This biggest thank you to the Forever team for this widget. I was so excited to jump into this book. Double Apex was a huge hit for me. Unfortunately, while I loved the vibes of this book, I had trouble getting through it.

This felt like more an extension of the first book than its own entity. In Coming in Hot, we’ve gone back in time to events that took place in book one, but are viewing them from the perspective of our two new main characters. Although this method of writing can be very interesting, in this book it felt repetitive. It pulled me from the story, especially because I didn’t feel like I was getting any additional information from these flashbacks. Instead I kept feeling like I was experiencing deja vu, but really it was genuinely just the same conversations happening over again.

Then when I wanted to know more about something I would start the next chapter only to find that there was a significant time jump that left me wanting more. The book closely follows the F1 calendar, jumping weeks between races. While this moved the pace of the story along, I felt like I wasn’t able to truly connect with these characters. I would have loved to see some development between them during their downtime. A large portion of the romance seems to happen off page, and what little I did see didn’t leave me entirely invested in the relationship between Natalia and Klaus.

I enjoyed that Natalia was very headstrong. It was nice to see a strong woman in a male dominated job, but the way Klaus and Phaedra treat her was disappointing. Klaus felt like a walking talking red flag. I couldn’t ever truly fall for him because his behavior was too weird and whishy washy for me. I’m sure he’s somebody’s book boyfriend, and that’s great… They can have him. As for her bestie? I was already annoyed by Natalia’s friendship with Phaedra in the first book, and this book drummed up those same feelings of frustration once again. These two have an interesting dynamic that doesn’t always feel friendly, and eventually leads to a big friendship blowup. I felt like a majority of the book was Natalia rightfully holding a grudge. Even though I knew what the outcome would be, because it was rehashing the same events of the previous book, I really wanted Natalia to walk away from her bestie and never speak to her again. I kept thinking to myself that Natalia deserved better.

I loved all the F1 references. It’s such a fascinating sport and seeing it translated on page is very cool. I found myself looking forward to all the chapters that focused on the races and the story Natalia was trying to uncover.

I suspect this book will either be an hit or miss for fans of F1. I’d highly recommend jumping into this book as a standalone. I think it’ll read so much better if people haven’t already read book one. Although this book wasn’t my jam, I’m still very much looking forward to more from this author.

I’ve been so excited to read this book for so long and while I loved it I had imagined it differently. The characters were lovely and had development, but the book had a lot of time jumps, from a few days up to a few months it was sometimes hard to keep up with the timeline. Talia was a strong female character and Klaus had clear character traits. The book had a lot of secrets and intrigues that kept the reader as well as the characters on their toes. The twists in the storyline were a bit fast for me sometimes, but considering the time jumps it made sense and would not have been too quick in real life. The power balance was sort of off between Klaus and Talia, something I wasnt soo sure about. Sometimes I wasnt sure whether Phae was really a friend to Natalia or what was going on between them, but perhaps thats just because our characters were just too different. The spice and smut scenes were great and I really liked them. The racing aspects were believable and I liked seeing the team principle side of the circuit. The whole plot is set over two years / two formula 1 seasons, so some tracks are visited twice. All the settings were well described and I could picture them vividly. Overall a good book that I enjoyed reading, I would however recommend to read it in your mother language if possible. Plot wise there was a whole strand that I didnt really understand, but it was necessary to get to the rift. Perhaps a different one wouldve been more believable.

3,5 stars

Thanks to Forever Pub for the gifted copy!

This very cute cover absolutely caught my eye! While this is not quite a sequel to the first book, there are a LOT of overlapping events that are reiterated in this book. However, I did like the FMC of this book SO much more than the FMC of DOUBLE APEX. I would've actually been okay with it if she wasn't in this book at all. While I enjoyed Natalia's job and how she was bringing more women into F1, there was a lot of telling and not showing of this happening, and less F1 than expected in general. There were some minor errors there (like when the Suzuka race is dring the year, and Azerbaijan), and a more major plot hole of a problematic country that would maybe host a Grand Prix that was committing human rights violations that would also welcome in tourists for the event. Lastly, I didn't really love the relationship between the MCs either - there was a weird power imbalance and the tension wasn't rising so much as back and forth and seemed immature.

I thought this book was for me?? but no that is not the case..

there are so many time jumps that are within chapter that it felt more like work than just reading. the characters are also irritating and toxic.. there was no sign of character growth or even development.

I dnfed it at chapter 20

I hate that I didn't love this book. I wanted to so badly. I went in with really low expectations and thought it was going to work but man these two could not have a conversation. After almost 60% of secrets and not talking, I just couldn't do it anymore.

Sadly, this one just didn’t work for me. I couldn’t connect with any of the main characters, and the constant time jumps left me confused. Every chapter skipped ahead, so we never really saw their connection—just the aftermath of miscommunications. It’s hard to root for a romance when all the good parts are off-page

For the angst lovers!

Nat and Klaus were for the angst lovers. The whole forbidden love, age gap, and workplace romance was a great blend to create a lot of tension and angst. I couldn't get enough of the mutual pining. It was so good. Plus the spice here is great. I was expecting this to be hot and it definitely delivered on that front.

The characters were well written too. My favorite was Nat because I love a strong FMC in a male dominated field.

The F1 sport was represented well and made the sports romance element interesting.

Would recommend!

This is a spicy, edge-of-your-seat, can’t-put-it-down romance that delivers on every level. If you’ve ever wanted to feel the rush of F1 and the slow-burn passion of a forbidden romance, this book is your next must-read.

Natalia is about to start her dream job: covering F1 for Auto Racing Journal. That means traveling the world, experiencing the glitz and glamour, and interacting with the teams and drivers. A hook-up with a handsome stranger on her first night on the job seems to be just that, until she recognizes him as Klaus Franke, the Team Principal for Emerald Racing. After a disastrous parting, Natalia and Klaus continue to orbit one another, trying to balance growing attraction with ethics, professionalism, and the need to seek out what they really want in life.

Natalia is a difficult character to fully warm up to. She's clearly capable in many ways, but she has such difficulty standing up for what she needs. Her friendship with Phaedra is one example of that - it takes a significant rift to help Natalia stand up for herself in their relationship. Natalia's difficult childhood does inform a lot of her choices and decision-making, but it doesn't excuse everything.

The hardest thing to reconcile is Natalia's decision-making when it comes to her job and relationship. Dating Klaus is so clearly in conflict with Natalia's job, especially the special profile she's supposed to be doing, but the reader is intended to root for their relationship. The good thing is that Klaus is easy to fall for as a love interest. His love for his late wife underlies his icy exterior, and his chemistry with Natalia is evident throughout. It helps you want to root for the relationship, despite the ethics.

I did have a difficult time truly engaging with the third-act break-up. The basis for it was more complicated than necessary, while also being underexplained. Without giving anything away, I just found myself not fully understanding the issue Klaus was handling that Natalia wanted to report on. They were talking past it so much that it made it difficult to fully appreciate the stakes. As for the ultimate reconciliation, let's just say it involved one of my least favorite tropes in romance.

Despite these concerns, I still enjoyed the book as a whole, and I'm glad I got to experience my first F1 romance! Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review!

The book does NOT stand up next to blurb.
I could write down all my reasons for disliking this but so many other reviews have already said most of them.
My biggest issue was how the MMC treated women as sex workers. Then he has the gall to try and hook up with the FMC while he has a woman (who he isn’t sure is a sex worker or not) waiting for him in his hotel room.
Honestly, he grossed me out. Zero class.

As a huge motorsports fan, especially an F1 fan, I was so excited to read this! But as I continued reading, I felt like I couldn't like any of the characters. They were all severely unlikeable and maybe even underdeveloped. I unfortunately decided to DNF at 33%, and I think if the characters were more likeable and seemed to have a connection, I would have continued.

Thank you NetGallery for the opportunity to receive this eARC.

You would need to really LOVE unlikeable characters to enjoy this book.

I unfortunately, do not. I didn't realize this was the second book in a series when I requested it from Netgalley. I went back to read Double Apex, the first book in the series, before starting this one. Man, do I wish I had saved myself the trouble. Even after the several red flags in that book, I thought I would still give this one a chance.....and was immediately given the ick in the first chapter.

The main characters are insufferable and continually making poor decisions. The side characters are even worse and the conflicts in the book are entirely created out of poor impulse control and a need for major therapy. Even the F1 racing elements couldn't save this one for me.

I received an eARC of this title from Netgalley and the publisher.

3.5⭐️ I really enjoyed this book but I felt like very slow at times. This book have layers and complexities to the story and the characters. I personally enjoyed the first book more and think if you love F1, scandal , drama and spice this book is for you.

Oh, my gawd Natalia & Klaus had such raw attraction with an undeniable chemistry. I loved it when he called her Kleine Hexe "little witch" in german. It was simply cute. Also, I enjoyed that each chapter has the time that passes, so it gives movement to the story. It was emotional how both characters had such fear of loss, but it made it more beautiful when they healed. Don't get me started on the surprise pregnancy, i didn't know when it would happen, but when it did, i realized how they both would be amazing parents. I enjoyed their story.

Thank you so much to Forever for the opportunity to read this book. I am always grateful.

Unfortunately I had to DNF at 55%. I really struggled to grasp the story with the time jumps, and it’s possible the style of writing just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this ARC!

Unfortunately I have decided this book isn’t for me. I did DNF at around 40%. The book had the potential for me as far as plot and setting. But, there were just things about the FMC I couldn’t get over.

Again Thank You for the opportunity of the advanced ebook. I’m always very grateful:)

I wanted to love this so bad! Some of my fav tropes but alas i could not! FMC was insufferable and her best friend was so bratty for no reason like my God and the MMC do you want to move on or nah?! I was over! Everything was just happening too fast too quickly that i forgot the plot i cant bring myself to read the sequel thats for sure! It had potential however it simply fell short!

I wanted to like this book. But much like the first I just was struggling to connect with the characters. There was so much going on and I just felt like I couldn’t ever figure it out. I was very excited for Natalia and Klaus! But I just don’t think this author is for me.

Thanks to Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Another Formula 1 sports romance! It opens with a spicy scene, which is pretty indicative of what to expect in a romance. If it was a pepper, it'd be a habanero!

Natalia starts work as an F1 journalist, but after a hot one-night stand in a foreign city, she realizes she just slept with the billionaire owner of one of the biggest teams in the sport. He's older, and widowed, and not ready to be serious with anyone. Natalia just wants to do her job well. But time passes, and their chemistry becomes undeniable.

I didn't connect well with this book. It felt quite scattered as large swaths of time were skipped again and again to coincide with races, but it felt like we were always playing catch-up. There's some journalistic drama that is playing out beside the romance that didn't really interest me. I don't know, I just didn't feel all that connected to any part of the story. I thought it had a very strong opening, and I was honestly so excited to see how it all played out, but for me, it mostly fell flat, and the ending wasn't my favorite (I won't spoil it here).

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

*2.5 stars
An F1 romance between a journalist and a team principal.
I found this book incredibly difficult to read for multiple reasons. One, the writing was really stiff, and it didn’t feel like a romance. Let alone an F1 romance- the sport was barely discussed through the book. I think it would be better in the long run if it wasn’t advertised as such. Second, there was a time skip every chapter. Literally every chapter, and most of the time it was multiple weeks or months. Because of those, I wasn’t attracted to the characters’ relationship because they barely saw each other and didn’t seem to communicate between those times. All that made the declarations of love (even though it was 60-70% through) very sudden and forced.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Pub for an eARC of this book- and I apologize that it wasn’t my favorite.