Thank you to Josie Juniper and Forever Publishing for the eARC.

DNF 35%

Pretty much right from the start, I wasn't a fan of Phaedra. She gave such mean girl vibes rather than grumpy vibes, both to Cosmin and to her supposed best friend. Their whole fight I was not a fan of. They were such low blows. Plus, she was always looking for the worst in Cosmin, like suggesting he forced himself on a woman because he's famous (yet she's still attracted to him?), even with multiple people telling her she was being unprofessional. Then they're thrown together on a 'bonding' trip and suddenly they're making out. It didn't feel right to me. I know the hate banter was probably supposed to be the whole 'be mean to hide my feelings' but it wasn't quite right, imo, and so when they got together, it just felt forced. Then, when we got to the first spicy scene, the way the scene was described, I just couldn't vibe with it. Some of the formality is due to Cosmin speaking English as a second language, which was fine, but then he said things like, "Are you fertile?" when asking if she was on birth control.

I'm bummed I didn't like this more because I was really excited for book two.

DNF

The writing, storytelling, and characters were not for me. I dated two tries leaving it both as an ebook and audiobook could not get into it either format.

The MMC of this book was insufferable and problematic. This book made me extremely uncomfortable with the "flirting" coming off as sexual harassment. As a victim myself, this was triggering.

This was a new to me author and I enjoyed this one! I thought the plot and characters were so relatable! Plus a bonus for being a racing romance! Like how could anyone not be a fan! It had all the check marks for a good romance! Highly recommend!

I love F1 and really likes the idea of this book.
I thought it was a good story but thought she was too stubborn and a little annoying. We all know it’s hard being a girl in a man’s world, but sometimes she just didn’t help herself.

Once I got started, I really thought I wasn’t going to like this one. I thought about DNFing. Sometimes in enemies to lovers there’s a fine line that can be crossed where there’s no redemption. In the first half of the book I was yelling at both the FMC, Phaedra and MMC Cosmin. Why do you want to be with him/her?! They both put me off at times.
But by the end I enjoyed the story line and I even teared up and started to root for them.

I really wasn't sure if I was going to love this as much as I did. This was super smutty but not too much. Really the perfect amount. The humor actually has me LOLing more than once. I'm very excited to start the second in the series. Even though I am not a racing fan, I really enjoyed this!

1.5 stars rounded down.

My grievances with this book:
-The FMC's demeanor towards everyone she worked with--if you want to be treated like a professional then act like one?
-The FMC mentioned wanting a female driver to join their team and then proceeded to think badly of every single female side character
-If there's "tension" between the MCs and the goal is for them to get along and NOT date, why would a 40% owner send them on a retreat without anyone else as a buffer? Bizarre behavior. You're asking for the tension to skyrocket. SMH.
-There was sooo much time spent on her best friend's "relationship" with the team owner, and I did not care about that one bit
-The invasion of the MMC's privacy in the end was WILDDDDD--I ended up liking him more than the FMC, which is never what I want
-Odd word choice throughout
-This was my first experience with anything having to do with F1, and this book was not newbie friendly

What I liked:
-The emotional moments between the MCs were sweet
-The MMC had great growth

Basically--this isn't worth your time in my opinion. It was poorly constructed and written.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t expect Double Apex to hit me in the feels the way it did. Honestly, I had a bit of a rocky start with it—Phaedra, the FMC, rubbed me the wrong way at first. She came off as super brash and kind of mean in a “Girl Boss with no brakes” kind of way. But the more I read, the more I realized: that was the point. Josie Juniper did such a good job writing a complex, flawed character that it actually made me pause and reflect on why I was judging her so quickly. That alone made the story stand out for me.

Phaedra is homeschooled, a genius, and basically raised without any normal social interaction—and you really see how that shaped her. Her defensiveness, her weird social rhythm, even her anger all felt earned. I loved watching her grow throughout the book and seeing how those sharp edges started to soften, without losing who she really is. She’s not always likable, but she feels real, and that’s what I appreciated most.

I also really felt the emotional weight of this story. The found family element, the ache of feeling misunderstood by the people closest to you, the quiet heartbreak of a friendship that isn't what you hoped it would be—it all hit hard. I even teared up a few times. I genuinely rooted for Phaedra and Cosmin’s relationship, even though it wasn’t perfect (and honestly, that made it better).

That said, it’s not a flawless read. Phaedra’s one friend felt kind of flat, though I’m guessing we’ll get more of her story in the future. Cosmin had a strong backstory, but his chapters sometimes felt repetitive or a little too immature for what we’re told he’s gone through. And while I loved that the story included spice, some of the dirty talk and phrasing just made me cringe a bit. Also, for someone who's supposed to be a brilliant engineer, I really wanted to see Phaedra in action more, solving problems, being a badass in her own right, not just working in the background.

Still, despite a few bumps, I had a really good time with this book. It made me think, made me feel, and gave me characters that stuck with me after I finished. If you're into slow burns, messy but meaningful growth, and romance with depth, I’d definitely recommend giving Double Apex a shot.

Double Apex was a decent read. It had its moments, but some parts felt a bit slow or predictable. Not a favorite, but not a total miss either.

3 ⭐

This is my first F1 romance! The cover is stunning and so dynamic, I couldn't help but be intrigued. I wish I loved the story more. I have no clue about the specifics about F1, so that portion was a blast.

I didn't love how extremely aggressive Phaedra's attitude was. Was Cosmin a misogynistic asshole sometimes? Yes. He was a bit more "Alpha Male" than most people would appreciate. I enjoyed him, however I hated Phaedra. She was the reason their relationship became toxic and I didn't love it. There was good banter and Cosmin was truly a sweetie at heart and the real reason I enjoyed the book.

🏎️ F1 romance
🏎️ Enemies to lovers
🏎️ Forbidden romance
🏎️ Secret relationship
🏎️ Black cat/golden retriever
🏎️ He falls first

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an eARC of Double Apex for honest review

I sadly had to DNF this book around 20ish%.
I couldn’t connect with neither of the main characters! Thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC💖

Thank you so much to the publisher for this eARC! Unfortunately I didn't get around to reading it. This sounds very interesting and I do hope that anyone who has read it really enjoyed it!

Attention F1 fans! This super steamy, forbidden romance is fun, fun, fun :)
Phaedra is a race engineer for her father’s racing team. She is a tough cookie and is excellent at her job. When sparks fly between her and the famously handsome Cosmin, they have to make serious decisions about whether their careers are worth the risk. Navigating through the many obstacles to their happily ever after, Phaedra and Cos will have you frustrated and annoyed at times, but there is a huge payoff if you stick with the story.
And the behind the scenes glimpse into the racing world was solid. I was riveted!

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the advance reader electronic copy in exchange for my honest review.

I struggled with this one but ultimately ended up dnfing about halfway through. I didn’t like either main character and I especially did not like their relationship!

Unfortunately this was a really quick DNF for me. I immediately knew I wouldn't like the main characters and just wasn't feeling it.

DNF @10%
I love F1 and that's exactly why I couldn't get over the fact that Cosmin was supposed to be a rookie last year and he's at least mid-20's? Or maybe older if he's closer to the FMC's age. In no professional sport is a hot shot rookie in their mid to late 20's.

I also didn't love the dynamic of her being his race engineer. I'm not against workplace romance stories but in this instance it didn't work for me. Women are so underrepresented in the sport and if something like this happened in real life, it would ruin the chances of so many other women. It also just feels like such a huge power imbalance.

Cosmin was also literally sexually harassing her and wouldn't take no for an answer and I just couldn't get over that.

It took me a while to get to this and then I gave up about 60% in, I was not a fan. The main characters gave me the ick. I was excited to read because F1 is something I've recently enjoyed but this missed the mark for me. I appreciated bringing a female into a male dominated space - need more of that representation!! Thank you for the ARC!

I have mixed feelings about this book. The entire first half just felt like miscommunication and bad assumptions about each other. They seem to hate each other, though Cosmin is a flirt. Then they hook up and at 24% Phaedra is suddenly saying “I’m falling for a man I can’t have”. Mostly they just hook up and then we have a mutual love confession at 56% but we have only really seen them hook up.
Then they break up, there’s bad communication, but I found myself liking the book a lot more. I do wish we had a few more chapters of them ACTUALLY TALKING, but I appreciated the growth and was cheering for them by the end. Overall it ended at a 3.5 stars for me. And I’m planning to keep reading the series!

DNF @ 31%. The FMC was highly unlikable. The two characters chemistry was so confusing. I understand hate f#!%ing but nothing about their chemistry made any sense at all. He compared her to a castle, I couldn’t.