REVIEW: Thrill of the Chase by Christina Crooks


Sarah Matell's a whiz at tuning race engines and winning races. Winning Craig, the local drag race hero, proves more difficult. He only has eyes for gorgeous women who are hot in the sack, not grubby tomboys. Sarah’s world gets an overhaul when her father hires Gordon Devine. Soon she’s torn not only between two men she wants, but between the drag race winner she is and the woman she feels pressured to become.

Title: Thrill of the Chase
Author: Christina Crooks
Format: eBook
Genre: contemporary romance
Source: review copy
Published: November 2007 by Five Star Trade
Buy the book:
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Find the author online: website


Why I Read this Book: Most of you don’t know this but I’m a bit of a gear head. I took 3 years of auto shop in high school, graduated from a 2-year brand-specific trade school and worked in the industry for 13 years (now I’m a stay at home mom). So naturally, when I came across Thrill of the Chase, which features not only a romance story but a chick who’s into and works on cars, I knew I had to read this book.

What I Liked: I really enjoyed reading Thrill of the Chase. I loved the love triangle, the tension – lots of built-up tension – and the cars and racing.

Sarah is one of the guys and knows how to mingle with the best of them:

“The ‘ho is on the flo’,” she announced, trotting past the small group of men gathered around the engine stand gazing at a shiny small-block motor.

And no matter how hard she tried to be more feminine, her inner tomboy always came through:

She painted her lips “Ripe Berry Red” with more accuracy than she’d managed yet, dropped the tube into the small black tool-bag that she was using as a purse, and opened the door with what she hoped was a serene smile.

Sarah is my kind of girl. Sarah is driven and passionate and when she has her mind set on something she’s going for it. She loves to drag race and nothing makes her happier. She’s been in love with a fellow racer, Craig, who doesn’t see her more than just one of the guys. She’s determined that he’s the one and tries to gain his attention by pulling out all the stops.

Sarah can definitely hold her own in this male dominated world working as the lead technician in her father’s shop. Just when things are looking up, her father hires Gordon to manage the shop (and Sarah). She doesn’t take to his superiority well and the two continually bump heads. These two don’t seem to see eye to eye on anything. Then Sarah realizes she’s attracted to Gordon.

What I Didn’t Like: There were a few parts in the storyline where the transition from one scene to another were a bit disjointed. There was one part in particular where I had to go back and re-read it a few times and it still didn’t make sense to me.

Overall Impression: Thrill of the Chase is a story about pushing limits and going after what you want, even if the risks are high. There’s a lot of shop talk and car jargon but don’t let that shy you away from this book. When I got to the end of Thrill of the Chase, I wanted more. I wasn’t ready to let go of Sarah and her world.



The Book Vixen’s Rating:

About Brianna: Supermom by day, naughty reader by night. Addicted to chocolate, Twitter, her iPad, her Kindle, and 99¢ Kindle deals. You can follow Brianna on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and Instagram.

4 comments:

  1. I like the premise :)
    They teach auto shop over there, cool.

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  2. I remember entering this one on a goodreads giveaway. I wasn't aware it was available on ebook. I'm off to track it down now. I'm a total grease monkey, but I work on aircraft instead of cars. :)

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  3. Tara - Awesome! I think this one would totally be up your alley :)

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  4. I never in a million years would have guessed you were a gear head! Now I'm picturing you in all your book vixen glory working on cars. :)

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