Actually truly phenomenal. My first F1 book but certainly not my last. Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advance copy.

📖 Double Apex
✍️ Josie Juniper
🗓️ Oct 08 2024
📝 Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever

Genre:
Contemporary romance

Series or standalone:
Frontrunners #1
Tropes:
❤️ F1 🏁🏎️
❤️ female STEM rep
❤️ workplace romance
❤️ enemies to lovers
❤️ he falls first

⚠️: illness and death of a family member, child abuse (not detailed), explicit sexual content and profanity

POV
Dual POV, first person POV

💭 Summary 💭
In a male dominated world, Phaedra made a name for herself as a racing engineer. Socially awkward as she is, she clashed with the new flirty driver.
When thrown together to bond, things slowly start to shift between them.


Cover:
It’s cute and caught my attention even though I don’t like comic covers too much.

Heroine:
Phaedra Morgan (32?)

Hero:
Cosmin Ardelean
I love that he was Romanian! You felt that. I loved that his English was not perfect, it made him more realistic. I also enjoyed the bits of Romanian here and there!
I actually really liked him. Between his flirty banter he was hiding a difficult past, which got me thinking, which behaviour is more appropriate. Phaedra’s outright rudeness or his flirting?
I saw no harm in his behaviour, but maybe that’s just me.

Side cast:
I liked the look behind the scenes of the formula one world. I just finished Lauren Asher’s “Throttled”. While it had gaping holes, I found this here way more believable and real.

Diverse cast of characters?:
Different people, diversity and it felt not forced. Sometimes it gets messy when an author throws every ethnicity and every disability at you for the sake of being diverse. This here felt natural.

character development

Cosmin was described as cocky, but Phaedra was pretty rude at times. That turned me off pretty quickly. You can be witty and snarky, but I don’t like it when the FMC is downright rude. It didn’t sit well with me when she was mocking Cosmin for being sexist, but in the same breath mocks women herself. The same goes for every woman that is girly. She mocks them. She has this view that everyone has to be like her but admits that she is socially awkward. She did not make much sense as a character.

She was a walking contradiction. For someone so smart she acted very stupid. I wish her intelligence was shown in other ways other than just stating that she is smart.

I get why she was written the way she was, I really do. I even respect the author for it. But I still had trouble connecting with her.

Yes, she grows over the book and it makes her realistic, but for me, first impressions kind of count and set the tone in a novel. I guess I handle my fiction like my real life, if it feels off, it’s off. We don’t vibe with everyone because we’re not always right away presented with the backstory. This is on me, essentially. So I was on the fence with her at times, but she did grow on me. I wonder though if it was a little too late?


Location:
Starting in Melbourne, travelling with the F1 circuit all over the world, which I enjoyed.

Fluency/Writing:
This was a bit of a leap of faith for me. I love strong women, but I am moving into unknown territory when it comes to STEM and feminism (aka stem-inism?!). Both are awesome but it’s nothing I usually need in books. So I was a bit wary when I first requested this, but the premises sounded so good, I could not resist.

What irked me here was what I suppose is gen z speak. The heroine here is closer to 30 than 20 I think and she speaks like a teenager, especially with being the prodigy she claims she is. Not cute.

But I especially enjoyed Cosmin’s point of view. He made this book so much more enjoyable.

I am unsure about the pacing. Their relationship shifted at around 20 %, which felt too fast for me. The book had great potential. While I did not totally hate it, it fell flat on the aspects it was supposed to sell.

🌶️: 2/5
😱: 1/5
😭: 2,5/5
❤️: 2,5/5
⭐️: 3/5

Do I recommend:
Probably not. I did not totally hate it but. Was not convinced by the message either. In the end there were more positives than negatives for me.

⭐️Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own, I was under no obligation to review.

Fans of Formula 1 will devour Double Apex by Josie Juniper! It is an absolute must read!

I am a massive F1 fan and I love romance books so this book was a perfect mix and Josie Juniper did an amazing job. Double Apex is one of my favorite books of 2024! She's an engineer and he's the cocky F1 Driver, which I loved and thought it was a refreshing and new dynamic within this motorsport lore. They bicker, they argue but they work well together. She's also the daughter of the team owner for the team he drives for and forced to work together on creating a less hostile relationship, they are forced to get along but one thing I loved about their dynamic was their banter and playful flirting. I loved how she got angry and it made him smile to get reactions out of her. I loved that she's a smart woman in STEM that loves math and engineering. I thought that the author did an amazing job with the accuracy of terminology without info-dumping but having a perfect balance of informing the reader and developing their relationship. I loved the world of F1 through her fictional world, getting to see the world traveling, the progression of their romance. I loved that Cos was such a playful character but he deeply loved and admired Phae and when it came to her, he was serious about her and fights for what loves and wants. The book was so steamy. Some parts had me blushing but I also loved that we get to see their deeper connection and bonding on a deeper level especially with the things they go through and you can see how deep and strong their connection is. It has hate to love, boy obsessed/he falls first and hard, banter, forced proximity, secret relationship. I cannot wait for more books by Josie Juniper in her new F1 series. I highly recommend this sport romance series for anyone that likes F1 or is curious about this motorsport

Double Apex was a funny and entertaining read. Phaedra is a race engineer, but also happens to be the daughter of the team owner. Newly hired driver Cosmin is in it to win, both on the track and off. This was my first novel by Josie Juniper, but I really enjoyed it and would be interested in reading the next book in this series.

~~What I liked~~
-The story was interesting and had good pacing. Told in alternating POV chapters, it was nice to see both sides of the relationship between Phaedra and Cosmin. There were funny parts, but also touching parts and I even teared up some. It was well-written, too. I got an early proof and the writing and flow were really good.
-The character development was good, more so for Phaedra than for Cosmin. Phaedra started of a little rough, but ended up a solid character.
-This was an open door romance, and it was quite 🌶️ !
-The racing aspect was good, with enough details that I understood what was going on, but not so much that I was bored with the technical terms.

~~What I didn't like~~
-I wish there would have been more or Phaedra's brain showing through. As a child prodigy there wasn't much in the book to show how smart she really was. Most of the focus was on how socially awkward she was, and not in the 'how cute' way, but more the 'wtf is with her?' way. There also seemed to be a discrepancy between her actual age (30is) and her behaviors (very juvenile).


Overall, this was a fun and entertaining book. I would recommend and would re-read.

I had an issue with this one pretty much from that get go but decided to try and push through. I found the female main character to be so unlikeable and rude. I don’t mind a speaks-her-mind kind of lady but her need to assume and jump to conclusions and be mean about it rubbed me the wrong way. Then the first time the MCs get together just really didn’t sit well with me. I found it cringey and off putting. The chemistry wasn’t there, which I don’t mind for the first time but it was just written in a way that completely put me off. I love F1 and F1 romances but I just did not like this one at all.

I really liked Double Apex. I have been eyeing this trend of F1 romances after my teen got into F1 and has not stopped talking about it. This story of Phaedra and Cosmin is steamy and fun. The setting around F1 and racing gives it a different vibe than a lot of other romances. It's like sports and office, but also neither. The woman engineer and the driver dynamic lets them have lots of proximity and opportunity to create tension.

The story was fast paced and emotional. The characters have depth and heart and clearly defined struggled. I fought a little with Phaedra because she was so much at times. She made her life harder when it would have been easy to not. But as she worked through that part of herself, I got to like her even more. I am definitely ready for book two and can't wait to follow along on this author's journey!

Phaedra is a math prodigy that has no patience for love and is the best engineer in Formula 1. She keeps butting heads with the new driver, Cosmin who is intense and committed to the race but has a tendency to have public romantic exploits. They decide to have a forbidden arrangement to build communication but what if it turns into something more and no secret can stay hidden long in the small world of racing.

I really loved the chemistry and banter between the main characters, it made it easy to route for their relationship. I also really enjoyed the pace of the book, it made it feel super realistic. I loved the depth that the book brought in towards the end, it made me feel all the emotions.

A spicy F1 romance with a boss lady FMC! I honestly thought this would be 5 stars for me based on the synopsis but I think the build up of Phaedra and Cosmin’s story was a little clunky/off for my taste and I thought there was just a little too much extra story line with both of their families and friends it became a little bit overwhelming. I did like the she’s grumpy-he’s sunshine dynamic though and it sure was spicy! Overall 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Grand Central Publishing for the ARC!

There's a side character with this with a dark background that I was not expecting from this romance. It caught me really off guard. Besides for that, I enjoyed this formula 1 romance book! It's between an engineer and one of the race-car drivers. It was also spicy. I'm looking forward to the next in the series and more formula one books.

Ok stem and formula 1 , i was completely sold. This was such a good read , definitely perfect for anytime of the year but for summer more than perfect. Or maybe is because I read it in summer . Anyway definitely great plot and development and love the main characters a lot .

Special thanks to NetGalley & Forever/Grand Central Publishing for sharing this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

The pacing of the story was a bit off for me. The transition to a relationship seemed clunky since their relationship escalated so quickly without any sexual tension or anything to bridge the gap. I do love when stories are told from multiple POVs though. Phaedra was a very self-aware of her emotions or reactions to certain things, but she was not a lovable character and at times I felt like she thought she was better than everyone else since she was a very smart woman. Cosmin came off as a womanizer, but eventually proved he only had eyes for Phaedra. Some of his moments in the story were a little awkward or harder to read he was very sweet affectionate toward Phaedra. Their relationship often seemed overly stressed and full of trauma. It did add drama into the story, but some of it just didn’t make sense to me. Some problems were solved too quickly.

In the end, I would’ve liked the story more if everything flowed and transitioned more seamlessly and I would’ve loved more tension between the main characters. I will say I am interested to learn more about Formula 1 racing after reading this.

2,25 Stars

Ooof. 'Double Apex' was ready to read on NetGalley and because of the intriguing cover (F1!!) I decided to try it out.

(This review will have slight spoilers)

I like the premise of female F1 engineer Phaedra and driver Cosmin falling in love and it was pretty cute in the beginning, with a nice cast of side characters and some F1 related high tension and even a buildup for what I think will be the next book, BUT. Yes but, because while it was worthwhile reading it, especially the first maybe 30%, there were some things that made the overall reading experience go sour for me: As soon as the FMC had her falling out with her friend she became ultra unlikeable, as did her friend, and the guy her friend was dating. Cosmin remained the only likeable character.

-FMC is arrogant and conceited, thinks she is so much smarter than everyone around her and constantly reminds them, always judging other women. There was even a scene where she accused Cosmin of being sexist and then continues to be very sexist towards women herself which Cosmin had to point out to her.
-Her friend kept secret who she was dating (even though Phaedra already knew) and not in a way that was very understandable for me? It was someone on the team that Phaedra was fairly close to and knew about. The vibe between them was just off, I don't know why they are friends tbh
-The friend also just ghosts her for weeks or even months while Phaedras father is dying and she needs support, after Phaedra tells her that hooking up with that guy will leave her heartbroken because he doesn't commit to anyone. Guess when the friend decides to stop ghosting her and comes to see her in person before even answering any text or message? Yes, when it inevitably happens just as Phaedra had predicted. While she had her man she was showing her the cold shoulder in a time of need, and as soon as the guy dropped her she came running back :D what a friend. They weren't even in an actual relationship
-She continues to spiral and treat Cosmin like shit (she does have the stress of her fathers illness, but that should never excuse the following) and even physically attacks him, unprovoked!!! He strikes her completely by accident trying to get her off him and the scene focuses on how bad he feels about that...um.... violence between romantic partners???? need I say more
- Cosmin sometimes says weird things because his first language is not english, and I get that it was supposed to be cute and endearing, but some things were just so weird ("Are you fertile" meaning "Are you on BC")
-Also them being shocked and angry and in denial by the consequences of their actions by hooking up within the same team...Phaedra could be more humble imo

So as you can see my major critic points lie with portrayal of the chatacters, I get that they need to be portrayed in a realistic way, but unless I'm reading a villain story I kind of want to actually like the characters you know? And that whole domestic violence scene could've been cut out, it didn't help Phaedras character portrayal at all and didn't really fit the image of a super smart engineer, more like a reality show candidate.

I am so glad that I paid attention to the content warnings because they promised that this book contained explicit content and Josie DELIVERED on the spice!

I loved this book so much more than I anticipated. I am not an F1 fan or a racing fan, and fortunately while this book is about an F1 driver and engineer, you don't have to love the sport to adore this book. This is a hate-to-love story about a man who uses charm and flirtation to cover his trauma and his soft, cinnamon roll heart, and the brilliant, brash, insufferable woman that he's head over heels in love with. There is a forbidden romance element, too, since she's the daughter of the team's owner and her contract requires that she not fraternize with team members. The framework of the story is a familiar one, but it's executed really beautifully, and I could not put it down.

I want to take a moment to specifically call out how much I love the character development in this book. Phaedra, the FMC, grew up with very little socialization with peers her own age, and as a borderline prodigy, she developed a fixed mindset with regard to her skills. In her mind, she's either really, really good at something, or she's doomed to be terrible at it. She recognizes that she does not relate well to others, but she does not know how to fix that.

And then Cosmin swaggers into her world with his aggravating smirks and impertinent attitude and irresistibly beautiful face, and she's forced to learn how to 'play well with others' in order to keep her position as team engineer. I love the way that the two of them challenge and comfort each other throughout the story. They're precious.

I highly recommend this book for people who enjoyed Nesta's character arc in A Court of Thorns and Roses, for those who love when a woman gets to be the grump in a grumpy x sunshine pairing, and for readers who love an abundance of intimate scenes in their spicy romances.

Thanks to Net Galley for the arc. A forbidden, enemies to lovers F1 romance sounded great in theory, but unfortunately, this was not my favorite book.

There could’ve been so much more tension between the characters, but instead they went from hating each other to insta love at about 20% through the book. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this about halfway through when the FMC literally physically attacks the MC just because her feelings got hurt, despite knowing his past trauma. I couldn’t stomach Phaedra as a character — she was incredibly selfish, mean, and somehow aware but incredibly unaware throughout. I think this had a lot of potential as a story idea, but the book overall felt disjointed, rushed, and didn’t handle the trauma raised as plot points with the care they needed.

DNF @ 5%. I really wanted to like this book, but I really am not vibing with the writing or the characters or the overly-overt sexual innuendo in every other sentence. This book is not for me.

I can not even begin to describe how much I loved this book.

The banter from literally page one!? Their easy going relationship once they started getting along. Ugh their chemistry is unmatched.

Cosmic had me googling Romanian translations left and right. I can not wait to do an audio reread because I need to HEAR this man 😮‍💨

I also really loved that I could see/read that Cosmin isn’t a native English speaker. The little ways in which his sentences were structured just different enough were great!

What I did not expect were the deep emotions this book brought out there towards the end. I was not expecting to cry like I did. Both from feeling Phaedras grief and the sweet relationship between Cos and Phae.

I loved that this book didn’t follow a traditional romance timeline. It felt more natural and real. I appreciate a change of pace.

Overall obsessed with this book. With Josie Junipers writing. The way she story tells and makes the characters not feel so structured and perfect. Looking forward to more books!

Thank you Netgalley, Forever Pub, and Josie Juniper for the e-arc
A fast-paced romance with so much spice in it.
As a F1 fangirl, i adore this book. Finished it in one sitting.

thank you to forever and netgalley for an e-arc of this book.

DNF at 10%.

honestly, i could barely make it through the first chapter of this book so it’s a miracle i made it to chapter four.

the dialogue in this book is so unrealistic and ridiculous, i’m not quite sure how it went through the editing process. additionally, the female main character in this book was horrific. lastly, i knew this book was not for me when the fmc, insulted another women’s appearance just because. the fmc was also so mean to the male main character. in the first chapter alone, she took it upon herself to get in his face to brag about the fact that she was so smart and he would never be as smart as her.

i truly no longer want to waste my time on immature characters or sub-par books and i definitely do not recommend this one.

A race engineer and a FM1 racecar driver, what an interesting pair. We love a woman in stem! The building tension is delicious! This book has one of the best tropes of when the guy falls first and hard. It does kind of lean into the immaturity of when a boy likes a girl so much he teases her and that can be a little frustrating as a reader. I also want to warn readers that there are several triggers in this book loss of a loved one, grief and SA.

Let's gooo F1 Baby!!! Thanks Forever for letting me read early. Shout out Caroline and Dana for the F1 promotion and now I am invested.