A review by justmevictoria
Cross the Line by Simone Soltani

4.0

This book was kindly sent to me by Pan Macmillan  in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

 

Driving fast cars isn't as dangerous as falling for your best friend's sister… 

 

After a social media disaster at the hands of his ex-social media manager, F1 driver Dev Anderson is on thin ice - sponsors are threatening to pull out, his team are pissed, and the media are having a field day. Adding to that is his somewhat poor performance on the track thanks to his team's boss who seems determined to prevent him for succeeding. Dev desperately needs someone in his corner to turn his image around, but he's wary of letting just anyone manage his socials. Until his bumps into Willow Williams, the little sister of his best friend, who he just happens to have been thinking about since they kissed last year and she admitted to having a crush on him. Having graduated with a sports and marketing degree, Willow has been struggling to find a job that will allow her to put her passion and skills to use, so when Dev offers her a job she's torn between accepting it because it's her dream and turning it down so she doesn't have to spend so much time in close quarters with Dev because her heart won't be able to handle it. But it's an opportunity she can't pass up on, so with a fixed end date marked on the calendar, she begins working to transform Dev's image while they both toe the line both are desperate to cross but know they shouldn't. Despite relationships and careers on the line if they were to give into their feelings, it might just be a risk worth taking. 

 

As a sports romance lover, I've dabbled in many ball sports but never Formula 1, and while I'm not into IRL F1, I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing it in book form! Simone has knocked it out of the park with this debut and I'm already so excited to see what's she's cooking up next, both in terms of what's next for this series and outside of this series. I don't have any interest in jumping on the F1 train, but I will 100% devour whatever F1 goodness Simone plans on writing after this first foray! 

 

I'm definitely a sucker for mutual pining, long-held crush and brother best friend/best friend's sister, and Simone served all three up with all the swoon and a dash of spice. Dev and Willow had lots of great chemistry and sexual tension, as well as some fantastic banter thanks to all their history with one another. There's just something so warm & fuzzy about watch friends and people with so much history together fall for one another and finally act on those feelings. 

 

It was so nice to read a book with lots of love for culture, particularly when it came to Dev's Indian heritage around his love of Bollywood films and the wedding of his sister Alisha. It added such a nice layer to the story, to Dev's character, and to Dev and Willow's relationship.  

 

I have no idea who is coming next for this series, but all the singles we've been introduced to are all quiet fun and interesting characters, so I'll be happy with whoever Simone lands on. Although, I do really want to follow Chava as he was such a fun side character in Dev and Willow's relationship! 

 

It's time to get in the fast lane with this swoon-worthy sports romance! And if you're like me and don't really care much for Formula 1, I can guarantee that you will enjoy it in book form!