On the one hand, Formula 1 is a great sport for a romance – fast cars, hot guys, jet-setting around the globe to exclusive and expensive locations. Having watched F1 on and off since I was a child, the backdrop of the story felt familiar to me. The little details (names of corners, opinions of tracks) that June Moonbridge dropped in make the setting feel very real, despite the luxurious, fairytale-like settings. The info dump at the very beginning did drag me out of the story, though. I don’t think anyone needs that detailed a rundown of Formula 1 when sitting down to enjoy a romance novel.
For its part, the romance between Desiree and Lorcan is a classic. It grew from an inauspicious initial meeting on a scenic route through slowly growing feelings marred by miscommunication and fear to an intense climax at breakneck speed. I knew the happy ending was at the end of the road, but there were quite a few twists and curves before we got there.
Therein sits my problem with this novel: the mystery aspect. If it had just been a romance, I think I would have enjoyed it far better, but it felt like two stories mashed into one. As well as falling in love, the heroine is searching for her son, kidnapped several years ago as she was walking with him in Paris.
I know all novels require a certain level of suspension of disbelief, but I struggle to accept that the police would look at a distraught woman with an empty pram and conclude that she is crazy, rather than believe her when she says her son was kidnapped. This just seemed like a throwaway line to ramp up the drama for a paragraph or two.
The introduction of the mystery – references to her masquerade and ‘three years ago’ felt rather heavy-handed and continued to be so throughout the story. She would make vague references then drop another info dump or jump into a flashback. When the kidnapping was ‘solved’ at the very end of the book I was left with more questions than I started with and no sense of satisfaction. Desiree might just want her son back, but I want to know who kidnapped him and how he was found. The ending felt rushed and I honestly don’t know why nobody was pressing charges.
Desiree is an unreliable narrator, prone to zoning out of the conversation and getting caught up in her own head. This leaves the reader in a constant state of confusion as to what is really going on and is not helped by her own behaviour (selfish and bratty) or that of those around her (controlling and uncommunicative). There are multiple conversations that are described or referenced in retrospect rather than experienced which I would have liked to see played out.
I did enjoy the perfumery – it was clear that Desiree enjoyed and was good at her work, so I would’ve like to see more of that, rather than the indication that she was abandoning the boutique she’d put so much work into.
Despite the problems above, after a slow start, I did get pulled into the story and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy the ride. The author has a knack for plot but the execution felt a bit lacking in the end.
Three confused stars
I received a copy of this book from the author through ReadingAlley in exchange for an honest review.
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