Imagine if you took the characters Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt, changed their names, made them gay and/or bi, and made them F1 drivers. That is essentially Pole Position. The banter is on point and the spice is HOT.

The relationships were fantastic, especially between Kian and his family, and Harper and his bestie.

There is a miscommunication trope but it can be seen as more of a self-sabotage and it worked in the story.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper 360 for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

Overall, I liked this book. Parts of it felt unfinished and forgotten, but the pace was good and once I got over the initial hump, it was a fun read as an F1 fan. I’m glad I got through the slow portions, but I’m a little let down by a few plot points that I feel were tied up roughly because they were forgotten about.

It felt authentic to current F1 without having to worry about being dated too quickly, but some parts felt a little forced.

Overall I enjoyed the character growth and it was a quick read!

i was so so excited to read this but it ended up falling so flat. no one is more disappointed than me.

the romance itself was cute enough. i enjoyed the banter between kian and harper, and thought they were at least semi-healthy for most of the story. emphasis on SEMI because the miscommunication towards the end of the book was ridiculous. and because i wasn't really connected to either of the characters, the second the miscommunication started i was taken out of the story and literally was counting down pages until the book was over.

outside of that the sports aspect of this just didn't seem to make much sense? i'm not the biggest f1 girlie but i have watched some and even i could tell that some things were just off. harper was randomly promoted, had absolutely zero regard for his image, and didn't once get talked to about it? the way kian was treated by his bosses or whoever also just didn't really sit right with me. i understand that this is fiction but if you're gonna use a real-life sport then it should at least be somewhat realistic.

so yeah. unfortunately this was a let down for me. i can kinda see the appeal, especially if you're just getting into romance or reading in general or anything, because it was a really quick and easy read, but if you're looking for something that you'll actually get fully into and fall in love with then this is probably not it.

This book reads like a bully romance. If the roles were reversed, if Harper were the older man, or if Kian were a woman … this would read like a red flag race. Harper pushes his way into Kian’s personal space constantly, can’t seem to go five minutes without having to make someone pay attention to him. He constantly makes comments on Kian’s body even when it’s clear Kian wants little to nothing to do with him. Harper tries to take over the first interview, answering for Kian with all the self awareness of a toddler before he starts bashing Kian’s friend, the man Harper is replacing, a man who broke his leg.

This is all less than 40 pages into the book and I already know I don’t like Harper as a character, let alone as a person, and have no interest in reading a book where he is one of the romantic leads. This isn’t helped when, rather than raise Harper up, the book instead pushes Kian down to Harper’s level. The author’s hand is heavy as they manipulate the characters, making them feel more like plastic toys made to kiss rather than people coming together.

I know nothing about racing as a sport or a business so I can’t talk about how well researched, or how well handled those scenes were or were not. What I will do is review this based on the romance, the plot, the world building and the characters. l found the romance to be tepid and expected; the plot was fine, but the worldbuilding wasn’t there. I feel like I know even less about how racing works than I did before ever picking this book up. Other than having cars and going fast, there’s no effort to make the world or the people come to life.

The characters are flat and hollow with no reason for hooking other than “he’s hot” and “he’s in the same room. I’m sorry, but I had no fun with this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book was one of my favorite MM romances I have read. The enemies to lovers was on point if felt the tension it was amazing

you know, i really struggled to come to terms with how exactly i felt about this one. i loved the story, i thought kian and harper’s romance was cute and that the depictions of their struggles with it were very accurate and realistic, but the writing style wasn’t exactly for me which made it hard to truly love. i love an enemies to lovers story as much as the next guy, but it felt like that trope was taken too literally in them going straight from enemies to lovers and i wish we got some more of the friendship and building up to that end.

one thing i really enjoyed about this book, though, was the dialogue. harper and kian had great banter from the beginning and seeing the change in hostility throughout the book was so sweet up until the final pages. plus, rebecca caffery seamlessly incorporated some heavy topics that really enhanced their dynamic which i personally always enjoy in a romance book.

this was my first racing romance and it definitely piqued my interest for some more! at the end of the day i think this book just wasn’t a 100% match for me and that’s okay! i still enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves f1, enemies to lovers, mlm romance, and a quick and fun read!

*thank you to netgalley and harper 360 for this e-book!*

This was a good enemies-to-lovers romance based around F1 racing between "rival" teammates. I think Kian and Harper's relationship was beautiful watch blossom into what you could tell was a healthy relationship in the end. Kian's relationship with his sister, mother, brother-in-law, and niece & nephew was amazing to see. The only thing that started to frustrate me as a reader towards the throughout the book especially the last 25% of the book was all of the miscommunication that could've been solved in a single conversation between Kian and Harper. Other than that, this this was pretty solid read.

This is the second book I've tried by this author, but the writing style just doesn't seem to work for me. I got halfway through this book, but I found myself zoning out a lot, so I decided to DNF. I do.think it'll be an easily accessible m/m sports romance for many people, but it couldn't hold my attention

I really wanted to love this book but I had more issues with it than not. I think it had the potential to be a really good story, but it needed more work. Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy!

Kian is an established racer (I assume Formula One but I don’t think it is mentioned by name) who loses his racing partner to injury. The replacement, Harper, is a brash party boy who seems to have no self control. They initially clash but as they learn more about each other, they lean into the inevitable attraction. I liked that this book was about racing…something that I know little about. I also liked the progression of the relationship, however, Harper’s actions and immaturity really stresses me out sometimes which did take a bit away from my overall enjoyment.

This is a such a cute and great book at the same time. I truly enjoyed my time reading it. the story line is good, does not seem boring or unrealistic. Overall without not giving any of it away, I think you are going to fall in love with the characters. The banter, spice and story do not hinder from each other. its a great read.

This was so good! Like Red, White, and Royal Blue mixed with F1 romances and the characters were cute. I loved it and would read it again if I could read it for the first time again.

⭐️⭐️.5

While I did -somewhat- enjoy this book (meaning that I did read it and had an okay time), I just felt like something was missing. The spark that makes me LOVE a book just wasn’t there…and this book had so much potential for me! I’ve never read a book from this author, so maybe I just set my expectations too high.

What didn’t work for me:
Timing
The timing felt off for Kian & Harper’s relationship timeline. I felt like they went from 0 to 100 in their hate to love…little rushed if you asked me.

Repetitive Dynamics
This is dual POV and we end up recapping a lot of the same events from both Kian and Harper. This isn’t a total red flag for me, but I would’ve liked more character introspection (specifically from Harper).

Losing Momentum
The book lost momentum for me around the 60% percent mark. Once Kian & Harper “get together” it just loses steam. I did gain more interest towards the 85-90% mark when actual events start happening as opposed to Kian & Harper just doing whatever they’re doing.

The most frustrating part of this book is that it had the potential to be so much better. Like I said earlier, it just missed the mark for me. Kian & Harper both have complex backstories, and I feel like those could’ve been utilized in a more interesting way.

It was hard to enjoy the book when you dislike the characters. Both did not come across as pleasant people and each made stupid decisions. I liked the premise of the book but the people it needed a lot of development to become characters you want to root for.

I loved this sweet and spicy enemies to lovers! I don't know the first thing about racing but the story was so good, it really didn't matter! This was one of my favorite reads this year!

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery is a F1 MM sports romance.

Initially I found the MCs to be quite annoying. Kian always cool calm and collected compared to his wild rambunctious new rookie teammate Harper. As the book progressed I was happy to see the theme of mental health and therapy pop up. It was nice to see the character development of Harper, albeit rather slow. However, I do wish there would have been some more type of closure between Kian and his Dad.

3.5 🌟

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this free E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: June 6, 2024

“Red, White, and Blue meets Formula 1”?! *add to cart* I was so excited for an MM F1 romance & this book did not disappoint! I almost DNF’d in the beginning due to the characters attitudes but I loved the character development and by the end I was routing for them!! While I felt like some plot points weren’t really wrapped up, I enjoyed the book overall (I NEED Johannes’ story!)

Read if you love:
🏎️ F1
👨‍❤️‍👨 Rivals to lovers
🖤 Mental health rep

I was really looking forward to this book and I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. There was some parts that I really liked and other times I felt the pacing slowed down a lot. However I did find that the tension between them and the banter was entertaining. I think the slow burn was good but I think there was some parts that showed the book was a little too long. However it was a fun sports romance book to read.

Are you looking for an enemies to lovers, queer romance? This is the book for you. Pole Position is about two Formula 1 racers who don't see eye-to-eye. Kian Walker has been in the game for 15 years, while Harper James is just now entering the big leagues.

This is a good book, Kian is a grumpy guy in his 30's while Harper is a sunshine/bratty guy in his 20's. I was so wrapped up in this book. There were highs and lows, I was kicking my feet and giggling, and then I was fighting a lump in my throat.

This book also makes me want to watch F1 racing and learning about the rules! I feel like I dripped my toes in reading this and now I am ready to jump in the deep end!

Thank you Harper 360 and Rebecca Caffery for giving me an opportunity to read my first ARC book. Hopefully we have a Johannes book :)

What a sweet read!! This is a true enemies to lovers, and the first half can make the path to an HEA seem daunting — but the way these two fall for each other is lovely to see. For lovers of found family trope, hurt/comfort moments, forced proximity, and dynamic character growth, this fun and spicy queer sports romance is for you!