This was ADORABLE! I loved every second of this novel The racing scene has never looked better than with this book! Cars, racing, and cute boys falling in love?! Sign me up!

As an F1 fan, this book was a wonderful read.
The story follows Kian and Harper. Kian Walker is a 34-year-old F1 driver who has won several championships throughout his career. He loves driving, but recently, he hasn’t felt the same excitement about winning as he once did. After his teammate has an accident and is sidelined for the new season while recovering, the team brings in a new driver—Harper James.
Harper is everything Kian hates in a man: cocky, arrogant, unserious about the job, and a flirt. But Harper is determined to prove that he can be the best driver F1 has ever seen. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start, but as they begin to understand each other, they realize there's more than meets the eye. They go from enemies to friends to lovers, and it was beautiful to read.
I really liked Rebecca’s writing style—it’s so dynamic that I was constantly hooked. The F1 references are fascinating, even for someone who doesn’t know much about the sport.
The romance was everything I wanted from these two characters. There was banter, flirting, sexual tension, and yearning. I could truly feel how Kian and Harper’s relationship evolved from dislike to love. There were also deeply heartfelt moments where both characters open up about their traumas and explain why they behave the way they do.
So if you're looking for a book with romance, family, friendship, F1 references, and witty banter, this is the one for you.
I’m now a new fan of Rebecca and will read everything she has written, and will write from now on.

At first I was very hesitant on the "Red, white, and royal blue" comparisons as i didnt necessarily looove the book!! But i honestly really liked pole position!!! Kian is the grumpy F1 golden boy with a legacy complex, and Harper is the rookie with an attitude and looks you’d break track limits for. Their rivalry? Chef’s kiss. Their tension? Screaming.

Their rivalry turned romance is full of bickering, tension, and so much yearning. I loved watching them go from butting helmets to building something tender, messy, and real. And can we talk about the found family vibes? Adorable.

As an F1 fan, I was so happy to see that this was a racing sports book. I feel as if you’re new to f1, you'll most likely get it from simplicity. I just wished there was more rep of f1, since it wasnt very realistic!! but the drama...like yes, give me pit lane drama.

That said, the pacing felt a bit off at times, and the miscommunication moments made me want to close the book asap. But overall? It was swoony, fun, and heartfelt. A solid 3 stars!!


Thanks net galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for a copy of this book to review!

I've been following F1 for over a decade, so I am pretty apprehensive about F1 romances. How could they get the balance right? It's a fine line, just like any other sports romance subgenre. BUT, I do feel this book did a decent job of balancing reality with romance for the most part. The world building was pretty good, but I did find some of the fake names to be egregious (Yorris? makes no sense), and I felt that it was a little odd to mix real team names with fake ones. Either go with all real, or all fake.

Now that THAT'S out of the way, I loved both MMCs and found their enemies-to-lovers storyline to feel real. Sometimes the chemistry was a little spotty at the beginning, but I felt that this was resolved later on in the story. I loved watching their love grow, and watching both of them grow as people. Plus, the spice was pretty good!

I really enjoyed this book overall, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who can look past some of the F1 name quirks (which should be most people)!

Kian and Harper took me a while to get used to honestly. In the case of Kian, I LOVED his perspective because I could understand him, but Harper was SO ANNOYING and I could not stand the man's immaturity for the majority of the book. In the end, I was glad for them but I don't remember much else about this one.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm giving pole position 3.5/5. The characters were the best part - I imagine when writing a contemporary sports romance it's difficult not to make each character a direct representation of a known personality in the sports world, and as an F1 fan, I could tell there were points of inspiration for each character from real life, but there was not necessarily a 1:1 direct analogue for each character, which I appreciated.

The final version needs a good edit, as there were a good handful of typos that I'm not holding against the ARC. My main complaint is that [ the book at times relied on the sexual myth/stereotype that penetrative sex is the only sexual act that "counts" as sex, and I wish people in both the real world and books would stop perpetrating this myth. I think this especially needs to be handled carefully when a female author writes a M/M novel, and steps outside her direct realm of lived experience (I assume). I was also taken out of the story when the author used the word "ruberfect." I have to assume this word was a placeholder while the author came up with the word she wanted, because when I googled it to see what it meant, the only hit on the whole internet was a blog wondering the same thing as me. I don't presume to know all British slang, but it was deeply confusing and disrupting to my read. I also found there to be a handful of plot holes/loose ends, namely Harper's interaction with Kian's dad, where Harper basically said, "stay away," Kian's father seemed to say, "no, and also ," and then it was never mentioned again. I felt sometimes the plot relied on the sweetness and individiaul character arcs of each character to carry the book through to the end, and while I'd say it worked, it also left me wondering at times.

All that to say, it was an enjoyable read because of the characters. I'd read again but am hoping it has more appeal once a few things are cleaned up!

Drama, spice, and a little dab of racing combined perfectly into a quick, enjoyable read. While I know nothing about Formula 1 and this book isn’t deep or memorable, it serves its purpose as a fun, smutty read.

There’s just something about a formula 1 romance that makes me want to read it immediately, and this was such a good formula 1 romance. The enemies to lovers vibes were great with the tension of a rookie driver and the team’s golden boy. Harper is young and a little reckless and Kian is regimented, perhaps even too regimented. They don’t get along at first, but as they spend more time together they get to know each other and eventually fall for each other. They balanced each other perfectly, and were really cute together. I would recommend this one if you enjoy MM romance and sports romance.

Read if you enjoy:
✔️Enemies to lovers
✔️Grumpy sunshine
✔️F1/sports romance
✔️MM romance
✔️Forced proximity
✔️Workplace romance/teammates
✔️Age gap (25-33)

Thank you @harpercollins360 and @NetGalley for my copy!

4.25 ⭐️ Oh what a time!!

The chemistry between these men was off the charts from their very first meeting! And the tension in the first half of the book had me absolutely hooked! I think this was a really fun story too; I loved being in the pits and in the race cars with these characters.

I will say, it lost me for a second there because although I am ALL for causing jealousy in the other main characters and the teasing, (I actually look for books with that microtrope in them) I just don’t really enjoy when that teasing pushes the physical boundary. When Harper brought back the dude to the motorhome, I was not happy at all.

Harper’s groveling and loving actions redeemed him by the end, and I was very happy to see these boys both get the HEA they deserved. I got a bit emotional when Harper referred to the Walkers as his family and that he very much planned to be one of them!

I look forward to see what Rebecca has in store for all our other characters, Johannes especially!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Favorite quote:
“Except I know it wouldn’t be enough. Once will never be enough with him. I know this as clearly as I know my own name.”

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review.

Again with the racers and I love it. Since then, I found another book by Rebecca and devoured it. I love the characters and their relationship. It was beautiful and saucy.

This was such a well-done rivals to lovers story! Seeing Kian and Harper slowly become friends and have it develop into something so much more was so rewarding. This story was messy, and I loved it. Our two MMCs each had personal struggles they were going through, and it was beautiful to see them slowly break down each other’s walls and help one another heal. The conflicts made their love story feel all the more authentic. Will definitely be on the lookout for more by this author!

ARC provided by Harper 360 via NetGalley.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I felt like it took too long to get started in their romance aspect… the slow burn was almost too much. Every conversation and monologue led in circles, but once the book finally got into the groove I liked watching Kian and Harper’s dynamic turn from simple desire to a deep companionship.

I also really appreciated Kian’s love for his family, and his sister caring from their ailing mother.

The ending of the book really gave this book an extra 0.5 stars for me with how everything played out. The epilogue was so sweet.

CW: sexual content, death of parent, panic attacks/disorders, alcohol, car accident, injury/injury detail, homophobia

I don't care for racing, but I've liked some queer sports romance so I figured I'd try it. NOPE. So dull mostly, hard to get into. The writing is so bland and while I did chuckle a few times, I will not be going out of this particular comfort zone again.

Boring beginning, not a smooth transition in the middle but the ending is okay? Both of the protagonists are dicks though.

I would've dnfd this if it hadn't been so easy to read. I liked it at first, but the more I read, the more I hated the main characters. Especially Harper. I don't know how he thought it was a good idea to be constantly idolizing Kian's dad, fully knowing he was a pile of human garbage. Kian instantly hating Harper based on how he was portrayed in the media and for being a partner when he was younger, was also ridiculous to me. I didn't like the romance between them, they didn't have any chemistry.

DNF @ 70%

I've been reading this for about 3 weeks and honestly I'm just bored, I do not care, there's no chemistry, I can't bring myself to care at all what happens with these characters.

Wow this book surprised me in all the best ways.

It was SO GOOD. I didn't honestly think I'd like it, because it's modern with no magic. But I love races 🏁 and hot men having emotions together. 🤣🤣🤣 I kinda thought it was gonna be like just smut, but it turned into like sweetness and guys actually getting therapy, and found family. It's emotionally heavy with a parent in the process of dying, but the sweetness of their relationship and support made me cry more. 😅

I have so much to say, but mainly, this is a beautiful love story about self discovery, understanding what you want out of your life, found family and blood family together, rivals to lovers, and two absolute sweethearts realizing they should be together.

Omg I cannot wait for the sequel. I need to know what happened with the side characters.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ARC. This is my honest review.

4.5 stars

my first racing/formula one romance! getting into queer sports books has taken me to unexpected places and i love it! this was such a fun time, and i feel lives up to the hype fairly well! dual pov is always superior when it comes to romance, and i love that we got to see from both kian and harper’s perspectives and get to know their backstory/trauma that way. a wonderful story that left me with all the proper warm fuzzies, and i would love love love to read more from this author (or potentially if she wrote more books in this universe as well?)

It has been a hot second since I have enjoyed such INSUFFERABLE characters. Kian and Harper managed to not only make each other better but also can make each other WORSE, and I do love that in a relationship.

This was cuuuuuuute.

I have zero knowledge of racing, but that was fine cause nothing got TOO in depth that someone knowing nothing would get lost.

This is sort of a grumpy/sunshine, Kian is very much a rule follower, stays in his lane, and Harper is a partier, golden retriever, very new to this level of the sport. They end up on the same team, do a sort of enemies to lovers thing, Harper has an issue with commitment and you know how that goes.

Couple things. I wish we could have gotten some time with Kian’s mom. It would have made the ending more impactful I think if we had some scenes, flashbacks, anything? We hear a lot about her, but we don’t really get her. And the epilogue, usually I love a good epilogue, but this one was just too much. Like way too cheesy. Could have done with trimmed down and less fluff. Also there’s a random scene with Kian’s dad that could have been cut, it added nothing to the story.

Overall, very cute, quick read, spicyyyyy 🔥.

I don’t recommend the audio for this one, the narrator for Harper is like whispering the ENTIRE time, and I had to keep turning the volume up so loud to hear him clearly.

Thank you @netgalley and @harpercollins360 for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book required another few rounds of edits - at no point was I really rooting for the couple because Harper never really matured and I don't buy them lasting together post story at all. I also would have hoped for a bit more in terms of the actual racing but it was lackluster and also weird like why is Fernando Alonso in this book but like all the other racers are just made up people.


2/5