Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery
LGBTQ Contemporary/Sports Romance
May 30, 2024- One More Chapter/Harpercollins
ARC
Review by Angela
There seem to be several racing romances set to hit new release shelves this year. Pole Position is a queer F1 romance, and the blurb and cover caught my eye while putting together the New Release post. I don’t know much about this part of the sports world, but I decided to dive in anyway.
This is one of those books that while I read straight through in one sitting, I had some issues. Like totally disliking the two main characters for the first half of the book.
Let me back up.
Pole Position is an enemies to lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance set in the fast-paced Formula One racing world. The two main characters are Kian Walker, an experienced driver who has already won several world titles and is thinking of retirement at the ripe old age of 33, and Harper James, the younger, rookie driver who is finally getting his chance to compete at the highest level when Kian’s normal teammate breaks his leg.
These two are like oil and water, they do not like each other when they are first partnered. Lots and lots of sniping and rudeness and Kian being an uptight, judgmental dick and Harper acting like a child. This goes on for what felt like forever. I just could not figure out why they were so awful to each other. There was no real interaction between the two before they are thrown together, just Kian’s preconceived notions of Harper’s personality and public bad boy persona, and Harper getting more and more petty and rude as he is shut out. I kept thinking that Harper’s behavior was sure to get him sent right back down to a lower level and he would lose his shot at the big time and that Kian, as an experienced driver, should know better than to be so insulting to a team member.
So that’s like the first half of the book, then suddenly they are getting hot and heavy and sleeping together every night. There was some build up, some angst about wanting each other, but the turnaround felt kind of rushed. To me at least. The second half is full of drama of them trying to define what their relationship looks like. Harper has trust issues stemming from his childhood in foster care and comes close to blowing up the entire relationship. Eventually they figure it out. There is an HEA, and they do come out as a couple despite being teammates.
I did enjoy reading about the racing aspects of the book, and despite not watching the sport, I think the author explained it in a way I could understand. I’m curious to find out if this author has plans for more books set in this world. I might be interested in reading about Harper’s BFF and why he’s suddenly distant after that one-night stand.
Grade- C+
Content notes- Kian’s mother has Parkinson’s, death of a parent, parental estrangement,
I did put this on my tbr when I saw it in this week’s new releases, but based on your review, I think I’ll skip it. I like angst, but it has to proceed organically from the characters, not just because the author needs a way to get the characters from point A to point B.