This was such a sweet book that I really enjoyed and read so quick! Despite not being super familiar with competitive rowing outside of knowing how incredible of an athletic feat it is, I was rooting for Kath so hard. It is so difficult to pull yourself back up after losing, especially at the level of talent she is against. I really wanted her to find her drive again and I was so happy that she as able to do that with the help of Adrian. God, Adrian. Where to start with him? He's genuinely a beautiful person, inside and out. I was so invested in him as a coach and his care for his team was really heartwarming. I felt for the kids in his team that we got to know.

In the last 10% of the book, I went through a whirlwind of emotions. I was happy and sad! I think that it showed how much Kath and Adrian had to overcome with their own journeys. I loved the entire story from start to finish. I feel like everyone else like Kath's mom and her best friend also grew in their own ways. No one had to sacrifice themselves or what they truly wanted out of life. Kath's heart-to-heart with her mom healed something inside me. It was truly something I think everyone should hear. I love how Kath and Adrian made things work. I cannot stop saying love in this review but that is truly the word that encapsulates their story for me.

Thank you so so so so so much to Ballantine/Dell and NetGalley for the ARC. This was beautifully done!

4 Stars – Olympic dreams, hometown heat, and one sweaty, slow-burn romance 🛶🔥

Okay, I did not expect to care this much about rowing, but here we are.

Katherine Parker is laser-focused on her Olympic dreams. She's got the spreadsheet, the protein shakes, the no-fun lifestyle—all of it. She’s the kind of girl who probably color-codes her playlists and hydrates like her life depends on it (and honestly, it kinda does). But then, life slaps her mid-race—boyfriend dumps her at the starting line (rude), she tanks the race, and suddenly her dreams are sinking faster than her boat.

Enter: Coach Adrian. Local legend. Tall, smirky, mysterious. Basically the rowing world's answer to Mr. Darcy if Mr. Darcy had biceps, a kayak, and no time for your drama. He's not just hot—he’s emotionally competent. And that should be illegal. But he's also not here to play by her rigid rules. He’s going to break down her walls, both mental and emotional, whether she likes it or not. Spoiler: she doesn’t. At first.

The enemies-to-lovers energy? Chef’s kiss. The training montages? Sweaty, tense, and unexpectedly flirty. Their banter? Peak. He pushes her to let go, to live a little, and to remember why she fell in love with the sport in the first place—not just the gold.

There’s a great balance of emotional vulnerability, character growth, and delicious tension that builds like a perfect stroke rhythm. Plus, the romance doesn’t eclipse Kath’s ambition—it compliments it. She’s never forced to choose between love and her goals, and honestly? That’s refreshing as hell.

Final thoughts: Racing Hearts is for the girlies who like their sports romance with a little burn (in the quads and in the heart), their characters messy-but-determined, and their HEAs earned one sweaty training session at a time. Four stars and one protein shake raised in salute 🥇💪💙

thank you Ballantine, Fell, Netgalley and the author for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC. 

I absolutely requested this book because of that pretty cover. I mean, just look at it! 

I don't love it when the meet cute happens while one of the characters is still in another relationship. 

I didn't like the main character in the beginning, but she definitely grew on me and she also had great growth herself. 

The romance was cute and I really enjoyed the rowing world.

*Arc review*

I have to say I think is my first rowing sports romance but I liked it alot. I knew absolutely nothing about the sport before this book and it was pretty self explanatory and easy to follow. Moving onto the FMC I really did not like her at the beginning but also understood why she was the way she was and was happy to see some much growth. All of the characters were just a blast and I enjoyed this alot! Thank you for the ARC!

Katherine's life is going up in flames: her dreams of reaching the olympics are slipping through her fingers, her boyfriend dumps her, and she is forced to abandon her carefully crafted plans to return to her hometown and train with a new coach. And of course her new coach, Adrian, is hot. When he starts challenging her perspective of training and her goals, Katherine begins to learn how to let go and accept that happiness is rooted in more than her athletic goals.

As Katherine and Adrian's relationship spirals into more than just a coach/trainee dynamic, they connect over their shared love of rowing. As someone who didn't know much about the sport before reading this book, I walked away with a new appreciation for it and with Ann Adams on my radar for exciting authors debuting in 2026!

Kath is a dedicated competitive solo rower and aspiring Olympian. She is on a losing streak and gets booted out of the Olympic Training Center. Her coach asks her to train with a new coach who typically works with high schoolers for a couple of months in hopes she will improve and learn to relax a little. Her new coach, Adrian, is very attractive but Kath finds his methods a bit too unconventional for her liking and she struggles to let go of her rigid routines and rituals. However, once she tries something new, Kath begins to realize there might be more to life than rowing after all.

This is a charming (sports) romance. I enjoyed learning more about professional rowing. Adrien and Kath have chemistry and it was great to see them both go on their own growth journeys.

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This story is okay. I did enjoy the character development a little bit and I’m not a fan of this book. The romance is cute. But I wouldn’t also dislike this book. It’s just a meh or maybe.

Kath is a rigid and organized gal who’s a little stuck in her ways—until everything she cares about is turned upside down. With the help of Adrian, she must learn to undo everything she thought she knew in order to achieve her dreams.

This book was so cute and a real breath of fresh air. Who doesn't love great character development, an imperfect but smart and charismatic FMC, and a soft, kind, and adorably fun MMC?

If you're in need of a good book that's more than just a fluffy romance (not to say fluffy romances don’t have their purpose—they do!), but also has a strong plot, clever problem-solving, and lovable characters, I’d highly recommend Racing Hearts by Ann Adams.

I can say with absolute certainty that I LOVED this book. If anyone gives this less than 4 stars, they are either having a bad day or are out of their minds.

This story followers rower Kath and coach Adrian. Kath just lost her place at the nationals training facility and has to go home to Berkeley. While there, she is trailing with Adrian which has a weird philosophy for training: Get out of your head. Get into your body. He wants his athletes to break away from their routines and have some fun. Kath is not for this, but the more time they spend together the more she embraces this change and the chance to love.

Adrian was amazing. I loved that he found every opportunity to tell Kath she is “extraordinary.” He is so uplifting and sweet to Kath and the other kids he was training (please note, he trains teenagers but he and Kath are adults).

Kath was the confident person I wish I could be. She knows what she wants (to be in the Olympics) and won’t stop until she gets it. She is reluctant to fall in love, but she can’t resist Adrian. After nights playing skee-ball and homemade dinners, she lets herself be with him.

I loved the writing style, plot, characters, and well everything. I don’t see any flaws. Sheer perfection.

*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. Trust me, I’m as honest as they come. If I didn’t like this book, you would know. But I loved it, so tell everyone and pick this book up when it comes out.

I don't know why I expected her to have any sort of personality outside of rowing. She was a control freak, committed to rowing to the point of obsession. It's hard for me to root for the romance when I hate one of the characters. And bless his heart, the male love interest was a dream boat, but he only likes her because she's so impressive at rowing

thank you to Dell/Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Bantam, Dell, and NetGalley for the advance reading copy! 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 is a captivating rowing romance full of chemistry and heart - a guaranteed hit for sports romance readers releasing in 2026.

Olympic hopeful Kath has just lost a race, her boyfriend, and her coach. Kicked out of the training center and forced to train with the coach of her former high school program, she struggles to see a path forward to her dreams. She resists Adrian's coaching style, ignoring requests from USRowing to prove her adaptability. But as she gives into the new training program and her feelings grow complicated, especially as she is evaluating Adrian for a junior national team coaching position, she'll have to decide where her priorities lie - or if rowing and love can share a place in her heart.

Rowing has played a large role in my life - I've filled a seat as a rower, projected a powerful voice as a coxswain, and provided athlete guidance as a coach. The sport doesn't receive enough attention, especially in the world of contemporary sports romance, so I've been eager to read this title since its announcement!

One of my favorite things about the sport, besides the challenge, dedication, and discipline, is this weightless feeling - a moment when you're in perfect sync with your crew, the rhythmic clicking of the oars in the oar locks with each stroke, the seamless glide over the water so smooth it's like glass. You feel almost as if you are flying. It's peaceful amidst the physically demanding and grueling requirements of the sport, and I love the balance and reward for hard work.

𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 embodies that feeling, portraying the devotion and obsession with the sport. The story even includes several rites of passage for any crew, and I love how it's such a great representation of the sport and the daily life of a rower for readers who are unfamiliar with the sport! I also love the creative liberties Ann included, merging the sport with necessary elements of a fantastic romance story. The characters are as vibrant as the beautiful cover design, leaping off the page with realistic dialogue and emotions. It's no surprise 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 will translate to a screen adaption that is already in the works!

At its core, 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 is not only a passionate exposition for rowing, but also a hopeful story for young women with big dreams. Kath is so driven and, while stubborn, I related to and admired her dedication. Her character development is immense but natural, and Ann handled this crucial growth with the ease of a seasoned writer. Adrian is patient and intuitive, and he made for a supportive love interest and coach. I was rooting for the pair from their first meeting - which is a scene with strong chemistry that continues throughout the book!

This debut has such a perfect balance of exciting rowing and swoon-worthy romance, and I'm hoping for more rowing books from Ann! I can't wait for readers to fall in love with Kath and Adrian, Ann's writing, and maybe even rowing, too!

Just look at this adorable cover and then do yourself a favor—read this heartwarming, inspirational book ASAP!

Ladies and gents, we’ve officially got a brilliant new debut author in romance town, and she’s here to steal your heart! This sports romance is everything I didn’t know I needed—it crushed me with feelings, made me giddy, overly emotional, and left me thinking, “This book is freaking amazing!” I haven’t seen such a sincere, emotionally rich, and slow-burn dynamic between a coach and athlete since Kulti. And rowing? What a refreshing and underrepresented sport in romance fiction! (The only other time I recall seeing it was with Elizabeth and Calvin in Lessons in Chemistry—and even that was for relaxation, not competition.)

Let’s talk characters—because they are EVERYTHING.

Katherine is a fierce, driven athlete. She’s prickly, rigid, ruled by routines and superstitions (including her sacred pre-race lemon bar). But those rules? They’re her armor. With a father absent and a chaotic childhood marked by instability and a free-spirited mother, Katherine clings to discipline as her way of surviving. Rowing began as a hobby and grew into her entire identity. It’s not just what she does—it’s who she is.

But after a disappointing season and a string of bad results, she loses her spot at the elite training facility—her one safe haven. Her best friend Sofi is now miles away, and Katherine finds herself back in her hometown, living with her herb-growing, yoga-teaching, incense-burning mother (where the kitchen sink has literally been replaced with basil). It's not ideal, but at least her mother’s romantic chaos is a thing of the past.

Just when Katherine thinks she’s hit rock bottom, she’s assigned to train at the local youth center—and who walks in as her new coach? Oh, just Adrian, the green-eyed, citrus-scented stranger she almost kissed at a regatta after-party. The same man she had an impromptu arm-wrestling match with over the last lemon bar at an Italian café. Yep. That’s him.

Adrian is charming, intuitive, adventurous, and adored by the teens he trains. His coaching style? The complete opposite of Katherine’s drill-sergeant mentality. He encourages rest, joy, connection. He listens. He adapts. He teaches her to fall in love with rowing again—but more importantly, he shows her how to love it for herself. Not just for the medals or structure. His methods are thoughtful, grounded, and unexpectedly brilliant. And soon, rowing isn’t the only thing Katherine finds herself falling for…

But falling for your coach? That’s a line she’s terrified to cross. To let Adrian in, she’ll have to break down the walls she’s spent a lifetime building. Could she risk it all for something real—something that might just change the course of her life forever?

Overall: Adrian deserves a role in the MCU as Citrus Man, with empathy as his superpower! I adored him. This book is motivational, tender, funny, and so beautifully written. It’s the kind of romance that inspires you to dream bigger, feel deeper, and breathe a little easier. I’m already adding this sensational new author to my auto-read list and can’t wait to see what she does next.

A very huge thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine / Dell for sharing this splendid, feel-good sports romance’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you Ballantine for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a wildly impressive debut book. It’s so well constructed and so visibly evident the amount of heart that went into every element of within the story. The writing was beyond immersive that nearly every scene painted clear cut pictures in my mind. Let’s make it clear that Ann Adams will be making waves in everything she touches.

Racing Hearts follows Katherine who’s a competitive rower. Upon a series of unfortunate placings in competitive events, she finds herself kicked out of her training center, dropped from her sponsorships, and sent home to train with a local coach. Enter Adrian. He’s a high school rowing coach with a growing reputation amongst the eyes of professionals. A laidback, adaptable coach who thrives off of personal connection and a regimented, strong-willed rower who flourishes with order and consistency make a contradictory duo. But when walls start to crack and breakthroughs begin arising, how will there newfound connection begin to affect their dreams?

This was my first ever sports romance book with rowing and it was so fun. Adrian and Kath had a charming meet cute. From their first encounter, as a reader, you could already see their sparks begin to fly. But what began to lose me a part of the way through was a bit of the setting and the elements where Adrian and Kath would have their more personal heart to heart moments. I get that this is a sports romance, one of my all time favorite tropes, and am fully aware of the fact that it plays such a huge role into the book. What I struggled with was the fact that we never got to see these characters outside of anything to rowing or an extension to it. Yes they’d go to yoga, but that was apart of their training schedule. Yes they went to an arcade, but that was to teach Kath she can still have fun amidst training. Yes they had time off, but all conversation would center back to it all being about rowing. I wanted to get to know these characters outside of that a bit. Even with conflict, it all centered around rowing. Like the lack of confidence in coaching abilities, or that lack of confidence in competing abilities. Their romantic relationship thrived off of bonding to rowing, and I get having that first middle ground connection, but what else between these characters connects them? It just seemed Kath and Adrian were only tied together via rowing. If there’s one thing I get, it’s just how much time and effort, blood and sweat goes into being a professional athlete and making it big. But maybe it’s my own naivety of simply being unaware of JUST how much time really consumes these professional athletes day to day life (nothing but awe and respect!), but I just wanted to know these characters a bit more—see what their connection looks like outside of rowing, even if it was just a smidge.

With all that said, I want to highlight the fact that this is still an utterly dignified debut. I still really enjoyed it, and believe that when it enters the world come February 2026 it will meet the hands of readers who will love and cherish this story. I’m so excited to see the movie adaptation of this and all that Ann Adams will do in the future.

Thank you for this ARC 🩷

This was my first sports book on rowing, and I loved it! I was hooked from the first chapter when Kath's superstitious nature led her to a Pasticceria in Italy. Each chapter kept getting better with drama, heartache, competition and spicy romance scenes!!!!

Also, seeing how much Kath loved rowing and how she wouldn't let one loss deter her from her dreams was so inspiring. I also enjoyed how the male protagonist in this story never let Kath doubt how extraordinary she was. We all need a person like Adrian *swoon*

Recommend to all readers once the book comes out in 2026 📖

Racing Hearts isn’t a love story, it’s a love letter to rowing, grit, and to never letting the hard days win & it happens to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.

Kath Parker is a determined, fierce, and absolute badass National Team Rower. But, she has some routines that maybe aren’t the most helpful. After losing her spot at the training center she’s forced to relocate to her hometown and train under Adrian, a young coach with unconventional coaching methods. Racing hearts is everything you want in a romcom: laughable moments, main characters that make you swoon, and a plot you can’t stop reading. However, Racing Hearts was so much more than that.

As a former rower, Racing Hearts made me feel seen. Women who row (besides coxswains) aren’t small but large and powerful. It felt so. good. to see a main character who was strong and tall and muscular and who WANTS to look that way. Kath Parker is a character you want to see on a movie screen.

Adrian is a man that I’m convinced could only be dreamed up when you hit the 6k eyes glazing over mark of a 10k erg. He is so perfect. The way he empowers Kath & never ONCE puts her down makes me wish I had a coach like him (besides the fact he’s gorg.)

The side relationships in Racing Hearts took me by surprise. Kath‘s relationship building with her mom was by far one of my favorite parts. It was so delicate and beautiful it made the story a thousand times better. The highschoolers were perfect, that’s all.

Racing Hearts is a story that will live on in me forever. It’s a love letter to rowing, hard work, and to looking on the bright side. I don’t think I could love a contemporary romance more. Thank you to Ann Adams for writing such an incredible story, you have made all of the blisters, the erg tests, and the tears worth it. :)


Thank you Dell Romance & Ann Adams for the e-arc.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.