Stevie‘s review of Furious Rush by S.C. Stephens
Contemporary Romance published by Forever 23 Aug 16
I’ve been known to enjoy both motorsports romance and motorcycle club romance, so the next logical step for me would be romances set around the worlds of legal circuit and illegal street motorcycle racing. This was my first foray into the subgenre, and I have mixed feelings about the book I picked for my introduction, even though it has one of the elements I rarely find in heterosexual sports romances – two characters who are competing at the same level against each other.
Mackenzie Cox is the daughter of a professional motorcycle racer turned team manager, and the only one of three sisters to follow their father’s chosen career. As the racing season opens, Kenzie answers a late-night summons from her friend and mechanic to join her at an illegal street race and solve a minor financial difficulty relating to equally illegal gambling debts. The next morning, at the practice track Kenzie’s father timeshares with his former teammate – now bitter rival – Keith Benneti, a series of shocks await the women. First off, the Cox team’s lead rider is defecting to another rival team, taking his sponsors with him, thus leaving most of the responsibility for notching up race wins with Kenzie. Secondly, the Benneti team has a new star rider, whom Kenzie recognises as one of the winners from the previous evening’s street races.
Hayden Hayes proves to be as outstanding on the circuit as he showed himself to be on the streets, and soon he and Kenzie find themselves sneaking onto the circuit out of hours to race each other, even though fraternisation between teams is strictly forbidden by both their bosses. There’s a lot of attraction and flirtation going on between them as well, just to add to the trouble they’ll get into should they be found out, and the danger intensifies further when Kenzie discovers that Hayden is still competing illegally as well as in professional events. Hayden doesn’t need the additional prize money for himself, but he’s trying to help the people he considers family, and when Kenzie’s own family run into financial difficulties, it’s all too easy for her to consider going down the same route.
Meanwhile, a series of accidents at professional races make Kenzie suspicious that someone is committing acts of sabotage against Hayden’s rivals – and it might even be Hayden himself. As the season reaches its climax, it seems increasingly likely that either Kenzie will be the next victim or that someone will find out about her relationship with Hayden both on and off the track and tell the two teams.
For much of the story I was gripped enough by the plot developments to ignore a few plot holes and the moments when characters acted a little too carelessly with regard to their safety and the security of their team’s property and equipment. I felt that the ending let the book down, however. Decisions Kenzie makes for the sake of the romance plot really jarred with me from the point of view of someone desperate to see more women competing in top-level motorsport, and the final cliffhanger was a great annoyance after we’d been given no indication that this was the first book in a series. I’ll still read the sequel, however, if only to find out how the consequences of the final chapters’ events pan out in the next racing season.
Grade: B
Summary:
For Mackenzie Cox, racing motorcycles is in her blood. Born into a family legacy, she’s determined to show the world that she has inherited her father’s talent in this male-dominated sport. The last thing Kenzie needs is to be antagonised by her rival team’s newest rider, Hayden Hayes. Hayden, exceedingly arrogant and outrageously attractive, immediately gets under Kenzie’s skin and she can’t help but be distracted.
As Kenzie and Hayden push each other on the track, the electric energy between them off the track shifts into an intense – and strictly forbidden – attraction. The only rule between their two ultra-competitive teams is zero contact. Kenzie needs a win, and she also needs to stay away from Hayden. Unfortunately for her though, one thing has become all too clear: she can’t.
Fuelled by passion, driven by desire, Hayden and Mackenzie both want to win more than anything else. Except for, maybe, each other. But anger, jealousy and extreme competitiveness aren’t their only obstacles…
No excerpt available.
