Short Shift

Redline #2

by Emma Barlowe

New team, new city, new championship fight. A star driver just wants to win... his boyfriend back.

Noah Caparelli has been humbled one too many times in the past year. He’s fresh out of a breakup and recently left the racing team that put him closer to a championship than ever before. His new role as a driver for Cobalt Racing comes with his best friend as a teammate and a new start in Denver, far away from the balmy breezes of Los Angeles.

Noah dives headfirst into driver duties, only to find his problems run a lot deeper than missing his ex-boyfriend and fellow driver, David Jochmann. Noah has to figure out who he is, and learn how to face his new life while seeing David every race weekend. When David goes out of his way to show Noah he still cares, Noah faces an impossible shut the door on the love of his life or return to the relationship that ruined him.

He’s never been very good at winning when it counts. Will Noah finally get it right?

Short Shift is an angsty, slow burn, second-chance romance and the second installment of the Redline series. Low spice and high drama, this story blends personal growth with the high-octane world of motorsports. Short Shift might work as a standalone, the Redline series is designed to be read in order.



Trigger

- Child abuse (no minors involved)

- Alcoholism

- Graphic descriptions of motorsport accidents

- Blood

Genres: Sports, Romance, Contemporary, Second Chance, M M Romance

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 30, 2024

Reviews

[Izzy The Nerd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed, I cried, I felt. I really liked the first one, but this second installment can best be described as stellar. The characters felt real enough I sometimes find myself forgetting they weren’t people I knew in real life. I could see myself in both characters, firstly in specific life situations that I could recognize myself in like David’s and Klaus relationship being extremely eerily similar to me and my own dad minus the racing aspect obviously, and while I’ve never had any addiction problem or alcoholism parts of storyline still mirrored some other experiences I’ve had and made me very emotional. But also in their struggles and thoughts and desires, and even if you don’t share any life experiences with the characters in any capacity, you will be able to see yourself in these flawed and *human* characters. The plot was fascinating and character interactions very fun to read, the serious stuff meshed very well with humor. Everyone should read this book, if they enjoyed the first one or not. I could literally not stop reading this, finished in three days and came to school an hour and a half early to have some time.

[yazaleea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea what to think of this sequel? The first book, despite its flaws, hurt me a lot and it was GREAT (i hate myself), because I had hope it'd get better. But this book just hurt me more. And made me angry, which I guess was what was expected.

Noah is heartbroken after breaking up with David, and he is not doing well. More than ever, he finds refuge in alcohol and he is crumbling down. David does what he has to do to survive his abusive father, and some of the shit he pulls is so wildly hurtful to Noah. That's what made me the angriest, the way David treated Noah and how it wasn't enough for Noah to get the heck away from him. I get that the abuse David went through is serious and his relationship with his father difficult, but Noah did not deserve any of the pain that was inflicted on him. I guess my main issue comes from the first book that did not really show us how they fell so in love, so I don't really believe that David and Noah love each other, at least not to the extent the book claims. So it's hard for me to understand why they're doing all of this. It just screamed abusive relationship to me, without really any of the "good" part that would make Noah stay. I did not root for them and by the end of the book I really did not want them together. I wanted David to get rid of his dad, to get to stand up by himself and find himself, before he considered any kind of relationship with Noah again. Like, David hurt this man so badly on purpose, even if he hurt himself in the process too.

The characters were flawed, and I did not like their romance, but I really enjoyed the writing and the character work that went into this book. It pained me so much, but the characters and their struggles was really moving. I liked some parts, even if some others frustrated me to no end. I loved the side characters, Evan is my new fave (even if Noah will always be my baby) and I want to see him happy, I love Finlay too. I was glad to hear more about Robbie too. His death still makes me so damn sad.

Anyway, as I've seen here, I did not like the ending, I hate this trope and it significantly doused my anticipation for the next volume, but I'll probably be tuning in and hoping I'll like it and will finally see the sparks between David and Noah.

[Haley C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re ready to get your heart wrung out like an old rag and beg for more, this is the book. Emma has taken everything that happened in Redline—the angst, the love, the stakes—and elevated it to a new level with Short Shift.

Noah made a deliciously perfect unreliable narrator, especially towards the beginning of the novel. You see both his own struggles and what he went through at Oxbow creating a reality that he believes to be true, and then it’s contrasted with the one that exists outside of him, and it makes it all the more fun to read. As much as I liked Redline, there was so much character development packed into Short Shift that I couldn’t help but love this installment even more. The tension and angst between Noah and David feels so believable and true in Short Shift, and it made my heart hurt with them as they dealt with the fallout of all the decisions made in the previous book. Yes, tears were shed at one pivotal scene. (Was I also secretly rooting for Noah and a new character, just a tiiiiny bit? Maybe, but so long as we see more of him another time, I’ll be more than happy. An early vote for a standalone novel for him!)

Formula America, the racing series in the trilogy, feels meticulously researched and real in its execution, and I spent half the time imagining it perfectly and the other half wishing it was an actual thing. Motorsports can be challenging to translate to written media and still feel exciting, but I could barely keep my eyes from skipping ahead as I felt the tension and could picture every overtake, turn, and slipstream. And as a queer person, I especially loved the way that the tension of coming out and sexuality was handled among all the characters, and treated with the respect and challenges that often come with showing the world who you really are.

I’m so excited to see what is next in Emma’s career as she continues to develop as an author. As a sophomore novel, Short Shift is a promising and exciting entry that has already shown her writing growth over the first, and I’ll be anxiously awaiting the final book in the trilogy.

[Romance Enthusiast · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked the first book you are gonna love this one. Noah was such an unreliable narrator for half the book that reading the reality he was forcing himself to believe was really interesting, I found myself wondering more than once : what if he's right?

I still don't like David, annoying little shit, but he's getting better (super slowly). Call it character development.

I really enjoyed the pace of the book and the fact that not everything was sunshine and rainbows too fast. The plot twist were incredible, get ready for a lot of emotions. And that ending...that was something else. I can't wait to read what Emma will bring us for the next book.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: I'll read anything she writes cause damn she's that good.

Give yourself a chance to read a real motorsport romance. You won't regret it.

[Amity Tribby]

Heartbreaking

This was a rough one for me. Watching two people so obviously still in love with each other live separate lives is never fun. I want to like David, but he has made some choices along the way that have made that really, really difficult.  Poor Noah has struggled so much, and it feels like David wants it both ways at the same time. That was annoying. I really feel for him, but make a choice. Klaus was horrible as always. Noah has a good thing going at Cobalt, and I hope he eventually gets back to racing. Caroline sure dropped a plot twist at the end.

[Sunny_Parakeet Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had given up that I would find a remotely good Formula one book, but then I got to hear about redline, redline was good, but I wouldn’t have read it if it hadn’t been f1 related.
Shortshift was really good though, it used the concept and setting much better and creatively and gave the characters another depth. For example the bigger part Robbie played in this book was genius and gave a gave a greater depth to the characters and relationships. “Four years. And he wondered if Robbie would even recognise him if they ran into each other in the afterlife” like on the floor crying

Cannot wait to see what the third book gives us!

[Book Wolf Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have to say absolutely loved this book and the character developement from book one was on point went through the emotions for the two boys and have to say loved how they are trying to become their own eagerly awaiting book number three because cliffhanger but would seriously recommend this author

[Madeline McCrae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was almost a five star read for me. I’ve flown through these books in one sittings and have been incredibly impressed with how the racing scenes have been written. This one made me cry quite a few times. I loved the new side characters, how much heart went into Noah’s story, and the growth between David and Noah. I was really set to absolutely adore this series and then the ending/cliffhanger fell into a trope that I can’t stand. I’m really not sure what the third book is going to be like but I’m interested to see where this will go.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the continuation of the storyline but the surprise baby at the end has the potential to ruin the whole goddamn thing. I liked how the relationship repaired itself in a way that felt natural-ish and there was sufficient groveling.

[Hattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

the cover for this has no business being so slutty 🤨 stupid ending that seems to have been chucked in to stretch the series to a trilogy but otherwise good

[JustJules4Jokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has me in a chokehold. Too many emotions to express. I cannot wait for the third book!

[Dea · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh those boys!

This was a wild ride. I enjoyed the angst/pining - there was A LOT of it though. I loved Finlay even though he wasn’t a main character. Not sure about the very ending. It didn’t take anything away from the book, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the next one. Definitely worth reading.