Fast cars…slow burn.

This was such a strong debut! Lilah is forced to film a documentary focused on formula 1 racing and she follows Arthur who is a famous driver. They decide to pretend to date and make this documentary for their own forms of revenge. But they both get more than they initially expected from their partnership.

I was so so pleased when this was actually a slow burn. I wasn’t surprised to see that the author got their start with fanfiction. No one does slow burn like a fanfic author and I loved every second. I also loved the subtle mental health representation in this. Seeing anxiety represented in a male, especially a successful male, is so rare.

Sports romance is so popular right now and I love it but it was so refreshing to read a different sport. I will be reading more formula 1 now.

Excited to read more by this author in the future!!

I unfortunately thought this book was terrible. I respect what the author was trying to do with the main character but so much of her personality felt like pick-me-girl pandering and it was just so icky and overdone.

When she described Arthur’s eyes as the color of an aged bourbon bottle held up to the sun I had a full-body cringe.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC

Slipstream by Madge Maril was such a fun read. One of my favorite trops is when the female main character has a boyfriend at the beginning of the book. And when said boyfriend messes up and they break up it's such a good part to read. The male main character Arthur was such a good character, I especially loved his nickname, it made him much more real. How Lilah and Arthur interacted was so sweet, he was so nice to her when she was struggling and vice versa. This book would be such a good summer read, I recommend it to those who are looking for something entertaining and fun.

read in one day i LOVED the premise omg thank you to net galley for the ARC <3 i loved all the tropes and happily ever after !!! 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for the vibes! i thought some of the ADHD stuff was a little over done (speaking as someone who demands on their own ADHD meds to function) but i loved the quick exploration of men’s mental health!! i also felt like the main character was a little too ~I’m different than other girls~ that i was a smidge tired of but overall was cute and fun and a great beach read!!

The racing! The ~feelings~! The sex scenes! The neurodivergence rep! I loved every page of this lighthearted romance, and loved the earnest heart beating in every line. And I learned so much about Formula 1!

i loved this book! the documentary aspect was so fun. loved the anxiety representation. this book made me very happy. I did think the epilogue was a little far fetched with lilac getting a job with the team.

It was really nice to read a romance book that wasn’t about hockey! I know nothing about F1 but this book was quite adorable. I really enjoyed Lilah finding her voice throughout the book to speak for herself and help Arthur do the same, all while falling in love. This was an easy book to read and fast paced.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The plot was well written and the characters were interesting and relatable. All in all, a great read!

This was a really cute story and I enjoyed this storyline in this racing book. It was fresh compared to other racing books I've read. Such a strong debut novel!

I’ve been getting more and more into F1/ sports driving books and this was so much fun! This was so cute!

I thoroughly loved this. I loved getting to see Lilah and Arthur fall in love with each other and for Lilah to fall in love with herself. Neither compromised on their own beliefs just evolved into sharing the same. Beautifully written book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc. We love an F1 romance here, and this didn’t disappoint! I loved Arthur and Lilah, and the slow burn was truly chef’s kiss!

I'm a sucker for a man who falls first! Such a fun sports read, makes me want to enter into the world of F1 racing become a new superfan.

This love story is about seeing others and being seen, the narratives woven for us and the ones we take control of. It has action and humor and heart. What a wonderful book.

Lilah is a documentary filmmaker, comfortable disappearing behind the camera observing others in order to figure humans out and deciding how to alter her natural responses to something “normal” people would do. Her small doc company is co-owned by her boyfriend Max, who makes a series of decisions for her that land her in a world she doesn’t like or trust, doing a job that goes against everything she’s about. Then he dumps her.

Arthur is the charismatic Formula 1 driver she’s set to document, but he doesn’t want this, either. A former star of the circuit, he’s now a back-up driver who has historically been impossible to get to cooperate in front of a camera.

When Lilah loses everything, Arthur sees red…then an opportunity for them both to get what they want. For her: revenge for Max’s wrongdoings. For him: redemption for what his powerful uncle has taken from him.

This alliance has them spending every day together to get her film made and him closer to his goals, then soon turns into a fake-secret-dating situation that turns into something else altogether.

This slow-burn love story features a neurodivergent woman who has always felt like an outsider and a charming, talented man hiding a big part of himself from everyone but her. Their partnership is a hopeful, delightful, swoony joy to witness developing over their months together.

I loved everything about this book.

Read if you like:
Contemporary romance
Sports romance (Formula 1 racing)
Stories about storytellers
Fake dating
Documentarian x documentary subject
Positive neurodivergent and demisexual rep
Coworker (co-conspirator?) slow-burn love stories
Quirky observational humor
Forced proximity
Positive mental health rep
Open-door spice with clear consent in and out of the bedroom.
THE LOVE HATERS by Katherine Center
MORBIDLY YOURS by Ivy Fairbanks
THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS by Ali Hazelwood

I was impatient so read an ARC via NetGalley. Publishes 5/20/25.

4.5 stars!

the chemistry, the angst, the way the characters were written. everything was just good. the characters were relatable, full of flaws but growth and acceptance. the relationship was quite well, I was rooting for them the whole time. sure the reasons for some plot points seemed a little tenuous/reaching, and there were some typos/inconsistencies (specifically with how texting was shown) but over all I genuinely enjoyed slipstream. this was entertaining and just so good, can't wait to see what else the author has in store. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the digital advanced copy for review.

Lilah Graywood considers herself to be a series documentarian but now she's being forced to follow a reserve F1 driver for the summer. The glorified marketing movie is changing much more of Lilah's life than she bargains for as her friend, business partner, and secret boyfriend revels his true colors.

Arthur Bianco is regulated to a reserve driving role after a crash at Monza. With an opportunity to secure a position on his old (and better) team Arthur is the reluctant participant. Until, he is struck with the idea to turn the documentary into Lilah's revenge plan and his ticked back on the grid.

I am still new to F1 and learning about the sport. That being said I appreciate the behind the scenes approach Madge Maril took by focusing the story on a driver and a documentarian. I love a fake dating trope! I read a few other reviews that thought that aspect of the plot felt forced. I read it as evidence of how downbad Arthur was and he truly was trying to keep Lilah around to have a shot with her (his subtle pursuit).

What I liked:
I thought Lilah was relatable and appreciated that her ADHD and Social Anxiety was a major focus of the book. Her relationship with Max was manipulative and as the story progresses we see her coming to terms with her past and moving forward.

Arthur. I feel like that is all I need to say. For never getting his POV I feel like we got to know him so well. His actions spoke so loudly. He is chatty (in bed and out) and sure of himself. Easily and new favorite MMC (even if he is blond).

The representation of mental health and neurodivergence.

This was a true slow burn that includes communication and emphasis on competence.


What I didn't like:

This might be a bit of a spoiler but it triggered a major ick for me. The first time they are intimate Arthur audibly voices a desire to impregnate Lilah. Dude came on strong talking about the future and did not hold back. In a slow burn like this it felt out of place and extreme.

I will be updating my review as I work on a project looking at the statistics of F1 romance books.

I really loved this!! I’ve been looking for a good F1 romance and this delivered! Although, the fmc was feeling a little “I’m not like other girls” and got on my nerves at points, I really did like Arthur and the whole premise. The pacing felt a little off at times and it felt like some random plot lines were thrown in and then not finished. This was one of the better F1 romances I’ve
read though and I was eating it up!

This book left me feeling like a glass half full. writing a love story that involves F1 is quite popular due to Lauren Ashers series dirty air. That is not what I got from this book. at times the story line was confusing, the family tree of our main character was also confusing. I felt like there was so many run on sentences. That being said there were a handful of one liners that I did find myself highlighting them in my kindle. I just feel like it could of been so much better if it had gone through a fews more editing sessions. This is the first book that I've read from this author so I won't go writing her off but I will keep these thoughts in the back of my mind when considering her next book. Multiple times while reading this book I found myself saying, " you were good but I'm waiting for you to be great".

This is really upsetting to write, as I had such high hopes for this book. As a huge formula one and rom-com lover, I was really excited to be offered the opportunity to check this book out. The story line sounds great a little drive to survive style drama, I got the vibe that Arthur was a Daniel Ricciardo esque character and he's my fave so I was fully ready to dig in to this. What I found was a main character with a laundry list of struggles that just felt overwhelming and I found my self more annoyed with her than feeling sorry for her. She would go from confident documentarian one minute to sad Mary Jane the next. The dialogue was cringe, and the fake dating aspect came about so quickly and really kind of without reason, it felt forced. I really hope for a formula one romance I think there is so much potential here. Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this opportunity.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for giving me the privilege of reading this ARC.

Marge Maril’s debut novel, Slipstream, was absolutely breathtaking. I was apprehensive, as I’m not someone who’s really into F1 or any racing, but from the first page, I was hooked. The ADHD representation, the heavy topics of family trauma, mental health, and the journeys of trusting yourself and others were so well done and written with such great care and compassion. Lilah is like so many of us. From a young age, us neurodivergent people are constantly being reminded of our differences. It’s a hard pill to swallow when you’re surrounded by others who don’t see you the way you need to be seen.

Arthur sees Lilah, almost immediately. He can tell when she’s lost in her head and needs coaxed out—mainly because he feels the same way. Their love story was comforting and soft, yet poignant in little but impactful ways. Witnessing Lilah bloom, come to life, and take up space rather than stay small made me so emotional. Witnessing Arthur open up and tell his story, love Madge in all the ways she needs it, and demand change for *their* future was the perfect ending. This story, her story, his story, makes me feel seen and heard too. Madge, you have a gift. Your writing is so special and I’m honored to have been able to read this before its publishing date. You have made me a loyal reader for the rest of your writing career.