Another enjoyable F1 book down.

As someone newer to the world of F1, I appreciated how well researched and accurate it seemed. I am a sports girlie to my core and while I enjoy a fluffy sports romance I appreciate them more when they accurately represent the sport.

Lila and Arthur were cute, but he sure did move fast with the my wife, our babies holy moly.

I loved the mental health representation as well.

To be honest though I'm not sure how this "girl with camera" was able to take down a literal F1 billionare but suspend our disbelief for happily ever afters I guess.

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonandschuster for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

★★★★☆

As a big @f1 fan (go @mclaren !), I was immediately intrigued by Slipstream—and it delivered a refreshingly unique take on the racing world. Madge Maril blends the high-speed intensity of motorsport with a deeply introspective, queer love story that lingers long after the final page.

What really stood out to me was the relationship between Lilah and Author. Their connection is tender, complicated, and beautifully rendered. It’s not just about romance—it’s about identity, vulnerability, and finding your place in a world that often demands perfection. Their dynamic felt authentic and emotionally resonant, especially set against the backdrop of a sport that thrives on control and precision.

While the book leans more literary than plot-driven, the atmosphere and emotional depth make it a compelling read. It’s not your typical F1 story, but that’s what makes it special. If you’re into racing and open to a more poetic, character-focused narrative, Slipstream is a standout.

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #simonandschuster #slipstream #madgemaril

I love sports romance especially f1. So I was very excited to read this book, and it didn't disappoint .
I loved the characters and the story.
The writing was really good and I enjoyed reading this book


Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be a really cute and fast read! I loved the dynamic between Arthur and Lilah and I found the epilogue to close out the story nicely. Overall, I enjoyed this for the Formula 1 season!

I love formula one, and the author seems to know her stuff pretty well. One of my biggest pet peeves for f1 romances is when they don’t get things fully accurate, and Madge Maril seems really passionate about f1. Some of the characters actions made me a bit mad and the plot was a bit flimsy, but overall a really cute book that i ended up really liking!

This ARC has been sitting on my Kindle for a while now, and I finally decided to pick it up and read it. I’m honestly not sure why I waited so long because this book was so good.

I wasn’t sure what to expect since I’m not a huge F1 fan. I know a little about the sport from my brothers, but even without my limited previous knowledge, this book would have been equally as enjoyable.

Madge managed to write such beautiful, complex characters with Lilah and Arthur. Both of them have such unique, multifaceted personalities and experiences that made them so incredibly relatable. As much as I love the picture perfect storybook couple, I am even more of a fan of the imperfect mc’s, and I think that’s why I fell head over heels for Lilah and Arthur.

I personally have not seen ADHD represented in books very often, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it portrayed so well through Lilah’s character. And the nod to the impact mental health has on men, especially athletes, was super appreciated as well.

The only thing that threw me off a little and prevented me from rating this book 5 stars was the writing style. It was a bit wordy at times and hard to follow, but this is just a personal preference.

Slipstream by Madge Maril

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

I was so happily surprised by this book!! I actually am obsessed with it and am so glad I read it. Having never read a Formula 1 romance before, I was excited to dip my toes into unexplored territory and boy, did it pay off! I think I may be hooked now 👀

First off, I love a revenge plot. Holy cow, that man did her dirty. I was actually fuming for Lilah. Dumping her is one thing but snaking her business out from under her, too?? Diabolical, really. Thank goodness Arthur Bianco was there to snake his butt right back 😏. Max deserved every single thing he got.

The romance between Lilah and Arthur was so delish. They slow burned hardddddd. We have another true yearner on our hands with this one. I kind of like that Lilah was so oblivious to it the whole time. Everything between them played out organically and felt very authentic.

There was actually quite a bit of plot in this, too. More than I was expecting honestly. Arthur’s story and a character arc were fascinating to read, and I love how everything worked out for him. Lilah brought out the best in him and made him a better version of himself, and he did that for her as well. I’m so pleased with how the documentary played out. It was a perfect ending.

This will definitely not be my last F1 book. It was so interesting to read about. I definitely don’t fully understand all the ins and outs of it yet, but I’m excited to read more. It’s so high stakes and thrilling and makes for such an exhilarating backdrop for a romance. Thank you, Madge Maril, for introducing me to the world of racing beyond southern NASCAR. You will be seeing me again 😌.

Thank you to Madge Maril, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the eARC! All opinions stated are my own.

I absolutely adored this book. I thought it was such a cute, thoughtful romance, with characters who communicated. The storyline was interesting, and I was constantly giddy. I read the whole book in an afternoon. I loved it!

DNF 46% I’m so bummed. I was sooo excited to pick this up after seeing the F1 movie. It started so strong, the intrigue was there, love the neurodivergent rep. But it’s getting sooo repetitive, just re-hashing the same shit over and over (either how she has ADHD and trauma or the rules of their fake dating scheme), the dialogue is confusing and hard to follow, I’m not finding myself falling into the story, and most of the racing AND character/relationship development is happening off-page. I’m starting to get the ick for the main girl too so it’s just over for me at that point. (No one cares that you’re vegan I promise.)

"It was you. It’s been you. I’ve been driving myself crazy to keep your eyes on me."

"I like the parts of you that you think are too much, too weird. They’re my favorite."

OOOOOOHKAY I am simply *obsessed* with this book and I can't stop thinking about it! Madge Maril WE BOW DOWN!!!

Holy cow this is an incredible debut and I am fully committed to reading anything Madge writes. This book is one of my favorites of the year, easy, and I knew little to nothing about F1 before reading.

SLIPSTREAM is the funny, sexy, and smart story of documentarian Lilah Graywood who, when she loses both her long-term boyfriend AND her business, pivots to creating a documentary on the F1 racing star Arthur Bianco. Bianco is both charismatic and infuriating, and the more time Lilah and Arthur spend together, each with their own motives—Lilah’s revenge and Arthur’s redemption—their secret alliance and white-hot chemistry promises to change the narrative, both on and off the track.

We love a little revenge-turned-lovers and man, this book is so well-written and unputdownable. I had to stop to scream and kick my feet every other page -- I loved Lilah and Arthur's story and their chemistry. I am obsessed with this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. SLIPSTREAM is out now! Seriously, go read it.

Slipstream by Madge Maril totally surprised me, in the best way. Set in the world of Formula 1 and documentary filmmaking (yes, please), it brings together Lilah, a quiet, awkward film student with ADHD, and Arthur, a cocky backup driver who’s way deeper than he seems.

What starts as a summer documentary project turns into a slow-burn romance packed with fake dating, mental health rep, and some genuinely emotional beats. Lilah’s the kind of character who feels soft but fierce at the same time, and Arthur? Total charm-meets-broken-boy swoon. He not only loves Lilah's personality, but respected her and her boundaries in the most "if he wanted to, he would" way.

It’s sweet, funny, and yeah, spicy too. I did find the third-act conflict needing a bit more oomph to it, but overall the chemistry these two had and the way Madge built their HEA was wonderful.

If you like sports romance, complicated characters, or you’re F1-curious, this is worth picking up.

so this took me a hot sec (ok like 3 months) to finish. the first part of the book just felt very slow to me. it really ramped up near the 55% mark, I feel like I flew through the rest of it. I did like the book, I just felt the plotlines could have been organized a bit smoother. I think it's also weird for me to read a romance that isn't a duel POV. But I did really like their story. I love myself a London boy, and this is the second London boy F1 driver romance I've read this month, so I chose a great time to pick this book back up. I felt so bad for Lilah; she had just gone through so much, but still managed to keep things semi-positive and just kept moving. But I really loved Arthur; he was such a cutie pie, and I don't know how Lilah didn't figure out he was in love with her sooner because it was so obvious.

DNF @ 35%
Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I picked this up for a video project I've been working on and was really hoping it would be a win. But sadly there was very little about this romance I was enjoying..

I will start off by saying that F1 romances don't seem to work for me. So take my review with a grain of salt if you're really into this subgenere or sport.

But in order for me to love or believe in a romance, I need to not hate both of the characters... and I hated both of these main characters. The heroine was obnoxiously pretentious at times and self inflicted a complete and utter lack of say in her own life.

While the hero was the quintessential nepo-baby who's just so misunderstood. And even though he's the hottest thing to ever grace this earth, he finds the quiet, quirky girl irresistible.

I just couldn't stand either of them and wanted nothing more to do with the story....

This book was super cute! I loved reading a sports romance that wasn’t your typical sport! I think I’ve been reading a little too much consecutive fantasy books because I started to get annoyed a little in the middle when the FMC had any “woe is me” thoughts but that’s definitely just because of me reading badass FMC back to back to back. The MMC though had me swooooooooning (even if he was blonde) and I love when he falls first. Definitely a great story

This was a fun romance book centered around the world for Formula 1. I didn’t know much about Formula 1 before diving in. I enjoyed the writing, but felt like there was a lot going on. I liked the MMC a lot too.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book is Drive to Survive meets fake dating revenge plot with a side of sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a carbon fiber spoiler.

Lilah Graywood didn’t come to Formula 1 for the drama—but she’s about to document the hell out of it. Between a backstabbing ex, a stolen company, and a charismatic F1 reserve driver with nothing to lose, Slipstream launches full throttle into a delicious whirlwind of sabotage, sparks, and speed.

Arthur Bianco is the kind of hero who smirks like he’s hiding heartbreak and flirts like it’s his job (it’s not—but it should be). His chemistry with Lilah is straight-up combustible, and watching them fake-date, co-conspire, and accidentally fall headfirst into something real had me grinning like a pit crew on podium day.

With global glamour, behind-the-scenes racing tea, and emotional undercurrents that sneak up on you mid-monsoon in Monaco, this book delivers everything: revenge, redemption, and that swoony moment when two broken people find something worth slowing down for.

Fast-paced, witty, and wildly romantic—Slipstream is pure serotonin for fans of enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and feminist heroines who fight dirty (and fall even harder). Buckle up.

This was such a fun read! I’m not super into Formula 1, but still found this enjoyable and easy to understand. I enjoyed Lilah as a character, I feel like her character type is very unrepresented which made me like her even more. I definitely appreciated the neurodivergent representation! I wish we got to know some of the other side characters a bit more, since there were quite a few but we didn’t know much about them. Honestly I even feel like we didn’t get to know much about Arthur, besides surface level stuff and the few deep things that were revealed. I wish some of the setting was also better developed, but it didn’t affect the story too much. This was very fast paced, so perfect if you’re looking for that. It wasn’t too spicy as well, which I appreciated. Overall I would recommend this if you want an easy, fast paced book.

This is the year for F1 romance, but this one fell a little short for me. Not enough chemistry between the characters.

I'm sensing a disturbance in the sports romance genre. F1/racing romance is all the rage. Not that I'm complaining. I live for F1 drama and I live for romance. The two worlds coming together? Lights out and away we go my friends.

I tried !!!! Maybe it’s just me.

It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. It dragged for me so much. If you just want an easy F1 romance then this is for you. The MMC is great, we love a man obsessed.

But it just didn’t hit the mark for me sadly

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Shuester for an eARC! Opinions & review are honest & my own!