A tragic accident of a mutual friend pushed them apart. Ten long years passed until they met each other once again. Brad was surprised to see Gabrielle and still fostered some guilt over how they parted. Words that could never be taken back left each other feeling lost. They finally get a second chance to honor their friend and fill the aching hole that had been left in their hearts.

This is a really good book. It’s the first book by this author that I have read but I’m going to be looking for more by him. I’m not a race fan but I really enjoyed reading this one. Gabby and Brad used to be friends when things went bad between them. They are brought back together when Brad needs a new race car driver and Gabby walks in the door. This tells how friends become enemies and then they learn that love can fix all things. There’s excitement and espionage happening just like it happens in real life. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book that I received from Netgalley.

Although this was not the best, or most well-researched, or hottest car-racing themed romance I have ever read, I still really enjoyed it. The characters were relatable, if a little bit on the over-achiever side of normal. Brad and Gabby's relationship seemed real, and I enjoyed watching them grow together, while dealing with external job-related pressures.

The writing was good and the plot was interesting

Ten years ago, a racing crash killed their best friend, and put the male protagonist in the hospital. Though the cause was a cut tire, the female lead blames herself, and he blames her too, so now that they’re forced to work together on the same racing team they have to figure out how to deal with those residual emotions, as well as romance blossoming between them.
Had to laugh at how this author made up names for the races, the tracks, even the series. In Tammy Kahler’s Kate Reilly series, everything is true to life other than the names of the racers, so it’s an unusual contrast. And I’m always amazed when a writer throws in the name of a favorite movie or a band I know, in this case Halestorm.
So all in all, thoroughly enjoyable. Not the same feeling as other racing stories, like Tammy Kahler’s, but then this is a romance, not a mystery. There’s an amazing amount of psychology going on here, from the usual racing stuff to PTSD. Would have felt just the same without the romance, but then I don’t think I’m the target audience here; lack of communication rather than the usual miscommunication was the problem that popped up this time.
One thing that annoyed me was that at the beginning of chapter two there’s too many male characters introduced at once! Easy there, tiger. But that was really–well, almost–the only negative. Though the driving scenes are short and undetailed, almost treated like afterthoughts, the behind-the-scenes stuff was fun. And it’s set up for a sequel.
But I would be remiss if I did not point out something that bugged me. Though it’s made obvious that the one-dimensional villain and his cronies cause crashes and otherwise screw with the protagonists, they never get punished. There’s not even a mention of the race stewards—if there are any—checking the video evidence. And while it’s said a few times that Gabrielle checks her social media, nowhere does it say how the internet feels about the jerk antagonist. Those details would have made me feel better about the ending. At times it feels like, despite setting this in the world of auto racing, the author has no interest in it, just using it as a backdrop.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

I’ve read this author before and he writes great sports romances. More than that, he actually makes obscure sports interesting and a wonderful backdrop to the romance happening between the main characters. Not to say that open-wheel racing (yup I learned a new term) is obscure. I know it isn’t however it is obscure to me having never watched a race in my entire life… and I’m a mega sports fan. After reading this story though, I actually watched racing that happened to be on when I flipped the television on Saturday. That’s the thing with this author – he doesn’t hit you over the head with the sport, but he does effortlessly weaves the action into the story where by the end, you’ve learned enough to be dangerous.

Cangany writes sweet romance so I’ll lodge my long-standing complaint there wasn’t enough heat for my liking, but there was passion between the main characters, and love. Their backstory was unique enough to pique my interest and although this was certainly guaranteed to be a HEA, I was a little concerned with our lovers’ fate.

Highly recommend for anyone who likes any romance, sweet, sports, or otherwise.

Oh, a warning. Do NOT finish this book the night before you have a 3-hour road trip. You may or may not break some speeding laws.

Full disclosure – I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I can't wait to try more, was a great read and I really enjoyed it. It held my interest from the beginning and was action packed with amazing characters to enjoy. Would recommend

3.5 stars
Good reunion story - but there felt like a lack of romantic connection between the two main characters, Gabrielle and Brad. Ten years ago, Gabrielle caused a crash that ended Brad’s racing career and killed their mutual best friend. When they are reunited through Brad's boss hiring Gabrielle as their new driver, we get a sense of their past friendship, but mostly the overwhelming guilt both feel surrounding the death of their mutual friend, J.P.., and Brad having to give up his dream of being a race car driver due to his injuries. What I did not get a sense of was that they were romantically interested in one another ten years ago.

And maybe that's why I had a harder time relating to these two as being reunited in a romantic sense. Both have issues surrounding the accident that need to be resolved so they can move forward. Maybe the story needed more background on the two of them together in the past to help me feel like they had a romantic connection? I don't know but I just didn't feel it.

What I did like was the strength and class Gabrielle showed in competing in a very male dominated field. Although she was struggling with her own demons, she put her best effort forward and focused on her race car driving career. Very hard to do in a sport dominated by men. The support the team owner gave her was also awesome!

Thank you NetGalley and Adams Media for an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.