Will Ride With Me Ignite Your Ultimate Romance Obsession?
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
When I think about the best contemporary romance reads—the stories that slip under your skin, rev the pulse, and nudge life’s volume knob higher. Ride With Me surges to the front of the grid. It’s the kind of modern love story that reminds us why we keep a “favorite contemporary romance” shelf. Why our social feeds overflow with #romancereads chatter, and why we still chase that heady rush of first-page chemistry. Buckle up, because the track ahead is full of surprising turns. And I’m just getting warmed up before diving into my full opinion on this irresistible ride.
Title: Ride With Me (Cross the Line, 2)
Author: Simone Soltani
Publisher: Berkley
Format: eBook
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Release Date: May 20, 2025
Pages: 448
Star Rating: 4.5 stars
Spice Rating: 1 chili pepper
Ride With Me… A Deep Dive into Simone Soltani’s F1 Love Story
When a book rockets straight onto my “best contemporary romance reads” shelf, I know I’ve found something special. Ride With Me by bestselling author Simone Soltani delivers that jolt of adrenaline and tenderness I crave, starting with a single wild night in Vegas that neither Thomas Maxwell-Brown nor Stella Baldwin will ever fully remember. Lines throughout the book sum up the chaos perfectly: a joint bachelor/bachelorette blowout, a glitter blur chapel, two stunned strangers clutching a valid marriage license.
The next morning, reality slams into both newlyweds. Thomas—golden retriever, sweet but newly toxic in the tabloids after an off-hand wish for a rival’s crash—sees a publicity lifeline. Stella, still reeling from the viral clip of her drunken rant after being left at the altar, needs a distraction the size of Nevada. Staying married feels like the perfect solution, even if the thought terrifies them both.
Thomas isn’t the brooding stereotype romance fans expect. He’s open, eager, and just insecure enough to feel breathtakingly real. His public smile hides the guilt that keeps him up at night. Thousands of social?media followers dissecting every misstep, sponsors whispering about morals clauses, the weight of a wish he can’t take back. Beside him, Stella is fierce and dazzling, a little wild yet meticulous about the dessert empire she’s building from the ground up. She refuses to be anyone’s token wife, and her determination to stand on her own gives the story its crackling spine.
“Heaven help my pussy full of cobwebs.”
Their chemistry sparks instantly, but the romance smolders. Page after page of banter that left me giggling, swooning, and outright grinning into the night. Soltani’s slow burn lets the attraction bloom in stolen moments: baking together in the outfitted to Stella’s perfect equipment provided by Thomas just to make her happy, realizing that she wears gold jewelry, the lingering touches, and brushing of the lips. Each scene is a reminder that tenderness can coexist with the roar of engines and the glare of flashbulbs.
For a romance driven by sky-high chemistry, the slow burn sometimes idled a lap too long for my taste. I respect Stella’s no sex rule—and Thomas’s gentlemanly insistence on honoring every boundary she sets—but when the sexual tension is cranked to redline, a single payoff scene feels underpowered. We watch her perch on his lap in a strip club barely four hours after they meet, his hands skimming bare skin while neon lights flicker, yet pages and pages later, they’re still idling in emotional neutral. The prolonged restraint makes sense for Stella’s healing, but with heat established so early, the narrative needed one or two more intimate moments to let that spark finally, fully ignite.
At 448 pages, the novel could feel like a marathon, yet I never wanted to unbuckle. Soltani’s prose is cinematic—every gearshift on track mirrors an emotional lurch off it. When Thomas edges his car into the perfect apex, you feel his heart align, too. When Stella pitches a bold brand strategy, you sense her reclaiming the confidence siphoned away by her runaway groom. A few laps around Stella’s self-doubt might test a reader’s patience, but each repeat adds torque to her final, cathartic surge forward.
“Did you just spank me?” “That was nothing more than a love tap. You’ll know when I spank you.”
Miscommunication crops up—sometimes maddening, always human. Thomas learns that support isn’t fixing someone’s problems; it’s believing they can fix their own. Stella discovers vulnerability isn’t weakness; it’s the throttle that makes genuine intimacy possible. By the time she admits, “You feel like home, and that terrifies me more than any empty church aisle ever did,” I was head over heels for them both.
Thomas’s arc, from public villain to man determined to race with integrity, is satisfying and relatable. Stella’s journey, clawing back joy and agency, is even more powerful. Watching her stand on the grid in her perfect heels, cheering him on—equal parts marketing stunt and personal triumph—made me tear up, because it captures the story’s core: messy beginnings can bloom into something fiercely, defiantly beautiful.
Yet not every gear clicks cleanly; some connections don’t quite land. The narrative repeatedly hints that Thomas’s rivals might be cheating their way to the podium, but the thread fizzles. Raising often enough to feel crucial, never resolved enough to feel complete. Leaving a stray gust of exhaust in an otherwise polished race.
“Let a girl have a sip of her drink before we start with the self-hate, damn.”
Readers skimming mini reviews on social media or hunting books for their next book haul will find this love story hard to resist. Yes, the pacing lingers. Yes, the missteps frustrate. But the payoff—two flawed people choosing each other and themselves—is worth every heartbeat. Ride With Me reminded me why I adore contemporary romance. It’s a genre that lets us watch ordinary fears transform into extraordinary courage.
Closing the book, I felt buoyant, giddy, and a little bereft. My favorite sign that a story has taken up permanent residence in my chest. Whether you’re an F1 obsessive, a sucker for accidental marriages, or simply craving a romance that marries high stakes glitter with genuine emotional grit, let Thomas and Stella take the wheel. They might just steer you toward your next unforgettable read.
Thank you to Berkley Romance for including me in this blog tour and providing me with a copy of Ride With Me for review.
Ride With Me releases on May 20, 2025. Don’t forget to shop your local indie bookstore and grab a copy.
Read This Next:
Urban Fantasy 101: Your Questions Answered + Book Recs You’ll Love
Black Authors Who Will Emotionally Wreck You (and You’ll Love It)
Beautiful Setting, Forgettable Romance? All Rhodes Lead Here Review
When He Falls First: Romance Novels That Capture True Love
Is Beautiful Devil Worth the Hype? Here’s My Take
7 Reasons to Break Free from Your Usual Reads