BLOG TOUR: Slipstream - Madge Maril

“Are you challenging me to win the Grand Prix for your hand, Graywood?”

“If you think winning would be a challenge, I guess not.”

He points at me, a real scowl on his lips. “Put your headphones on and sit where I can find you later, micetta. You’re about to watch the best race of your life.”

 

Lilah never imagined she’d be trading hard-hitting political documentaries for the roar of Formula One engines. Thanks to her boyfriend and co-owner of their film-making business, Max, she’s suddenly thrust into a world she can’t stand.

 

Her hopes sink even lower when she meets Arthur Bianco, an enigmatic reserve driver who flirts his way out of every media crisis. But when Max blindsides her by ending their relationship and stealing the company she built, the last person she expects to help her pick up the pieces is Arthur.

 

Reluctantly, they strike a truce: he’ll help her regain control of her documentary, and in return, she’ll film his epic racing comeback and earn him a spot with his former racing team.

 

The enemy of her enemy is a Formula One driver desperate to break free from his contract. But an unexpected speed bump forces Lilah and Arthur’s partnership to evolve into a fake relationship that feels all too real with sparks flying both on and off the track. Now it seems like her next big story might be more personal than she thought…

 

What did I think?

There are not enough romance books set in the world of Formula One so good on Madge Maril for writing such a fast-paced and pulse-pounding novel filled with action and romance.

Lilah Graywood's neurodiversity means that she prefers to stay hidden behind her camera while she films her subject.  That suits Max, her partner (both business and romantic), just fine as he pushes himself into the limelight as the face of Black & Graywood.  I loved Lilah immediately and at the same time detested Max with a passion.   That dirty rotten snake!

When Max ends their professional and private relationships, Arthur Bianco, the moody and flirty F1 driver who Lilah was filming, decides to keep the cameras rolling on one condition...Lilah is the one behind them.  Take that Max, you sneaky little cheater!  Which coincidentally is something I say when watching F1 in real life!

The romance between Lilah and Arthur starts out as fake in an attempt to release Arthur from his contract but it soon feels pretty real and it doesn't just get hot underneath Arthur's race suit.  There's a bit of steam but nothing cringeworthy and the up close and personal scenes are as well-written as the rest of the book.

Thrilling, entertaining and romantic, buckle up for the ride of your life in Slipstream.  It's a must-read for romance readers who are fans of F1.  I enjoyed every millisecond of it and highly recommend it.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

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BLOG TOUR: The Formula - Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg

F1 is now the fastest growing sport in the world; the full story of its unbelievable rise is a riveting saga only hinted at by the likes of Drive to Survive. In this book - the first, definitive account of how F1 came to achieve total global fandom - Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg take us inside a world full of racing obsessives, glamorous settings, petrolheads, engineering geniuses, dashing racers and bitter rivalries.

The story of F1's world dominance is one of near-constant transformation and experimentation. This is a sport where the only way to win championships is to land a series of technical moon shots - and then do it all over again. With fast cars, big money, beautiful people, and glamorous locations from Monaco to Melbourne, The Formula tells the full, epic story of the sport. Starting in 1950s Britain, where six years of wartime engineering laid the foundations for a new type of motorcar racing; to the first global star partnership of Senna and Ecclestone; Spygate; Crashgate and its transition into an entertainment juggernaut. Bringing unique insight and access to F1's most storied teams and personalities - from Ferrari to Lewis Hamilton to Christian Horner and Daniel Ricciardo -The Formula offers a riveting portrait of the drivers, corporations, cars, rivalries, and audacious gambles that have shaped the sport for half a century.

The end result is a high-octane history of how modern F1 racing came to be - the first book to tell the story of the outrageous successes and spectacular crashes that led F1 to this extraordinary yet precarious moment. More than just a sports story, it is the tale of a commercial empire, one built in the 20th century, rendered almost obsolete in the early 21st, and re-emerged world-dominant today; a disrupter that claimed its place in the crowded sports marketplace through cash, personality, and a new understanding of what a sport needs to be in the age of wall-to-wall entertainment.

 

What did I think?

As a longstanding fan of F1 I was very excited to read The Formula by Josuhua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This is a must-read for every fan of F1 that delves behind the scenes at the business-end of F1 and explains how its star has continued to rise over the years. 

Pretty much everything is covered in this fabulous book: THAT race in Abu Dhabi 2021, the McLaren Ferrari spygate controversy, Bruno Senna's calculated crash that put his teammate on the podium and a glimpse into the running of the sport.  I was never a fan of Bernie Ecclestone but I have to admire him for everything he did to get F1 on our TV and he epitomises our local phrase: 'shy bairns get nowt' and Bernie is anything but shy!

Reading this book is like revealing the inner workings of your favourite watch that you have been wearing for years; I thought I knew it well as I have been a fan of the sport for over 30 years but there was so much I didn't know.  I really enjoyed reading about the business side of F1 and as a wise man (Sir Lewis Hamilton, no less) once said "cash is king".

One minor niggle I have is that Jules Bianchi is referred to as 'a driver' when referring to his fatal crash in 2014 that resulted in the introduction of the driver halo and I think he deserves to be named and remembered.  Other than that though, I don't think there was a word out of place and a lot of ground is covered in this concise yet comprehensive book.

Well written, entertaining and informative, The Formula is an outstanding book that reminded me of the highs and lows over the years and gave me an unexpectedly eye-opening insight into F1.  A highly recommend read and one not to be missed for F1 fans.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the authors:

Joshua Robinson is the European sports correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, and has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated.

Jonathan Clegg is an editor for The Wall Street Journal, his work has also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, the Independent, and FourFourTwo magazine.

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Jenson Button: Life to the Limit: My Autobiography - Jenson Button

Jenson Button is one of the greatest racing drivers of his generation. His seventeen years in Formula 1 have seen him experience everything the sport has to offer, from nursing underpowered cars around the track to winning World Championships and everything in between.

Here, Jenson tells his full story for the first time in his own honest, intelligent and eloquent style. From growing up as part of a motor-racing-mad family under the guidance of his father, John, to arriving at Williams as a fresh-faced 20 year-old, to being written off by some as a playboy and his fight back to the very pinnacle of his sport. Jenson's World Championship victory for the unsponsored and unfancied Brawn GP team is one of the most extraordinary against-the-odds sports stories of the century.

Jenson's book lifts the lid on the gilded and often hidden world of Formula 1. He reveals his relationships with some of the biggest names in Formula 1- Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso as well some of the most colourful characters like Bernie Ecclestone, Ron Dennis, Frank Williams and serial winner Ross Brawn. Above all, he puts you right inside the cockpit, in the driving seat, travelling at over 200 miles per hour, battling the fear of death, showing you what happens when it goes wrong at high speed and allowing you to experience the euphoria of crossing the line first.

What did I think?

I've followed Formula 1 since 1997 so I'm fortunate to have seen the whole of Jenson Button's F1 career on my TV screen.  As a rookie F1 fan, I took a shining to Williams as Sir Frank is a sanddancer, like myself, and the first F1 t-shirt I ever bought had a fresh-faced young British guy on it (see picture below).  The guy was Jenson Button and I am proud to call myself a fan.

I was so excited to see that JB had written his autobiography and I would have cut my arm off for a signed copy but alas the great man didn't make his way to the chilly North East of England.  Thankfully, Amazon delivered on release day and I had my treasured (unsigned) book in my greedy hands.

What stood out straight away for me was Jenson's amazing sense of humour.  That smile we know so well is woven into each page of this book as we relive the highs and lows of his life so far.  I honestly didn't expect to laugh so much at what is in essence the same joke, namely the many mispronunciations of 'Jenson'.  Hopefully the world champion doesn't have this problem any more!

Key races are replayed through Jenson's eyes, including one of my favourites: Canada 2011.  The writing is so vivid that you can clearly see the race in your mind and I felt my heart racing as the chequered flag approached, even though I knew that JB had won!

The book is also interspersed with photographs of Jenson's life and career, including my favourite, the iconic image of Jenson's first ever Grand Prix win in Hungary 2006:

It's perfectly balanced with the highs and lows.  Wouldn't we all love to forget those awful Honda years?  Only somebody as naturally talented as Jenson Button could bounce back in such style and go on to win a world championship.  Although naturally talented, we know that money talks in F1 and I felt as if JB has had to fight for every race seat.  It saddens me to think that money trumps talent but I am delighted to see that sometimes hard work pays off and dreams can come true.

No review of this book would be complete without talking about Papa Smurf, John Button, who was as much a part of an F1 weekend as the drivers themselves.  His support and love for Jenson is immortalised in print and I finally understood JB's reasons for leaving the sport.

Life to the Limit is an entertaining, candid and emotional account of an outstanding racing career that no F1 fan should miss.   Thank you for sharing your life, memories and special moments with us, Jenson.  On to the next chapter...

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY: Before You - Kathryn Freeman

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: 7^th June 2016

Publisher: Choc Lit

When life in the fast lane threatens to implode...

Melanie Hunt's hob working for the Delta racing team means she is constantly rubbing shoulders with Formula One superstars in glamorous locations like Monte Carlo.  But she has already learned that keeping a professional distance is crucial if she doesn't want to get hurt.

New Delta team driver Aiden Foster lives his life like he drives his cars - fast and hard.  But, no matter how successful he is, it seems he always falls short of his championship-winning father's legacy.  If he could just stay focused, he could finally make that win.

Resolve begins to slip as Melanie and Aiden find themselves drawn to each other –with nowhere to hide as racing season begins. But when a troubled young boy goes missing, everything is thrown into turmoil, including Aiden’s championship dream.

What did I think?

You don't have to be a Formula One fan to enjoy Before You, but if you're glued to the tv when there's a race on then you're going to absolutely love this.  Needless to say, with my love of F1, I whizzed through it like Jenson Button in a half-decent car.  Kathryn Freeman has certainly done her homework; it was impeccably researched without getting too involved for non-racing fans.  In fact the racing/romance story was as well balanced as Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes.  I have to give a special mention to the gorgeous cover with a lovely shot of the famous Fairmont Hairpin in Monte Carlo.

Mel Hunt (homage to the great James Hunt, perhaps?) is a press officer for the Delta racing team.  She has been there, done that and shrunk the t-shirt when it comes to dating a Formula One driver after a heartbreaking relationship with Viper driver Carlos Ferrer, a Spaniard with an eye for the ladies.  Aiden Foster is new to the Delta team; he has a lot to live up to as he is the son of five times World Champion, Seb Foster.  Aiden barely remembers his dad as Seb Foster crashed and lost his life at the Monaco Grand Prix almost twenty years ago, when Aiden was just ten years old.  Now Aiden is driving for his dad's old team and he wants to win the Championship as well as the girl.  Aiden and Mel have an obvious attraction right from the start but Mel doesn't want to get her heart broken again and Aiden has a playboy image to live up to.  The pages positively crackle with all the sexual tension of the will they/won't they storyline.

Before You has to be the fastest-paced romance novel I have ever read.  The excitement of the races and the buzz of the track, coupled with the many misunderstandings and undeniable attraction between Mel and Aiden, ensures that the story hurtles along at lightning speed.  No sooner had the five red lights gone out than the chequered flag was being waved and the Championship was decided.  Who will end up on the top step of the podium?

I absolutely loved Before You; it's a fabulous romance set over the course of a whole Formula One season.  The insecurities of both Mel and Aiden added another dimension to the story, although I'm not sure that I could have forgiven Mel's insecurity when it put a damper on the end of season party.  It just shows that sometimes things are not as they appear but oh, how we do love to jump to conclusions.

I would personally like to thank Kathryn Freeman for writing such an excellent story for us female racing fans.  I'm the first person to jump up and down when incorrect terms are used when talking about my beloved sport, so for Kathryn Freeman to not get a single technical term out of place whilst still holding the attention of non-racing fans is no mean feat.  An exceptional story in a unique setting, Before You has certainly earned its place on the top step of my podium.

I received this e-book from Brook Cottage Books in exchange for an honest review and I am releasing my review as part of the blog tour.

My rating:

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK
AMAZON US

ABOUT KATHRYN FREEMAN

I was born in Wallingford but have spent most of my life living in a village outside Windsor. A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also loves to write romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero…

I’ve two teenage boys and a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to bother buying a card again this year (yes, he does) so the romance in my life is all in my head. Then again, my husband’s unstinting support of my career change goes to prove that love isn't always about hearts and flowers - and heroes can come in many disguises.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynfreeman

Twitter: @kathrynfreeman1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7373990.Kathryn_Freeman

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-freeman-2962209

GIVEAWAY

A paperback copy of Search for the Truth (open internationally)

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