Ride With Me hooked me straight away with the prologue and it only got better and better! The tension and the chat between Stella and Thomas was steaming hot and THEN they got married, and I was all in. I raced through this in one go as soon as my ARC request was accepted. I love a marriage of convenience situation and this one was so satisfying! Despite an initial bit of action between them pre-wedding, it's a super slow burn once they're actually married, which I loved.

I hadn't read Cross The Line before reading Ride With Me. Nothing was confusing at all, and it worked perfectly as a standalone or as an entry point to the series. You also don't need to know anything about F1 to love this book - I certainly don't. But it was just so good that I'm definitely going to go back and binge book one!

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley, but this is my voluntary and honest review.

STOP IT 🛑 Ride with me is amazing! I couldn't put this book down! This book was just as good as cross the line and I really enjoyed seeing some of these characters again! This was a fun heartwarming read.

Imagine waking up in Vegas marrier to an F1 driver!

Accidentally marriage and forced proximity has me sooo hooked! The slow burn had me wanting to keep reading.

I cannot wait to read more from Simone Soltani!

Simone Soltani has done it again, Ride with Me ATE and left no crumbs. This book was a wonderful experience and in my opinion, a very worthy second book in the Lights Out series.

Thomas was down bad for Stella the moment he met her, and although we don't see as much F1 action in this book I think it was balanced perfectly with the beautiful slow burn romance we get to experience.

As a sucker for the accidental marriage trope, this one certainly delivers. Stella and Thomas have undeniable chemistry from the first moment they meet and throughout the book I loved their little interactions. The way Thomas would call her Darling or 'my wife', and the way he showed his love in actions instead of words was really lovely.

Overall, a sweet and exciting romance and one that many readers will devour.

Simone Soltani is an auto-buy author for me, I can't wait for this one to publish so I can add a trophy copy to my shelves!

I was so excited for this one, I loved Cross the Line and forced proximity/fake marriage is one of my all-time favourite tropes so I knew I was in for a treat!

It was so nice to see familiar faces from book one, and I was obsessed with Thomas from the very start. The way this man YEARNED for Stella was unrivalled and I loved them together.

The focus has shifted slightly away from F1 and more towards the romance aspect but I didn't mind this as when the slow-burn finally burnt it, WHEW the spice was spicing.

I can't wait to see what's still to come for this series.

4.5 stars

4.5 ⭐️

I absolutely loved cross the line and was so excited for the sequel. It did not disappoint; I read it in two sittings and did not want to put it down! I love the fake marriage trope and it was done so well. I adore Stella and loved seeing glimpses of Willow and Dev throughout the book. I’m so excited for what Simone releases next, she’s definitely an auto buy author!

Thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC <3

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the relationship between Stella and Thomas and how it followed some of my favourite tropes. Marriage of Convenience, Friends to Lovers, it was so cute! The flirting was so fun and I just wanted to keep on reading about these characters taking on the world together and dealing with their issues as a team. It was so lovely.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨4 stars✨

This was such a cute f1 romance! I enjoyed this one more than the first book!

I loved the tropes included such as accidental marriage in Vegas and the one bed trope😍 and the cuddling that happened with that! I also really enjoyed the fact that no only was Thomas wealthy (generational wealth but also the f1) but so was Stella (extremely successful businesswoman as we’re told she has over 100 stores/bakeries) and I really enjoyed this dynamic!

Thomas was such a sweetheart under his dry British humour (which felt accurate, not such if the author is British but if she’s not then this was well done unlike so many American authors writing British people and the language used - The striker I’m looking at you!). Stella was such a strong independent woman and I loved her sly wit and the banter this created with Thomas!

Would definitely recommend this one!

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This book was the accidental marriage/fake marriage done perfectly. I adored Thomas and Stella from the start and found their chemistry and love story really believable. It didn’t feel rushed and the slow burn was impeccable. I disliked nothing about this book. From the side characters to the lack of third act breakup (which is always a win for me) I was truly hooked from page 1! Thomas and Stella’s development with each other and themselves was lovely to read. Although I did see a couple of plot lines coming a mile off it was so well written it didn’t even matter! Super excited for the rest of this series!

HELLO?!? Marriage of convenience & fierce F1 competition this book was made for the girlies and we ATE!!

I adored Cross The Line so jumped at the chance to read this one early!

Stella is a world renowned baked whose world had been flipped upside down by being jilted at the Altar. After moping for a healthy two weeks she finds her world flipped on its head when she meets the most stunning man at a bachelorette party!! Oh did I mention she accidentally married him and he’s an F1 driver!!! When they have to try and piece together the night before the story unravels into such a fun web of chaos I loved it! THE TENSION I was actually screaming at my kindle this was so cute!!

Tropes included:
- Sport romance: Formula 1 🏎️
- Marriage of convenience 💍
- Slow burn 🔥
- Dual POV 📖
- Black American FMC/ White British MMC ✨

Simone has definitely upped her game with Ride With Me! 🏎️
A F1 romance with a fake marriage and a slow burn? YES PLEASE! ❤️‍🔥

I've rarely read books with the marriage of convenience trope, but I enjoyed every second of Stella and Thomas' story. I especially loved the chapters where they first met—I completely forgot about the world around me and was just fully immersed. I think I read about 45% of the book in one go! 🫣

Honestly, I don't have anything bad to say about this book. I loved the writing, the pacing, the way the F1 and business storylines were interwoven ('cause Stella is a girl boss 💪🏻), the chemistry between the two MCs, the supportive best friends... ah, I loved it so much! To me, this was a properly done romance novel—the kind I don’t come across very often anymore because so many plots feel similar these days.

If you don’t know already, there will be three (yes, THREEEEEE) more books in the Lights Out series, and I’ll be racing to read every single one! 🏎️🏁🔥

I adored ‘’Cross the Line’’ as it was the first F1 romance that had F1 portrayed correctly and in a very interesting way. I also adored the characters and the writing. Thus, when I saw ‘’Ride With Me’’ I needed to read it ASAP. Honestly, it didn’t disappoint. It was again very well written, addictive and full of tension and romance. I have enjoyed every minute of it.

The story follows F1 driver Thomas Maxwell Brown, a British heartthrob who currently does not have that good of a press with F1 fans and Stella Margaux, a successful world-renowned bakery chain owner, who is picking up the pieces after being left at the altar. They meet in Las Vegas, during a bachelorette/bachelor party of their friends, and instantly feel the connection. However, after waking up in the morning, they realised they got married. Soon they both realise that a fake marriage might not be such a bad idea, for Stella to get her ex-fiancé back and for Thomas to score some brownie points from the F1 fans and his family.

For me, this book was a breath of fresh air this year as I was looking for a romance that had that chemistry between the characters, that tension and yearning, but did not have smut scenes every couple of pages. Honestly, for me, this book was like an OG romance that I would read, giggle and root for the couple. Also, it was nice to finally read a short and sweet romance book that isn’t long. I felt that this story had just enough plot, tension, smut, love and progression. The only downside of this book was the lack of F1, since the first book had so much F1 and I was expecting a similar amount since it is technically marketed as F1 romance.

I adored the strong female main character too. It was one of the few books that I read where the female main character was super strong, career-driven and didn’t need a man to hold her hand to help find or sort herself out. It was very refreshing to see.

Overall: Fun, full of tension, short and sweet, but at the same time very accurate F1 romance that I loved. Simona Soltani knows how to write a perfect romance story. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this book! 📕 where to start. I devoured this book! As a big F1 fan I enjoyed reading about that but it also not taking over the story. I loved the banter and chemistry between the two characters and also how the sexy scenes aren’t every 3 pages! What a joy this was. Big fan of this series and can’t wait for more!

I love Thomas Maxwell Brown a whole lot. I also love Stella Margaux. God, this was just a good read. I loved Crossed the Line and this is such a superb follow up and I’m a little annoyed I didn’t get to it sooner.

We start with a combined hen/stag do that leads to drunk wedding and a couple hoping to ‘fake it’ for the sake of their reputations. But what we see if Thomas being such a simp for Stella literally from the beginning and waiting for her to let go of the past and her idiot ex.

Thomas is down so hard for Stella that he is pretty much swoon worthy the entire book. It was such a thrill to see them admit their feelings for one another and let themselves be happy.

Simone is now an auto buy author for me, that’s for sure.

Screaming, crying, throwing up. I do not have the words to describe the emotions this book evoked. A new hole was torn in my heart every time I picked this book up and the tension had my blood pressure through the roof. This book absolutely deserved the title of “most anticipated release of 2025” from me because OH MY GOD! No spoilers because I need from now (March 15th) until release day to process what happened. So grateful for the ARC, but also keeping THAT quite for two months is gonna be hard.

This balanced out Cross the Line so well. It wasn’t that spicy and what spice there was was well placed and felt like it had a purpose rather than just being there for the sake of it. I had such a fun time reading. It felt so different to other marriage of convenience books. The pining!! The twists!!

I’m so glad I didn’t have to wait until the end of May to read this, but not having a physical copy in my hands until the end of May may end me.

A solid read, you could feel the sexual tension ooze from the pages. Full of wit, humour and strength. Dual POV, POC representation and strong, independent characters with their own lives and livelihoods but missing something that they find eith each other. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
This review is early thanks to netgalley, despite that this is an unbiased review.

Now, I love a good sports romance series however, I normally stay away from sports that I actually know because I tend to pick them apart, find them tacky and just can’t get into the story. THIS series however… I. KEEP. EATING. UP. It’s done so well and that is just a testament to the characters and world that Simone creates. I was hoping that the first book wasn’t just a fluke and I was correct. The second instalment holds up just as well.

The main trope of this book is accidental/ fake marriage/marriage of convenience, throw in a scene of only one bed and it’s a recipe for a great time. (Pun absolutely intended) As a Brit also, I had to give bonus points for the acknowledgement of just how great a full English is.

I genuinely couldn’t put this book down and had a great time reading it. Will absolutely be on the lookout for more of Simone’s books in the future. A big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC of this book.