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Race Against Love
"Place high, or win, or else..."
Toni knew what her father would do if she failed to come first--or nearly first--in the cross-Britain motor rally. He had once been a driver, and now Toni was his successor. She had to be good.
That was why having Adam York as rally navigator was so irritating. What did he know about racing? Just because he was her sponsor didn't mean he could help her win.
Toni cringed at the thought of spending days cooped up in a car alone with Adam--but she was in for a few surprises!
Toni knew what her father would do if she failed to come first--or nearly first--in the cross-Britain motor rally. He had once been a driver, and now Toni was his successor. She had to be good.
That was why having Adam York as rally navigator was so irritating. What did he know about racing? Just because he was her sponsor didn't mean he could help her win.
Toni cringed at the thought of spending days cooped up in a car alone with Adam--but she was in for a few surprises!
186 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1980
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 23, 2017
I was pleasantly surprised by this story. Like Naksed, I was not impressed with the opening since SW has used the ‘stealing your parking space’ meet cute before. But I kept reading and couldn’t stop once it was revealed that the elderly mechanic that accompanied the race car driver heroine to her pitch with the TV tycoon hero was not a benign figure and that the heroine’s ex-Formula One racer father was a truly horrible person.
Seems the father resented the heroine from birth. His poor wife kept trying for a son. When the heroine was 8 years-old her mother died in childbirth. The father had a race the day after his wife’s death, was distracted by his grief, and was in an accident that paralyzed him. Since then he has blamed the heroine for all of his loss and the only way she can make it up to him is if she becomes a Formula One driver and drives his prototype car in a race. It’s pretty twisted, but the poor heroine really thinks her purpose in life is to atone for her father’s mistakes and grief.
The heroine is still working on her qualifications to be a Formula One driver, and this rally race is the next step. She needs the hero’s company as a sponsor and doesn’t think she’ll get it because she stole the hero’s parking space and was very rude to him. He surprises her, though. His company will sponsor her if they can make a documentary about it and if she will accept him as her navigator during the nine-day race.
The heroine is not happy with the hero, a novice, for inserting himself into the race, but she has no choice. Spoiler: hero is not a novice. He was in rally races in the US, which is why she has never heard of him.
The heroine is very antagonistic toward the hero and I was surprised that I didn’t hate her for being such a shrew. I think SW was able to pull off a cranky heroine because she showed the heroine’s vulnerabilities in striking ways. (The horrible telegram her father sent. The terrible fear she felt when she finally drove a Formula One car, which she couldn’t express to anyone. The sheer courage and quick wits it took to drive her car up an embankment in order to avoid a young boy in the road.)
The hero in this was great. It was obvious from the first that he was smitten with the heroine, gave her a lot of rope to assert herself, but he was no pushover. His insistence on the full roll cage (for the Ford Escort – LOL – I had one of those boxy monstrosities in the 1980’s – complete with vinyl bench seats) and the time he drove off without her were fair and measured pushback. The heroine had a huge chip on her shoulder about controlling men and the hero worked hard to figure her out.
What was great about the romance was that SW didn’t give either one a personality transplant. The hero was a very secure guy and was quietly competent. The heroine was driven, paranoid about men, but also disciplined. It was this last quality that helped her open her eyes to what a good team they made what a good guy the hero was.
I don’t know how some readers will feel about the hero making sure the heroine doesn’t come in first in the rally race. He did it because he didn’t want the heroine to kill herself trying to drive Formula Ones. Until the hero knew the real reason for the heroine’s ambition he was all set to support her – but once he knew the twisted atonement factor – he called a halt. In this fever dream of a story, it was a very jarring bit of reality – but it showed just how much the hero cared. That the heroine is relieved that the hero intervened with her father (off page) showed just how much of this was not her dream but her nightmare.
I would have liked an epilogue because the story ends quite abruptly. The heroine was a fine driver and I wondered if she would keep up the rally racing. The H/h both enjoyed it and it would have been a nice postscript to have them win a race that was motivated by the sheer love of the sport.
Seems the father resented the heroine from birth. His poor wife kept trying for a son. When the heroine was 8 years-old her mother died in childbirth. The father had a race the day after his wife’s death, was distracted by his grief, and was in an accident that paralyzed him. Since then he has blamed the heroine for all of his loss and the only way she can make it up to him is if she becomes a Formula One driver and drives his prototype car in a race. It’s pretty twisted, but the poor heroine really thinks her purpose in life is to atone for her father’s mistakes and grief.
The heroine is still working on her qualifications to be a Formula One driver, and this rally race is the next step. She needs the hero’s company as a sponsor and doesn’t think she’ll get it because she stole the hero’s parking space and was very rude to him. He surprises her, though. His company will sponsor her if they can make a documentary about it and if she will accept him as her navigator during the nine-day race.
The heroine is not happy with the hero, a novice, for inserting himself into the race, but she has no choice. Spoiler: hero is not a novice. He was in rally races in the US, which is why she has never heard of him.
The heroine is very antagonistic toward the hero and I was surprised that I didn’t hate her for being such a shrew. I think SW was able to pull off a cranky heroine because she showed the heroine’s vulnerabilities in striking ways. (The horrible telegram her father sent. The terrible fear she felt when she finally drove a Formula One car, which she couldn’t express to anyone. The sheer courage and quick wits it took to drive her car up an embankment in order to avoid a young boy in the road.)
The hero in this was great. It was obvious from the first that he was smitten with the heroine, gave her a lot of rope to assert herself, but he was no pushover. His insistence on the full roll cage (for the Ford Escort – LOL – I had one of those boxy monstrosities in the 1980’s – complete with vinyl bench seats) and the time he drove off without her were fair and measured pushback. The heroine had a huge chip on her shoulder about controlling men and the hero worked hard to figure her out.
What was great about the romance was that SW didn’t give either one a personality transplant. The hero was a very secure guy and was quietly competent. The heroine was driven, paranoid about men, but also disciplined. It was this last quality that helped her open her eyes to what a good team they made what a good guy the hero was.
I don’t know how some readers will feel about the hero making sure the heroine doesn’t come in first in the rally race. He did it because he didn’t want the heroine to kill herself trying to drive Formula Ones. Until the hero knew the real reason for the heroine’s ambition he was all set to support her – but once he knew the twisted atonement factor – he called a halt. In this fever dream of a story, it was a very jarring bit of reality – but it showed just how much the hero cared. That the heroine is relieved that the hero intervened with her father (off page) showed just how much of this was not her dream but her nightmare.
I would have liked an epilogue because the story ends quite abruptly. The heroine was a fine driver and I wondered if she would keep up the rally racing. The H/h both enjoyed it and it would have been a nice postscript to have them win a race that was motivated by the sheer love of the sport.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2013
4 Stars ~ Toni has lived everyday of her life with the knowledge that she doesn't measure up to the son her mother died trying to give her father. It had been a firey crash that had left her father in a wheelchair and ended his Formula One career. Now Toni's had some of her own success as a driver, though not yet in the Formula class. Seeking a corporate sponsor for the British cross-country rally, Toni approaches Adam, the director of a large television conglomerate. Adam's willing to fund the rally, but there's a condition; Toni must accept him as her navigator. Toni views Adam as a man who uses his power to get what he wants and cynically she spurns his every attempt to get closer to her. But slowly as the tension of the rally builds, so does the tension between them. When an accident on the route nearly forces them out of the race, Adam forces Toni to tell him what is pushing her so hard to succeed.
Ms. Wentworth sets Toni and Adam on a turbulent ride of discovery. Adam was smitten with Toni from the moment he set eyes on her, but he realizes that someone has turned her against men and he must tread carefully. All her life, Toni has strived to earn her father's respect. Driving and winning is the only way she knows how to get his attention. I was thoroughly proud of Adam and the way he patiently let Toni come to her own senses and yet managed to protect her from her own desperation to win. I loved the racing setting and found it the perfect background for Toni and Adam's battle of wits. Ms. Wentworth's books are always a pleasure to read and this one so far is my favourite of hers.
Ms. Wentworth sets Toni and Adam on a turbulent ride of discovery. Adam was smitten with Toni from the moment he set eyes on her, but he realizes that someone has turned her against men and he must tread carefully. All her life, Toni has strived to earn her father's respect. Driving and winning is the only way she knows how to get his attention. I was thoroughly proud of Adam and the way he patiently let Toni come to her own senses and yet managed to protect her from her own desperation to win. I loved the racing setting and found it the perfect background for Toni and Adam's battle of wits. Ms. Wentworth's books are always a pleasure to read and this one so far is my favourite of hers.
March 16, 2019
"Race Against Love" is the story of Toni and Adam.
Wow that was an adrenaline rush!
Plot: Our protagonist Toni is a female race car driver in a male dominated motor rally world, and earns her living doing leg and eye modelling. Used to discrimination, she does not expect someone like Adam York, owner of one of the biggest advertising firms to take her on, especially when she stole his parking spot and verbally lashed at him!!
Conflict: But not only does he sponsor her, but he always insists on being her navigator! Why, Toni is furious. What does he know about cars? Having grown up in an antagonistic single parent household, where racing is the only validation she ever got from her disapproving father. Hence she has made rallies her life, and developed antipathy towards men, having callous attitude of using her feminine wiles to get what she wants, and then discarding them. While her roommate has taken a liking to him, she cannot tolerate Adam. And Adam seems immune to her charms too..isn't he?
Resolution: Extremely witty and hostile banter between the two throughout the book, where they play mean tricks on each other (i.e. the h drives crazy to give the hero motion sickness, he abandons her at the top of a cliff in retaliation). Their wordplay culminates on the last leg of the rally, where a lot happens: body numbing fatigue, severe exhaustion, emotional overload, bruising kisses, slap and a dramatic resolution to the book with realization of love.
Insight: So this was written in the 80's, and it's ideas of feminism are a bit dated. I appreciate the hardworking, yet cranky and unlikable heroines Ms. Wentworth writes, but it takes a hard man to tame their cattiness. The heroine here was extremely jaded because of her family life, and put on a mean face infront of others. She did not ignore her femininity, and felt no shame in modeling. It's only when the hero entered her life, and challenged all her perceptions, she was shaken to the core. He made her face her insecurities, and in the end emerged victor when he made her realize her inhibitions. Yet, I forgive this book as it was altogether a different era, and it kept me hooked from page one, all the way to the end.
Angst: Minimal
Enjoyed it!
Safe/SWME
4/5
Wow that was an adrenaline rush!
Plot: Our protagonist Toni is a female race car driver in a male dominated motor rally world, and earns her living doing leg and eye modelling. Used to discrimination, she does not expect someone like Adam York, owner of one of the biggest advertising firms to take her on, especially when she stole his parking spot and verbally lashed at him!!
Conflict: But not only does he sponsor her, but he always insists on being her navigator! Why, Toni is furious. What does he know about cars? Having grown up in an antagonistic single parent household, where racing is the only validation she ever got from her disapproving father. Hence she has made rallies her life, and developed antipathy towards men, having callous attitude of using her feminine wiles to get what she wants, and then discarding them. While her roommate has taken a liking to him, she cannot tolerate Adam. And Adam seems immune to her charms too..isn't he?
Resolution: Extremely witty and hostile banter between the two throughout the book, where they play mean tricks on each other (i.e. the h drives crazy to give the hero motion sickness, he abandons her at the top of a cliff in retaliation). Their wordplay culminates on the last leg of the rally, where a lot happens: body numbing fatigue, severe exhaustion, emotional overload, bruising kisses, slap and a dramatic resolution to the book with realization of love.
Insight: So this was written in the 80's, and it's ideas of feminism are a bit dated. I appreciate the hardworking, yet cranky and unlikable heroines Ms. Wentworth writes, but it takes a hard man to tame their cattiness. The heroine here was extremely jaded because of her family life, and put on a mean face infront of others. She did not ignore her femininity, and felt no shame in modeling. It's only when the hero entered her life, and challenged all her perceptions, she was shaken to the core. He made her face her insecurities, and in the end emerged victor when he made her realize her inhibitions. Yet, I forgive this book as it was altogether a different era, and it kept me hooked from page one, all the way to the end.
Angst: Minimal
Enjoyed it!
Safe/SWME
4/5
June 5, 2019
"Place high, or win, or else..."
Toni knew what her father would do if she failed to come first--or nearly first--in the cross-Britain motor rally. He had once been a driver, and now Toni was his successor. She had to be good.
That was why having Adam York as rally navigator was so irritating. What did he know about racing? Just because he was her sponsor didn't mean he could help her win.
Toni cringed at the thought of spending days cooped up in a car alone with Adam--but she was in for a few surprises!
Toni knew what her father would do if she failed to come first--or nearly first--in the cross-Britain motor rally. He had once been a driver, and now Toni was his successor. She had to be good.
That was why having Adam York as rally navigator was so irritating. What did he know about racing? Just because he was her sponsor didn't mean he could help her win.
Toni cringed at the thought of spending days cooped up in a car alone with Adam--but she was in for a few surprises!
July 16, 2019
I am cleaning out my keeper books, and ran across this Harlequin Presents from 1981. Time to re-read it and see if I still want to keep it... I do not. The writing is ok and the story moved quickly (I can do a Harlequin in under 3 hours), but the characters were unlikable and it was difficult to believe they fell in love. Toni was pretty bratty the whole time, although she had her reasons. Adam was very "sardonic" and amazingly tolerant of her behavior, and i do not understand why he said he fell in love with her. Toni kept wondering what qualifications Adam had to be her navigator, and its funny to think the internet wasn't available then to just google him! Not a lot of sex in the book, just several kisses (some a bit hard and bruising by the description) and a "mild slap" when she told a lie about her motives in the end of the book. Interesting to re-read from a grown up perspective, and no longer a keeper.
May 20, 2022
Antonia - aka Toni - was desperate to have a sponser for herself for R.C.C Rally Race because it would mean great deal for her crippled father who was an ex-rally driver. She dreaded the moment when she would drive her father's own invented Formlla One car, yet she was more terrified of the moment he would discover she was not ready to drive it. Yet, she tried her best to please her strict father.
In her way to the interview with Adam York whom she wanted to give her a sponsorship, she tricked her way to a parking lot that was already taken by another driver. Unfortunatelly, she discovered later that the driver she offended in the parking lot was Adam York himself and so she had not a slim of a chance to gain that sponsorship and was totally rude to him when she thought he was toying with her to get his own revenge. To her shock, though, Adam York agreed to sponsor her, but in one condition! She has to accept him as her race director and therefore accept to be close to him no matter what!
Fine as a stroy, but lacks real angust and romantic notions.
In her way to the interview with Adam York whom she wanted to give her a sponsorship, she tricked her way to a parking lot that was already taken by another driver. Unfortunatelly, she discovered later that the driver she offended in the parking lot was Adam York himself and so she had not a slim of a chance to gain that sponsorship and was totally rude to him when she thought he was toying with her to get his own revenge. To her shock, though, Adam York agreed to sponsor her, but in one condition! She has to accept him as her race director and therefore accept to be close to him no matter what!
Fine as a stroy, but lacks real angust and romantic notions.
January 24, 2010
Rating: 3.5/5
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews