After her husband Julian dies, Isabel “Izzy” O’Sullivan still wants a baby, so she goes to the Swiss fertility clinic where they planned to do the procedure due to Julian being sterile. Enter Grayson Koh, F1’s recently retired billionaire superstar and Julian’s best friend to stop her plans. Why? Because the sample she’s about to use in the fertility process is his, not Julian’s!
Instead, Grayson comes with an outrageous proposal: Izzy will have a baby—his baby—by doing it the traditional way. Which would be easy thanks to their intense attraction. The only thing they have to do is keeping the process as emotionless as possible. But, what will happen when their baby deal turns into something deeper?
Isabel and Grayson are very much alike. Both come from humble origins, had to face hard challenges in life and have huge commitment issues. As a foster kid with dyslexia, Izzy has abandonment issues; that means she won’t let someone in easily. Her disastrous marriage proved her she can’t trust anyone. As a child from a working class’ family, Grayson had to work extra hard to be recognized as one of the best F1 drivers in the industry. With recognition comes the invasion of his privacy; that’s where his playboy persona takes the reins. I wanted to see more about Grayson’s background because I wanted to understand him more. As for Izzy, I loved her dyslexia isn’t defines her as a character.
As for their romance? I truly believed it. They were attracted to each other since they met, which was before Izzy married Julian, I have to say. They fought against that attraction for years but they had to give in because it was too strong to deny it anymore.
We don’t have a lot of secondary characters here. That said, Julian, even as a silent character (remember that he’s dead), is all over the place. Some of the conflicts run around Izzy and Julian’s marriage, after all. Also, we have Astrid, Isabel’s former boss and friend. There are a few other characters by mentioning, which are good for the story, especially because they don’t overshadow the main characters.
The biggest asset of this story is Ms. Cinelli’s research work. Although I wanted more about the F1 world in it (I’m a huge sports fan), what we have in the book tells the reader the author really knows what she’s talking about. Also, the scenes have perfect transitions. Nevertheless, there were some scenes that look out of place, while others needed more context to be part of the book. Besides that, the writing is good and speaks about a realistic and mature romance. Something I never understood? Why the title of the book tells us about a forbidden romance. Yes, Izzy’s late husband was Grayson’s best friend, but Julian’s no longer in the picture and Izzy and Grayson are both single…
Ms. Cinelli did a good, solid start for the The Fast Track Billionaires’ Club trilogy with this book. However, the story has some subplots that felt unfinished, in my opinion. That’s a bit conflicting for me if you consider the fact that, although the book is part of a trilogy, Izzy and Grayson’s story is a standalone. Looking forward for the next installment of the trilogy. I have the feeling it will be great.
ARC given by Amanda Cinelli & Harlequin Books via Netgalley. Thanks for your trust.
About the Book
Release Date: January 23, 2024
ASIN: B0C4LNCWT3
Published By: Harlequin Presents
Series: The Fast Track Billionaires’ Club #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
eBook, 189 pages
To make her dreams come true, she must make a deal with the most off-limits man of all… You won’t be able to put down this dramatic pregnancy romance by Amanda Cinelli!
She’s totally forbidden…
and scandalously pregnant!
This New Year, Izzy O’Sullivan has one resolution: to conceive her late husband’s baby. Her plans are derailed when Grayson Koh crashes her fertility appointment to tell her that won’t be possible…
If desiring Izzy from afar was torturous for former racing car driver Grayson, then having to reveal his best friend’s deception is unbearable. Yet having her this close again unlocks something primal in Grayson… And knowing Izzy feels it too compels the cynical billionaire to make a scandalous offer: whisk her to Singapore and give her the family she wants!
From Harlequin Presents: Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.
Read all The Fast Track Billionaires’ Club books:
Book 1: The Bump in Their Forbidden Reunion
About the Author
Amanda was born into a large Irish-Italian family and raised in the leafy green suburbs of County Dublin, Ireland. After dabbling in a few different career paths, she finally found her calling as an author after winning an online writing competiton with her first finished novel. With three small daughters at home, her days are usually spent doing school runs, changing diapers and writing romance. She still considers herself unbelievably lucky to be able to call this her day-job.
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