What do you think?
Rate this book
Bloodstream
Life in the fast lane is not quite what Faith Jensen expected.
As the new social media manager for Revolution Racing, Faith Jensen is ready to get her drivers in front of the world. With their sizzling good looks, it's going to be easy. But Julien Moretz is the obstacle she never saw coming.
The renowned World Champion doesn't need his personal life splashed across the internet. He's here to race and he's here to win. That's it. But the chemistry between Faith and Julien is undeniable. If they give in to temptation, they may just bring the racing world down with them.
As the new social media manager for Revolution Racing, Faith Jensen is ready to get her drivers in front of the world. With their sizzling good looks, it's going to be easy. But Julien Moretz is the obstacle she never saw coming.
The renowned World Champion doesn't need his personal life splashed across the internet. He's here to race and he's here to win. That's it. But the chemistry between Faith and Julien is undeniable. If they give in to temptation, they may just bring the racing world down with them.
352 pages, Paperback
Published January 4, 2024
128 people are currently reading
3791 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 384 reviews
January 4, 2024
2.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the e-arc.
I read the indie version of this book and I can honestly say I feel like the author has been done a bit dirty here. I didn’t understand what sport the indie version was about and I would still rate it higher.
Let’s start with what I enjoyed:
- it’s ambiguous enough to pass as any motorsport, so it will work for fans of f1. This is about endurance racing and it’s explained and talked about a little, but I enjoyed that it could honestly be moulded into any sort of motorsport that you enjoy.
- the found family. I love all the other characters so much. Some of the character arcs are a little rushed but I can honestly say I love all of them, and I am DESPERATE for a LucieBrett book.
- the vibes. Just so good. Imagining being in faiths shoes is SO fun. This really is a book for the fans who want nothing more than a behind the scenes experience with their fav drivers. Think Lissie Macintosh-core.
- the work focus. I feel like it would’ve been really easy for the job to be put on the back burner but the focus was on the work a lot of the time - which again was SO fun.
Now for what didn’t work for me:
- some of the writing. This book felt like Emilie - as a woman - had written it, but that it had been edited by a man. This wasn’t all the time, but was a vibe I kept getting every so often.
- NO SAFE SEX!!!. During the two sex scenes in this book there is absolutely no discussion of protection or birth control before they have sex. They’re just straight up raw dogging. It is SO easy to add that dialogue in. the spice was not written well either.
- POV. It was 3rd person but mid chapter wouldn’t have a page break, and would just skip to following the other MC.
- too many Gen Z references. The boss of the entire racing company hires her to do social media and yet calls zoom calls “zoomies” and tiktok “tickytock”. Be so for real.
- the way she gets the job. She just gets a call offering her a job despite not having applied there, and the company not having any vacancies. This is like a managerial role too.
- inner monologue. Faith does this big long inner monologue about her mum and her childhood and then is like “oops I said all that out loud”. Silly. You’re a twenty something year old adult and that doesn’t happen.
I’m sad about this one because I feel like it could’ve been made into something fantastic. This really fell short for me. I will however absolutely read a LucieBrett book and actually I’d love a book about Bea, so I haven’t given up on this author by any means.
I read the indie version of this book and I can honestly say I feel like the author has been done a bit dirty here. I didn’t understand what sport the indie version was about and I would still rate it higher.
Let’s start with what I enjoyed:
- it’s ambiguous enough to pass as any motorsport, so it will work for fans of f1. This is about endurance racing and it’s explained and talked about a little, but I enjoyed that it could honestly be moulded into any sort of motorsport that you enjoy.
- the found family. I love all the other characters so much. Some of the character arcs are a little rushed but I can honestly say I love all of them, and I am DESPERATE for a LucieBrett book.
- the vibes. Just so good. Imagining being in faiths shoes is SO fun. This really is a book for the fans who want nothing more than a behind the scenes experience with their fav drivers. Think Lissie Macintosh-core.
- the work focus. I feel like it would’ve been really easy for the job to be put on the back burner but the focus was on the work a lot of the time - which again was SO fun.
Now for what didn’t work for me:
- some of the writing. This book felt like Emilie - as a woman - had written it, but that it had been edited by a man. This wasn’t all the time, but was a vibe I kept getting every so often.
- NO SAFE SEX!!!. During the two sex scenes in this book there is absolutely no discussion of protection or birth control before they have sex. They’re just straight up raw dogging. It is SO easy to add that dialogue in. the spice was not written well either.
- POV. It was 3rd person but mid chapter wouldn’t have a page break, and would just skip to following the other MC.
- too many Gen Z references. The boss of the entire racing company hires her to do social media and yet calls zoom calls “zoomies” and tiktok “tickytock”. Be so for real.
- the way she gets the job. She just gets a call offering her a job despite not having applied there, and the company not having any vacancies. This is like a managerial role too.
- inner monologue. Faith does this big long inner monologue about her mum and her childhood and then is like “oops I said all that out loud”. Silly. You’re a twenty something year old adult and that doesn’t happen.
I’m sad about this one because I feel like it could’ve been made into something fantastic. This really fell short for me. I will however absolutely read a LucieBrett book and actually I’d love a book about Bea, so I haven’t given up on this author by any means.
August 22, 2024
dnf’ed. the emotional capacity of a tupperware container
January 20, 2024
2.5⭐️
Ugh I really wanted to love this book because it’s a sports romance, but I just couldn’t love it ☹️.
I want to start by saying that the plot and storyline of this book is so cute and fun and everything I was expecting! However it was the writing style and the pace of the book that was the downfall for me.
First things first, this book is written in 3rd person. I don’t favour 3rd person because I just think you’re not getting the true emotions and feelings of the characters like you would if it was told in first person. And as well you don’t get as much of an insight to the characters and their backgrounds. And this was proven to me by this story. I just didn’t connect to the characters because I feel like there was hardly any emotion shown and I didn’t know what the characters were thinking. I was just dying to know what’s going on in their heads.
Second thing like I said, was the pace of the book. I love a slow-burn book when it comes to romance. I just think it feels more natural when it’s slow paced. This to me was so fast paced that it just felt a bit forced between the characters. Like the mmc admitted to liking her in the first few chapters. And to me I was sort of like okay what’s the rest of the book about then 😆. Also the characters were kinda immature and cringe and I just wasn’t vibing with them. This book may give you whiplash as well. Tiny spoiler but the fmc is really shy and innocent then suddenly she climbs on top of him and starts saying all these things that’s so out of character. Then the next day she’s back to being shy.
The plot made this story somewhat enjoyable but the writing and the characters let this down for me💔.
🌶️2/5
Ugh I really wanted to love this book because it’s a sports romance, but I just couldn’t love it ☹️.
I want to start by saying that the plot and storyline of this book is so cute and fun and everything I was expecting! However it was the writing style and the pace of the book that was the downfall for me.
First things first, this book is written in 3rd person. I don’t favour 3rd person because I just think you’re not getting the true emotions and feelings of the characters like you would if it was told in first person. And as well you don’t get as much of an insight to the characters and their backgrounds. And this was proven to me by this story. I just didn’t connect to the characters because I feel like there was hardly any emotion shown and I didn’t know what the characters were thinking. I was just dying to know what’s going on in their heads.
Second thing like I said, was the pace of the book. I love a slow-burn book when it comes to romance. I just think it feels more natural when it’s slow paced. This to me was so fast paced that it just felt a bit forced between the characters. Like the mmc admitted to liking her in the first few chapters. And to me I was sort of like okay what’s the rest of the book about then 😆. Also the characters were kinda immature and cringe and I just wasn’t vibing with them. This book may give you whiplash as well. Tiny spoiler but the fmc is really shy and innocent then suddenly she climbs on top of him and starts saying all these things that’s so out of character. Then the next day she’s back to being shy.
The plot made this story somewhat enjoyable but the writing and the characters let this down for me💔.
🌶️2/5
March 31, 2024
Plot? Don't know her. Romance? Cringier than my fedora-wearing phase when I was twelve. Christ Almighty, what a book.
April 10, 2024
Closest I’ve ever been to DNF when it finally got good I mean 250+pages in then they break up with 20 pages to go like piss in a bush
March 24, 2025
2⭑
Bloodstream is about Faith, a motorsport social media influencer who is hired by one of the biggest racing teams to help manage their own social media accounts. There she meets grumpy driver, Julian, who appears a bit distant to begin with but as it’s Faith’s job to capture behind the scenes moments of Julian and the other drivers, she slowly starts to get to know him better.
Let’s start with what I did like about this book:
I really enjoyed the motorsport aspect of the story and was a fan of the social media storyline given that I too, tend to stalk motoracing Instagram and tiktok accounts.
I really loved the found family that the drivers and some of the staff have together. There were some lovely group scenes where you can tell that they all love and respect each other and it created a wonderful friend group.
On to what I didn’t enjoy about the book:
I wasn’t a huge fan of the way this book was written in terms of when the author changed the characters POV - it would literally go from Faith’s POV straight into Julian’s in the next paragraph with no clear chapter break indicating a change in point of view. It started to get a bit confusing because the book is also written in third person (which I don’t mind) but that meant you started reading a sentence and didn’t know straight away that it was in a different person’s perspective.
I also didn’t like that there was instant lust from day one. I prefer a slowwww build up but the two main characters were acknowledging in their inner monologues how much they like each other after only knowing each other for a few days.
I do tend to be quite picky when it comes to the speed of relationship developments in romance books so my dislike about this part, is very much a me thing.
Lastly, the mmc has a bit of a secret that doesn’t get shared until closer to the end and I just thought the secret was kinda random and plucked out of thin air. There were never any small hints while in his POV and I think there were plenty of times that there could have been some small foreshadow moments to make the secret seem more believable to the reader once it’s revealed.
Thank you NetGalley and Michael Joseph Penguin for sending me an early copy in exchange for my honest review.
Bloodstream is about Faith, a motorsport social media influencer who is hired by one of the biggest racing teams to help manage their own social media accounts. There she meets grumpy driver, Julian, who appears a bit distant to begin with but as it’s Faith’s job to capture behind the scenes moments of Julian and the other drivers, she slowly starts to get to know him better.
Let’s start with what I did like about this book:
I really enjoyed the motorsport aspect of the story and was a fan of the social media storyline given that I too, tend to stalk motoracing Instagram and tiktok accounts.
I really loved the found family that the drivers and some of the staff have together. There were some lovely group scenes where you can tell that they all love and respect each other and it created a wonderful friend group.
On to what I didn’t enjoy about the book:
I wasn’t a huge fan of the way this book was written in terms of when the author changed the characters POV - it would literally go from Faith’s POV straight into Julian’s in the next paragraph with no clear chapter break indicating a change in point of view. It started to get a bit confusing because the book is also written in third person (which I don’t mind) but that meant you started reading a sentence and didn’t know straight away that it was in a different person’s perspective.
I also didn’t like that there was instant lust from day one. I prefer a slowwww build up but the two main characters were acknowledging in their inner monologues how much they like each other after only knowing each other for a few days.
I do tend to be quite picky when it comes to the speed of relationship developments in romance books so my dislike about this part, is very much a me thing.
Lastly, the mmc has a bit of a secret that doesn’t get shared until closer to the end and I just thought the secret was kinda random and plucked out of thin air. There were never any small hints while in his POV and I think there were plenty of times that there could have been some small foreshadow moments to make the secret seem more believable to the reader once it’s revealed.
Thank you NetGalley and Michael Joseph Penguin for sending me an early copy in exchange for my honest review.
March 28, 2024
It… was incredibly painful to read
Hello Julian is a bloody walking Controversy and what a dick.
The writing hurt because from paragraph to paragraph it changed perspective
I don’t actually have anything nice to say about this book
Hello Julian is a bloody walking Controversy and what a dick.
The writing hurt because from paragraph to paragraph it changed perspective
I don’t actually have anything nice to say about this book
January 20, 2024
I DNFed at 80% ish. It was just to painful to finish. The book has such a weak romance. It just made me no sense to me. I just couldn’t do it
February 20, 2024
I was promised a Lauren Asher vibe motorsport romance, and this just didn't hit.
I didn't have any issues with Emilee Carter's writing style or voice. In fact, it was one of the more rewarding parts of the book. The only problem in the writing was the occasional muddle when switching 3rd person pov.
Now the story! Let's just put it this way I would have left Julian in my rear view mirror before the characters even got together. The whole story he's struggling over this secret that only so many people know was strung out way too long without any worthwhile hints to the reader. Said secret wasn't unveiled until the LAST 70 PAGES! To only be glossed over as a minor issue. The following pages were just petty issue after petty issue. Only to be resolved by an underwhelming attempt at a dramatic romantic gesture.
Don't get me wrong, Faith was an issue of her own. I'm used to semi-strong women going through a self-discovery to come out better on the other side. Faith was just one big walking cluster-fuck of a woman, who I feel could have been so much stronger or better written. She was a just a ready to hold a pity party as her male lead counterpart.
Despite how much I seemed to dislike this book, I still gave it 3 stars as it's her first novel. No author is amazing from the get-go and take a while to sort through until they settle on their style. Also, the writing issues were definitely more editorial team choices than the authors, so I wasn't going to leave a bad star rating when it isn't the author
I didn't have any issues with Emilee Carter's writing style or voice. In fact, it was one of the more rewarding parts of the book. The only problem in the writing was the occasional muddle when switching 3rd person pov.
Now the story! Let's just put it this way I would have left Julian in my rear view mirror before the characters even got together. The whole story he's struggling over this secret that only so many people know was strung out way too long without any worthwhile hints to the reader. Said secret wasn't unveiled until the LAST 70 PAGES! To only be glossed over as a minor issue. The following pages were just petty issue after petty issue. Only to be resolved by an underwhelming attempt at a dramatic romantic gesture.
Don't get me wrong, Faith was an issue of her own. I'm used to semi-strong women going through a self-discovery to come out better on the other side. Faith was just one big walking cluster-fuck of a woman, who I feel could have been so much stronger or better written. She was a just a ready to hold a pity party as her male lead counterpart.
Despite how much I seemed to dislike this book, I still gave it 3 stars as it's her first novel. No author is amazing from the get-go and take a while to sort through until they settle on their style. Also, the writing issues were definitely more editorial team choices than the authors, so I wasn't going to leave a bad star rating when it isn't the author
March 30, 2024
(3.5)
This was a cute read! Definitely doesn’t beat Lauren Asher’s F1 series by a mile
This was a cute read! Definitely doesn’t beat Lauren Asher’s F1 series by a mile
April 24, 2024
the world building/endurance racing background to this was well done (if apart from gabriel). cannot say the same for anything else in this book. conversations were unrealistic, the chemistry was barely there, the plot twist (dead wife looked like you so i love you and avoid you)...... what can i say
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2024
We’re only 28 days into the year and I already know that this book is the worst book I’ll read this year.
March 16, 2024
1.5⭐️ almost DNF, but pushed though cause I really wanted to like this book, it just wasn’t for me. It felt like a fan fiction book, and I just didn’t like the characters.
June 29, 2024
main man in this book is a walking red flag sorry
July 8, 2024
DNF
If it wasn’t endless open dialogue it was overly descriptive.
Characters felt rather bland.
If it wasn’t endless open dialogue it was overly descriptive.
Characters felt rather bland.
July 17, 2024
DNF- the attention to detail in this is lacking in all departments and I couldn’t bear it. The 747 from london to belgium did it for me🙃
August 7, 2024
Dnf at page 105 couldn’t get into the book
Read
May 31, 2024DNF'd at Page 252
I'm sorry but I had to DNF this. I really tried hard to get through this but Julien's attitude really started to grate on me. I'm going to start with what I liked. I really liked the side characters and Faith! Other than that, I hated everything else.
The romance felt so rushed and unrealistic at points where nothing going on ever seemed believable. I assume in real life, people don't instantly fall for someone? There is a reason for this in the book, but even over halfway through, I really don't care anymore. From skimming through the book, this reasoning seems to appear near the page 300 mark (40 pages towards the end of the book).
Julien is such a wild card that I really don't like him at all. He loves Faith one minute, then the next she's "just another stuck-up influencer". It really got on my nerves at how back and forth he went with her. It made me feel bad for Faith because she was put in a confusing situation. They've known each other for a week and so much stuff has already happened, mostly negative (in my opinion).
Also the s*x? It felt so awkward to read, it kinda ruined the flow of the book. It's the same kinda scene you would see in other romances but it really doesn't fit here. The characters barely swear and are pretty tame with their flirting within the book but then it just 'ups the ante'. There is only a few times where the characters felt a bit risque, but again, it was so tame.
Before I end this off, I want to say no hate to the author at all. She has written solid side characters that I really enjoyed reading about! I'm kinda hoping that the second book in the series will be a lot better because L&B will be the main characters of the second book.
I'm sorry but I had to DNF this. I really tried hard to get through this but Julien's attitude really started to grate on me. I'm going to start with what I liked. I really liked the side characters and Faith! Other than that, I hated everything else.
The romance felt so rushed and unrealistic at points where nothing going on ever seemed believable. I assume in real life, people don't instantly fall for someone? There is a reason for this in the book, but even over halfway through, I really don't care anymore. From skimming through the book, this reasoning seems to appear near the page 300 mark (40 pages towards the end of the book).
Julien is such a wild card that I really don't like him at all. He loves Faith one minute, then the next she's "just another stuck-up influencer". It really got on my nerves at how back and forth he went with her. It made me feel bad for Faith because she was put in a confusing situation. They've known each other for a week and so much stuff has already happened, mostly negative (in my opinion).
Also the s*x? It felt so awkward to read, it kinda ruined the flow of the book. It's the same kinda scene you would see in other romances but it really doesn't fit here. The characters barely swear and are pretty tame with their flirting within the book but then it just 'ups the ante'. There is only a few times where the characters felt a bit risque, but again, it was so tame.
Before I end this off, I want to say no hate to the author at all. She has written solid side characters that I really enjoyed reading about! I'm kinda hoping that the second book in the series will be a lot better because L&B will be the main characters of the second book.
February 8, 2024
Third act breakups can suck my dick. 😘
Anyway Live,Laugh, Love Ford. <3
Anyway Live,Laugh, Love Ford. <3
April 30, 2024
2.5/5⭐️
March 10, 2024
Cute racing book for the girlies
April 1, 2024
Ouch.
This book was so difficult to read that I’m convinced it was written by AI and then accidentally published without being edited. Usually when I read a bad book, the problem is structural in that the characters are poorly developed, the conflict isn’t particularly compelling, or the resolution isn’t very satisfying. This has all three of those problems (as well as far too many unnecessary tertiary characters), but the more grating problem is the prose. The dialogue is…bizarre. Bloodstream is not a complicated story but it was really tiring to read because I would read a few pages and just be baffled at how disjointed and stilted the conversations between characters were and I’d need to take a break to read something else. There’s absolutely no chemistry between the fmc and the mmc, and the third-person writing makes it really hard to parse whose thoughts/opinions you’re reading.
Finally, the only USP for this book is the setting of “professional racing championship” but it’s not central to the story or even really the characters. You could switch it to relay athletics and nothing significant would change, so if anyone is considering reading this on that basis, I wouldn’t bother.
I will be lending this to my friends only so that I do not have to suffer alone in the isolation of my knowledge of this book.
This book was so difficult to read that I’m convinced it was written by AI and then accidentally published without being edited. Usually when I read a bad book, the problem is structural in that the characters are poorly developed, the conflict isn’t particularly compelling, or the resolution isn’t very satisfying. This has all three of those problems (as well as far too many unnecessary tertiary characters), but the more grating problem is the prose. The dialogue is…bizarre. Bloodstream is not a complicated story but it was really tiring to read because I would read a few pages and just be baffled at how disjointed and stilted the conversations between characters were and I’d need to take a break to read something else. There’s absolutely no chemistry between the fmc and the mmc, and the third-person writing makes it really hard to parse whose thoughts/opinions you’re reading.
Finally, the only USP for this book is the setting of “professional racing championship” but it’s not central to the story or even really the characters. You could switch it to relay athletics and nothing significant would change, so if anyone is considering reading this on that basis, I wouldn’t bother.
I will be lending this to my friends only so that I do not have to suffer alone in the isolation of my knowledge of this book.
May 1, 2024
Eher 1.5 ⭐️
Das positive zuerst:
Die Freundesgruppe bzw. das Team allgemein war großartig und hat mich durch das Buch gebracht - sowie natürlich das Setting im Motorsport.
Nun zur Liste der negativen Argumente:
Die pace hat in meinen Augen gar nicht funktioniert. Die erste Hälfte streckt sich auf einen Zeitraum von ca zwei Wochen und selbst die zweite Hälfte spielt in wenigen Monaten (von denen einige nur in wenigen Sätzen zusammengefasst werden).
Außerdem war der Schreibstil so verwirrend, dass ich manchmal nicht wusste, ob der Fokus auf ihr oder ihm liegt. Dadurch haben auch sämtliche „deepe“ Gespräche nicht gewirkt, weil man nicht wusste, was die Person fühlt. All das hat dazu geführt, dass ich die Chemie zwischen den beiden null gefühlt habe.
Und zu guter letzt: Hier und da wurden jahrelang bestehende Konflikte auf einem 2-3 Seiten Dialog geklärt, was ebenfalls die Tiefe und Glaubwürdigkeit geraubt hat.
Das positive zuerst:
Die Freundesgruppe bzw. das Team allgemein war großartig und hat mich durch das Buch gebracht - sowie natürlich das Setting im Motorsport.
Nun zur Liste der negativen Argumente:
Die pace hat in meinen Augen gar nicht funktioniert. Die erste Hälfte streckt sich auf einen Zeitraum von ca zwei Wochen und selbst die zweite Hälfte spielt in wenigen Monaten (von denen einige nur in wenigen Sätzen zusammengefasst werden).
Außerdem war der Schreibstil so verwirrend, dass ich manchmal nicht wusste, ob der Fokus auf ihr oder ihm liegt. Dadurch haben auch sämtliche „deepe“ Gespräche nicht gewirkt, weil man nicht wusste, was die Person fühlt. All das hat dazu geführt, dass ich die Chemie zwischen den beiden null gefühlt habe.
Und zu guter letzt: Hier und da wurden jahrelang bestehende Konflikte auf einem 2-3 Seiten Dialog geklärt, was ebenfalls die Tiefe und Glaubwürdigkeit geraubt hat.
January 28, 2024
2.5 stars
This was such a mixed bag for me - on the one hand I loved the premise of a romance centred around the racing world, and the whole bad boy falls for the nice girl trope, but on the other hand I didn't love the writing style and I found the whole back-and-forth between Faith and Julien (mostly from Julien) to be a bit too much, and I found it frustrating more than anything towards the end. The writing felt quite rudimentary to me at times, and while I don't expect the romances I read to be full of lyrical prose, I do think that there are some very strong romance writers who execute a great balance between entertaining and exciting love stories and genuinely good writing to tell those tales, and Bloodstream just didn't have that for me. I also felt a bit put-off by the fact that Carter wrote some scenes which attempted to show a deeper side to the story, but used Julien as the instigator of opinions and actions, rather than Faith.
This was such a mixed bag for me - on the one hand I loved the premise of a romance centred around the racing world, and the whole bad boy falls for the nice girl trope, but on the other hand I didn't love the writing style and I found the whole back-and-forth between Faith and Julien (mostly from Julien) to be a bit too much, and I found it frustrating more than anything towards the end. The writing felt quite rudimentary to me at times, and while I don't expect the romances I read to be full of lyrical prose, I do think that there are some very strong romance writers who execute a great balance between entertaining and exciting love stories and genuinely good writing to tell those tales, and Bloodstream just didn't have that for me. I also felt a bit put-off by the fact that Carter wrote some scenes which attempted to show a deeper side to the story, but used Julien as the instigator of opinions and actions, rather than Faith.
July 25, 2024
This was just a bit too much. Too quick, too random and yet also too predictable. I liked it and it has a lot of potential, but it feels like it should be longer and shouldn’t be at the same time. It’s almost like it’s written in a way that the author thinks people want it. The spice feels there just for the sake of spice. Even though im not the biggest fan and would definitely not pick this up again, i did want to know the ending (which is a bit predictable as well). This feels like an A for afford book.
November 3, 2024
this was literally the most painful read, the plot twist was so unnecessary, the ending was so unnecessary, everything was all over the place, nothing made sense. i honestly am proud of myself and impressed i managed to push through and finish it lol
March 3, 2024
Finally a book to get me of a slump!
March 17, 2024
I found this easy to read and quite enjoyed this! There were some parts that could’ve been done better, which isn’t a full 5⭐️ read for me.
April 27, 2024
This was enjoyable!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 384 reviews