Full Throttle by. J.K. MacLaren | ARC Review – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Full Throttle (Love in the Fast Lane, #1)

Author: J.K. Maclaren

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 416

Publication Date: 8/18/26

Publisher: Dell

Categories: Romance, Contemporary, Sports Romance, Racing Romance, Second Chance Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Dell for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

She’s the first-ever female driver. He’s her biggest competition. They broke each other’s hearts. Can they survive a cutthroat Formula 1 season . . . as teammates?

When Juliette Marchmont becomes the first female driver in F1, she knows it’s her one shot to prove she has what it takes to win. She has sceptical managers, rivals, and fans to prove wrong, all while driving the worst car on the grid…and her teammate is the man who broke her heart.

Dominic Hastings is the Prince of F1, but all his composure and accolades couldn’t stop his own father from firing him after a disastrous performance last season. He’s desperate to show his distant, secretive father and the rest of the racing world that he’s far from finished…but can he survive working with the woman who destroyed his life?

Forced to train in close quarters, Dominic and Juliette butt heads on and off the racetrack. As the competition grows ever more heated, and their connection undeniable, they start to wonder if the bruised love between them might be repaired after all…but they can’t afford distractions. Teammates or no, only one driver can emerge as world champion, and each is willing to do whatever it takes to cross the finish line first.

Content Warning: complicated parental relationship, harassment, misogyny

+ This second chance sports romance is filled with tension, complicated relationships, some spice and of course racing. All of it made a good combination and an entertaining read.

+~ The story is told with a dual timeline, the present and the past, it goes back and forth to show us how Juliette and Dominic met and why they are where they at in the present. I don’t usually like flashbacks but I actually liked how this dual timeline played out. I loved the peek into the racing world and I thought the racing scenes were fun and dramatic enough. The rivalry between racers added to the tension and high stakes of the racing world. The secondary characters were great also, but I do think Juliette’s twin brother could’ve had her back a bit more.

+ Juliette is a rising star in the racing world but she’s female so that means things are harder for her. If she wins they say she slept her way to the top, if she loses it’s because she’s female and not good enough. All she wants is to prove to everyone she has what it takes and I was cheering her on. Dominic is the Prince of Racing, he comes from a family of racing and winning but he hasn’t won a championship yet – but he’s come close. He feels that isn’t enough to please his father. So with Juliette back in his life and hating his guts, he has to make a choice eventually…racing or Juliette. I think Dominic’s story had more depth because of his relationship with racing and his dad but I totally sympathized to Juliette’s challenges being a woman in a male dominated field also.

+~ I think the second chance romance was well done. Juliette and Dominic are on bad terms but get thrown together as teammates. In the past timeline we see how Juliette is a student and Dominic is her instructor, so there is that trope. We do have to wait a little to figure out what went wrong between the two of them, and there is a little miscommunication but they eventually sort things out. I do wish we saw more of their past relationship and how in love they were before things went wrong. But I did enjoy their second chance among the drama of the racing world.

Final Thoughts:

This has romance, family drama, racing rivalries and even exciting races. It explores the women in sports theme and I enjoyed seeing Juliette prove them all wrong. Definitely check this one out if you like car racing romances!

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