The slow burn in this book was done so well. While we didn't really see much character development, the story was fun, and an easy read. It was the first F1 book I've read, but it wasn't full of lingo that wouldn't make sense to someone who wasn't in the world, which was nice. I loved the diversity of the main characters as well, even if it was just a subplot. Cannot wait to read more in this world!

I love the cover of this, and I tried hard to get into it but it felt like a slow start and didn't connect to their characters and their chemistry felt off.

I love a cute sports romance and this is exactly what this book is 4 stars low stakes but so good and I entertaining and a great palate cleanser. When needing a cute read

I enjoyed this F1 brother's best friend romance! I did think it was a bit slow at times, but I overall had a good time reading it. I really liked Willow as the main character, and the Ehler's-Danlos syndrome representation was really great, as it's not something I've read a lot of. The relationship between Willow and Dev was pretty cute, but it felt a bit bland. Overall, this book was a cute romance and I'm interested in the second book! :)

I had been anticipating this book since it was first announced as a self-pub'd title. So I had really high hopes by the time I finally got my hands on a copy! And this was such a fun, swoony romance!

I'm not always a huge fan of the brother's best friend trope - because I find that the conflict always comes to down to this idea that the opinion of someone outside the relationship matters more than the MC's. So I really appreciated that while that is brought up, there is much more to the main conflict.

I loved how the heroine's disability was represented. I loved the travel/forced proximity. And I LOVED that there was no 3rd act breakup.

So excited for the next book(s) in this series!!

this book is perfect for f1 fans/romance lovers! I loved everything about it, and I can’t wait to read the next one! would definitely recommend!

This was my first F1 romance and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't know anything about F1 and was still able to enjoy the story and root for the characters. Very interested to see what the author writes next.

If you enjoy stories with racing, forbidden love, childhood connections turning romantic, and a slow build, this one might be perfect for you.
Dev is such a sweetheart and a standout male lead. The story also includes amazing representation with POC main characters and chronic illness woven into the narrative. While Willow is a solid protagonist, Dev completely won me over.
overall really enjoyed this one a lot!

I wasn't sure about a romance with a racing background, but this was did intrigue me.

I liked Willow and Dev well enough. They're both good people with an intertwined history and it was interesting to read them figure things out. There are a good amount of characters here, but we only got snippets of them.

Plot wise, it's pretty fast paced and action filled. I enjoyed the racing scenes more than I thought I would. The scenes between Willow and Dev felt superficial and more telling than showing when it came to their chemistry.

Overall, it was a quick read and I was invested enough to finish, but I'm not sure I'll be reading the next one in the series.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the advanced reader's copy!

Cross the Line by Simone Soltani is my first F1 romance read, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. As for the romance, I found Dev and Willow's relationship cute and tension-filled. The point of conflict was not my favorite, and while I understood its reasoning, it didn't add to the will-they-or-won't-they feel throughout. I found the beginning of the book to be meh, and it took some time to get into it, but I enjoyed their relationship. I wished to see more of their family's interactions, as it would have driven home the point that Dev was Willow's crush and the issue with her ex, which felt like they just briefly discussed but never really showed to convey the fallout that her relationship caused. Overall, this was a decent debut, and I look forward to reading the next book in this series!

This was a fresh and fun romance. I especially loved the chronic illness rep for Willow! Can't wait to read more in the series.

This was such an adorable read and my first F1 romance! Needless to say I’ve been missing out 🤭 And it was brother’s best friend too, one of my favorite tropes!

I knew absolutely nothing about F1 racing before reading this book, but it was clear from the author’s writing that she’d done her research and I ended up learning a lot about the sport!

Dev and Willow were 🤌🏼🤌🏼 I loved how supportive they were of each other and how well they communicated. Watching them fall for each other was SO sweet!

Thank you Berkley Romance and the author for my gifted ARC!

This was a fun contemporary romance. I definitely need to read some more formula one books cuz I fear I’m a little obsessed. I’ll never say no to a brothers best friend romance.

There are a lot of F1 romance novels coming out right now and this is the first one I’ve read. I am excited to continue exploring this sub genre.

I loved this books! This was a sweet quick read and I really enjoyed it!! I am so thankful for the opportunity to read it early!!

I love a man obsessed and this book gave me everything I love about that trope! I was also super excited to get into an F1 romance, as I have never read one and don't know much about the sport! This was a great read!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!! I adored having a south asian lead and there's nothing quite like seeing yourself written to be desirable and loveable on the page. As an F1 girlie this was just so fun to read. Dev is everything I could have ever wanted in a bf - and I want to read more about them and his adoration of her.

It was really fun to have a sports romance set in a new-to-me sport. And while I liked a lot of the story of a woman in a male dominated world, there were times when some overbearing brother vibes felt like crossing over into misogyny.

I liked the banter between the leads so much! But this book also ended up feeling a bit slow and much too long.

3⭐️
"I mean , it was alright” - (Me)

Lauren Asher’s Dirty Air series was my foray into F1 romance and the sport itself. Before that , I thought it was synonymous with NASCAR. Because of my very limited knowledge on the sub-genre, I was excited to see what other author’s have to offer . In comes Simone Soltani’s Cross The Line

I don’t have strong feelings about this - just one big, resounding “meh.” It was easy background noise to accompany me while I did my chores, but nothing special in my eyes. Dev was hot (maybe it’s an accent thing, or maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t understand why they pronounced his name as “Dave”). Willow has my dream job, but they were both, as I said, just “meh.”

I was more invested in the tension and politics surrounding Dev and his team , club? (I don’t know sports, and I don’t feel like Googling the F1 equivalent of a football club) Argonaut Racing, as well as the racing scenes.

“Brother’s best friend” is my least favourite trope and I’ll just have to accept that it will never make sense to me when used as a point of conflict. It’s always such a frivolous hurdle in their relationship since it:

a) takes itself way too seriously,
b) borders on or is explicitly misogynistic
c) is just plain stupid

Cross the Line nearly avoided the sexist undertones of this trope by having the brother react decently. However, there were still mentions of Willow’s “innocence” and how Dev was “corrupting” her and so on.

Because I listened to it, I was more forgiving of the clunky pacing, but I drew the line at the epilogue. What the hell was that??? The editor should have asked the author to restructure some things . Why spend the whole book faffing about, only to start adding new plot points in the epilogue? Did Soltani miss the primary school lesson about not introducing completely new information in the conclusion? It’s one thing to wrap up character arcs, but this was just disorganised.

Audiobook mini-review

The female narrator (Nerissa Bradley) was sooooo one note , like wow , go girl, give us literally nothing . She sounded like she was forced record this. At least Dev’s narrator (Vikas Adams) gave me something.

"It means I don't want to pretend it's easy for me to stay away from you. I'm done acting like I don't want to be near you every second I can."

♥*♡∞:｡.｡ BOOK REVIEW ♥*♡∞:｡.｡

book: Cross the Line by Simone Soltani
genre: Adult Romance
rating: 4 ⭐️

summary:
Cross the Line by Simone Soltani is a sizzling romance that blends the glamorous world of Formula 1 with a brother’s best friend trope. The story follows Dev Anderson, a Formula 1 driver facing a PR disaster that puts his career at risk. In a desperate attempt to salvage his image, Dev reconnects with Willow Williams (his best friend’s little sister) at a party in Monaco. Their situation is complicated by a kiss they shared the previous year that neither has forgotten. Willow, a recent college graduate struggling to find a job, agrees to help Dev manage his public image. Though they promise to keep things strictly professional, their long-standing attraction makes that easier said than done.

thoughts 💭:
I LOVED this book! 🤩 The brother’s-best-friend trope? 🫶 Always a win! And as a huge Formula 1 fan 🏎️, this was chef’s kiss perfect. I flew through it—it was super addictive 📖✨ BUT I gotta admit, the plot took a hot minute to pick up. It kind of dragged until the end, and I wish we got more spicy moments 🌶️ instead of half the book being about them trying (and failing) to keep things professional 😅.

That said, I really enjoyed it overall, and I’m already excited for the next one in the series! 🏁📚