Stevie‘s review of Racing Hearts by Dena Blake
Contemporary Lesbian and Bisexual Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 11 Sep 18
I’m always on the lookout for good motor sports romances, particularly those with women as drivers or crew, but I’m also very picky about the details within the stories. While I don’t know as much about the US-based championships as I do about UK and international formats, it’s still an issue if characters act in ways that don’t gel with my knowledge of how things work, without good reason at any rate. Then again that’s an equally big problem for me in any subgenre: plots set in our world have to run, for the most part, according to real-life rules if I’m to accept any minor fantastical, or unlikely, elements required for the story to work.
Samantha Kelleher is chief technician for her father’s NASCAR team, and her brother was one of the team’s drivers until a crash left him paralysed from the waist down. Sam carries physical scars from burns sustained as she tried to rescue him from his burning car, as well as guilt that her rescue may have added to the extent of his spinal damage. While Sam is oblivious to the fact that her brother’s accident is the latest in a serious of suspicious incidents involving cars she’s worked on and drivers she’s been close to – Sam is in a long-term relationship with her team’s other driver, but he regularly cheats on her, and she often reciprocates – an investigation is underway and two detectives have been sent undercover to infiltrate Kelleher Racing.
Drew Thompson is the second of those detectives. Initially posing as a driver for a rival team, she soon gets herself hired by Sam’s father – the only non-cop aware of the investigation. At this point I found my suspension of disbelief severely stretched: surely no one gets into NASCAR without having raced in feeder series first? And surely anyone involved in NASCAR is keeping an eye on who is doing particularly well in those feeder series in order to get a feel for who their rivals will likely be in future years? If I were Sam, I’d be cheekily asking Drew to let me see her racing license.
Nevertheless, Drew joins the team and begins an intense flirtation with Sam, almost managing to seduce her even before she realises who Sam is. While Sam keeps trying to resist Drew’s advances out of loyalty to her arse of a boyfriend, the two are soon heavily involved – even though Sam is Drew’s top suspect in her case. Meanwhile, the saboteur is hard at work, and Sam eventually becomes aware of Drew’s true identity as well as that of her fellow cop, who is now deeply immersed in both the team and in a relationship with Sam’s brother.
Unethical relationships all round not withstanding, I found much of this book’s plot hard to swallow, and when the culprit was eventually revealed, their motives came from out of the blue and had nothing to do with any of the foreshadowing that had pointed to that character being responsible. I also had a lot of difficulties with everyone’s conviction that Sam’s brother had no future as a driver and no other career options within motor sport. If double amputees can make it onto the podium after motor racing accidents – and transfer to Olympic sports after retiring from motor sports – and if tetraplegics can run F1 teams (not to mention the many racing drivers out there with other physical disabilities), then I don’t see why someone didn’t think to tell the bloke some of that.
All in all, this book was a bit of a disappointment for me, to put things mildly.
Grade: D
Summary:
For Samantha Kelleher careening around a NASCAR track is treacherous enough, especially after the near-death experience that left her burned, broken, and guilty. When the top team’s drivers start to die from engine sabotage, the cop who is assigned to investigate turns out to be the sexy stranger Sam slept with to get revenge on a cheating ex. At least that’s what she told herself.
All cop, Detective Drew Thompson is bullheaded and arrogant—just the right qualifications to infiltrate the racing circuit as a cocky driver with a serious adrenaline addiction. Except, a one-night stand with the prime suspect isn’t exactly protocol for an undercover operation.
Drew isn’t going to let another cop, or civilian for that matter, die on her watch. Can they catch the real killer before their chance at a future goes up in flames?
Read an excerpt.
