This is the 2nd ARC book of Rebecca's i have read and I absolutely loved it. Connor and Senna are amazing characters. I always love a happy ending. Can't wait to see what Rebecca does next.

Start Your Engines by Rebecca Chase is F1 romance with my favourite tropes. Enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend and forced proximity!

Senna is new boss in F1 team and Connor is her brother’s best friend who she hates. They were all friends untill she crashed because of him and that ended her driving career. But that’s not all to this story!

I enjoyed every single page of this book. Story is great, there’s spice and amazing communication even they both have a lot of problems.
Truly an amazing read!!! 😄

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪: 3.5/5 𝓢𝓣𝓐𝓡𝓢 ⭐️

Start Your Engines by Rebecca Chase is a compelling second-chance romance set in the high-stakes world of Formula 1. Senna Coulter was once on track to become an F1 driver, but after a devastating accident, her dreams were stolen from her. Now, years later, she has stepped up as the boss of Coulter Racing after her father’s heart attack forced him to step down, and her brother, Niki, abandoned the sport entirely after a terrifying crash of his own. Despite her years of experience as the team’s comms director and her deep understanding of the sport, Senna constantly has to fight to be taken seriously—especially by her own family, who still treat her as fragile and incapable. Their overprotectiveness, while rooted in love, was incredibly frustrating, and I was fully invested in seeing Senna prove them wrong.

As if navigating team politics and expectations wasn’t enough, Senna is also forced to deal with the return of Connor Dane—her former best friend, first love, and now an elite F1 driver. Years ago, they were inseparable, but after her accident, everything between them shattered. Now, with Connor driving for Coulter Racing, their unresolved history comes crashing back. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and their dynamic is filled with tension, unspoken regrets, and lingering attraction. I loved the push-and-pull between them as they tried to figure out whether they could rebuild what was lost—or if they were destined to crash and burn.

The racing elements were there but not overly technical, which worked well since the focus was on Senna’s personal and professional struggles rather than the minute details of F1 strategy. While I enjoyed the romance and the tension between Senna and Connor, I felt like some of the emotional conflicts—especially her issues with her family—were resolved too quickly. I wanted more depth in those confrontations, particularly with how dismissive her father and brother were of her abilities. Similarly, some of the biggest emotional beats between her and Connor could have used more space to breathe.

Overall, Start Your Engines is a fast-paced and steamy sports romance with a strong heroine determined to prove herself in a world that underestimates her. While I had some frustrations with how quickly certain conflicts were resolved, I still enjoyed watching Senna fight for her place—not just as a team boss, but as someone worthy of love and respect. Her fiery chemistry with Connor was a definite highlight, making this an enjoyable read for fans of second-chance romance and strong-willed heroines in male-dominated spaces.

Thank you to the Rebecca Chase, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and NetGalley for the ARC!

If you’re a fan of the brother’s best friend and forced proximity tropes, and you’re into F1, Start Your Engines is exactly what you need to add to your TBR! It’s a perfect mix of romance and motorsport drama that totally hits the mark.

I was expecting plenty of F1 references, but I didn’t expect the main character and her brother to be named after F1 legends (Senna and Niki!). It was such a clever little detail that tied everything together in a way that made the story even more exciting for fans of the sport.

One of the best things about this book is how it highlights women in motorsport. Senna is an absolute powerhouse, showing up in a male-dominated world and proving everyone who doubted her wrong. Watching her step into her leadership role was so empowering – it felt like a celebration of how women can dominate in any field.

Connor Dane was a standout MMC. Instead of just following his best mate Niki’s orders to protect Senna, he supported her in a way that felt so genuine and authentic. What I loved most was that he also had his own demons to face, and the way he let Senna in, despite his fear of not being forgiven, was such a beautiful part of their relationship.

Huge thanks to Rebecca Chase and NetGalley for the early read! I’m so glad I got to dive into this F1 romance – it was definitely a ride I won’t forget!

If you’re looking for a brother’s best friend / forced proximity, Start Your Engines needs to go on your TBR list.

First, I am a HUGE F1 fan, so I was extremely excited when this book hit my Kindle! I want to applaud the author for the F1 refences (siblings Senna and Niki? The team principal for the top team described as Toto? The Danny Ric doing a shoey reference? GAH! It made my heart go vroom vroom).

Taking over her family's (failing) racing team after her brother's crash (and disappearance), Senna had to turn it around. But as F1's only female boss, she knew she faced an uphill battle. Faced with criticism from her own father, sexist comments, financial problems and the arrival of a new driver that her brother had casually signed before his sudden departure, Senna is determined to prove everyone wrong. But this new driver, Connor Dane? Just her brother's hotheaded best friend, who happens to be the one Senna blames for ending her own racing career... and who also happens to be her teenage crush.

For the first half of the book I couldn't put it down. I love how the author followed the racing calendar (from testing in Bahrain to the summer break to Abu Dhabi). I love how Senna faced everything that was thrown at her and earned the respect of her team. I grew to like Connor, especially when you find out the full story of what happened the day he crashed into Senna. The mental health representative was also very well written. I absolutely loved that this book was also dual POV (thanks, Rebecca!). The side characters were fun, except for the father (and honestly, the brother towards the end). There were some cringe moments towards the end, but overall, a very solid story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rebecca and Victory Editing for providing me with this Advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and fun F1 romance. Start Your Engines is the perfect enemies - to - lovers with just the right amount of spice. This book has you hooked from the very beginning and has THE BEST fmc, that made it so hard to put this book down.

I was lucky enough to come across a new author for me and I don't regret reading this story 💕

Start your engines is a story about the boss of a F1 team, Senna, and her pilot, Connor. The two were secretly loving friends and promising drivers in their youth, but an accident caused by Connor ended Senna's racing career and severed their friendship. However, when Senna's father handed her the reins of the F1 team and Connor accidentally (not) became her new driver, secrets and feelings became hard to hide.

First and foremost, one of the most empowering narratives in this book was how a tiny woman, under pressure from masculinity, disbelief, and without the support of her own family, was able to stand up for her desire to make the team successful and became a great leader. Her father wanted to send her off to have children, but she bent the racing industry and achieved a breakthrough. Checkmate! I admire this fearlessness.

And now for the sweet part: I ask you to pack up copies of Connor Dane and send them to all the girls in the world to make their asses happy. The man who had so many cockroaches in his head fell in love so much that despite his fears and insecurities, he did everything to please his woman and support her. And support her he did! Not to rescue her, not to do everything for her, but to support her, because she can implement her plans on her own, thus proving her professionalism. And with this woman's support, Connor was able to regain his footing and start enjoying what he does again.

At the same time, Senna put her heart and soul into everything she did. Her faith and understanding turned Connor into a happy man. He worshipped the ground on which Senna walked, and she dispelled the storm clouds in his soul and gave him peace.

This is a novel about true support, partnership, passionate feelings, and an indomitable spirit. As the famous Ukrainian writer Ivan Bahrianyi said: “The brave always have happiness.”

this was honestly good. i hadnt ever read rebecca chase and i am very much a fan now!

first off, the first few pages between Senna and Jacs, the PEP TALK and girl power? i loved that. it immediately gripped my attention, because Jacs is right in the entirety of that moment and it felt powerful, especially for an opening scene? well done Rebecca. girls are BAD a$$es too! Senna was a true female boss and i loved her character. although, gross about the no shoes in the office, but hey to each their own.

also the romance was amazing. i really enjoyed watching these two fall considering their history. Rebecca knew what she was doing with these two and i could feel all the vibes brewing and unfolding. the spice was delicious. the characters were fun and i felt connected to them. yes it was very similar to most F1 romance books, but it still had something and i enjoyed it.

3.5 ⭐️

(thankyou netgalley for the arc!)

start your engines follows connor dane, a struggling f1 star and senna coulter, a communications officer turned f1 team boss.

i had so much fun reading this! i had no expectations going into this but rebecca chase wrote a fun, fast paced f1 romance and left me wanting more. the romance had soooo much tension and build up, i was eating it up the entire time. i loved the representation of women in motorsport and how hard it can be, it was such an accurate reflection on real life and how hard it can be for women to be respected in sport.

I really enjoyed the first 50% but i did find myself cringing quite a bit through the last half. Connor’s character felt like it did a 360 in the last half aswell which i did expect some turn in character from his healing but i think it could have been written slightly better.

i am excited to read more from this author though! this was a fun read.

4.5 stars ⭐️ I loved Senna. She’s a strong, determined FMC! Conner had me swooning. Together there was so much tension and chemistry!! I was hooked!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

why is miss girl walking barefoot

So in my f1 era rn, and this was another f1 romance to add to the list of books I enjoyed!

I did really love the characters and I felt their personalities were really strong, and went together in an amazing way. Their romance was super cute, even though they were "enemies".

The mental health rep was done wonderfully in my opinion, along with the family issues.

Also can we take a moment to appreciate this stunning cover??

4 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Rebecca Chase for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts! This is your typical F1 romance book, where the driver is the typical bad boy and the girl is his best friends sister and they ‘hate’ each other. Senna is a strong woman lead, who is trying to make it inside a field that is dominated by men. I will admit Sienna’s brother annoyed me throughout most of the book, especially when he thinks he has a say in Sienna’s life after disappearing for months.


Tropes:
- Teammates Sister
- Enemies to Lovers
- Female Empowerment
- OCD + Mental HealthRepresentation

Fi romances have become one of my favorite sport romance recently! And I really loved this one, the Romance was so fun and the banter was amazing!

💌my thoughts: thank you so much to victory editing for this ARC via netgalley! i love watching f1 so this one immediately caught my eye & i was intrigued! i did enjoy this one, but there were a few things that i didn’t love, which is why this one was a 3 stars for me.
for the pros: i love a badass fmc & senna is 100% that. the racing aspects were super interested and loved the tidbits we would get about it. the side characters, specifically jacs were so fun. i love a dual pov & no third act breakup. i loved the banter between our fmc & mmc!
for the cons: sometimes the spicy scenes didn’t seem to really add much to the story & i wish we would have had a few more deeper conversations between the fmc & mmc. the ending with nikki and her dad felt a bit rushed. they kept mentioning lips, like licking lips or biting their lips and idk why but it was enough for me to notice and pull me out of the story lol.

overall, if you want a sports romance with a badass fmc with great banter, give this one a shot when it comes out march 14, 2025✨

Ok I have to start with ew, why does Senna walk around the office barefoot… even to the bathroom. I don’t care what her reasoning is behind that… just no.

Other than her weird shoeless habits, Senna is the true embodiment of a boss b*tch. She said glass ceiling who? And is sprinting up the hill of a male dominated field and shoving anyone who tries to stop her down that hill.

I needed her brother to take about 5 steps back. He was gone for a year and then immediately jumps back in and starts disapproving about her and Conner… only to immediately drop it and approve of them. Honestly I think he could have been a distant character that never needed to show up in person. But it’s cool.

Conner turns out to be a complete cinnamon roll of a man and I’ll never be mad about that. Even through all of his own mental health struggles he still did whatever he could for Senna. He loves her ❤️❤️

I am looking forward to the next book and seeing Nikki’s story!

Thank you to NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.

I know next to nothing about F1. Only that they are fast cars that go around a track!
I enjoyed the relationship between Senna and Connor. Loved the ending too.

Oh, I really wanted to like this book but it just didn’t quite work for me. The FMC as the boss who can’t date her employee for appearances, the MMC who has loved her forever, the brother who has made the MMC promise not to get together with his sister…I just felt like I’ve read this book a hundred times.

I love dual POV but this is a book that I think would have been much better as a single POV. Knowing immediately that they have loved each other for years cause a lack in tension for me as a reader. Not knowing Connor’s feelings would have added more suspense to the story. Of course we all know in a romance that there will be a HEA, but I just never felt any butterflies wondering how it would resolve.

So bummer. Not the worst book I’ve ever read, but I hoped for more based on the description. I’d give this author another try though as I did like her characters and writing style. This plot just didn’t quite hit for me.

I read this as an ARC via NetGalley. It releases March 14.

3.5⭐️

What a fun read! You’ll enjoy it if you like-
🏎️friends to lovers
🏁workplace romance (she’s his boss)
🏎️F1 romance
🏁found family vibes

Senna - badass, resilient, strong female lead. LOVED the focus on empowerment in a male dominated field and how she navigated that and gave even more opportunities to other women in the sport.
Connor - he started off with bad boy vibes, then reformed bad boy (?) then just full on golden retriever vibes.

The mix of plot & spice was perfect for a fun contemporary romance, although one thing for me was that some of the spice I found the language super cringe (but maybe that’s a me issue😂).
Topics like men’s mental health, bias in a male-dominated space, misogyny & bullying - were all involved in the plot and I think it really added authenticity of what still happens in sport.

Overall, I really enjoyed this! Definitely intrigued as to what was going on with Niki when he disappeared all that time and why he was acting so strange!

I loved this bok

it had a strong female lead, a hot but troubled love interest AND it has enemies to lovers trope.

I fell in love with Senna coulters character from the first pages. she's a strong women, determined to make her mark in the world of f1 however, everything is stacked against her, including her teams number one driver, Connor dane was once sennas best friend and teenage crush until a secret pulled them apart. now senna hates Connor, but she can't deny the spark between them.

This is such a sweet childhood friends to lovers! They over come so many obstacles from there pasts to end up together.

The book focused on female empowerment in a male dominated work space, mental health and family issues.

It was an easy, enjoyable read and I’m excited for the second book in the series.