This is her third book and it has already become an autobuy author for me.
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Its protagonists are women who feel real, fun and with a very particular sense of the world. Sometimes I feel like there are a lot of topics, but I'm here for the good characters and she knows how to deliver them.
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Alicia Ramos makes her entrance for the first time in the previous book of the series but in this one we get to know her better and she wins your heart from the first page.
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activist for every cause, great friend, planner of unprecedented pranks, adored by every member of the town, even the sheriff who must threaten to arrest her from time to time. She is the baby of her family and tries to remind everyone that she is a big woman and can take care of herself despite having epilepsy and having to adjust her daily life. She loves her town, her friends, her family and does not keep alive her crush for her brother's best friend.
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But for some reason when her mother makes too many floral and candles arrangements for the wedding and there is no room in the car, her brother arranges for his best friend Theo to drive her, all she can think is that is going to be very difficult for her to travel for a days with him, and how she can try to stop the awkwardness between them after the rejection when she was a teenager. Is going to be a long travel to his brother's wedding in Portland.
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Several guests and unexpected situations make this road trip unforgettable, leading Alicia and Theo to share much more than they expected.
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Heartwarming, warm and romantic with a great cast of characters that one wants to read again , this book is one of my favorites road trip ones.
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Thanks to Sharon M. Peterson for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

this was a funny and moving story of healing from a break up and moving on with life. Our main character Ali is forced into a road trip with her long time crush and we get to follow the antics which happen on the trip. From finding long lost family, reuniting families together and attending a wedding where the ex is also attending. We get to see Ali's thoughts and feeling s her crush turns into a relationship which both parties have been wanting for a long time. This is a feel good read which is ideal for reading at anytime especially on a beach with a cocktail.

4.5 stars rounded to 4 stars

This was the cutest romcom filled with everything I love in a romance novel. I loved the main character, Ali. Her personality seems so fun, and I loved reading about all the pranks she plays on the people around her. I also loved all of the witty banter she had with the MMC, Theo.

This book has some of my favorite romance tropes, including brother's best friend and forced proximity. The road trip setting was also super fun! 🚗

I have a feeling this book will be one of my favorite romcom's of the year!

This book is ideal for summer reading, evoking a range of emotions.
Grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a slow-burn romance, and is full of humor and wit.

The connection between Ali & Theo was so strong it felt palpable. Although I typically dislike romance novels with lots of side characters, I found myself loving each one, as they all added something valuable and didn't seem unnecessary. This is my first book by this author, but it certainly won't be my last.

★★★★
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Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to review this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Forced proximity, brother’s best friend, friends to lovers, childhood crush…. This book hits all the tropes and has laugh out loud moments while inspiring all the feelings as well.
Ali has been living a sheltered life, after receiving a life changing diagnosis in high school. Now, she engages in all the shenanigans but only in her hometown. She lives a small but busy life. Her brother’s best friend, Theo, is also one of her closest friends. He is always there when she needs him.
When her brother is planning a wedding across the country, Ali and Theo set out on a road trip with a secret mission. Ali does everything she can to fight her attraction to Theo, while he constantly reminds her that he is not her brother.
Ride along as they face some real feelings and deal with some real baggage.
This book does have some mild language.

In this book, Alicia and best friend but not boyfriend Theo head off on a road trip from Texas to Oregon. They encounter all kinds of humorous challenges during the 6 day journey, so while the end result between the two main characters is pretty predictable, the events in the middle are anything but. The wedding at the end of the trip is full of even more obstacles, giving readers a taste of the author’s wonderful sense of humor. The writing is clean, the characters and plot are well developed, and this was exactly the rom-com that everyone should read this summer.

I would like to thank netgalley and Bookouture for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was entertaining but I found the heroine a little childish.

I want to give this book 1000000 stars.

This is my favorite book of 2024! No words can describe how much I love this book. The characters are lovable, the story is so well written and it had me laughing out loud. Everything was perfect. The fact that I highlighted so much says enough. I recommend this book to everyone and I’m excited to read Sharon’s other books. Also watch me never stop talking about this book. I already want to reread it and I normally never reread a book.
Thank you very very much Netgalley and Bookouture for this arc!!

So stinking cute! A lovely follow up to The Fake Out. This is a clean romance with lots of humor and heart. Theo is such a sweetheart and I think Peterson handled Ali’s health struggles well. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

“A home is a person, a soft place to land.

A home is the person who protects your heart.

A home is the person who loves you on your worst days.

A home is the person you can’t imagine living without.

A home, my home, is you.”

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This is going to be firmly in my top 10 books of the year, no question.

I think there are very few couples that I love more than Ali and Theo at this point. Oh my goodness, Theo is a green flag in how he cares for Ali, respects her boundaries, empowers her abilities, and his hobbies are to die for!

Ali is the sweetest yet most calculating FMC you will EVER find. The pranks, the respect of boundaries, the way she adores her siblings…there are no words for how much I want to be Ali “when I grow up.”😉

Theo and her fit PERFECTLY together in how they support each others dreams while conquering each others’ insecurities.

(And a special note: I love Ali’s parents and Peterson depicted loving helicopter parents PERFECTLY)

Peterson handled Ali’s epilepsy representation in a non-graphic but still impactful way due to her oldest son’s history with epilepsy (read her acknowledgment in this book and bring tissues).

You need The Fast Land this summer. Don’t leave it on your TBR pile, or you will have huge reading regrets for how long you could have been loving (and laughing with) this book. Check it out!🌸


🌿 brother’s best friend
🌿 friends to more
🌿 epilepsy representation
🌿 road trip romance
🌿 forced proximity
🌿 second chance romance
🌿 no third act breakup
🌿 family reconciliation

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, steamy and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

THE FAST LANE is a delightfully sweet brother’s best friend, forced proximity, second chance romance. Ali and Theo have undeniable chemistry and are easy to root for throughout the story.

They’ve known each other forever. Theo is practically a member of Ali’s family, but she’s always had feelings for him that were decidedly not sibling-like. Their relationship develops as they drive from Texas to Oregon for Ali’s brother’s wedding.

There’s lighthearted banter, family dysfunction, a cute child, and an ugly dog - all the hallmarks of a cute rom-com. The best part of this novel, however, is that Sharon Peterson crafted a relationship based on a solid foundation of friendship. Everything about Ali and Theo felt genuine.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

The Fast Lane by Sharon M Peterson is a cute, laugh out loud, brother’s best friend, second chance, friends to lovers romance.

I loved the chemistry between Theo and Ali, they are sweet, lovable characters.

This was my first Sharon M Peterson read and am looking forward to reading others.

This is a cute story with forced proximity, friends to lovers, and disability representation.
Well written, highly recommend.

3.5
This was a cute story but it was seriously missing a few things for me to absolutely love it.

Read if you love:
🩵she falls first but he falls harder
🩵forced proximity
🩵epilepsy rep
🩵childhood friends to lovers
🩵closed door
🩵brothers best friend

The Fast Lane is a cute read.
It has unrequited love, forced proximity, enemies to lovers trope.
Going cross country in a car presents its own sets of challenges but what if it’s with a certain special someone who isn’t yours yet?
The carousel of supporting characters is what makes this novel work because they provide depth and context to Theo and Allie.
A good summer read if you’re panning a road trip.

I absolutely ADORE the amazing Sharon M. Peterson, and The Fast Lane is her best book yet! Ali and Theo’s relationship sparkles with chemistry, somehow managing to be romantic, emotional, and hilarious all on the same page. The situations the couple encounter during their road trip feel like scenes from classic 90’s romcoms in the best way. And the cast of side characters is so well-developed and adds so much warmth and humor to the story that I found myself wishing for a separate book for each and every one of them. This will be one of my all time favorite comfort reads that I’ll go back to again and again when I’m craving something funny and uplifting with a ton of heart.

I laughed out loud to this hilarious friends to lovers romance. Theo and Ali were lovable characters who had each other’s backs in the good and tough times. I loved their dynamic. The love they had for each other was believable. I also enjoyed the subplots. I enjoyed reading about Ali’s epilepsy. It was nice to see some representation in today’s literature. This was an entertaining fast paced romance. I’m looking forward to more of Sharon M. Peterson’s work 3.75⭐️

This one is a difficult one to review without giving away too many spoilers!

Ali is amazing. Her personality shines through, she's hilarious, and her love of revenge pranks had me rolling.

Theo's secret that Ali discovers is seriously one of the best secrets I have read in a long time, and her guesses regarding the secret were very amusing 😅

Ali's long lost brother and another secret just added something sweet and endearing to the book- I want more of them! 😉


Alec is a 'juice canoe'. I want to wring his damn neck- side, note juice canoe is a new favourite term in my vocabulary.

A character from a previous book appears as a cameo character, and I still adore them.

And Oh lordie, the drama, I loved every moment.

The ending was perfect, I love how Theo sees her, respects her and embraces her Ali quirks. My new book boyfriend is Theo- sorry Chris.

Friends to lovers? Check.
Brothers’ best friend? Check.
Absolutely hilarious side characters? Check.

I loved this book! It was such a quick read because I just couldn’t put it down.

I adored Ali and how strong she was. She was so dynamic and I loved the epilepsy representation we got through her. As the only sister, I also felt so seen in her interactions and pranks with her brothers. She did toothpaste Oreos, I did toothpaste in the toes of socks; she’s a kindred spirit.
Theo was the cutest; I usually like my MMCs to be broody and snarky but he was a breath of fresh air. I loved how obvious it was to absolutely everyone how down bad he was for Ali and how he wasn’t afraid to show it.
The side characters were so, so good (Mack and Karen killed me) and added just enough to the story where it didn’t feel like too much, but also didn’t feel like there wasn’t enough happening to keep me engaged.
Also, I just want to put out my public call to action for a book with Abe as our MMC!

Overall, it was well-paced and it didn’t take long to feel like we got right into the action. I love a good road trip story that spans the course of the book; it feels like we, as readers, get to go on the journey with the characters which is always so fun. I also loved how we were introduced to the characters over the course of the story, and not all at once which can be really overwhelming. Meeting Ali’s parents, then Mack, then Abe and Hallie was so well done; the complex family dynamics were written so wonderfully and felt so realistic. I got teary-eyed when they got to Colorado! I just cannot say enough good things about the story.

If you want a light, closed-door, low-conflict but absolutely hilarious rom-com, I can’t recommend this enough. I found myself smiling and giggling so many times—it was just so fun! I would also totally recommend Sharon’s books “The Do Over" and "The Fake Out" if you find yourself looking for more books like this!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sharon M. Peterson, and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my review.