Trying to remain fair to the author cause from the 50% I read I thought it was incredibly well written and charming.

But the romanticising of a crash threw me off. The MMC crashes his car because he’s distracted…because he kissed his mates sister.

Now, my stepdad raced in F3 for many years when he was younger and had to pack it in because of a crash that almost killed him, this was extremely uncomfortable to read and unfortunately lived rent free in my head when I tried to push on.

I get it’s fiction but incidents where a human life is put at risk due to extreme circumstances is NOT romantic.

4.5⭐️

first off - the biggest thank you to panmacmillan and netgalley for this arc 🤭 i had the best time reading it

this was my first formula one romance and i think i am now addicted. the rush and the tension was unreal and i don’t think i will recover.

dev and willow were perfection. the portrayal of willow’s illness was so beautifully written. the past of the two’s friendship was honestly amazing - and i recently read a childhood friend to lovers and didn’t find myself interested or attached to the characters - but this? PERFECTION.

how we watched dev know to treat her body and when she gets tired, before we even got to the full blown romance? i died inside. gushed. giggled. swooned. you name it

dev is what i can only picture as pure golden retriever. he is the epitome of the perfect man i think. kind, caring, sexy, funny, but the biggest soppiest romantic ever. ugh.

i thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this book, from the formula one to the big indian wedding. i loved how in depth it got yet wasn’t overpowering with the descriptions.

safe to say this was a beautifully written romance that has me grasping for more.

I have most definitely found a new love for F1 romances. This was so so so much more than I was expecting to read. I loved the chemistry between the characters. They were literally sparking from page one of the book.

And can we PLEASE just appreciate our golden retriever MMC, Dev. Lord, why can’t men like that exist in real life? Open, honest with their feelings and happy to show their girl (and the world) that? I just wanted to pull him out of the book and make him real.

Let me start off by saying I am a white girl. So I have no idea about the acuracy of the black & brown representation. But I know the author had proofreaders in this demographic and is multicultural herself. So that gives me faith! It felt well done to me, but what do I know. I just wanted to point out it had this representation and I learned a lot of new words! (Jaanu for instance 🥹)

I do however have chronic pain due to hypermobility. And I LOVE the representation in this book. It is so casual, not a plotpoint. It influences her feelings and decisions. It is part of her but not all of her. This representation felt super authentic (makes sense, it's own-voices!) and I am so glad this story exists.

I already almost cried at the dedication: "For anyone pushing through the pain every single day."
I felt that, so hard! Thank you Simone Soltani for giving us hypermobile girlies a lovestory with someone who knows our struggles. From wearing heels to feeling like a burden. This book really hit home for me. And it made me want to watch F1 lolll. I was never into the sport but it seems actually fun!


Things I loved:
- Standing up to the rethoric Black women's natural hair is 'unprofessional'
- Knowing you are different from other kids even though you don't yet have a diagnosis
- Being able to mold and change your dream so it works with your body/health
- Replacing negative selftalk with positive compliments. Naming the things you DO like about yourself
- Commenting about the racist western beautystandards (like noses needing to be small and straight)
- Condemning STD shaming
- Baking keeps her calm, but she sucks at it, lol! Especially macarons
- I loveddddd the macarons thoughout the story. So sweet!
- The Big Box O'Pills (all her medication to manage the pain and joint issues in a glitter labeled shoebox!)
- Dev listening to Bollywood music and absolutely loves it
- Matchmaking aunties
- Little tricks & movements the guys have learned to not dislocate/subluxate one of Willows joints. Little ways they make life easier for her
- Advocating for your needs and comfort in the bedroom to prevent pain and injury
- He runs a bath for her to reduce muscle tension and pain 🥹🥰
- Struggeling with heels because dislocating an ankle or hip is even easier. But wanting to wear them anyway from time to time because it makes you feel pretty.


Scenario I loved:
Willow is being bothered by some dude. She says no but he won't listen. So she tells him she's here with her boyfriend and Dev comes to her aid. The dude recognizes Dev and apologizes for going after his girl (they were not together at this point, Dev was just being a good friend and protecting her) and he says to the dude 'its fine'. But immediately after he leaves he tells Willow: " 'Before you yell at me'—I hold up both hands—'I know it's not fine, and if I didn't have to be careful about getting caught doing stupid stuff, I would have beat that motherfucker's face in.' "
(Not a fan of the punching bit, but the sentiment behind it I can appreciate!)

He is super annoyed men wont take no for an anwser. And women have to make up excuses about fake boyfriends in order to stay safe. I loved how the author pointed this out!

A quote about feeling like you are not enough, like you are not wanted and desireable that really stuck with me:
"It's also why Dev's comment about being unwanted struck me so hard. Because I know what it's like to not be wanted. From jobs to Jeremy to being the fragile-jointed younger sister who couldn't do anything without getting hurt. I know what it's like to be shoved to the side and what it's like to feel pushed out."

Another thing that I was really glad was included in the book is being scared to commit to a relationship. Because you have a health issue. You might feel less desireable. You might feel like a burden or partypooper. These feelings are very real and alive in many people with chronic illnesses. I am glad this book adressed those things:
" 'I'm scared, Chantal,' I whisper. Being with Dev in any form means opening myself up to another chance at heartbreak. I can't imagine he'd ever cheat like Jeremy did, but I also can't imagine being his forever first choice. Now that his reputation is repaired, he can have any woman he wants,so why would he settle for me? I'm fragile and weak, practically held together with glue and stretched-out rubber bands. Some days I can barely keep up with the breakneck pace of following the team around the world, and it's nothing short of a miracle that I haven't fallen completely behind or gotten scriously hurt. Someone should slap a sticker on my forehead that says handle with care. Would he really be up for tolerating that? And for how long? "

So. TL;DR
This book is amazing. The lovestory is super sweet and realistic. It has brother's-best-friend, forced proximity, chronic illness rep, chronic pain rep, interracial and multicultural relationship, F1, Bollywood references, terms of endearment (Jaanu anyone??), MACARONS and just a whole lot of love. 100% recommend!

Dev is an up and coming Formula 1 star with a bad reputation (although not in the way you think...). Willow wants to break into sports marketing, so overhauling Dev's image could be the exact break she needs ... Except that she is his best friend's sister, and they've already shared one kiss that they shouldn't have...

This is a sweet slow burn romance, but it was just a bit too slow for me. The book dragged a bit in the middle, which made the whole thing longer than it needed to be. Otherwise it was a cute read!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I loved everything about this book! Straight from the first page I got hooked into the story. It flowed well and the pacing was perfect. I really loved the dynamic between Willow and Dev (and his character had just the right amount of characteristics of my favourite real life F1 drivers). Highly recommend!

It’s rare that I finish a book like this and want more but I really do hope Soltani turns this into a series because I loved this world and it’s characters!

Willow and Dev’s romance was very endearing and although some of the F1 references/storylines were a little cheesy I still really enjoyed this!

I liked this book and the characters but I felt like the romance was really rushed and the characters were already gonna fall in love. I think there was too much smut in the book and the writer should have added that there would be because the smut was very unnecessary and just made me think the characters were only together too smash.
I did enjoy the plot though because if your into romance mixed with sports you would love this 😀
Thank you netgallery.co.uk for letting me read this book. I rate it 7/10

Simone Soltani is going to be an author to watch, I feel it. This was one of the best brothers best friends/best friends sibling romances i've ever read. It was so romantic, the representation was great an the pining! This was enjoyable from start to finish and I can't wait to read more by her.

4.5/5

This was such a sweet F1 romance, brother’s best friend & no third act break up! It’s a slow burn that I think was done really well I was routing for them the whole time! I also loved seeing the Asian influence in this book!

Thank you to Pan Macmillian, Bookbreakuk and Netgalley for this ARC to read.

I'm loving the F1 romances recently, so I was very excited to read this ARC. I was especially interested in this book because how diverse the cast was, and I think the book is done so well, the writing is fantastic.

What to expect:

Diverse heritage characters
🏎 South East Asian culture ref
🏎 Hypermobilty rep
🏎 F1 romance
🏎 Brothers Best Friend/Forbidden romance
🏎 Workplace romance
🏎 She falls first/he falls harder

Firstly as a girl of hypermobilty myself, I was so thrilled to read a book that represents a small group of adults that carry the illness on to adulthood. Even though my condition is so minor compared to Willows, the same rules apply. Trying to look after my body is super hard and I'm so glad it's highlighted here. The illness didn't rule Willow, she took measures to prevent injury, but the writer didn't gloss over the illness either.

I loved learning more about southern Asian cultures, and Devs love for Bollywood films as his comfort is so wholesome. I loved Oakley and Devs friendship group, the support the boys had for each other was so lovely, it was nice to read about a non toxic group of guys supporting each other.
The book touched on racist micro aggressions the Dev had to face in a nearly all white American sports team, and I think it is done amazingly well. To highlight that the actions to not have to be loud but little everyday slights, that can have a huge impact.

The best bit about this book was no 3rd act breakup! We had the slow burn in the beginning, and I'm so glad the book was written this way. It did initially start off a little slow for me bit the second half of the book I read in one sitting.
Definitely one of the best F1 romances I've read, it's nice to read about a F1 character that isn't toxic.

Highly recommend this has a multi dimensional sports romance, with alot of representation and issues throughout the book that are handled so well.

4.25/4.5 stars!

I'll be sharing on my Instagram very soon!

ADORABLE. Willow and dev's relationship was the sweetest thing. This was such a fun book!

This book had me completely hooked from the very beginning! I'm not a huge F1 fan, and this was easy to understand for someone who has never watched it before. I have always loved the brother's best friend trope but this book took it one step further by making Dev the second best friend that Willow has fallen for, which made it even better. I was seriously giggling and kicking my feet the entire time!

2.5 stars
As soon as I read the blurb this became one of my anticipated reads and when I saw this on Netgalley I had to tried to get it and I did but unfortunately it wasn't a fave.
Wrecked by Lauren Asher is one of my favorite books, so when I saw this was also PR girl/ F1 racer and POC main characters, I was sold! unfortunately, this didn't work for me.
I've been watching F1 since I was a little kid, and that part -the races- I liked in this book but the rest? I struggled so hard.
The romance felt rushed, and it needed more breathing time, more slow burn. Everything happened too fast, and it didn't feel real. And in a romance book that's very important, at least for me.
the side characters were okay.
The writing style was okay, too, and although it does feel like a first book from the author, I'm actually excited to read more from them because they have a lot of potential.
Overall, this was not fully my favorite, but I can see a lot of people falling in love with these characters.

thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story was so warm and cute! I really liked the writing style of this debut novel. It was very smoothly written, there were no big dramas that felt forced, but it all fit perfectly in the plot. It was also hilarious in parts. I laughed, loved, and I was excited to see how the friends to lovers romance would evolve.

The romance was build up really believable, and I was rooting for our couple from the first pages. If you love cliché romance sentences, you've hit the jackpot with this book - in the best sense. It's got everything.
Dev was such a green flag guy, with drive and ambition. And I loved that our FMC Willow was such a relatable disability rep who worked smartly for her goals.
A big plus was the fact that the book didn't have a third act break up and all the contrived drama that goes with it.
A main theme in this book was the friendship between Dev and his friends, including his best friend which also is Willows brother and how the dynamics would shift while getting older and becoming romantically involved.

It was also interesting to see into the world of Formula 1, including all the build up to the races, the team intern structures and beyond.
This provided a good subplot that perfectly complemented the main romance plot.

A perfect feelgood book. Would love to read another one in this universe, maybe with another driver?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Cross the Line' by Simone Soltani.

If I had a shot for everytime an STD was mentioned, I would probably be heavily drunk right now. Dev and Willow honestly have one of the healthiest and sweetest relationships in this genre of racing romances and I admired that a lot. If it wasn't for the fact that certain areas just made me cringe for no reason and put me off, this certainly would have been a 4 star in my book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve been an f1 girl since I was a kid and for most of my life my weekend plans have revolved around: is it racing season? is there a grand prix this weekend? so, you can imagine the squeal of excitement that escaped me when I came across cross the line - a book that merges both my love of f1 and reading into one sweet romance novel.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are other f1 romances out there but I’m going to be honest - I’ve tried a few and found them lacking. However, I am like Lewis Hamilton chasing that 8th championship - I will find one I love.

Cross the Line is one I looooooove.

This book is everything I’ve wanted from an f1 romance. Simone Saltani has created an amazing story within the f1 world that works which is so hard to do. The romance is hot and sweet (on to that in a minute) but firstly, as a fan of the sport, the f1 plot is just so fun and believable! I loved all the team politics, the other drivers that factor in and the way Saltani was not afraid to criticise the less savoury areas of the sport and tackle the racism prevalent within the sports system head on. Interweaving it with a more simple boy next door narrative helped me not hate the characters as sometimes can happen whenever I read something set in a world with obscene wealth and I felt like whenever they went home to San Diego, I was taking a breather with them from the fast paced glam of f1. Alongside that, Soltani knows her shit. The race descriptions and strategy discussions were all so well written and plucked straight out of a team radio.

The romance was so lovely and well paced. I adored all the pining and the flirting and the open conversations the characters had throughout. The steamy moments were well timed and considerate of both characters. I am also a lover of books no third act break ups (I get so anxious when I get to the point in romance books when they’re together and there’s still fifty pages left) and because of the communication between the characters, this was an easy relationship to love.

Both characters were so well written in their own rights and I literally had to put the book down in frustration at some points because I got so attached to Dev’s racing career. Willow’s motivations were also so well crafted and her chronic illness, how she handled it and how others around her (including Dev) supported her with it was a nice touch. I also loved that Dev’s culture was explored and not just stated with his sister’s wedding and his love of Bollywood movies.

I just need more f1 romances by Simone Saltani faster than a Red Bull on race day.

OMG!!! literally found my new comfort book. this was most probably one of the best representation of a south asian(indian) and i'm literally so happy that i can literally get the references right and also don't have to translate because i know what it alr means. i literally had the time of my life reading this book. INDIAN GIRLS WE WON!!

if you're looking for a cute n spicy romcom w/ tropes like brother's bestfriend, sports romance, she fell first he fell harder, workplace environment, boy obsessed, childhood friends, girl next door this is the BOOK for you so go pick it up

DON'T NEED TO ASK HE'S A SMOOTH OPERATORR SMOOTH OPERATOR i believe that he is the carlos sainz of the bookworld. i adore this man. i simply cann;t explain in words how him calling willow jaanu changed THE TRAJECTORY OF MY LIFE🤰. if my @future doesn't act like him i don't want him. he is the husband i need like the references of srk and boy do i love how he's literally obsessed w/ bollywood movies like OOOOMYGOOOD(kal ho naa ho is literally his comfort movie like pls marry me ASAP). man did everything right, from appreciating his girl, to bringing her comfort food, giving her the biggest hugs ever known to mankind, also he's so jealous i love it, makes her laugh, also SOOO HOT WHEN HE USES HIS MOUTH(iykyk), he's vulnerable to her and only her and makes his feeling clear to her everytime like my boys shows literally all of the 5 love languages. he's DA BEST

SHE'S A GIRL'S GIRL MY HONOR i believe that every bookgirl named willow is the cutest & the purest soul to exist in this world💗 she was literally so charming with her wit like girl had me chokehold i was so interested in her and her monologues. i love that she cares about the tiniest things and how she's just like me fr being scared for the future and being the little sister<3 stress-baking she's in fact my soul sister. my my it's like she the pehla nasha (means the first high) - i could never truly ever get over her.

i love the side character, from oakely to mark to chava to grace to chantal to neha aunty literally everyone of them were so perfect and the indian weddings the whole event description and yes infact our weddings are literally the longest and the BEST. i love our traditions and the outfits and everything - it's a festive time, the chaos is unreal and yes our aunties gossip loud. loud enough so YOU CAN HEAR THEM GOOD!! also love how neha aunty made indian food made me crave meri mom ki daal roti sabji<3

my precious pookies 🩹💌their relationship is so flawless like i can't describe my love for them how hard i shipped them. it's is literally nerve wracking how much i wanted them to be together and how i invested i am in them.they understood each other so well like god i miss them alr, the big hugs, the movie marthons, the cuddlesm, the steamy stuff omg everything JUST WOOWWW. they are my #OTP

MY FAV QUOTES:

"the one when Dev pulled me to him for the sweatiest, hottest (temperature-wise), tightest hug after the race.And the way he cupped my face like it was the most natural move? Like he didn’t care who was watching? Like I was the only one in the entire garage? Yeah."- my BABIES THEY'RE JUST SO PERFECT <333

‘You wanna eat these with me? Or are you going to be a tattletale? Because snitches don’t get macarons.’ I hold up my pinky. ‘I promise, no snitching.’ - he brings her the cupcakes she mentioned one time and her remembers and literally brings it every time he can & also the teasing ahhhh i love themmm<3

"I pelted him with gummy bears when he belted out ‘Ajab Si’ like I was the one he was confessing his feelings for. "- aakho mai teri ajab si ajab si adai hai mera dil le gye iss toh ye kam se i'm toh done for (hindi)

"She did all of that before she knew whether I’d even be interested? ‘You listened to every episode?’ " - literally, this is one of the hundredth time of him just appreciating it I'M IN LOVEEE ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE

‘You’re obviously uncomfortable. We can leave right now. I’ll call Mark on our way so he can be ready to work on your—’ - HE LITERALLY IS SO PROTECTIVE OF HER LIKE MY MAN GETS IT🎀

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

Gah, this book! It was SO GOOD! So im not an F1 fan per sé but i do usually like books in the F1 setting and this one did not disappoint! The storyline was so good, the story and the characters were all so well-written, the interactions, the developments, just everything was spot on. Definitely recommend!

I just want to know how I can get my own Dev….

Thanks for the arc
This book was one of the most anticipated for me in terms of sport romance

In this book you have
🏁 Dual POV
🏁 No 3 act breakup
🏁 Brother’s Best Friend
🏁 Sunshine x Sunshine
🏁 She falls first but he falls harder
🏁Chronic Illness rep

Dev and Willow are just adorable.
She’s had a crush on Dev since she was a small kid. They pretty been in each others lives forever.
Something happens one night but they can’t really act on their feelings because of Willow’s brother.
But then she ends up working for him and did I mention he buys 200 macaroons just because she loves them.
He loves Bollywood movies and it’s his way to calm down and she watches them with him when he’s having a bad day.
He’s the only one that doesn’t treat her differently just because of her chronic illness.
And he kinda have a soft spot for his girl especially when she’s wearing sundresses 😂😍

5 stars!
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Thank you to Pan Macmillan, Simone Soltani and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
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I'm going to be honest and say that there was not a single thing that I didn't like about this book, it basically played out like a movie in my head the entire time. From the plot, to the characters, to all the minor details, i loved it all.
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I'm not usually one for epilogues / bonus chapters because they can feel like last minute ideas, but not in this book, all the writing was so cohesive and consistent.
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Simone Soltani may just be my new auto-buy author lol