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A review by carysbeesbooks
Cross the Line by Simone Soltani
4.0
This book has officially reignited my love for Formula 1 romances! It had everything I could ask for in a romance novel: developed characters, swoonworthy love confessions, tension for days and NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP!!!! I repeat: this book has no third act breakup!
Cross the Line follows Dev Anderson, a Formula 1 racer whose image needs a massive overhaul after his (now ex) social media manager sabotaged his accounts, and Willow Williams, a recent graduate who is desperately looking to kickstart her career. Oh yeah, and Willow just happens to be the younger sister of Dev's best friend! When Dev offers Willow the job of fixing his image, the two of them find themselves struggling to maintain the purely professional relationship that they've promised to have.
First of all, the representation is this book is phenomenal in my opinion. Willow has hypermobility, and her chronic illness was handled so well. The book acknowledged the challenges without ever treating Willow as less than capable of living a completely whole life, a trap I've seen other authors fall into when writing about chronic illness. Both leads are biracial, white and Indian in Dev's case, and white and Black in Willow's, and I loved how the cultural representation was woven into the narrative. The Bollywood references were so enjoyable (and made me want to rewatch some of my old faves) and the author even tackled some of the tougher aspects of being a POC in the sporting world. One thing I would've loved to see is more of a look into Willow's cultural background as well as Dev's, but I loved diving into all the Indian wedding celebrations.
The character and relationship development was the strongest aspect of this book in my opinion, something you would hope for in a character based story. The friendships between Dev, Oakley, Mark and Chava were such a breath of fresh air, and I loved Willow's friendships too, even though they were long distance. Willow's friendship with Mark was also a nice addition, and the communication between all the characters was great. I really enjoyed seeing both Willow and Dev's relationship with Oakley too, and his reaction to their relationship really felt like that of a real older brother, rather than some of the cavemanesque reactions I've seen in past brothers-best-friend tropes.
The only reason this isn't a five star review is the epilogue (and this is me being really nitpicky because I truly adored the book). I felt that the events that happened in the epilogue, set one month after the conclusion of the main plot, would've been better suited to earlier in the book. As it was, it felt like a last minute addition that the author was using to try and tick a box in a list of Formula 1 tropes and it kind of fell flat for me. However, this is such a small issue for me, so it should in no way affect your decision on whether to read this book!
Overall, Cross the Line was an absolute delight to read! The low-angst, sweet and spicy, super cute romance was just what I needed from a Formula 1 rom-com. The writing was fun and easy to read and I'm waiting with extreme anticipation for whatever Simone Soltani has for us next!
I recieved a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publishers in return for an honest review. All of the opinions above are my own.
Cross the Line follows Dev Anderson, a Formula 1 racer whose image needs a massive overhaul after his (now ex) social media manager sabotaged his accounts, and Willow Williams, a recent graduate who is desperately looking to kickstart her career. Oh yeah, and Willow just happens to be the younger sister of Dev's best friend! When Dev offers Willow the job of fixing his image, the two of them find themselves struggling to maintain the purely professional relationship that they've promised to have.
First of all, the representation is this book is phenomenal in my opinion. Willow has hypermobility, and her chronic illness was handled so well. The book acknowledged the challenges without ever treating Willow as less than capable of living a completely whole life, a trap I've seen other authors fall into when writing about chronic illness. Both leads are biracial, white and Indian in Dev's case, and white and Black in Willow's, and I loved how the cultural representation was woven into the narrative. The Bollywood references were so enjoyable (and made me want to rewatch some of my old faves) and the author even tackled some of the tougher aspects of being a POC in the sporting world. One thing I would've loved to see is more of a look into Willow's cultural background as well as Dev's, but I loved diving into all the Indian wedding celebrations.
The character and relationship development was the strongest aspect of this book in my opinion, something you would hope for in a character based story. The friendships between Dev, Oakley, Mark and Chava were such a breath of fresh air, and I loved Willow's friendships too, even though they were long distance. Willow's friendship with Mark was also a nice addition, and the communication between all the characters was great. I really enjoyed seeing both Willow and Dev's relationship with Oakley too, and his reaction to their relationship really felt like that of a real older brother, rather than some of the cavemanesque reactions I've seen in past brothers-best-friend tropes.
The only reason this isn't a five star review is the epilogue (and this is me being really nitpicky because I truly adored the book). I felt that the events that happened in the epilogue, set one month after the conclusion of the main plot, would've been better suited to earlier in the book. As it was, it felt like a last minute addition that the author was using to try and tick a box in a list of Formula 1 tropes and it kind of fell flat for me. However, this is such a small issue for me, so it should in no way affect your decision on whether to read this book!
Overall, Cross the Line was an absolute delight to read! The low-angst, sweet and spicy, super cute romance was just what I needed from a Formula 1 rom-com. The writing was fun and easy to read and I'm waiting with extreme anticipation for whatever Simone Soltani has for us next!
I recieved a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publishers in return for an honest review. All of the opinions above are my own.