If you enjoy a sports romance where rivals fall in love, then this is definitely a book for you. It was if course a fun romance to read with a bit of angst but I enjoyed the character development more. Both characters start off feeling a little lost and broken and work hard to become better versions of themselves.

This book had the tropes rivals to lovers, forced proximity, and hurt/comfort.

Alright I'm rating this one based on the romance and the vibes and my overall enjoyment.

I know nothing about racing and even I could tell that the author was a little shaky on the specifics. There is hardly any mention of the actual racing or terminology. We get "qualifiers" and "P2" etc and "cockpit" and one mention of the specific tires that I had to look up and thats... pretty much it. There are a few qualifiers and one, maybe two races on page. The focus is for sure on the romance with racing vibes for flavor.

As a grumpy x sunshine romance, this works well. Kian is so uptight and regimented, and Harper is so... not. He's kind of a dick and a playboy and every time he tries to get Kian (his idol) to notice him he shoots himself in the foot. It's kind of hilarious.

They do eventually work out their issues, which is fun, although I was disappointed to find certain scenes inexplicably missing that were imo really needed. Like when Harper finds out about Kian's dad and goes from worshipping him to hating him? That needed to be on page.

There's an obvious set up for a sequel about Harper's friend Johannes which I don't know if I'll read or not because it was so obviously left hanging? But I probably will check it out since I enjoyed this one.

I was happy that the author chose not to include too many spicy scenes, and the ones that are there are mercifully brief. I realize I'm in the minority but I read for the romance - not the spice.

I did appreciate the overall lack of homophobia in the book. Wasn't expecting that, and it was nice.

The audiobook was well done and the two narrators did a great job voicing their characters. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.

*Thanks to Harper 360, HarperAudio Adult and One More Chapter for providing an early copy for review.

While I didn’t love the characters in the beginning, I loved them by the end! Kian and Harper had great character development, and had such a heartwarming story. I loved the banter and found family elements!

Addictive. I could not stop reading. I honestly thought that Kian was going to be a tougher nut to crack, but when the walls fell he turned into a big softy.

Thank you for the ARC!

I really enjoyed the premise and the F1 action and excitement in this book. We definitely need more MM F1 romances!

I'm all for an angsty story and while this book had plenty of angst, it seemed to lack some of the emotional depth that usually accompanies those types of stories.

I really loved the characters as individuals, but as a couple, it was a bit harder for me to buy their story. They seemed to be more in lust than in love.

The book also tackles heavier topics such as grief and abandonment issues, which I thought were approached in a respectful manner.

Overall, I think this is a great story, and if it had a bit more of the emotional aspect, it would be a perfect read.


3.5 stars - I alternated between the ebook and audiobook and I think the audiobook was a better experience. The narrators did a fantastic job and I loved their accents!

Kian Walker is a four time F1 championship driver. The son of a pop star and former F1 champ, he’s also a complicated man. With an ailing mother being cared for by his twin sister and her family, Kian feels the pull of family, calling nightly to feel connected. Just don’t compare him professionally or personally to his father, a ruthless, reckless man.

When Kian’s racing partner has a season ending injury, he finds himself paired with Harper James, a hotshot rookie with a reputation for being a cocky heartbreaking mess.

He’s the antithesis of Kian and it’s no surprise that the two instantly rub each other the wrong way.

Until they rub each other the right way, if you know what I mean. *wink wink*

But Harper thinks Kian is verging on grandpa territory with his rigid schedules and lack of fun while Kian thinks Harper is a spoiled party boy.

Both couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Kian is upfront with what he wants - a relationship - but Harper is too scared, too hurt from his traumatic past to allow himself to grab hold of happiness.

I’ve been looking for an F1 romance that does the sport justice, and after quite a few duds, this one ticked all the boxes.

It’s got all the best tropes: grumpy/sunshine, rivals to lovers, and instead of one bed, let’s just throw these two sexually frustrated guys into a motorhome together and send them off racing across Europe for a few months.

It’s sex positive, family centered, and embraces therapy fully. It’s told in dual POV - do yourself a favor and listen to the stellar audiobook - and each chapter is like a peek into each man’s inner fears and hopes and feelings. It’s got banter and frustration but a whole heck of a lot of heart. Damn. This one was a real winner. Guys. It’s a certified cerebral romance™️. I bloody love these two men.

De. Light. Ful.

📖 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐉. 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐲

“𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭.”

I really enjoyed this F1 romance! There was plenty of spicy angst and tension between our two leading men, Kian & Harper.

Kian is nearing the end of his career and all he can focus on is his mother who is sick with Parkinson’s. He likes to be in control on and off the track but everything begins to fall into disarray when rookie Harper James becomes his new teammate.

Harper is a free spirit who has always idolized Kian and his famous family. Harper had a traumatic childhood and is still dealing with the aftermath of that. He has always crushed on F1 legend, Kian Walker, but their first encounter does not go as planned.

They get off to a rough start but once they got past their hold ups they were so good together! This was a spicy slow burn romance.

“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” 🤭❤️‍🔥

If you love F1 romances between two talented drivers, go add, 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐉. 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐲, to your TBR today!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
🏎️ 𝘍1 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
🥇 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴
🔥 𝘔/𝘔 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
💞 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵
🫶🏼 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺
🍷 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘱 (8𝘺𝘳𝘴)
❤️‍🔥 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯

I wanted to love this but I was not my favorite at all. I was really hopefully but it was a bit disappointing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper 360 for this eARC! This was a fun little read. I've been getting very into MLM sports romance and I found that even when I don't know anything about the sport - as I do not with F1, it's usually a really good time. That much held true here! Kian and Harper had great chemistry and a lot of steam between them and a great balance of competitive nature on the track that kept things exciting. The writing itself didn't exactly flow, it was a little blunt and repetitive at times. It didn't pull me out of the book but I did notice and wince a handful of times. But overall a fun read!

red white and royal blue meets f1? easy selling point but it fell just as flat for me.

harper fully drove me nuts this entire book. i get he needed therapy the entire time but the constant crash and burning he put himself through was ridiculous.

kian was mad around him constantly at the beginning and sometimes i didn’t even know the reason. i feel like i was missing something.

it was cute but just not amazing.

I first want to thank Net Galley and Harper Collin’s 360 for an ARC of Pole Position in exchange for a fair and honest review!

4.5/5

I didn’t really know what to expect going into Pole Position. I know next to nothing about F1 except Lewis Hamilton, the cute lil McLaren dude Lando (I like his song) and his bestie Max and the word “grand prix.” I like to pretend I know more than I do because I think F1 is cool and the cars are hot 🫣😂 So maybe that’s why I loved this book so much?

Pole Position follows two Formula 1 racers (drivers?). We have the seasoned veteran, Kain (pronounced, Key-N). And the notorious play boy, partier, rookie, Harper. This is Harper’s big shot, he’s been brought up to the big leagues and gets the chance to be on a team with his idol and celebrity crush. What could go wrong? Idk? Maybe your idol and celebrity crush absolutely despising you and everything you stand for?

That is basically the premise of Pole Position. We get to watch as our two MMC’s navigate their frustrations,feelings, and resentments towards one another.

I appreciated the amount of drama we had here. Nothing was too overwhelming or over the top and all points of plot twists/drama hooks were met and nothing was left questioning with our two current MMC’s. Other side characters tho? 👀 am I sensing a book 2?

I was a little disappointed with the catalyst of our two MMC’s getting together. It was sweet but it did kind of fall flat for me. We had built up all this tension and I was waiting for that big “enemies” to lovers moment and it honestly just didn’t happen.

But over all, love love LOVE!

I had a great time reading and listening to this book, but I have to start by saying I know absolutely nothing about F1 racing. Since I wasn’t able to pick on the things that didn’t make sense in relation to the actual sport, this was an entertaining read for me.
I liked the later chemistry between the two characters, I enjoyed getting to know them and the way Kian calls Harper on his shit at some point. However, the beginning of their relationship was rough and I was seriously doubting if they would manage to convince me in the end. The “sunshine” part of the “sunshine x grumpy” trope was actually more “annoying and inappropriate little sh*t”, to be honest. I think this was reinforced by the fact that I adored the narrator reading Kian’s chapters, but hated the one reading Harper’s. He made Harper so freaking annoying and the way he did other characters’ voices was terrible.
There were also a lot of clichés and the fact that homophobia doesn’t really seem to exist in this world was both refreshing at times but too unrealistic given the fact that the rest of the story tries to stay true to the real world.
I was a bit disappointed that so many plot points were left unanswered, though. I’m not sure of this is a way to prepare us for a sequel, but the ending made me feel like Harper and Kian’s story was over.
These elements are the reason I won’t go over 3 stars even though it still was a good time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Harper360 after I was seeing so much buzz about it and the buzz wasn't wrong! I'm always hesitant to enter the world of fictional Formula 1 since that sports feels so tightknit and small. But this book was such a great addition to the genre. Kian and Harper were so perfect for each other and the spicy scenes were so well written and the book had so much heart with Kian and his family. I loved every minute of it and truly couldn't put this book down!

A cute, queer romance for F1 fans! I was expecting this to be some what of a Max Verstappen fanfic but I was pleasantly surprised by both characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for a e-book ARC in return for a review!

So I've been reading a lot of F1 romance lately trying to find one that's the perfect balance of somewhat accurate F1 stuff <i>and</i> a good romance. This one isn't it, but it's still a lot of fun.

It actually doesn't mention F1 directly at all, which baffled me a little bit - Haas, McLaren, Ferrari, and Fernando Alonso are mentioned, but the sport is just called "motor sport" every time. Anyway - I think this one would do better with someone who is NOT so much into F1 as I am - not trying to one-up anyone in the F1 fanbase, but there are just a bunch of things that don't check out with F1 actual. And that's ok! Because this is a book about two drivers banging and falling in love, and that's what it does.

Side note: this is the second F1 romance I've read this year with <spoiler>main character's parent's death</spoiler> and I get that that's a thing that happened but I literally read them back to back. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for this e(nonadvance)RC.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!!
This book had me laughing, crying, and then laughing again in the span of 4 minutes. Kian and Harper butt heads so often but once the walls come down and they realize they can be real with each other, they start to become so much more than teammates. Playing nice becomes actually friends to lovers and it’s such a good slow burn. There were times throughout where I just wanted to give both characters big hugs because they seemed like they could use one. They were well developed, as was the story and timing of the plot. Overall this was a fantastic book!!

This book was just meh. Not great but not bad either.

Kian Walker, a four-time motorsport champion, is determined to escape the shadow of his unreliable father’s legacy. His new teammate, Harper James, is a brash rookie known for breaking records and hearts. Despite their clashing personalities, Kian finds the biggest risk isn’t on the track—it’s his unexpected feelings for Harper.

There were a few things I didn’t enjoy about this book. Kian and Harper’s transition from enemies to lovers felt rushed, with no solid reason for Kian’s initial dislike of Harper other than finding him mildly annoying. The shift to romantic feelings happens abruptly, sparked by Kian seeing Harper dance with someone else, which felt unconvincing.

While the story wasn’t terrible, it lacked originality and wasn’t particularly memorable. Even the smut fell flat for me. I don’t regret reading it, but it’s not something I’d recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper 360 for providing this e-ARC. This is my honest review

Thank you NetGalley and Harper360 for the e-ARC of Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery.

Pole Position is an F1 M/M enemies-to-lovers sports romance featuring Kian, an experienced and seasoned F1 champion, and Harper, a cocky rookie eager to prove himself. The two start off on the wrong foot, but can’t deny their attraction to each other. While their chemistry is undeniable, I felt their transition from enemies to lovers happened too quickly, without the slow burn I was expecting.

The secondary characters were a highlight, each adding depth to the story. I also appreciated the inclusion of F1 terminology and race action, though as a very casual F1 viewer, I can’t speak to the accuracy. Still, it was engaging enough to spark my interest in the sport.

Trigger warnings include absent parents, alcoholism, abandonment, and the death of a parent.

As a religious F1 race watcher, I was excited about the prospect of a teammate romance. I enjoyed the banter, the interactions, the exploration of competitors on different teams, and the friendships that can be broken during that separation. I wish more time was spent around the races or garages, but I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers!

I absolutely adored Kian and Harper’s relationship, even though there were moments when I wanted to snatch Harper by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Honestly, half the time, I was ready to jump into the pages, grab a chair, and smash it right over his thick skull. Don’t get me wrong—he’s painfully realistic, especially for someone like me who knows all too well what it means to be a commitment-phobe with abandonment issues (solidarity high five). But lord, Harper could be such an insufferable jerk. Kian? That man had the patience of a saint, and quite frankly, he deserved a partner who could match that energy.

And while I really liked Harper’s character arc, my biggest gripe? The lack of a good grovel. Come on! After all the emotional chaos he put Kian through, I needed a proper grovel moment—a real, soul-wrenching apology with tears, flowers, and maybe a public declaration of love. Where’s the drama in romance without a little over-the-top redemption? Still, Kian? Absolute perfection. The way he carried all that anxiety, guilt, and fear so tightly wound made him feel like the most relatable character. Watching him find a love that both grounded him and allowed him to breathe was the true joy of this story.

Surprisingly, I didn’t mind the push-and-pull dynamic or the miscommunication between them. Normally, that trope would irritate me to no end, but here, I was eating up every ounce of the drama. “Pole Position” struck an impressive balance between delivering messy, chaotic romance and tackling heavier, emotional themes that really resonated. There were chapters where I was just wrecked, crying through the pain of it all, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Still, my critique lies in how Harper’s growth felt a bit rushed, and some parts of their conflict were wrapped up a little too neatly for my taste. For a story this emotionally raw, I wanted more time to sit with the resolution. Despite that, it was a wild ride of a book, and if you’re ready for emotional highs, lows, and everything in between, it’s well worth the read.