Stevie‘s review of Down Shift (Driven, Book 8) by K. Bromberg
Contemporary Romance published by Piatkus 04 Oct 16
Much as I enjoy my occasional foray into motorsports romance, I’ve tended to stick mainly to the formulae and race series I’m familiar with: those where rounds that take place mostly or wholly in European and other countries that aren’t the US. Four-wheeled racing in the US seems to be an entirely separate beast to those species attracting competitors from the rest of the world, even if some of my favourite – and least favourite – F1 drivers have been known to experiment with competing over there. I keep trying to branch out, however, and this standalone spin-off from what seems to be a popular series, appeared as good a place as any to try another angle on the subgenre. Ideally, what I’m looking for would be a roughly equal split of motorsport and romance, with maybe a lesser, tertiary, focus on other forms of off-track shenanigans, although my experience has been that not many readers would agree with my spread of interests – and not many authors cater to it, exactly.
Conversely to my interests, the majority of the action in Down Shift takes place away from the track, which doesn’t completely preclude my enjoyment of a story, although the plot and characters have to work that bit harder to grab and keep my interest. The story opens with up-and-coming Indy car driver, Zander Donovan, being sacked by his team boss – and adoptive father – for his out-of-control off-track behaviour. Personally, I’d have sacked him much earlier for all that I like drivers who know how to party (Hunt, Irvine and Hamilton, amongst others, spring to mind), because my real-life heroes also know when to knuckle-down and put the work in for their team. Of course Zander has Reasons (with a definite capital ‘R’) for his behaviour, which readers get to know about straight away, but which he has no intention of talking to anyone about. So he’s sent off to find himself – and to sober up.
By contrast, Getty Caster has a whole host of genuine reasons for wanting to get away from her old life – her abusive father and husband topping the list – and seems to have found a sanctuary living in a friend’s part-finished renovation project and working in a local bar. She’s less than impressed to find that her friend’s partner has made a similar offer to Zander and that now they’ll be forced to share living space that neither wants to move out of.
I like Getty; she’s managed to break away from two controlling men and is determined not to let anyone tell her what to do, even as she struggles to learn new skills and find ways to take care of herself in a very unfamiliar situation. Zander appealed to me less; although I appreciated some of the efforts he made to help Getty to help herself, he was far too wrapped up in his own troubles for much of the book. Plus we see very little of Zander the racing driver as opposed to Zander the angst-bucket.
All in all, this book had its moments, but they were too few and far between for my liking and I doubt I’ll be sampling the series this book is related to.
Grade: C
Summary:
Behind the wheel, racing champion Zander Donavan is at the top of his game. But after too much excess in his personal life, he’s forced to step away. He needs to accomplish something all on his own – outside of his famous father’s shadow.
Getty Caster is running away from the abuse that clouds her past. She thinks she’s found the perfect escape – until she discovers a stranger in the beachside cottage she’d been promised. He’s undeniably sexy, but she’s there to heal. Alone.
Before long though, fighting with each other turns into fighting their attraction. And giving into desire sets off a chain reaction that has their pasts colliding. With an unexpected love on the line, can they overcome the fallout to build a future?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
