I want to start by saying that I really liked the premise of this story. I'm a sucker for tropes and a good sports romance. However, I struggled to get through this one; it just missed the mark for me.

A fun, messy meet-cute was a promising first interaction between Pearl and Jordan, but after that, it felt like the story fell flat. The pacing was off, and the writing felt more juvenile, closer to YA, despite the spice. I didn’t feel like the characters got the depth they needed for me to form a real attachment to them. So, when the added drama and plot twists came in, I found myself struggling to care.
Racing Heart is a fun enough read, that just probably was not suited to me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

As a HUGE F1 fan I really hoped I was going to like this book and I just couldn’t do it, I made it about a third of the way through it and could not finish it. I am not one to DNF a book but I was not interested in the characters or their story, and the writing was VERY choppy. I also tried to read the first book in the series and couldn’t finish that one either. I think the story could be good with cleaner writing and story telling, I just was not invested at all in any characters or their storylines.

As a big of Formula 1 and racing books, I was excited to read Racing Heart. Pearl and Jordan are both characters that take a bit of time to fall in love with, but by the end of the book I did. I liked the book a lot and appreciated that it had a few side stories as well. I thought this book was a fun, easy read and rated it 4 out of 5 stars. It is the second book of the series and I will be going back and reading the first book. If you like racing books or Formula 1, you will enjoy this book.

Opinions are my own. I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

The book was okay, nothing serious, just a cozy book where you read it in a cafe with a drink and relax, that's the vibes I got from it 😅 Jordan and Pearl are so cute together, I love how cozy and romantic they were in the last few chapters 💙 I'm glad that Jordan isn't holding any grudges against his sister at the end, and honestly I hated the jewel sisters 😭 idk why but i didn't like them 🥲 but I still felt sad for Pearl when she lost her real mother 😔 overall, I'm glad that Pearl and Jordan are building their happily ever after together 💙🤗

I wanted to like this story. The premise sounded interesting and intriguing. The idea holds promise, but it doesn’t bear out. The book is choppy, there needs to be a lot more character development and backstory, and it needs to be more linear. Forgive the analogy, but since it’s been happening so frequently where I live, I’m comparing this writing to a brush fire: it starts off contained, but quickly spins out of control, with new pockets of chaos popping up here and there.

Also, a note from a farm girl:
A male sheep is a ram, a female is a ewe. Both are sheep. 🙄

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

•𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘎𝘰𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.•

ARC Review.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. Racing Heart begins with a promising meet-cute between Jordan, a former race car driver, and Pearl, a columnist known for her “Pearl of Wisdom” column. Their initial connection is engaging, but the story quickly unravels into a series of underdeveloped plot lines. Pearl’s discovery that her aunt is actually her mother, her search for her father. Jordan who had a traumatic race car crash that ended his career. Jordan and Pearl both experienced the loss of loved ones.

The novel would have benefited from deeper character development, particularly for Jordan. His grief over his father's death and the aftermath of his crash. We’re told he’s struggling but we’re never truly shown and feel the emotional weight he carries. These missed moments could have added depth and resonance.

By the end, it still feels like we’re only beginning to understand Pearl and Jordan. Their emotional layers, had they been explored earlier, could have made their journey more compelling. Jordan’s return to racing was nice towards the end. I loved this quote: “the woman who not only made his heart race, but also given him back his racing heart.”

While the novel touches on powerful themes grief, identity, redemption, it barely scratches the surface. The romance lacks authentic chemistry, the pacing is uneven, and the jewel named family was more distracting than engaging. What starts with potential ultimately loses momentum, resulting in a story that falls short of delivering a satisfying emotional payoff.

After reading Crash Into Me, I was really excited to read this one. But it did not start off well for me. There were bits and pieces throughout the book that I quite liked and thought were done well, but I need to be hooked in at the start to really like the book.

Cuando el impulsivo piloto de carreras Jordan Rubie huye a un tranquilo pueblo costero tras un accidente que amenaza su carrera, no imagina que conocerá a Pearl Carrington, una columnista seria y estructurada, lidiando con su propio caos familiar. Lo que comienza como un encuentro inesperado en la playa se convierte en un improvisado viaje rumbo a una boda en Escocia… y hacia una posible segunda oportunidad para ambos.

----


No entendí la razón por la que los abuelos de Pearl hicieran lo del cambio, al final ambas hermanas tenían la misma edad, madures y sus vidas cambiarían para siempre, además de darle tremenda carga a la "irresponsable" no tiene mucho sentido.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

This was my first racing romance book and let's just say I was hooked at the wave of that green flag! The MMC and FMC are so well balanced and even though they move quick, it never felt like it was too much too soon. The settings in Scotland and Michigan were so nostalgic for me. It really helped me get into the story, talking about places I know and love and have memories of my own there made it really special. With this being the second book in the series, some of the side characters already have had their time to shine. But I don't feel like I missed out on not reading it being able to understand them and their backgrounds. The author shares just enough to make them feel included in this story. I can't wait to pick up the first in the series and anymore if there are any in the future!

When Pearl Carrington rushed to Wales to be with her aunt during what she thought was a medical emergency, she didn't expect to discover a secret that could uproot everything she believed about her family. Nor did she expect to, literally, stumble into the arms of former race car driver Jordan Rubie. But when Jordan asks her to be the plus one to his twin sister's wedding in Scotland, she realizes just how interesting her life could get.

This book was very sweet! I like Jordan a lot, Pearl is a sweetheart, and as against matching twin's names as I am.. I actually think the gem theme here is pretty cute.
However, for a book about a race car driver, it is slightly evident that the racing aspect wasn't very important. All the details are a bit vague, there is minimal scenes of actual racing. I am slowly getting into F1 and thought this could be a cool intro to some insight into racing, but there wasn't a lot of that. I really liked the book though!

Thank you to NetGalley ad BooksGoSocial for the eARC. Projected publishing date: May 20th, 2025

A fun and quick read for summer! Racing and a countryside road trip? Yes, please! I also like that the main characters are in their 30s. There is a lot of drama, but I do love the extended ending we get!

I received an early copy of this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such a fun read! I loved the first book in the series, Crash Into Me, and when I heard this book was about Jordan's story, I could not wait to dive in! And I was not disappointed. Hot race car driver and a Highland road trip? Sign me up! I loved these characters and was immediately drawn into their story and couldn't wait to see how they came together. If you like romance with complex characters, I highly recommend this book. I'm not an F1 fan, but I tore through this book and can't wait for the next one.

I FINALLY FINISHED IT, GOD I'M FREE 😭

2/5 🌟
3/5 🌶

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for letting me read this book and for it being my first arc I ever read.

my honest opinion 🪩

I'll be straight forward with my opinon ... this was down bad boring as hell for me to read. Reading this was like going down the highway ... no turns, no bumps, no twists. All I can say is that that I think this clearly wasn't a hit for me, but it could be for somebody else, it depends on the person's preferences.


character analysis 🎐

Pearl 🗞 - Pearl is a press reporter, who's 34 years old. Her life kinda twists when her "mom" drops a bomb with a big secret on her.

Jordan 🏎 - Jordan is an ex Apex driver, who's also 34. He comes to England where he then meets Pearl.

In my opinion the characters weren't really thought through. I mean I would want more backstory from both of them beause the backstory there wasn't enough ... I NEED THE DETAILS ABOUT THEIR LIVES TO FEEL INCLUDED IN THE STORY!!


Why I disliked this book so much? 🎏

As I said this was incredibly boring to read. When I read a book, I expect it to have at least some sort of story line, which this book severely lacked ... it had no direction and there was too many aspects for me to take in and since it was written in 3rd person I was sometimes really confused who we are talking about at the moment. I need to correct myself tho ... there were twists but they were really out of place to make me feel any sort of emotion or surpise. Spice scenes were out of place, I mean I've seen more thought through spice scenes than these in this book ... more heartwarming I'd say. I really had a hard time reading this and if someone asks me about this book I'm going to be brutally honest about it.


Things that I liked about this book 🎊

There was bunch of scenes that felt really cute to read and were really heartwarming. I always liked seeing Jordan care about Pearl so deeply after only knowing her for a bunch of days ♡

Thanks for reading my review ♡

(I posted this on Goodreads as well)

~ Klára M.

I found it a fun and quick read! I read it in one setting and I found the characters well development. Maybe there is a lot of drama , but I enjoyed the extended series end which gave me the opportunity to fully appreciate the characters journey!

I received an early copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions on my own .

Racing hearts did exactly that,made my heart race. The story balanced emotional trauma, chaotic family dynamics and the personal character flaws of the FMC as well as the MMC alongside funny, light-hearted romantic comedy about an ex-race car driver and an advice columnist. It started off as a bit of a whirlwind with quite a quick pace as they both had quite a lot going on in their lives, which took a moment to wrap my head around, however by the end I was chomping at the bit to get to a happily ever after I was sorely hoping for. They both try to run away from their past and end up not only confronting it but helping each other understand what they really want. If you love boys who drive fast cars, almost insta-love, slightly emotionally damaged men, only-one-bed tropes, the english countryside and a second chance of happiness in not just a romantic way for more than one character, then this is a book for you. It does however contain contents such as death of a parental figure so if this is a trigger for you consider this first.

This was such a feel good story and I absolutely loved it. Both the main characters felt fully formed from the outset which meant you could relate to them ( I for one am clumsy but don't think I've ever fell into someone's lap!!!) I liked that it was a romance story with Motorsport weaved in just the right places and felt like a very real story. Can't wait to see if there is a next one in the series!!

This book has everything in it, even the kitchen sink… but not necessarily in a good thing. There are so many side characters and side plots, it’s high school level drama and you get lost in the other side plots. I genuinely didn’t know where the book was going to go.
I think there really needed two be less drama and thus less trauma holding them together.
I think it should have ended about halfway through and just been a cute novella.
The whole third act break up, you’re left not even caring they broke up because it seemed too high school and too surface level of a relationship to last anyway.

I read every racing romance I can get my hands on, so I was pleased to be selected as an arc reviewer for Darci St. John's newest release, Racing Heart.

Jordan, an elite racer recovering from injury, is in the UK for his sister's wedding. Pearl is there too, but not for the reasons she was led to believe. Her family dropped some bombshell news and to cope, she gets drunk and naked with the handsome man she finds on the beach. He invites her to his sister's wedding and to get away from her own drama, she agrees.

Pearl and Jordan are so well matched in this book. They meet at the exact right moment and are able to use each other as life vests in a way, something to hold onto while everything else is kind of chaos. Their connection seemed genuine, but there was not a whole lot of longing or swoony moments. I didn't seem to miss it though, that's not the kind of story this is. Thinking about that, I don't think this is the kind of story of MFEO these-two-would-end-up-together-no-matter-what story. If they didn't have their chance meeting there on that beach, it's unlikely they'd have connected the same way. It's not trauma bonding exactly, but not a fated sort of situation either, at least in my opinion.

I think I would have rated the book higher except for the soap opera level of drama on the periphery of the story. I think I just didn't buy Pearl's mother's origin story well. It cast a strange pallor over everything.

What I really loved is the extended and thorough ending. It's not the usual pacing of a 'standard' romance where things get wrapped up in a matter of pages...this one gives you time to breathe and live with the characters as they resolve all the little threads that need tied up before we leave them to their happily ever after. It just felt refreshing.

I also loved that Jordan got to go dirt track racing - that's where you can find my family on summer weekends with my husband racing his open wheel cars. When they took out their sunglasses to dodge flying dirt I laughed out loud!

I have to say I'm curious about this series. I see the first book is the sister's story, and though I know a few things about what happen in the previous book naturally from the narrative of this sequel, I think I may still pick it up.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I much preferred this to the first novel in the series as I felt I could connect more to Pearl. I found myself a bit uncomfortable with Jordan's perspectives--particularly his commentary on women throwing themselves at him--but overall it would be a great summer read.

Was a fantastic book that i thoroughly recommend and will be buying as I need a trophy version lol. I enjoying the different dynamics at play between the main characters especially towards the end.