this wasn't a bad story, nor was it great either. it was an okay story.

for a debut novel, it shows that the author has a lot of promise as a writer. it's impressive how she was able to create a world where the reader can easily immerse themselves in.

despite reading a lot of sports romance, i still know nothing about sports so i really want to thank the author for explaining the world of f1 – culture, rules and regulations – in easy terms. it made it more enjoyable to read.

this was written in 3rd pov and that's not everyone's cup of tea so just an FYI.

kamari monroe and thiago valencia's relationship was interesting. he was the "bad boy f1 driver" who needed to clean his image so he enlisted kamari, a "simple" girl – meaning not a model, celebrity, influencer, etc. – to help him. how or why she agreed to the whole charade made no sense to me and that was never fully clarified. she hated the spotlight so what was in it for her? *shrugs*

at times, i felt no chemistry and other times they were steaming. i do agree with their friends in the end, it was never fake between them. also their banter? *chefs kiss* i always loved the banter between the two. that was possibly my favorite part.

thiago's recollection of everything kamari told him, even in passing, was so adorable. it was so heartwarming how we saw both of them being vulnerable. these two are two broken people who had been hurt in their past and were able to find sincere love for one another and mended each others broken pieces.

i commend thiago's complete 180 in his character. that man improved throughout the 510 pages or maybe the bar set in hell for men and that was nice to read. kamari, my sweet girl, stayed true to her character and didn't change for no one, even after experiencing everything she went through.

i will say this book definitely could've been better paced. for 486 pages, it felt both very long-winded and fast-paced. at times, it was too cringy like thiago called kamari his "moonbeam" ffs! and every time "green orbs met silver moons," i rolled my eyes. hard. why do authors love describing eye color like that?! and half of what kamari and thiago said were taylor swift lyrics. i'm not a big fan of tswift so that was very *yawn* for me.

i need to get this off my chest: i hate kamari's older brother, kieran. he pissed me off so much. HE CHOSE THE SIDE OF HER CHEATING EX, WHO HE STAYED FRIENDS WITH, THAN HIS OWN SISTER. THE CHEATING EX LITERALLY CALLED HER AN ATTENTION SEEKING WHORE. FUCK BOTH OF THEM. i have no idea how kam forgave her brother like honestly she is a way bigger person than i am because i would never forgive my brother if he sided with his friend than his own sister.

lastly i have to mention that i was kind of bummed we didn't see a lot of their respective friends who sometimes seemed more interesting after kamari and thiago's relationship started evolving more. like it makes sense, because the book is about kam and thiago's love story, but i also really liked whenever indy, diana, alex, and cal were nearby and i hope they all get books.

like we were teased about indy bailey and f1 driver miles huxley, so are they getting a book!? and what about thiago's f1 teammate, rowan emerson, and thiago's PR officer, ava, being together in the epilogue. are they also getting a book!? what's alex story!? during the yacht party in the beginning of the book, we got a glimpse of diana and cal bickering but after that, we don't see them interact again. so...? WHAT'S NEXT IN THE FULL THROTTLE SERIES? I NEED TO FIND OUT!

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read if you like:
♡ 3rd pov
♡ f1 sports romance
♡ reverse grumpy x sunshine
♡ fake dating
♡ slow burn
♡ he falls first, harder
♡ sharing one bed