“My sunshine. My moon guiding me in the darkness. My Willow.”

‘Cross the Line’ is the first book in the ‘Lights Out’ and follows Willow (who’s a recent college graduate) and Dev (an F1 driver with a drive to place P1). Willow is Dev’s best friends little sister and while there’s history between the two, their romance begins to fully bloom after a fiasco causes Dev to hire Willow to manage his social media accounts.

Willow and Dev’s romance was so sweet - literally. Enough macarons were consumed in this book to go around the world twice (but I fully understand Willow’s sweet tooth). Dev is super charming and his intentions, despite having hid them from Willow for reasons the reader finds out later in the book, are very straightforward - he wants her and he’s not looking to play games with her or her feelings which I thought was so admirable. With all the Bollywood movie marathons, songs and the huge wedding that takes place, the cultural elements of this book was a personal highlight for me.

‘Cross the Line’ also touches on real life issues such as the racial micro-aggression Dev faces as a racer on a predominantly white team and in the sport. I also really appreciated the way Willow’s hypermobility was written. It doesn’t become her but also isn’t just glossed over and ignored.

I loved all the side characters - Oakley, Chava, Mark, Grace, Chantel, Dev’s parents and even the some of the drivers from the other teams like Reid and Zaid. I know the series will only have five books but I can see a potential story in all of them!

If you have you have surface level knowledge of F1 like myself, don’t feel like you can’t read this book. This book gets into all the sports action in a fun yet digestible way. I found myself cheesing when Dev finally took P1 like yes!

The epilogue was cute, a little cheesy sure but very true to them.

I’m ready and looking forward to the next installment in the ’Lights Out’ series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC.

What to expect:
🏎️ Formula 1 romance
🏎️ South Asian MMC and Black FMC
🏎️ Brothers best friend
🏎️ Chronic illness rep
🏎️ Macarons, racing and Bollywood references 🤩

Review:

Thanks so much to Pan MacMillan, NetGalley and Simone Soltani for the eARC, all opinions expressed are my own!

This book is a wonderful read set in the fast paced world of Formula 1, where the stakes are sky-high. Dev Anderson, a talented Formula 1 driver, faces a career-threatening crisis when a social media disaster tarnishes his reputation and jeopardizes his team's loyalty and sponsorship deals. The solution is to hire his best friends sister, but their chemistry is hard to deny!

What sets this novel apart is the magnetic chemistry between Dev and Willow, a recent graduate trying to break into the sports marketing industry. Soltani creates a forbidden romance filled with passion, with the tension between the characters driving the story, and keeps you hooked.

As the story unfolds, Soltani delves into the complexities of their characters. Dev's struggle to salvage his career while wrestling with his feelings for Willow is well portrayed. Willow, with her optimism and determination, creates such a heartwarming depiction, you’re desperately rooting for her. What sets this story apart is the chronic illness representation and the way Dev cares for Willow! Similarly, the south Asian representation made my heart happy, the Bollywood references truly made me giddy! 🤩

The story balances romance, sports drama, and family dynamics and showcases a strong and sweet love story.

I would definitely recommend! 💕