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Sons of Chance #.5

Racing Hearts: An Anthology

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She's plotted the course

Car chief Roni Kenway has a plan. She'll save her racing team and (hopefully) convince her crew chief, Judd Timmons, that she's the perfect mix of business and pleasure. But will she coast down Victory Lane...or crash into the wall?

She's in Daytona

Haunted by a sadistic book about last-chance love, Lucy Vanderwal hopes a trip to Daytona will end with love. But when she discovers her "last chance" guy is a lemon, Lucy meets rookie driver Sawyer Patton...and learns even a late starter can be a winner!

And she's behind the wheel!

Driver Megan Carter just got back from a dream vacation--sun, sand and a sizzling fling with Chris Donahue. Now all she needs is to prove herself on the race track. But how can she do that when Chris turns up in her garage--in her real life--and says he's there to stay?

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2010

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About the author

Vicki Lewis Thompson

498 books1,538 followers
New York Times and USA Today bestseller Vicki Lewis Thompson believes love makes the world go around and laughter makes the trip worth taking. The recipient of RWA’s Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award and the author of more than ninety books, Vicki pioneered a new kind of romance hero with Nerd in Shining Armor. Following the success of her nerd stories, Vicki launched a boisterous paranormal series featuring a matchmaking witch and wizard, an ADD dragon named George, and a black cat inspired by her own precocious feline, Eve.

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5 stars
47 (27%)
4 stars
60 (35%)
3 stars
42 (25%)
2 stars
14 (8%)
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5 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Gail.
479 reviews19 followers
February 11, 2020
Cute novellas from Harlequin's authors though none was especially outstanding.
Profile Image for Jane Stewart.
2,462 reviews964 followers
September 13, 2010
Wonderful, laugh out loud Valentines Day, NASCAR romance. Moms: ok for your teenage daughters too.

There are 3 short stories in this book. Two are ok, but one is fabulous. It’s worth buying the book for the one 5-star story.

5 stars for AN OUTSIDE CHANCE by Nancy Warren.

Enjoyable. Delightful. Funny. I was laughing out loud several times. I loved the two characters.

Story Brief:
Lucy is average looking. She dresses fashion show models. She’s good at calming them down. Lucy is 32 and feeling like a spinster. She wants to get married and have children. She meets Dan online and goes to Florida to meet him in person. She is angry that Dan is married and lied to her. She meets Sawyer on the beach when she accidentally punches him as he is jogging by. Sawyer is new to NASCAR and is driving in his first race tomorrow. Lucy has a calming effect on Sawyer which he desperately needs, so he invites her to come to the track with him. Lucy believes Sawyer would never be interested in her because he has always dated celebrities and top models.

Reviewer’s Opinion:
This story had me laughing out loud several times. A couple of times I was doubled over with laughter. That is so rare for me. I highly recommend this book just for this one short story. I love to laugh like that. It made my evening. This is not slapstick funny. The laughter came from comments or events happening that I wasn’t expecting. I can’t wait to try other books by this author.

I loved the characters Lucy and Sawyer. The story is a wonderful example of seeing how a relationship develops. It’s fun watching Sawyer’s actions and reactions to Lucy. Some fun things happened with his family as well.

Data:
Story length: 90 pages. Swearing language: none. Sexual language: none. Sex scenes: none. Setting: current day Daytona Beach, Florida. Copyright: 2010. Genre: humorous contemporary NASCAR romance.

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3 stars for A CALCULATED RISK by Vicki Lewis Thompson.

This was ok, kind of Harlequinish. Nothing really special enough to set it apart from typical romance stories.

Story Brief:
Roni is a mechanic for a NASCAR racing crew. She is in love with the crew chief Judd. Everyone knows this except Judd. She finally decides to fix her hair and dress like a woman to tempt him. He’s tempted but he doesn’t act on it. He thinks they should not be involved because they work together. Meanwhile, Judd and the driver Tucker have an unresolved conflict related to Tucker making a move on a girl Judd dated three months ago. This conflict could hurt their racing success, and the owner wants it resolved. Roni tries to help. There were no sex scenes, but one was referred to – told, not shown.

Data:
Story length: 112 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: none. Sex scenes: none. Setting: current day Daytona Beach, Florida. Copyright: 2010. Genre: NASCAR romance.

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2 ½ stars for THIS TIME AROUND by Dorien Kelly.

Not enough romantic relationship development. Conflicts were predictable.

Story Brief:
Megan is a NASCAR driver who drives for Matt Hammond. Chris is Matt’s son. Chris and Matt had a problem and have not spoken to each other for 10 years. Megan and Chris meet, fall in love, and then separate. Megan doesn’t know Chris is related to Matt. Chris comes to the race track to see Megan.

Reviewer’s Opinion:
We don’t get to see the couple’s first meeting, getting to know each other, and developing a relationship. Megan breaks up with Chris because she thinks their relationship could not work with their lifestyles. This conflict due to Megan’s inaccurate assumptions was not interesting for me. They are both miserable which is where this story begins. From here on, the story conflicts are predictable. Megan is mad at Chris for not telling her he is related to Matt. Chris and Matt have continuing conflicts carried over from prior years. The story was ok, but it was more about resolving these situations than developing and/or experiencing the romantic relationship. There were no sex scenes, but one was referred to – told, not shown.

Data:
Story length: 96 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: none. Sex scenes: none. Setting: current day Daytona Beach, Florida. Copyright: 2010. Genre: NASCAR romance.
Profile Image for Ellen.
670 reviews10 followers
August 20, 2012
I picked this up for the short story by Vicki Lewis Thompson - "A Calculated Risk". Because Roni the heroine of the story is frequently referred to in Thompson's Sons of Chance series.
Sadly this was actually the worst of the novellas. Most of the story is taken up by drama between Judd (Roni's love interest) and Tucker the driver of the car. I like that Thompson picked a crew chief and a mechanic for a NASCAR story, something a little different, but inevitably as the story's focus isn't on the couple it falls flat.

"An Outside Chance" by Nancy Warren
The second story in the anthology is about Lucy a thirty-something who succumbs to a lame dating advice book. She knows it's lame but follows the advice to 'go where the men are' right to Daytona before a race. Unfortunately her internet date is a married man and a total scumbag. In a fit of rage she punches the air, accidentally hitting Sawyer Patton.
Sawyer's a rookie driver about to race for the first time and he finds Lucy a great distraction for his nerves.

The story is sweet and enjoyable.

"This Time Around" by Dorien Kelly
Megan is a rookie driver back from vacation. Only... her vacation fling Chris followed her to Daytona. There's some unnecessary angst between Chris and his father who is a team owner, but Megan and Chris are really cute together.

The anthology on the whole is good if you have a spare afternoon.
Profile Image for Janna.
580 reviews32 followers
February 20, 2010
With only 0.5 flames out of 3 as the heat level this anthology, Racing Hearts, is not my usual read. It’s way less sexually explicit than a lot of the other books I review. This is more of a sweet and cute kind of romance anthology. From the three authors Vicki Lewis Thompson, Nancy Warren and Dorien Kelly, I’ve read some Blaze novels from the first two before and did enjoy those pretty much. Anyone who has ever read a Blaze knows that in those stories love scenes never take place behind closed doors. Sex scenes are fairly explicit and erotic in Blazes. Not so much in this anthology. Ms. Thompson and Ms. Warren can’t be accused of showing any naked body parts, except for an occasional man titty maybe, but it may have been that the bare chest was part of Ms. Kelly’s story, I’m not sure.

Anyway, this collection of three stories wasn't bad, it was pretty okay. Some parts I did like better than others. It's always difficult to rate an anthology, since the different stories are somewhat divers. These three stories do have a few things in common though. First of all they’re all taking place in the setting of the NASCAR races, in Daytona. And second they have the time of the year in common: Valentine’s Day and the opening week of racing season. But every story is a stand-alone read, they don’t share (sub)characters or anything else. Every author brings her own vibe to the story, and has her own writing style. Therefore I’ll talk about each story separately.

A Calculated Risk by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Roni is one of the guys because of her occupation as car chief of a racing team. She has the hots for her crew chief Judd for over a year now. But he doesn’t see her as a woman, she thinks. Only he does so, and thinks she’s attractive, but doesn’t want to date a team member because of the complications a fall out could cause. Besides, Judd is having a conflict with the race car driver of their team, who happens to be Roni’s friend. This conflict is causing a lot of trouble for the team because of the distrust that comes along with it. And Roni tries to mediate. At the same moment as she has decided to dress more feminine and wear make-up to get Judd’s attention. Of course, she was sweet to try to mediate in the conflict and Judd appreciates that a lot. And he starts to notice her kind personality where he first mainly saw her attractiveness and professional skills. What I don’t understand though is how he gets from not willing to date a team member to being okay with it. That's because ‘A Calculated Risk’ is overly well plotted but with little attention for inner conflicts or feelings between H/h. I would have liked to see a bit more of that and I don’t mean a sentence like “Liquid heat poured through her” (p. 100) - only because the guy cups her face in his hands... But the story did give a nice view behind the scenes of a NASCAR team.

An Outside Chance by Nancy Warren
Lucy and Sawyer are quite a cute couple. She’s a funny, happy, average looking girl and he’s a young and hot race car driver. They meet because Lucy sucker punches him by accident in the stomach while he’s jogging. She came to Daytona for a blind date that she met at a NASCAR fan website. And the blind date turned out to be a complete loser. Lucy and Sawyer’s unusual meeting leads to a cup of coffee and a tour on the racing tracks. Sawyer discovers that Lucy can make him forget about his nerves for the race because of her well-natured, light-hearted chitchat and personality. And he wants to keep her around. Luckily for them there’s also a physical heat between them – of which we don’t see much, mind you – plus Sawyer’s family really likes Lucy. I totally hoped that he would see that she was the one for him.
What almost threw me off was a thought Sawyer had about Lucy being on a blind date with someone she met on the internet: “Maybe she had an older brother. But if so what was the guy thinking letting her go on this crazy stunt?” (p 136-137). I couldn’t believe this old-fashioned way of thinking. Luckily, Sawyer turns out to be pretty okay and his eyes open quickly about Lucy. She had me laughing a few times with him, although one time my laugh wasn’t accompanied by his and had more of a mocking undertone. This was when she thinks their first kiss, a mere brushing of the lips, is exceptional: “she’d never experienced a kiss that left her quite so breathless” (p 171). Sorry, I think that’s ridiculous in 2010. But oddly enough it didn’t make me enjoy this story less.

This Time Around by Dorien Kelly
I didn’t know this author’s work like that from the others, but Ms. Kelly’s story turned out to be pretty enjoying. It’s the least old-fashioned of the three, the heroine is the race car driver here and the guy is travelling all over the world for her. Chris wants to see Megan again after they met on the island where he lives and runs a successful celebrity restaurant, and where they spent a few hot weeks together before she left him because of her career. In order to be with her again Chris has not only to hope that she wants to see him, but also has to face up to his stepbrothers and father who turned out to be Megan’s boss. The family complications were worked out very nicely, first they caused some troubles for the couple and in the end everything is peaches again. Imo the father is turning a little quickly from a really big jerk to a peace loving father, but alas he’s not that important. Chris and Megan are and the two of them have nice little conversations, cute loving moments and Chris has an adorable bonding thing going on with Megan’s twin brother.

Overall, this is a sweet collection and if you like to read about NASCAR drivers and mechanics this is certainly a nice anthology. If you like your romance a little spicier or emotional and your coupling more worked out and insightful, these stories might not do it for you.

Rating: 2.5 - 3 stars out of 5.
Heat level 0.5 flames out of 3.
905 reviews9 followers
October 28, 2020
Three cute novellas about romance at the Daytona 500. Two of them have rather feisty rookies female drivers. Some information about what goes on at the race track. Good read.
Profile Image for Kristy Finto.
920 reviews7 followers
July 14, 2022
I really liked all three of these short stories. I love reading Nascar books and this one didn't disappoint. Plus the Valentine's Day aspect was great too. Very enjoyable!
Profile Image for Judy.
3,275 reviews
January 16, 2016
Racing Hearts Analogy
Harlequin NASCAR Library
A Calculated Risk – Vicki Lewis Thompson
After one woman’s actions destroy the team camaraderie another woman tries to repair it. Roni Kenway works for Lovejoy Racing. She has secretly been in love with the crew chief Judd Timmons for two years and she is good friends with the driver Tucker Merritt. Still her main focus is the team and she’s determined to bring the two men back together. And secretly she hopes that Judd will see her as a woman this Valentines Day.

An Outside Chance – Nancy Warren
Lucy Vanderwal felt like a spinster on a shelf. Following the advice from a book for a last chance at love she ends up at Daytona week to meet a fellow NASCAR fan. It went all wrong with the guy she went there to meet, she’d been duped. Big time. Thank goodness for Sawyer Patton the rookie driver she accidentally meets. Her vacation isn’t a total loss after all, and maybe her love life isn’t either.

This Time Around – Dorien Kelly
Megan Carter enjoyed a relaxing vacation before heading for her first NASCAR Sprint Series with Hammond Racing. Her time with Chris Donahue was amazing and she really missed him but leaving him was the right thing to do. Their lives were too different and he had his restaurant far away and she had her racing. If only she could convince her heart she did the right thing. And now she seems to be hallucinating because she could have sworn she just saw Chris here in Daytona far, far away from his island paradise.
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...
Profile Image for Princess Thuy.
704 reviews9 followers
August 9, 2016
Stumbled on this Valentine anthology totally by accident and just grabbed it because I'm a fan of Vicki Lewis Thompson but I was so happy I bought it because I really loved this book. Three stories set during Valentine's day with a NASCAR theme. I don't know much about NASCAR but it was great to get a glimpse into the behind the scenes stuff of this very popular sport.

A Calculated Risk by Vicki Lewis Thompson about Veronica "Roni" a car chief who is secretly in love with her crew chief, Judd, whom she thinks only sees her as one of the guys, or does he? So she attempts to turn their professional relationship into a personal one as well.

An Outside Chance by Nancy Warren is a cute and funny story about 32 year old Lucy. She meets an online date in Daytona for the NASCAR race but he turns out to be a dud and definitely not what he portrayed himself as online. So while venting her frustration on the beach she bumps into rookie driver Sawyer Patton. They befriend each other and then soon friendship turns into love. Very sweet story.

This Time Around by Dorien Kelly is a sigh worth story. What I loved about this story is that the guy was the first one to realize he was in love and he did the chasing after the girl instead of having the girl wait around for the guy to realize he was in love. Another cool thing about this story is that the heroine is the NASSCAR driver.
Profile Image for Tofu Fairy.
174 reviews8 followers
August 22, 2013
I stopped reading this book when I realized I wasn't going to get a sex scene. Sorry if that is lame or shallow, but I read romance books so that I get to see the whole picture. The writing was good/fine/not bad at all! It was just personal appeal for me. I stopped reading at page 72 because the topic was getting boring for me (I hate everything to do with NASCAR and did not realize when getting this book from the library that it was about NASCAR. I was just getting it based on one of my fav author's having written part of it, so that was also my bad). I flipped thru and found a hint of a sex scene but it was a bluff. Then I flipped thru the whole book and nada. So I just decided to stop reading. Like I said, my score is based on what I expect from a Harlequin romance novel. This book just didn't deliver what I was wanting or expecting based on previous experience with this genre or publisher.
Profile Image for Sara.
672 reviews4 followers
August 1, 2010
I don't know why I continue to read short stories when I ususally find myself hoping for more from each story. Oh, wait! It's so that I can find new authors to read about.
Well, this time I discovered Dorien Kelly, who wrote about as good a short story as it could get. The real test, however, will come when I read one of her novels. I really hope that she doesn't dissapoint.
It was also good to see the world of NASCAR take over the world of more authors. And, although I haven't convinced myself to sit down and watch one of the races, I appreciate the impact NASCAR has made on the world so that I can enjoy more books about this high-octane world.
Profile Image for Caro.
1,776 reviews42 followers
November 17, 2011
I liked this book. It's good for a quick read. I would read it again, but more as when I don't have a lot of time but want somethig to read. I liked the dynamics and how the stories were all different as in they included the different roles of nascar. The stories weren't all about the same situation (about a driver). Enjoy
Profile Image for Deb.
120 reviews4 followers
February 21, 2010
A really cute anthology. Enjoyed all the stories. Just very sweet, with really likable characters in all three stories. I'd read VLT and Nancy Warren before and wasn't disappointed. Had never read Dorien Kelly, but will look for her stories in the future.
Profile Image for Danielle.
202 reviews15 followers
May 25, 2011
It was alright....it was really weird to read a Harlequin novel without sex scenes....especially one by Vicki Lewis Thompson....luckily the NASCAR storyline only interrupts the romantic storyline in one of the stories.....
374 reviews
December 15, 2012
Great book! Three short romances that I would be happy to recommend to my daughter. As a friend of mine likes to tease me, she refers to me as the soft romance reader. I don't recall ever reading a story about race car drivers before... fun read and a bit different than my usual stories.
Profile Image for Ann.
349 reviews3 followers
December 9, 2011
liked themm all. the first story is a runn off from the Chance Brothers series
2,524 reviews
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December 13, 2016
i won this book. if you like nascar and romance you will love these 3 stories!
673 reviews9 followers
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July 27, 2011
I love these shorts and I'm so glad harlequin started the nascar books!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

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