CBR18 Bingo: One – Johannes wants to be the F1 world champion. Reeling from a bad breakup, Johannes also wants to find “the one,” and he finds himself falling for his new chief engineer.
Johannes is at the top of the game and in the number one spot in the F1 racing order and on the podium. Along with his best friend and rival racer Harper, Johannes is competing to be this year’s Formula 1 champion.
For the past four years, he’s been in a secret relationship. Johannes and Jackson have been dating for years, but they’ve kept it secret because Jackson’s family owns the company that is the owner and sponsor for one of Johannes’s racing competitors. Since taking a leadership role in his father’s company, Jackson is even more reserved and conservative when it comes to meeting with Johannes for their secret liaisons. When Johannes’s birthday comes and goes without a single text from Jackson, Johannes is heartbroken. Shortly afterward, at Harper’s wedding, Jackson pulls Johannes aside and breaks up with him. Johannes is grieving but he cannot tell anyone, not even Harper.
His relationship troubles start to affect his performance. Everyone knows something is up, especially Caleb. New to his head engineering role, Caleb fears that everyone will think that hiring Caleb is the reason Johannes is coming in 8th place in races when he was number one or two the year before.
In a month-long break between racing tours, Caleb confronts Johannes and asks what’s going on. Johannes doesn’t confess to him, but he starts to open up to Caleb in small ways. Trust builds, and so does their mutual attraction. Johannes appreciates the kindness and attention he gets from Caleb, which makes him realize how poorly Jackson treated him.
Caleb is attracted to Johannes and, more than that, he likes him as a person. They are both comfortable with one another. However, Caleb fears that if they start dating, everyone will think he slept his way to the top.
Despite being a little slow in the middle, I liked this one quite a bit. For lack of a better description, this book has heart. Johannes is best friends with his biggest racing rival, Harper, and the two of them manage to support and cheer one another on despite being direct competitors. There is only one bad guy and the author manages to make him slightly sympathetic in the end. In fact, the book had just enough F1 racing info to keep me engaged, to keep the story moving, and avoid boring me by instead focusing on how Johannes, Caleb, and Harper dealt with the stress and expectations of being professional race car drivers and strategists. The attraction between Caleb and Johannes formed naturally, and did not gloss over the obvious issues of working together while maintaining a relationship. I wish there had been more and better smut scenes, but overall the book was a fun, fast read.
I received this as an advance reader copy from One More Chapter and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
