the formula for love
Chloe Coleman is having the best day of her life. She has just been named the team principle for Team Arden. It’s not one of the top F1 raving teams, but she is still one of the first female team principles in racing history, and that feels great. She has put in so much work to get to this level, and now she’s ready to run a team.
It’s only slightly disconcerting when team owner Barry tells her that he has a surprise for her just as they’re walking into their first press conference together. Chloe is thinking the press is there for her new appointment, but Barry’s “surprise” news turns out to be even bigger. He’s just hired driver Matt Warner. Chloe is stunned. And then he’s there in the room with her.
Matt Warner was a top F1 driver, until an accident almost cost him the life of his best friend Stavros, a fellow driver who had been injured in a fiery track accident that had been Matt’s fault. Ever since, Matt has struggled to stay in the top of the races he’d been in since, struggling with panic attacks as he drives. But for Arden, he is a big step up. And for Chloe, he is a blast from her past.
Matt and Chloe’s families lived in the same small English town, and while Matt was a little older than Chloe, their hobbies overlapped. Both were interested in racing and would race go-karts together. As a student, Chloe thought she was in love with Matt, but he never seemed to notice her. They had gone different ways but both ended up in F1. And now they’re on the same team.
Chloe isn’t sure Matt still has his killer instinct behind the wheel, but she’s there to support him and to help build the team to give him his best chance at a comeback. They have another, younger, driver, who is trying to qualify for the same races Matt is. And they have money problems. When Chloe and Matt came on, Arden has lost their main sponsor.
As they go from country to country, race to race, the team makes small adjustments that lead to small advances. And as things heat up on the track, the heat between Chloe and Matt is rising as well. But just as Arden is showing up as a force to be reckoned with, Chloe trusts the wrong person and almost destroys it all. Will her bad choices cost her the dream job she’d been working towards her whole life? And will it cost her the love she’d spent most of her life wanting?
Lizzy Dent’s Drive Me Crazy is a fun rom com set in the world of F1 racing. There are trips to exotic cities around the globe and lots of very spice scenes. But there is also a lot of heart, good humor, sweet memories of growing up together, and dogs in bow ties (the bow ties are only for special occasions though). There are betrayals and forgiveness, bad press and new opportunities. personal growth and plenty of alcohol.
I have been a big fan of Dent for years because reading her books just make me happy. She has smart characters and fun banter and great plots. I especially loved Drive Me Crazy for Chloe. I loved how she was just getting her start as an F1 team principle, and I so enjoyed watching her struggles and her growth. You don’t have to be a racing fan to enjoy this book (I’m not; before this book, I really knew very little about F1 racing). You just have to be a fan of a really good story.
Egalleys for Drive Me Crazy were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.
