out of loyalty and because she wants to perfect her craft, scared that she will fail through lack of preparation. Also, TBH, she goes where the jobs are offered.

This was an interesting mix of a sports romance and a chef romance (the clue of course being in the title: Intercepting the Chef, great play on words). I just thought that at some points (when convenient) Gwen forgot, or Logan forgot, that she/he had been in love with him/her for ever and they were on the verge of falling in love/ declaring their love.

Interesting to see who comes next, presumably it's Chris Lalonde?

I really enjoyed Rachel's other books, so I was pretty eager to get to this one.

I loved Gwen and Logan. She's sassy and stubborn and standoffish. He's charming and personable and can I say charming again? Together they're fun and the banter and button pushing was fantastic. I also adored Gwen's BFF, Missy {and I'm secretly hoping we see more of her.}

Of course there were secrets and slight miscommunications and the eventual break up. Thankfully, the separation doesn't last long and the last couple of chapters and epilogue more than make up for it. My only complaint is that some of the passages of Logan footballing and Gwen cooking got a bit dense. Sure, they're necessary, but still took me out of the story a bit.

Overall, a cute and quick read. I really hope there will be more to these characters.

**Huge thanks to Pocket Stat for providing the arc free of charge**

A very delightful read. The characters are developed and interesting. I enjoyed reading the restaurant business from the various points of view. Gwen was not all that likeable..More of a work in progress. Her brother was an excellent character. These books about food always make me hungry. Lol

After things going terribly wrong with her boyfriend and renowned chef in San Francisco, Gwen has no other option than to go back home in Denver and start over at her brother's best friend, Logan Stonestreet's restaurant.

I enjoyed the romance at an overall capacity. But when I stopped to think about particulars, it wasn't as enjoyable, so I'll just focus on what I did like for now. Logan is a sweetheart, I really liked him, I mean the guy literally does not wrong, and what Gwen considers his flaw, when you think about it, it isn't a flaw at all, it's determination to achieve his goals.

Gwen is another story, I couldn't connect to her at all, I didn't hate her or anything, but I also didn't care for her. She was distant and her misconceptions were frustrating at times to be really honest. Halfway through the book there's this part where she says "I wondered if I'd merely been doing those things with the expectation that happiness would find me instead of the other way around (...) As I stare up at him, it hit me with stunning clarity that perhaps everything I'd been searching for was him." and I wanted to hit her, because it feels like she's talking like he's everything she needs to be happy. And look, I do believe love is important but it isn't everything.

Everyone else in Logan's life were assholes, they all treated him like the football player and nothing more. Chris was supposed to be his friend and when they lost one game he went off on Logan and threatened to leave the team, I mean seriously? That's the type of friend you want to be? I'm not even going to start on his father.

All in all, this was nice to read, it was entertaining but at the same time everything felt very generic. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. So if you're in the mood for a quick and nice read, you should pick this up.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Intercepting the Chef is the first book from new-to-me author Rachel Goodman’s upcoming series “How to Score“. It features rising star chef Gwen Lalonde and Logan Stonestreet, NFL golden boy and quarterback for the Colorado Blizzards who is also best friend with Gwen’s twin brother, Chris. After being fired by her ex-boyfriend celebrity chef and is forced to return home to Denver, Gwen is hired by Logan to be executive chef for his restaurant that he develops on behalf of his mother’s love for food…

I enjoyed this romance — but I must admit that while I thought Logan was such a darling, I had a difficult time to warm up to Gwen. This more or less influenced my opinion.

I know that as a woman, I can be quite hard on heroine characters in the romance books I read. I did applaud Gwen’s determination to fulfill her dream of having her own restaurant. I admired her for being focused on her passion. Because we need females like that too, right? Those who strive to excel professionally; not just in relationship.

Unfortunately, Gwen also felt distant and aloof to me. It was slightly difficult to emotionally root for Gwen because she came up as being dismissive and judgmental over other people’s dreams and issues. Like when Gwen was surprised that her brother did charity (because she always thought of Chris as shallow). Or that Logan didn’t like all of the aspects of football (because Gwen thought Logan enjoyed the glory of the game). For someone who was fired because she assumed that her ex-boyfriend would be thankful of what she did, I was hoping that past experience made Gwen more humble than she was.

I couldn’t help wishing that Gwen to show a softer side once in a while because I found myself taking side with Logan when they had their arguments.

I couldn’t find a lot of faults of Logan. He was warm, and kind, and clearly loved his mother. I felt sorry for Logan because everybody in his life — his father, his agent, his coach, his teammates — seemed to only see him as a franchise. They didn’t care that he was in pain, that he was injured … they only wanted him to bring the win and the money. I wanted to hug Logan and to protect him from all harms. So with Gwen keeping their relationship at arm’s length, sometimes I wondered if Gwen was good enough for Logan.

With this being the start of a series — and I didn’t find any issue with Goodman’s writing — I think I will keep my eyes out for future books in this series. I am quite interested to read romance featuring Gwen’s brother, Chris, or her best friend, Missy. They were two secondary characters that definitely caught my attention here.

This is the first book in the How to Score series and the first book I have read by Rachel Goodman and I found it a pleasant surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this compelling story about Logan, a football quarterback and Gwen, a feisty chef.

Gwen is devastated when her celebrity chef boyfriend unexpectedly fires her and without any other options, she returns home to Denver. Logan Stonestreet is the quarterback for the Denver Blizzard and he is also opening a restaurant called Stonestreet. Gwen’s brother and Logan have been best friends since childhood and are now teammates on the Blizzards. So when Gwen's brother asks Logan to hire Gwen as executive head chef, he immediately agrees.

There has always been an attraction between Logan and Gwen and now that they are working together, they find it hard to fight their feelings for each other. Logan is sweet and sensitive and I really liked him. He lightheartedly teases Gwen but he is also sensitive and caring. On the other hand, Gwen is hurt and doesn't trust easily so she has a snarky attitude and honestly, it got on my nerves and I wondered what Logan saw her. Logan needs Gwen to be there for him but she is so consumed with her own issues she doesn't seem to notice.

This story realistically depicts life as a football player and I feel sorry for Logan when he is forced to go out and play after being injured. Logan understands that he is important as long as he is healthy and can help the team win. Winning is the only thing that matters and everyone loves Logan as long as he is winning. Logan and Gwen have to figure out if it is possible to have a career and a personal life, too. This story is told from alternating POV so, we know what Logan and Gwen are both thinking. This is an engaging and emotional story with some fun and sexiness mixed in.

Wow. I was in love with her "Blue Plate Series" so I knew she was going to come with something good for her next release. This book had it all, I loved the dialogue between Gwen and Logan and the focus of their individual careers. I love that the book moved at a good pace there wasn't too much focus on insignificant details and we still really got a good feel of our main characters, something Rachel is very good at. Watching them find themselves while finding each other was even more amazing. I loved the secondary characters and really hope we get a story about Chris and Missy next. They are total opposites and NEED to attract!

The book entertaining, albeit at times frustrating. Gwen gets fired from her sous chef position at boyfriends restaurant after she helped him win an award, and then gets blackballed in chef community in San Diego, so goes back home to Denver when her twin brother helps her get a job. The job ends up being for NFL quarterback Logan, who is brothers best friend, and long ago crush. Logan has a lot of pressure on him, coming from Dad, Agent and team. and he is seriously attracted to Gwen (he also always liked her). Gwen fights the attraction because she does not want to be a repeat of disaster, but he is relentless and she ends up giving in. She doesn't understand him putting his body thru so much pain, if he does not seem to enjoy the job as much. They end up having problems and strong words are said, and I honestly wanted to knock out Logan, but it does give her the push she needs, to go after her dreams. Then he ends worried that he lost her, does he, what happens next?

Definitely a fun read! I'd be lying if I said that football was my favorite sport, but when the sport's combined with a passion for cooking, has an alluring quarterback, then I'm all for it :) I’ve never read Rachel Goodman, but I’m happy to read another one of her books for sure.
Gwen Lalonde is an up and coming chef only to be humiliatingly fired from a James Beard award winning restaurant (by her boss/boyfriend no less). Going back home to Colorado, she finds herself working for her brother’s best friend, an NFL quarterback at his steakhouse.
And the inevitable happens (romance), though not after some fairly tough injuries, some amazing food, and lots of determination from both plucky Gwen and her gorgeous quarterback.

This is my first book by this author and I really loved it. The book is heavy on coooking and foodball and I loved how the author showed the passion and pain in both careers.

Logan is a QB that is bestfriends with Gwen's twin brother, they also grew up together and he has always had a thing for her. But she always kept him at a distance. When Gwen gets fired and blackballed she comes home at the perfect time as Logan is about to open a restaurant in their home town.

This books theme is following your dream and having the guts to take risks and to do it. I really enjoyed every minute of this story and I loved all the characters. I loved Gwen and Logan's relationship and would rather had it been less secret but I understood why they had to hide it.

This seems to be a stand alone book with a HEA ending, told in dual POV and is really a lot of fun.

All of this food talk has me hungry and aspiring to be a chef? Too bad I am a horrible cook and hardly understood a word they were talking about! Nonetheless I absolutely loved this book! I read it on a whim, I was in a small "book slump". I was reading everything in sight and this book just so happened to be on my radar. Boy am I glad that it was.

Gwen spoke to me for some reason because even though I'm not a chef, I understand the concept of not going for what you truly want & to play for somebody else's game because it's hard to branch out on your own. I think her journey throughout the book was admirable especially everytime people looked down on her and believed she was nothing more than a failure waiting to happen.

Logan or "Wonder Bread" on the other hand gave me a new prospective. He was doing what he loved and yet the pressure from his family, fans, and coach led him to being careless enough to blowout his knee. This was hard to read I'm not going to lie, I thought for sure he was going to have a permanent injury by the end of this book.

Gwen and Logan together were nothing short of a train wreck...in the best way possible. I think they both complimented each other's weak spots. They are both incredibly stubborn to the point where I wanted to shake them both until they realized there was no point in arguing. I loved watching their relationship develop because it was evident how much they both cared for each other even if they didn't want to label it.

I liked this story. However a couple of the characters were whiners and crybabies which really takes away from this. Good lesson on how to look to your goals tho

Gwen is starting over in the restaurant business, Logan is an old friend and pro football player who is opening a restaurant in his mom's memory. Sparks fly and romance sizzles when these two get cooking! This is such a fun and flirty read!

Really cute! Funny, enemies turn lovers combined with brother's best friend. I was however shocked at how much I disliked the brother!

My two favorite kinds of contemporary romances, sports and cooking, together in one book. Intercepting the Chef, shows just how competitive and challenging both can be.
Gwen has pretty much had the rug pulled out from under her career. She picks up and moves on, but still feels the pressure from what happened. Logan shows her that she can be happy again.
Logan seems to live his life to please others. Only Gwen takes the time to ask "what do you want". He wants to make the people relying on him happy.
Through a lot of struggles they work to rely on each other and work to fix what they can and adapt to what they can't. Intercepting the Chef was a very enjoyable read for me. I would give it more than 5 stars if I could.

The perfect mixture of sports action and culinary deliciousness makes for the perfect recipe (pun intended) for a story that'll make your heart sigh. London is the quintessential pro football quarterback, Gwen the girl next door beautiful chef whose terrified of failure...the chemistry between the two incinerates the pages.

I truly enjoyed the football action...the author did a remarkable job of drawing you into the game and huddles themselves to pumps up your heart rate. The injuries and pain a football athlete experiences is so very vivid that I found myself clinching from the pain!

Gwen and the gastronomic scenes and recipes were believable and made me want to actually sample her preparations...especially the PB&J!!

This is not the first book by Ms Goodman I've read, I keep a lookout for her releases became I know I'll never be disappointed...this book falls into that category!

This book was provided by the Publisher and Netgalley, I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

3.5 stars
A sweet easy read. He was very likeable I struggled a bit with her.

Also a foodie would definitely like this More. I'm so not that kind of person.

So a good read but not overly memorable

​​​​​The combination of culinary deliciousness, football, and romance creates Intercepting the Chef, by new to me author Rachel Goodman. The riveting prologue drew me into this entertaining read, as the plot and personalities are unveiled with each chapter. This is the first book from the author's How to Score series and it can be enjoyed as a standalone.

Chef Gwen Lalonde, and NFL quarterback Logan Stonestreet, have known each other since third grade. They both grew up in Denver, and Gwen's twin brother Chris is Logan's best friend. So when Gwen's boyfriend, who also happens to be her boss, unjustly fires her, it is Chris that gets Gwen the position of executive chef at Logan's brand new sports-themed restaurant. Now Gwen is back in Denver, trying to save her culinary reputation and figure out her future, while Logan is working through his injuries in order to fulfill his dream of winning the Superbowl.

Gwen and Logan shared a kiss back in high school, which they still remember fondly. As they get to know each other again, their old feelings begin to resurface and they begin a friends with benefits relationship. Both of them want more from each other, but their professional needs and wants take complete precedence over their personal lives.

I liked this novel. Ms. Goodman writes with a lot of passion, and I felt the professional pressures that both main characters experienced deep within my soul. The combination of interesting plot, steam and angst is wonderfully executed. The plot builds and advances effortlessly, with lots of interesting discoveries and revelations. If you like football, food and a hot couple, then this book is for you.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.