Wow, what a ride! We have Phaedra Morgan, powerhouse race engineer, and charming driver, Cosmin Ardelean. Who knew Romanian would be so sexy. Their chemistry is sizzling from the beginning. Their arrangement not only improves their communications, but opens up both of their hearts. I loved watching their relationship evolve from them barely able to tolerate each other to them finishing either other's thoughts in a race. This is a perfect steamy sports romance that will keep you turning the pages.

Instagram post will go live 30-Sep-2024.

Double Apex was unfortunately just not the book for me. While there were elements I enjoyed, the overall writing style and heroine were just not my favorite.

It’s dual POVs of the main characters: Phaedra, a racing engineer and Cosmin, an F1 driver.

There were some great tropes like enemies to lovers, close proximity, and a workplace and sports romance.

The premise was interesting and I did like the F1 and STEM elements. There were some amusing, sweet and spicy moments as well.

However, the writing style and all the time jumps made the story feel disjointed. There were certain subplots that also felt very underdeveloped and included some more darker themes than what I was expecting.

The heroine unfortunately was my biggest issue with the story. She was just very judgmental, obnoxious and honestly so mean.

The romance was also quite a letdown. I just didn’t feel the chemistry or romance between them. They got together so quickly without any buildup that their relationship just felt off. I’m honestly not sure how they went from enemies to lovers.

While this book wasn’t for me personally, I do believe other readers may enjoy the characters and story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Story: 4 ⭐
Spice: 3 🌶

I'm don't know much about Formula 1 racing; I however grew up in a family where NASCAR was huge. So, this was an educational experience to learn more about this type of racing.

The FMC is strong, fierce, and funny. All the traits to be able to work in a "man's" sport and she puts up a front when dealing with misogyny. She also learns a lot about herself and her flaws throughout this book, which it's nice to see a person wanting to better themselves. Also, I literally laughed out loud at all the picking teeth moments. IYKYK.

The MMC outwardly cocky, handsome, smooth talking, shameless flirt. He knows how to get what he wants but also secretly a teddy bear that's great with expressing his heart in words. This is probably my favorite type of man.

There are some triggers within this book, so make sure you check them out. I was balling a few times due to the nature of the triggers.

If you like a sport/racing romance, fun banter, great spice scenes full of passion, life lessons and trauma, sticking up for the women in a "men's sport", then you will want to read this!

You know what isn’t cute and should stop being made light of in books?
Men who can’t take a no.

Pet names in workplace isn’t cute. It’s actually harassment. Especially if they’ve asked you to stop.
Dirty jokes in the workplace isn’t cute. It’s once again harassment.

Being asked to stop and continuing isn’t cute and endearing. It’s not flirty. It’s not consensual.
It’s a man thinking that he’s above the rules of professionalism and not respecting the woman asking him to stop.

We need to stop making books like this the norm.
When does it become cute? When she’s all of a sudden into the man who is incapable of respecting her wish?

Yeah, pass.

Thanks to Forever Publishing for the free E-ARC of this book. Here are my honest thoughts!

Dnf at 6%

What the ever loving heck?? I read TWO chapters of this books and have never felt so icky about both of the main characters this quickly.

Phaedra is so rude to Cosmin because he simply wasn’t the person she wanted her dad to pick for their team?? So that means you need to seethe every time he speaks?? HUH?? I am normally one who enjoys unlikeable fmcs!! I want characters to be flawed, but this reaction seems so unwarranted so immediately. It feels like it’s trying to do an enemies to lovers thing, but he doesn’t even dislike her?? I’m just 🫣

Cosmin is like?? The worst?? He has an interview after his race and just immediately starts extremely sexualizing the woman interviewing him? He literally assumes that she’s subconsciously imagining his hand on her neck while she’s JUST FIXING HER EARRING?? When she asks him a question he doesn’t like, he says he’ll have to spank her for it later?? THIS WOMAN IS JUST DOING HER JOB?? ICKY ICKY BEHAVIOR

After reading some other reviews, it’s clear to me that this is not a book I will ever want to finish. I only read two chapters, but I don’t foresee it getting better from here, unfortunately.

I really enjoyed the book overall, but there were certain parts that just did not make sense.

I loved the Romanian representation and thought Cosmin was a well developed MMC, except for the few scenes where he came off as a little predatory (when she tells him to leave her alone and he then proceeds to press her erection against her). I would expect this behavior in a dark romance, but the vibes were just a little off for a steamy F1 sports romance.

The FMC was so emotionally stunted, and I'm all for character development and growth, but even in the end she seemed kind of cold and unfeeling towards Cos. She was also constantly talking about how she's so much smarter than everyone else, especially the MMC and that just rubbed me the wrong way. Even if it's true, it seemed like those statements were made to put Cosmin down, even if indirectly. For a woman in her 30s I expected a little more maturity, I guess.

The spice was good, the story was good. I would have liked the content warnings to be more detailed - the illness was not named in the warnings and since there was mention of rape in the book, I would have liked the warnings to reflect that.

Overall, a mention of the book having darker tones would have helped a lot!
I recommend this book to fans of F1 that also enjoy darker topics.

I am so sorry but this is a DNF for me, I just genuinely do not care for the fmc and it’s really hard for me to continue when I personally don’t have any stake in the character and their story. Thank you netgalley and forever for giving me the change to review this book.

The beginning was a little rough for me. I wasn’t expecting to like it so much. (It’s 💯 a me thing, I don’t like repetitiveness and I felt like the character kept saying the same thing over and over)

Besides that I really liked the story and the characters were likable. I felt their struggles and them overcoming them to be happy with their lives.

There is talk about Formula 1 racing (obviously). It wasn’t too technical so if you don’t know anything about racing it won’t be effect your enjoyment of the book.

I think a lot of people would enjoy this so I do recommend it. There are some trigger warnings that some people might be interested in (talk of past child abuse, parent death, death from cancer)

Thanks to Forever and Netgalley for a couple of Double Apex in exchange of an honest review

I was locked into this one the whole time, by chapter 4 I completely understood why everyone wanted cosimin (it was the casual reading of norwegian wood for me), my main issue was the beginning of their relationship, it felt a bit too rushed but that seemed to work itself out throughout the story so I truly can't be that upset with it

also I couldn't stop picturing phaedra parks from the real housewives of atlanta so I had to permanently call her phae in order to fix that

thank you net galley for an arc of this in exchange for my honest feedback!

I received both the audio and e-arc for Double Apex, below is the review I left based on listening to the audiobook. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed the story more reading it as a book given my dislike of the narration, but I also know that I am more likely to finish an audiobook I'm not enjoying versus a physical/e-book I'm not enjoying and I feel like if I was not listening I would have DNF'd this.

I feel like this book was not for me, but I also struggle to say who this book may have been for... Phaedra is an extremely unlikable character imo. I get she is supposed to be portrayed as prickly/ a black cat but she is well past those categories and was extremely unpleasant. She's 32 years old and on multiple occasions she mentions wanting to hit someone when she's angry and on one instance she does get into a physical altercation with Cosmin that I was not really feeling. I feel like that scene got played off so casually and in a way that feeds into stereotype that "men don't hit/abused by their female partners." The only thing that "redeeming" for Phaedra is that we see the on page death from cancer of her father which using that as the only likeable/non negative description of a character doesn't say much about said character. Cosmin gave hardly anything of substance, his backstory with his sister was somewhat confusing at times and that's really all I can take away from him. This is like a poorly done version of "he's obsessed with her and she doesn't like him" and I guess maybe that's because Phaedra was such an unlikeable character I struggle to see how he could have been obsessed with her.

I listen to alot of audiobooks, but this was the first time I've heard these narrators and their performance contributed to my feelings of indifference and unenjoyment with the story. If someone would have told me that the female narrator was actually AI I would have believed. I'm not sure if she was trying to play off of Phaedra's indifference in a was but her delivery was so flat and came across bored that I couldn't help be bored too. I also feel like in previous books I've read where there is a ESOL MC the narrator will still give them a slight accent in their internal thoughts and then a stronger one in dialogue. That wasn't the case here and I felt myself getting lost in some of Cosmin's thoughts because the Romanian accent was so strong. On multiple occasions I had to go back and rewind where I had gotten lost in the plot.

I think that potentially another book from Josie I could be interested in at some point given the right storyline, but it wouldn't be at the top of my TBR (nor do I want to find other books in the narrators catalogs to listen to next)

**Thank you to @netgalley , Josie Juniper, @readforeverpub (@grandcentralpub), and @hachetteaudio for my free ebook and audiobook ARC copies in exchange for my unbiased review.

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spicy Rating: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

Phaedra Morgan is the mathematical prodigy daughter of Edward "Mo" Morgan, owner of Emerald Formula 1, a racing company. F1 recently signed the cocky, manwhore, Romanian driver: Cosmin Ardelean. Phaedra can't stand him, but she has just made assumptions about him and never got to know him...yet.

While this was such a spicy read, I found there was more to it than that. Cosmin is such a sweet guy, I'm a sucker for an enemies to lovers trope. This was the first book since I read "Marley and Me" over 15 years ago that made me ugly cry and bawl...not once but TWICE. I have seen that this will be a series and I'm hoping we get more of Cos and Phae!

I was lucky to receive both an audiobook and ebook ARC copy of this book, I highly recommend the audio because if not you'll be missing out greatly on the Romanian accent and language. If you love sexy accents, enemies to lovers and reverse grumpy vs. sunshine, this one is for you!

Unfortunately this book was definitely not for me and I DNFed at 40%.

The issue (s):
- The female main character is very judgy, especially towards other women. I was excited to read this story as it put a female MC at a top position in a male dominated sport. Unfortunately, there was so much woman/pick-me hate from this FMC that I could not read any further. I saw another review which mentioned that the author did a great job at depicting a realistically flawed FMC, however it did not read that way for me. Just a couple of things she did: disregarded her *only* friend’s insecurity about her body and basically told her she should be lucky because she herself doesn’t look/feel that way, judged a woman at the bar calling her “2012” and a “bimbo,” hated on women only gym areas because those were created by men, hated on the very talented F1 driver because she would have preferred a woman, was terrible to her *only* friend for making her own love life decisions, and was just an all over terrible seeming person. I understand that she is a hothead and maybe if I finished the book I would understand more, however these insults were often so thought through/detailed that it hardly seemed spur of the moment. She just seemed very very childish for a supposed genius.
- The male main character does not respect the boundaries of women. His inner monologue makes him seem as though he is a good enough guy, but outwardly he flirts with everyone and everything, though he claims he is not promiscuous. He also continues to make innuendos over the team radio, which is a professional setting, even after the FMC has asked him to stop and rumors about the two of them are occurring which could have undermined her place on the team, he also advances physically towards her while she is not providing consent and is telling him to stop. The backstory of this character is that he grew up in his Uncle’s abusive home and his sister was sold for sex, he and his sister now own an orphanage for children in Romania I believe. Knowing this about the MMC, his actions towards the FMC are not believable.
- The FMC goes from literally hating the MMC and wanting him off the team to hate-sex in the matter of a couple of chapters. After the two are told to do some “bonding” they are immediately attracted to each other and attached. The MMC claims to have wanted her since he met her but there is nothing other than his words to suggest that (and I cannot see why he would when she treats him like literal dirt).

Overall, both of these characters completely sucked and I truly do not understand/believe their dynamic.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Publishing) for sending this book (eARC) in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

double apex had an exciting concept, mixing racing and romance, but it didn’t fully deliver for me. the characters felt one-dimensional, and the story moved too fast, leaving little room for real development. while there were a few fun moments, overall, it just lacked depth and left me wanting more. DNF at 40%.

I just started getting into watching F1 this year so I was excited for this one originally. I normally love when the FMC is in a male dominated field and doesn’t put up with any of their shit (this is one thing I can 100% relate to) but this one fell a little flat for me.

From the beginning I found Phaedra insufferable. She’s way too quick to judge someone and doesn’t seem to treat the people in her life very well. I had a little sympathy for her because of her dad but I really thought it was unnecessary for her to treat her friends that poorly most of the time. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Cosmin, he seemed like a okay guy but some of the things he said/thought were kind of creepy to me.

Romance-wise, it didn’t really hit for me. It felt a little rushed and I didn’t really care much for them.

This book definitely discusses some tough topics so I recommend checking TW first!

DNF at 20%

I was so excited for a forbidden romance about an F1 engineer with her driver, but unfortunately I didn’t like this book at all. The only thing I liked was that the MMC was Romanian, but he was just really insufferable at times and the FMC wasn’t much better. I love reverse grumpy/sunshine, but Phaedra was just plain mean for no reason. She’s supposed to be a genius, girlboss or something but she was constantly complaining about how hard it is to be a woman in a male dominated sport, when she clearly actually hates other women. She kept putting them down and being judgmental and even has a really weird relationship with her best friend. Cosmin was supposed to be a charming sweet talker but he just came on way too strong and it made me really not like him. The conversations were so stilted and the choices made for the character interactions were weird. This had a lot of potential but sadly not the book for me.

I was super intrigued by the premise of Double Apex & decided to give it a try. I've never read a Formula 1 romance and I thought it was neat to see an FMC be an engineer.

I really liked the romance here. There's a lot of great tension between the characters and the steamy was giving holy hotness. The banter was great and I liked that the author added Romanian too. I also liked how the reverse grumpy sunshine trope was used.

However, I think my main issue with the book was the writing style. It was a lot of telling instead of showing which made it feel info dumpy. It could just be that I didn't vibe with the writing style here.

I would say if you enjoy workplace romances but are looking for a unique work setting, give this a try.

Did not finish due to content warnings. I lost my dad and can’t read books with familial death.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this and I’m sorry I couldn’t finish it.

2.5⭐️

Double Apex is a F1 workplace romance book. The two main characters, Phaedra and Cosmin work closely together as she’s a race engineer and he’s a driver. I had high hopes going into the book due to the cute cover and the description of the book, but unfortunately for me it fell flat.

I feel like everything moved on so fast between them. It started to get confusing and it didn’t allow me to connect with the characters or fully enjoy their story. It didn’t feel like there was chemistry between Phaedra and Cosmin.

Please make sure to read the content warnings as there are heavy topics in the book.


Thank you NetGalley and Forever(Grand Central Publishing for the arc.

I was SO excited to read Double Apex as I am interested in getting into/watching Formula 1 romances. However; I couldn't get over the misogynistic comments made starting at the beginning of the book. I felt that overshadowed my reading experience and thus, wasn't interested in reading beyond the 8% mark as authors, especially females, shouldn't be putting so much hate into their books towards their own gender. I understand if it is a particular plot point however; I was instantly turned off as it happened right away.

This was my first formula 1 romance and really had no idea about the sport. I enjoyed learning a little bit about the sport and how much science there is to it. Being a male dominated sport, I can see how Phaedra felt about her position as an engineer and daughter's owner and how precarious it was.

Cosmin is a playboy race car driver that was new to their team and they instantly do not get along. I enjoyed seeing how their romance developed and the softer side of Cosmin was revealed.

There is a lot of sub plots and some felt unfinished, perhaps it's a set up for the next book.

I enjoyed the narration of Jonathan Lake and Mackenzie Cartwright. I did have to slow down a bit to understand Jonathan's accent and sometimes his narration felt like a whisper.

Thank you @hachetteaudio @readforeverpub for a copy of the audiobook.