Review: Throttled

Formula 1, undeniable sexual tensions, and the “brother’s teammate” trope are everything the first book, Throttled, out of the Dirty Air Series, by Lauren Ashe,r has to offer her readers.

Throttled follows Noah Slade, F1 legacy driver and grade-A jerk, and Maya Alatorre, freshly graduated sister of Santiago Alatorre, Slade’s brand new teammate who also happens to be his biggest rival.

Two years after an intense face-off between Santi and Noah at the championship race that led to a race-ending crash, Bandini, Noah’s team, signs Santi. Ultimately, making the two teammates. As the season begins, Santi’s sister, Maya, has recently graduated and decides to join Santi on the road.

Maya decides that the best way to immerse herself in her brother’s world while also doing something she loves is to vlog the entire season. She provides fans with exclusive interviews with team members and backstage content from different F1 events. She expected her time would be spent focused on watching her brother live out his dream. However, she didn’t expect to fall into a forbidden romance with his teammate.

Noah is a classic bad boy with the intense family trauma that everyone who reads romance novels falls in love with. His relationship with his father is one that he would rather not talk about as he battles the shadow of being the son of a legendary driver. Maya sees this and immediately grows a soft spot for him, looking past his bad boy facade.

After meeting the fierce Maya, he is immediately captivated by her beauty and snappiness, but his inability to manage his urges sparks an intensity that neither of them can get away from. The more these two struggle to conceal their relationship from Santi, the harder it becomes to be around each other.

Maya takes a break from travelling to try to get over Noah and ultimately fails to make her feelings for him fade. As soon as she returns, she's immediately reminded of the feelings she’s pushing away.

Noah’s desperate to make a connection, and it shows in his racing; he struggles to take his mind off the itch he can’t scratch when it comes to this girl. His feelings are overwhelmingly consuming him, and the intensity of it is driving him insane.

Their love for each other grows, and eventually they give in to the undeniable sexual tensions. The bond they create is strong, and Noah works to redeem his bad-boy tendencies and heal his traumas to be a better man for Maya.

Overall, this novel is an amazing start to the four-book series. It has the perfect amount of angst, tension, and spice, and grips you from start to finish. It’s going to make you want to put down the book and turn on the race!