Love in the Fast Lane

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copies from Author

In a modern-day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, author Zoe Burton takes Jane Austen’s beloved characters to a new environment – the world of fast cars, race tracks, and pit crews! In this series, Will Darcy is a stock car driver and part of a renowned multi-car team run by his father, George Darcy. Other team members include Charles Bingley, Bill Collins, and former member George Wickham. Liz and Jane Bennet are long-time race car enthusiasts.

Since both books in this series are novella length and tie-in with each other so closely, I thought I’d review them together!

NOTE: This series should be read in order; what takes place in the first book is important to understanding the second book.

BOOK 1: DARCY’S RACE TO LOVE (2.5 stars)

• The Premise: It’s love-at-first-sight for Will Darcy. Not only is Liz Bennet beautiful, but she isn’t one to fall at his feet and fawn all over him because he is a famous stock car driver. And Will finds that wonderfully refreshing. While Liz is attracted to Will, she has some reservations about opening herself to being in a relationship with him. Can he earn her love and prove that he is a man she can trust?

• My Thoughts: I’ll be honest, it felt a little odd for Darcy and Liz to fall for each other so quickly with no pride, no prejudice, no misunderstandings, or bad first impressions. It almost felt like they were different characters. Since there was little conflict between Will and Liz, I felt my interest in their relationship start to wane. While both were likable enough, their personalities and natures weren’t as fleshed out and, unfortunately, didn’t really draw me in. However, I greatly enjoyed the racing sequences in this story! I don’t know a lot about stock car races, but I enjoyed seeing the action during the races and learning more about the lives of drivers and their team. I wouldn’t have minded seeing some more about the racing world in this tale.

BOOK 2: GEORGIE’S REDEMPTION (3 stars)

• The Premise: In this sequel to Darcy’s Race to Love, Will and Liz are enjoying married life together yet at the same time dealing with some major family issues. Will’s sister, Georgie, who recently became entangled with someone who is bad news, has now run away…

• My Thoughts: Here is a bit more conflict than we see in Darcy’s Race to Love. Not only is Georgie’s well-being and relationship with her family causing concern, but Liz is facing some issues with her own relations. It is an interesting dynamic change to see a Georgiana/father relationship, rather than sibling. While I enjoyed Georgie’s storyline in this story, I appreciated more how some parallels were drawn between Georgie’s family and Liz’s. I only wish we saw a more satisfying resolution for Liz’s family situation.

OVERALL:

I really enjoyed how Ms. Burton combined her love of Pride and Prejudice with another great passion of hers! I always love when authors find ways to infuse their own interests into their work. 😉 I enjoyed the racing aspects of these stories and would gladly read more Austenesque works set in this high-speed and thrilling environment. However, I did often find myself wishing for less narration in both these stories, mostly everything readers know of these characters is told to them. We see very few internal thoughts from Liz and Will and their verbal exchanges are often succinct and seldom. With the fast-paced events of this story and the lack of insight into their thoughts and emotions, it was hard to connect to these characters. However, this may be a specific style choice of the author. And while some readers may enjoy this style, I’m afraid my preference leans towards more showing less telling. Despite these feelings though, I am happy I gave this unique series by Zoe Burton a try.

Book 1:  Darcy Race’s to Love

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Book 2: Georgie’s Redemption

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