Review: The Chase by Erin McCarthy

When racing for the checkered flag...

Kendall Holbrook is determined to make it to the top, even with the challenge of being a woman on the male-dominated racing circuit. She doesn’t have time for romance--especially not with racing rival Evan Monroe, the man who nearly crushed her dreams years ago. Forced into meeting up with him, Kendall is experiencing all those old feelings again--and she can’t deny that they still have more than enough chemistry to set fire to the track.

...expect a few speed bumps.

After getting dropped by his biggest sponsor, Evan is watching his racing season go up in flames. Now, the only replacement available is completely humiliating: a co-sponsorship for his-and-her deodorant with Kendall Holbrook--the girl who once broke his heart. Acting like Kendall doesn’t still get him all hot and bothered is bad enough, but the biggest challenge awaits him on the track--where Evan has to decide if a second chance at love is more important than making it to the finish line…

I have been following Ms. McCarthy's Fast Track series since the beginning. Flat-Out Sexy is still one of my favorite contemporary romances.  The problem I have with this series is that I inhale it, meaning other life and responsibilities don't exist.  I guess that's a good problem to have!  Of the four books thus far in the series, however, I'm sorry to say this is the one I've enjoyed the least.  

Kendall Holbrook felt thrust upon me, as if I was supposed to immediately like her from the get-go.  She's the first female driver in NASCAR, and she's certainly qualified to be in that position, given her knowledge of racing and race cars.  She also has a past with Evan Monroe, so it's only natural theirs would be a rocky reunion.  It seems to me they would have passed one another in the garage or pit areas at various racetracks, despite being in different areas of the NASCAR arena (she in the truck series; he in the Sprint Cup racing series).

Perhaps their reconnection romance would have been better told as a subplot in another Fast Track series book.  There was nothing that really connected me to Kendall and Evan, no learning (or relearning in this case) or watching them grow into their romantic relationship and subsequent marriage. 

I am looking forward to Slow Ride (October 2011), and I'm confident it'll help return my giddy feelings about this series. 

(A very special thank you to Berkley Sensation, who provided me with an ARC of The Chase.)