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! 🏁📚

DNF - I had high hopes for my first F1 romance, but I found it difficult to get past the writing style.

“She tastes like everything that makes life worth living”

Yalll, the “boy obsessed” trope in this was done SOO well. The way he was obsessed with her after one little kiss did me in.

The way he called her his lucky charm and throughout the story all of his actions were so considerate and intentional. I can’t get over them!

This was the most wholesome F1 romance I’ve read thus far. 🥹

"Cross the Line" by Simone Soltani is a swoon-worthy slow-burn romance set against the thrilling backdrop of Formula 1. When Dev, a hotshot driver with a social media scandal on his hands, turns to Willow—his best friend’s little sister—for help, sparks fly, and so do the complications. Dev and Willow’s chemistry is undeniable, but they’re determined to keep things professional… at least at first. I loved how their romantic relationship developed naturally, with both characters being so supportive of each other. While the middle of the book was a bit slow for me, there’s no frustrating miscommunication trope near the end, so it was well worth taking my time. Plus, the disability representation is handled really well. If you’re into sports romances, especially F1, this one will give you all the feels!

I've been really into sports romance lately, not sure why (ha kidding, I know why!), so I thought I would try out a racing romance novel.

It was cool to have the different sport per se, however, I found this to be really long and didn't think it really needed to be (like 400 pages?).

I liked the banter between the characters, it was witty and funny.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for my DRC.

Cross the Line was a book I was looking forward to reading, especially wtih the diverse characters and F1 racing background. However; I the plot fell flat for me and I couldn't stay engaged with either the characters or overall racing. I ended up "not finishing" this book at the 30% mark. However; I may pick up another by Soltani and give her another try!

a brothers best friend romance, so cute!! I've never really gotten into formula 1 books but this one was so exciting and absolutely stinking adorable!! Willow and Dev were such a great pair.

”Good luck today.”
“Don’t need it, I’ve got you.”

Found it boring and repetitive, I don’t really think this should’ve been 400 pages. It was cute at times but overall, I wasn’t invested. Brother’s best friend is just not for me, and that’s okay.

Huge thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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A public image in crisis and a best friend’s little sister is the basis to this romance, but set in the racing world! This was a really fun one! Dev’s reputation needs saving and the only one who can save it is Willow. They each know the other should be off limits but love doesn’t work that way! Loved this one!

I didn't know I needed and F1 romance, but I sure did!
I loved this book. That characters were diverse. The plot was *chefs kiss*.
Although it was a very light hearted book, the characters still had serious discussions. And I love that!
I love depth in my romance novels! We can be serious, funny, and sexy. And this book proved that!