Formula Zero by Meredith Lanzen
Science Fiction Romance
Published on July 7, 2026 by Berkley

Reviewed by Kate

I consider myself fairly well-versed in Formula 1 themed romance novels, having created and recorded a short-lived podcast about them a few years back – at the time, they were just becoming more common, and now I find them all over the place. Formula Zero was a fun futuristic racing romance, with both of our main characters as race drivers. It was not like anything I’ve read before – I think the sci-fi take on a racing romance is not fairly common! 

The best part about Formula Zero is the plot. Readers looking for a faster paced romance might be a bit disappointed – I don’t believe the main characters even kissed until past 60% of the book. But where the romance was slow, the rest of the plot definitely made up for in excitement. I was honestly sucked in by Clarke’s team drama. There were twists and turns that I did not see coming. This was a book that I didn’t want to put down. It just wasn’t because of the romance with Julian but instead the rest of the story that kept me riveted. 

Also, I loved Clarke as a character. I personally found her really compelling. Her reasoning for not wanting to be with Julian made sense for me. Being that the book was all in Clarke’s head, I had a harder time connecting with Julian. I liked him as a love interest and a friend for Clarke, but because sometimes the romance wasn’t the primary focus of the book, he kind of melted into the background a bit. Overall, the characters were pretty great, even if sometimes it was hard to keep all the drivers, team principals and team names straight! Plus, there was some great banter. 

One of the benefits (for me) of the setting of the book was the separation between today’s Formula 1 and the Formula Zero of the book. I wasn’t automatically trying to map the book drivers onto today’s current Formula 1 drivers which is something my brain has an unfortunate tendency to do in modern Formula 1 themed romances. But the worldbuilding was really focused on the racing and how the Formula Zero worked (where the races were, how points worked, etc.) and less on the actual world Clarke and Julian lived in. There were a couple of offhand comments about Julian being from the colonies in the moons of Jupiter and how it was a big deal that he was a racer, and a little bit about the Martian landscape, but otherwise very light on what living in the future looked like, outside of racing. 

Overall, Formula Zero was a fun book with a fast paced plot and a slow paced romance. It was clever and didn’t pull any punches, and I would definitely recommend it to readers who are looking for a twist on their typical racing romance. 

Grade: B