This was my first book by Sharon M. Peterson, but it definitely won't be my last. She had me hooked from chapter one, and I read the entire book with a cheesy grin, laughing and smiling the whole way through. It’s the perfect road trip rom-com with friends-to-lovers and brother’s best friend vibes. My eARC is filled with highlights of all the swoon-worthy moments. I felt the dragons flutter in my stomach just like they did in Alicia's, and I truly didn’t want it to end! I already want to go back to Two Hearts and hang out with Alicia and Theo. I also hope Abe and his daughter Hallie get their story soon because I am obsessed with them. Such a fantastic book—thank you so much, Sharon, for the ARC. I’m obsessed and now need to dive into your backlist because I love your writing so much!

Forbidden brother’s best friend trope. Alicia and Theo have known each other since they were kids. Now that their no longer kids sparks are starting to fly. Forced proximity road tripping together for Alicia’s brother’s wedding highlights just how much chemistry is between them.

This was meh I really liked the idea of this one, but just couldn’t get into it. Alicia just wasn’t very like able and Theo didn’t have much of a personality. Just not my cup of tea.

I loved this cute friends- to- lovers, brother's best friend romcom! Ali and Theo set off on a cross-country road trip to attend Ali's brother's wedding. The only problem is Ali's in love with Theo, and she can't be. One, he's her brother's best friend! Two, she confessed her love for him when she was 16, and he turned her down! Add in a feisty gramps, a loathsome dog appropriately named Karen, and some undeniable sexual tension between Ali and Theo, and it makes for a hilariously awkward adventure.

I really appreciated that the FMC has epilepsy. I haven't read about many characters that are epileptic and I'm glad I got to hear her side of it. It totally makes sense and offered perspectives I had not considered.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for an advanced readers copy of The Fast Lane by Sharon M. Peterson, in exchange for an honest review. ♡

This story is told almost entirely in first person point of view from Ali’s perspective. I usually like having both POVs, however, as I read this novel, I realized that this is exactly the right way of telling this story. Only knowing the way Ali was viewing her interactions with Theo and seeing her try to figure out his feelings made it feel very realistic emotionally.

The set up of these two starting out on the road trip by themselves made for some great forced proximity. Then, adding in some of Ali’s family as side characters added some great depth and fun. I laughed out loud so many times during this book, but I also swooned at the connection that was becoming apparent between these two. I felt embarrassed for Ali as she remembered the way Theo had broken her heart as a teen and I felt compassion for all she had dealt with regarding her epilepsy and the overprotectiveness of her family.

I absolutely adored this sweet and swoony story and want to read more books by this author. A heads up... This is a sweet romcom that is hilarious and I loved it. However, it does have some mild language, words that would be considered light curse words.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

I loved this book! I loved her other book so much and this was no exception. best friends brother is one of my favorites and I felt the love and chemistry so deeply in this book

I very much enjoyed The Fast Lane. I found myself fully engulfed in this story, loving every character that was introduced. Love story meets feel good family reuniting. Ali started out as what seems like an unstable character in the beginning tj a strong female lead in the end. We love amazing character development!

Such a delight to read this story. So nice to read a story where the characters actually care about each other. Basically it is about a road trip to a wedding. Made me laugh and cry at the same time. Full marks.

such a summer-y romance roadtrip book! Funny well-developed characters, family drama, and sweet swoony moments. 💕

I really identified with Ali for two reasons: 1) her desire to not be worried about and fussed over and 2) having been *that* girl when I was younger - AGGRESSIVELY confessing my love to my crush at the time (and his mom *shudders*) so I can’t blame her bc Theo is a capital M, Man 🥵

Mack was such a funny side character, as well as all the brothers and Hallie and everyone else. They added so much but didn’t detract from the main characters. The little snippets of the upcoming wedding, the parents, the best friends, very realistically and comedic.

Theo is just so sweet and cares so much — such a flirt, and such a gentleman. Such a softie and i’m obsessed.

Trope-y, laugh out loud funny, and all around great!

3.75 out of 5 stars!

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I had a fun time with this book. It did take a bit to get into the book but the whole book taking place over a few days was so fun! I enjoyed all of the shenanigans that the characters got themselves into. The characters had decently fleshed out backstories while maintaining the pace of the book. I always love a story that covers a brothers best friend trope. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the fun and funny commentary that went along with that.

I had zero expectations going into this book. I fell in love with it, though. Theo and Alicia are so sweet, and I loved seeing Alicia try to figure out what she was doing. I loved seeing their relationship coming together, and I found myself laughing quite a bit in here. I really liked this story. The characters were amazing, and all felt real and had me smiling and swooning.

“ A home, my home, is you.” First I feel like this was written about the small town in Texas that I grew up in which made this so much cuter for me. I feel like this is a story we have read before though once you get to reading it you realize how unique this one is. We have Ollie who is suffocated by family, friends, and her town because of her epilepsy. She just wants to be a 20 something living her life and not feeling guilty that she worries everyone. She also wants to love Theo her brothers best friend who she has loved her whole life and for some reason has been flirting with her on this trip to convince one of her brothers to please come to the wedding after not being part of the family for years due to their father and him fighting.

Okay, so I think the best aspect of this book is the characters. Peterson does a great job of setting each character apart with distinct traits (similar to a romcom movie) so that each one feels individual. The grandfather, Mack, was my favorite character. He just loved to have a good time and you know what, Mack deserves it!!

But going along with this, the book not just had great characters you could root for, but also there was such a sweetness built in the story because of how much they cared for one another. The small town was a great choice (fans of Lovelight farms by BK Borison would appreciate).

Now, onto our main character, the newest mayor of Two Harts, Alicia. I appreciated that there was complexity in her development. She is very close to her family and lives with epilepsy, which causes her to feel guilt about worrying her family. The way that Alicia's feelings were portrayed felt quite realistic, and many of her moments felt relatable to me.

Okay, but lets get to Theo! So much to say, where do I begin? We love a guy who has been in love with her for a long time. He saved the poem she wrote over ten years ago for him? Okay that's the move!! And he writes romance novels?? I know this man was written by a woman, but could he be put together any better?

A couple reasons why I didn't rate this book higher-first, I felt that there were many subplots that kind of took over the romance. I expected there to be more emphasis on the romance, and it seemed to take more of a backseat after the halfway mark of the book. While all of the characters were great, I believe that focusing less on some of their stories and more on Alicia and Theo would've kept my attention more.

And, some of these subplots didn't feel like they added to the overall arc of the story. Theo goes to meet his biological father, but then finds out he has a brother, which felt like it should have been more significant to the overall story, but wasn't mentioned again until the epilogue.

Also, just some of the drama needed to be heightened a bit. It felt as if the tension of the book would start to get heightened, but then the resolution came too quick. For example, the whole book talks about Alicia's ex, but then the confrontation between the two of them feels too quick for the buildup.

Overall though, this is a quick and fun read for the summer!

My last question for this book and Sharon M. Peterson: Will Alicia's brother Abe be getting his own book?
Perhaps that could be arranged??

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. The writing had me hooked in and I couldn’t put it down until the early hours of the morning. The characters were loveable and funny, there was heart and charm that left me with a little smile on my face. The chapters are short and the book moves quickly, keeping you hooked the whole way through.

The middle of the book had me tearing up, my heart hurting for this family who desperately needed to be put back together.

I did have to google “what is chicken-fried steak” and for those who don’t know, it’s essentially a beef steak… schnitzel. That’s right, no chicken involved. You learn something new everyday.

Thanks to #NetGallery and publisher for a copy of this book.

Genre: Romance FM
Format: Digital
POV: Dual
Tropes: Brothers best friend, FMC with epilepsy, family drama, road trip, cute kids, small town, no third act breakup.
Spice: 0 /5
Age suggestion: 16+

I love love LOVED this book. I adored Theo as a character and Ali was just fabulous. I loved her faults and crazy personality and connected with her massively as a character. Her personality was so much fun and her pranks were brilliant. I’d love her to be my best friend!

The family dynamics were complicated but handled very well and I love that everyone has their own flaws. I struggled with how overbearing Ali’s mum was at times, but overall the side characters were brilliant. Adding to the story but still had just enough depth to be their own people. I thought the setting of a road trip with a few entertaining stops along the way was just brilliant. THIS is exactly what I want in a friends to lovers romance and I loved every page.

If you’re looking for a great summer read that you can’t put down packed full of drama and some great characters then you will love The Fast Lane. I can’t wait to go back and read her other books. If they’re anything like the one then I am in for a treat!

I loved this book. The characters were great and I liked seeing how we were shown how much they cared for each other. There was also a good dose of humour in this story. Overall, very enjoyable, and I hope there will be future books with this family. *I recieved an ARC of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.

This is my third book by Sharon Peterson and I’ve come to the conclusion that I will always enjoy what she writes. It’s witty, heartfelt, and just an overall good romcom.

I am totally a sucker for friends to lovers & roadtrip romcoms - so this was definitely an enjoyable read. I absolutely love the relationship between Ali & Theo.

I will always recommend Sharon Peterson’s books to someone who wants a cute & witty rom-com.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson - 4 to 4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed this one!
-Clean rom-com
-Friends to lovers
-Road trip
-Brother's best friend
-Epilepsy representation
-Many laugh out loud moments

Ali and her family are on this road trip for her brother's wedding. Ali rides with Theo, who she was crazy about when she was a teenager. Theo is her brother's best friend and feelings form along this wild, hilarious road trip!

I loved Ali because she was truly a strong, relatable and real character. We see her talk through the struggles with epilepsy over her life and her and Theo had great chemistry from the beginning. I loved he is her “comfort person” - just like my hubs is mine.🩷 The side characters were also great - her Grandpa and Mimi cracked me up! The Vegas wedding scene had me ROLLING!

This has some great family details and deeper topics but also is a funny, relaxing romance read. I absolutely loved the level of depth the characters have and they feel like real people with everyday interactions. My only complaint is this does have some mild language I feel like is unnecessary but I really enjoyed the story itself. I will say it was much less language than The Fake Out and I appreciate that.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy to honestly read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content: Mild language, 15-20 D words, 10-15 H words, 3-5 JA words. They break down and stumble accidentally upon a nudist resort but I found it hilarious and they were very uncomfortable--quote "I've never looked at so many foreheads in my life" lol. Romance was clean.

Theo & Ali- all the green flags are waving!
I would bet on them, too. Did their friends and family have a secret bet on their becoming a couple (finally)? yes they did, and I would as well. I loved that all of Ali's brothers accepted Theo as not only their friend, but didn't have that touch her and die or promise to never touch thing so many others have. Ali may have had it bad for Theo growing up, but she was able to smash it down over the years and be able to deal with it. Now, adult Theo and Ali were beyond cute. We experience a laugh out loud, unputdownable rom-com guaranteed to bring a smile to any face. The main characters are so relatable, real and people I'd want to sit at a diner and chat with.

Peterson has a way of taking what would be a normal cross country road trip and putting her own hilarious spin on it. There are plenty of deep moments that delve into complex family relationships. As with reality, this family has its share of strained family dynamics and it is dealt with in a variety of ways. Somehow we are able to connect with not only the MC's, but also the side characters as well.

The pacing is perfect and flows well. I also enjoyed how side characters were gradually added into the mix so I could keep track of them without being overwhelmed. The MC's were also portrayed as average, flawed people. The were not superstars or billionaires or model-like bodies. I can't say enough how much I loved the realness of them and how their fondness of each other grew.

Theo- sweet sweet Theo. He was nervous and he blushed. This was not the typical alpha over confident man and he had every right to be knowing Ali thought he walked on water for the last decade. Theo needs protected at all cost. Sweet pg-13 romance with only kissing, although the passion felt like much more.

Thank you Sharon Peterson for the copy of this book and the opportunity to read and review early. Please write more on these side characters and give them their own book!!

The Fast Lane is the second book in the Two Harts series, but it can also be read as a standalone. Ali and Theo are friends who embark on a cross country road trip to attend Ali's brothers wedding. Ali has always had a crush on Theo, but she is determined to not act on it after embarrassing herself and pouring her heart out to Theo when she was in her teens. So many hilarious things end up happening on the road trip that had me smiling and laughing at their situations. This book has some of my favorite romance tropes including brother's best friend, friends to lovers and forced proximity.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC!