Overdrive

Patel raises the stakes even higher in her emotional standalone sequel to Offtrack. Shantal mourns her late sister, Sonia, even as she struggles to escape her long shadow and prove herself to her family as a businesswoman. So when her tech company, Conquest, sends her to Brazil to oversee the trials of some new Formula 1 driving training simulators, she throws herself into the assignment despite knowing nothing about the sport. For driver Darien, who used his racing career to support his family following his father’s death, everything is on the line this season. He has a chance to become the F1 World Champion, which would mean a lot to both his family and his home country of Brazil. Shantal and Darien initially clash, but they’re forced to collaborate after Darien suffers a potentially career-ending accident, leading to a slow-simmering romance. Patel runs on all cylinders, portraying her leads’ grief while also peppering in lots of details about the racing world. The diverse cast is especially refreshing, given the overwhelmingly white subgenre of sports romance. Readers will be moved. (May)