F1 racing

Slipstream

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by Madge Maril
First sentence: “Stories sell.”
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Review copy pilfered from the ARC stacks at work.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and a couple on-page, but not super graphic sex scenes. It’s in the Contemporary Romance section of the bookstore.

Lilah just wants to be a serious documentary filmmaker. So, when her boyfriend and business partner decides to take on a documentary about an F1 racing team as their next project, Lilah feels betrayed. Even more so, when he tells her he’s been sleeping with he team’s marketing manager and breaks their relationship off. Newly dumped and betrayed, she turns to the team’s backup driver, Arthur Bianco, who only wants to get back on the grid, preferably on his old team, and not one where his overbearing uncle is the team principal. Of course, this means they go in together to try to sabotage the documentary. Of course, this means they will fall in love. And of course, things will work out happily ever after.

All that said, this one was a lot of fun. I think I liked it partly because Lilah wasn’t really part of the racing team – she was adjacent to, and while she was working for it, it’s not like she was part of the racing team. I liked it, too, because you got to see Lilah fall in love with F1 as well as with Arthur, and I thought Maril did that well.

Yes, it was corny and unbelievable, really, but hey, it’s a romance book. It’s not supposed to be. It was fun, and honestly, that’s all I expect. And this one absolutely delivered.

Fast & Reckless

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by Amanda Weaver
First sentence: “Will Hawley downshifted, desperately attempting to hang onto his car as the laws of physics tried to rip it off the track.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs, as well as quite a bit of on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Mira Wentworth has been away from the F1 circuit for seven years, when she was exiled in discrace. Will Hawley is back on the F1 circuit after 3 years away, ever since his disastrous rookie season. When both of them show up to the new season – Mira as her father’s personal assistant (he’s the team principal) and Will as a driver – neither of them want a relationship. Mostly because a relationship between them would be disastrous. But, there’s chemistry, and tension, and sparks fly (pun intended!), and yeah… of course there will be drama. It’s F1.

Things I liked: that Mira’s scandal was truly horrifying, and her coming to terms with it was a definite growth arc. Will was very sassy, though I’m not as convinced he’s changed. The spice level was high but not off the charts. I have no idea how accurate the behind-the-scenes F1 stuff was, but it was fun to travel the world to the places I have seen on screen and in the app. None of the people were real, but there were elements; I could guess at who, maybe, that driver could be. It was silly and it was fun, and it was a quick read.

I really don’t want much more out of a romance, especially an F1 one.