This was bad. Poorly written, cringey and just not interesting. The cute cover sucked me in, but I would think twice about trying another book by this author

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy!

I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover! I’m a bit disappointed as I didn’t connect with it as I was hoping to. I was not a fan of the verbal abuse and the romance aspect was a bit flat at times. I think I would’ve liked it more if I had been more into F1? Who knows. I skimmed through more than I would’ve liked.

Thank you Forever and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

I will not be posting a negative review in other platforms.

If you’re looking for the perfect summer F1 read with a badass FMC in STEM, look no further! Josie does such a fantastic job consuming you with her writing, witty characters, swoon worth romance, and emotional moments that will be held near and dear to your heart after reading.

I had so much hope for this book. Unfortunately it was not what I expected from the beginning. There’s verbal abuse to the point where the story is unbearable. Couldn’t be more bummed…

OMG THIS BOOK. I am a changed woman because of it. A huge thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Josie Juniper for this advanced copy!!

"You may be a better driver than I am, but I'm smarter than you. Don't cross me, or I won't rest until your Transylvanian ass gets busted back down to F2. Or better yet, no one will give you a seat and you find yourself hawking protein shakes on late-night infomercials."

No matter what anyone says, I will always be a Phaedra defender because we all know as a collective that the world of sports, no matter which one, is mostly male dominated and that even in the world of F1 that wishes to include more women, even they face their struggles. So, to have Phaedra be all no-nonsense, not accepting the backhanded comments of men and being prickly makes sense (and let's be real for a second, we need a change from the usual frilly-I-am-so-pretty-with-my-short-dresses girlie) We are so used to seeing the seemingly perfect female main character that we forget flawed women who are trying to do their best. We forget women that are like us. Imperfect. Women who carry doubts. Women who struggle to stand out and to have their opinions heard and valued.

And watching Pahedra's development was beautiful frankly. From grumpy girl who is prickly towards everyone, to discovering that she can be loved for who she is, and to find happiness despite the grief of *COUGH COUGH* a certain someone's death... well, let's just say I shed my tears for this book.

Also, Cosmin. Guys, we get the fun little nicknames here. From Phaedra calling him "Legs" to "the F1 Dracula", I did not think I would enjoy his character but boy did he surprise me. We discover that he's a romantic and this man waits a few chapters to confess to us in like a gossiping grandma manner that he has actually been in love with Phaedra for A WHILE. And an angsty Romanian guy pining for his racing engineer was the love story I didn't know I needed this year.

I WAS HOOKED. I was laughing, fanning myself, typing in a frenzy to the author who bless her open DMs got to hear me ramble like my degree is in yapping about all the things I enjoyed about this book. We get a nuanced story with characters that take their time to develop which felt realistic to how real life works. We get to see the steamy romance, the more tender moments, *THAT* scene with the old Lincoln car hookup in the rain that is stuck in my head, the bits of Formula 1 racing and the behind the scenes of it. We get to see moments of father/daughter bonds, of a connection so strong that I felt it in my bones.

By the end, I was cheering as if I were watching the end of the race because up until the last chapter, I did think that Phaedra and Cosmin would forever be separated because of their duties but the moment they get together as they secure a victory for the team and I WAS CHEERING. I was over the moon. I went to sleep with a giddy smile and am super excited for the rest of the books in this series that will explore characters I am intrigued to see more about!

Overall: 4.5/5 stars

Unfortunately, not a memorable read for me. The vibes were good and I enjoyed myself while reading but I immediately forgot 70% of what I read once finished. I would recommend it as a quick and easy read to get you out of a slump or if you're looking for something fun!

Double Apex started really strongly for me but faded as it continued, especially with some of the bigger time jumps between races. I loved Phaedra’s relationship with her dad and her friendship with Nat. Ultimately I’m not sure if I will continue the series.

⭐️4,5
Formula 1 romances and I don‘t have the best track record but I love F1 and I‘m determined to find good books.
This one was amazing!! The most important to me, the author really knew their stuff about F1 which made the story feel and sound a lot more real life!

I loved the banter so much and the added Romanian throughout was great. No idea why most books have American drivers when most of F1 are European drivers!
Anyways.. I couldn’t put this book down and fingers crossed there will be more amazing F1 books!!

I am a new to F1 girly so I liked the author provided context to the races without it being too simplified.

I swooned over the Romanian! I can’t wait for the audio to come out because I need to know how everything is actually pronounced.

Phae drove me a little crazy with her quips and impulsive decisions during this relationship and I can understand why given her background and personality, BUT it started to get a little annoying after a point.

Cos and his background were complex and I wish it had a bit more on his childhood! He’s obviously impacted by his uncle and his sister’s situation and he alludes to the man his uncle was but I guess how it informed his choices, love etc? Maybe I’m nitpicking because I just want to love him even more!

I hope Brooklyn comes back in later books because she was a fun addition. Same with the other side characters, I wanted more and I’m sure it’s setting up for the other books in the series!

Overall, enjoyed! I loved Phae as a fierce, smart engineer and owner who needed to grow up and let love in! Cos was a total misunderstood sweetie who has a whole other side needing exploring! If you’re new to F1 and want to date a driver vicariously, def pick up this book!

I thought the book had fun moments but it wasn’t heading in the direction I hoped. I struggled reading some areas as well as it fell flat a bit.
The romance was there but I was hoping it would be more prevalent throughout the book.
Stunning cover and I had such high hopes but it just didn’t reach it. I couldn’t get the full interest and connection out of this book that I initially had hoped I would.
I’ll still be recommending this book to friends as I believe people can enjoy it, it’s just not for me.

I thought this book was a fun and engaging read, featuring the dynamic duo of Phae and Cos in a spicy enemies-to-lovers romance set against the thrilling backdrop of Formula 1 racing. Phaedra Morgan, a brilliant race engineer, and Cosmin Ardelean, a cocky yet haunted driver, enter a forbidden arrangement that adds both tension and excitement to their relationship. While I enjoyed the balance between the romantic and the racing elements, I felt that some parts of the story moved too quickly, not giving enough time to certain moments. The writing was a bit all over the place, making it hard to follow at times, but the F1 setting kept me interested. 3/5 stars.

This book was so much fun! Phae and Cos were quite the pair, and reading through their wins and losses was a joy. This story was a good balance between the romantic (and smut) poutine, along with the journey through an F1 season. In some parts of the book, it did feel that things were going too quickly (sometimes not giving enough time to moment in my opinion), but overall a fun read. Looking forward to Klaus and Nat’s story in book 2!

Conflicting feelings on this one…
This was just okay.
I’ve never read a F1 romance before, so that was interesting. But, I just feel like overall this one wasn’t for me.
The romance was just okay, I did however, enjoy the F1 race setting and am now interested in reading more formula 1 related romances.
Overall, this was a good way to spend an evening, but I don’t think I would recommend this one.

Unfortunately my hopes were set a little too high for this book. I was really excited to read an F1xEngineer FMC romance, especially since I am a female engineer myself, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. I found that the FMC's actions didn't really match her age and she was just difficult for me to like. I also found her actions to be super unprofessional, and just incredibly rude. The MMC on the other hand, was just cringe and I didn't really feel the chemistry between him and the FMC. I will say there was some good banter, but for me the cons outweighed the pros in this book.

DNF at 20%....

First off, the cover of this is absolutely beautiful. I started reading this in preparation for an F1 race (to really feel the vibes) but then I was so utterly disappointed. First off, I love a woman in STEM main character, but Phaedra was so deeply insufferable and gave a little too much in terms of "not like other girls" vibes. I didn't really understand why she was beefing with Cosmin so much, but he also gave paint drying as a character so maybe that's why.

Also, I worried this book was going to dip into insta lust territory and I really didn't think I was going to be able to root for their relationship because of how insistent Phaedra was that she could never like Cosmin. I also really wasn't jarring with the writing style, so overall not the book for me.

Unfortunate that I didn't like this because I do enjoy formula 1, but hoping there is a F1 book out there for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this ARC of Double Apex in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I had to POWER through this book. It took all of my willpower to do so and even then, I do wish I hadn't. Double Apex is a new installment in the sports romance sphere of Formula 1 that advertises a cocky driver and a whipsmart math genius/engineer assigned to his team. Unfortunately, our protagonist is utterly unbearable and the guy was... well. I love a good mean girl main character but there was just no rhyme or reason to why Phaedra was acting the way she was. In all honesty, I just couldn't justify any of her rudeness, which just ruined the reading experience for me.

This is a DNF for me (40%). If you follow me at all you’ll know that I have a pretty strong rule against rating books I DNF at less than 60%. In my humble opinion I don’t think it’s fair to rate a book on a public platform when you haven’t read more than half. But thats just me being me.

Double Apex is an exception to my rule.

I cannot be convinced to appreciate/like/lust after a contemporary romance MMC that acts the way Cosmic acts.

Examples…
Phaedra tells him more than once to stop making sexual style jokes/comments to her in the workplace and yet he continues to do so. Not ok in my book, she said NO bro!

The kitchen coffee scene on the first day of arriving in Santori…

In what world is rubbing your erection on someone, who has…
1. told you they aren’t interested
2. asked you to stop flirting with them
3. NOT F**KING INVITED YOU TO RUB YOUR DICK ON THEM, something OK to do?

I read for another 6 chapters after this scene and still couldn’t get it out of my head.

Actually, I went back and re-read this scene while writing this review, thinking maybe I missed some invitation she gave him…

I didn’t…

In my humble opinion “a playful smirk” is not an invitation to rub your dick on someone who previously told you they were not interested. Also, “Quit,” - followed by her “sidestepping” so much to get away from him, that she runs into a counter, and then “Oh my God, Ardelean, let go…” are also clear indicators that you should LET FUCKING GO, and also NOT RUB YOUR COCK on her.

to top it all off, this behavior is coming from an MMC who’s sister was sexually assaulted as an adolescent by their uncle…

What the actual f**?

If the MMC’s behavior and straight up sexual harassment wasn’t enough, I also really disliked our FMC. I love flawed characters, I think they make books realistic and relatable... Phaedra, however, was insufferable. Rude to everyone around her, treated her best friend like shit, acted like an immature child, not the 30 year old genius she was supposed to be, and generally just sucked as a human.

Additional issues
- choppy prose, especially Cosmin’s POV
- the time jumps made me feel so disconnected from the characters

If you like reading romances where the guy is a complete asshole but his internal monologue suggests otherwise, you don’t mind dubious consent in your contemporary romance, and love to hate you FMC this could work for you.

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

I enjoyed the premise of this book but I couldn’t get into it. The story was short and sweet but I felt like the writing was all over the place, making it hard to follow what was going on.

I loved the premise of Double Apex, but it was a struggle for me to read. I couldn’t keep the characters straight and never felt very invested.

Thank you, Josie Juniper and Forever for an ARC of this book via NetGalley.

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed the storyline of the book and all the characters throughout, It was just lacking on the romance side for me personally! I wanted to see more of Cosmin and Phaedra's relationship unfold. What got them to those 3 words?