REVIEW: Shifting Gears by Audra North

Shifting Gears by Audra North: Returning home after a bad marriage, Annabelle wants a taste of independence and freedom she was never given. Raised to be a proper young lady who is seen and never heard by her mother and expected to be a dutiful wife, she has no idea how to change. But when her childhood neighbor, Grady, needs a team manager for his family’s race team, Annabelle will finally find herself with a wide open future.

The kind of thing that got her compliments and envious looks from other women… but no man had ever looked over at her and said, ‘Damn, honey, that pie is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. You pie vixen, you.’ She wrinkled her nose a little No man had ever said that probably because it didn’t sound sexy at all.

Grady had liked Annabelle as a teen, even though she was a quiet thing always off on the sidelines. But now, watching her grow stronger, his attraction has never been deeper. Annabelle, too, had a crush on Grant, but never expected him to notice her.

As Grady begins his own business outside the race team and Annabelle learns how to stand on her own two feet, the two embark on a journey they never expected.

I really liked the idea going in and it almost came through for me. Annabelle learning to be strong on her own, as a race team manager in NASCAR no less, was so interesting. This little miss who in the beginning I didn’t expect much from impressed me at times.

But overall, our hero and heroine, and with Grady especially, complained and whined a lot, I felt. Grady was trying to create a business, but I never saw him doing much beyond worrying and whining about his place in the family business and whether he’s good enough.

And Annabelle, she could have been so much stronger on her own, and without the cliché of worrying whether she’s being too dependent on Grady. Help is necessary at times, it isn’t dependence. If it were longer, I think I would’ve appreciated the story more with more room to develop. It just felt too short as it was.

To appreciate Shifting Gears, no need to read the previous in the series, although I think it would provide a bit more interesting depth to the team. For race car lovers, I recommend Audra North’s Shifting Gears.

Book Info:

Publication: December 1, 2015 | St. Martin’s Paperbacks | A Hard Driving Novel

She’s not at all what he expected. He’s just as sinfully sexy as she remembered. And together they’re about to heat up the track.

Grady Hart is the black sheep of his family. For years he’s managed the Hart Racing team, but while racing is in his blood, his real passion lies under the hood. Ready to start out on his own, all he needs to do is find a replacement for his old job. However, the best candidate for crew chief isn’t someone he would have expected: sweet, proper Annabelle Murrary, the literal Girl Next Door who’s definitely grown up since high school.

All her life Annabelle has tried to fit into the role of perfect daughter-and failed. Divorced, broke and living back home with her mother, she’s tired of trying to live up to her parents’ impossible standards. Taking on the position as crew chief for a successful racing team-and getting her hands dirty-is just what she’s looking for…but first she has to get past her old crush on her new boss. After all, it’s never smart to mix business with pleasure, or is it?