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.

The narrators were good, but the audio quality/production was meh. The volume was inconsistent throughout and it wasn't crisp enough to listen at a comfortable speed (one of the reasons I kept pausing my read or had to go back and rewind). At the beginning of 007, there's a section that repeats itself.

The story was okay, it had a lot of angst and just not communicating (character growth happened at the last 10% of the book). I'm not a fan of the 'cheating or let them think I'm cheating so they'll move on' trope. But thankfully it wasn't dragged out.

I was luck enough to get to listen to this audiobook through NetGalley, and it did not disappoint! I’ve been wanting to read this for a while and the restart for the F1 season seemed like the perfect time! The narrators did an amazing job of portraying each chapter and their uniqueness. This was a sports romance between two drivers and I had so much fun listening to them slowly warm up to each other and fall in love !

✨ Review ✨ Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery, narrated by Joshua Chase & James Joseph

Thanks to Harper360, Harper Audio, One More Chapter and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Apparently m/m formula 1 romance is exactly what I needed! Kian and Harper find out at the last minute they’ll be teammates this season - Kian toward the end of his career, Harper just being called up to the big leagues - can they figure out how to get along? Kian's bitter that his bff and teammate got hurt days before the season started and that he's getting matched up with a playboy who can't take anything seriously.

Kian and Harper seem like opposites but as they begin to find ways to work together to protect both of their careers, they begin to find a magnetism they can't ignore.

This was so catchy - I didn't want to put it down! If you like queer romances + sports romances, you need to check this one out!

⭕️ Enemies-to-lovers at its best
⭕️ Forget one bed when you have one motorhome...
⭕️ A+ banter
⭕️ Forced proximity

🎧 I didn't start listening to this until pretty late in the book, but the British accents really amp this up, and make me wish I'd listened to more of it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Setting: all across Europe and the world
Length: 10 hours 2 minutes
Reminds me of: Rachel Reid's hockey romances
Pub Date: Mar 11 2025

I found the audiobook to be a fun distraction, but not super memorable. I know nothing about racing, so I was happy to go along obliviously and take things at face value. While many aspects of the enemies to lovers plot was predictable, as well as the drama, it still kept me listening, wanting to see everything wrapped up with a happily ever after. As predicted, it delivered on that front. If you don’t really care about racing, but love a messy misunderstood playboy with abandonment issues and someone wound just a little too tight with a chip on their shoulder, tons of daddy issues, and an “I don’t need anyone” attitude, this might be for you. Note: characters have their own family baggage/trauma, so could be worth looking up some of the themes touched upon first before diving in just in case. Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook - the narrator brought good energy to the story and kept me wanting to listen.

I am absolutely in love with this book! I was already hooked when the premise was going to revolve around F1 (which I am a huge fan of), but the relationship between Kian and Harper was so well written, that this book is going to be in my top five for the year! And I’m planning to read a little over 100 books, so this is high on my list. I love how Caffery really did her research around the workings of F1 and the tracks they go to. She even got the schedule of what tracks they go to in the right order of the real schedule. It’s those little details that made this book so great.

I really hope this book becomes a series because I really want Johannes’ book! Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this awesome book!

This book was not for me, as a racing fan. I thought that would make me like it more but the inconsistencies and things that didn’t make sense made it a tough one for me to listen to.

An electrifying ride both on and off the racetrack, blending F1 racing with simmering personal drama and unexpected emotional twists.

Kian Walker is the golden boy of racing. A four-time champion burdened by his father’s legendary legacy, Kian is determined to carve out his own identity, even if his off-track life remains as unpredictable as his on-track maneuvers. His internal battle between expectation and self-determination makes him an interesting character.

Harper James is the hot-headed rookie who shakes up not only the team dynamic but also Kian’s carefully guarded emotions. Harper’s mix of arrogance, talent, and love for for stirring up trouble creates an interesting contrast to Kian’s composed, measured, and calculated approach to everything. The tension between the two is thick. What starts as professional rivalry soon hints at a deeper, more dangerous attraction. The banter between these two was so good!

The racing scenes are as vivid and heart-pounding as you expect from F1, and the emotional encounters, keeping readers on the edge of their seats with every lingering glance. The narration was well done. It added to the fun banter.

A must read for F1 romance lovers. It not only delivers fast-paced action but also resonates emotionally, as two very different men navigate the curves in both their careers and their lives.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for an ALC.

I absolutely loved this book! I enjoyed reading a sports romance with a Formula 1 plot as I am a F1 girly myself. I love how Kian was able to open up and express his feelings towards Harper. I also loved seeing Harpers character evolve and become more confident and trusting. I related so much to Harper in this one.
I am hoping there's a book 2 in the works to hopefully read Johannes story!!

This is definitely the perfect blend of red, white, and royal blue and car racing. Didn’t think I would like the racing bit but I did. I enjoyed the enemies to lovers trope here and the growth of the characters. Narrators were so freaking good.

I received an arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this story that was filled with sexual tension and steam between F1 driver Kian and rookie, Harper.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-F1 drivers
-rivals to lovers
-age gap
-grumpy x sunshine
-found family

*many thanks to Harper Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

What a ride this book was to listen to. I have never read an F1 racing romance but boy was this good.

I severely enjoyed how sweet and fluid the romance between Kian and Harper. The mix of camaraderie with the racing colleagues and the excitement of racing was so thrilling to listen to.

Kian and Harper have such a great dynamic and I want more of this world. I hope Rebecca writes more.

As someone who recently dipped their toes into the Formula 1 sphere, I had an absolute blast listening to this book. I’m a sucker for any dual narration audiobook. I feel like you can get more nuance from each character with different narrators. Joshua Chase and James Joseph did a phenomenal job. I didn’t get bored or distracted. To be honest, as I listened, I worked my diamond painting and found myself frozen as I waited for what was going to happen next.

Kian Walker has been racing for as long as he’s been alive (basically). His father was a racing legend. It’s in his blood to sit behind the wheel. Harper James, a rookie with quite an ego, seems to have been made to test Kian every second they are forced to work together.
Kian is such a grumpy old man. It made me want to shake him and tell him he has got to be better. Harper made me want to shake him and tell him to grow up a little. (Lots of shaking going on here) Once they are forced to work together, they slowly find a balance.

The chemistry between the two of them *fans self* it gets intense. All that anger and frustration morphs into lust and eventually more. After the first half of the book, I binged the rest of it in one sitting. It was that good.

Now, what I took stars away from was the quality of the ARC for the audiobook. There were several moments that the narrators would whisper for no reason. It would be chunks of time in which the audio was not the best quality. Once that is fixed, my rating will increase to 4.5 stars.

I adored Kian so much. He spoke to my grumpy soul and taught me that maybe loosening the reigns isn’t such a bad thing.