The ending was incredibly satisfying, especially considering all the events that unfolded throughout the book. However, I couldn't warm up to Nico—he came across as quite unlikable, and I struggled to understand Lena's attraction to him.

Despite that, I found the book to be an intriguing glimpse into the world of Formula 1 racing. It was a fast-paced and effortless read, peppered with some thrilling moments!

I was really looking forward to this book but was extremely disappointed. Both main characters where not relatable what so ever and where just completely horrible people.

Nico constantly cheated on Lena and then gaslighted her into staying with her. Then the 1 time she actually grew a backbone and decided to leave him he told her he loved her only to then cheat on her again not long after. He gave Lena a safe word which she used and he chose to ignore. Im all for a dark romance with some questionable sex scenes and consent but this was too much.

Lena wasn’t a great character either. She pretty much stalked Nico and complained about how bad he was to her but then constantly went back for me. Her “best friend” Joanna was also a horrible person. I don’t think I liked a single side character in this whole book other than Eliot.

I feel like this story had so much potential to be great and I liked the F1 aspect of it but didn’t really connect with anything else.

Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC

Boy was I revved to read this one 😉

Unfortunately, I’m sad to say that my excitement stalled once I did start reading it. Both MCs are incredibly flawed and I couldn’t warm to either of them. When I thought the MMC couldn’t act more deplorable, he proved me wrong. The relationship itself is touted as dark and obsessive, yet I would describe it as incredibly toxic. There’s an obvious power imbalance and an abundance of emotional abuse here, and the seductive elements were lost in that dynamic.

I can certainly see the allure though. It lives up to its descriptors of edgy and controversial and the spice hits quick, so buckle up. I have no doubt that while this book wasn’t quite for me, it will find its place amongst readers.

Thank you to the Author, Harper Collins (physical ARC) and Netgalley (eARC) for my copies of this book. All opinions shared are my own.

I SO wanted to enjoy this book, but almost immediately began to have questions... and unfortunately my concerns grew the longer I read. I love a dark romance, but the word romance infers some kind of love connection, and all I felt from this couple were a constant power struggle where sex, violence, gas lighting and indifference were used against one another. There are sexual scenes almost immediately but even these felt rushed into and stilted, and the FMC's fixation on the MMC is extremely unhealthy.

I love a morally grey romance and can appreciate consensual non consent, but I wouldn't say some of the scenes here fall into that bracket. I would definitely recommend there being strong trigger warnings as I think SA plays a rather large role.

Ultimately, the ending was slightly better as it was a little unexpected, but both MMC's left me frustrated as they were impossible to root for. I really wanted to love it as it's marketed as a dark formula 1 romance but I wouldn't class it that way.

I am very grateful to NetGalley for this arc but it just wasn’t for me and that makes me sad because I love f1 romance books but this just missed the mark. I’m a big believer in consent and those lines were waaaay too blurry for my liking and I’m someone who thoroughly enjoys dark romance but this was not it for me.

2.5*

I was really looking forward to reading this as it was advertised as a Formula 1 dark romance but in my opinion it wasn’t as dark as I expected it to be.

This book requires some TW as there are some really uncomfortable scenes such as r*pe and even borderline non-consensual acts, plus mentions of child abuse and suicide.

The whole relationship between Lena and Nico is so toxic and I have never despised a MMC so much. They literally speak to each other for 2 seconds when they first meet then suddenly they’re sleeping with each other and Lena is thrusted into Nico’s glamorous and busy F1 champion lifestyle. Nico is the biggest a-hole who just uses women for his own pleasure and as stress relief even when he’s in a relationship! He constantly hurts Lena emotionally yet expects her to understand him and forgive him - and she pretty much does every single time.

The book requires some more editing as it was difficult to read in some sections (not sure if this was just the ARC format but some sentences were choppy and words were missing) and at times the timeline of the story just didn’t flow - e.g. Lena supposedly has work the next day but then is suddenly overseas instead?

Positives:
The smut was enjoyable (excluding the non-con) - there was ONE good threesome and a lesbian scene, and the F1 racing action was described in accurate detail.

I believe the author has got potential to write something extraordinary, but this book just unfortunately didn’t quite do it.

This book was a wild ride!! Wow! I wasn’t expecting so much spice in this book!! It was hot 🔥
I loved the premise of the formula 1 scene as I’m an F1 fan and heading to the race this month! I found this part really great and couldn’t help picturing some of the current drivers in the characters place!
The story line itself was a whole lot of spice, hurt, pain, more spice, and more pain.
Some parts were actually sad, there’s a lot of betrayal and abuse throughout the book.
This was fun and sexy but I feel like there could have been a bit more to the book.

I couldn't wait to read a Formula 1 romance, but this book sadly disappointed me. I loved the idea, but sadly it just wasn't written well.

This was such a wonderful and enjoyable read!!!! I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to be an ARC reader for this novel.

This story is quite captivating and holds your interest as there is something always happening. I felt as if some of the scenes were a little rushed and cut to another really quickly.

Some may require a trigger warning to read this as there are some SA/no consent themes.

Overall, a really quick spicy read. If you like F1 and spice this is definitely for you.

I enjoy dark romance. I thought after reading the blub for this book that I would enjoy it. I rarely give 1 star reviews however, unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book. For me, this book was jarring, and I was disappointed because it wasn't what I was expecting.

I love spice in a book. I had no problem with the spice in this one. The scenes, in my opinion, aren't particularly descriptive, graphic, or erotic, but everyone works on a different scale so maybe for some they will be over the top. I don't think the situations were necessarily over the top (even the semi-public threesome seemed plausible to me). One scene though didn't make sense to me: the first scene with the nurse, I didn't see a 'reason' for her to open herself up to this experience.

There seemed to be a lot of characters which were not fleshed out, or who were superfluous to the story. They could literally be cut out and their purpose (as I see it) be handled by others. I felt like the majority of characters where there to ‘tell’ you the plot points.

I personally don’t really enjoy third person viewpoints because I don’t feel as connected or included in the story. Perhaps if the book had have been written in dual or multiple character viewpoints then the characters could have been fleshed out, the relationships allowed to develop and be clear.

The MMC, to me, wasn't particularly morally grey/dark. I also didn't find him unlikeable. I thought he was a professional athlete who worked hard and played hard and that he was used to living his life however he felt like and that his behaviour was just another example of taking risks when he wasn't on the track. I know plenty of people are going to say he was unlikeable, mean, a manwhore, he was gaslighting her etc and a bunch of other things probably, but in my opinion, he is the only character who consistently shows who he is. I believe he is essentially a product of everyone fawning over him to stay in his favour.

The FMC was the least likeable character I have ever come across. In my opinion, she consistently put herself in situations, or allowed things to happen, and then blamed Nico (and others) for all the things. I could delve into the things I didn't like, but I don't want to spoil the story for others.

I didn't feel any intimate connection between the MMC and the FMC, even during their intimate scenes. To me their relationship felt cold and/or empty. I mainly felt she was happy because he was famous and could provide things to her and that each of her 'friends' and the relationship with them was based on what it provides to her. This is just my take, but to me she is the unlikeable character in the book.

The ending….I don’t know. I guess it’s supposed to show growth, but again, it seemed like things were handed to the FMC and I don't really think there was enough of a relationship from the 'investor'.

I don't require books to have all 'i's' dotted and 't's' crossed, or for things to be happy ever after, but there just seemed to be a lot of emptiness: empty characters, empty plot points, empty descriptions, empty events. I felt nothing for any of the characters.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved the ending! It was satisfying after everything that happens throughout the book. But I didn't love Nico. He was an incredibly unlikable character and I really don't know what Lena saw in him.

Overall, this was an interesting look into the world of Formula 1 racing. I found it to be a quick and easy read that definitely had some spicy moments!!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is written in third pov which is usually an instant no from me. I was definitely doubtful for the first several chapters as I struggled to grasp the storyline and there are many words I had to use a dictionary to understand.
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SPOILERS
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This book will 100% trigger a lot of people. There is cheating, OWD, gaslighting and a lot of other toxic behaviour coming from the MMC. This book might also be mentioned to not be a HEA depending on the readers pov.
Lena gets enchanted by the 'rush' that is having the attention of a F1 drivers, Nico's attention. She hurts both herself and those her around her to please him. Most likely feeling that she can help heal him from his traumatic childhood. While it does not work out for the couple in the end, it does end, on what I feel as a positive note. Lena breaks Ties with Nico and fixes her wrongs and takes a big step in personal growth. While there is even a open ended hope that Nico will take a step towards bettering himself too.
I fully get that this book will not be an enjoyable read for a lot. Especially those who pick it up looking for a romance novel. I'd say, take note of the trigger warnings before even starting. But overall I actually enjoyed it.
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Quote from the book "She loved Nico, but she couldn't extract whatever toxin was inside of him without poisoning herself."

This book was self-explanatory... Rush(ed). It was also a very quick read for me which is a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, it wasn't good. It's definitely more erotica than it is romance - there's no HEA which automatically disqualifies it as a romance. Erotica is fine, but market it as purely that. Morally grey or even dark characters are also fine, but we have to be able to understand what makes the FMC like them... I didn't get that with Nico at all. Also, and idk if this is a personal grip... PLEASE DON'T PUT REAL PEOPLE IN YOUR STORIES WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. What did Noah Baumbach ever do to be mentioned in a shitty F1 themed erotic book? Thoroughly underwhelming. 2/5 stars purely because we need more F1 romances out there, but my god please make them better than this.

Sorry, this book was cringe-worthy. I was looking forward to reading it, as the blurb sounded good. The race car action was well written and the author obviously knows her stuff there, but the H/h were both horrible and turned me right off. Ms Roy states at the end that this book is dedicated to Jackie Collins. Made sense.

Lena encounters the 'arrogant, fabulous, and most desired bachelor in the world', F1 driver Nico in a dark corner near a wall at a party. Naturally there's insta-lust because she's horny for a famous guy and he's obviously taking what's on offer for free. She f***s him within the first few pages, (her words), then tells her friend all about it the next day. Stupid use of the word 'red' at their encounter in the first chapter too - is that because it's supposed to be erotic? (It pains me to elaborate further.) It was a cold, strange, and uncomfortable interaction if you take it from the view of a romance reader. It is stated in the blurb on goodreads that this is a dark and spicy love story.

IT IS NOT.

(This is my 4,818th book read since 2011. I read suspense, thriller, historical romance, science fiction, psychological thriller, adventure, mystery, dark romance, horror, erotic romance, contemporary romance, rom-com, and more. I don't give many one star reviews. Sigh.)

I didn't like the writing as it was choppy. It also felt like a mashup of old and new, using outdated mills and boon style internal narration, peppered with crude language that seemed to be added for - shock value? Some dialogue screamed 'old Hollywood' and 70's/80's, but obviously isn't. I assume because of the Jackie Collins influence. There are multiple side characters with hair colour etc described, so you have to keep all that in mind, as you wade through the chapters. Lena throws herself on another man because she wants to forget Nico. She doesn't even know Nico!! Or the other man either... Cringe again.

My thought is, this author should not write romance. Or anything marketed as any sort of romance. Stick to the car racing only. The story is told in third person with push/pull relationships, angst, over the top soap opera drama and a strange ending. There was way too much hair pulling on my part, because of the copious internal narration.

Lena is an un-likeable, cardboard cutout character and is self centered. I've gleaned nothing about her, except she and her glamorous model and actor friends love cocktails, partying and finding c**k, (author's words), everywhere they go. She's a genuine gold-digger - comparing what others have, to what she doesn't. Oh, and she's a race car driver stalker. And a writer apparently.

(PS - If you're going to release an eArc, then maybe have better formatting, so the reading experience is at least palatable. For one, not have several character's dialogue running together without spacing, and not having - Material, Publishers, Copyrighted, HarperCollins - printed on every second page, in capitals, in the middle of the text.)

My thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc in return for my opinion. I'm sad to give this type of rating as I was hoping to really enjoy this book. Repeat - it is not a romance with a HEA.

I honestly thought I would really enjoy this book, but it felt like 50 shades of Formula 1, which was good and bad at the same time. While I enjoyed the character of Lena most of the time, the character Nico wasn’t as enjoyable, he was damaged in his own way and took it out on anyone who came close to him in order to have control.

I found myself quite keen to finish reading this book once I started. I did enjoy the book but I found it a little hard to follow with time jumps that weren’t properly explained.
The two main characters Lena and Nico formed a very unconventional and uncomfortable relationship. There were times where I was rooting for them and times where I wished she would run for the hills. Not your average ending either which I appreciated but I felt like there was too many instances of Nico screwing up time and again.
If you’re after a HEA this isn’t the book for you.
#netgallery #rush

There is so much hype for this book! I was intrigued by the premise and the race car romance setting. The author has a history in the Motorsport industry so I appreciated the explanations of terminology and and the inner workings of the industry.

Overall, the book was underwhelming for me. I didn't enjoy the MMC and the cheating trope used was off putting. The MMC is misogynistic and quite frankly treats the FMC terribly. Should come with trigger warnings but I am sure some will enjoy the toxic masculinity of success the author has portrayed.