Member Reviews
Thank you to Berkley Romance for providing me with an early copy!
"Ride With Me" is the second book in the Lights Out series by Simone Soltani. The story follows characters we briefly met in the first book. I enjoyed the romance in this installment and felt that the slow-burn development between Thomas and Stella was well executed. I love a good accidental drunk wedding combined with a fake marriage trope. From the beginning, Thomas was a goner right from the start, and I lived for the 'my wife' moments. The chemistry between the main characters was palpable, and I appreciated their healthy communication throughout the story.
However, I still have one complaint that carried over from the first book: we are told about their backstories rather than witnessing them unfold. This made it harder to deeply understand their motivations for continuing the fake marriage. Additionally, I noticed there was much less about F1 compared to the previous book, which I found lacking for a sports romance.
Overall, this was a solid read, and I can't wait to see who the next couple will be!
I love the drunken marriage in Vegas trope so I knew this book was going to be for me. Both Thomas and Stella really compliment each other really well. I love their interactions and just their entire relationship. I do think Stella could be a bit immature and it bugged me a bit, but I was able to overlook it because of how much I was enjoying the plot.
2.5 ⭐️ First off thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review! For those that know me, know that I love a good marriage of convenience and drunken accidental marriage in Vegas. There's just something about it that hits different for me.
This had a lot of potential and I really enjoyed Cross the Line, but this one took me a while to get into the story and by the time I was invested, that feeling didn't last long. I had started it and then put it down for a short period of time which maybe didn't help, I don't know. The burn was slooooow and most times I don't mind that, but this one felt a bit too long page wise and relationship development wise. And some of the dynamics between characters fell flat and I wished there was more depth or focus on certain characters.
All that being said, this could have been a me problem and the time I read it, but this could be for you if you like marriage of convenience and a little bit of F1.
Something about the way simone Soltani writes is going to do it for me everytime. As someone who loves the accidental/marriage of convince trope more than anything it was done so flawlessly in this book. We got to enjoy seeing Thomas and Stella’s romance blossom, while also getting to witness some of the challenges they had to face from their families and the outside opinions. This personally was my first F1 romance and often when reading sports romances it sometimes feels like the sport isn’t often touched on but soltani did it so tastefully and made sure the sport stayed at the focus of the story. I also really liked that the plot was more focused on their connections than spice, which I feel is often the case in sports romances. I truly had a blast getting to dive into Thomas and Stella’s world
Tropes:
- Marriage of convince
- accidental marriage
- slow burn
- F1 Driver X Baker
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
3.25⭐️
This was a cute sequel to Cross the Line! I wasn’t in love with it but it was good. The first half really hooked me because I love marriage of convenience, but the characters were annoying me towards the end. It felt like their relationship lacked depth. Overall was a fun read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the free eArc
ride with me (arc) by simone soltani 💜💍🎰💒🏎️🏁🩵🎰💜💍🩵🏁🫧💒🫶🏻🎰💍🏎️🏁🫧🩵🏁
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🏁this is gonna be a long review so strap in:
if you know me, you know i absolutely ADORE simone’s first book in the lights out series, cross the line. so when i received the arc for ride with me i was THRILLED!!! AND BOY OH BOY!!!!!!! did she deliver. this book is absolute perfection.
💒accidentally married in vegas
💍fake marriage
💜girlboss bakery owner
🏎️hot british f1 driver
🩵interracial couple
🫧independent fmc
🎰obsessed down bad mmc
💍TONSSS OF “my wife”
🏎️open door spice!
💜stella:
god. i can’t even put into words how much i adore stella girl. she is so strong, confident, HILARIOUS, sexy, powerful, GOD I LOVE HER!!!!!!! she will go down as one of my favorite fmc’s literally ever. seeing her struggle with the aftermath of her breakup with her ex, and slowly gain back the confidence in herself that he stripped away is so special. i love you stella sooooo much 💜😮💨🫶🏻
🏎️thomas:
GODDDD WE LOVE A BRITISH BOYFRIEND!!!!!! okay he’s absolutely everything. sweetest little dirty talker in the whole world. he’s so so perfect. thomas is the sweetest, most caring mmc ive read in awhile!!!!! it’s the little things!!!!! (HE SPECIAL ORDERED ALL OF HER FAVORITE BAKING APPLIANCES TO HIS HOUSE IN HER FAVORITE SPECIAL ORDER COLOR SO SHE COULD BAKE AT HIS HOUSE.) seeing him ripped up over the lorenzo situation and seeing how stella helped resolve that not only to the media but to himself just ugh okay i have to stop talking or i never will.
🏁if you can’t tell by now, i loved this book. @simonesoltani you are a powerhouse my girl. i loved stella and thomas so so so much. this is one of my favorite books of the year!!!!!! so funny!!! so sweet!!!!! so sexy!!!!!! their chemistry!!!!!!!!! ugh!!!!!! i love stella and thomas. okay i have to stop or i will talk about them forever.
ride with me by simone soltani is out may 20, 2025!
thank you to simone, @berkleypub @berkleyromance @netgalley for the arc! a million forehead kisses for you!!!! 🏁🏎️💋🫶🏻🫧💍💒🏁
This was the perfect edition to the series. I love a marriage of connivence/ fake dating trope and this one did it so well. Thomas was the perfect down bad mmc and Stella fit him so well. I was rooting for them from the beginning and loved watching their story play out. As someone who really doesn’t care about F1 this author makes me care.
If you're a fan of slow-burn romance and Formula 1, this book might be for you.
However, I found that the story was unnecessarily long, the plot doesn’t really get going until about 20% into the book. Additionally, I struggled to connect with the characters, which made it difficult to stay engaged with the story.
With all of that said, the ending was great and gave the book a satisfying conclusion.
Their journey from unlikely partners to something deeper is as wild as it is thrilling, with the heat of the F1 world providing the perfect backdrop. The tension between their growing feelings and the mess they’ve found themselves in makes for a page-turner you won’t want to put down. I loved their sizzling chemistry, and this romance proves that sometimes the best relationships are the ones you never saw coming.
I really liked this one it was a good accidental marriage/marriage of convenience sports romance. I love seeing the authors writing get even better since her debut, it was very easy to read. Stella a business owner and Thomas a F1 driver were so cute, they first meet in Vegas after Stella is left at the altar and immediately have so much chemistry. They wake up the next day and realize that they got married accidentally(i still don’t know how people do that lol) and figure out it’s better to stay married for a period of time.
This book was such a slow burn and i loved it, the tension and chemistry between the 2 main characters was amazing. I love seeing their friendship evolve and also how the fake marriage impacted their family and jobs. I liked the slow burn but when at 70% percent they were just friends I wanted to shake them both lol. There aren’t a lot of steamy scenes but when they finally get together it’s 🔥🤭. Overall this was a cute and nice read, thanks to Berkley for the arc.
Read for:
- F1 romance
- Wealthy fmc and mmc
- Slow burn
- Interracial romance
- Diverse characters
Thanks so much for the e-arc! Ride with Me is an F1 romance with a marriage of convenience. Thomas and Stella have great character growth in this story. They both grow personally and professionally. There was a slow, slow burn that could have been less slow, but that is ok! I enjoyed the family storyline, but I do wish we had a little more. I would read another Simone Soltani book!
Ride with Me by Simone Soltani was not what I was expecting. I really enjoyed the first book in this series and had the same kind of expectations for the second book but I feel like it kind of fell flat. The dialogue did not work for me. It felt too forced and unrealistic. It was, quite honestly, a little too cringe for me and I couldn't get over it. It's supposed to be an F1 romance but there was hardly an F1 in it and I think it was a little too noticeable that it was lacking in the actual F1. Overall, this was a disappointment for me.
Thank you NetGalley & Simone Soltani for the ARC.
I really liked the story and the writing. I will start my review with the one thing that made me choose to put 4 stars instead of 5, after 75%++ they still weren't together even tho they liked or even loved each other... I love a slow burn but this was a bit too slow.
It was my first accidental marriage, which I really liked. Thomas, wow, what can I say.. He's perfect, I would marry him in a heartbeat. He's kind, devoted, funny, handsome and he loves unconditionally.
Stella, she's fierce, funny, strong and stubborn. When she has an idea, it's not an easy task convincing her that it is not a great one, ahem, the rules!!!!!
Overall, great story, with good details about Formula 1.
I will recommend this book. Thomas deserves to be known, he's just that wow.
DNF @ 26%.
I am so sad that I am not loving this as much as the first book in the series (which I absolutely adored). This is written just as well as the first one but I am not connecting with any of the characters. I think this one is lacking too much F1 content and that might be my issue. I think someone looking for just a romance will enjoy this one.
I may pick this one back up in the future and will definitely continue reading this author.
Projected rating 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.
DNF -- I'm disappointed because I really liked the first book! But I started this one and am not finding the characters very likeable and the dialogue a bit cringey.
As a fan of f1 I’m always looking for good romance books, but usually struggle to find any that I like. Now this book really doesn’t have a lot of f1 content if I’m being honest, however that didn’t make me like the book any less. I thought Stella and Thomas’ relationship was cute and they were also good characters on their own. I think there just was too many characters in this book that some of the storylines didn’t get the attention they deserved (like Thomas and his family). It was also frustrating how slow the pace was and some of Stella’s actions. Overall it was a cute a read and I definitely enjoyed it more than the first book.
I ate this book up! Literally finished it within a couple of days! It is a great continuation from Cross The Line. I fell in love with Stella's character immediately, she is a strong confident black woman, who rightfully deserved to crash out after what her ex did to her. Thomas was exactly what she needed. I did side eye the cliché drunken Vegas marriage but thankfully it ended up working out. It was a bit slow to start, especially with them fighting their attraction to each other, but I still give it 4/5 stars. Other reviewers said that the book didn't have a lot of F1 content but it is a romance novel so I don't really see how that's a problem but I guess. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to read this!
Look, look, look, hear me out: This is cute and all, but there is zero F1. Without exaggerating, less than ten minutes of this read were grand prix related. So, honestly, what are we doing here?
This is the best series of the F1 romances that have been popping up recently. While for me, the early parts of Ride with Me didn't have enough F1 content, but I still enjoyed it a lot.
I’ve been waiting for the second one for a while and I JUMPED at the chance to get this one, SO THRILLED. I absolutely loved it. Can’t wait for more!