Slipstream is a great debut novel from Madge Maril. After reading this book, I think I have found my new favorite sub genre, F1 sports romance. Slipstream follows the main characters Lilah and Arthur as they navigate the F1 season. Lilah a documentarian who is looking for revenge after her business/romantic partner dumps her teams up with race car driver Arthur who is looking for redemption after a crash cost him a spot on his dream team. One of the strengths of this story was the character development; the characters didn’t feel 1D, which made them relatable. I appreciated that the author showed how Lilahs ADHD influenced her life and how Arthurs panic attacks affected him. Since Arthur is one of my new book boyfriends I do wish that we had a chapter or two of Arthurs POV. Overall SlipStream is a great debut novel and I can’t wait to read her next book. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

It takes a lot for me to give a romance book five stars but this book deserved it. Lilah is me in another font, a different home and family life but the same in every other way. D.C. transplants from Kentucky who have ADHD and thank it for their creative fuel but struggle with it in other ways as well. Arthur is an incredibly real and compelling male main character, and together, they’re unstoppable. Every problem in their relationship was one with real validity and depth, and the way they overcame them was also real. At no point did their love or growth feel unrealistic, and I cannot wait for this book to release and others to fall in love with it just like I have.

this book was SO CUTE. my first foray into F1 and it was SO MUCH FUN.

The whole concept of revenge against her cheating ex by ruining the documentary they’re meant to film while simultaneously scheming to stick it to Arthur’s uncle by making people think they’re dating was just TOO delicious. I love a good revenge plot, and I love a good fake dating plot.

Arthur is well and truly one of the best contemp romance MMCs I’ve read. I love him so dearly, that beautiful, beautiful simp. He is so down bad for this girl it’s insane. The bar is now set to Arthur Bianco. Not to mention he’s just incredibly sexy.

I had a harder time with Lilah at first. I absolutely understand the intent with her character and the points that were being made, and I related to a lot of it, but it felt like it was all very exaggerated for a while. Like she was caricaturized. I do think that that improved over time, and it’s why the book ended up with a 4 rating for me because prior to that it was probably looking at a 3.75.

I genuinely loved the plot of this book though and will now have to hyperfixate on F1 for the foreseeable future.

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

I really wanted to like this book because I think it had potential in the premise of the book. I'm an avid romance reader and was yet to read an F1 romance. I found the culture interesting and enjoyed learning about the sport. However, I think the characters fell flat. I want to be rooting for the characters and their romance, and I was not doing this. I did not have an affinity for either of the main characters and thought their romance was somewhat underwhelming. It felt like it went from nothing to everything in a couple chapters, and was quite confusing.

I will say that the author does a great job at creating a villain, because Max bothers me to my core!

I’ll start this review by first and foremost saying that I know nothing of F1 racing much like the FMC Lilah, but regardless of that fact I feel like this book did a good enough job of explaining the fascination of the races and the industry. I absolutely loved the MMC Arthur, despite him coming off as standoffish in the beginning he was absolutely enamored by Lilah. I love how they grew together to get over their issues that were holding back. There were times when I was not the biggest fan of the FMC but it had some of my favorite tropes: forced proximity and fake dating.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

F1 romance book for all your race fans. While I’m not big on racing I do like a good fake romance/get revenge on your ex. Taking charge of your career and life goals is a major plus for me and seeing the main character not want to back down from her ex trying to take over was great.

I am new to the F1 world and this was such a great introduction!!! Don’t we all love a man who falls first and falls hard?! Couldn’t put it down!

this book makes me want to fly to the next F1 race and force one of them to be the Arthur to my Lilah. i’m literally doing cartwheels of joy right now. the only thing you really need to know about this book is that the MMC is Italian and an F1 driver and that obviously means he is the definition of perfection


(thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC :)

This was a great F1 romance. If you are new to them you should definitely start with this one. It makes it easy to understand.

Get in girlie, we’re reading formula 1 romances this season 🏁

Thank you @simonbooks for an eARC 🤍

Slipstream is a debut F1 romance between a documentarian and driver!! It all starts with the unlikely duo teaming up to exact revenge on their enemies, only to (obviously) accidentally fall in love while doing it.

“But when Arthur looks at me like this, I realize maybe being unique isn’t a tragedy if it’s the reason he keeps smiling at me.”

Lilah is our female lead who is an accomplished documentarian passionate about staying firmly behind the camera filming serious things. She’s a little awkward, but she knows who she is and isn’t afraid of what she wants. In this case, she knows she wants nothing to do with the F1 documentary she’s been roped into.

Meanwhile, Arthur Bianco is F1 royalty currently being punished in the reserve driver spot on his uncles team. All he wants is out of his contract and he’s ready to do whatever it takes. He’s your classic British-italian playboy driver but it turns out he has a soft spot for Lilah.

Slipstream was fast-paced, easy to consume, and quirky in all the right ways. The characters were complex and the romance was swoon worthy. I hope to read more from Madge in the future!!

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!!