Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

“His desire will consume her. And all she can do is surrender.”

Good god. This book has been burned into my brain for both positive and negative reasons. It was a hard book to review – on the one hand, the plot is addictive, fast and for the most part, very engaging. But on the other, it’s very spicy, (too spicy for my liking) and in my opinion, portrays a vulnerable woman pursuing the worst kind of relationship, something that really shouldn’t be encouraged. I hope my review will help you make sense of all this!

T.W. Rape, domestic abuse, suicide.

About the book

Lena Aden came to Los Angeles to make it big as a writer. Five years later, she’s still chasing the dream and wondering if it’s time to start over.

Nico Laurent is the Formula 1 World Champion – and the most desirable bachelor in the world. He’s used to getting any woman he wants, and he’s decided he wants Lena.

After their first night together, Lena can’t get Nico out of her head. She engineers a second meeting and suddenly Lena is pulled into a heady world of fast cars, parties, and money. Lena has never been so reckless – and she likes it.

It’s clear that Lena and Nico’s passion can’t be denied. But with a heat like this, someone is going to get burned . . .

The beginning

Well… okay. That was probably the steamiest ending to a first chapter I’ve ever read! Very unexpected but we’ll go with it. If you like a steamy read, I can already 100% recommend this to you. Anyway, let’s rewind a bit… I found it super easy to get into this book and I knew right from the start that this author’s writing style was everything I love. I instantly loved our main character, Lena; she’s trying her hardest to make it in LA, but she can’t catch a break. With her job security suddenly up in the air, she needs to make some important decisions about where she’s heading in life. But all that is temporarily forgotten about when her flat mate, Johanna, invites her to one of her regular swanky parties. After an off chance meeting with Formula One world champion, Nico Laurent, sparks fly and we get the aforementioned spiciest of spice. It was a huge opening chapter with so much to process, but the author expertly tackles every thing so well and absolutely nails it. Please don’t take that as a pun. Or do.

“So this is how it felt, she marvelled. To want something – to want someone – so intensely, that it blacked out conscious thought.”

The author injects such a fun vibe into the story and I loved Lena’s relationship with Johanna. You can feel how strong their friendship is and just how much they care for one another. Their banter kept me smiling and I loved the contrast of their separate lives. However, my feelings about Nico weren’t great as Lena (skilfully) bumps into him a second time. This time, he isn’t so friendly… and it completely throws Lena off balance. What was this guys problem?! I already had a desire to protect Lena and I just had an overall bad feeling about this guy. Would he redeem himself? I wasn’t sure. Aside from Nico, I felt myself really drawn to Lena’s career as a screenwriter. After meeting an influential person in the industry, I hoped she’d get that break she needed and in turn, get the future she dreamed of when she first arrived in LA five years ago. I was so hopeful for her, but would her sudden obsession with Nico take first place over her career?

The middle

Readers, despite all the positives I’ve mentioned, this book quickly became a little too spicy for me. This much spice almost had me reaching for a pint of milk!! I can deal with some, but this much isn’t really for me. I certainly came to realise upon meeting Sabine (😳) that I am not the target audience for this. But HOLY HELL, if you like a smutty read, this needs to go to the top of your TBR. Nico toying with Lena so much felt so frustrating, and even though I understood Lena’s obsession with this guy and everything she craved, I wanted to scream at her to let him go. Girl, stop giving him so many damn chances! I did think his explanation of his childhood and his awful father gave his character more depth, but of course, this still doesn’t excuse his arsehole behaviour. But as he apologises to Lena and requests they start afresh, would he FINALLY start treating her right?! Despite me having mixed feelings about this book to far, I couldn’t help but be so engrossed in the plot. What on earth would we get next?!

“Mr Laurent burns the things he cares about.”

Would she be burnt by him?

I was surprised by a few darker elements in the book the more I read. Learning about Nico’s last serious girlfriend made me wonder just who this guy was beneath the surface. As Lena gets lost in attending prestigious Formula One races, parties, money and a life of complete luxury, we also see a side of her that isn’t really… her. She begins to forget her old life, neglect her friends, her jobs. And for what? I became a bit concerned that a lot of what goes on with Lena and Nico et al. wasn’t fully consensual, with one particular chapter ending in a way that makes the reader think she really does not want this, even though she doesn’t say the words. This felt really uncomfortable to me, and I’m sure it would be for a lot of other readers too. It seemed that no matter how many chances she gives this guy, he always seems to break her trust or hurt her over and over again. Yet her obsession with him keeps her there. Gaaahhh, I really, really wanted this book to end on a high for Lena! She deserved so much more.

The end

The author writes feeling so incredibly well (even if it made me feel mostly negative feelings 😆) and I think this was a huge reason why this book sucks you in as much as it does. It became so weirdly addictive at times. But I continued to hate the fact that no matter how many broken promises Nico makes about how he will be better, how he will do better, Lena always falls for it. In real life, people like him never change, and it’s lovely people like Lena who think they can ‘fix’ whatever it is the other person is going through. I knew that Nico would hurt her again and again. I just wished she’d have the backbone to end their relationship! When Nico ends up in a near-fatal accident, Lena drops everything to be by his side. But would he do the same for her? The more I think about the guy, the more I get angry. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much hatred towards a character like this 😂

“This was his way of letting her go. Of freeing her from the last vestige of his hold.”

Some of the ending scenes were exactly what I’d feared which left me super annoyed and my hatred for Nico completely escalated. But at the same time, I felt SO immensely proud of Lena for finally standing up for herself, for disposing of multiple people who simply aren’t good for her, and for reaching for her dreams. I cannot express how much I wanted Lena to be happy! If I’m honest, I have to applaud the author for creating such a toxic character in the form of Nico; he is officially the biggest arsehole of a character I have ever met. Creating someone this awful must really take some work. I did enjoy the majority of the storyline, especially Lena’s career, but so much of the book felt like a portrayal of unhealthy relationships, with some scenes bordering on dangerous. I think a lot of scenes may be triggering for some readers too, so I am surprised there isn’t some kind of trigger warning anywhere. A mixed one for me, but I am confident it will be a hit for the right readers!

Overall thoughts

Rush gave me a mixed bag of feelings. It’s the story of desire and unhealthy obsession. But it’s also the story of rebuilding and self-discovery. There were so many elements of this book I loved, Lena’s character (as well as a few select others, bless you sweet Eliot) and her career as a screenwriter, the author’s clear writing talent and ability to hook in a reader. But the extreme spiciness left me cringing at times and Nico’s horrifically toxic character made me want to jump into the pages and punch him in the face. I really didn’t like how he uses her and puts her in so many horrific situations that are meant to be ‘sexy’. At times, it really was an uncomfortable read. Despite the good elements, please approach this book with caution! If you like the sound of a lot of spice, a dark F1 romance, and can handle the trigger warnings, this is most definitely for you.

Huge thanks to the author, Saskia Roy, and Lauren at HQ for my proof copy of this book! You can pre-order your own copy of Rush right now before its release on 4th July. Follow the author on Instagram and Twitter/X for more updates.

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