I had so much fun reading this book. I loved how easy and funny Thomas and Stella were with each other, and this marriage of convenience was darn cute. Aside from the sexual tension that was burning up my kindle AND the spice, even though it was a bit of a slow burn, these two kept me glued to my kindle. Like all slow burns, the romance dragged a little, I felt like they kept ping pong-ing with it came to how they feel about eachother, and the end was rushed, but overall I like the book. It was a great standalone even though its part of a series.

Thomas and Stella are cuties!

This was a fun marriage of convenience, Simone takes an interesting and entertaining approach towards the trope that I think many will enjoy. Thomas and Stella have great chemistry, and it makes the book enjoyable. One thing about me is that I love a good scheme and this had exactly that.

Thomas is a man who works for it! And that sold me!

My favorite thing about Stella's character is how realistic she was! Her hesitation to jump towards a new relationship was completely valid because if I got left at the alter, I would have some anxiety about a new relationship too. Stella is such a fun character, that I think others will enjoy too!

So excited for everyone to tune in :)

I mean this book has it all: marriage of convenience, a man down bad for his lady, F1 racing. This is a great summer read!

Oh wow. This had me in a chokehold as soon as I started reading and it never stopped. I will ALWAYS love a marriage of convenience, but add in Vegas accidental marriage and the push and pull of will they/won’t they tension throughout the rest of the book?? YUMMMMMMMMMM!!! These characters were also beyond addictive. Stella and her emotional journey through accepting the love she deserves and the willingness to share her own again, and her badass business persona?!? Thomas and his FIRST RELATIONSHIP BEING A MARRIAGE and being one of the best damn partners I’ve ever read from the first meeting???? His story with his family and his experiences with racing???? The amount of emotion and care poured into this book while also being so full of fun, tension, and excitement was incredible. Cannot recommend this enough!!!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Tropes:
🏎️F1 Driver
🏎️Bakery Owner
🏎️Marriage of Convenience
🏎️Slow Burn
🏎️Interracial Romance

I really enjoyed this book! Thomas and Stella are so cute and I LOVED the banter!
The chemistry between them was HOT and Thomas being a brit made the story even better! This is my first book by this author and it definitely won’t be my las! I will definitely recommend!

i absolutely adored this book!! this was such a fun time from start to finish. i love how much we got to see of stella and thomas and their night in vegas when they got married. as a future little white chapel bride this was such an exciting story for me. i absolutely loved this plot and think it was executed so perfectly. i loved stella & thomas as individual characters and think that they were perfect together. this had amazing banter and it made the chemistry feel so authentic, i loved all the challenges they faced together and it made them falling for each other so realistic and believable. the pacing of this was amazing and i never found it to slow down or drag! i highly recommend picking up this book!

The F1 romances are becoming my favorite. I love trying to guess who each driver is based off of, and this mmc definitely gives off George Russell vibes. Although Thomas is way cooler than George Russell imo. Out of the two in the Lights Out series, this one is definitely my fave. I'm a sucker forced proximity, accidental marriage or fake dating, and one bed tropes so this romance was right up my alley. I can't wait for the next one!

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me. The writing is not great and I can’t stand the female main character. I haven’t read the first book but this definitely isn’t for me.

I enjoyed this a lot! The MMC was super cutie and polite without being cringey. Their relationship had mostly good, open communication until the third act conflict. The only thing I wish there was more of was detailed descriptions on their lil side quests for certain days. Ive never read anything F1 so this was an interesting aspect :)

3.75⭐️
This book follows F1 driver Thomas and entrepreneur boss lady Stella! A marriage of convenience begins after a drunken night in Vegas. Will they ever admit their truly feelings for another? You should read to find out!

Ride with me was such a fun read! This book had me laughing and just genuinely smiling throughout the whole read. Stella’s viewpoint was so realistic and I feel like readers will be able to relate to the feeling of being hesitant to accept love that they truly deserve. The main characters chemistry and banter was amazing! The banter kept me hooked, there was no denying their feelings for one another.

"I'd follow you to the ends of the earth, you'd let me.” = SWOON

It’s truly amazing what a little F1 knowledge can do to my enjoyment of F1 romance. Somewhere between reading Simone Soltani’s first F1 romance, Cross The Line, and now her new follow-up Ride With Me, I started watching the sport a little more seriously. It’s not that you need to watch the sport to understand the story, as Soltani makes her novels very accessible to everyone whose F1 knowledge begins and ends with “car go fast” , but I personally got more out of it now that I’m more familiar with the sport.

That said, Ride With Me spends more time on the politics of F1 than it does the nitty-gritty of the sport, as it follows Thomas, an F1 driver reeling from some truly awful press, and Stella, an entrepreneur with some terrible press of her own. After the two meet at a joint bachelor-bachelorette party in Vegas and really hit it off, they wake up the next morning to find they accidentally got married in the night, and decide to stay married to rehab their images, and avoid even more bad press.

I love a story that forces two people to not only get together but to stay together, and follows along with the why and the how of the relationship — in short, what is keeping these two adults with free will together? Soltani approaches this question really well, and continues to build out her F1 world really well. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the series brings!

Ride With Me is out May 20. Special thank you to Berkley for the advance copy for review purposes.

I love an F1 romance and I also love a millionaire romance. The fact that the FMC is a badass millionaire businesswoman was the icing on the cake. Some spice but much more plot in this one.

Slowwwwwww burn / fake marriage / forced proximity tropes. I loved this one and read it in one sitting!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Simone Soltani and Berkeley Publishing for this ARC!

While i'm not usually somone who gravitates to F1 romance books, I read the first book in the lights out series and was hooked enough to really want to read book 2. From a literary standpoint I saw a lot of growth in the author's writing and the quality of the way the story was crafted. From the actual story, it was an automatic few points just by being a marriage of convenience trope. I appreciated how they were both passionate about their jobs and one (cough the girl) didn't give anything up or join his world just to be with him romantically. A huge win in my book!

Can't wait for the third one now.

Stella is a badass businesswoman with a heart of gold who bakes and looks like a goddess. So how did she get left at the alter?

Thomas is a Formula 1 racecar driver who is tired of being nagged about marrying his childhood best friend.

Stella and Thomas meet at a mutual friend's/relative's combined bachelor/bachelorette party. After some drinks and some flirting, they wake up the next day...in bed together...married??

This was an absolutely wonderful marriage-of-convenience romance!!

This book didn't really grab me like how I thought it was going to. I was just kind of underwhelming. Their relationship was cute in some aspects and boring in others. I just wanted to finish it, honestly. It was your typical marriage of convenience trope, no fuss no muss. Not doing anything groundbreaking. I would say the most interesting thing about the book was the overall character growth.

Did someone say marriage of convenience? SIGN ME UP.

I was so excited to read this second book in the series and for the most part, I was entertained. However, I had a hard time staying engaged to our couple, Stella and Thomas. Their banter was fun and great but their chemistry wasn’t always there. I know love at first sight can exist but given how Stella finds herself from being left at the altar, it was hard to believe her relationship to Thomas.

This is such a slow burn. VERY SLOW. I wanted to be able to really come together more (not just in a spicy way) and really feel that attraction. The spice was okay as well. I give it 2 🌶️ out of 5.

I was also excited to see more of the F1 side to this book and we barely got any. 🥲 The ending was too quickly resolved too and left a lot of plot holes like what Thomas told Stella about where he wanted to go in his career.

Overall, entertaining enough but nothing I would rush to read. Thank you NetGalley, Berkley Publishing and Simone Soltani for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

There were many aspects of this book I enjoyed like the formula 1 racing, the sweet interactions and pining between Thomas and Stella.

There were also some things that I wasn’t as fond of personally that may work for other people. I felt like there was a fair amount of binge drinking or mention of using alcohol for added confidence. Then the main trope was miscommunication, which isn’t always a favorite of mine.

Overall I did enjoy this book and would read another book by this author, I just think this one wasn’t my favorite.

This was one of the titles I was most excited for and it lived up to my expectations. I've been in my F1 era recently and this book really hit the spot. Such a cute and fun read. The plot and characters just flowed so smoothly and made this such an incredible book. I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more by Simone Soltani.

Simone Soltani's Ride with Me is an absolute delight! This marriage-of-convenience story set against the fast-paced world of Formula 1 delivers a charming hero, a resilient heroine, and a romance that's both steamy and heartwarming.

Plot Summary:
Stella Baldwin's disastrous would-be wedding takes an unexpected turn when a wild night in Vegas leads to her waking up married to Formula 1 driver Thomas Maxwell-Brown. What starts as a convenient solution to their respective problems soon blossoms into a real connection.

My Thoughts:
I absolutely adored Thomas! He is truly book boyfriend material. His immediate and unwavering affection for Stella was such a joy to read, especially knowing what she'd been through. It was so refreshing to see a male lead who prioritizes his partner's boundaries and treats her as a true equal. Thomas's respect and care for Stella were honestly a highlight of the book.

This Vegas wedding trope felt fresh and unique. I appreciated that we got to see some of their initial connection before the Vegas wedding. The romance has a bit of a rev-up with some early spice, followed by a satisfying slow burn that makes the eventual payoff even better. Trust me, the wait is worth it!

Tropes:
💍 Vegas Wedding
🤝 Marriage of Convenience
🫂 Forced Proximity
🎭 Fake Relationship
🏎️ He's an F1 Racer, She's a Bakery Chain Owner
💔 Jilted Bride (not by the MC)
⏳ Small Rev to Slow Burn
🥰 Golden Retriever MC
🙏 Praise ("good girl")
❤️ "My Wife"
🥰 He Falls First
✅ Consent King

Representation:
🌎 Interracial Relationship

Final Thoughts:
Ride with Me is a charming, steamy, and ultimately heartwarming romance. Thomas and Stella's journey is engaging, and their connection feels genuine. If you're looking for a fun and satisfying read with a swoon-worthy hero and a unique take on the marriage-of-convenience trope, buckle up and enjoy the ride!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 🌶️🌶️½

Thank you to Berkeley, Simone Soltani, and NetGalley for the early copy.

this was so cute! this had me giggling and swinging my feet over how whipped this man was!! say it with me, WE LOVE WHIPPED MEN!! the banter, the chemistry between these two was felt through my screen! i’m not the largest fan of marriage of convenience but i have a weakness for men proudly calling their wife, wife even if it’s fake! this series is turning out to be a good one, and i hope she continues bc i enjoy the glimpses into the f1 world!