Absolutely addicting. I never knew I could love a blond male main character until this one, and if you know… you know. THIS WAS SO GOOD. The tension, the interesting plot, that characters!!!!! I devoured this up. I loved the way the female main character slowly opened up more and more and I especially loved how the main male character helped her see a new side of her. It was a sweet romance and I was SO GIDDY. There was a lot amazing banter that made me squeal and kick my feet. I was obsessed. Highly recommend.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me and I couldn't get invested! I felt like the whole premise was a little farfetched and I just couldn't buy into it from the start. I also found it hard to connect to Lilah and just never got invested in the character development or the relationship that was developing between Lilah and Arthur. This was my first F1 romance and maybe that just isn't for me.

Tropes:
*Enemies to Lovers
*Fake dating
*Forced proximity
*Sports Romance

Lilah Graywood is a documentarian starting a new journey with her career when everything falls apart at once. Her boyfriend/business partner breaks up with her, he tells her he is taking the company name with him and she is fired, and now she lives in a whole new state on her own. Arthur Bianco is a Formula 1 driver with a dicey career hoping to get back on the track and remake his name. After a couple confessions to each other, Lilah and Arthur make a plan to help them both get what they want, and a little revenge in the process. As they spend time together, their plan has to evolve and they learn more about what they each hide behind their public smiles and facades. Fake feelings get mixed with real feelings, and they have to decide what that means for their fake dating scheme in the end.
I loved this story! It was a great slow burn, with fun banter and wonderful moments of vulnerability that made me truly care about and feel for these characters. I loved that not only did Arthur learn about what Lilah was hiding about herself, but it was also an evolution of her own self-discovery of who she was and her little defense mechanisms or things she just accepted for herself that she didn’t have to. I loved Arthur as well. He was funny and flirty, but also extremely caring and thoughtful. They were a great pair and I couldn’t wait for them to finally admit their feelings for one another. This was my first book by Madge Maril and I gotta say, I loved her writing and will be looking for anything she puts out next! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the gifted copy of this book!

I absolutely loved the opening of this book - I got sucked right in. The romantic tension throughout hooked me as well, with great banter and lots of fun moments. Some of the pet names weren't for me, but to each their own. I really loved the uniqueness of this book - a central, non-romantic conflict that is unique to the F1 setting, the excitement of the in-person races, the depiction of ADHD and panic attacks, and the multifaceted MMC. There are some mistakes in here due to edits and F1 factual knowledge (which may be due to the FMC's POV in parts), but hoping those get fixed in a later edition.

As a lifelong fan of F1, I HAD to read this one. It's a fast paced romance with an amazing MMC. The FMC wasn't super likeable until a ways into the book but I adored every page this book had to offer.

first of all… this cover!!! are you kidding me?! I’m obsessed with it. I loved everything about this f1 romance from start to finish and ate these characters up! Arthur gave some Liam Lawson/George Russel vibes and I’m so here for it. it just had everything I could want in a sports romance but still touched on serious issues and had depth to it. 10/10 would recommend!

Oh. My. God.

Thank you Simon & Schuster #SimonBooks and NetGalley for the ARC— though my wallet does NOT thank you, because I’ll need to IMMEDIATELY purchase this book when it comes out!!!!

I admit that I’m a novice when it comes to the world of F1, even though one of my best friends is completely obsessed. So I thought that a romance book (my wheelhouse for sure) centered around the sport would be a fun way for me to dip my toes in. On one hand— I was totally right. On the other— I was NOT expecting to get completely sucked in and INTO it. But Slipstream had me from the start— both invested in the love story but the whole world too.

I absolutely ADORED Lilah and Arthur, and all of their friends who were painted so vividly. Please, gimme Delaney or Sarah’s love story next, I’m begging. AND THE MENTAL HEALTH REPRESENTATION???? INCREDIBLE. It made me so happy to see these characters grow and fall together. Put me on Madge Maril’s fan list, I’m IN LOVE. Absolutely so fun. Yay.

To be honest, I knew little of F1 until the romance genre started making moves in that direction. I devoured whatever I could get my hands on - both good and bad. SLIPSTREAM is solidly good and had some of the best yearning I’ve read in a romance novel this year so far. Like Lilah, I too was sweating it out at the flash of a wrist. This is one of those books that handily makes my “will reread when I need a comfort book” list and I love it for that among everything else that makes this book so good and this author one to watch out for.

I love formula one and I love romance and this was a book I really wanted to love! Unfortunately the romance fell a bit flat for me overall.

This book was however a great story for introducing formula one to romance readers who may not be familiar with the world for f1 and motor sports. The descriptions and story are a great way to learn how it goes down, even in this fictional way.

I do recommend picking it up if you enjoy f1 books! I just wish the characters had more of a connection with one another, it felt a bit like right place right time kind of love.

as an f1 fan, i was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint! i was obsessed with Arthur. he was an amazing mmc. i did tend to get frustrated with lilah, but she improved as the book progressed. overall, a super fun read that i would recommend to any fellow f1 fan or someone wanting to get into f1!!

Maril’s writing is fast-paced yet emotionally grounded, offering readers an immersive dive into the glitz, pressure, and intensity of the racing world. But what really stands out is the emotional honesty of the characters. Lilah and Arthur are both dealing with their own baggage, and their dynamic feels authentic, with witty banter, quiet vulnerability, and a connection that builds beautifully over time.

Whether you’re a fan of F1 or not, Slipstream is a compelling romance that stands out for its fresh setting, complex characters, and heartwarming payoff. It’s not just about speed on the track—it’s about the risks we take for love, and the courage it takes to start over.

Highly recommend for fans of sports romance, fake dating tropes, and emotionally satisfying love stories with a dash of adrenaline.

thank you netgalley and simon & schuster for the ARC ❣️as someone who loves f1 and banter and romance, this was a great time for me!! a solid 3.5 rounded up because i had fun!!!!

the ‘he falls first’ and ‘male yearning’ of it all always hit. i love king arthur so big, i wanted a chapter from his pov so, so badly — i just loved his characterization and what he brought to the story and think that would’ve provided some necessary depth to their back and forth. this is a hot man and certified wife guy!!!!!

lilah is complex and my opinion on her changed constantly. the mental health rep is well intentioned, but leaned in to a little too hard in a battle of quirkiness — but i kind of think that was the point?? she is constantly evolving throughout the story. would’ve loved to have seen a bit longer of an epilogue so we could really enjoy her growth.

the bones of this story are good and i followed most of the storyline without complaint. the only real issues i had were that the scheming was a bit messy and didn’t feel properly flushed out. and that the slow burn wasn’t Showing, because we only had lilahs pov — so when it came time for the release the emotions felt sudden and i felt like i had missed a step.

all in all i had fun and would absolutely come back and read more from this universe if the author expanded out to our other 3 team members!!

Great story, I absolutely love the book. I really enjoy NASCAR and this made me want to watch racing. I love the this story much it gave me happy feelings thanks for letting me read this book

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Slipstream in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I DNF’ed this book at 40%.

I decided to DNF this book because I couldn’t understand why the main characters hated each other (I felt like they had no reason to? They were literal strangers) or how they landed on having to fake date. It seemed like such a stretch & I couldn’t enjoy the story because it wasn’t realistic to me. I also didn’t connect with the FMC Lilah & since the story is told from her point of view, that made it harder for me to enjoy too.

Even though this one wasn’t for me, there were still some things I really enjoyed about it. I liked the MMC Arthur and felt the most invested in his character. The scene of the first race was so exciting and I feel like the writing really shined there. The F1 parts of this book so far were well done!

Wanted to really like this because I liked the F1 aspect but it fell short. Lilah felt like a pick-me for most of the book. I didn't understand the documentary storyline and why she’d go along with fake dating Arthur, it didn’t make sense career wise. Also she has ADHD and she’s quirky because she doesn’t know pop, we get it. No notes for Arthur - he was great.

Slipstream is a fun, fast-paced F1 sports romance with plenty of banter and high-speed tension, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The highlight of the book was Arthur—the calm, collected love interest who balanced out the chaos of the story. I only wish we had gotten his POV because seeing everything solely through Lila’s eyes didn’t always do him justice.

Lila, the female main character, had her moments, but she was also a bit frustrating at times. Her ADHD representation, while well-meaning, sometimes leaned into exaggerated quirks rather than feeling fully integrated into her character. As someone with ADHD myself, it was more distracting than relatable at points.

The fake dating setup—while always a fun trope—felt a little too contrived. The reasoning behind it wasn’t quite strong enough, which made it hard to fully invest in the stakes. That said, the romance itself had its sweet and entertaining moments, with solid chemistry between the leads. The F1 setting was a fun backdrop and added some unique elements to the story.

Overall, Slipstream was an enjoyable read but not a standout. If you love F1, fake dating, and opposites-attract romances, it’s worth picking up, even if it doesn’t quite break away from the pack.

I'm sad that I didn't enjoy this book more than I did! The second half did redeem the first half just enough to get 3 stars instead of 2.

I realize that the premise hinges on Lilah being the weird, not cool girl who falls in love with Arthur but I did not like her at all from the start. I feel like her character could have been just a little more likeable while also being the odd girl out and it would have made this story so much more enjoyable!

The thing that I loved the most was the character development of the side characters and the found family at the end. I wish they could have involved them more from the start and grew that friendship prior to the relationship developing.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of Slipstream!

what a debut, no notes!!! thank you to netgalley + the publisher for the arc, during the first race weekend of 2025 was such a perfect time to read this. i can’t wait to see everyone reading this book this summer!!!

I loved this!!!! My first F1 romance and did not disappoint! I loved the MCs and the supporting side characters as well!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

"I lied when I said I didn't think about you enough to hate you. Even then--I already knew. It was like sinking, meeting you, but it was like breaking out of a cage, too."

4.25 stars

F1 romances are starting to be a weakness for me, and I'm not mad about it.

This was another entertaining read that had some surprising weight to it. Everyone seems to be trying to expand off of what Lauren Asher did with Throttled; the documentary/social media take on an F1 romance seems to be a storyline that hits every time. And throwing in a neurodivergent character added some more substance that I wasn't expecting but thoroughly enjoyed.

Lilah was a great and unique FMC for this type of story. Very introverted, a little awkward, but very good at her job and also very good at not taking the MMC's crap. I think she did a pretty good job of navigating everything that was going on and then dealing with the inevitable conflict toward the end.

And Arthur was 🤌 He was your standard cocky driver but had some hidden depths that were addicting to keep unraveling. He paired really well with Lilah, especially with understanding her personality and doing his best not to spook her.

I'll say the relationship and little side of jealousy that developed was FAST. Almost out of nowhere and so I was confused for a bit. And there wasn't really a third act break up, though it was pretty close. But I had some issues with that as it seemed the emotional responses were again, kind of out of nowhere when what happened was essentially the outcome they were looking for and there were some communication issues, stuff that should have been discussed but never really was, so that may have been a writing miss.

But definitely recommend for F1 girlies 🧡