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.

Thank you to Negally & Rebecca J Caffery for this ALC in exchange for an honest review

Kian is used to his routine. When his teammate Elijah gets hurt they bring on someone else until Elijah gets better. The company brings Harper onto the team. Kian can't stand Harper. Harper idolizes Kian but thinks he's boring. Management tells them to fake being friends or they both need to find another job. Can they do it?

The hate Kian has towards Harper is brutal. I mean I can understand it to an extent but you've got to give everyone at least one chance. Kian finds peace in racing but Harper is putting him in a funk. Harper knows he's had his fair share of headline drama but he's a good driver. That elevator ride was not what I expected. I love how Kian helped Harper when he was sick though. Then Kian called his sister to make sure he was doing everything right. How cute is that!!! The ending was exactly what I needed.

I loved every second of this story. Rebecca did an amazing job and I can't wait to read more from her.

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?)

the audio experience was excellent, both narrators are talented & brought great life to each hero.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ACL.

Spice 🌶️🌶️.5
⭐️ ⭐️.5 - rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️ because I liked the ending. The ending/last part of the book was the strongest part; I almost DNF several times during the first 2/3 of it.

This is a BL, age gap, grumpy x sunshine romance about two race car drivers.

Where to begin… I was so excited for this one, and because of that, not sure if I’m reviewing it more harshly than I otherwise would have.

Specifically for the audiobook: the narrators were pretty good, but the one for Harper fluctuated so much in volume that I had to keep fiddling with the volume. Also, there were at least 2 times when a line was repeated twice (so some editing issues).

The story is very cliche and predictable at times. Cliche isn’t necessarily a bad thing (i.e. MC helping other MC when they’re sick), however, at times, some of them felt inorganic, like checking off a box (did Kian really need to have a nightmare? What was the point?). Cliche is fine is it feels natural.

Speaking of “feels”, I didn’t get much and none were very provoking. I rolled my eyes a lot though. I also didn’t feel anything between this couple. I felt more between Harper and his best friend than Harper and Kian.
Kian is the grump and I really didn’t understand why. Why was he so closed off? Kian was just sort of mean. It almost seemed like he was ashamed of his attraction to Harper, or his attraction to a guy at all, who knows. He said he wasn’t hiding his sexuality, but it sure felt like it. I didn’t like him until his grumpiness went away, which also didn’t feel organic.

Harper’s sudden change into being responsible didn’t seem organic and was too sudden to be realistic.

Some parts were boring. Around 49%, I was tempted (not for the first time) to DNF; this time because I couldn’t wait for the two main characters to get away from each other, but I pushed through. (It did get better near the end, which bumped up its star rating.) a big issue for me was there wasn’t enough time between the two main characters together. I didn’t care that much about Harper‘s friendship with his BFF/ex, but at the same time, I was almost routing for them to get back together (they had more chemistry and I didn’t like Kian). I needed to see Kian and Harper together more often. Never did I feel like routing for them. I had no investment in them at all. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if Harper & Kian started getting along sooner and maybe tried keeping their relationship hidden. I was afraid that when they finally did get together, they were be too busy to hang out, however this didn’t happen, BUT…
The smut was lacking. There was too much telling and not enough showing. For example, Harper’s narrative described them 69ing in a few sentences, but since this was a well into their physical relationship, it would have made more sense to show this scene.

There were many cringe moments in throughout. At times, there is too much detail and reflection (which got repetitive at times).

Some redeeming qualities: Harper actually apologizes quickly after freaking out (the first time), the ending, the smut that was actually shown (not told)

Thank you Harper Audio Adult and NetGalley for a gifted copy! All thoughts are my own.

I want to preface this first with I’m not huge into Formula 1-my knowledge is minimal, at best so I can’t speak on authenticity of the sport but I really enjoyed the book. I liked the rivals to teammates and the push and pull chemistry between our MCs. At times it fell a little flat but it was a very easy read.

And let me tell you, the audiobook performance was incredible! If you’re going to read it, I think the audiobook is the way to go.

Read if you enjoy:
🏎️ MM Romance
🏎️ Rivals to Lovers
🏎️ Racing
🏎️ Misunderstood characters
🏎️ Forced Proximity

📚 Tropes 📚
💫 Grumpy × Sunshine(debatable)
💫 Age gap (25-33)
💫 Rivals to lovers
💫 Forced Proximity
💫 Found family

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5

Overall, did I enjoy this book? Sure, but I don't think I would pick it up again.

This book is advertised as an F1 romance book but I just felt like this was a MM romance where the main characters happen to be F1 drivers. There isn't much F1 aside from that. If you didn't know anything about F1, you could read this book. I just felt like there could have been more. There were only 4 actual racing scenes in the book and even then it was just a brief note to the main character passing someone or a crash or just a way for the author to mention some F1 term. Aside from that, there really wasn't much else.

The main characters: Kian and Harper are the defending champion and the rookie. The banter between them just felt flat and whiny. Like 50% of this book was just the two of them complaining about each other. I don't think this was a Grumpy × Sunshine book. I just feel like the Sunshine character should actually be a Sunshine character and not some childish man.

The Forced proximity of this book was just that. FORCED. Like why do 2 drivers have to share a motor home? You're telling me that a multi-billion dollar team couldn't afford to put their drivers in separate motor homes?

The spice scenes were fine aside from this one scene where I felt consent was questionable (due to one being sober and the other drunk). But it definitely was lacking. I think maybe like 3 scenes total and 2 out of 3 weren't even like "spicy."

~Thank you NetGalley, HarperAudio, and One More Chapter for providing me with this audiobook in return for an honest review. ~

Pole Position by Rebecca J Caffery is a thrilling, emotional, lighthearted, and funny sports romance set in the F1 scene. I really enjoyed Harper and Kian’s individual stories and how they come together as teammates and lovers.

I thought the audio narrators did an excellent job. Their voices matched the characters well.

I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope which is why I only gave 3 stars out of 5.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much, @NetGalley, for providing me with this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

“𝙃𝙚’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙤𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡.”

Kian Walker is a broody Formula 1 driver who doesn’t care much for the party scene and wants to focus on his career and what might be his last racing season. When his partner is forced to sit out for the season due to an injury, none other than Harper James, the reckless party boy known for paparazzi scandals is lined up to take his spot. Kian hates him before they’ve even officially met, and he makes it very clear. Harper has to find a way to navigate being partnered up with the one man he spent his teenage years idolizing and crushing on, knowing full well the man despises him. Being in such close proximity all the time has them both learning a lot about one another, and maybe, just maybe, they don’t hate each other as much as they originally thought.

I really enjoyed this book and I honestly powered through it. The audiobook narrators did an amazing job and their voices were to die for 🥵. I will say that at some moments throughout the audiobook itself the volume levels would fluctuate a lot, and I found myself constantly changing the volume when one of the voices would soften or suddenly get louder. I loved grumpy Kian and his relationship with his family! Did I tear up a few time listening? Yes, yes I did, and I am not ashamed. I thought Harper was a bit immature sometimes, but his character growth and development was done well, and I really enjoyed it.

Overall, this was a great book, and I’d recommend the audiobook to anyone looking for a fun MM romance!

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an ebook copy of this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Red, White and Royal Blue meets Formula 1? Why? Because it's a MM Romance? If there's more to it, I'm not really catching the comparison.

Regardless, this was an alright book. It wasn't a stand out, but I'd consider reading the follow up, as I liked the side character it will likely follow.

'Pole Position' is a romance between two F1 racers on the same team:
Kian - the buttoned up veteran racer with multiple championships under his belt.
Harper - the incoming rookie who needs to grow up. (Can you tell I wasn't a fan?)

I really REALLY liked Kian as a character. I thought he was sweet in the best ways and was really brought to life with the way he cared about his family. Harper on the other hand, didn't really manage to escape his party boy image in my eyes, despite a good chunk of the story following his growth as a person. I didn't quite believe it and I honestly thought Kian deserved better.

That narration was only okay. I didn't mind either narrator, but they were not different enough for me to always pick up on the chapter changes.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ALC in exchange for an honest review.