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:

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UK.Bookshop.org

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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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