REVIEW: Not So Fast by Karen Booth

In Not So Fast by Karen Booth, Mia Neal is smart, but unable to keep a job, until she decides to start a podcast on her favorite sport, F1 racing. She’s gained a following for being critical of the driving of her favorite driver, Xander Bishop. When Xander’s teammate invites Mia to the Miami Grand Prix, she can’t pass up the chance to meet her favorite driver. Only Xander has his own feelings about her podcast, and they aren’t great.

After getting past their initial bitterness towards each other, they’re surprised to realize the sparks between them. But as Mia jets across the world to different races, on Xander’s dime, and her comments on the podcast become less critical of him, Mia’s listeners start to question Mia and her motives. While she wants to be with Xander, she doesn’t want to lose her podcast. Will Xander be able to show her that she can have the best of both worlds?

The title of this book is Not So Fast, but the book mores too fast. It’s pretty much insta-love between the pair, and everything felt very surface level. There’s no real development of the romance or the characters themselves. It’s basically one minute they can’t stand each other, the next minute he’s flying Mia to all these different races. It made it hard to buy into their romance.

I liked Xander as a character. He’s having a bad racing year and can’t seem to snap out of it. Yet, he doesn’t take it out on other people. Mia, on the other hand, is not as likeable. She claims he’s her favorite driver, but she says negative things about him at every turn on her podcast. When she’s invited to a race by Xander’s teammate, she questions if it’s to get into Xander’s head, yet she doesn’t hesitate to go, even knowing it may mess with him. One of her friends refers to him as her meal ticket, and she doesn’t deny it. When he makes a negative comment about the podcast before they met, she gets upset about it, even though she’s done nothing but throw out negative comments, and his comment paled in comparison.

I wanted to like this book, as I haven’t read too many books involving racing but, unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. Everything felt rushed and underdeveloped. Time was spent on a rift between Mia’s mother and her aunt could have been omitted because it didn’t add anything of substance to the story. That space could have been used to flush out the characters and the romance instead. I was left wanting more than what the book gave me.

Book Info:

Publication: April 1, 2025  | Afterglow Books by Harlequin |

Mia Neal is a champion overthinker. Find something, fixate on it and spiral down. Fortunately, she puts that energy to good use: in a podcast about Formula One, her favorite sport in the world. There’s nothing about racing Mia doesn’t adore. The speed. The drivers. The fierce competition. The single-minded ambition. Ironic for a woman who’s changed careers more times than she can count.

Only now her salty takes on gorgeous Brit driver Xander Bishop have gone viral, and the podcast feels more and more like what she’s meant to do… Then Xander’s teammate invites her to the Miami Grand Prix to see F1 up close—and get in Xander’s head. He’s not exactly delighted at all the shade she’s been throwing his way.

It should be all-out war. Instead, Mia and Xander are stunned by the sudden crackle of…something sexual arcing between them. It’s irresistible, unbelievably hot—all Mia’s warning flags are waving. Because this reckless attraction is coming at Mia all too fast…