As a F1 superfan, I *adored* Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery. Kian Walker is the established, beloved driver--the golden boy of motorsport, a legacy. Harper James is the hotshot rookie driver, the new addition to the team. They couldn't be more opposite. As teammates, they're forced into close quarters, and they have to figure out a way to work together. Read this one if you love enemies to lovers, sports romance, spice that spices, and the grumpy/sunshine dynamic with a bit of an age gap and a dash of caretaking. I couldn't help but picture Roy Kent from Ted Lasso as Kian as I listened, and I couldn't even tell you how the book actually described him because the image was so set in my head.

The two narrators Joshua Chase and James Joseph both deliver phenomenal performances, and having the two narrators helped me keep the dual POVs straight. Their accents were delightful, and their performances brought the story and its characters to life. The slow transition from enemies and rivals to friends to more was so well done, and I loved how the teammate element played into that transition. It was a super fun, super fast F1 m/m romance.

Thank you NetGalley & Harper Audio for the ALC! This book was so good. Kian & Harper absolutely smashed it in the enemies to lovers department. If you love watching F1, suspend the technical stuff and just have fun with this one. It’s worth it! I enjoyed their banter for the most part, but would have liked better communication between the two once their relationship was established! Overall, I would totally read another book by this author and have recommended this to friends who love fic & love F1 as a sport where emotions run sky high.

When Kians best friend and teammate is put out of commission by an accident he is saddled with his least favorite rookie racer, Harper, as his number two. But, eventually this opposites attract duo finds their groove, in more ways than one.

Joshua Chase and James Joseph do a wonderful job emboding the two characters and making them really stand out from one another with their performances. This is one book I am glad I got to listen to instead of having read it the first time around and I bet it won’t be the only time I’ve listened to it.

What to expect: Grumpy x Sunshine, Age gap (25-33), Rivals(ish) to lovers, Teammates with bennys, forced proximity, found family

TW/CW: Parkinsons, dementia, death of parent, homophobic slur, family abandonment, non healthy coping mechanisms

Stars: 4/5 for story, 5/5 for Performance
Steam 3/5

I have to say; when men voice act womens and children voices, it always makes me giggle but add a British accent… OOOF it was so silly but I stuck through to the end because I was dying to see how this played out…

Because other than the voice acting, the story is the most important part here. The synopsis sells this book. They weren’t kidding when they said Red White and Royal Blue meets F1. It’s worth the read, or in my case, the listen, especially when you realize Kian’s true feelings but how will it turn out when Harper is stuck being his teammate.

I only wanted more behind the scenes into their connection but otherwise I loved this! It was so different and cute!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of the AudioBook!

This was more than a rivals to lovers story - it had so much depth and I honestly really loved it! The tension between the main characters was great and the buildup was worth the wait. I know nothing about F1 romances, but this makes me want to start watching it!

Thank you for the opportunity to listen and review! I'm a newer fan to motor sports, and I enjoyed the full embrace this book felt like for more welcoming into the sport. Great fun!

I really appreciated this audiobook production. The two actors did a really good job of bringing heart to these two characters and capturing the feeling each character was emoting at different junctures of the story. While I was listening to it though, I did encounter some particularly long pauses between chapters that at times had me picking up my phone to check if I had accidentally stopped the app, but I’m not sure if that’s the audiobook or a function of the app itself switching between chapters.

The pacing of the story was great, the voice acting was beautifully done, and audio quality was crisp and emotive. The story too was something I enjoyed. I love F1, and the mentions of the races was a nice touch.

I saw "Red White & Royal blue meets F1 racing" and couldnt read this book fast enough.

I loved the vibes, the age gap, the team aspect, the opposites attract and the SPICE which was more than worth the wait since this was a slow burn, reluctant teammates to lovers romance.

I got kind of annoyed at Harpers back and forth but I understand abandonment issues as well as any other neglected kid who wanted validation from parents who were too busy to give it so I forgave him every time (as did Kian)

The audiobook for this was dual (not duet) narration and both narrators did such a wonderful job giving life to these characters. Their vice acting made me feel like I was right there in the races. It was exciting and sexy as hell. Highly Recommend the audiobook if you pick this one up!

The narrator for this book was FANTASTIC. They did different voices for each character and that made it much easier to follow along as well as enjoy the story. This book had some capital T tension for the first half of the book. It definitely plays into the enemies to lover's romance, as I feel most M/M romances do. The intensity of racing only added to the tension in the book- which was perfect. I think the character development was at a reasonable pace and made the romance easier to follow and believe while listening. The pacing was absolutely perfect- it didn't feel rushed at all. Given how much I enjoyed this audiobook I anticipate listening to more by this author and/or narrator in the future. The book balanced tension, spice, and romance perfectly. Highly recommend. #NetGalley #NetGalleyARC #ARC

I liked it, but the relationship seemed to progress suddenly and unbelievably. It was also hard to tell who was narrating at some points because the narrators sounded similar, as did the characters when we were in their heads.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC!

4 stars!!

This was a lot of fun! I have never watched F1 or read an F1 romance before, so I was really intrigued.

I enjoyed Kian and Harper's storylines and background. As for the romance however, not as much. We started off as Harper idolizing Kian, so Harper was kinda fangirling over him. Kian thinks Harper's is just a party boy and isn't excited at all to have him as a teammate. They try to make it work, but end up butting heads. There's a lot of pettiness and sexual tension throughout, and then once they act on things, they jump all in with both feet which felt a little fast paced and unrealistic? We are all of a sudden having sleepovers & cuddling everyday? I feel like we should have had some back & forth first while simultaneously questioning themselves? After that it was really sweet, we had relationship conflicts and it was very fast paced.

It was really easy to understand the sport as well with the way that it was introduced and described.

Ex: Every team has two drivers, you're working towards your own win but together at the same time, some lingo such as pole position, P2 what qualifying racing entails, different locations on tour, some information on pit stop times etc

So I decided to watch my very first F1 race over this past weekend (Japan) and I thoroughly enjoyed it because I understood what was happening! Dare I say that I am maybe a new F1 fan?!

Thank you so much @HarperCollins HarperAudio Adult and One More Chapter Imprint @OneMoreChapterHC for the free audiobook of one of my most anticipated reads!

I can’t begin to explain how excited I am for having had the opportunity to listen to this book. As a big F1 fan I have been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it during the 2024 F1 season.

For starters, the audio was absolute *chef’s kiss* with the British accent. We are first introduced to Kian Walker who is the epitome of dedication and hyper focus to his F1 career, definitely reminds me of a few of the current drivers on the F1 grid. I absolutely fell in love with Kian and how serious he took his career by understanding the rare opportunity he has of being an F1 driver. Kian to me came across as a bit of a tortured soul but my oh my I’m I a sucker for a tortured soul lol. There was definitely a lot of aspects of Kian that resonated with me, especially wanting to be set apart from family bonds that appear as the complete opposite of how things are behind closed doors. Kian deserves all the hugs and forehead kisses for being so dedicated, respectful, understanding and an absolute gem.

I have to admit that for an F1 romance, the actual accuracy to the sport was pretty close. It may be one of the most accurate depictions of the sport I’ve read so far and I really enjoyed that a ton!

Now moving on to Harper James. He may be a semi good representation of an F1 rookie with the aggressiveness and risky behavior on track and MAYBE even off track and other areas of the paddock, after all he is young and the doors opened for him overnight to a whole world of glitz, glam and top speeds. However, as far as for the main point of the story which was the romance, Harper fell short for me. On the one hand I sympathized with his past and how that clearly affected his behavior in his career but it came off WAY too immature and bratty to me. On the other hand, he was given the opportunity of a lifetime and what he worked so hard for but the respect for the craft and those in his team just wasn’t there and that goes past whatever you’re carrying with you. Once he was in the position of a driver he should have been mature enough to seek help (because he clearly needed it) or at bare minimum show up for the tools/aid that was already put in place for him by his team.

Based on that my next point is the romance/relationship. Due to the behaviors displayed by Harper I really felt like the relationship development was really lacking. I did not feel like there was a true build up of the characters connection and the basis of their connection was based on toxic behaviors. I would have liked to have seen a deeper or longer progression of Harper’s growth and making amends to Kian after everything he was put through. I believe that I will forever feel that Kian deserved much better.

Overall this story has the bones for a great romance based on mistakes, self discovery, hurt, tenacity, healing, forgiveness, making amends and growth but as it is I fear this was a disappointment for me and it makes me so sad because I was SO excited for this book. This author did a great job at staying quite true to the F1 environment which I’ve noticed it’s not easy and I truly commend her for that. I will definitely be down to check out another story by this author as again, the bones of the romance are there but they just need to be explored a bit further in my opinion.

Pole Position is like Red White and Royal Blue but with Formula One drivers instead of royalty. It was beyond adorable. I loved the romance, I loved the bantering and I loved how the F1 backdrop was throughout and made me feel like I was behind the scenes in the drivers’ lives. A little Drive to Survive action. It gave me all the warm fuzzies. Did I picture Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo when reading it? Of course I did.

This was such a fun, light quick read.
The banter between the MMCs is so funny. I pretty sure I giggled in every chapter.
It also touched a few more heavy topics, but it was done so well that it kept the book light.

Definitely recommend.

This book was really interesting, and if I read it before I got into f1 I think I would have enjoyed it a lot. Currently though, I can't get past the not so accurate descriptions of the f1 world. I think its fun for many others though!

I devoured this audiobook. The narrators were both fantastic! I loved the rivals to lovers in F1 racing. I don’t know anything about racing, so I can’t speak to any accuracy of names or circuits mentioned, or the realism of different things, but I loved the main characters. They could be a little frustrating and one-dimensional at times, but I love the way they grew and interacted together. There were also definitely a couple plot holes and other side plots not quite wrapped up, but overall I just really enjoyed listening to it.

I received an audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Rebecca Caffrey and Harper Collins for the chance to listen to this! I loved this book so much. At first Harper annoyed me but he grew on me as the book went on. I relate to Kian full heartedly and I think that’s why I love this story so much.

Thank you NetGalley for a free eArc in exchange for an honest review.
I have been loving formula 1 romances recently and this one having Red, White, and Royal Blue vibes was sooooo good! My favorite parts were the banter and the pacing of the relationship. I did want to see more of them outside of racing and during benefits. I feel like the physical chemistry was there, but I was missing the friendship part of the relationship.
Overall I still loved it though.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this audio ARC.

Really enjoyed listening to the narrators! They did a great job, and made the story fun! The ability to convey their characters broodiness and sunshine-i-ness, solely through their voice is amazing. Love a good dual narration audio.

This was such a fun book! I loved the dynamics both Harper and Kian brought to the story. Kian was an uptight, golden boy to the sport, who committed to his dream. Kian was a rookie who just got called up to the big times, trying to prove himself, but still trying to have fun while doing so. I think they are both well developed, fully rounded characters.

They each had their own issues, but when they came together the other person complimented and supported how they needed even before they got together.

I’m not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope, but I kinda liked it in this book as I felt it worked with their personal issues that they were trying to overcome.

TW/CW:
- Abandoned issues
- Foster care
- Illness / death of a parent

Tropes:
- Teammates
- Rivals-to-lovers
- Forced proximity
- Found family
- Sports romance (F1)
- Care taking when sick
- Miscommunication

4 stars

This was slightly unexpected for me. I decided to try something different here with this F1 racing romance. I quite enjoyed it. The F1 backdrop was interesting, the characters are well developed, and the writing is well done. I had a lot of fun here. My only issue was what felt like a jump into Harper and Kian's coupling. There was zero conversation, and we are just told that they are snuggling every night after they first hook up. I guess I just wanted a little more relationship development or some kind of conversation instead of a few weeks of a time jump and there they are. That said, Kian and Harper are super interesting characters and really help keep your attention throughout the story. Their struggles are believable, and they just feel like very real and relatable people. I especially have a soft spot for Harper. He really tugged at my heartstrings here, and I did like how his journey progressed. His character development was done really well, and I liked where he ended up. All in all, I had a good time, and I'm glad I tried something different here.