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Speed Bumps
Star NASCAR driver Gabby O'Farrell can't believe her mother isharping at her again. How many times does she have to say it?She's not going to help run the family's corporation. She's not shopping for a husband of the right pedigree. And there's no way she's ever going to give up racing!
Who cares what the other macho, hothead drivers are sayingabout her? Gabby knows team owner Vaughn Steiner has gother back. And since they started sharing kisses and strategy inequal measure, she's determined to go all the way…to win thecoveted NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship.
But now that she's growing close to Vaughn's adorable daughter,is she ready for the mommy track, too?
Who cares what the other macho, hothead drivers are sayingabout her? Gabby knows team owner Vaughn Steiner has gother back. And since they started sharing kisses and strategy inequal measure, she's determined to go all the way…to win thecoveted NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship.
But now that she's growing close to Vaughn's adorable daughter,is she ready for the mommy track, too?
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2007
1 person is currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Ken Casper
32 books20 followersKen Casper was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from Fordham University with a degree in Russian, he joined the Air Force, was stationed in the Far East, served in Vietnam, and lived five years in Germany. He also earned a Master's degree in Education from the University of Southern California. Ken retired from more than 33 years of government service in September '97.
Now a transplanted Texan. He and Mary, his wife of 34 years, own a horse farm in San Angelo. Along with their Border Collie, Chief, they have a Golden Retriever, Casey, two house cats, four barn cats and eight horses. They also board and breed horses and Mary teaches English riding. She's a therapeutic riding instructor for the handicapped, as well.
Life is never dull. Their two granddaughters visit several times a year and feel right at home with the Casper menagerie. Grampa and Mimi do everything they can to make sure their visits to Little Oaks Farm will be lifelong fond memories. After all, isn't that what grandparents are for?
Ken figures his writing career probably started in the sixth grade when he was ordered by a teacher to write a "theme" explaining his misbehavior over the previous semester. To his teacher's chagrin, he enjoyed stringing just the right words together to justify his less than stellar performance. Fortunately, she forgave him.
Since then, he's had short stories published in a popular men's magazine and was working on a mystery when his critique partners, three romance writers, suggested he try their genre. He had his doubts ("Me? Write romance? Are you kidding?), but he decided to give it a try, anyway. His first-chapter romance submission won honorable mention at the Southwest Writers' Workshop contest in 1993. Ken revised it...and revised it, then entered the Golden Triangle Writers' Guild contest in '95. This time he took first place in both mystery and romance. The romance entry later became his first sale to Harlequin Superromance. A MAN CALLED JESSE was published in October '98. Since then he's written more than a dozen other Superromances, including the First Family of Texas series, contributed to two trilogies, a six-book series set in the police department of Houston, Texas, and he's currently involved in a five-book series set in the beautiful hill country of central Texas. His October 2003 Super, THE WOMAN IN THE NEWS, was a Holt Medallion finalist.
Ken Casper previously wrote as K.N. Casper
Now a transplanted Texan. He and Mary, his wife of 34 years, own a horse farm in San Angelo. Along with their Border Collie, Chief, they have a Golden Retriever, Casey, two house cats, four barn cats and eight horses. They also board and breed horses and Mary teaches English riding. She's a therapeutic riding instructor for the handicapped, as well.
Life is never dull. Their two granddaughters visit several times a year and feel right at home with the Casper menagerie. Grampa and Mimi do everything they can to make sure their visits to Little Oaks Farm will be lifelong fond memories. After all, isn't that what grandparents are for?
Ken figures his writing career probably started in the sixth grade when he was ordered by a teacher to write a "theme" explaining his misbehavior over the previous semester. To his teacher's chagrin, he enjoyed stringing just the right words together to justify his less than stellar performance. Fortunately, she forgave him.
Since then, he's had short stories published in a popular men's magazine and was working on a mystery when his critique partners, three romance writers, suggested he try their genre. He had his doubts ("Me? Write romance? Are you kidding?), but he decided to give it a try, anyway. His first-chapter romance submission won honorable mention at the Southwest Writers' Workshop contest in 1993. Ken revised it...and revised it, then entered the Golden Triangle Writers' Guild contest in '95. This time he took first place in both mystery and romance. The romance entry later became his first sale to Harlequin Superromance. A MAN CALLED JESSE was published in October '98. Since then he's written more than a dozen other Superromances, including the First Family of Texas series, contributed to two trilogies, a six-book series set in the police department of Houston, Texas, and he's currently involved in a five-book series set in the beautiful hill country of central Texas. His October 2003 Super, THE WOMAN IN THE NEWS, was a Holt Medallion finalist.
Ken Casper previously wrote as K.N. Casper
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 3, 2013
Let me say it has a predictable ending, but what romance doesn't have the ending where the happy couple marries or at least gets engaged?
There were some things that were different with this compared to others that are based on NASCAR. The biggest, is that the heroine was the driver. The other is that the hero is "flawed", he has a disability that affects how he lives. One of the other differences is that he is her boss as he is the team owner and a former driver.
There were a few things that I would have liked to seen done a little differently, or may "hashed" out a bit better. One is the distances, the main couple live in Greensboro, NC yet his shop is in Charlotte, NC. They make it seem like it's an easy commute that people could do all the time. I understand there is an interstate between the two cities, but I don't know many people who would commute that far (almost 100 miles). The same with the casual drives between Greensboro and Raleigh (again almost 100 miles). The other thing that I'm not "happy" with in this book, is the relationship between Gabby and Della and Gabby and Grace. I also would have liked to see more of an explanation of the relationship between Vaughn and Jem (but that's me!)
That's me, but I still really enjoyed the book.
There were some things that were different with this compared to others that are based on NASCAR. The biggest, is that the heroine was the driver. The other is that the hero is "flawed", he has a disability that affects how he lives. One of the other differences is that he is her boss as he is the team owner and a former driver.
There were a few things that I would have liked to seen done a little differently, or may "hashed" out a bit better. One is the distances, the main couple live in Greensboro, NC yet his shop is in Charlotte, NC. They make it seem like it's an easy commute that people could do all the time. I understand there is an interstate between the two cities, but I don't know many people who would commute that far (almost 100 miles). The same with the casual drives between Greensboro and Raleigh (again almost 100 miles). The other thing that I'm not "happy" with in this book, is the relationship between Gabby and Della and Gabby and Grace. I also would have liked to see more of an explanation of the relationship between Vaughn and Jem (but that's me!)
That's me, but I still really enjoyed the book.
January 16, 2016
Speed Bumps by Ken Casper
Harlequin NASCAR Series Library
Gabby O'Farrell might have flitted around trying to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now she has not doubts. She discovered car racing and that she's good at it. She moved up from Busch Series to Nextel Cup and is doing great in her rookie year. And she sure is enjoying pleasing her boss on and off the track.
Vaughn Steiner’s accident took away his ability to drive in NASCAR so he became an owner instead. Running two cars he took a chance on hiring the female debutante socialite and it’s paying off. Problem is that he notices she’s just as much woman as she is driver.
Maybe driving is easy for Gabby but fighting against her high society mother isn’t. Della wants her daughter in fancy dresses and preparing to take over their company one day. She’s doing all she can to discourage her from driving and having a personal life with anyone but one of the high social standing men she wants her to marry. Definitely plenty of speed bumps in store for this couple.
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...
Harlequin NASCAR Series Library
Gabby O'Farrell might have flitted around trying to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now she has not doubts. She discovered car racing and that she's good at it. She moved up from Busch Series to Nextel Cup and is doing great in her rookie year. And she sure is enjoying pleasing her boss on and off the track.
Vaughn Steiner’s accident took away his ability to drive in NASCAR so he became an owner instead. Running two cars he took a chance on hiring the female debutante socialite and it’s paying off. Problem is that he notices she’s just as much woman as she is driver.
Maybe driving is easy for Gabby but fighting against her high society mother isn’t. Della wants her daughter in fancy dresses and preparing to take over their company one day. She’s doing all she can to discourage her from driving and having a personal life with anyone but one of the high social standing men she wants her to marry. Definitely plenty of speed bumps in store for this couple.
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...
August 22, 2022
One for the DNF pile. I love motor racing as it is exciting and technical so was savouring reading this one. But….. it was so boring. For example, most of the beginning is exposition of their lives - their lives are boring. Gabby goes to a dinner party and we are introduced to EVERY diner and they are boring. I plowed through and then thought NO. Life is too short and I am sure a telephone directory would be more interesting. So this book was not for me and I am sure he will be relieved that I shall not be read and of his other books.
October 1, 2008
Read this book doing "research" for a NASCAR romance novel that I'm planning on writing with a friend. But out of the 5 I read, it was one of the top 3. I even kind of liked the characters, though the writing could have been better. I mean, it's a NASCAR romance novel. Enough said.
November 25, 2012
The hero, a widower with a 6 year daughter, is an ex-Nascar driver who suffers from "reflex sympathetic dystrophy", a syndrome that causes pain in his damaged/dysfunctional right arm and hand. Miraculous partial recovery at the end.
September 25, 2009
Modern
August 30, 2012
Not a bad story, but the numerous errors regarding NASCAR ruined it. If you're going to do it, Ken, do it right.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews