Reviews with content warning for Racism - Cross the Line

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Cross the Line by Simone Soltani

11 reviews

audreylack's review

funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I’ll forgive the author for stealing my personality, disability, and dream job, since I’m praying it’s a minor glimpse into my future. Mutual longing and clearly a couple meant to be together. No third act breakup!

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midnightmoon_dreamer's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Love, love, love. A story where the main couple is just absolutely in love with one another and stays like that throughout the whole story, finally! The beautiful way the characters were written made this such a pleasant read. I loved the inclusion of different cultures and of a chronic illness. Just so fun, a must-read! It is important to note that there is only a minor conflict so this story mainly focuses on the love story (but I also think a story doesn't always need a major conflict to be good).

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kell_yeah_reads's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

i had so much fun reading this book. i started it during the last week of summer break and it made me realize how much i was missing f1. our girl willow finds herself in need of a job after graduation and our boy dev needs help rescuing his image after his previous social media manager quit with.. pizzazz. match made in heaven right? well. my first tab in the entire book: "men are dramatic" especially ours after the 'inchident' on the stairs. this book was a fun ride and i am so excited for the second one!! cmon may 20th, 2025!

we've got brother's best friend, forced proximity, forbidden love, and ... F1! *sigh*

per my spreadsheet:
spice 🌶 - a 4 🌶 spicy (romance.io scale)
length - just right
reading speed - read in 2 days
did it make me cry? - so close

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lafe's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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sdupont's review

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Nothing like reading an F1 romance to get your fix during the summer break. I enjoyed this book, a childhood crush to lovers is always a good time. Throw in sports and the workplace and now you’re talking. I liked Dev and Willow (separately and for each other). They understood what the other needed. Dev was particularly great at having Willow’s back without making her feel like she had to be wrapped in bubble wrap. One thing that I found frustrating was the overhyped brother’s best friend of it all. I don't mind the trope but I don’t love when the brother is so overbearing. Honorable mention to Mark and Chava who were funny and supportive! Overall this was a solid debut novel that fans of F1 will enjoy.

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bookishmillennial's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I don't really care about F1, but this was an interesting read for me, an absolute rookie when it comes to this world.

I struggled with the narration (both narrators irritated the fuck out of me and I cannot put my finger on it!), so I would recommend the ebook or physical copy if that’s accessible to you.

I also just had minor issues with the book and characters as a whole:

The MMC Dev calls the FMC “crazy” and “unhinged” for caring about her brother and making sure he was okay after a night of drinking……… I genuinely hope you are not that deeply entrenched in toxic masculinity that you think making sure someone is home, safe, and not choking on their own vomit is beneath you 😵‍💫
The FMC Willow got her heart broken by one of her brother’s friends, which is why her brother Oakley is overprotective and would not approve of Willow’s new romance with Dev. I get the history. But the general sentiment of brothers not approving of their friends going out with their sisters is so deeply problematic to me….. do you not want your sister involved with your friend because you are friends with vile, disgusting, disrespectful cishet men who have never questioned toxic masculinity and their roles in patriarchy? Or is it because you view women that you respect as innocent, pure angels that should not be touched? Like if it’s either, ew. I don’t know if I can read another book with this dynamic because if you think your grown ass sister needs to be protected by you (a BiG StRonG MaN), then ….. ew. Or if you think your friends are “unworthy” of your sister, then you’re literally telling on yourself and your friends. Be serious!!!!
An F1 driver gets injured and then is paralyzed from the waist down (temporarily) and it’s posited as a tragedy, which I find super suspicious and exhausting in a book with chronic pain/illness representation ❤️‍🩹😞

Anyway, thank you Berkley for the gifted free copy, and thank you PRH Audio for the ALC.

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whackettreading's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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aromanticreadsromance's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

I've never read an F1 sports romance book before and honestly, before this, I probably wouldn't have considered racecar driving a sport (due to my ignorance lol). I loved the chronic illness rep. Willow has EDS (a connective tissue disorder). I can't speak to the accuracy of the rep, but as an outsider, it seemed well done and well balanced. There is also multiracial rep, with Dev half white/half Indian (Gujarati) and Willow half white/half Black. Both Dev and Willow have white dads. Dev experiences a few instances of racism and microaggressions at his company (which proudly only employs American born drivers with red, white, and blue uniforms. Ah don't you just love nationalism /s). I loved Dev's mom, Neha Aunty, and her subtle scheming/matchmaking. I would have liked to see more of Willow's parents. We only meet her dad when he silently waves at Dev from his computer, and we never meet her mom. We get the sense that Willow hates being home in San Diego with her parents, but I'm not really sure if we're ever told why?? I might have missed or forgotten that detail since it took me so long to get through this one (it could be because they treat her as fragile, but she also never talks about them so I have no idea what their relationship is like?). I loved Dev's best friends, Chava and Mark (it took me a bit to warm up to Mark, but he definitely redeemed himself). I wish we had seen more of Oakley (Willow's brother) and his relationship with both Willow and Dev.

I think the book could have been 50-100 pages shorter. I have a hard time reading romances over 400 pages, because they tend to drag on and get repetitive. Some of the scenes could have definitely been cut down or out, like

the car accident at the end/that was foreshadowed at the beginning?? idk it seemed unnecessary, and the beginning made it seem like Dev got in a crash because he was distracted by his relationship with Willow?? But in reality they were already together at that point, and her brother already accepted their relationship soooo it really only sped up Dev's transfer to another company but did nothing else for the plot.

I also thought the "conflict" of telling Oakley was overblown. That "forbidden" romance conflict is part of why I don't really like brother's best friend romance books, BUT I was glad Oakley didn't get all macho man and spew all that "I need to protect my sister" bullshit.

He admits to feeling protective over Willow, but he doesn't stop them from pursuing their feelings

Sooooo thankfully that means no third act breakup!

Thanks to Penguin Random House for the ARC of this book! All thoughts are my own.

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archiveofrasa's review

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

read this for the romance, which did get me giggling and kicking my feet. Dev was actually funny, Willow was adorable. the explicit scenes were written very well but I'm not surprised given the author's track record, I can always trust her to write them well. Willow and Dev's banter was well done, I could tell they've known each other for years.

though, having read the author's other works under different pen names, I think I was a little let down? I wish there was a bit more emotional stakes when it came to Oakley, like getting more depth from Willow/Oakley and Dev/Oakley instead of it being told to us. I was more terrified for them because of the principle, not really because of what this meant to them.

chapter 32 where the boys are messing around, I really enjoyed that and wished we got it earlier on instead of at the very end after all the tension has vanished.

I'll see if the second book's premise intrigues me similarly, but I did get what I wanted out of this, so I can't complain too much.

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whatbeccareadnext's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

What is it about sports romance that is so compelling?

I will never turn down the chance to read any sports romance, (not that I have any interest in sports in real life!). I really enjoyed Simone Soltani's writing style, she crafted really lovable characters and all of their personalities jumped off the page. I could picture the characters so clearly in my mind as they were so real and fleshed out through the writing.

The main reason I dropped this a star is that I found myself struggling with the pacing of the story. I had to force myself to pick this book up instead of just scrolling aimlessly on my phone, and that's so abnormal for me. I kept reading for the characters and wanted to see them get their happy ending, but the plot itself felt a little too slow paced for me personally.

** I received an eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own. **

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