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Frontrunners #2
Coming in Hot
A spicy Formula 1 romance pairs a journalist with a mysterious Team Principal, perfect for fans of Drive to Survive on Netflix and readers of Hannah Grace or Sarah Adams.
After a decade in journalism, Natalia Evans has reached the pinnacle of her career-lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal. Every season promises to be a thrilling adventure in the glamorous world of elite racing, surrounded by top-tier athletes and influential industry legends. The complication in Natalia's plans? One of those legends happens to be the enigmatic Emerald Team Principal, Klaus Franke-the handsome stranger with whom Natalia once shared an unforgettable night... that had to be forgotten.
Klaus is icy, controlled, and utterly off limits. But the cracks in his reserve expose a heat Natalia can't resist as fate drags them together again and again. Both guarding their hearts, the pair are soon embroiled in a high-stakes sporting scandal that threatens to shatter more than just reputations and relationships. Natalia needs the scoop of the century. Klaus needs more time. But they soon discover that maybe they need each other more than anything else.
After a decade in journalism, Natalia Evans has reached the pinnacle of her career-lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal. Every season promises to be a thrilling adventure in the glamorous world of elite racing, surrounded by top-tier athletes and influential industry legends. The complication in Natalia's plans? One of those legends happens to be the enigmatic Emerald Team Principal, Klaus Franke-the handsome stranger with whom Natalia once shared an unforgettable night... that had to be forgotten.
Klaus is icy, controlled, and utterly off limits. But the cracks in his reserve expose a heat Natalia can't resist as fate drags them together again and again. Both guarding their hearts, the pair are soon embroiled in a high-stakes sporting scandal that threatens to shatter more than just reputations and relationships. Natalia needs the scoop of the century. Klaus needs more time. But they soon discover that maybe they need each other more than anything else.
336 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2025
24 people are currently reading
6272 people want to read
About the author
Josie Juniper
15 books108 followersJosie Juniper writes high-steam romance featuring hot, angsty men who are dirty talkers with hearts of gold, and smart, snarky women with hilarious foul mouths. She works in mathematics and has been a staff writer and/or editor for four publications, winning awards for her sharp, funny, iconoclastic writing. She lives in Portland, OR and loves rain, swearing, lost causes, tattoos, F1 racing, and prime numbers.
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June 14, 2025
જ⁀➴ 1 star
Thank you to NetGalley, Josie Juniper, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Coming in Hot will be officially published on June 17th, 2025!
🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
Just as a disclaimer: I will be bringing up small parts of the plot to add context to what I'm talking about, but NOTHING in the main portion of the review is a major spoiler for the overall plot. I AM, in a VERY rare case, including a spoiler section at the VERY END of this review for one specific thing that happened in the plot because 1) it made me angry and 2) it is a major spoiler for the plot. I'm NOT including it in the main review, which will remain spoiler-free, so if you want to see the spoiler section, it will be PAST my pre-read thoughts/expectations section. This is also a VERY long, angry rant review lol.
No. Just...no. I don't even have words right now to describe how angry I am that I wasted a cumulative 3 hours of my life reading this. I didn't read it all in one sitting (I read about 75% of it last night and then finished the last 25% this morning), but this was coming in hot (no pun intended) and had lots of potential, but ultimately ended up crashing and burning.
Natalia Evans is at the top of her game. She's the lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal, and she gets to travel around the world filming content and conducting interviews with different racers and top people in the F1 scene. Enter Klaus Franke, the Emerald Team Principal. She's asked by her publicist to interview him for an article for Auto Racing Journal, and that doesn't sound too bad...but there's a catch: he's the same guy she had a one-night stand with, and she's not particularly on good terms with him.
I honestly don't even know where to start with this disaster of a book, so I guess let's start with the pacing. Almost EVERY chapter was a time jump. Whether it was 1 or 2 weeks, to even longer ones like 3 or 6 months out, there was a time jump. I get it; the F1 racing schedule has breaks in between races, just like any other sport, like American football, for example. However, as a result, there were SO many things that happened OFF-page that we suddenly get information about ON-page, and we just have to assume that it happened off-page in between all the time jumps. Like, there was a part in the book where Natalia and her best friend Phaedra, who works for Emerald racing as one of their engineers, are getting along, and then one chapter and 3 weeks later, they're suddenly beefing and not speaking to each other? I literally had to do a double-take to make sure I didn't miss anything.
As a result of all of that, there was a LOT of telling, but NOT a lot of showing. There's a big scandal that the book centers around that Natalia is trying to get a lead on so she can write a report on it all, and it was brought up A LOT but never elaborated on further. There were SO many times where I felt like this book wasn't even a finished book; it was a lot of concepts that the author WANTED in the book and threw them all into the book, but then never explained or went further on any of the topics AT ALL. I get it, I read an ARC and an ARC is never the final version of a book, but it's pretty darn close to the final product. This felt like this was like the FIRST draft of the book overall.
Now, my LEAST favorite part of the entire book: the characters. I don't think I've ever read about so many unlikeable characters in one book ALL at once. If you've read some of my reviews before, you probably know that I try to put at least one quote that stands out to me at the beginning of my review. NOPE! This book was SO bad I couldn't find a single one I liked to include. EVERYONE was toxic. Natalia, Klaus, Phaedra, ALL of them were toxic as all hell.
Let's start with Natalia and Klaus, because they go hand in hand. They were like the most toxic couple on the planet, and calling them a couple is me being EXTREMELY generous. Like, their relationship isn't the guilty pleasure kind of toxic that you'd read about in say, The Favorites by Layne Fargo if anyone's read that book, or even your favorite guilty pleasure reality TV show where you know everything is staged and it's super bad but you can't help but continue watching. It's not the kind of toxic love that makes you want to keep reading because you want to find out if their story will have an HEA or go up in flames, because reading about Natalia and Klaus from the very first chapter, I knew that this wasn't going to go well. Like, you know it's going to be bad when their very first interaction ends in Klaus offering Natalia money because he thinks she's a prostitute. His excuse was that it's his "autopilot" reaction.😑
Their entire relationship was built on lies, secrets, half-truths, and more lies, and the only thing that was keeping them together was their physical chemistry. Aside from all of that, they were also extremely immature for people who are 35 (Natalia) and 45 (Klaus). I wouldn't even say they were strangers to enemies to lovers; they were just strangers to enemies who would occasionally hook up to get it out of their systems....like...enemies with benefits? They spend way more time bickering, yelling at each other, giving each other the cold shoulder, etc., than actual, cute, wholesome moments. Any cute moments that they had, I felt were washed out by their constant bickering like children. Not to mention that Natalia is a grown, mature woman who KNOWS that having a physical relationship with a Team Principal is unprofessional and unethical since she's been assigned by her boss to interview him, yet she still chooses to do it anyway even though every interaction she and Klaus have usually ends in a screaming match and them walking away from each other. I came here to read a cute, spicy F1 romance, not two fully-grown adults having temper tantrums and acting like children towards each other. I swear my baby cousins have more maturity than both of them COMBINED. It was so hard to root for either of them when both of them were immature, despite how old they are.
Also, can we take a moment to talk about Klaus's dialogue? Because why the fuck did he sound like a 70-year-old man from 1850s England? HE'S 45 IN THE 21st CENTURY; HE'S NOT THAT OLD, GUYS. I HAVE COWORKERS WHO ARE THAT AGE AND THEY DO NOT TALK LIKE THAT. Here's a sample of some of his dialogue (P.S. There's more in the spoilers section below because some of these are NSFW):
As for Phaedra, Natalia's best friend, she's like the one toxic "friend" you have that only ever comes around when she needs something from you, and then as soon as you fulfill your purpose, it's like you never existed to her. She also gives "my way or the highway" sort of vibes and also gives me the impression that because she's "not like other girls" (she's a race engineer so she's a STEM girly, hates wearing dresses, wears nerdy graphic t-shirts) that it gives her a free pass on her horrible behavior. I didn't realize that she has her own book, Double Apex, but I haven't read it. I could be getting the completely wrong impression of her, but she's not giving me good vibes right now.
I could go on and on about this book and how much I abhor it, but I genuinely think the only purpose this book has is to raise your blood pressure over how angry you'll get reading it. I would honestly gift this to my worst enemy so they have to go through what I went through reading this, and that's pretty much the only person I'd recommend this to. Save your time, energy, and money on reading an actual good F1 romance series.
🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
Trigger/content warnings: sexual content (probably a 2.5-3/5 on the spice scale, although this will be different for everyone based on their own experiences reading spicy scenes), off-page death of a loved one, mentions of terminal illness, incarceration, recounted child abandonment, illegal drug use and distribution
⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: It's about time I pick up another F1 romance, so here goes nothing! (Lowkey TERRIFIED though because the rating is barely sitting at 3 stars and the book hasn't come out yet💀)
Tropes (from the author's IG page!):
This is ARC 7/11 for my June 2025 ARC reading schedule, and ARC 3/4 for my next deadline of 6/17!
🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
SPOILER SECTION:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
There's an unexpected pregnancy trope at the end. It was LITERALLY 1,000% preventable. Natalia isn't on birth control and knows the risks of having unprotected sex. Klaus asks her if she wants to use a condom the first few times they have sex, and I want to say they did the first couple of times? AND THEN GUESS WHAT? SHE GETS PREGNANT WHEN THEY STOP USING A CONDOM BECAUSE SHE PROBABLY JUST TRIES TO TRACK WHEN SHE OVULATES AND CALLS IT A DAY. Like first off, using that isn't always reliable because our bodies aren't machines that work perfectly every month (despite what Natalia claims in the book), and second off, WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT NOT BEING ON BIRTH CONTROL AND THEN HAVING UNPROTECTED SEX COULD GET YOU PREGNANT??? NATALIA IS 35, BY THE WAY. I KNOW SHE HAS MORE THAN 2 BRAIN CELLS IN HER HEAD TO KNOW THAT NO CONDOM = RISK OF PREGNANCY IS HIGHER THAN IF YOU USE ONE. She needs to go back to middle school health class fr.
Other Klaus quotes I could not take seriously (read at your own risk because you might die of cringe):
Thank you to NetGalley, Josie Juniper, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Coming in Hot will be officially published on June 17th, 2025!
🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
Just as a disclaimer: I will be bringing up small parts of the plot to add context to what I'm talking about, but NOTHING in the main portion of the review is a major spoiler for the overall plot. I AM, in a VERY rare case, including a spoiler section at the VERY END of this review for one specific thing that happened in the plot because 1) it made me angry and 2) it is a major spoiler for the plot. I'm NOT including it in the main review, which will remain spoiler-free, so if you want to see the spoiler section, it will be PAST my pre-read thoughts/expectations section. This is also a VERY long, angry rant review lol.
No. Just...no. I don't even have words right now to describe how angry I am that I wasted a cumulative 3 hours of my life reading this. I didn't read it all in one sitting (I read about 75% of it last night and then finished the last 25% this morning), but this was coming in hot (no pun intended) and had lots of potential, but ultimately ended up crashing and burning.
Natalia Evans is at the top of her game. She's the lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal, and she gets to travel around the world filming content and conducting interviews with different racers and top people in the F1 scene. Enter Klaus Franke, the Emerald Team Principal. She's asked by her publicist to interview him for an article for Auto Racing Journal, and that doesn't sound too bad...but there's a catch: he's the same guy she had a one-night stand with, and she's not particularly on good terms with him.
I honestly don't even know where to start with this disaster of a book, so I guess let's start with the pacing. Almost EVERY chapter was a time jump. Whether it was 1 or 2 weeks, to even longer ones like 3 or 6 months out, there was a time jump. I get it; the F1 racing schedule has breaks in between races, just like any other sport, like American football, for example. However, as a result, there were SO many things that happened OFF-page that we suddenly get information about ON-page, and we just have to assume that it happened off-page in between all the time jumps. Like, there was a part in the book where Natalia and her best friend Phaedra, who works for Emerald racing as one of their engineers, are getting along, and then one chapter and 3 weeks later, they're suddenly beefing and not speaking to each other? I literally had to do a double-take to make sure I didn't miss anything.
As a result of all of that, there was a LOT of telling, but NOT a lot of showing. There's a big scandal that the book centers around that Natalia is trying to get a lead on so she can write a report on it all, and it was brought up A LOT but never elaborated on further. There were SO many times where I felt like this book wasn't even a finished book; it was a lot of concepts that the author WANTED in the book and threw them all into the book, but then never explained or went further on any of the topics AT ALL. I get it, I read an ARC and an ARC is never the final version of a book, but it's pretty darn close to the final product. This felt like this was like the FIRST draft of the book overall.
Now, my LEAST favorite part of the entire book: the characters. I don't think I've ever read about so many unlikeable characters in one book ALL at once. If you've read some of my reviews before, you probably know that I try to put at least one quote that stands out to me at the beginning of my review. NOPE! This book was SO bad I couldn't find a single one I liked to include. EVERYONE was toxic. Natalia, Klaus, Phaedra, ALL of them were toxic as all hell.
Let's start with Natalia and Klaus, because they go hand in hand. They were like the most toxic couple on the planet, and calling them a couple is me being EXTREMELY generous. Like, their relationship isn't the guilty pleasure kind of toxic that you'd read about in say, The Favorites by Layne Fargo if anyone's read that book, or even your favorite guilty pleasure reality TV show where you know everything is staged and it's super bad but you can't help but continue watching. It's not the kind of toxic love that makes you want to keep reading because you want to find out if their story will have an HEA or go up in flames, because reading about Natalia and Klaus from the very first chapter, I knew that this wasn't going to go well. Like, you know it's going to be bad when their very first interaction ends in Klaus offering Natalia money because he thinks she's a prostitute. His excuse was that it's his "autopilot" reaction.😑
Their entire relationship was built on lies, secrets, half-truths, and more lies, and the only thing that was keeping them together was their physical chemistry. Aside from all of that, they were also extremely immature for people who are 35 (Natalia) and 45 (Klaus). I wouldn't even say they were strangers to enemies to lovers; they were just strangers to enemies who would occasionally hook up to get it out of their systems....like...enemies with benefits? They spend way more time bickering, yelling at each other, giving each other the cold shoulder, etc., than actual, cute, wholesome moments. Any cute moments that they had, I felt were washed out by their constant bickering like children. Not to mention that Natalia is a grown, mature woman who KNOWS that having a physical relationship with a Team Principal is unprofessional and unethical since she's been assigned by her boss to interview him, yet she still chooses to do it anyway even though every interaction she and Klaus have usually ends in a screaming match and them walking away from each other. I came here to read a cute, spicy F1 romance, not two fully-grown adults having temper tantrums and acting like children towards each other. I swear my baby cousins have more maturity than both of them COMBINED. It was so hard to root for either of them when both of them were immature, despite how old they are.
Also, can we take a moment to talk about Klaus's dialogue? Because why the fuck did he sound like a 70-year-old man from 1850s England? HE'S 45 IN THE 21st CENTURY; HE'S NOT THAT OLD, GUYS. I HAVE COWORKERS WHO ARE THAT AGE AND THEY DO NOT TALK LIKE THAT. Here's a sample of some of his dialogue (P.S. There's more in the spoilers section below because some of these are NSFW):
"A stroll it is. Perhaps the beach."
"You allowed me very little time"
"As yet undetermined"
As for Phaedra, Natalia's best friend, she's like the one toxic "friend" you have that only ever comes around when she needs something from you, and then as soon as you fulfill your purpose, it's like you never existed to her. She also gives "my way or the highway" sort of vibes and also gives me the impression that because she's "not like other girls" (she's a race engineer so she's a STEM girly, hates wearing dresses, wears nerdy graphic t-shirts) that it gives her a free pass on her horrible behavior. I didn't realize that she has her own book, Double Apex, but I haven't read it. I could be getting the completely wrong impression of her, but she's not giving me good vibes right now.
I could go on and on about this book and how much I abhor it, but I genuinely think the only purpose this book has is to raise your blood pressure over how angry you'll get reading it. I would honestly gift this to my worst enemy so they have to go through what I went through reading this, and that's pretty much the only person I'd recommend this to. Save your time, energy, and money on reading an actual good F1 romance series.
🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
Trigger/content warnings: sexual content (probably a 2.5-3/5 on the spice scale, although this will be different for everyone based on their own experiences reading spicy scenes), off-page death of a loved one, mentions of terminal illness, incarceration, recounted child abandonment, illegal drug use and distribution
⋆˙⟡ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹: It's about time I pick up another F1 romance, so here goes nothing! (Lowkey TERRIFIED though because the rating is barely sitting at 3 stars and the book hasn't come out yet💀)
Tropes (from the author's IG page!):
⋆˙⟡♡ Workplace romance
⋆˙⟡♡ Age gap
⋆˙⟡♡ Billionaire Team Principal MMC X Journalist FMC
⋆˙⟡♡ F1 drama
⋆˙⟡♡ Found family
⋆˙⟡♡ Greek island getaway
⋆˙⟡♡ Dual POV
⋆˙⟡♡ Secrets, scandal, and a journalist after a scoop
⋆˙⟡♡ Dirty talk in German
⋆˙⟡♡ Hero with Toto Wolff vibes
This is ARC 7/11 for my June 2025 ARC reading schedule, and ARC 3/4 for my next deadline of 6/17!
🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . 🏎️. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ .
SPOILER SECTION:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
There's an unexpected pregnancy trope at the end. It was LITERALLY 1,000% preventable. Natalia isn't on birth control and knows the risks of having unprotected sex. Klaus asks her if she wants to use a condom the first few times they have sex, and I want to say they did the first couple of times? AND THEN GUESS WHAT? SHE GETS PREGNANT WHEN THEY STOP USING A CONDOM BECAUSE SHE PROBABLY JUST TRIES TO TRACK WHEN SHE OVULATES AND CALLS IT A DAY. Like first off, using that isn't always reliable because our bodies aren't machines that work perfectly every month (despite what Natalia claims in the book), and second off, WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT NOT BEING ON BIRTH CONTROL AND THEN HAVING UNPROTECTED SEX COULD GET YOU PREGNANT??? NATALIA IS 35, BY THE WAY. I KNOW SHE HAS MORE THAN 2 BRAIN CELLS IN HER HEAD TO KNOW THAT NO CONDOM = RISK OF PREGNANCY IS HIGHER THAN IF YOU USE ONE. She needs to go back to middle school health class fr.
Other Klaus quotes I could not take seriously (read at your own risk because you might die of cringe):
"That's it, my siren," I urge. "You've placed the tools you wanted right into my hands and demanded the service of my cock. Can you let yourself cry out in victory as you take everything you deserve?"😭😭😭 (I actually cringed SO hard typing that out.)
"You're the most stunning shade of well-fucked pink."
June 21, 2025
I feel like I had so many mixed feelings throughout this book. At times, I was fully immersed in the story, but at other points I had trouble forcing myself not to skim read because it seemed like there were so many names and so much information to keep up with.
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
The FMC, Natalia is a journalist and lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal. Klaus, the MMC is the Team Principal of one of the racing teams.
After one hot night with a stranger, Natalia moves on with her life… only to realize that the man she spent the evening with was none other than the principal of a major team she would be writing about during the F1 season. Trying to keep things professional gets hard because of the feelings both of them caught on the first night, and they soon become wrapped up in each other. That is until secrets are uncovered, feelings are violated, and trust is broken.
Will these two come out together in the end, or will the secrets that threaten to separate them keep them apart for good?
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
There were multiple reasons this book just didn’t do it for me. One of the main reasons being the time gaps between each chapter. A few aren’t bad but they really started to bug me because I’m very much so a girl who loves the in between details and I feel like I missed out on so much every time I saw “2 weeks later, 3 weeks later” or even “6 months later.”
I really didn’t like the relationship between the FMC and her best friend. It just seemed very toxic, and even though things got better toward the end, I just simply didn’t care for it. The bestie almost made me want to set the book down and not finish it.
I also had a hard time understanding Natalia. She just struck me as very immature and sensitive… because people wouldn’t give her information and she felt left in the dark. Which granted… SHE IS LITERALLY A JOURNALIST. She should be used to that. The way she pretty much threw fits when she didn’t get her way drove me crazy.
Overall I give the book 2 ⭐️. Not the worst I’ve come across, but I probably won’t read any more in the series.
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
A huge thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Josie Juniper for allowing me to read this arc. These are all my honest opinions in this review.
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
The FMC, Natalia is a journalist and lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal. Klaus, the MMC is the Team Principal of one of the racing teams.
After one hot night with a stranger, Natalia moves on with her life… only to realize that the man she spent the evening with was none other than the principal of a major team she would be writing about during the F1 season. Trying to keep things professional gets hard because of the feelings both of them caught on the first night, and they soon become wrapped up in each other. That is until secrets are uncovered, feelings are violated, and trust is broken.
Will these two come out together in the end, or will the secrets that threaten to separate them keep them apart for good?
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
There were multiple reasons this book just didn’t do it for me. One of the main reasons being the time gaps between each chapter. A few aren’t bad but they really started to bug me because I’m very much so a girl who loves the in between details and I feel like I missed out on so much every time I saw “2 weeks later, 3 weeks later” or even “6 months later.”
I really didn’t like the relationship between the FMC and her best friend. It just seemed very toxic, and even though things got better toward the end, I just simply didn’t care for it. The bestie almost made me want to set the book down and not finish it.
I also had a hard time understanding Natalia. She just struck me as very immature and sensitive… because people wouldn’t give her information and she felt left in the dark. Which granted… SHE IS LITERALLY A JOURNALIST. She should be used to that. The way she pretty much threw fits when she didn’t get her way drove me crazy.
Overall I give the book 2 ⭐️. Not the worst I’ve come across, but I probably won’t read any more in the series.
-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-
A huge thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Josie Juniper for allowing me to read this arc. These are all my honest opinions in this review.
June 17, 2025
The hero sounded like a 95-year-old Shakespeare reject, the romance was just breakup after breakup, and the ending was rushed and unsatisfying.
April 2, 2025
unfortunately this book was a total miss for me. i was totally drawn into this book by the cover and even though i am not an avid f1 watcher i do like to occasionally read f1 romances when i need a switch up in the sports romance department because i tend to find them fast paced and thrilling, i love watching them jump from country to country. however quite honestly getting through this felt about as thrilling as watching paint dry.
i couldnt connect with any of these characters, every time i felt like i may start to they go and do something that annoys me. for everyones grown age all of the characters felt extremely immature.
i think that this book had the potential to be really good but with all of the time jumps literally every single chapter it felt hard to get any sense of what in the world was going on. nothing is really being shown to me just told at various stages of the book?? the bones are there but unfortunately the writing is not. its hard to care about characters and their relationships if im not being shown any of the process of them falling in/out of love, if i cant understand why phaedra (who i will not even be getting into or this’ll turn into a rage rant lmao) and her are fighting this time, etc.
i finally just had to call it quits in the middle of chapter 21, the dramatics and secrets got old fast. these two started to feel very toxic and like we were running in circles. and tbh im convinced they’d divorce in less than 6 months were this book to end in marriage.
i couldnt connect with any of these characters, every time i felt like i may start to they go and do something that annoys me. for everyones grown age all of the characters felt extremely immature.
i think that this book had the potential to be really good but with all of the time jumps literally every single chapter it felt hard to get any sense of what in the world was going on. nothing is really being shown to me just told at various stages of the book?? the bones are there but unfortunately the writing is not. its hard to care about characters and their relationships if im not being shown any of the process of them falling in/out of love, if i cant understand why phaedra (who i will not even be getting into or this’ll turn into a rage rant lmao) and her are fighting this time, etc.
i finally just had to call it quits in the middle of chapter 21, the dramatics and secrets got old fast. these two started to feel very toxic and like we were running in circles. and tbh im convinced they’d divorce in less than 6 months were this book to end in marriage.
June 3, 2025
firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc
2.5 stars
omg, this book is full of wildly toxic characters from the fmc and mmc, to the fmc’s parents, to the fmc’s best friend. it’s rare i say this considering my stance on spice (i prefer phenomenal plot with well deserved earned spice), but the spicy scenes were the only thing good about this book.
as for the audio, there were dual narrators and they did a great job!
2.5 stars
omg, this book is full of wildly toxic characters from the fmc and mmc, to the fmc’s parents, to the fmc’s best friend. it’s rare i say this considering my stance on spice (i prefer phenomenal plot with well deserved earned spice), but the spicy scenes were the only thing good about this book.
as for the audio, there were dual narrators and they did a great job!
dnfs
July 11, 2025RAHHHHHHHHHH I GOT AN AUDIOBOOK ARCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Edit: I saw friend reviews and now I'm scared... but I ain't a pussy so Imma give it a shot
----------------------------------------------
No Rating
DNF @ 30%
This book was ok. The author was more of a teller than a shower and that became one of the major issues of the story. That, the pace, and the unrelatable characters.
Ok, so first thing I'm going to touch on is the character. Klaus was like a big man child imo. He didn't stick out to me and whenever he did have a big impact it was giving "my dead wife caused me to have trauma and at my big ass age of 45 pushing 50 I still didn't go to therapy to learn healthy communication." Like bro bsffr rn... He was just a major ick. Then there was Natalia. She was also another character who's big ass age should know better because girl wtf. Your a journalist yet you couldn't deduce that your friend's father was sick? Not to mention, why are you getting mad at Klaus for not telling you shit when you knew damn well why he doesn't trust journalist? Like idk... maybe stop being so lazy and expecting people to do your job for you and actually go out and do the damn work.... ALSO HOW IS SHE GONNA TAKE A FUCKING BRIBE?? YO WHAT???? That's like one of the BIGGEST NO-NOS IN JOURNALISM.... How did nobody catch this and think "hey, she puts her journalist credibility to shit so maybe we should take it out".... if I was her coworker I would give her EVERY DAMN SIDE EYE.... So immature and for what.... Lastly is the best friend, Phae(?), I don't really care to remember her name tbh... But she's so toxic and it feels like she kinda takes up a big chunk of the book and for what? For Natalia to not stand on business? Why have enemies when you can have a friend like Phae LOL. All the characters were just so unlikeable it's crazy.
Next we have pacing. Remember when I said the main issue was that the author kept telling and not showing? This is the main reason why... I felt like I was reading a first draft of a book that was incomplete because of how many time jumps/skips there were... there are other F1 romance books who don't have this issue so why not copy and paste that formula???? Why have so many time skips and then tell us about the things that happened in those time skips instead of showing us by writing those scenes... It just made absolutely no sense to me.
Lastly, it was just boring.... I've read romances that were somewhat boring like this book but the character were at least likeable. I kept picking up the audiobook then putting it away and it became almost like a thing of... "oh I remember I need to get to this arc before it gets archived" but then I just get so bored I'll just go back to doom scrolling on tiktok... the interactions were giving 0 chemistry and the "one-night stand" that ended up with the MMC treating the FMC like a sex worker left a bad taste on my mouth because why, as a woman, would you ever go back to a man who disrespected you like that? Idc about sex work, world runs on money so make it however you please.... but when you just tryna hook up and go out for a night and then get treated like that, as if the attraction and want are only for monetary gain??? Nah pack it up Klaus... TVD + TO Klaus would never....
Overall, this was not a fun reading experience and I will not be checking out the rest of this romance series.
Edit: I saw friend reviews and now I'm scared... but I ain't a pussy so Imma give it a shot
----------------------------------------------
No Rating
DNF @ 30%
This book was ok. The author was more of a teller than a shower and that became one of the major issues of the story. That, the pace, and the unrelatable characters.
Ok, so first thing I'm going to touch on is the character. Klaus was like a big man child imo. He didn't stick out to me and whenever he did have a big impact it was giving "my dead wife caused me to have trauma and at my big ass age of 45 pushing 50 I still didn't go to therapy to learn healthy communication." Like bro bsffr rn... He was just a major ick. Then there was Natalia. She was also another character who's big ass age should know better because girl wtf. Your a journalist yet you couldn't deduce that your friend's father was sick? Not to mention, why are you getting mad at Klaus for not telling you shit when you knew damn well why he doesn't trust journalist? Like idk... maybe stop being so lazy and expecting people to do your job for you and actually go out and do the damn work.... ALSO HOW IS SHE GONNA TAKE A FUCKING BRIBE?? YO WHAT???? That's like one of the BIGGEST NO-NOS IN JOURNALISM.... How did nobody catch this and think "hey, she puts her journalist credibility to shit so maybe we should take it out".... if I was her coworker I would give her EVERY DAMN SIDE EYE.... So immature and for what.... Lastly is the best friend, Phae(?), I don't really care to remember her name tbh... But she's so toxic and it feels like she kinda takes up a big chunk of the book and for what? For Natalia to not stand on business? Why have enemies when you can have a friend like Phae LOL. All the characters were just so unlikeable it's crazy.
Next we have pacing. Remember when I said the main issue was that the author kept telling and not showing? This is the main reason why... I felt like I was reading a first draft of a book that was incomplete because of how many time jumps/skips there were... there are other F1 romance books who don't have this issue so why not copy and paste that formula???? Why have so many time skips and then tell us about the things that happened in those time skips instead of showing us by writing those scenes... It just made absolutely no sense to me.
Lastly, it was just boring.... I've read romances that were somewhat boring like this book but the character were at least likeable. I kept picking up the audiobook then putting it away and it became almost like a thing of... "oh I remember I need to get to this arc before it gets archived" but then I just get so bored I'll just go back to doom scrolling on tiktok... the interactions were giving 0 chemistry and the "one-night stand" that ended up with the MMC treating the FMC like a sex worker left a bad taste on my mouth because why, as a woman, would you ever go back to a man who disrespected you like that? Idc about sex work, world runs on money so make it however you please.... but when you just tryna hook up and go out for a night and then get treated like that, as if the attraction and want are only for monetary gain??? Nah pack it up Klaus... TVD + TO Klaus would never....
Overall, this was not a fun reading experience and I will not be checking out the rest of this romance series.
April 25, 2025
Generally into sports romance, and I'm glad to see some different cultural representation as well! (Even though neither of the characters was an athlete themselves, this book is part of a series with interconnected standalone books, and I feel that it has sporty elements to it. )
Really loved the characters' relationship progression and how they had to get over their own emotional baggage. This is the first time I've ever had the 'dead wife' trope not give me the ick as well. Being the second love of someone's life does not sound pleasant most of the time, but Coming in Hot was so well done, it didn't bother me.
**Thank you to Forever Romance for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤
Follow me on Instagram for honest reviews, bookish freebies & giveaways! 🦋 || Southern Lady Reads YouTube channel coming soon!!
Really loved the characters' relationship progression and how they had to get over their own emotional baggage. This is the first time I've ever had the 'dead wife' trope not give me the ick as well. Being the second love of someone's life does not sound pleasant most of the time, but Coming in Hot was so well done, it didn't bother me.
**Thank you to Forever Romance for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤
Follow me on Instagram for honest reviews, bookish freebies & giveaways! 🦋 || Southern Lady Reads YouTube channel coming soon!!
June 16, 2025
Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 (I feel like this one had some good character depth!)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡ (they dive in pretty soon and I didn’t get a good sense of tension from them throughout the book)
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (I did like the intimate scenes)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: first person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: very soon in, chapter 1
Cliffhanger: This ends on a happy for now
Epilogue: No
Format: voluntarily listened to an advanced reader copy through NetGalley
Why I chose this book: I liked the title
Mains: This is a M/F relationship between a cishet hero and heroine
(Descriptions found at end of my review)
Should I read in order?
This is book 2 of Juniper’s Frontrunners series. I found it fine alone! I feel like book 1 happens kind of concurrently with this book (this story does take over a year or two to complete).
Basic plot:
After a hot night together, Natalia and Klaus come together again in a work environment.
Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance
- hero is a Team Principal for a Formula 1 team
- heroine is a journalist
- Austrian hero
- American heroine
- widower hero
- silver fox hero
- this relationship is over the long haul – it takes place over the course of 1-2 years
- mid to higher steam – 4ish full scenes with some light spanking and hero dom elements
Ages:
- hero is 45, didn’t catch heroine but I think maybe 20s?
First line:
New York to London.
My thoughts:
This isn’t my usual type of read but I was drawn in by the title and cover!
I liked the set up of this one. And I thought the character depth was really well done. You really get to know both of these mains, their fears and worries and their baggage. And I was really rooting for them!
But my struggle with this one was a few things. I felt like by the end of the book, both of them hadn’t grown as much as I wanted them to. I felt like if the big thing toward the end hadn’t pulled them together, they never would have made it as a couple. And that leaves me doubting the solidity of their relationship.
The book takes place over a long time. And I felt a bit like as they kept coming together and separating it was the same issues repeating. By the end it just left me a bit sad for them and not feeling like they were meant to be together.
The steam was great!
Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: This is my first!
Average rating from me: 3 stars
Favorite book: This one by default
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex aspects, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:
Extra stuff like what my review breakdown means, where to find me, and book clubs
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 (I feel like this one had some good character depth!)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡ (they dive in pretty soon and I didn’t get a good sense of tension from them throughout the book)
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋 (I did like the intimate scenes)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: first person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: very soon in, chapter 1
Cliffhanger: This ends on a happy for now
Epilogue: No
Format: voluntarily listened to an advanced reader copy through NetGalley
Why I chose this book: I liked the title
Mains: This is a M/F relationship between a cishet hero and heroine
(Descriptions found at end of my review)
Should I read in order?
This is book 2 of Juniper’s Frontrunners series. I found it fine alone! I feel like book 1 happens kind of concurrently with this book (this story does take over a year or two to complete).
Basic plot:
After a hot night together, Natalia and Klaus come together again in a work environment.
Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance
- hero is a Team Principal for a Formula 1 team
- heroine is a journalist
- Austrian hero
- American heroine
- widower hero
- silver fox hero
- this relationship is over the long haul – it takes place over the course of 1-2 years
- mid to higher steam – 4ish full scenes with some light spanking and hero dom elements
Ages:
- hero is 45, didn’t catch heroine but I think maybe 20s?
First line:
New York to London.
My thoughts:
This isn’t my usual type of read but I was drawn in by the title and cover!
I liked the set up of this one. And I thought the character depth was really well done. You really get to know both of these mains, their fears and worries and their baggage. And I was really rooting for them!
But my struggle with this one was a few things. I felt like by the end of the book, both of them hadn’t grown as much as I wanted them to. I felt like if the big thing toward the end hadn’t pulled them together, they never would have made it as a couple. And that leaves me doubting the solidity of their relationship.
The book takes place over a long time. And I felt a bit like as they kept coming together and separating it was the same issues repeating. By the end it just left me a bit sad for them and not feeling like they were meant to be together.
The steam was great!
Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: This is my first!
Average rating from me: 3 stars
Favorite book: This one by default
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex aspects, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:
Extra stuff like what my review breakdown means, where to find me, and book clubs
March 13, 2025
thanks to Dab I now have to live with the knowledge that even if Cosmin (the only interesting character in this book) gets his own romance with Phaedra, I can't read it because he probably pees his pants. On purpose.
how disappointing to read a book that neither tells nor shows character or plot development. what was even in this book? it felt like a series of fanfiction one-shots, snaps in time that were fun for the writer, who already knows her characters, but leave the new readers out. And the time jumps, PLEASE. Every chapter is one month later, two weeks later, four months later, and "Klaus and I have been talking. I'm basically in love with him." Like???? SHOW ME THAT???? Show me her fight with Phaedra, her interactions with her parents- ANYTHING. I love the bones of this story but the execution is not it. Even if Klaus' POV had been removed it would have been better. Too many romances now fall into the trap of dual POV so they can make sure the reader has no doubt about anyone's feelings.
Natalia is not a professional woman and can't control herself despite all her internal monologuing about how bad an idea it is to get involved, casually or otherwise, with an exec from a field she's supposed to report on.
Klaus is supposed to be an Ice King but instead is obsessed with her from the jump, but because we barely see them interact on page other than moments of jealousy and insecurity, I can't understand why they even like each other beyond the physical.
I can't connect to these characters and I'm mad about it, because I wanted this to be amazing. It's not even the story's fault- it's clumsy writing and terrible time skips that kill this romance.
how disappointing to read a book that neither tells nor shows character or plot development. what was even in this book? it felt like a series of fanfiction one-shots, snaps in time that were fun for the writer, who already knows her characters, but leave the new readers out. And the time jumps, PLEASE. Every chapter is one month later, two weeks later, four months later, and "Klaus and I have been talking. I'm basically in love with him." Like???? SHOW ME THAT???? Show me her fight with Phaedra, her interactions with her parents- ANYTHING. I love the bones of this story but the execution is not it. Even if Klaus' POV had been removed it would have been better. Too many romances now fall into the trap of dual POV so they can make sure the reader has no doubt about anyone's feelings.
Natalia is not a professional woman and can't control herself despite all her internal monologuing about how bad an idea it is to get involved, casually or otherwise, with an exec from a field she's supposed to report on.
Klaus is supposed to be an Ice King but instead is obsessed with her from the jump, but because we barely see them interact on page other than moments of jealousy and insecurity, I can't understand why they even like each other beyond the physical.
I can't connect to these characters and I'm mad about it, because I wanted this to be amazing. It's not even the story's fault- it's clumsy writing and terrible time skips that kill this romance.
June 18, 2025
Coming in Hot by Josie Juniper
Frontrunners series #2. Contemporary sports romance. Can be read as a standalone but characters from the first series are peripherally part of this story.
Natalia Evans has been a journalist for years. She’s now reporting for Auto Racing Journal and traveling around the world following the Formula 1 circuit, drivers, and related business moguls. One of those business legends is Klaus Franke, the Emerald Team Principal. They had a steamy encounter before working together. Can they keep their passions under wraps? Would it cause a scandal if they got together during the season?
🎧 I alternated between an ebook and audiobook which was narrated by Cecily Foster and Max Rauch. Both performed with excellent emotion and clarity. The first person POV was easy to follow with chapter headings for each which weren’t really needed for the audiobook but great for following along with a print version. Steamy scenes were all one POV based on the chapter and has me lowering the volume just in case. I listened mostly at 1.5 to more closely match my reading speed.
The characters were performed vividly and brought a picture to mind that I wouldn’t have gotten because of the accents. A wonderful way to read this book.
High angst and high steam. I’m not a huge fan of couples or friends arguing but some relationships are just that way.
I’m enjoying the expanded sports worlds available in reading these days.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Hachette Audio.
Frontrunners series #2. Contemporary sports romance. Can be read as a standalone but characters from the first series are peripherally part of this story.
Natalia Evans has been a journalist for years. She’s now reporting for Auto Racing Journal and traveling around the world following the Formula 1 circuit, drivers, and related business moguls. One of those business legends is Klaus Franke, the Emerald Team Principal. They had a steamy encounter before working together. Can they keep their passions under wraps? Would it cause a scandal if they got together during the season?
🎧 I alternated between an ebook and audiobook which was narrated by Cecily Foster and Max Rauch. Both performed with excellent emotion and clarity. The first person POV was easy to follow with chapter headings for each which weren’t really needed for the audiobook but great for following along with a print version. Steamy scenes were all one POV based on the chapter and has me lowering the volume just in case. I listened mostly at 1.5 to more closely match my reading speed.
The characters were performed vividly and brought a picture to mind that I wouldn’t have gotten because of the accents. A wonderful way to read this book.
High angst and high steam. I’m not a huge fan of couples or friends arguing but some relationships are just that way.
I’m enjoying the expanded sports worlds available in reading these days.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Hachette Audio.
dnf
June 17, 2025DNF 13%
Spoiler -
The mmc basically said it's not fair to the fmc/there is no chance of her competing/comparing with the ghost of his dead ex
Spoiler -
The mmc basically said it's not fair to the fmc/there is no chance of her competing/comparing with the ghost of his dead ex
July 1, 2025
DNF at 42%.
thank you to Forever publishing for the e-ARC in the exchange for an honest review.
i really wanted to love this - especially because i'm a sucker for F1 and a good age gap romance. but i just couldn't get over the odd pacing and time-jumps. one chapter, we're a month ahead and the next, we're three months ahead. not to mention, for two grown adults - these two were SO insufferable with their constant arguing and sneaking around. i was really bummed to feel like i also couldn't justify the actions of nat's best friend either. everybody was just unlikeable.
thank you to Forever publishing for the e-ARC in the exchange for an honest review.
i really wanted to love this - especially because i'm a sucker for F1 and a good age gap romance. but i just couldn't get over the odd pacing and time-jumps. one chapter, we're a month ahead and the next, we're three months ahead. not to mention, for two grown adults - these two were SO insufferable with their constant arguing and sneaking around. i was really bummed to feel like i also couldn't justify the actions of nat's best friend either. everybody was just unlikeable.
June 6, 2025
2.5 stars
I honestly didn’t love Natalia and Klaus’ characters in Double Apex, but I still wanted to give their story a try. I was interested in the age gap and the forbidden romance aspects. Unfortunately the execution was a little lacking. The constant time jumps weren’t great for developing the romance and while they did have chemistry, they were also pretty toxic together. The trope at the end was also one of my least faves.
I enjoyed seeing Cosmin and Phaedra, but I thought it was a strange choice to make Nat and Phaedra best friends who lowkey hate each other. There was also supposed to be this big controversy surrounding the Grand Prix which I felt wasn’t even really explained. I appreciated that this was a fast paced read but I’m not sure I’ll continue the series.
Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly didn’t love Natalia and Klaus’ characters in Double Apex, but I still wanted to give their story a try. I was interested in the age gap and the forbidden romance aspects. Unfortunately the execution was a little lacking. The constant time jumps weren’t great for developing the romance and while they did have chemistry, they were also pretty toxic together. The trope at the end was also one of my least faves.
I enjoyed seeing Cosmin and Phaedra, but I thought it was a strange choice to make Nat and Phaedra best friends who lowkey hate each other. There was also supposed to be this big controversy surrounding the Grand Prix which I felt wasn’t even really explained. I appreciated that this was a fast paced read but I’m not sure I’ll continue the series.
Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 18, 2025
I put off reading Coming In Hot by Josie Juniper until I was able to get my hands (ears!?) on the audiobook! Why? Because I needed another book boyfriend with an accent in the worst way!
What happens when a widowed Team Principle and a younger journalist meet at a bar? A spicy age-gap Formula 1 romance, of course!
I liked that this book kind of stepped outside Juniper's women of STEM niche and highlighted supporting rolls within Formula 1 racing! I also loved that the first bit took place simultaneously with Double Apex, book one in Frontrunners.
Natalia is strong, fierce and represents female empowerment very well with her roll as a journalist following the F1 circuit. Klaus is gruff with the best of intentions, though they are initially jarring to Natalia (and this reader). But once he explains himself, it all became water under the bridge! These two characters are so deeply flawed. Okay, flawed isn't the right adjective. They're emotionally damaged from previous life experiences that created jaded, vulnerable people that sought to protect their own hearts, never wanting to be hurt again. Yup, that sums them up better!
Alas, I've got one-ish complaint... I just wanted more steam! The back and forth love/hate (loathing turns to rip-each-others-clothes-off-bounce-down-the-hallway moments real fast here) helped build the tension, though I didn't necessarily always believe the lust and chemistry between Natalia and Klaus. But then I go back to this was literally who they were as characters, guarding themselves from hurt... and it makes complete sense!
How could I not talk about the audiobook with that hype? It's narrated by Cecily Foster and Max Rauch and it absolutely ticked my boxes! Foster filled Natalia's roll, feeling it and experiencing it, rather than just reading it! Rauch was wounded, as Klaus would in fact sound, which was perfect for his character! And yes, obviously that accent was pretty good too, okay!?
Yes, read it! Yes audiobook it!
Thank you NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Hachette Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.
What happens when a widowed Team Principle and a younger journalist meet at a bar? A spicy age-gap Formula 1 romance, of course!
I liked that this book kind of stepped outside Juniper's women of STEM niche and highlighted supporting rolls within Formula 1 racing! I also loved that the first bit took place simultaneously with Double Apex, book one in Frontrunners.
Natalia is strong, fierce and represents female empowerment very well with her roll as a journalist following the F1 circuit. Klaus is gruff with the best of intentions, though they are initially jarring to Natalia (and this reader). But once he explains himself, it all became water under the bridge! These two characters are so deeply flawed. Okay, flawed isn't the right adjective. They're emotionally damaged from previous life experiences that created jaded, vulnerable people that sought to protect their own hearts, never wanting to be hurt again. Yup, that sums them up better!
Alas, I've got one-ish complaint... I just wanted more steam! The back and forth love/hate (loathing turns to rip-each-others-clothes-off-bounce-down-the-hallway moments real fast here) helped build the tension, though I didn't necessarily always believe the lust and chemistry between Natalia and Klaus. But then I go back to this was literally who they were as characters, guarding themselves from hurt... and it makes complete sense!
How could I not talk about the audiobook with that hype? It's narrated by Cecily Foster and Max Rauch and it absolutely ticked my boxes! Foster filled Natalia's roll, feeling it and experiencing it, rather than just reading it! Rauch was wounded, as Klaus would in fact sound, which was perfect for his character! And yes, obviously that accent was pretty good too, okay!?
Yes, read it! Yes audiobook it!
Thank you NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Hachette Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.
May 19, 2025
3.5/5.
Heat Index: 7/10
—Formula 1 sans driver hero
—he’s a stern brunch daddy
—hooking up allll over the world
—on/off and every which way
The Basics:
Natalia Evans is finally the lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal, which is naturally when it turns out the mysterious man she shared a single incredible night with is Klaus Franke, Emerald Team Principal. It wouldn’t be the most professional thing to begin a real relationship with him, but that doesn’t mean they don’t end up sneaking around for intermittent hookups when given a chance (no feelings, of course). But when Klaus and Natalia end up embroiled in a massive scandal, their loyalties—and Klaus’s commitment—are put to the test.
The Review:
I feel like this should’ve been a slam dunk for me. It has a lot of qualities I enjoy in a romance, especially a contemporary. Klaus and Natalia begin with a true (intended) one night stand. They meet, they’re hooking up, it’s hot, and it’s all happening within the first 10% of the book. Though the physical chemistry is off the charts, the real feelings come later… if perhaps a bit sooner than I would’ve liked. He’s older, he’s a little stern, she’s determined to be professional, there’s the backdrop of their careers against their feelings… I love that kind of plot.
Where I think this gets tripped up first is that it’s not sure if it wants to stand alone or not. This is the second in a series—I haven’t read the first, but I liked Juniper’s writing style enough to request it from my library. (Which is a good sign!) Most of the time, contemporaries (and really, most romances) like this, centered on a single couple per book, stand alone while being interconnected. This story clearly took place, at least at first, at a parallel time to the first book. And I really felt sort of confused; I also felt that there were a few too many allusions to the first couple, especially the first heroine, Natalia’s close friend. And it’s like—cool. I want to focus on Klaus and Natalia.
The thing is that they do have good chemistry, but the book has a ton of time jumps. It takes place all over the world, which is cool (though I don’t think we got quite enough detail about the different locales). But you’ll get them in, say, Budapest one chapter, then—boom, SIX WEEKS LATER. I don’t mind time jumps, and I actually like that this takes place over a really significant stretch of time. But we basically miss a lot of longing and emotional development, as Klaus and Natalia spend significant chunks of time apart. Which is part of the conflict, to be fair—even if he is emotionally ready to commit to Natalie (he’s a widower, he genuinely loved his wife and is still grieving, it’s honestly quite touching) does he really have the time? Can he put her ahead of F1?
And on that note, I really liked that Klaus was a Team Principal versus a driver. I haven’t read much in this particular space yet, but I am REALLY into the idea of more sports races focused on the guys behind the scenes. The GMs, the coaches, the kingmakers. Klaus is a little distant, mature, and in control. He was a nice break from the sports romances that always have the HOTSHOT BIG TIME TALKY TALKY ALPHA MALE sports stars, who never actually come off as alphas because they’re talking about it all the time. (Very few sports heroes are written in a way that sells their cockiness—y'all can’t all be Ilya Rozanov.) I really bought Klaus as a leader in his space. The BDE was off the charts. Even if, I will confess, some of his dirty talk was a bit… over the top. I mean, I wasn’t against it, but I was very aware that I was reading a romance novel with some of that dialogue.
Natalia has an interesting background that isn’t quite like a lot of what I see in contemporaries. She was raised by an older female relative because her parents were Mysteriously Absent, and the reasons are not what I (or she) expected. This sense of abandonment and desire to be put first drives the emotional conflict with Klaus, and it’s well done.
So there is a lot I do like here. But I feel as if the plotting just didn’t give me enough time to fully settle into this romance.
The Sex:
Okay, so—the sex scenes are hot, over the top dirty talk notwithstanding. Very good, very fun, had one act I don’t see a lot in romance that made me sit up and go “yes”.
But there was a really weird attitude toward birth control. Natalia isn’t on any, and there are a few times where it’s so laissez-faire, “trust me, I know my cycle”, and…. I know this reflects the way that many people do approach birth control? But considering Natalia’s career-mindedness, her hyper-awareness about the instability of her relationship with Klaus, Klaus’s OWN big age and experience (and mind you, I think Natalia is very much old enough to know her own deal) and Natalia’s trauma regarding her parents—I just didn’t buy that they, and particularly she, would be that risky. It took me out of the story a bit.
The Conclusion:
Although I have issues with this book, I did like Josie Juniper’s writing and am interested in reading the novel that preceded this one. I just feel like Coming in Hot bit off a little more than it could chew.
Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Heat Index: 7/10
—Formula 1 sans driver hero
—he’s a stern brunch daddy
—hooking up allll over the world
—on/off and every which way
The Basics:
Natalia Evans is finally the lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal, which is naturally when it turns out the mysterious man she shared a single incredible night with is Klaus Franke, Emerald Team Principal. It wouldn’t be the most professional thing to begin a real relationship with him, but that doesn’t mean they don’t end up sneaking around for intermittent hookups when given a chance (no feelings, of course). But when Klaus and Natalia end up embroiled in a massive scandal, their loyalties—and Klaus’s commitment—are put to the test.
The Review:
I feel like this should’ve been a slam dunk for me. It has a lot of qualities I enjoy in a romance, especially a contemporary. Klaus and Natalia begin with a true (intended) one night stand. They meet, they’re hooking up, it’s hot, and it’s all happening within the first 10% of the book. Though the physical chemistry is off the charts, the real feelings come later… if perhaps a bit sooner than I would’ve liked. He’s older, he’s a little stern, she’s determined to be professional, there’s the backdrop of their careers against their feelings… I love that kind of plot.
Where I think this gets tripped up first is that it’s not sure if it wants to stand alone or not. This is the second in a series—I haven’t read the first, but I liked Juniper’s writing style enough to request it from my library. (Which is a good sign!) Most of the time, contemporaries (and really, most romances) like this, centered on a single couple per book, stand alone while being interconnected. This story clearly took place, at least at first, at a parallel time to the first book. And I really felt sort of confused; I also felt that there were a few too many allusions to the first couple, especially the first heroine, Natalia’s close friend. And it’s like—cool. I want to focus on Klaus and Natalia.
The thing is that they do have good chemistry, but the book has a ton of time jumps. It takes place all over the world, which is cool (though I don’t think we got quite enough detail about the different locales). But you’ll get them in, say, Budapest one chapter, then—boom, SIX WEEKS LATER. I don’t mind time jumps, and I actually like that this takes place over a really significant stretch of time. But we basically miss a lot of longing and emotional development, as Klaus and Natalia spend significant chunks of time apart. Which is part of the conflict, to be fair—even if he is emotionally ready to commit to Natalie (he’s a widower, he genuinely loved his wife and is still grieving, it’s honestly quite touching) does he really have the time? Can he put her ahead of F1?
And on that note, I really liked that Klaus was a Team Principal versus a driver. I haven’t read much in this particular space yet, but I am REALLY into the idea of more sports races focused on the guys behind the scenes. The GMs, the coaches, the kingmakers. Klaus is a little distant, mature, and in control. He was a nice break from the sports romances that always have the HOTSHOT BIG TIME TALKY TALKY ALPHA MALE sports stars, who never actually come off as alphas because they’re talking about it all the time. (Very few sports heroes are written in a way that sells their cockiness—y'all can’t all be Ilya Rozanov.) I really bought Klaus as a leader in his space. The BDE was off the charts. Even if, I will confess, some of his dirty talk was a bit… over the top. I mean, I wasn’t against it, but I was very aware that I was reading a romance novel with some of that dialogue.
Natalia has an interesting background that isn’t quite like a lot of what I see in contemporaries. She was raised by an older female relative because her parents were Mysteriously Absent, and the reasons are not what I (or she) expected. This sense of abandonment and desire to be put first drives the emotional conflict with Klaus, and it’s well done.
So there is a lot I do like here. But I feel as if the plotting just didn’t give me enough time to fully settle into this romance.
The Sex:
Okay, so—the sex scenes are hot, over the top dirty talk notwithstanding. Very good, very fun, had one act I don’t see a lot in romance that made me sit up and go “yes”.
But there was a really weird attitude toward birth control. Natalia isn’t on any, and there are a few times where it’s so laissez-faire, “trust me, I know my cycle”, and…. I know this reflects the way that many people do approach birth control? But considering Natalia’s career-mindedness, her hyper-awareness about the instability of her relationship with Klaus, Klaus’s OWN big age and experience (and mind you, I think Natalia is very much old enough to know her own deal) and Natalia’s trauma regarding her parents—I just didn’t buy that they, and particularly she, would be that risky. It took me out of the story a bit.
The Conclusion:
Although I have issues with this book, I did like Josie Juniper’s writing and am interested in reading the novel that preceded this one. I just feel like Coming in Hot bit off a little more than it could chew.
Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
September 20, 2025
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (rounded up to 4 - Goodreads please get it together!)
Spice: 🌶️
Format: 🎧
This was a really cute age-gap romance. I went into this knowing exactly zero about F1 racing, and I came out of it still knowing nothing (except it seems like raving teams have literal teams of drivers?)😅
I really appreciated that each chapter was a mini time-jump over the course of the F1 racing season, at a different hotel for each race. The story follows an intrepid journalist, starting a new job at a racing publication. She meets a handsome, salt & pepper hottie at the hotel bar one night and after an amazing one night stand, a financial misunderstanding (🥴) causes some major awkwardness. Natalia also discovers why a nameless hookup while on a work trip can be tricky, as she’s just had a ONS with the Team Principal for her best friend’s racing team. This is gonna be…awkward.
Their obvious attraction brings them together time and again as the season goes on, fighting their desires and allowing their pasts to get in the way of their future.
Narrator review: Max Rauch and Cecily Foster did a really great job portraying these characters. A sexy German accent helped me visualize Klaus perfectly. Cecily really embodies Natalia well, and the pain of the situation with her parents and the trauma of being abandoned really came through with her performance.
Notable Tropes ——
- Age Gap
- Billionaire Playboy MMC
- FMC with major Daddy Issues (both parents tbh)
- HEA
- Surprise Pregnancy
- Spousal Death/Grieving
Thank you to Hachette Audio for the gifted ALC in exchange for my honest review.
Spice: 🌶️
Format: 🎧
This was a really cute age-gap romance. I went into this knowing exactly zero about F1 racing, and I came out of it still knowing nothing (except it seems like raving teams have literal teams of drivers?)😅
I really appreciated that each chapter was a mini time-jump over the course of the F1 racing season, at a different hotel for each race. The story follows an intrepid journalist, starting a new job at a racing publication. She meets a handsome, salt & pepper hottie at the hotel bar one night and after an amazing one night stand, a financial misunderstanding (🥴) causes some major awkwardness. Natalia also discovers why a nameless hookup while on a work trip can be tricky, as she’s just had a ONS with the Team Principal for her best friend’s racing team. This is gonna be…awkward.
Their obvious attraction brings them together time and again as the season goes on, fighting their desires and allowing their pasts to get in the way of their future.
Narrator review: Max Rauch and Cecily Foster did a really great job portraying these characters. A sexy German accent helped me visualize Klaus perfectly. Cecily really embodies Natalia well, and the pain of the situation with her parents and the trauma of being abandoned really came through with her performance.
Notable Tropes ——
- Age Gap
- Billionaire Playboy MMC
- FMC with major Daddy Issues (both parents tbh)
- HEA
- Surprise Pregnancy
- Spousal Death/Grieving
Thank you to Hachette Audio for the gifted ALC in exchange for my honest review.
June 12, 2025
Can I have my very on Klaus Puh—lease?
This book folloews Natalia Evans and Klaus Franke, who are from two completely different worlds. Their dynamic was electric from the start (ifykyk). Max Raunch and Cecily Foster amazingly narrated these characters to keep the readers invested in the story and even bringing them to life. Their voices were a pleasure to listen to, making the audiobook experience of this book even better. There is spice and tension, everyones favorite themes. While also having tropes, such as one-night stands, age gaps (10 years), unresolved trauma, and more. I have never listened too or read a book like this before and needless to say I did enjoy it.
That said, the premise of this book is interesting and has true potential, the pacing had threw me off, it either went full speed ahead or super slow. I understand the time jumps but at one point it just seemed very repetitive. These two characters have so much background you know how past issues can lead to certain choices, which is nice, but the constant indecisiveness on both ends made it tough to fully stay interested in their story.
Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio | Forever for the ARC.
This book folloews Natalia Evans and Klaus Franke, who are from two completely different worlds. Their dynamic was electric from the start (ifykyk). Max Raunch and Cecily Foster amazingly narrated these characters to keep the readers invested in the story and even bringing them to life. Their voices were a pleasure to listen to, making the audiobook experience of this book even better. There is spice and tension, everyones favorite themes. While also having tropes, such as one-night stands, age gaps (10 years), unresolved trauma, and more. I have never listened too or read a book like this before and needless to say I did enjoy it.
That said, the premise of this book is interesting and has true potential, the pacing had threw me off, it either went full speed ahead or super slow. I understand the time jumps but at one point it just seemed very repetitive. These two characters have so much background you know how past issues can lead to certain choices, which is nice, but the constant indecisiveness on both ends made it tough to fully stay interested in their story.
Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio | Forever for the ARC.
June 17, 2025
Rating: 3.75⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Media: eARC/ALC
This was my first exposure to an F1 sports romance. It was great to be immersed in this world following Natalia, a confident journalist, and her evolving relationship with Klaus, the team principal. It was refreshing to have a FMC in her 30s who was career driven even if she made some questionable choices.
From the start, the spice absolutely delivered in this book. I fell in love with Klaus and his tender moments. I completely understood the back and forth due to the professionalism that needed to be maintained. I also liked how the story jumped between locations and periods so it wasn't an instant attraction but a build to their love. I enjoyed learning about Natalia and her growth as well as learning her family's backstory but it could have been further developed. It kind of felt random and it was explained but I wish we could have seen more. While I feel it was foreshadowed, I was a bit disappointed by the pregnancy trope. I feel that at this age they would be more responsible and it is kind of alluded to that Natalia may have chose to be irresponsible on purpose. Overall, though, I enjoyed it and will definitely look forward to more of this world.
I did read this in conjunction with the ALC. It was great to listen to and the narrators did really well. One thing to note that threw me off initially was the female narrator had an Austrian accent when she voiced Klaus in Natalia's chapters and this was hard to understand at points. However, the male narrator spoke in a British accent and his American accent sounded more Irish at points.
Thank you to Josie Juniper, Forever Pub, and Hachette Audio for this eARC and ALC.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Media: eARC/ALC
This was my first exposure to an F1 sports romance. It was great to be immersed in this world following Natalia, a confident journalist, and her evolving relationship with Klaus, the team principal. It was refreshing to have a FMC in her 30s who was career driven even if she made some questionable choices.
From the start, the spice absolutely delivered in this book. I fell in love with Klaus and his tender moments. I completely understood the back and forth due to the professionalism that needed to be maintained. I also liked how the story jumped between locations and periods so it wasn't an instant attraction but a build to their love. I enjoyed learning about Natalia and her growth as well as learning her family's backstory but it could have been further developed. It kind of felt random and it was explained but I wish we could have seen more. While I feel it was foreshadowed, I was a bit disappointed by the pregnancy trope. I feel that at this age they would be more responsible and it is kind of alluded to that Natalia may have chose to be irresponsible on purpose. Overall, though, I enjoyed it and will definitely look forward to more of this world.
I did read this in conjunction with the ALC. It was great to listen to and the narrators did really well. One thing to note that threw me off initially was the female narrator had an Austrian accent when she voiced Klaus in Natalia's chapters and this was hard to understand at points. However, the male narrator spoke in a British accent and his American accent sounded more Irish at points.
Thank you to Josie Juniper, Forever Pub, and Hachette Audio for this eARC and ALC.
dnf
June 16, 2025[arc review]
dnf @ 43%
i will be so honest, i had hopes for this book. even though double apex was kind of a dumpster fire dnf @ 35% for me, i had hope for natalia and klaus because i liked them in double apex. i was intrigued. so imagine my disappointment when i start reading this book and see just how angry natalia is all the time and all the time skips. klaus was tolerable. i thought he was okay and gave toto wolff vibes. yk rich hot team principal. but natalia really started to piss me off the same way phaedra and cosmin did. and the time skips?? why is every chapter a time skip?? i got so confused.
the nail in the coffin for me was the surprise pregnancy trope (thank you kim for your review). that’s something i can’t read at this time so that finalized my decision to put the book down for good.
dnf @ 43%
i will be so honest, i had hopes for this book. even though double apex was kind of a dumpster fire dnf @ 35% for me, i had hope for natalia and klaus because i liked them in double apex. i was intrigued. so imagine my disappointment when i start reading this book and see just how angry natalia is all the time and all the time skips. klaus was tolerable. i thought he was okay and gave toto wolff vibes. yk rich hot team principal. but natalia really started to piss me off the same way phaedra and cosmin did. and the time skips?? why is every chapter a time skip?? i got so confused.
the nail in the coffin for me was the surprise pregnancy trope (thank you kim for your review). that’s something i can’t read at this time so that finalized my decision to put the book down for good.
July 1, 2025
THEY ARE SO DUMB!!!! AND CAN’T COMMUNICATE!!! DESPITE HER BEING A JOURNALIST AND HIM BEING AN F1 TEAM PRINCIPAL!!! AT THEIR BIG AGE 35 AND 45 RESPECTIVELY!!!!!
what a waste of time! on Toto Wolff fanfiction at that! 🤡🤡🤡
plot review:
- I didn’t care for them, they both annoyed the hell out of me, incredibly unlikeable characters
- they both very immature or rather borderline childish and refused to communicate and listen each other out — we’re just friends, friends who kissed two weeks ago, friends who flirt and sometimes fuck, friends who will have a fucking baby together
- the accidental pregnancy trope near the end???? she went to one singular (1) pharmacy to get emergency birth control and they were out and she called it a day because work is hectic????? and then is surprised that she’s pregnant? one could expect more from a 35 yo woman but—
- she got a job at F1 without knowing ANYTHING about F1, and later doing “THOROUGH” research that did not include the biggest brand TEAM PRINCIPAL????? are we being serious here????
composition review:
- time jumps EVERY CHAPTER varying from a week to six months were CRIMINAL — and stuff that happens off the page??? JAILTIME
audiobook review:
- THE WORST ACCENTS EVER (both male and female voices) — maybe hire someone who can do an accent because this was really the worst, and sometimes it was incomprehensible… and klaus’ accent in his head was British, him speaking in his pov was barely there accent (the best out of the bunch), and his voice in natalia’s pov was absolutely comical /neg.
No positive comments for this book. Sorry. It was a complete miss for me. I hope this type of romance never finds me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC audiobook
June 17, 2025
3 stars
────୨ৎ────
As a German, I loved the German pet names it had me screaming! This was my first F1 romance, and I want to say thanks for letting me listen to the ALC. Max Rauch and Cecilly Fosttr did an amazing job narrating, usually I cringe at accents in audiobooks, but the Austrian one here was surprisingly good. And of course Josie Juniper did an amazing job in writing ‘Coming in Hot’.
Natalia and Klaus feel like they just can’t catch a break. No matter what Klaus says or does, it always seems to upset her even if he means well. I get why it hurts her, but sometimes their back-and-forth got a bit annoying. For about half the book, part of me actually hoped they’d just stay friends and not end up together. But by the end, they totally won me over, and I’m really happy with how their relationship and story wrapped up. I hope to see snippets of their future is like in the next book of the series.
There was a lot of miscommunication and drama, whether it was their relationship, work stuff, friends, or family, something was always going on. It got a bit overwhelming at times. Plus, the timeline kept jumping around with timeskips from a few weeks to six months, which threw me off more than once. The third-act breakup and the big revelation caught me off guard and I’m still not sure how I feel about it…
I’ll definitely be checking out the first book in the series, Double Apex, and whatever comes next in the Frontrunners series!
────୨ৎ────
As a German, I loved the German pet names it had me screaming! This was my first F1 romance, and I want to say thanks for letting me listen to the ALC. Max Rauch and Cecilly Fosttr did an amazing job narrating, usually I cringe at accents in audiobooks, but the Austrian one here was surprisingly good. And of course Josie Juniper did an amazing job in writing ‘Coming in Hot’.
Natalia and Klaus feel like they just can’t catch a break. No matter what Klaus says or does, it always seems to upset her even if he means well. I get why it hurts her, but sometimes their back-and-forth got a bit annoying. For about half the book, part of me actually hoped they’d just stay friends and not end up together. But by the end, they totally won me over, and I’m really happy with how their relationship and story wrapped up. I hope to see snippets of their future is like in the next book of the series.
There was a lot of miscommunication and drama, whether it was their relationship, work stuff, friends, or family, something was always going on. It got a bit overwhelming at times. Plus, the timeline kept jumping around with timeskips from a few weeks to six months, which threw me off more than once. The third-act breakup and the big revelation caught me off guard and I’m still not sure how I feel about it…
I’ll definitely be checking out the first book in the series, Double Apex, and whatever comes next in the Frontrunners series!
May 23, 2025
I should have DNF’d this book.
1. There is a time jump almost every single chapter, for the book to span 2 years. There is nooo time for emotional connections to the character nor character development.
2. Accidental pregnancy. No thanks!
3. The FMC is 34 and the MMC is 46. They behave like they’re 19
4. The FMC has abandonment issues. Unresolved. Her parents are the worst (so of course they show up and eventually get a redemption arc).
5. This book could turn anyone off of F1 romances. It probably did for me. I will not be reading anymore from this author.
Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
1. There is a time jump almost every single chapter, for the book to span 2 years. There is nooo time for emotional connections to the character nor character development.
2. Accidental pregnancy. No thanks!
3. The FMC is 34 and the MMC is 46. They behave like they’re 19
4. The FMC has abandonment issues. Unresolved. Her parents are the worst (so of course they show up and eventually get a redemption arc).
5. This book could turn anyone off of F1 romances. It probably did for me. I will not be reading anymore from this author.
Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
June 6, 2025
Sorry but I ended up DNFing this about 50% of the way through.
There wasn't any substance to this book.
It lost my attention after the first few chapters. which was a shame the plot was good but it was executed quite poorly.
I'm really sorry
Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
There wasn't any substance to this book.
It lost my attention after the first few chapters. which was a shame the plot was good but it was executed quite poorly.
I'm really sorry
Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
June 10, 2025
3.5 stars
Coming in Hot is book 2 in Josie Juniper’s Frontrunner series. This can “technically” be read as a standalone. However, as someone who did not read book one prior to reading this one, I would recommend reading Double Apex first. I believe some of the timelines for this book and book one interconnect. I definitely think that knowing some of the context behind certain elements would make the reading experience even better. Although, I still really enjoyed this one without having any prior knowledge.
This book was really fun and steamy. The book is set over a couple years time period, so the pacing is FAST. I would say that the time jumps did make it a little harder to follow along. The author spent most of the book telling us about their connection with the occasional “pit stop” moments of conversation and interactions. I think this was the main reason why I felt more lust than real connection between Klaus and Natalia. Most of their interactions in the first 60% of the book were either with them fighting or hooking up. I was hoping for a little bit more development of their relationship. This was true for friend connections as well. In this particular book, it was hard to understand Natalia and Phaedra’s friendship. However, I really liked the last 40% of the book! I feel like this was where most of the relationship development happened.
Overall, I had a really fun time with this one. Special thanks to Netgalley and Forever/Grand Centeal publishing for an arc of this copy!
Coming in Hot is book 2 in Josie Juniper’s Frontrunner series. This can “technically” be read as a standalone. However, as someone who did not read book one prior to reading this one, I would recommend reading Double Apex first. I believe some of the timelines for this book and book one interconnect. I definitely think that knowing some of the context behind certain elements would make the reading experience even better. Although, I still really enjoyed this one without having any prior knowledge.
This book was really fun and steamy. The book is set over a couple years time period, so the pacing is FAST. I would say that the time jumps did make it a little harder to follow along. The author spent most of the book telling us about their connection with the occasional “pit stop” moments of conversation and interactions. I think this was the main reason why I felt more lust than real connection between Klaus and Natalia. Most of their interactions in the first 60% of the book were either with them fighting or hooking up. I was hoping for a little bit more development of their relationship. This was true for friend connections as well. In this particular book, it was hard to understand Natalia and Phaedra’s friendship. However, I really liked the last 40% of the book! I feel like this was where most of the relationship development happened.
Overall, I had a really fun time with this one. Special thanks to Netgalley and Forever/Grand Centeal publishing for an arc of this copy!
May 22, 2025
Natalia Evans just landed the journalistic opportunity of a lifetime--lead reporter for Auto Racing Journal. She will travel the world, meet racing legends and rising stars, and cover all aspects of the extremely glamorous world of Formula 1. It's all comin' up Natalia...until she learns that the Team Principal of Emerald also happens to be the incredibly sexy Austrian stranger she shared one Very Memorable night with. Good thing her first big assignment isn't doing a deep dive into his life...ope wait.
Klaus Franke is the stoic and unflappable TP of the Emerald Formula 1 Team. Almost nothing can crack his reserve...except perhaps for the one night stand he cannot forget...who will now be a fixture in his professional life. He absolutely CANNOT afford to be involved with a journalist who is very likely scouting out her next big story.
As a big F1 gal who absolutely adored Double Apex, this was probably one of my most anticipated reads of 2025. Coming In Hot took a little bit more time to find its footing than its predecessor and I found it difficult to totally connect with Natalia and Klaus. This is partially to blame by the fact that when my brain thinks of a Stern Austrian Car Daddy (tm) it cannot help but picture Toto Wolff. It's an affliction I'm not particularly sad about as Toto Wolff is a babe, but it was a bit of a mental roadblock that was 100% a "me issue".
I was very invested in the subplot about the ethical and political implications of the potential new race location however, which is ultimately what got me to click a bit more with the MCs despite the hot and cold nature of their relationship. Natalia is fiercely independent and Klaus is a bit misguided in how to simultaneously nurture her autonomy and protect her from the dark side of their world. They both fumble the ball in terms of communicating their needs and resolving how their personal and professional relationships would work, and I didn't leave the book feeling totally convinced that they had lasting power.
This story and Double Apex happen concurrently, so while you do not necessarily need to read the first book to dive into this one, I recommend it. I actually just recommend Double Apex in general because it's still one of my favorite F1 romances.
3/5 stars
Thank you to Forever for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley! All opinions are honest and my own.
Klaus Franke is the stoic and unflappable TP of the Emerald Formula 1 Team. Almost nothing can crack his reserve...except perhaps for the one night stand he cannot forget...who will now be a fixture in his professional life. He absolutely CANNOT afford to be involved with a journalist who is very likely scouting out her next big story.
As a big F1 gal who absolutely adored Double Apex, this was probably one of my most anticipated reads of 2025. Coming In Hot took a little bit more time to find its footing than its predecessor and I found it difficult to totally connect with Natalia and Klaus. This is partially to blame by the fact that when my brain thinks of a Stern Austrian Car Daddy (tm) it cannot help but picture Toto Wolff. It's an affliction I'm not particularly sad about as Toto Wolff is a babe, but it was a bit of a mental roadblock that was 100% a "me issue".
I was very invested in the subplot about the ethical and political implications of the potential new race location however, which is ultimately what got me to click a bit more with the MCs despite the hot and cold nature of their relationship. Natalia is fiercely independent and Klaus is a bit misguided in how to simultaneously nurture her autonomy and protect her from the dark side of their world. They both fumble the ball in terms of communicating their needs and resolving how their personal and professional relationships would work, and I didn't leave the book feeling totally convinced that they had lasting power.
This story and Double Apex happen concurrently, so while you do not necessarily need to read the first book to dive into this one, I recommend it. I actually just recommend Double Apex in general because it's still one of my favorite F1 romances.
3/5 stars
Thank you to Forever for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley! All opinions are honest and my own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2025
This is for the F1 girlies.
A fun little romp that had all the classic tropes and energies. We had our dramas, we had our miscommunication, we had our forbidden love moment. Thought I can't say this one was entirely for me, being that I was getting ick from the communications between this crazy duo from like chapter three. At one point I was screaming, just leave him girly! Idk, it just wasn't giving healthy or kink.
I know it's a small thing, but fool me once, oopsy daisy, fool me twice I'm fcking out of here, and unfortunately, our MMC lied... more than twice.. even after a clear convo about the importance of honesty.
You might love this though, so I think if it sounds like your energy give it a go! Feel free to let me know 😘
A fun little romp that had all the classic tropes and energies. We had our dramas, we had our miscommunication, we had our forbidden love moment. Thought I can't say this one was entirely for me, being that I was getting ick from the communications between this crazy duo from like chapter three. At one point I was screaming, just leave him girly! Idk, it just wasn't giving healthy or kink.
I know it's a small thing, but fool me once, oopsy daisy, fool me twice I'm fcking out of here, and unfortunately, our MMC lied... more than twice.. even after a clear convo about the importance of honesty.
You might love this though, so I think if it sounds like your energy give it a go! Feel free to let me know 😘
July 22, 2025
⋆˚࿔ coming in hot review 𝜗𝜚˚⋆
┆ ⤿ 💌 3 stars!
This was overall an okay read! This book had some things that a lot of people can enjoy (age gap, forbidden workplace romance). Natalia and Klaus definitely had chemistry, but unfortunately for a lot of the story it felt too much like lust than love. I did love the setup of a journalist falling for an F1 team principal and that immediate taboo.
The constant time jumps made it hard for to keep up with the timeline as well we didn't really get to see their relationship grow naturally. I was once again not the biggest fan of Natalia and Phaedra's relationship as some of the things they do to eachother truly makes me not see them as true friends. Overall however, I enjoyed the ending and am continuing to like how different f1 romances are based on the characters' jobs and personalities.
｡ﾟ• ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈ ┈ ┈ ┈• ｡ﾟ
Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the arc! <3
｡ﾟ• ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈ ┈ ┈ ┈• ｡ﾟ
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┆ ⤿ 💌 3 stars!
This was overall an okay read! This book had some things that a lot of people can enjoy (age gap, forbidden workplace romance). Natalia and Klaus definitely had chemistry, but unfortunately for a lot of the story it felt too much like lust than love. I did love the setup of a journalist falling for an F1 team principal and that immediate taboo.
The constant time jumps made it hard for to keep up with the timeline as well we didn't really get to see their relationship grow naturally. I was once again not the biggest fan of Natalia and Phaedra's relationship as some of the things they do to eachother truly makes me not see them as true friends. Overall however, I enjoyed the ending and am continuing to like how different f1 romances are based on the characters' jobs and personalities.
｡ﾟ• ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈ ┈ ┈ ┈• ｡ﾟ
Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the arc! <3
｡ﾟ• ┈ ┈ ┈ ┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈ ┈ ┈ ┈• ｡ﾟ
⤿ follow me on instagram
May 18, 2025
For a lot to have happened in this book, it feels like nothing happened. We’re told huge events have occurred but never have scenes of these things despite them having huge impact on the main characters. The romance doesn’t make sense because we don’t see them falling in love. We’re told they spend time together but there’s rarely scenes depicting their pivotal moments. The concept is there, but the execution is completely lacking. I love F1 romances and had high hopes for this one just to be disappointed.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
dnf
April 28, 2025DNF @20%
The romance in this story happens at the same time as the events of book 1, so I thought I had an idea of what their relationship was like. Based on the first book, I thought they had been sleeping together for a while. However, in this book, I learned early on that they slept together one time without knowing who the other was, and then the rest of what I saw in book 1 was just tension?? I don't get all the sneaking around from book 1 if they weren't together....??
Besides my annoyance at that not lining up, I just got the ick from a few things early on. 1) Natalia mentions that she doesn't ask anymore if a man is married and doesn't like being a homewrecker, but it's inevitable...? WHAT?! Which leads me to 2) Based on that quote, I'd think she sleeps around and has casual hookups all the time, but when Klaus proposes a friends-with-benefits situation, she says she doesn't do that. Huh?? Isn't that all you do?? 3) There's a weird miscommunication the first time they sleep together, and I hated it.
The timeline is also weird. How can I connect to these characters and care about their relationship when some of the development happens off page?? This book solidified that this author's writing isn't for me.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.
The romance in this story happens at the same time as the events of book 1, so I thought I had an idea of what their relationship was like. Based on the first book, I thought they had been sleeping together for a while. However, in this book, I learned early on that they slept together one time without knowing who the other was, and then the rest of what I saw in book 1 was just tension?? I don't get all the sneaking around from book 1 if they weren't together....??
Besides my annoyance at that not lining up, I just got the ick from a few things early on. 1) Natalia mentions that she doesn't ask anymore if a man is married and doesn't like being a homewrecker, but it's inevitable...? WHAT?! Which leads me to 2) Based on that quote, I'd think she sleeps around and has casual hookups all the time, but when Klaus proposes a friends-with-benefits situation, she says she doesn't do that. Huh?? Isn't that all you do?? 3) There's a weird miscommunication the first time they sleep together, and I hated it.
The timeline is also weird. How can I connect to these characters and care about their relationship when some of the development happens off page?? This book solidified that this author's writing isn't for me.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.
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