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Retrograde
PRE-ORDER THE PERFECT SIZZLING MOTORSPORTS ROMANCE FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BLOODSTREAM!
Revolution Racing are enjoying their best season yet. But for Lucie Carolan she can’t help but feel there’s still something missing.
Brett Anderson is Revolution Racing’s all star driver. The only thing that matters more to Brett than winning championships? His best friend, and Revolution Racing’s Social Media Manager, Lucie Carolan.
Together, Lucie and Brett have spent 10 years travelling the world with their team, partying like VIPs and, for the sake of their friendship, denying the chemistry that has sizzles between them. So when Brett is forced to take a step back from racing, Lucie knows there’s nowhere else in the world she should be than by his side.
As Brett’s recovery takes them from race tracks to Lucie’s family home in Tuscany, will slowing the pace of their lives finally allow them to give in to their feelings or each other, or will taking a foot off the gas of their glamorous lives cause them to crash and burn?
Perfect for fans of Lauren Asher, Hannah Grace, Elsie Silver and Becka Mack
Revolution Racing are enjoying their best season yet. But for Lucie Carolan she can’t help but feel there’s still something missing.
Brett Anderson is Revolution Racing’s all star driver. The only thing that matters more to Brett than winning championships? His best friend, and Revolution Racing’s Social Media Manager, Lucie Carolan.
Together, Lucie and Brett have spent 10 years travelling the world with their team, partying like VIPs and, for the sake of their friendship, denying the chemistry that has sizzles between them. So when Brett is forced to take a step back from racing, Lucie knows there’s nowhere else in the world she should be than by his side.
As Brett’s recovery takes them from race tracks to Lucie’s family home in Tuscany, will slowing the pace of their lives finally allow them to give in to their feelings or each other, or will taking a foot off the gas of their glamorous lives cause them to crash and burn?
Perfect for fans of Lauren Asher, Hannah Grace, Elsie Silver and Becka Mack
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 7, 2024
64 people are currently reading
1385 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
November 4, 2024
2.5 ⭐️
thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book
DNF at 70%
i tried with this. i really really did. i stuck with it until i couldn’t take it anymore.
first of all, it’s in third person, which is okay for some people but i find it so difficult to read a dual POV book from a third person perspective. it was really hard to adjust.
then there’s the massive onslaught of characters. i counted and thirteen (13!!!!) different characters were either introduced or mentioned in the first chapter alone. it was a massive dump of names and it took ages to figure out who everyone was.
also, this is advertised as an f1 romance, but it’s actually WEC (it’s called something different in the book) which i know is still motorsport but for the girlies who want to read it for the f1 factor, it’s not there. that being said, there’s also not a lot of track action. for a book that’s based around motorsport, all you got was a mention of who won the race, there was nothing else. feels like a bit of a shame to write a whole book around a sport and not have at least a few dedicated scenes or chapters towards said sport.
it also felt very repetitive. brett decides he should go home for a bit and then he’s back a week later and then he’s gone again and then he’s back. it felt a bit messy and a little like the author had run out of ideas and was trying to bulk it out a bit.
their ‘love story’ was so unoriginal and i just didn’t care about it enough. everything both moved at a snail’s pace and felt too rushed at the same time.
it’s a real shame because i was looking forward to finding an f1 romance that i actually like. i love f1 but all the books i read about it just don’t grip me.
thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book
DNF at 70%
i tried with this. i really really did. i stuck with it until i couldn’t take it anymore.
first of all, it’s in third person, which is okay for some people but i find it so difficult to read a dual POV book from a third person perspective. it was really hard to adjust.
then there’s the massive onslaught of characters. i counted and thirteen (13!!!!) different characters were either introduced or mentioned in the first chapter alone. it was a massive dump of names and it took ages to figure out who everyone was.
also, this is advertised as an f1 romance, but it’s actually WEC (it’s called something different in the book) which i know is still motorsport but for the girlies who want to read it for the f1 factor, it’s not there. that being said, there’s also not a lot of track action. for a book that’s based around motorsport, all you got was a mention of who won the race, there was nothing else. feels like a bit of a shame to write a whole book around a sport and not have at least a few dedicated scenes or chapters towards said sport.
it also felt very repetitive. brett decides he should go home for a bit and then he’s back a week later and then he’s gone again and then he’s back. it felt a bit messy and a little like the author had run out of ideas and was trying to bulk it out a bit.
their ‘love story’ was so unoriginal and i just didn’t care about it enough. everything both moved at a snail’s pace and felt too rushed at the same time.
it’s a real shame because i was looking forward to finding an f1 romance that i actually like. i love f1 but all the books i read about it just don’t grip me.
April 29, 2025
One thing that really bugged me with this book is who has the blurb tell you what is going to happen only after 200 pages of the book? I was really disappointed that I was constantly waiting for what I knew from the blurb and to find out it was over half way through and by that point I'd lost all interest
August 22, 2025
“ I love you too, you wombat!”
December 29, 2024
I’m not normally a fan of friends to lovers but I love Brett, Lucie and their story together :)
Read
June 6, 2025DNF:(
June 8, 2025
Thank fck this is over
Its written on a third person POV which docked one star immediately
But this book was ick all the way i just dont have it in me not to finish a book!!!!
The MMC was an emotionally stunted toddler
The FMC was a freaking doormat to him acting all mother hen like girrrrrlllll, that man has a momma and doesnt need one!
0.5 ⭐️ just because they have a husky in this book
The only reason I bought it was the sprayed edges from The Works. Ughh never again
Its written on a third person POV which docked one star immediately
But this book was ick all the way i just dont have it in me not to finish a book!!!!
The MMC was an emotionally stunted toddler
The FMC was a freaking doormat to him acting all mother hen like girrrrrlllll, that man has a momma and doesnt need one!
0.5 ⭐️ just because they have a husky in this book
The only reason I bought it was the sprayed edges from The Works. Ughh never again
January 1, 2025
Really had to force myself to read this one. Best Friends to Lovers Trope is one of my favourite but this felt forced and honestly was just really poorly written and rushed.
April 6, 2025
I loved the first book, but this one just wasn’t it.
January 11, 2025
cheesy but a lot of fun!! i don’t think i enjoyed this quite as much as bloodstream (which is wild bc i was so excited for a brett and lucie story and a dannyric inspired love interest!!!) but i still liked it a lot. i wish we’d gotten to see more racing honestly (something the me of two years ago never would’ve said) but the italy shenanigans and the constant jetsetting made up for it!
marco and esme next????????
marco and esme next????????
July 5, 2025
2.5 ⭐️
Not really sure what to make of this. Easy to read. Very clunky writing. Nothing happened, then everything happened all at once. Characters took a maximum of 2 seconds to process events before reacting and were a bit annoying.
Not really sure what to make of this. Easy to read. Very clunky writing. Nothing happened, then everything happened all at once. Characters took a maximum of 2 seconds to process events before reacting and were a bit annoying.
January 10, 2025
I’ve realised Friends to lovers is not my jam. Either get together - or don’t. Don’t spend 300+ pages going back & forth about it.
Loved the racing element & the settings abroad
Loved the racing element & the settings abroad
January 10, 2025
Always up for a race car driver and these characters were so lovely, definitely set up for another book. predictable ending that all seemed to happen very quickly but still a nice gentle, quick read.
Nearly shed a tear at the wedding, would love Brett to plan mine it sounds gorge.
Nearly shed a tear at the wedding, would love Brett to plan mine it sounds gorge.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2025
2.5⭐️
This book had potential but the execution left much to be desired for
This book had potential but the execution left much to be desired for
March 11, 2025
I would say, personally, this one was a fairly well-written, easy, and quick read—nothing complex, but engaging enough to keep me listening. Since the audiobook seems to be the only format available in North America (for now, at least), I went with that and it was able to hold my attention well enough.
I would say my biggest issue with the book was Brett (which I HATE saying about an MMC). I get that he was dealing with addiction and trauma and demons and whatnot, but it really felt like he was using her pretty much the entire time (I know this was covered and explained, but I still agree it felt like she was). Every time there was a minor issue, he ran straight back to his ex, which made the relationship feel more toxic and co-dependent than genuinely romantic. Maybe this is a me issue in that I don't think I've read a lot of friends-to-lovers, so maybe this is just a normal trope that I don't dig, but I definitely didn't dig it here (I'm used to FWB trope, but this definitely didn't feel like that given the time frame that they had been friends for).
There wasn’t much depth to his connection with her beyond money and gifts, which okay is a love language, but there was nothing more to it really. It felt like all she ever did was support him and all he ever did was spit in her face with the ex thing who was apparently awful to her, by the end, it didn’t feel like they had actually worked through anything. They spent time apart, sure, but none of their major issues were really addressed on-page. Maybe it happened off-page, but including those conversations would have added so much more to the story... perhaps I just need more grovelling in stories like this!
Despite my frustrations with the MMC, I think Emilee’s writing shows a lot of promise, especially being of sports romance genre. I’ll definitely keep an eye on her future work and look forward to her developing her style!
I would say my biggest issue with the book was Brett (which I HATE saying about an MMC). I get that he was dealing with addiction and trauma and demons and whatnot, but it really felt like he was using her pretty much the entire time (I know this was covered and explained, but I still agree it felt like she was). Every time there was a minor issue, he ran straight back to his ex, which made the relationship feel more toxic and co-dependent than genuinely romantic. Maybe this is a me issue in that I don't think I've read a lot of friends-to-lovers, so maybe this is just a normal trope that I don't dig, but I definitely didn't dig it here (I'm used to FWB trope, but this definitely didn't feel like that given the time frame that they had been friends for).
There wasn’t much depth to his connection with her beyond money and gifts, which okay is a love language, but there was nothing more to it really. It felt like all she ever did was support him and all he ever did was spit in her face with the ex thing who was apparently awful to her, by the end, it didn’t feel like they had actually worked through anything. They spent time apart, sure, but none of their major issues were really addressed on-page. Maybe it happened off-page, but including those conversations would have added so much more to the story... perhaps I just need more grovelling in stories like this!
Despite my frustrations with the MMC, I think Emilee’s writing shows a lot of promise, especially being of sports romance genre. I’ll definitely keep an eye on her future work and look forward to her developing her style!
January 8, 2025
Retrograde by emilee carter ⭐⭐.5
What a rollercoaster of a book ! I had such high hopes with this book and the story line is beautiful. Its deals with the difficult topic of alcoholism and having the community to support you through tough times. It also covers an amazing topic of women empowerment and making awareness of women in such a male dominated sport. Even has a beautiful best friend to lovers romance. Unfortunately the way this story was written was such a disappointment, to start with in the first chapter there was way too many names mentioned i was so overwhelmed and it took me ages to actually register who i was reading about. Then the point of view was lost there wasnt a clear sign of whos view i was reading from and would abruptly jumping to a new scene without any warning! On top of this the dialogue was messy, not always fitting into the story or not actually creating a natural flow of conversation making it seem like bits are missing. It had a lovely ending but i unfortunately wont be picking up or recommending any more of @emileecarters books.
What a rollercoaster of a book ! I had such high hopes with this book and the story line is beautiful. Its deals with the difficult topic of alcoholism and having the community to support you through tough times. It also covers an amazing topic of women empowerment and making awareness of women in such a male dominated sport. Even has a beautiful best friend to lovers romance. Unfortunately the way this story was written was such a disappointment, to start with in the first chapter there was way too many names mentioned i was so overwhelmed and it took me ages to actually register who i was reading about. Then the point of view was lost there wasnt a clear sign of whos view i was reading from and would abruptly jumping to a new scene without any warning! On top of this the dialogue was messy, not always fitting into the story or not actually creating a natural flow of conversation making it seem like bits are missing. It had a lovely ending but i unfortunately wont be picking up or recommending any more of @emileecarters books.
June 17, 2025
I really liked the idea of this bookie what it could have been, but the actual story line of their relationship was gross. If Lucy was my friend, I would tell her to never date or talk to a guy like that again. Major ick
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2025
Super slow
Like the HEA did not happen until the last paragraph
And like others said too many characters and not enough racing drama
Like the HEA did not happen until the last paragraph
And like others said too many characters and not enough racing drama
March 25, 2025
Ugh....this book had moments that were good, funny and sad, but mostly...it just drug on and on and on and I ended up fast forwarding just to get it over with.
April 1, 2025
Obligatory I DNFd about 20% through, so this review is mostly just of the portion that I read.
I was listening to the audio book, and I really appreciate the narrator's commitment to doing different accents for every character.
That being said there were way too many side characters, even with the different accents I could not keep any of these characters straight. There were no events or anything to tie them to, they were just there to be there.
I'm all for friends to lovers, but the way that it was presented in this book was insufferable. It's not even friends to lovers. They've been in a situationship for the entire time they've known each other, he's basically her sugar daddy and every interaction is him openly hitting on her and saying he's down whenever she is. There's no established platonicness between them at all.
He gropes her ass in public and showers her with expensive gifts, the fans and media already think they're together, but she won't date him because she doesn't want to deal with the media? Right. She thinks if they get together he'll dump her immediately? Why are they even friends if she thinks so low of him? I don't recall Lucie ever saying anything meaningful about their friendship, he's just portrayed as a hot rich guy who pays attention to her. There's no reason to root for these two. It would be one thing if they were 21 and had just met. No, they're pushing 30 and have been doing this for a decade! At this point I think they should just block each other everywhere and never speak again, their relationship has no substance to it.
I'm not expecting a motorsports romance novel to be a great work of feminist literature, but Lucie isn't the girls girl she's portrayed to be. She's introduced as a social media manager who started a podcast that's changing the gender norms of motorsports and making it a space for women, meanwhile she's one drink away from calling women at the club sluts for existing around her friend she claims she doesn't want to date. All she cares about is having possession over this man because...he drives cars and is Australian?
She often comes across like she thinks she's better than everyone else - she goes on multiple tangents about how she's not like other people because she's "not rich" like them. You have a job with a major motorsports team, a wildly successful podcast with crazy merch sales, public and financial support of all of the drivers, and a sugar daddy. You are traveling the world, eating fancy dinners on the regular, and clubbing with celebrities. You're rich and that's fine! Just because you don't have world champion driver money doesn't mean you aren't rich! I'm not expecting the characters to be perfect, but she's insufferable and not in any way that seems meaningful to the story.
To be quite honest I was shocked that this wasn't self-published, I don't know how this got picked up. Some things are better left as RPF on AO3, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all! That's how I got into motorsports in the first place.
I was listening to the audio book, and I really appreciate the narrator's commitment to doing different accents for every character.
That being said there were way too many side characters, even with the different accents I could not keep any of these characters straight. There were no events or anything to tie them to, they were just there to be there.
I'm all for friends to lovers, but the way that it was presented in this book was insufferable. It's not even friends to lovers. They've been in a situationship for the entire time they've known each other, he's basically her sugar daddy and every interaction is him openly hitting on her and saying he's down whenever she is. There's no established platonicness between them at all.
He gropes her ass in public and showers her with expensive gifts, the fans and media already think they're together, but she won't date him because she doesn't want to deal with the media? Right. She thinks if they get together he'll dump her immediately? Why are they even friends if she thinks so low of him? I don't recall Lucie ever saying anything meaningful about their friendship, he's just portrayed as a hot rich guy who pays attention to her. There's no reason to root for these two. It would be one thing if they were 21 and had just met. No, they're pushing 30 and have been doing this for a decade! At this point I think they should just block each other everywhere and never speak again, their relationship has no substance to it.
I'm not expecting a motorsports romance novel to be a great work of feminist literature, but Lucie isn't the girls girl she's portrayed to be. She's introduced as a social media manager who started a podcast that's changing the gender norms of motorsports and making it a space for women, meanwhile she's one drink away from calling women at the club sluts for existing around her friend she claims she doesn't want to date. All she cares about is having possession over this man because...he drives cars and is Australian?
She often comes across like she thinks she's better than everyone else - she goes on multiple tangents about how she's not like other people because she's "not rich" like them. You have a job with a major motorsports team, a wildly successful podcast with crazy merch sales, public and financial support of all of the drivers, and a sugar daddy. You are traveling the world, eating fancy dinners on the regular, and clubbing with celebrities. You're rich and that's fine! Just because you don't have world champion driver money doesn't mean you aren't rich! I'm not expecting the characters to be perfect, but she's insufferable and not in any way that seems meaningful to the story.
To be quite honest I was shocked that this wasn't self-published, I don't know how this got picked up. Some things are better left as RPF on AO3, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all! That's how I got into motorsports in the first place.
October 26, 2024
ARC REVIEW
Brett, all-star driver and 1/3 of Revolution Racing 💛. Lucie, social media manager for the IEC and Revolution Racing 📷, Brett best friend and has been since both step into the paddock aged 18 🎟. 10 years of friendship and tension comes to a head when Brett’s metal health takes a turn of the worst 🍸.
This book has both good characters and character development and to top it all off it is written amazingly. Sometimes to have one the other is sacrifice, but not when it comes to Emilee Carter. I typically find book which are written in third person hard to get into and I can't invest in the characters as well. However, I pick a book from Emilee, and she puts me under her little reading spell 🪄, and I can't put the book down 🔮. I don't know how she does it. But I will sing the praise of these book forever and ever and ever.
I loved book one and from reading that I was always deep-down invested in rooting from Lucie and Brett ☀️. The blatant flirting is unmatched and that doesn’t go away in book 2. Instead, it gets so much better. You get to see the deeper levels of their friendship, the true feeling towards the other, and the internal battles of their stuggles not just in their relationship but in their separate lives. Brett is such a flirt I don’t know how Lucie has so much restraint, because trust me I would have had. This fact that he has a nickname for that nobody else does ☀️, and everyone but them can see how in love they are just gave me a warm fuzzy feeling when reading 🥰. No only do you see the development of Lucie and Bretts story but the development of the others, and the progression in both Faith and Julien from previous books but also the progression into hopefully a lot more future books 😏 with other characters from the group.
They are the definition of found family. Revolution Racing is first and foremost a family always has been always will be. The way in which they rally around Brett in his moment of need 💛. And don’t just abandon him but instead cheer in on to get better and be the best version of Brett, and for everyone around him especially Lucie 😢. But not only are they they’re for Brett they support Lucie in her efforts to support Brett 😭. They support and hold her up when she needs help herself. Lucie constantly brings out the inner old Brett constantly, and makes in better and happy constantly 🫠.
Brett, all-star driver and 1/3 of Revolution Racing 💛. Lucie, social media manager for the IEC and Revolution Racing 📷, Brett best friend and has been since both step into the paddock aged 18 🎟. 10 years of friendship and tension comes to a head when Brett’s metal health takes a turn of the worst 🍸.
This book has both good characters and character development and to top it all off it is written amazingly. Sometimes to have one the other is sacrifice, but not when it comes to Emilee Carter. I typically find book which are written in third person hard to get into and I can't invest in the characters as well. However, I pick a book from Emilee, and she puts me under her little reading spell 🪄, and I can't put the book down 🔮. I don't know how she does it. But I will sing the praise of these book forever and ever and ever.
I loved book one and from reading that I was always deep-down invested in rooting from Lucie and Brett ☀️. The blatant flirting is unmatched and that doesn’t go away in book 2. Instead, it gets so much better. You get to see the deeper levels of their friendship, the true feeling towards the other, and the internal battles of their stuggles not just in their relationship but in their separate lives. Brett is such a flirt I don’t know how Lucie has so much restraint, because trust me I would have had. This fact that he has a nickname for that nobody else does ☀️, and everyone but them can see how in love they are just gave me a warm fuzzy feeling when reading 🥰. No only do you see the development of Lucie and Bretts story but the development of the others, and the progression in both Faith and Julien from previous books but also the progression into hopefully a lot more future books 😏 with other characters from the group.
They are the definition of found family. Revolution Racing is first and foremost a family always has been always will be. The way in which they rally around Brett in his moment of need 💛. And don’t just abandon him but instead cheer in on to get better and be the best version of Brett, and for everyone around him especially Lucie 😢. But not only are they they’re for Brett they support Lucie in her efforts to support Brett 😭. They support and hold her up when she needs help herself. Lucie constantly brings out the inner old Brett constantly, and makes in better and happy constantly 🫠.
November 15, 2024
Firstly, a huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion.
If there's something I've learnt from all my romance reading by now, it's that sports romances aren't always my go to. However, F1 romance novels are my favourite out of the trope, as its the one sport I actually understand what they are talking about after years of growing up around F1 mad big brothers.
This is essentially a standalone novel, however, it's set in the same world and characters as Bloodstream, Emilee's first book, so although I went into this blind, having not read Book 1, I think I would have got more out of it having got attached to some of the other characters from that book before diving into this book.
Yes, other people have commented on having quite a lot of characters thrown at you in the first chapters, but power through that and you will have yourself a fun, light-hearted, friends to lovers romance that will give you all the feels.
Brett and Lucie's dynamic in this was perfectly portrayed as the ultimate best friends that have that underlying attraction they both can't deny. It seems like everyone else around them is just waiting for the day they finally get together.
Brett faces a tough journey as he works through trying to battle an alcohol addiction, but Lucie is with him every step of the way. This book takes you from Sydney, to London, to Italy and I was just enjoying every minute of the ride 🏎️
The side characters pull you in as well. not just friends but their families too, so loveable that you find yourself wishing you were part of the gang.
We get to see the behind the scenes of the F1 world and I found it really interesting seeing what the day to day of a social media creator for the team would be like.
Loved this book, I flew through reading this and now going back to read Bloodstream!
If there's something I've learnt from all my romance reading by now, it's that sports romances aren't always my go to. However, F1 romance novels are my favourite out of the trope, as its the one sport I actually understand what they are talking about after years of growing up around F1 mad big brothers.
This is essentially a standalone novel, however, it's set in the same world and characters as Bloodstream, Emilee's first book, so although I went into this blind, having not read Book 1, I think I would have got more out of it having got attached to some of the other characters from that book before diving into this book.
Yes, other people have commented on having quite a lot of characters thrown at you in the first chapters, but power through that and you will have yourself a fun, light-hearted, friends to lovers romance that will give you all the feels.
Brett and Lucie's dynamic in this was perfectly portrayed as the ultimate best friends that have that underlying attraction they both can't deny. It seems like everyone else around them is just waiting for the day they finally get together.
Brett faces a tough journey as he works through trying to battle an alcohol addiction, but Lucie is with him every step of the way. This book takes you from Sydney, to London, to Italy and I was just enjoying every minute of the ride 🏎️
The side characters pull you in as well. not just friends but their families too, so loveable that you find yourself wishing you were part of the gang.
We get to see the behind the scenes of the F1 world and I found it really interesting seeing what the day to day of a social media creator for the team would be like.
Loved this book, I flew through reading this and now going back to read Bloodstream!
April 23, 2025
Retrograde is the second book in this series by Emilee Carter and is a friends to lovers sports romance based around F1 driver Brett and social media manager Lucie.
Lucie and Brett have been friends for 10 years sharing laughs, holidays and beds! They have flirted, confided in each other and even had a secret night together. After Brett is forced to take some time away from F1 the two spend some time at Lucie’s home town and their relationship develops from there.
I actually enjoyed this book more than the first and thought it delved into some tough subjects (alcohol addiction) really respectfully.
There is spice is this book however it is pretty much closed door and doesn’t happen too often so please don’t expect a spicy read in Retrograde.
I did really enjoy the story mostly! However I felt the whole book was built around the miscommunication trope. I found it quite unbelievable and far fetched at times. The main characters had been friends for 10 years, shared everything but couldn’t bring themselves to tell each other their feelings. Even towards the end the FMC still couldn’t bring herself out to confess her feelings 😠 if they had just talked everything could have been ironed out around 100 pages in.
At 375 pages this is a reasonable read however it is quite easy to digest so I got through it within a couple of days.
July 10, 2025
2.5 stars
I get what the author was going for here - the steps forward and backward when it comes to dealing with a substance use issue and grief. I also get that this wasn't about the racing, it was a character journey about grief, mental health and substance addiction. But this book really just never quite fired and felt like the issues were dealt with superficially, with a lot of telling not showing. Like a car race, it just kept going around and around and around with not much happening. There was a lot of very quick jetting between Sydney and Europe a few times within days of arriving. It takes nearly 2 days to fly over there, how the hell weren't they jetlagged! It was also getting a bit ridiculous too! Just keep them in one place for a while and let those scenes of them learning to properly communicate with each other unfold!
I think this book needed a much heavier edit to deal with the pace and also more on-page examples of Brett getting therapy. Because if you are going to tackle serious issues then you need to handle it with care. It also needed more of Lucie trying to deal with her growing career, her own needs while also being the support person for Brett (and that struggle. Instead it was mostly the same reptitiive stuff going on with all the character growth off page.
I get what the author was going for here - the steps forward and backward when it comes to dealing with a substance use issue and grief. I also get that this wasn't about the racing, it was a character journey about grief, mental health and substance addiction. But this book really just never quite fired and felt like the issues were dealt with superficially, with a lot of telling not showing. Like a car race, it just kept going around and around and around with not much happening. There was a lot of very quick jetting between Sydney and Europe a few times within days of arriving. It takes nearly 2 days to fly over there, how the hell weren't they jetlagged! It was also getting a bit ridiculous too! Just keep them in one place for a while and let those scenes of them learning to properly communicate with each other unfold!
I think this book needed a much heavier edit to deal with the pace and also more on-page examples of Brett getting therapy. Because if you are going to tackle serious issues then you need to handle it with care. It also needed more of Lucie trying to deal with her growing career, her own needs while also being the support person for Brett (and that struggle. Instead it was mostly the same reptitiive stuff going on with all the character growth off page.
December 6, 2025
1.5 stars: This is marketed as a ‘sizzling motorsports romance’. Unfortunately for me I found there to be very little motorsports content, very little romance, and what romance there was certainly did not sizzle.
I’m very willing to concede that I don’t know as much about endurance racing in comparison to Formula One, and I was intrigued to get a little bit of detail, perhaps a chapter or two surrounding a race weekend, particularly describing Brett and his teammates actually in the car during a race. However, it jumped from place to place quite quickly, and instead it felt like ‘Brett and Lucie’s dysfunctional travel diaries’. While the behind-the-scenes can be just as interesting as the public-facing stuff in racing, we didn’t get much detail on that either, instead we got holidays and mental health breaks.
At least there’s still a bit of romance, right? Sadly not enough for me. If you’re after some spicy scenes, this is not the book for you. I have no problem with closed-door romance, but the way this book was marketed as ‘sizzling’ felt misleading. In actual fact, Brett and Lucie’s ‘friendship’ seemed quite toxic and manipulative, and at times felt uncomfortable to read. This certainly made sense at the start of the book, but towards the end the miscommunication between Brett and Lucie (which is what was making for the uncomfortable read) was needless, and the reasoning behind their decisions seemed flimsy and unconvincing - to the point where even the supporting cast of characters were thinking they were idiots.
The writing style was slightly clunky in places too (especially overuse of the word ‘had’). The premise is a great one, but could’ve been executed better.
Justice for Davide!
I’m very willing to concede that I don’t know as much about endurance racing in comparison to Formula One, and I was intrigued to get a little bit of detail, perhaps a chapter or two surrounding a race weekend, particularly describing Brett and his teammates actually in the car during a race. However, it jumped from place to place quite quickly, and instead it felt like ‘Brett and Lucie’s dysfunctional travel diaries’. While the behind-the-scenes can be just as interesting as the public-facing stuff in racing, we didn’t get much detail on that either, instead we got holidays and mental health breaks.
At least there’s still a bit of romance, right? Sadly not enough for me. If you’re after some spicy scenes, this is not the book for you. I have no problem with closed-door romance, but the way this book was marketed as ‘sizzling’ felt misleading. In actual fact, Brett and Lucie’s ‘friendship’ seemed quite toxic and manipulative, and at times felt uncomfortable to read. This certainly made sense at the start of the book, but towards the end the miscommunication between Brett and Lucie (which is what was making for the uncomfortable read) was needless, and the reasoning behind their decisions seemed flimsy and unconvincing - to the point where even the supporting cast of characters were thinking they were idiots.
The writing style was slightly clunky in places too (especially overuse of the word ‘had’). The premise is a great one, but could’ve been executed better.
Justice for Davide!
November 17, 2024
Retrograde is Emilee Carter's second novel, and I must say, I enjoyed it even more than her debut, Bloodstream.
If you haven’t read Bloodstream yet, I’d highly recommend starting there. Many of the key characters in Retrograde are introduced early on, and without the context of the first book, the rapid fire of information might feel too much.
While Retrograde isn’t heavy on explicit scenes, it absolutely sizzles with the unresolved sexual tension between its protagonists, Lucie and Brett. Best friends for over a decade, they stubbornly deny their feelings for each other. This slow-burn romance is the heart of the book, but what truly sets it apart is Emilee’s portrayal of personal struggles.
Brett’s battle with addiction is written with a raw honesty that’s both compelling and heartbreaking. Meanwhile, Lucie’s journey through burnout and her need for self-care is deeply relatable. These themes add depth to the story.
I finished this book in under 24 hours, and it’s the perfect companion for a cozy afternoon on the sofa. Highly recommended!
If you haven’t read Bloodstream yet, I’d highly recommend starting there. Many of the key characters in Retrograde are introduced early on, and without the context of the first book, the rapid fire of information might feel too much.
While Retrograde isn’t heavy on explicit scenes, it absolutely sizzles with the unresolved sexual tension between its protagonists, Lucie and Brett. Best friends for over a decade, they stubbornly deny their feelings for each other. This slow-burn romance is the heart of the book, but what truly sets it apart is Emilee’s portrayal of personal struggles.
Brett’s battle with addiction is written with a raw honesty that’s both compelling and heartbreaking. Meanwhile, Lucie’s journey through burnout and her need for self-care is deeply relatable. These themes add depth to the story.
I finished this book in under 24 hours, and it’s the perfect companion for a cozy afternoon on the sofa. Highly recommended!
August 18, 2025
A great addition to the story! I loved Lucie from the first book, so I’m glad that she had her own story. I enjoyed the more deeper story it took about alcoholism. It’s very brave to add such a sad mental illness but it interrogated into the story so well. It was great to know more about Brett’s character. The first book just showed us to be this fun guy, but this story dug deep into why him and Lucie haven’t gotten together yet. Even though I find the slow burn love story to be a bit boring and repetitive, I think it was needed in this story. Brett and Lucie needed time to evolve into the people they needed to be before finally getting together. I found this book as good as the last one, it felt familiar and cozy to read. It was also nice to have a little addition in Faith and Julien’s lives with them having twins. I know there’s another story in the series, that I will eventually read but I kind of hoped the series would end after this book. I’m getting worried that it will be become too repetitive and boring. Hopefully they’ll prove me wrong.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- absolutely loved the characters and the story. Emilee has a great writing style and I absolutely love her sports romance.
I absolutely cannot say no to an F1 romance and this did not disappoint.
Although technically a standalone I do believe some of the characters mentioned were in bloodstream and definitely will be reading that soon to see what I missed and if I could have developed better connections with some of the side characters. But despite this I did absolutely love the side characters and their relationships with the MC throughout the F1 season tour.
Retrograde is a fun, lighthearted F1 romance with friends to lovers and MC who have amazing chemistry and banter.
Emilee’s writing style flows so well and allowed for an enjoyable and engaging read throughout.
The story line was engaging and I loved getting a ‘behind the scenes’ of an F1 tour.
Thank you to NetGalley, penguin random house and Emilee for this ARC 💚
I absolutely cannot say no to an F1 romance and this did not disappoint.
Although technically a standalone I do believe some of the characters mentioned were in bloodstream and definitely will be reading that soon to see what I missed and if I could have developed better connections with some of the side characters. But despite this I did absolutely love the side characters and their relationships with the MC throughout the F1 season tour.
Retrograde is a fun, lighthearted F1 romance with friends to lovers and MC who have amazing chemistry and banter.
Emilee’s writing style flows so well and allowed for an enjoyable and engaging read throughout.
The story line was engaging and I loved getting a ‘behind the scenes’ of an F1 tour.
Thank you to NetGalley, penguin random house and Emilee for this ARC 💚
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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