REVIEW: FULL THROTTLE by ERIN MCCARTHY

Series: Fast Track #7
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: 12/3/13
Format: eARC
Pages: 304
Source: Received from publisher
Rating: 5 stars

Easing into the turns…

As one of only two girls on the tween racing circuit, Shawn Hamby has always run with a fast crowd. But now at thirty-two, she doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. And she definitely doesn’t need a man bossing her around off of the track…

Putting the pedal to the metal…

But after a silly girls’ night at a fetish club, Shawn can’t get Rhett Ford out of her mind. He’s younger than her, and he’s her best friend’s brother-in-law, which should be red flags. Rhett is looking for someone to lead in bed, but he can’t imagine that Shawn would ever submit to him. Boldly surrendering is more her style. And with Rhett behind the wheel, it’s going to be one wild ride…

Full Throttle is my first Erin McCarthy book, the seventh in her Fast Track series. Since this is the first book of hers I've read, and the series is fairly long, this might not have worked out well. But it did. Full Throttle was a very fun and very sexy story, but it also had depth and a whole lotta love going on. There's not one thing I didn't adore about this book. In fact, I flat-out loved it.

The Fast Track series is comprised of companion novels, which happens to be my favorite type of series. I love being able to jump in mid-stream, and I love it even more when this causes me to want to go back and start from the very beginning. But back to Full Throttle... The story begins with a hot (and hilarious) chance encounter in a fetish club. Rhett and Shawn seem completely wrong for one another, but his persistence, along with her need for a husband -due to a clause in her inheritance- brings the two together.  Marriages of convenience, while most of the time seem to be contrived, is a trope I really enjoy. I love when couples are brought together in extreme circumstances, resist, but along the way, fall in love. Full Throttle is one of the better of such stories I've read, and I give that credit to the characters.

Rhett Ford is a man alone. Though he's a beloved member of a large family, he's nothing like his eight siblings. Rhett is quiet and intense. He doesn't laugh or joke much. He studies, thinks, and is loyal. He is a man who won't fall in love easy, but when he does, it will be spectacular. Rhett has been searching for a woman who can handle his dominant demeanor. When he meets Shawn, her strength in personality pulls him in, and he quickly realizes he doesn't need a woman who is weak, he needs a woman who is strong enough to give herself to him. A woman who can handle his intensity. What made Rhett very interesting to me was that he doesn't want to control all aspects of his or Shawn's life, only the bedroom. He doesn't want to hurt or humiliate her, just simply be in control. Rhett is a giver. He wants her enjoyment more than his own. He wants what the intensity can bring them both.

Shawn seems to be so wrong for Rhett, initially. She's the owner of a small race track, has been on her own for years, and doesn't want to fall in love. She simply needs a short-term husband, and Rhett is willing to help her. If she gets some satisfaction in the bedroom, that's a bonus. But as she gets to know Rhett, and what he wants to give her, the closeness he wants for them both, Shawn begins to change. Rhett helps her see that it is okay to sometimes lose control. That submitting doesn't make her weak, it makes her free. That falling in love will not destroy her, a beautiful love, that companionship will make her stronger.

Full Throttle was a fulfilling, sweet, and thoughtful story. There were so many moments that made me laugh out loud. There were just as many moments that had me gripping my book and deep breathing and the gorgeous intensity between this dynamic couple. If all the books in the Fast Track series are this good, you can bet I will be reading every single installment.



Favorite Quotes:


  "Alright, let's go get laid." Eve fist-bumped her. "To the power of the V. And whiskey. And shitty tattoos."
  "To finishing first. And friendship. To the Brothers Ford."
  "Amen, sister."   ~eARC, 58%


  "Whatever you want," she told him, the sincerity almost bringing him to his knees.
  Shawn got what he craved. She understood it. That he didn't want a woman to kowtow to him, to do what he wanted out of fear, that he wanted her to do it out of trust, out of the understanding that her surrender would bring them both more pleasure than they'd thought possible.   ~eARC, 61%


  "Screw you," Rhett told him. "It's a joke. It's funny. Now you bitches can stand here quaking in your boots about what your women might do to you. I'm going to get my woman."
  He started to walk, moving toward his wife. He heard Jared ask Nolan, "How does he get that caveman shit to work for him? I would get my balls ripped off and stuffed in my mouth if I pulled what he does."    ~eARC, 76%

The Fast Track Series

             

 

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About the author
USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy sold her first book in 2002 and has since written almost fifty novels and novellas in teen fiction, new adult, and adult romance. Erin has a special weakness for New Orleans, tattoos, high-heeled boots, beaches and martinis. She lives in Ohio with her family, two grumpy cats and a socially awkward dog.



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