Not So Fast is a sweet F1 romance between a British driver and a podcaster who covers the sport. A knowledge of the sport is definitely not required. It’s a breezy fun read, that touches on interesting subjects without ever really following through. The romance comes out of nowhere and although we’re told they’re talking and growing closer we’re not actually shown those scenes so we don’t get to fall in love with them. The tension doesn’t feel real leaving the drama and eventual payoff falling flat.

Pros:
Plus size rep
Discussions of mental health

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this quick, engaging sports romance! I watch F1 with my husband, and love everything to do with the sport!
Mia, a sharp and snarky podcaster, goes viral for calling out struggling British F1 driver Xander Bishop. When a competitor invites her to a race to rattle him, she and Xander unexpectedly connect. Their chemistry is great, and I loved the mental health themes, especially Xander’s self-reflection through journaling. I enjoyed the spicy scenes! Top tier. The romance moved fast, but, as Xander says, he’s good at speed.
Overall, a fun, heartfelt read! Huge thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

Thank you Harlequin Publishing and Karen Booth for providing the eARC.


Quick read with a cute story but felt like everything got resolved too quickly and easily.

Wasn’t a huge fan of the different POVs through each chapter. It's not a bad book, just not one to be memorable.

This is a quick and easy read.
But I actually didn't really believe in Mia and Xaden relationship. It is instalove/lust but something was missing for me to actually believe it. Chapters were a bit too long for my liking and the POV are changing throughout but without mentioning it so it's a bit easy to get lost.
I did like that clearly some research was done for this book and there's also a nice mental health aspect. The fact that there's no "actual" third act breakup is also nice.
I do feel like some of the conflicts are resolved really quickly.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐️ with spicy scenes 🌶️
Champion over thinker Mia Neal is a big Formula One fan chooses to start a podcast. With a comment about Brit driver Xander Bishop that goes viral.

I really enjoyed this one. I don’t know much about Formula One so was an intriguing glimpse in. I did appreciate the dynamic between Mia and Xander. I thought it was a great story to read [in one sitting for me] that I think many people would enjoy. Romance, fun, spicy, with some witty banter and of course bumps along the way.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this story by Karen Booth courtesy of NetGalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin

Update: Feb. 1/25 Rating to 5⭐️ as I keep thinking about this story and the characters.

I don't think I can express how much I loved this book! The feels were big, the tension perfect, and the conflict was real! I love how competent and strong Mia is while still having real insecurities and Xander was almost too good to be true - hot, accomplished, but still vulnerable.
Thank you for the opportunity Netgalley

Not So Fast is humorous, well written, and I couldn't put it down! I love a sports romance, and loved this one even more for it's more unique subject. I'm definitely hoping for some interconnected standalones with some of our side characters.

Rounding up from 3.5. I'm not that knowledgeable about Formula 1, so I can't comment too much of that aspect of the story, but Mia and Xander are a fun story. Mia has a podcast about F1 and Xander has been a target of her all season. He's really her favorite driver, but he's struggling and she's telling it like it is. A chance meeting turns into more and then another meeting really turns into more. It was refreshing that there was honestly instead of glaring miscommunication. A bit of instalove is good too. The conflict resolves pretty easily, which i don't really mind since it's a nice light read.

I really liked this one. Super quick read The only things I know about formula 1 comes from romance novels so take that with a grain of salt.

Mia seems super knowledgeable about the sport. I love the nod to having women in male dominated sports. I didn’t find her heckling podcast persona annoying at all. I feel like that’s part of podcasting imo.

Xander is kinda mid for me as far as MMC go but I did like seeing how reflective he was once he started using the journal. Which that in itself I find sweet.

I thought the long distance spicy scenes over text and the phone were top notch. The progression of the relationship was a little speedy but as Xander says he’s good at going fast.

I do not like the mom. She’s unsupportive and lame. Also she’s dead wrong for cutting off the aunty. Completely unfair of her.

Final dislike is the epilogue. I don’t see the point in having one that isn’t at least a year out. There was really nothing to gain from having that.

I thoroughly enjoyed this formula 1, enemies to lovers romance. It wasn’t overthought or over dramatic like so many sports romances are lately. I thought the characters were sweet and endearing. They had personal conflict, but it wasn’t super dark. The couple had fun banter. The romance was a little less slow burn than I prefer, but I still enjoyed it. I would have preferred first person POV, but the third person wasn’t too bad to me because we still got both perspectives.

The moment I saw racing and a plus size main character I was so excited for this one!!

While I really did enjoy the chemistry between the two and the plot of the fan turned expert podcaster and the racer she loves to critique, at around 60% of the book I got very frustrated.

Up until that point I was loving the book with a few minor things that just weren’t for me, but when the FMC starts mocking herself about exercising, working out etc and choosing to utilize harmful stereotypes for the sake of humor or filler in the story, the author immediately lost me as a (plus size) reader.

It was incredibly disappointing and made the rest of the experience with the book turn sour. So while I understand some people’s experiences may mimic that sort of feelings about their confidence and self worth as a plus size person, I was absolutely turned off to the book at that point. Especially since it’s not used to further the plot (like the FMC learning to love her fat body), it was used to punch down, and considering that a lot of readers will be picking this up because of the body size on the cover, I think they’ll be disappointed as well.

All in all, this wasn’t for me and won’t be one I’ll be recommending.

This one was a new twist for a rom com, formula one racing. In which a podcaster and formula one buttheads and possibly fall in love. This one was a fast read, though I wish the characters had been just a little more developed.

I loved this so much! F1 is one of my favorite tropes and I LOVED how this was podcaster x driver!! I enjoyed the banter between Xander and Mia! Mia is such a strong and independent fmc who held her own during every push back! Such a great storyline!

Cute and fun!! Lighthearted romance, it’s an easy read but it doesn’t really hook you!
I was hoping for a bit more than I got!! It’s still cute and I’d still recommend it for anyone wanting a romance read

Thank you for the ARC @Harlequin and @NetGalley. I enjoyed reading Not So Fast by Karen Booth. This was my first book by this author and won't be my last. This book had me hooked and I could not put it down. Mia and Xander relationship was sweet, fast and spicy. I was intrigued by the Formula 1 podcast and how Mia navigated social media pressure. How these two characters shared their passions for what they love and family. Perfect Title for this book.

Mia is a new-to-the-scene Formula 1 podcaster that has developed a platform off of her humorous takes on the circuit and driver performances each race. She has gone viral for especially bashing Xander, our MMC, and when they meet in person their chemistry is apparent despite their disdain for one another.

While this read was a fun ride, it lacked a lot of the depth and nuance I wanted to see from it. It was an interesting take on an F1 dislike to lovers romance book, but I struggled to believe in Mia and Xander's romantic connection. Their physical attraction to one another was not enough to make their connection convincing to me. I also struggled to understand Mia as a character. I get that you can be frustrated by your favorite driver performing poorly, but constantly berating him on a public platform was a little much for me. I definitely sided with Xander at the beginning of the book, despite him also saying some out of pocket things that I know a driver could NEVER get away with saying in the press in the current state of the sport.

Not So Fast is a high-octane romance set against the exciting backdrop of Formula One racing. The chemistry between podcast host Mia and F1 driver Xander is electric, filled with witty banter and sizzling tension. While the fast-paced plot and focus on the racing world add a fresh element to the story, some readers may find Mia's character slightly annoying. Overall, this is a fun and engaging read for romance lovers looking for a story that's both steamy and heartwarming. I received a copy of this book for review purposes.

I had to post a quote from this book to my social media - "When have you ever passed up a chance to obliterate someone with your brain?"

While I don't have a podcast like Mia, and am not obsessed with Formula 1 racing like Mia - this is the most relatable quote I've read in a book in ages! The romance in this book felt like a light switch - enemies-to-instalove in a snap - but I enjoyed all the high life travel and international flavor it added. Plus the MMC was British, can you really go wrong there?

2.5 Stars. Mia Neal is a podcaster who gained her following by picking on one driver in particular, Xander Bishop. The pair meet in person with Xander's teammate invites Mia to a race to mess with him and the pair form an instant connection sparking a long distance and then semi-secret relationship between the pair.
I love F1 but unfortunately the F1 romances continue to just be okay. I am highly amused that this is blatant George Russel fan fiction but the book itself didn't really work for me. While the F1 facts were accurate, a lot of aspects of the sport were not explained and I can see someone not familiar with it becoming frustrated by the sport-specific terminology found throughout the book. I also found it weird that some of the trivia Mia spouted off to prove her knowledge involved current drivers when all the teams and characters in the book were made up.
I also just didn't love the romance. Insta-lust love stories do nothing for me. The book was rather short so everything just felt rushed. Conflict was resolved quickly and so much of the pair's relationship was glossed over. I struggle to call this an enemies to lovers as I've seen others call it because there is no real hatred between the two and again there was attraction the instant they met and they literally kissed the second time they met. There was no buildup so there was no payoff. There were aspects of the book I really enjoyed, but found myself wanting more.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✔️ Enemies to Lovers
✔️ Sports Romance
✔️ Dating a Celebrity
✔️ Let's Keep Us a Secret

The beginning of the book with the intros to Xander and Mia were totally fine. I'm also not an F1 fan so some of the sport stuff was less interesting to me.

But, the momentum really picked up a third of the way in when the chemistry between the two of them dialed up to 10. I love how obsessed Xander was pretty quickly - listen, having a fictional celebrity be all about one person? Swoony to the max.

The spice was pretty great but I also enjoyed seeing each of them with their families and how being together made them be braver and more honest in that part of their lives.

Did this book turn me into an F1 fan? No. But it did absolutely turn me into a Karen Booth fan.

Steam 🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕