Kian is an established racer (I assume Formula One but I don’t think it is mentioned by name) who loses his racing partner to injury. The replacement, Harper, is a brash party boy who seems to have no self control. They initially clash but as they learn more about each other, they lean into the inevitable attraction. I liked that this book was about racing…something that I know little about. I also liked the progression of the relationship, however, Harper’s actions and immaturity really stresses me out sometimes which did take a bit away from my overall enjoyment.

This is a such a cute and great book at the same time. I truly enjoyed my time reading it. the story line is good, does not seem boring or unrealistic. Overall without not giving any of it away, I think you are going to fall in love with the characters. The banter, spice and story do not hinder from each other. its a great read.

This was so good! Like Red, White, and Royal Blue mixed with F1 romances and the characters were cute. I loved it and would read it again if I could read it for the first time again.

⭐️⭐️.5

While I did -somewhat- enjoy this book (meaning that I did read it and had an okay time), I just felt like something was missing. The spark that makes me LOVE a book just wasn’t there…and this book had so much potential for me! I’ve never read a book from this author, so maybe I just set my expectations too high.

What didn’t work for me:
Timing
The timing felt off for Kian & Harper’s relationship timeline. I felt like they went from 0 to 100 in their hate to love…little rushed if you asked me.

Repetitive Dynamics
This is dual POV and we end up recapping a lot of the same events from both Kian and Harper. This isn’t a total red flag for me, but I would’ve liked more character introspection (specifically from Harper).

Losing Momentum
The book lost momentum for me around the 60% percent mark. Once Kian & Harper “get together” it just loses steam. I did gain more interest towards the 85-90% mark when actual events start happening as opposed to Kian & Harper just doing whatever they’re doing.

The most frustrating part of this book is that it had the potential to be so much better. Like I said earlier, it just missed the mark for me. Kian & Harper both have complex backstories, and I feel like those could’ve been utilized in a more interesting way.

It was hard to enjoy the book when you dislike the characters. Both did not come across as pleasant people and each made stupid decisions. I liked the premise of the book but the people it needed a lot of development to become characters you want to root for.

I loved this sweet and spicy enemies to lovers! I don't know the first thing about racing but the story was so good, it really didn't matter! This was one of my favorite reads this year!

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery is a F1 MM sports romance.

Initially I found the MCs to be quite annoying. Kian always cool calm and collected compared to his wild rambunctious new rookie teammate Harper. As the book progressed I was happy to see the theme of mental health and therapy pop up. It was nice to see the character development of Harper, albeit rather slow. However, I do wish there would have been some more type of closure between Kian and his Dad.

3.5 🌟

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this free E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: June 6, 2024

“Red, White, and Blue meets Formula 1”?! *add to cart* I was so excited for an MM F1 romance & this book did not disappoint! I almost DNF’d in the beginning due to the characters attitudes but I loved the character development and by the end I was routing for them!! While I felt like some plot points weren’t really wrapped up, I enjoyed the book overall (I NEED Johannes’ story!)

Read if you love:
🏎️ F1
👨‍❤️‍👨 Rivals to lovers
🖤 Mental health rep

I was really looking forward to this book and I had a lot of mixed feelings about it. There was some parts that I really liked and other times I felt the pacing slowed down a lot. However I did find that the tension between them and the banter was entertaining. I think the slow burn was good but I think there was some parts that showed the book was a little too long. However it was a fun sports romance book to read.

Are you looking for an enemies to lovers, queer romance? This is the book for you. Pole Position is about two Formula 1 racers who don't see eye-to-eye. Kian Walker has been in the game for 15 years, while Harper James is just now entering the big leagues.

This is a good book, Kian is a grumpy guy in his 30's while Harper is a sunshine/bratty guy in his 20's. I was so wrapped up in this book. There were highs and lows, I was kicking my feet and giggling, and then I was fighting a lump in my throat.

This book also makes me want to watch F1 racing and learning about the rules! I feel like I dripped my toes in reading this and now I am ready to jump in the deep end!

Thank you Harper 360 and Rebecca Caffery for giving me an opportunity to read my first ARC book. Hopefully we have a Johannes book :)

What a sweet read!! This is a true enemies to lovers, and the first half can make the path to an HEA seem daunting — but the way these two fall for each other is lovely to see. For lovers of found family trope, hurt/comfort moments, forced proximity, and dynamic character growth, this fun and spicy queer sports romance is for you!

This was literal perfection. I have no notes just A HUGE NEED TO REREAD AGAIN AND AGAIN. Absolutely loved this one!

I really wanted to love this story. My issue was the backdrop of the motor racing sport was a huge part of the story that was distracting from the love story. And the love story was highly unbelievable. I did like the ending as it wrapped the story up nicely. I believe those that love car racing would enjoy this story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

I wanted to love this book so badly. Between the rushed relationship between Kian and Harper to the miscommunication trope it all just felt forced. If the pacing was different I think this could be a five star read.

What a great palate cleanser type of MM/MM book. A Rookie driver and a cocky teammate have to race of their tension (literally). I read that if you enjoyed reading Red, White, and Royal Blue you'd like this.. and that was very true. Just replace politics with racing (my preferred cup of tea). A bit spicy, good banter, and fast cars. Read this one rainy day and it was perfect!

I wanted to enjoy this, the cover was intriguing and the premise seemed promising but it fell flat for me. I couldn't connect to either character and didn't like them as people together or apart, they both felt so immature to me. It's a funny thing to be older than the MMC when people are repeatedly talking about how old, washed up, etc., the MMC is. I know it's because he's old for his sport and not because he's actually an old man but it still hits in a weird way. It is acknowledged in the book eventually but maybe it's just ME feeling "older" than I normally do while reading.

I thought Kian's family was very sweet, I liked the dynamic between he and his sister. I did not, however, like the dynamic between Harper and Jo or ... Harper and practically anyone. For most of the book I didn't like Harper's dynamic with Kian either. Harper, so childish and Kian, so stuck up. When they finally connected it felt so rushed, not like they'd built a connection but like they just suddenly decided to sit down and connect. It seemed like such a sudden about-face, not a gradual turn from "enemies" to lovers. I did find their connection sweet once they did pull their heads out of their butts and thought the sex scenes weren't bad (except for one that I hated), but ultimately, I think this was a case of just "not-for-me" although I didn't hate it.

I'd never read a racing romance before but the actual sport commentary always goes over my head regardless of the sport but the author does do a good job of painting the picture of their relative positions in the sport and races, the stakes are easy to understand for Kian (I actually really like that name). It did make me curious what these athletes look like for the first time. I'm not familiar with the author and admittedly didn't look them up before reading but, about 15 pages in I wondered "is this written by a woman?" Not that women can't write gay romances effectively, of course they can, the voice just felt "outside" from the writing and even more evident in the sex scenes.

I enjoyed getting to read this book! I liked the push and pull dynamic Kian and Harper had with each other, especially as they were teammates. It added an interested dimension to their relationship. Their chemistry was also pretty good! I thought Caffery nailed the amount of Formula One references/information in this book! It was just enough that it was important to the plot and you knew you were reading a Formula One romance, but not too much that someone who isn't really into the sport might get lost or too little where you start to wonder why even include the sport it is about. This can be hard to nail but I think Caffery did a good job here.
However, I do think this bit could have been edited to be a bit shorter. Some parts felt like they dragged on or were repetitive, especially when Harper and Kian would have the same arguments over and over again. It didn't majorly effect my reading experience negatively, but it was something that stood out to me. I did really like the ending of the book! Harper and Kian's story was wrapped up really nicely and you can see them having a future together.

I look forward to what Rebecca Caffery writes next!

Handsdown, one of my favorite F1 books ever!!! I seriously loved this book so much and can't wait for the author to (hopefully) write more F1 smuts. This was super refreshing and such a fun, scandelous read.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. 4.5 stars and 3 chili peppers for spice. I didn’t know anything about racing before I picked up this book so I figured I’d give it a try. I honestly loved this story and the characters. The racing terms and logistics behind the sport were easy enough to understand. I kinda wish there had been a little bit more spice but it really was great as is, so that’s a personal preference. Definitely would read a second book if this is a series.

is really likeable, and Harper is really annoying, but I'm pretty sure that's the goal, he's supposed to be unlikeable, in the beginning at least. I loved all of the tension buildup. And though I know literally nothing about car racing, I found myself interested in that aspect of the book too.