Racing Hearts

Pine Valley College #1

by K.A. Knight

Pine Valley is a school rich in both history and legacy and is once more opening its doors to another year of students.

Evan Shaw has wanted to be a photographer for as long as he can remember, and Pine Valley is the place to go to make that happen. What he didn’t expect was to be sworn into a secret society with a dark history—or to fall in love with a man so filled with anger, there might never be hope for them.

Alek Anders doesn’t believe in love, nor does he have the time for it. He can’t chase his dreams like all the rich college kids around him, he has his family to look after and food to keep on the table. Then comes Evan. Everything he’s not, he pushes all of Alek’s buttons.

Love is fickle, though, and when students start showing up dead, they will either have to work together or fall apart to discover the truth.

Can the past be undone and hope be found even in the darkness?

Can Evan and Alek withstand what Pine Valley has in store for them, or will racing hearts be all that’s left?

Genres: M M Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Dark Romance, College, Romance, Found Family, Sports

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 2, 2024

About the author

K.A Knight is a Romance author from a little town in England. She writes the monsters you love to hate. The crazier the better.

She loves her fur babies, coffee and a good book. Katie also has an obsession with monster flicks, and plans to re-watch them all!

Facebook Reader Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/Katie...

Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/KatieKnightA...

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/katieknight...

http://eepurl.com/drLLoj

Reviews

[lakshmi · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf at 91% because I’m so exhausted. I think I need a different genre to refresh my mind.

[Layla · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't do it anymore.
Tapping out at 40%
Around the time of the first sex scene.

CHRIST all of the pet names gave me whiplash.
Rich boy, pretty boy, good boy....
The writing is ROUGH and clunky
The two MCs have nothing going for them.

ETA: first sex scene has unprotected sex with NO talk about safety, condoms or anything. Even later on. Yeah no thanks.

What a waste of my time.

[Renae Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Racing Hearts is an entertaining enemies-to-lovers romance with fantastic chemistry between the two main characters, who go on an intense journey towards their HEA. What I loved was the growth both Evan and Alek went on. They are both clearly attracted to one another, but for various reasons, they have many things preventing them from admitting their true feelings for one another.

This was an intense story from beginning to end. I never really knew where things were headed and overall I was pleasantly surprised at many events in this story. It became much more than a simple enemies-to-lovers story. There were a lot of emotions, heart, and suspense that kept me invested in these characters and their overall journey.

** I reviewed a complimentary copy of this story.***

[peoniesandmm · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything about this was amazing.

audio review- the audio is even better 🥹🥹🥹

[ChelsMarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

♾️ 🌶️🌶️🌶️

•MM romance
•Found family
•GrumpyXSunshine
•Grief/Loss
•MechanicXStudent
•Past trauma
•LGBTQ+ acceptance

The story of Alek and Evan was the best MM romance I have ever read.

Alek is a mechanic by day and a street racer by night. He works his arse off to provide for his sister Alice.

Evan is a student photographer who pays his way by himself after walking away from his toxic family.

These two coming together was ELECTRIC!!
The spice in this book was so bloody intense and i thought I was going to melt from how HOT it was! 🥵

I honestly went through all the emotions reading this book. It was dark and angsty but also had some enlightening scenes.
My heart hurt for Alek and what he went through in the past. It all contributed to him being the way he was and not trusting anyone or anything.

So much happened through this story! I was not prepared for all the twists and turns that occurred.
I was so hooked from start to finish and I did not want the book to end!

So much heartache but also so much love was present between every single character. A true found family was formed and loyalty was never a question.

Risking everything for the person you love can lead to the best life being lived.

It was a pleasure to receive this as an ARC and I look forward to seeing where this series leads.

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad I got around to reading this one! I was immediately tucked into this MM Romance. It was a little bit dark, and also had a suspense plot going on that had me on the edge of my couch! I even shed a few tears at a few heartbreaking scenes.

I wouldn't quite call it a Bully Romance, but there are some shades of it as Alek lashes out at Evan when he pushes his buttons. Alex is also struggling with his sexuality and some deeply ingrained shame from his past. However, I do think the suspense plot and other aspects keep that from being too angst.

And Alek might have been too much for me, except that his love and protectiveness of his sister squeezed Mt heart. Evan eventually becomes his obsession though, and then I was SOLD!
I listened to the audio book as I read along, and the performances by Christian Leatherman and Emil Archer were excellent! I highly recommend it, if you like darker MM Romance. I'm really looking forward to Crashing Hearts and I think thay set up looks awesome. I hope that audio comes soon.

*I was gifted a physical copy from the author but I bought the audio myself.*


4 Stars
3 on the spice scale

[Lilibet Bombshell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of Katie Knight writing a mm romance novel with illegal street racing and a secret society. What’s not to love about that?

🩶 When you break Racing Hearts down to its parts, this book has a lot to love about it (IMO):

🍒 Opposites attract (grumpy/sunshine; rich kid/street kid; mechanic/artist; open/closeted)
💣 Private college setting
🍒 Touch him & die
💣 Found family
🍒 Sexy photoshoot
💣 Sex in semi-public places
🍒 Mommy issues
💣 Daddy issues
🍒 Abandonment issues
💣 Trauma bonding
🍒 Just trauma in general
💣 Rough sex
🍒 HEA

My sole issue with this book is that it felt like two separate stories merged together to make one haphazardly mashed together book. The first half of the book feels like a totally different story than the last half. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but it feels like two stories were stitched together with some patches in the hopes for smoothing continuity and it resulted in an entertaining, but not necessarily well-written book.

I really enjoy the direction this series is going, though, and I’ll definitely be continuing it. Just because the first book in a series doesn’t go as planned doesn’t mean the next won’t. We’ll see how the second book is handled. I think this is worth a read if you are a K.A. Knight fan or if you want to read some smutty street racing, but if you’re looking for a good story arc and total plot cohesion then this isn’t it.

I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. All reviews rated three stars or below will not appear on my social media. Thank you.

File Under: Book Series/College Romance/Contemporary Romance/Found Family/Gay Romance/Interconnected Series/LGBTQ Romance/MM Romance/Romance Series/Secret Society/Spice Level 3



EDIT 08/14/2024: I was only supposed to hold my review for a week after publication but I messed up and forgot. I'm posting it today with my apologies to Katie's PA. My message to potential ARC readers: Don't do this. It's not kind or professional.

[Megan [Slump City] · Rating 2 out of 5]

MM Romance
Racing, Stalkers & Serial Killers
1.5 Stars ⭐️

🎵Narrated by Christian Leatherman & Emil Archer🎵 I loved the narration and it was the only reason I kept listening to it as long as I did. I want to find everything Christian narrates because it was hot 🥵 I already looked up Emil and he appears newer so hopefully he does more mm romance!

DNF @ 44 minutes left in the audiobook but I’m counting this as completed because seriously what a waste of time if it didn’t.

This felt like two different books smashed into one and it just didn’t work for me. The blurb of this book is just so misleading because it makes it sound like a dark academia secret society type book when in reality the secret society was just there, it didn’t really serve a purpose and was a bit lame. I’m dying for a MM secret society book comparable to The Ritual by Shantel Tessier because that secret society was debauched and it made the book twisted in such a dark way and I loved it when I read it 3 years ago. I have no idea what I’d think of it now so don’t come at me if you read it and hate it. 😘 It’s one of my absolute favorite tropes when done right so I will always pick up a book with it which is how this came onto my radar.

So the first 50% of this book reads as a grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, touch him and die, gay awakening type book that takes place at Pine Valley College. Alek, works at a mechanic during the day and races cars at night as he dedicates his life to putting his sister through school to give her a better life than the one they had growing up. He meets Evan one morning while dropping his sister off at school and it changes his whole life. Evan is an art student who couldn’t wait to leave his home because his parents didn’t accept that he was bi or that he wanted to be a photographer. He’s been on his own for a couple years now and has met people who have given him the family he craves. These two have a one step forward 80 steps back kind of relationship for the first 50% or so and I found Alek absolutely insufferable with his denial of his sexuality plus the way he treated Evan. There’s a way to write a character struggling to accept themselves that makes the reader empathetic towards them but this was not it. Alek had this touch him and die possessive vibe going on but he was so mean to Evan and it just was infuriating to read about. He kept saying he wasn’t good enough for him but then he’d keep pursuing him only to push him away and have the audacity to beat up anyone who tried to date him. He didn’t want Evan but no one else could have him either. It fucked with Evan’s head and annoyed me.

After the 50% mark though, this book devolved into serial killers, stalkers and enough cliched scenes to be in a slasher film complete with dialogue like “I’ll be right back” and “let me go outside and turn the breaker back on” when there’s a stalker coming after your sister who happens to be in the house. 🙄🙄🤣🤣 It made this book feel really disjointed because the first 50% gave no inclination the book was even going in this direction. The secret society had only been in it once when Evan joined and it seemed more like a friend thing than a true dark academia society unfortunately. Then after it became somewhat of a slasher/thriller, the secret society seemed to be there only to provide legal advice so it was very disappointing for me. If I thought the stalker, serial killer, slasher shit was weird, well I was in for another weird twist that had me thinking “how the fuck do I find these books?” Major side eye at myself. Why do authors insist on cramming every possible plot into the back 20% of a book? It made this book even more disjointed and weird and with 44 minutes left I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was a sex scene and while they were arguably the best part of the book, I couldn’t take another minute.

I’m giving this 2 stars for the audiobook because it was fantastic and the only reason I didn’t DNF this at 50%. However, it gets put in my worst books of the year for its disjointed plot, terrible nicknames (good boy, pretty boy, rich boy), the 46864 plots in the last 20%, the insufferable love interest and for having the most boring secret society on earth. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was the “my stalker has a stalker” plot line and the unnecessary death of a main side character. If I had been attached to anyone in this book it might have gutted me but I was so tuned out by then it just made me roll my eyes.

I was interested in the second book in this series until one of the MCs in it cracked every corny joke and was flirting with his love interest while they are trying to be stealthy and catch this killer. I will not go near it with a 10 foot pole. Note to self: NO!

[Angela I. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty into it for the first half of the book.
And then, it felt like I was reading a completely different book ... It was all over the place and all the problems from the first were suddenly over and a thriller started... 🤷🏻‍♀️ Which I wasn't expecting.
It felt like too much for me and I couldn't get into it completely.
I'm sad because I liked the set up and the characters.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNFed. I'm sorry I can't be bothered.
I got to 33% and abandoned it. The writing was a bit boring/annoying/their relationship went from enemies to love of my life vibes real quick which I NEVER appreciate. It was even like corny idk.
The secret society wasn't believable at all (speaking of which, like, Evan??? like do you even go through life without thinking about the actions you're taking?? I don't know, as far as I know, this story isn't supposed to be a comedy)
I guess I felt them childish and annoying 😍😂😂
ALSO, I hate the word "Hell" so yeah some word choices were irking me too.
Like honestly 😂😂😂 I can't, they get on my nerves and it's not a good thing 😂

[25 Readings Or More · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

I didn't realize how much I missed K.A Knight' writing style. She got me hooked since the first page with those two cuties 😍😍
The banter, the "hate" at first sight, the whole grumpy sunshine dynamic, the tension, the passion, the possessiveness, the steam, the found family vibes, the suspense, the mistery....
Everything above made me absolutely giddy. And i fell so hard not only for Alek and Evan but also for every secondary characters. I want, no i need their stories.
I enjoyed so much the journey this book took me through...
I laughed
I cried once or twice
I yelled at Alek and then i swooned because of his love for her sister or for Evan
I suffer with Evan because of his need to be loved and i melted along with him because of Alek' hotness.
I honestly didn't want to leave them and im so eager to get my hands on Skylar' story 😍😍
What's more to say??
Racing Hearts was def the best start for a series i'm gonna love for sure.

[Courtenay (ceelovesbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Racing hearts is the story of Alek and Evan, but it is so much more than a typical MM romance novel. I felt like I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds ( HELLO SHEMAR MOORE, baby 😘) and one of the very first fast and furious movies ( HELLO JASON STATHAM 🫠) as well as reading a steamy love story between a couple of outcasts, who manage to find love?! What more could you ask for?

Alek is the sole provider and protector of his little sister Alice. Alek is a mechanic, car guru, and unprofessional street racer. He does all this to help put his sister through school and pay for anything she may need.

School you say? Well this is where he runs into “pretty boy” Evan. Evan is a hard worker, he pays for everything himself after his parents abandoned him, and his found family? The cutest.

Alek and Evan start up something of an insta-lust relationship, but Alek has been hurt before, and doesn’t know if he can ever truly admit that he’s gay, and be with Evan fully.

Until, a couple of dead bodies, a secret society, some creepy notes, and a ton of secrets start popping up, and Alek and Evan realize that they have to protect each other and their families, too.

This book was spicy, fun, mysterious, dark(romance), exciting, thrilling, and just an all round good time to read ! I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow, and the rest of the series is shaping up to be just as yummy, I’m sure !

Thank you Wordsmithpublicity for the ARC ♾️🖤🏁

[Collandherbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a ride - a wild, thrilling ride. I wasn't bored for even a second with all that was happening.

Alek and Evan were perfection. I loved the way they were together - my fave couple this year so far.

Honestly, this is not a book you'll want to miss. It has a bit of everything that makes it a fantastic read. Highly recommend.

[Ariel Boyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOSH! This book gave me all the emotions in one! I laughed, I smiled ear to ear, I got hot & bothered with the spice, I even teared up and basically cried! It was suspenseful, so cute & just overall a great comfort read. I have only read Den of Vipers from K.A so I truthfully wasn’t sure what to expect but it exceeded any expectations I may have had. I knew there was gonna be a lot of spice just from hearing that she always has some hottttt scenes (I mean shoot DOV had me jumpin my husbands bones) The plot was perfect, nothing that happened was anything I saw coming and I love that when I read. This was my first MM romance and it did not disappoint one bit. I loved being able to be inside the world of queer characters coming out & realizing their sexuality but also finding love. It was hot & heavy in every way. I enjoyed the MC’s so much that I know they’re gonna live rent free in my brain from here on out. The side characters were also great and I like how important they all were to the story and everyone’s growth throughout the story. I’m excited for the rest of this series!!! If you’ve been thinking about reading Racing Hearts you need to preorder it now & be ready for a great read come August 2nd!💜🏁🖤 thank you Katie for letting me be an ARC reader, I loved this book so much!

[Kate V · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars!

Racing Hearts tells Alek and Evan’s love story. A broken bad boy who secretly has a heart of gold and a sunshine photographer set on being in his orbit indefinitely.

A definite enemies-to-lovers vibe that had a lot of back and forth that eventually got me wondering about a toothpick to the eyeball. The first half was pretty good and it focused on Alek and Evan. I liked their journey and the steam was steaming despite the rage inducing “will they, won’t they.”

THEN…

It went full slasher movie and lost me quite a bit😂😂.

So yeah, this was fine. I could have done with more Alek and Evan being sure of each other and less ghost face vibes.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

What in the budget scream movie was this 💀

I felt like it was all over the place- ESPECIALLY Aleks. His actions didn’t match his words.
and the secret society? most random shit I’ve ever read. Bad. No go.
LUBE, Give them lube, ffs.
and the twists are the end? Like I said, what in the budget scream movie was that.

[Jailene Ventura · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Racing Hearts is an MM romance with a grumpyxsunshine trope, angst, swearing, college life, racing, photography, queer discovery and acceptance, and sex—lots of sex.*

Woah… I have only ever read Den of Vipers (which I rated 3 stars) from this author and went in thinking, alright cool I’m probably gonna get mostly smut with a bit of plot thrown in—no complaints from me.

I was wrong.

Halfway through, I literally had my hand over my mouth, heart pounding, whispering in the dark “oh my god oh my god oh my god” for probably two hours and my poor boyfriend was scared awake at one point in my freaking out—sorry, not sorry.

To be fair, the beginning was definitely pure romance and smut, nonnegotiable yummy scenes, and loooots of “I hate you then I kiss you” drama—again no complaints from me, just what my mood reading self was looking for honestly. It was nothing overly fantastic that would’ve had me screaming from the rooftops about it to everyone. BUT THEN IT SWITCHED UP AND THE PLOT THICKENED AND I COULD NOT PUT MY KINDLE DOWN! The drama and the fighting and then TOMMY and just all of it was freaking amazing. I was, quite literally, blurry eyed and struggling to stay awake, desperate to get through those chapters because my heart was pounding so fast there was no way I could possibly think of sleep.

Honestly, if you can power through the first few chapters of the back and forth between Evan and Alek, then the rest of the book will fly by with how riveting it was. The growth of Alek was beautiful and I really enjoyed watching him accept himself. Go freaking read it please. It was such a pleasure to receive this as an ARC and be able to review it.

“We are a forever kind of thing, and that’s so beautiful. I don’t need to shine like him, but I will be his umbrella from the rain.”

[Odette · Rating 5 out of 5]

***ARC Review***

First of all, I want to thank K.A. Knight and her team for choosing me as an ARC reader and trusting me with an advanced copy of Racing Hearts. It's truly an honor for me ❤️.

This book was amazing!!!! Once again, K.A. Knight did not disappoint. At this point, I can shout confidently that she is my favorite author ever!!!!

Alek and Evan were so good together. My god, they were made for one another. Alek was so grumpy, but underneath that grumpiness was a heart of gold. I really enjoyed the portrayal of his relationship with his sister, Alice. He would do anything for her and if that's not family goals, then I don't know what is. Evan, on the other hand, was a sweetheart from the beginning...also with a heart of gold. He was so giving and really put his all into all aspects of his life. I liked that he stood his ground and didn't let people walk all over him.

The BANTER between Alek and Evan was FREAKING AMA-zing. I could literally feel the sexual tension oozing between them while reading the book 🌶🌶🌶. I'm not kidding when I say that I did not put this book down. Not a single break was taken...lol.

This book made me go through a series of emotions ranging from happy to bawling my eyes out (IFYKYK). Plus, the plot twist...did not see that coming. Obviously, I can't go too much into details because I don't want to spoil the book before release day, but please just read it when it comes out...you will not be disappointed!!!

Lastly, I just want to share that this book had me swooning with the pet names. I was literally giggling like an idiot when I first read that Alek called Evan... "my boy." That was super freaking hot...period.

As all K.A. Knight books, the spice was giving 1000/10 ❤️❤️❤️. AND...she did an incredible job for her first MM romance.

What to expect:
MM Romance
Grumpy x Sunshine
Enemies to Lovers
Street Racing
Spice 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶
Touch Him and ☠️

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5 ⭐️

Loved this book. I wish I wouldn’t have put it off for so long because it was sooo entertaining. I wholeheartedly enjoyed the hurt/comfort, found family, & possessiveness. It’s very rare that I cry over books but the narrator’s performance in the audiobook got me several times.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I did feel like the plot was a little random at times. It was very engaging and I had a hard time putting the book down but it felt random/choppy at certain points.

Overall, I loved the side characters, the main character arcs, and I’m obsessed with Alek & Evan. They will be living rent-free in my head for a while I’m sure.

Definitely recommend reading!!

[Candace P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alek and Evan

Wow! This book had everything I love and I really liked Alex and Evan and how their story played out!

There was a lot of angst between the two main characters for the first part of the book. It take a bit of time to learn why Alek reacts so strongly to Evan, but it is definitely work the wait! The amount of hurt and responsibility Alek carries with him is heartbreaking, but Evan is definitely the sunshine he needs.

This book totally takes a suspenseful turn and I could not put the book down after! I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next! I loved it!

[Tashie_LeeReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spicy content 🌶🌶🌶🌶/5

KA Knight has done it again. I received this book as an arc, and my thoughts are honest and my own.


It is at this point that I fully believe that anything that KA Knight writes is laced with something that makes you addicted to all of these characters and books to make it so you can't put them down and you love them all.
This is my first ever MM romance, and it was fantastic. The contrast of both of the MMC's to each other was so fantastic.

There was drama, suspense, love, loss, fear, anxiety, trauma, and everything in between, and this boom will take you on a crazy ride.
The world building was great, and I did not see the twists and turns coming, and they were so well done.
There was a part in the book that I didn't want to be real, but trust me, IYKYK.

The character growth in this book with not only the MC's but also with the side characters is also so well done. I will forever recommend KA Knight!

Check out tashie_leereads for my bookstagram! :)

[bookdiaryofyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really am into MM romances lately and I really liked this one as wel.
The love story between alek and evan was beautiful.
I was in awe a lot of times and also giggled so much.
The other story in the book with the secret society and all the other things was a little less my vibe.
But overall i did enjoy the book!
I also loved the side characters so much!!! Lally and skylar were my favourite side characters.

[Tonya ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not expecting this book to me so long to finish!!!

Sheesh. But I pushed through & was STRESSED during that last few chapters. Overall it was a wild ride and I enjoyed every single second of it.

[Lynn Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too long and way too many twists. This did not read like a college set book at all. By the end, I was bored!

[Veronica LaRoche · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely couldn’t get enough of Alex and Evan. This book was spicy and love the enemies to lovers vibe. Definitely had me hooked from page one.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant!! Super hot 🥵🥵🥵👌

[Veronica LaRoche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely couldn’t get enough of Alex and Evan. This book was spicy and love the enemies to lovers vibe. Definitely had me hooked from page one.

[Nancy Evette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between motherhood madness and work, I finished my ARC copy just in time for release day! Let me just say I was literally sucked in right away, I could not get enough of these characters. Who wouldn't fall in love with a grumpy sexy mechanic and sweet flirty photographer!?! Racing Hearts is actually my first MM ROMANCE book and Katie did not disappoint 😍❤️ I loved the whole story line🚘, grumpy/flirty banter 😉, spice 🥵, and unexpected suspense ☠️. You will not be disappointed with this dark romance read, it was amazing! 🖤💜

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evan and Alek are so cute together!

This was way darker than I anticipated, I also cried more than I thought I would. Katie always makes me cry but this had me really sobbing and had my heart in my throat!

When Evan was introduced I really didn't expect what I got.

Alek has more heart than most people, but you wouldn't believe it.

We all love a possessive dark mmc. Alek takes some sweet time getting what he truly wants.

The photoshoot is.. Hoooooot!

[Lilylou426 · Rating 5 out of 5]

K. A. Knight brings yet another whirlwind of emotions! Alek and Evan will wrap you up in their world and you will be completely at their mercy!