Race car mechanic Andressa "Andi" Amaro has one rule—no dating drivers. With a good reason behind the rule, she has no plans on breaking it.Carrick Ryan is the bad boy of Formula One. With a face and body that melts panties on sight, and an Irish lilt that leaves women on their knees, begging for more. He races hard and parties harder. The youngest driver to ever sign with F1, he’s still at the top of his game five years later, breaking hearts on and off the tracks.
When Andi is offered her dream job working in the glamorous world of F1, she leaves her home in Brazil, positive she can handle working for Carrick. But she’s not prepared for the off-the-chart sparks that fly the moment they meet.
Now, Andi has a crush on the one man she can’t have, and her resolve is about to be put to the test, because Carrick has decided he wants Andi, and he plans on testing her to the very limit…
Samantha Towle
New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and international bestselling author Samantha Towle began her first novel in 2008 while on maternity leave. She completed the manuscript five months later and hasn't stopped writing since.
A native of Hull and a graduate of Salford University, she lives with her husband, Craig, in East Yorkshire with their son and daughter.
*****
My Thoughts:
As anyone who follows my review will tell you, it takes a lot to impress me in the contemporary romance genre. It's not my favorite genre, by any means, but I still keep coming back for incredible writing and amazing characters. While I've been extremely critical of the genre lately, I think I've finally found what I'm looking for.
When it comes to NA or even Adult Contemporary reads, I need something extra. Something special that sets a read apart. A sport, a theme, music, art, something that makes a plot, setting, and the characters stand out. Unfortunately many contemporary reads just don't have that. They're set in our everyday real (boring) world, and that really just doesn't 'do it' for me. I read for escape. I've been in such a genre slump with these that I'd almost given up. Until Revved.
A few weeks ago I saw this series being heavily promoted for the release of book two in this series (review to come), and after reading up on the author and the synopsis, I was extremely interested. A love story centered around the fact paced, dangerous sport of Formula One racing? I'm in.
This was my first ever read from Samantha Towle, but I can tell you it certainly will not be my last.
From page one, I was hooked. As I mentioned before, this is a very fast paced read. It's hard to find a place to even stop reading as the action starts and never stops. Race after race, twist after twist, this read will keep your engines gunning until the final chapter. Clocking in a just shy of 300 pages in my ebook (410 in print), this isn't a quick read, but you'll fly through it. If you don't feel like you've just witnessed a Grand Prix by the time you read the epilogue, you read it wrong!
Towle's characters in Revved were both complex and intriguing. Nobody is as they initially seem and we come to learn very quickly that first impressions aren't always correct. Each character really took me for a spin, and by the time the novel was finished, I had gained quite a bit of respect for Towle and he writing style. The characters are all flawed in some way, shape, or form, and Towle uses those flaws to her advantage to bring each character to the light and round out the plot in a near-perfect way. There wasn't a single character that I hated, and I learned a lot from each.
My favorite part of this novel was the way Towle designated each chapter by the setting. The novel follows the course of a full Formula One season. Races are held across the world in countries such as Brazil, England, China, Australia, Monaco,etc. Each local is bright, flashy, and fun. Anyone who is familiar with the Formula One racing scene will be impressed by Towle's fun descriptions of each locale. While not overly important to the general storyline, the setting designations really helped to set the mood for the novel. Definitely a unique way to spin chapters that I greatly appreciated.
Fair warning, this read was steamy. Lots of explicit sex scenes intertwined with the gripping plot. The plus side is that it's definitely not trashy in any capacity. Each scene was written with reason and passion, developing the characters, and their relationship, farther each time.
I finished this read with a huge smile on my face and a 'heck yeah!' attitude. I was on that post-read high until I read some of the other reviews for this novel. While it's been largely acclaimed, I found some of the critiques to be a bit shocking. Many readers did not like the characters of Carrick or Andressa and some have even flat-out refused to read/finish this novel due to issues they may have with the lifestyle. People, I'm not going to lie to you, this book is not for sensitive readers. There's some massive partying, lots of descriptive sex, and a whole lot of emotional turmoil. That being said, I didn't find Carrick to be any more 'wrong' than other male MCs that I've read about. I am so bummed out to see these negative thoughts on a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. Now, that being said, I can see where the lifestyle of Carrick may be a turnoff to come readers (particularly women), but in all honesty, I'm not sure what kind of lifestyle you expect from a millionaire race car superstar? Just my opinion.
In a horribly over-inflated genre, it's hard for any author to write something with a unique enough twist that will catch interest. I have to say that Samantha Towle not only caught my interest, she really blew me away with this story. The fast pace, the emotional twists, and the intriguing insight into the world of Formula One racing was more than enough to have me cheering. I have never, in all my reads, come across something quite like Revved, making this read even more impressive. As a male, I'm usually put off by all the romance and sex, but this novel really offset it with some incredibly written scenes of action and suspense, perfectly capturing life on the track. As a male reader, I was thoroughly pleased and would highly recommend this read to any other male readers who may be a little hesitant about checking out what this genre can present to them. I don't think they'll be disappointed.
It should come as no surprise that I am granting Revved by Samantha Towle a well-earned 4-star review. It wasn't completely without its' faults, but overall was a fun read that really impressed this 'hard to please' reader. Definitely worth saving a space on your bookshelf for. This read definitely had my mind racing!
*****
Alright readers, that's all I have for you on the topic of Revved by Samantha Towle. An awesome read that left me pumped to read more from this author. For this looking for something unique to add to their TBR, this one is not to be missed. Strap on your seatbelts and hang on, Towle is racing her way to the top!
Until next time, Happy Reading!
-Ethan
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