I think this book was written just for me and no one else actually. When I got the email offering the ARC, I didn't have to read past "Formula 1 meets Red, White, and Royal Blue." I knew from that alone that this book would be it for me. I devoured this book in less than 24 hours (granted I had 2 plane rides in that time but I am sure I would have either way).
Forbidden romance and tragic trauma leading to characters who actually cared enough about themselves and each other to change for the better. I loved the progression, I loved how both our characters had distinct voices and issues and cares.
If there is one thing Amy James absolutely slays every time, it's writing the most incredible side characters. I was so deeply invested in the ways that these characters were able to be great support for the leads while also being interesting in their own right.

The only issue I had with this book is that the ending felt ever so slightly rushed. We spent so long with our characters and seeing how they put in the work to become better people for themselves and each other. But in the end it seemed like it didn't matter because the book had one logical conclusion and we were gonna get there no matter what. I wish there was just one more chapter so we could see the work they did actually matter.

While the ending had me slightly peeved, I really loved the characters and was rooting for them the whole time. I love F1, I love romance, I love Amy James. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

eARC provided by Avon Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

I loved reading about Jacob and Travis. The journey they went on in this book is heartwarming. I was immediately invested in their story. I couldn't put this book down!

This was a good read, it does lag a little but other than that, it was good. Other than that there is a good plot to it.

3.75 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed the first section focusing on Travis, and liked the back and forth timeline element. The book started to lose me when we got to Jacob's POV and the two characters reconciliation. I thought Jacob was forgiven too easily and that there could have been more development before the characters got back together. However, I overall enjoyed this and read it in two sittings. I also will likely purchase this when it is released.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager with Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. In "Crash Test," the chemistry between the characters is simply magnetic, drawing me in from the very first page. The authentic connection they share makes their interactions feel real and relatable, while the character growth is depicted with remarkable realism. As they navigate their challenges, their development feels organic, allowing readers to truly invest in their journey. This book beautifully captures the nuances of relationships and personal growth, with good timing and is a good read for those who know that love is love.

I read this book so fast, very readable! The story jumps right in, making the reader immediately engrossed in the story & characters. If you like angst, secret relationship and character driven stories, this book is for you.

Trevor and Jacob's story is compelling and thought provoking. I really loved that these two were flawed individuals. They both have issues that they're working through and it was refreshing to see that, especially in an MM romance. These two weren't perfect and hide their relationship from everyone. This explores what that looks like and how it can take a toll on you. The romance is angsty which I loved. I love angst and these two certainly provided that.

I enjoyed the F1 plot. It was nice to see Trevor finding his place and bonding with his crew. Plus we also got to see the consequences with Jacob's accident. It was an interesting storyline and one that I hadn't seen in F1 romances before.

I did think the resolution to the romance was done very quickly. It almost seemed a bit unbelievable considering the MCs were apart for a while but I still enjoyed it. I mean, who doesn't love an HEA?

If you like F1 romances, angsty love stories and were a big fan of Red, White & Royal Blue, I think you're going to love this.

This was a new concept for me, Formula racing drivers! Travis is an F1 driver with a secret relationship going on with Jacob, an F2 driver with aspirations to make it to F1.

After a nasty crash puts Jacob in the hospital, Travis’ world falls apart. He has to sneak into the hospital to visit, and avoid Jacob’s nasty parents and siblings. Plus, he has to keep his driving career going because nobody knows there was something going on between the two men.

As time goes on, Travis is left wondering if everything he felt for Jacob was one-sided and he read too far into the relationship.

I really enjoyed this story! I devoured it! The characters were relatable, if a bit frustrating at times. I think when this one is released, it will be quite popular, so I’m going to go ahead and recommend you add this one to your TBR list now, so you can read it as soon as it’s published.

Finally, the cover art for this book is fantastic!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for this copy of the book.

Jacob was on thin ice for like 80 percent of this book I s2g. I loved Travis so much though, and the writing was really good! We need more gay Formula 1 books

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
I absolutely loved this book. I felt all of the anxiety and pain that Travis and Jacob went through. While I don’t like a miscommunication trope, this one felt different (much like Red, White, and Royal Blue). There were some moments during Travis’ initial POV that were a bit confusing, but I ended up liking that the past was mixed in with the present and that the crash happened at the beginning. I genuinely can’t wait to own a physical copy of this book.
Thank you, NetGalley and Avon for the ARC!

4⭐️
2.5🌶️
Thank you Amy James and HarperCollinsPublishers Inc for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!!
I really enjoyed this one more than I expected it too!! I knew it would be a gay F1 romance, then one of the characters gets into a very bad crash and I expected to sit on the edge of my seat the whole book waiting for his condition to improve but that wasn’t the case!!

I really enjoyed how the story was split up, half from Travis’ POV, half from Jacob’s and then a little bit of them together. This story really went into both of their backstories and it surprised me with how deep it got at times, discussing the journey that one goes through with a therapist, unpacking trauma and bad behaviors to get to the true root of the problem.

Did I learn anything about F1? No. Did I really end up loving the story between Travis and Jacob, and the healing they both went through? Absolutely. I couldn’t stop comparing them to Ian and Mickey from Shameless the whole book and I LOVED it.

I’m not sure if this was because I received and unfinished e-arc but the chapter titles had no labels for who’s perspective it was, and I found myself confused during the latter chapters when the perspectives got jumbled.

Overall, color me pleasantly, pleasantly surprised! I enjoyed the vulnerability in this so much

This was very cute! I enjoyed both Travis' and Jacob's journeys and growth. However, I found jumping between timelines and POVs a bit confusing at times, and had trouble grasping the depth of their (secret) relationship. I wanted more establishing before the accident, instead of trying to figure it all out in glimpses from the past.

I’m so happy I got the privilege to read this book the description caught my eye instantly it sounded amazing I absolutely loved this book the chemistry between Jacob and Travis was so fun there’s so many books where the characters relationship is just a half baked thrown together thing but you can tell Amy worked hard to fully flesh out every single character I had such a fun time made me giddy at times reading them talk about each other to feeling all sort of emotions at the intense moments where I didn’t know where it would have gone I definitely will be getting the physical book when it comes out and going to read it again 🥰

Travis and Jacob are F1 drivers, which I know nothing about, but don't let that intimidating you into not reading this, because you definitely don't need to understand anything other than cars go fast, and it can be dangerous.

Both Travis and Jacob are closeted, and the book starts with Jacob being in a potentially fatal accident, and Travis coping with that. The first forty percent of the book is pretty heavy, but not so much that it's unbearable.

I think this was an immensely readable book, I read it cover to cover in a single afternoon and didn't want to put it down. Easily digestible and relatively light, despite the heavy beginning. That being said, I did feel like this book could have been so much more. The end came together relatively quickly without seriously interrogating the emotional fallout that both characters almost undoubtedly would have suffered from the events of the book, both the crash and the arc of their relationship.

All in all, I think this was a cute and fluffy book, but someone who deeply needs endings to be long, thorough and super fulfilling, you might find the insta-solution and HEA a little shallow.

2.5 ⭐️ This was a bit of a struggle for me. It felt very slow. I picked it up because I have really been enjoying F1 romances lately, but there was very little racing involved. The first half of the book switches back and forth between timelines, but the later parts of the book switch between POVs. This made reading it a little choppy and harder to follow.

Overall, I just wanted there to be more action and more romance. The characters spent too much time away from each other (and not talking) so the romance didn’t feel believable.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC.

This was a lovely and cute romance. It was structured in a way that felt unique and that pulled me in from the start. I know next to nothing about F1 but no prior knowledge was needed. Travis and Jacob were both easy to love but from time to time I just wanted to be able to smack their heads together. This book made me feel hurt and betrayed but also loved and whole. Except for the two mmc's, you get to meet a bunch of other super lovely characters. Everyone needs a Heather in their lives!!
A huge plus for me as a nurse anesthetist was that the medical parts of this book was quite accurate, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with this ARC!

Thank you to the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a review.
I was really happy to get this one, but it just… didn’t work for me? I will admit that I do have much higher standards for sports romance books than I do other genres! But this one just didn’t hit. I found the characters extremely unlikable, from both perspectives. I did think Travis was very autistic coded, which I did like! I was hoping to see Jacob have more character growth, but it never happened. I also would have liked to see an on page apology or them at least talking things out. Reading the book, it’s never clear why??? They like each other, and without talking about the past, their relationship makes no sense. Also, the timeline was not clear. I never knew how long things were taking. I also didn’t like how it didn’t note which pov it was in the third part, or when chapters were flashbacks, but that could have been an arc formatting issue.

I’m always happy to see more queer sports romance, especially in less popular sports like f1 (by us standards), but unfortunately this one failed to meet the mark. 3.5 stars

I read my first Formula 1 romance in December for book club, and to be honest, I was disappointed by both the racing and romance aspects of the book. BUT, I was once again intrigued by a sports romance and jokingly said that there should be an F1 romance with two drivers falling in love. Turns out, Amy James was one step ahead of me, as a few weeks later, I discovered Crash Test, and received an advanced reader copy of it from NetGalley.

I do not normally enjoy reading romance, but two main things about Crash Test made me enjoy it.
1. There were actual stakes for the two main characters. After the titular crash, both main characters are concerned about being out and proud drivers, while Jacob is also recovering from major injuries. Both of these circumstances led to tension and drama that I could care about, instead of 400 pages of the main characters worrying about superficial things like if the other person likes them or if their family and friends will approve of two consenting straight adults being together.
2. While there are twists and turns throughout the novel, I enjoy that the main characters are in a relationship at the beginning of the story. I often hate the usual Hallmark movie pattern of the two main characters either meeting or being reacquainted and then spending most of the story beating around the bush instead of just being together.

In short, I liked this book, and it was the perfect read for my tropical vacation. This refreshing sports romance is perfect for anyone with varied knowledge of racing (as I have almost none and still enjoyed it). Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for this Advanced Reader Copy, and I cannot wait to read more from Amy James!

Erm, okay. Slay? YES!!

I am an avid F1 fan and was so happy to see that I could get an ARC for this book.

I was expecting something a little different, but I was disappointed. This is definitely a book that will be added to my collection ASAP. Because I don’t think I can live without my own copy.

The characters were honestly so perfect and I loved every second I was reading this. And let’s not forget the awesome plot? I’m not crazy about MxM relationships when it comes to F1 because most of the time, it’s a fanfic for Max and Charles and it’s too obvious. I just don’t like shipping two real life people. Characters? Yeah, sure. Real people? Yeah, no thanks.

But this book, even if it was based off of them, I couldn’t tell. Mostly because one’s in F2, but still. Their vibes were unique and I just loved all of them.

formula 1 racing is a really interesting world to set this story in. i think it helps elevate it beyond what you expect from sports romances. it moves a different pace and sets different stakes.

the prose was really enjoyable in here. i like how urgent the current timeline was, how reflective and introspective the back half of the book was, and how the flashbacks in the first half were purposeful and rhythmic. they felt like warm memories coming back in, and you got the emotional depth from the moments without them being full scenes.

and i really loved how this book dropped you right into the tense moments. it presents the stakes at the start, and uses the first half to slowly build as to why they matter so much and to prove why they're so high.

Travis and Jacob work really well together. they have similar journeys, but they learn those lessons about each other in different ways and use that knowledge to be a different kind of better person for the other. their romance exists in a way to give their characters meaning. it doesn't feel cheap. and the steamy scenes were done in a way that were impactful and effective without being exploitive. you learned more about these guys in those moments.

and that cover! stunning.

The writing in this story drew me in from page one. The sudden drama of the crash, of a secret boyfriend, the angst and pain Travis felt of not being able to be in the room with Jacob worked for me. Unfortunately, the book kind of stalled there for a bit too long. I understand Jacob couldn’t magically wake up the next day from his medical coma after such a tragic crash, but it left Travis’s thoughts circling around and around and stalled the momentum I thought the first chapter had.

Going back and forth in time we see how Travis and Jacob hooked up, and how Jacob became the center of Travis’s life, and to be honest, Jacob wasn’t a great boyfriend. Constantly testing Travis, going out on a date with a girl, going out with friends without inviting Travis — knowing he was Travis’s only friend, only source of company — and doing it maliciously. But … it is understandable from Travis’s POV because this is his first and only boyfriend, his first and only sex partner, and he’s given everything he had to this person.

When we get to Jacob’s side of the story, he still doesn’t come across as a good boyfriend, and we learn nothing new about the relationship. He obsesses over those same moments not to reflect on them or how they hurt Travis, but to excuse them because he had his reasons, really, for being a bit of a dick to Travis. And because we never see more to the relationship, moments where Travis might have been in the wrong, too clingy, too distant, too anything … it feels like a very one sided romance.

And then all the angst is done and they’re both trying to get back to one another. Travis’s healing happened while Jacob was naval gazing, as Travis made friends, found a support system that wasn’t just and all about Jacob, and learned to stand up for himself. Jacob, on the other hand, just wants Travis back. There’s no real growth for him, on page or in between them. He’s just cured one day and there you go. True, he was in therapy after the crash, but all of his answers and realizations came from him sitting alone with his own thoughts, and then it felt like he just got tired of thinking and wanted to be back in bed with Travis.

All that said, the writing is smooth and the pacing is good. It was an easy read and while I would have liked maybe a smidge more about the racing world, this is primarily a romance with a focus on the troubled relationship between Travis and Jacob that ended with no real change or correction to the problems they were having. I will be very curious to read more from this author, but this book is just a “fine” from me.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for giving me an ARC