Review of Coming in Hot by Josie Juniper

Coming in Hot is a sparkler of a romance that ignites from the first page and keeps the energy high throughout. Josie Juniper delivers a story that’s equal parts witty banter, emotional depth, and sizzling chemistry—a delicious read that offers both comfort and smolder.

What I loved:

Voice and dialogue: Juniper’s prose is crisp and clever. The dialogue feels natural, sharp, and fun, making the characters’ chemistry leap off the page.

Characters: The leads are refreshingly real—quirky, endearing, and flawed in all the right ways. They grow individually and as a couple, each scene deepening their connection.

Pacing and momentum: The plot moves at a brisk, enjoyable pace. Conflict rises naturally, tension builds effectively, and the resolution feels both earned and satisfying.

Themes and depth:
Beyond the heat and humor, Coming in Hot explores trust, self-worth, and the courage to take emotional risks. Juniper balances lighthearted moments with genuine vulnerability, creating a romance that’s fun yet emotionally engaging.

Final thoughts:
Whether you’re in the mood for a breezy beach read or a character-driven romance with heart, Coming in Hot delivers on all fronts. Josie Juniper has crafted a delightful escape—witty, warm, and wonderfully romantic. Highly recommended for fans of contemporary romance that doesn’t shy away from real feelings.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio | Forever for an ALC of this title! I unfortunately had to DNF this one. Nothing against the narrators, the story just wasn't for me!

I read the digital ARC with plans to do an immersive read using the audio too, but I ended up just sticking with the ebook. The Formula 1 setting was fun and unique, and the concept had a lot of promise. That said, I think age-gap romance just might not be for me. I struggled to really connect with the characters and didn’t love how their relationship developed. It wasn’t a bad read, I still enjoyed parts of it, but it didn’t fully click for me the way I hoped it would. I still think others might seriously enjoy this though… it’s not the book… it’s me…

I really wanted to love this one, but I had to DNF (which I HATE doing 😭) Maybe I'm just not a fan of insta-love, but I didn't feel any connection to either MC nor did I feel a real soulful connection between the two of them. No part of me wanted to listen to this book for 10ish hours and I really hate saying that 😔
Giving it 2 stars because the cover deserves a star for itself and I'm incapable of going below 2 on a rating 😅
Thank you to Net Galley and Hachette Audio for the ARC!

I tried. I really did. The audio for this did not work for me. The male narrator was quite good as Klaus. However, when he had to voice Natalia, he got very breathy and made her sound like an airhead. It was not the best. The female narrator was also ok and this is where I am not sure if it is the narrators or the source material, but she was very whiny and annoying. The character was southern and at times this came through. When she was voicing side characters who were still living in the South, she did sound southern. Though it might have been your stereotypical, trashy southern, no elegance at all. I eventually stopped the audio and finished the book in e-format and enjoyed it more.

Overall this book was written just fine. I will read the author again and I am very interested in finally circling back to book 1 in the series as well as reading the next book in the series. With regard to CIH:
The FMC needs therapy. She was pretty terrible and she knew she had issues with the fact that her parents abandoned her. And yet, she continued to live life and just blame all of her problems on being abandoned rather than actually dealing with them. When she meets Klaus, I wasn't even sure he was the MMC at first (again, audio to start) and I couldn't decide if I even liked him. She's incredibly negative from the beginning of the book and stays there through most of it.

There's not only a third act breakup but we get one in the first AND second acts too. The hits just keep coming! Just when you thought these two had their ish together, they broke up again. And the third act breakup, while valid, was just handled so poorly by the FMC. I just hope others don't read this as an example of how relationships should go. Every time he tried to apologize, grovel, atone, she twisted it around into something manipulative and nefarious. She was so wishy-washy. But Klaus persevered.

I didn't like the storyline with her deadbeat parents though I see why it fit in with the overarching plot with Klaus and the bit at the end. However, it made it really hard for me, the reader, to want to even read any scene with her parents. I was already DONE with them and did not find any of their groveling satisfying at all.

The book was fine. While the author made choices that I didn't like as a reader, I do wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had just read it with my eyeballs from the jump. Will keep these eyes out for book 3 bc I didn't hate it.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. The narration and sound quality for the audiobook were excellent, definitely a highlight. But in terms of story, the pacing felt off. The first half dragged and could have been trimmed significantly, while the second half needed more time and detail to really land emotionally. The time jumps and lack of development between the characters made it hard to understand their connection. I honestly didn’t see why they were into each other beyond physical attraction. The second half was more enjoyable, as we finally got to learn more about them and see some real plot unfold, but even then, it felt a bit awkward and lacking in depth.

3.5 stars (rounded to 4)
Spice starts early on - though the characters are built upon after this and a story line develops
Meet MMC early on even though you don’t know who is in straight away
F1 romance - not much race content, more focused on the travel/politics of the F1 scene
Audiobook - the voice actors are brilliant and both are able to do multiple accents to portray the different characters. I am always uneasy when a man in an audiobook is voicing a female’s part in a sex scene though.
I enjoyed different ethnicities being portrayed.

***SPOILER***
The pregnancy trope at the end felt a bit rushed and a bit like an excuse to get them back together at the end for the ‘happily ever after’

DNF’d at 30%.

I really wanted to love this one—it’s an F1 romance with an age gap and a forbidden workplace dynamic, which usually checks all my boxes. But unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.

The pacing felt off, with time jumps that were confusing and didn’t add anything. The characters came across as shallow and kind of toxic, and I found the dialogue awkward and cringy at times. I couldn’t connect with either of the leads and honestly didn’t care what was happening in the plot. It just felt like it was missing something, and I wasn’t having a good time reading it.

Bummed this one didn’t hit, but I had to call it.

Thank you to the publisher for the ALC.

The good: I loved the narrators! If it hadn’t been for their performance, I probably would have put the book down though because I just wasn’t engaged with the plot or the characters. The spice was well written!

What I didn’t like: there are a lot of time jumps and it doesn’t really feel like their relationship developed well. I was hooked at the beginning but then lost interest about midway. I also wish there was more F1 in the book.

3.5 stars.. I enjoyed coming in hot! The characters had good chemistry and I liked how both the MMC and FMC had their own inner conflict to work on. As the story develops we see them grow both individually and as a couple.

That said, I did struggle a bit with the pacing - the big time jumps made it harder for me to fully connect with the characters. I found myself wishing for more scenes in between to really explore the relationship / character development more as some parts of the story felt a little rushed. Still the book as a whole kept me invested enough to want to listen through to the end.

The narration on the audiobook was good, the voices felt like they fit the characters quite well! the accent on the male narration was a little off at times but it wasn't a huge issue and it didn't interrupt the flow.

This book was so cute! Spicy right off the bat. If you enjoyed the Dirty Air series by Lauren Asher you’ll love this one!

If you love age-gap, slow-burn romance with a glamorous sports backdrop, this F1 audiobook should be on your list!

Natalia is a journalist newly assigned to the F1 circuit; Klaus is a wealthy, guarded team principal. A chance meeting leads to an unforgettable one-night stand, which quickly turns awkward when they have to keep working near each other through a globe-trotting season full of secrets, scandal, and undeniable tension.

🎧 The audiobook narration by Max Rauch and Cecily Foster was beautifully done. Both narrators matched their characters perfectly and gave real depth to side characters too. Although, Max gave Klaus a British accent for internal monologue and an Austrian accent when speaking aloud, while Cecily kept a more consistent accent for Klaus in her POV — a slight mismatch that was occasionally distracting, but overall added didn't detract too much richness and emotion.

I loved how deeply flawed yet human both characters felt: Klaus learning (albeit slowly) to listen and respect Natalia, and Natalia confronting her abandonment issues and complicated family history. The slow-burn tension kept me hooked, and when it finally snapped, the payoff was worth it. The F1 setting felt authentic and immersive, even for someone who doesn’t follow the sport, and Klaus’s slightly old-fashioned, almost poetic way of speaking made him feel unique and memorable. The spice hit just the right note, adding heat without overshadowing the story, and the side plots, especially Natalia’s relationship with her estranged parents and Klaus' battle with grief and guilt, added real emotional depth.

That said, I did struggle a bit with the frequent time jumps, which sometimes threw off the flow. Natalia’s relationships outside of Klaus, especially with her best friend, often felt toxic rather than supportive, and while there was character growth, I’m not sure it fully overcame how much of their romance was built on secrets and physical attraction. Towards the end, her professional worries about being impartial seemed to fade away rather than truly resolve, which left me wanting a bit more. Although I wasn't entirely disappointed with how the story concluded!

⚠️ Please check content & Trigger warnings!

✨ Overall, this was an addictive listen with real emotional bite, sizzling tension, and an immersive F1 setting. If you love age-gap romance, complicated leads, and a perfectly done slow burn, you’ll absolutely enjoy this — especially the audiobook. Highly recommend!

I loved that this wasn't the standard driver afair. It was nice to see it about two slightly older adults, one of which being the Team Principal. It's not always the drivers who are hot, but they're the ones in front of the cameras, so they're the ones who are often written about. Max Rauch, the MMC narrator, was amazing, and I truly hope we see more of him! Honestly, both narrators did a fantastic job. The book had some great humor and witty quips, and I appreciated that Klaus and Natalia's relationship didn't happen instantly (yes, the sex happened instantly, but their relationship itself went through quite a few ups and downs). Yes, it's annoying that we're constantly time-jumping, but that's the nature of relationships sometimes - nothing exciting happens, which would make a boring book. My main gripe about this was that they weren't honest from the start. In all honesty, their relationship is built on a LOT of lies and half-truths.

Honestly, third-act breakups aren't as much my thing, and I feel like you can feel that trope coming from the very beginning of this book. The amount of lies they're both telling each other, and the amount of things they're hiding, almost demands a third-act breakup. The lies of omission and the half-truths are understandable to some degree, as they work in fields that need each other symbiotically (F1 racing and reporting). However, to have a genuine relationship, honesty and open communication are essential. That was missing from the very beginning.

There was one sneak attack trope that I absolutely hated (I feel like listing it gives part of the plot away), which threw me for a loop at the very end. Third-act breakups I can get over, but the sneak-attack one I absolutely abhor and will actively skip books with, so it was frustrating to have to endure it. And endure it I DID, as it was the bitter end of the darn book, and at that point, I wasn't marking this as a DNF. It was entirely avoidable and unnecessary to reunite the couple, but it was used, so here we are.

I think that trope is the real reason this only gets three stars from me. The writing was fine, the character dialog, while stilted at times, seemed fine, the characters were fine. It all just felt...fine. Not amazing, not laugh-out-loud worthy, not any real major emotion-worthy (other than frustration at the end).

Natalia Evans is a seasoned journalist, and she needs a big scoop. She needs this job so she can't say no when she has to spend time with Klaus Franke. They spent one night together that needs to stay forgotten, but being around him made that difficult. There was a lot of steamy scenes between two, a lot of push and pull with being together/not together, of having to choose between career or love. The audiobook, narrated by Cecily Foster and Max Rauch was what made this story interesting to read. Their voices brought this story to life and kept me going to the end.

2.5 rounded up to 3 stars

The story was decent and the premise was what sucked me in to begin with. Unfortunately, the toxicity of the characters and the constant time jumps just didn't do it for me (and the *spoiler I will explain at the end* killed all hope I had).

Natalia and Klaus seem fun and well suited, but overall just keep lying to each other and jumping to conclusions about each other. I don't think they had a single honest conversation until the end. They are beyond a mess and yet their messes do click, so not the worst couple. At least there's chemistry and the spice is good!

Phaedra, Nat's best friend, is atrocious. She's overbearing, controlling, and so so rude. Even though I didn't love Nat, this was nearly abusive and then it all just gets swept under the rug and all is fine.

The time jumps are infuriating. Every chapter starts with "x later" where we are playing catch up with the characters as they have already moved past what we were dealing with in the previous chapter. I got irritated every time.

I just couldn't with this book.


SPOILER****





Natalia *shockingly* gets pregnant after unprotected sex when she's not on BC and seems to track her cycles in her head. As soon as Klaus mentioned his deceased wife died after they tried to get pregnant over and over and then discovered her cancer I had a feeling that's where this was headed. The first unprotected encounter ended and I was thankful there was so much left of the book. THEN the unexpected second one? I knew that was it. It's right before the third act breakup and she was "too heartbroken" to get plan B. As a woman, this is infuriating. She spends the whole book talking about how she's not an emotional woman and then she's too emotional to take care of something that will effectively change her entire life? No way.

ALC (ARC) 🎧 Review

3.5 ⭐ (rounded up)

Tropes etc:
💼 workplace romance
💸 billionaire MMC
🩵 he falls first
🙏groveling
🔥 yearning
#️⃣ age gap
🏎️F1 romance
🌑ONS

Basics of the plot: Natalia is a journalist recently hired to cover F1 sports, the MMC Klaus is a team principal (wealthy) for one of the popular F1 teams. They meet by chance in a hotel bar and have a ONS. Then they are forced into working with/near one another after their ONS didn't end so well (Klaus insulted her). The backdrop / overview summary is that the two are both travelling the world following the F1 season - and are fighting with their mutual attraction to one another and balancing their careers (including how a relationship b/w the two would be perceived if she could be impartial etc.) all the while there is a massive F1 scandal brewing... which leads to the inevitable keeping of secrets/information from one another.

My thoughts in jot form (➖ the negatives):
- time jumping - this books jumps in time constantly, and it messes with the overall flow
- the FMCs relationships (both romantic, friendships and familial) are frequently very toxic, and I didn't like this. Her and her "bestfriend" are basically enemies (and not in an enemies to lovers kind of way)
- while there was some character growth (in particular Klaus learning to listen to her/respect her wishes) it wasn't enough for me given how much toxicity/ dishonesty is involved here
- towards the end/ as the story progressed it felt like we had kind of lost the plot of the FMC being concerned about how a relationship with Klaus would be perceived/ impact her career and not because the issue had been addressed/resolved in my view.
- their relationship is built on lies - and I am not sure enough is done to overcome this fact
- I think the relationship was a bit too focused on physical connection rather than what they liked about one another

My thoughts in jot form (➕ the positives):
- this book had emotional depth
- loved the F1 setting of this book - I think the author did a great job setting the scene for F1 in general - as well as the FMCs career as a journalist
- the characters had chemistry
- the groveling was done well - showed the MMCs growth
- the spice is good
- the FMC is fierce and strong
- I liked the sort of side plots of character growth - i.e. her relationship with her estranged parents
- I enjoyed the way Klaus spoke - sounded Shakespearean at times or like I was reading a regency romance
- there was TENSION between this two which I always love.

Overall - if you are a fan of F1 and age-gap romances I think this book is for you. In particular I recommend the audiobook. Enjoyed Klaus' accent for sure.

*Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC*

I was initially drawn to this book because of the F1 aspect. I have recently developed a like for F1 romances and jumped at the opportunity to check this one out! While the premise was promising, I feel like it fell incredibly flat both in the audio department and with the general story itself.

Cecily Foster, the female narrator, performing the male dialogue was awkward. I am in general not a fan of a female doing male voices and vice versa; it is distracting and immediately disconnects me from the story. Klaus, the MMC, is Austrian and while I was not a fan of a female attempting a male tone, I do like how she actually gave him an Austrian accent. On the other hand, Max Rauch, the male narrator, gave Klaus a British accent. While I understand this might be Max Rauch's native, natural accent, the disparity between the two narrators was distracting.

The story felt under developed. I wanted to be immersed in the F1 world and I simply did not feel that way at all. F1 just felt like a shiny accessory versus the high-octane, expansive, colorful world that I have discovered it to be. Natalia and Klaus felt surface level to me. One moment. Natalia is inner monologuing about maintaining emotional distance from Klaus, and the next moment she is kissing him in a random residential neighborhood. I did like how the author seemed to be wanting them to have a friendship before their relationship blossomed (despite having slept with each other the first time they met) but ultimately, it was poorly executed.

I also think the author struggled with too much tell and not enough show. Natalia and her best friend got into a falling out about a quarter of the way through the book, but this was conveyed to the reader by way of Natalia reflecting on the argument some time after it happened versus showing the argument. I found this too surface level which barred me from caring about the Natalia and her best friend reconciling. The time jumps between Natalia and Klaus seeing each other were also somewhat awkward. Days would pass between Natalia and Klaus having an in-person interaction and the only way we'd know that is Natalia telling us...right before she ends up seeing him again. What was she doing during that time apart? What was Klaus doing during that time apart? That insight would have been helpful to build longing between the two of them but instead it was a total miss.

This F1 romance had moments that completely pulled me in, but also sections that felt overwhelming with too many names and details. Natalia and Klaus had great chemistry, and the setup—journalist unknowingly falling for a team principal—was full of tension and intrigue. While some pacing issues made it hard to stay fully engaged, the emotional stakes and twists kept me curious until the end. A solid read for fans of high-stakes, slow-burn romance with a sports backdrop.

Always great to find a F1 read. Spicy, but the chemistry really wasn’t there for me unfortunately. I love the setting and I fully am behind the constant time changes and different destinations - that makes sense with F1.

Klaus was a bit of an ick for me as he definitely reminded me of someone who is a current TP 😳👀
Natalia was alright, but with such a wild industry and job the romance fell flat to me, and I wasn’t convinced. Felt a lot more like a bunch of hookups.

Thanks for the ARC NetGalley!

NetGalley kindly provided me this arc as an audiobook, and I was so excited! Unfortunately though, for me, this book flopped massively.

I don’t know whether it was due to it being an audiobook but it felt incredibly waffley where at times I would zone out. The Fmc acted like she did nothing wrong the whole time and it was all the Mmc’s fault. The plot was quickly forgotten multiple times throughout the book, including people’s opinions and decisions. Opinions, decisions and plot flip flopped so much that every second of this book felt like whiplash and at times I even forgot it was an f1 book due to how little the topic was actually mentioned. Genuinely, I think the Fmc admiring the Mmc was mentioned more than the plot itself; she was far too lustful to the point where I was getting tired of hearing how “dreamy” this 45 year old man was. There was so much breaking up and getting back together that I lost track and the sex scenes were SO cringe.

I was disappointed as I didn’t enjoy the dirty air series and was hoping this one would be it, but unfortunately it wasn’t. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc nevertheless as I am still grateful to have read it and been able to review it.