Natalia is about to start her dream job: covering F1 for Auto Racing Journal. That means traveling the world, experiencing the glitz and glamour, and interacting with the teams and drivers. A hook-up with a handsome stranger on her first night on the job seems to be just that, until she recognizes him as Klaus Franke, the Team Principal for Emerald Racing. After a disastrous parting, Natalia and Klaus continue to orbit one another, trying to balance growing attraction with ethics, professionalism, and the need to seek out what they really want in life.

Natalia is a difficult character to fully warm up to. She's clearly capable in many ways, but she has such difficulty standing up for what she needs. Her friendship with Phaedra is one example of that - it takes a significant rift to help Natalia stand up for herself in their relationship. Natalia's difficult childhood does inform a lot of her choices and decision-making, but it doesn't excuse everything. 

The hardest thing to reconcile is Natalia's decision-making when it comes to her job and relationship. Dating Klaus is so clearly in conflict with Natalia's job, especially the special profile she's supposed to be doing, but the reader is intended to root for their relationship. The good thing is that Klaus is easy to fall for as a love interest. His love for his late wife underlies his icy exterior, and his chemistry with Natalia is evident throughout. It helps you want to root for the relationship, despite the ethics. 

I did have a difficult time truly engaging with the third-act break-up. The basis for it was more complicated than necessary, while also being underexplained. Without giving anything away, I just found myself not fully understanding the issue Klaus was handling that Natalia wanted to report on. They were talking past it so much that it made it difficult to fully appreciate the stakes. As for the ultimate reconciliation, let's just say it involved one of my least favorite tropes in romance.

Despite these concerns, I still enjoyed the book as a whole, and I'm glad I got to experience my first F1 romance! Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review!