I've never been into f1 but I thought this book was a fun concept. It helped me understand the world and was fast paced and not too over the top with details.

He falls first
My wife
Shitty real family but amazing found family


I wish we could have had Arthur's POV but overall well written and I devoured it in one sitting.


Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

One of my new favorite F1 romances!

This was a delight to read. I loved seeing a normal and even slightly nerdy gal in the role of F1 FMC, Lilah. I love that she wore glasses. I love that she was against the patriarchy. She had trauma, she had quirks, and she had heart. She is neurodivergent and so so relatable. Shaking on airplanes? Yes it’s me. She overcame so much and learned to see herself through the loving, kind eyes of Arthur Bianco and her newfound friends.

I loved the banter between these two - the cat and mouse chase. This is a clear he fell first AND he fell harder romance, which I am totally here for. There is fake dating, “MY WIFE”, and a revenge plotline.

I also think this book is super friendly to both new and experienced F1 fans. We are learning about F1 through Lilah, who has never seen a race, but it’s not dumbed down in any way for my OG F1 girls.

This was the perfect book to read into the first F1 Grand Prix weekend of the 2025 season! Madge is definitely a voice to look out for. Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this digital ARC :)

Honestly I keep going back and forth on the rating but I think I landed on 3.25 stars.

Slipstream hooked me from the start and I was here for vibes!
I loved the action and suspense associated with F1 as well as picturing Arthur in his racing suite and helmet….hello there *swoon*
Arthur, the MMC. I won’t lie, I wasn’t sure how I felt about him at first but man did this man grow on me. He’s sweet, patient, thoughtful, understanding, protective, and hot. You won’t regret saying hello to him.
Lilah, the FMC. She’s…okay. Overall I really liked her and while both MC’s had character growth, I think she grew the most. I also appreciate the ADHD representation she brought to the story and her different ways of thinking. However, she did get quite annoying here and there with the constant complaint about being different and wanting to be normal. While I think that complaint is completely a justified feeling and one that I think a decent amount of people do feel, I think the consistency of the subject was a bit too much.
I enjoyed and appreciated the mental health representation that was throughout the book for both MC’s - especially with Arthur who showed the same emotions that I imagine real life men feel…like they aren’t supposed to show their “less manly” feelings. I liked what this added to the overall plot of the story.
However, as I mentioned in the beginning, I was here for the vibes….and mainly the vibes. I enjoyed the overall story and plot, but I think some of the events and the strategy or “scheming” to overcome the plot was confusing and I didn’t fully understand what exactly they were planning on doing or why there were going to be doing it despite trying to go back and reread to get a better understanding.
The story was overall faced paced while the relationship development was slow burn, which I liked! However there were parts of it that, despite coming off as a slow burn, felt a little rushed, weird, and downright kinda cringy, in my opinion, after remembering and actually thinking about the fact that all this happens only in a three month timespan.
Overall I did really enjoy the story!

Release Date: May 19th, 2025

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Quotes I loved:
“It takes a team to win the race.”

“Most people go their entire lives without anyone else wanted to record that they existed.”

“Failure only sticks if you let it.”

“Smartest woman in the world, and she’s mine.”

“If you got me talking about what I feel about you, I’m gonna keep you up all night”

“Life doesn’t need to be painful to make it meaningful.”

“You changed me. You showed me a world outside my camera, a world where I want to be.”

OMG! It's so good! Can I give it 10 stars?

This is was my idea of the perfect romance. Flawed characters just trying to make it thru life. A hot hero with Darcy-vibes. A strong heroine who knows herself and doesn't bend to become what everyone else wants her to be. Ugh. It was just so good!

I WILL be grabbing a copy of this one to keep for rereading. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

This story really has all the makings of a great slow burn romance—from enemies to lovers, to a man who ~yearns~, to the “she falls first, he falls harder” troupes. Lilah and Arthur team up to enact “revenge” but that “revenge” plot almost instantly turns into the start of their romance. While the two are pushing each other away, the use of the documentary filming ties them together.

As an F1 fan I was a little nervous about the general premise of this story and feared it may have edged a little too close to being a fanfiction of a driver/Drive to Survive. Instead, the story does a great job at simplifying (even if slightly inaccurate) the complexities of the sport to make it more digestible to interested readers. My only true complaint about the story was the saturation of “telling” rather than showing. The constant need to point out that Lilah was an “outsider,” undermined all her growth as she grew more confident and secure in her increased independence.

Overall, I would definitely recommend it for a good romance read. As long as you remember this is a romance with a side of F1 and not an F1 story. The overall tone of the story is light with some angst and drama that really helps both Arthur and Lilah showcase their growth throughout the story from hiding their wants and desires to standing up for not only themselves, but each other.

This was my first F1 racing novel and I've got to say I was impressed! I felt in tune with the narrator of the novel because *spoiler* I too had no idea Arthur liked her. I thought this was going to be an enemies to lovers novel, but turns out it was love at first sight for Arthur, except he was still rude to her??? The book was very fast paced for me, but I think some of that aspect is I know nothing about F1 and the racing timeline may very well be that fast and I just have no idea. I loved the banter between Arthur and Lilah, and the relationships that developed between the whole team. If you're an F1 and romance novel fan, this is the book for you!!

This book was fantastic! The racing,the romance and the banter weretop-tier! I’ve never read from this author, but they will be an auto buyauthor for me from this point on!!! easy five stars -a new favorite this year!!!

Firstly, I’d like to thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC!

I am one of those people that became an F1 fan after watching Drive to Survive on Netflix and it’s been so exiting to see so many other F1 fans and F1 romances popping up!

Let’s start with what I loved about this book. I really loved that the author perfectly captured the intensity of an F1 race in words, and I just really enjoyed their writing in general. I remember feeling super seen when Lilah was describing the feeling of being in an airplane (I’m terrified of flying). The imagery she used was SPOT ON exactly how I feel when I get onto an airplane.

The reason why this wasn’t a full 5 stars for me is that I felt like the story was a little rushed. It felt like Arthur and Lilah went from 0-200 way too fast, and I would have enjoyed it more if the story would have been longer. It was great, the writing was great, just wish it was longer and more fleshed out. I honestly don’t see this as a bad problem, I want more! That’s a good thing! 🤭

Overall, I really enjoyed it, and felt it was much better than the last F1 romance I read. I would definitely recommend this one to any sports romance fans!

Slipstream will be released on May 20, 2025 - definitely check it out! 🏁

This was somewhat of a mixed bag for me. I love love loved the author's writing style. Her words were almost lyrical at time and I really found myself enjoying her story. However, the romance itself moved at such a glacial pace that I ended up bored. The scheme regarding F1 and the teams was also a little much and took away from the romance which was the whole point of the story. I would absolutely read something from this author again then. Very impressive for a debut! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!

This debut romance completely pulled me in. I read it in a day, even though I had plenty of other things I should have been doing. The story follows Lilah, a documentary filmmaker who suddenly finds herself in the world of Formula 1 after her boyfriend dumps her and fires her from her own company. Now stuck working on an F1 documentary she never wanted to make, she meets Arthur Bianco, a playboy reserve driver for Team Ignition who wants nothing to do with the project. The two strike a deal—if they work together, Lilah can get her revenge and Arthur can reclaim control of his own story.

I absolutely loved this book. It was my first F1 romance, and even though I’ve watched Drive to Survive, I’m not an avid fan, so I appreciated that we got to learn about the sport through Lilah’s perspective. She has no clue about F1, and we get to experience her figuring it out right alongside her. Her character felt so real to me—I connected with her struggles, her internal monologue, and the way her emotional baggage slowly unfolded throughout the book. And Arthur? He was the perfect patient quietly confident MMC. The way he saw and understood Lilah made their relationship so compelling.

What I loved most was how both of them felt misunderstood by the world but deeply understood each other. While others doubted them or saw only pieces of who they were, they recognized and accepted each other completely. Their dynamic felt so layered and intimate, and it made their relationship incredibly satisfying to watch unfold.

I also really appreciated how the book handled mental health, particularly in high-pressure careers like professional sports. Lilah and Arthur’s connection was so well-developed, and while I wouldn’t have minded a few chapters from Arthur’s POV, I also think the story being told solely from Lilah’s perspective was perfect. The slow burn here was so well done—I didn’t even realize how much tension was building until I found myself completely wrapped up in their story.

This book was just so good. It had the perfect mix of emotion, humor, and tension, and I can’t wait for more people to read it so I have more people to talk about this with. Madge Maril is officially an auto-buy author for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this story! Lilah and Arthur were adorable as well as the side characters. I would have loved to get an Arthur POV because I love to see a male MC simping for the other lead but we did get some hints through her POV that even she didn’t get. I also enjoyed the slow burn.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Lilah moves from DC to Texas to help her boyfriend Max on an F1 documentary. This is when she meets Arthur Bianco, the reserve driver for Ignition. Shortly after, Max breaks up with Lilah.
What follows is a fun, sexy, banter between Lilah and Arthur as the season progresses. It was beautiful to see the characters grow in their self-confidence, and figure out what true love and friendship is.

The story progression and the conflict felt so natural, and I loved the mental health/panic attacks representation.

Tropes:
Slow burn
Fake dating
F1
Mental health rep

I love Formula 1 and romance, so this was a very fun read for me! I thought it was a cool idea to follow a reserve driver instead of a main driver because the stakes are different for drivers in that position.

I really loved that neurodivergence and mental health was at the forefront of the story. For Lilah, the documentarian following Arthur for the summer, her ADHD and hope for acceptance ruled a lot of her life. When her documentary partner/long-term boyfriend breaks up with her for someone more “normal,” she’s at a loss for what to do. What she doesn’t expect is to find connection with Arthur, reserve driver for Ignition Racing and her documentary subject. He SEES her in a way no one else has, and as the summer progresses, it turns out that she sees him too, pushing him to recognize that he is deserving of love and care and that he needs to put his mental health first.

One thing that felt a little bit underdeveloped was the conflict, including the need to fake date in the first place. It kinda felt to me like Lilah would get the short end of the stick if the whole thing blew up, and I also didn’t entirely get the whole uncle/team/arthur dynamic. Thankfully, it didn’t matter too much to me because I was more focused on the growing relationship between Arthur and Lilah, which was very sweet!

Overall, this was very cute and I enjoyed it a lot!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I got this book as an ARC. Honestly I was into this one. I don’t think I have ever read a trope with a Formula 1 setting, which in itself hooked me. I don’t know much about F1, which was refreshing as a new backdrop for a romance novel. I liked that it had just enough details with F1 to set the scene.

I won’t give any spoilers, but you have a powerful guy in the racing circuit, Arthur (which threw me every time they used this name because I just didn’t feel this name lol), a woman (Lilah) filming a documentary about Formula 1 with her boyfriend/business partner Max (when is that ever good), and lots of drama with owners, contracts, and racing circuits. Lilah was a decent balance of owning who she was and not taking crap from anyone. I found that admirable that there was some meat to her character. I felt that lots of characters grew in this story with their personal journey, even secondary characters.

A tad long than it needed to be, but I would say close to 4 stars. A quick read and this one held my attention, I really couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the writing in this one. A slower burn if you will.

Interested to see what else Maril has, but for a debut novel I was all in.

Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I loved this book. I've never been a fan of F1, but this had me dreaming about cars for several nights. From the detail that Maril included about the way the industry works to the swoon worthy scenes where we could see them falling in love with each other, everything was great.

Fast cars…slow burn.

This was such a strong debut! Lilah is forced to film a documentary focused on formula 1 racing and she follows Arthur who is a famous driver. They decide to pretend to date and make this documentary for their own forms of revenge. But they both get more than they initially expected from their partnership.

I was so so pleased when this was actually a slow burn. I wasn’t surprised to see that the author got their start with fanfiction. No one does slow burn like a fanfic author and I loved every second. I also loved the subtle mental health representation in this. Seeing anxiety represented in a male, especially a successful male, is so rare.

Sports romance is so popular right now and I love it but it was so refreshing to read a different sport. I will be reading more formula 1 now.

Excited to read more by this author in the future!!

I unfortunately thought this book was terrible. I respect what the author was trying to do with the main character but so much of her personality felt like pick-me-girl pandering and it was just so icky and overdone.

When she described Arthur’s eyes as the color of an aged bourbon bottle held up to the sun I had a full-body cringe.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC

Slipstream by Madge Maril was such a fun read. One of my favorite trops is when the female main character has a boyfriend at the beginning of the book. And when said boyfriend messes up and they break up it's such a good part to read. The male main character Arthur was such a good character, I especially loved his nickname, it made him much more real. How Lilah and Arthur interacted was so sweet, he was so nice to her when she was struggling and vice versa. This book would be such a good summer read, I recommend it to those who are looking for something entertaining and fun.

read in one day i LOVED the premise omg thank you to net galley for the ARC <3 i loved all the tropes and happily ever after !!! 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for the vibes! i thought some of the ADHD stuff was a little over done (speaking as someone who demands on their own ADHD meds to function) but i loved the quick exploration of men’s mental health!! i also felt like the main character was a little too ~I’m different than other girls~ that i was a smidge tired of but overall was cute and fun and a great beach read!!

The racing! The ~feelings~! The sex scenes! The neurodivergence rep! I loved every page of this lighthearted romance, and loved the earnest heart beating in every line. And I learned so much about Formula 1!