Series Spotlight: Racing to Love by Amy Gregory

Series Spotlight is a new weekly feature here on Once Upon a Series, where I will be highlighting a series that I would either like to read if I get a chance to, or would like to finish reading at some point. Hopefully it will give you all some ideas for other series to read... or if you've read something similar that you think other fans of the series featured would like, then please do mention it in the comments.

My pick this week is Racing to Love by Amy Carter. A contemporary romance series based around the world of Motocross that brings together sweet and sexy in a combination that will leave you melting around the edges. If you haven't read this series yet, what are you waiting for?

1. Carter's Treasure

 Molly West had everything, beauty, brains, and a career in the limelight.

In a sport that was male driven, she was often surrounded by men. She ignored first the boys, and as she got older, the men.

That is until she walked into the pits.

From the moment he saw her, Carter had an overwhelming need to protect her.

He learned a long time ago that gut feelings are almost never wrong.

If you love a contemporary romance that is both sweet and sexy, Racing to Love ~ Carter’s Treasure is the perfect read for you!

2. Jesse's Soul

Jesse Frost lived the life most men would kill for. Fast bikes, fame, money, and looks. He hadn’t thought much about those things throughout his career. He was just an easy-going guy from Texas who always worked hard for everything he got in life. He’d been the shy guy in school, so when the prom queen found him years later, he thought he had finally made it. Her mirage, however, left him empty and certain there was no one that wanted him just for the man inside.

Emery Kincaid has a last name that is revered in their world. A woman in a man’s world and succeeding, Irish through and through, she has the temper and sass to boot and a reputation that precedes her. She has remained strong because she’s had no other choice. The pain she masks runs deep and hiding it is the only way she can survive. 

Thrown together and forced to be in each other’s space day in and day out, sparks start to fly—from chemistry and the brakes she tries desperately to throw on. Without a doubt, Jesse thinks he’s found her, but the girl that stole his heart has a stubborn streak a country mile wide.

What Jesse doesn’t know could break his heart. Hiding her true feelings for him is the only way for Emery to protect him and in turn—herself. She barely made it out the first time. If she let Jesse in and he walked away…well, that’s a risk her heart can’t take.

2.5. Brody's Love

Erin was truly the girl next door. Sweet, fun, and easy-going. The epitome of the old cliché, but added to it…her kiss-me brown eyes. Growing up, they were only separated by a stream and a few hundred acres. Brody finally noticed her when they were both fourteen. He fell in love a handful of years later. Completely in love, they’d been together since.

He knew her inside and out, knew her heart, knew her body. Or so he thought.

What he initiated as a playful lover’s game earlier in the morning had flipped a one-eighty. What he hadn’t expected was that his kind and gentle Erin would up the ante.

Suddenly, Brody finds himself playing with fire.

3. Eli's Honor

How can you miss something you never had?

Retired pro motocross racer Eli Hunter had it all. That’s how he chose to look at things. A sport he loved, one that his entire world revolved around. He had been catapulted to rock star status and Eli drank in every minute of it. He loved the bikes, the tracks, the practices, sweat, hard work, training, dirt, rain, hundred degree heat, Eli loved it all. Even…when it almost killed him.

Coming full circle, Eli now was part owner and trainer at The Noland SFH Racing Academy. Spending his time teaching future racers about a sport he adored, helping to form them into what he once was. The academy saved him from himself, saved him from a depression that could have sent him on a freefall. For the last three years Eli focused on two things, the academy and his broken body. Spending all day, every day building both up, and thinking of nothing else. The end result, the school had taken off, and he could walk. 

It wasn’t until he sat across from a prospective student and his young widowed mother that Eli realized exactly what had been missing in his otherwise complete life. Eli had been witness to his best friends Carter and Jesse, watching as they found women that made them whole. He hadn’t had time to miss that for himself, not when walking again had been so important. Not when proving the doctors wrong by putting his butt back in the seat of a bike had been monumental.

But now? Those long auburn curls and shy violet eyes were the answer to his unspoken prayers.

Review: Carter's Treasure by Amy Gregory (Racing to Love #1)

Publisher - Sapphire Star Publishing
Publication Date - 6th June 2012
Genre -  Contemporary Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it


Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - From the outside, Molly West had everything, beauty, brains, and a career she’d retired from not once, but twice. Being in the limelight and in a sport that was male driven, she was often surrounded men. She ignored first the boys, and as she got older, the men. Unfortunately, they were all the same, all after one thing, and she had absolutely no use for them. Her cold shoulder and patented not a chance in hell look were usually enough to get her point across. Occasionally, she had to resort to her sass—and her brother.

Molly had no plans in changing what was a perfectly good system. That is until she walked into the pits. When she stood toe-to-toe with the sex in jeans, she knew right then and there that the man her adoptive mother always told her was out there, was now standing right in front of her.

 

Carter Sterling had traveled the racing circuit since he was a boy. He’d heard all the old standbys, She’s out there somewhere, love comes along when you least expect it. Good things come to those that… Yeah, he’d heard them all. The last place he expected to meet the love of his life was on a pro track. All she did was smile, and he knew, looking into her sapphire blue eyes, Molly West was his. Forever.

 

If it was only that easy. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he had a gripping feeling in him. An overwhelming need to protect her. A girl he’d just met. Carter had learned a long time ago that gut feelings are almost never wrong.

 

Molly now held his heart in her hands, but it was going to take a lot more than just love to protect her from the past she thought she’d buried a long time ago.

My Thoughts - I have been looking for more contemporary romance authors to try so when Sapphire Star Publishing asked me to review Carter's Treasure for them I jumped at the chance. And I'm very glad that I did! It is such a sweet romance with characters that you can't help but fall in love with.

Molly has been into Motocross ever since she could walk and she is very successful in her career. She is the only girl in a very male oriented world but she wouldn't have it any other way. She is friendly but keeps the men around her at arms length - she's not even slightly interested in starting a relationship. It is obvious from the start that Molly has suffered some sort of pain in the past and that this is the source of her issues with men. I loved the way the author gave teasing hints about what had happened to Molly but didn't reveal it all until later in the book. The mystery surrounding her past gave the story a lot of momentum - I had to keep reading until I found out what had happened to her!

I absolutely loved Molly as a character. She is strong and funny, but is prone to panic attacks when she feels threatened by any man, adding a vulnerability to her that is adorable. And I loved watching her grow in confidence once she met Carter - how she learnt to trust him and to open up her heart to him. There are some very sweet and tender moments between them that had me sighing with contentment.

Carter is a great hero - he is strong, loyal, sexy and would do anything to keep his Molly safe. He falls head-over-heels for Molly as soon as he meets her and I loved the way he trusted his gut about his feelings instead of swinging backwards and forwards over it. This is one man who is not afraid to commit himself to a woman! My only complaint about him would be that not much is learnt about his past before he met Molly. There are some vague references to events from his past but I felt as though I didn't get to know him as well as I got to know Molly. It was almost as if his life didn't really start until Molly walked in - although I guess this could have been the point that the author was trying to get across. Although this didn't really affect my enjoyment of the book when reading it, it was just something that came to me when I was thinking about the book after I had finished it.

There is also a great cast of supporting characters - Carter's friend's Eli and Jesse (who are also getting their own stories in this series), Carter's brother Mike, Molly's brother Brody, and Molly's parents. They all had their own distinct personalities and I enjoyed getting to know them all. The only character I found it difficult to bond with was Brody. He is very protective of Molly because of everything she has been through in the past but at times I felt as though he took it way too far. But he does begin to lighten up a bit at the end and he became a lot more likeable then.

As well as a romance story, there is also a bit of suspense thrown in for good measure when Molly starts receiving threatening letters. It is obvious that whoever is sending these letters is following Molly and the race is on to find out who is sending the letters before she gets hurt. I really enjoyed this part of the storyline as the pace really picks up and it became impossible to put the book down.

Summary - Carter's Treasure is a fantastic start to a new series - full of loveable characters, a sweet but oh-so-sexy romance and heart-stopping suspense. I am glad to have found this new author and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Jesse's Soul, which is due for release in January 2013 (athough can I just say at this point that I REALLY don't want to have to wait that long :P)