Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Racing into Love 
SERIES: Cut to the Feeling #1
AUTHOR: Noah Steele
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 310 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 15, 2019
BLURB:
Aiden Reed is stuck in a major boy rut.
Every date ends in something worse than disaster—boredom.
That is, until star racer Derrek Luna crashes the end of a terrible date at Aiden’s cozy bookstore. Derrek’s confident charm and killer good looks throw Aiden’s quiet, cautious world into chaos when he says he wants a shot at Aiden’s heart.
Derrek is sure Aiden is different. He’s sure Aiden won’t just vanish without a word. Not like the others did. But the closer Derrek gets to the man who charmed him without a word from across a crowded room, the more his life on the track threatens to keep them apart.
Aiden is ready to take the risk—he thinks.
What if Aiden’s panic attacks scare Derrek away?
What if Derrek’s ghosts come back to haunt him?
…what if it doesn’t matter because they’re already in love?
REVIEW:
Aiden Reed is a bookshop owner with a crippling fear of cars. Derrek Luna is a race-car driver with a long list of lovers only out for his money. When the two meet, it is clear there is something between them, but with Aiden’s fears, and Derrek’s past, can the two ever it make it in the real world?
This is a Romance, so of course the answer is yes. But boy are you in for one hell of a ride to get there.
I’m not joking about that, either. This story is, in no universe, good. The writing is formulaic. The characters are hardly fleshed out, at all. And the “bad guy” is so obvious as to have you rolling your eyes every time they are on screen. But, my god, did I have a hard time looking away from this beautiful trainwreck. If a story is bad, I usually have an excruciating time reading the book, but despite its many (many) flaws, I could not put this book down. I don’t get it, really, but this book was lot of fun to read.
Do I recommend others pick it up?
…Yeah, no.
If you happen to read it, and end up enjoying it, I’m thrilled. You had a good reading experience, and I’m fully behind that. I had a good one, too. But, sweet Thor, this read like a book that was in no way ready for publishing. Not in a technical sense. I didn’t see formatting or grammatical errors. But everything about the plotting, the characters, the dialogue…it all felt half-baked.
It was like Aiden’s PTSD episodes were based off depictions of flashbacks and breakdowns from TV comedies. Aiden’s first PTSD episode culminated with him screaming and running out of the room, and I dropped my kindle because I was laughing so hard at the mental image. It was so incredibly over the top. But not over the top enough that it seemed like the author was in on the joke. This wasn’t a dark comedy, where everyone is supposed to laugh at the horrible stuff on page. No, I honestly think the author intended this to be serious, but failed in creating characters that felt real, or in any way grounded.
Everything in this story is so over the top. Emotions are exaggerated to the point of absurdity. Who after ONE DATE gets huffy over the thought that the other person might not automatically think they are boyfriends now? At this point in the story, I’m not entirely sure if they knew each other’s last names. I think you might be moving a bit fast there, Derrek. And what is worse, who, after TWO DATES, is telling that person that they love them? It’s been like a week. Have you even had more than three conversations? I’m with Olly on this one, “how can you love someone you don’t even know?” And why, why, for the love of humanity, why, is everyone in this book prone to breaking down in tears at the least provocation? I’m not one to stand by that whole “real men don’t cry” bullshit, but I think a good portion of this book’s cast could do with some therapy, or just a fucking vacation, if their emotions are so frayed by life that the smallest thing could make them break down in tears. I don’t want to jump to conclusions or anything, but it started to feel like that might have been the only way the author had to show emotion in these characters, and relayed on it way to heavily.
And then there is Diana. Sweet, sweet, Diana. Oh, lord. It’s like if you distilled the essence that was the prototypical Gay Romance Bitch, mixed it with a half-ton of crazy, and then added high heels. I do believe the words “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” left my lips near the end of this story. I’m not going to spoil it, for those few brave souls who might ignore my words of wisdom about avoiding this story…but it was magnificent. For all the very wrong reasons. I kinda have to admire Noah Steele for being that certain that they could pull off what was a deeply, deeply, absurd plot twist at the end there. I mean, they failed, but they also tried, and I salute them.
All said, it wasn’t the worst couple hours I’ve ever spent reading, before. I also can’t say I’d push anyone else to read it, though. But, hey, if you do read it, I’d absolutely love to talk to you about the whole beautiful mess, because in all honestly I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so paradoxically amused and incredulous in equal measure.
RATING: 
BUY LINK: