Hard & Fast is the second book in Erin McCarthy’s NASCAR trilogy. The first one, Flat-Out Sexy, was one of my favourite romances of 2008.
Graduate student Imogen Wilson is new to Charlotte, North Carolina, and even newer to the world of stock car racing. She’s introduced to it by her friend and colleague, Tamara, who is married to driver Elec Monroe.
Searching for a topic for her sociology thesis, Imogen finds inspiration from an unlikely source: a bimbo at the racetrack. Nikki Borden is a Barbie lookalike whose main goal in life is to marry a driver, any driver. She’s currently dating Ty McCordle and determined to snare him more permanently with the use of a book called How to Marry a Race Car Driver in Six Easy Steps. Imogen is both fascinated and horrified and decides to see if what will happen if she uses the six rules herself.
Ty McCordle is bored with dating bimbos and wants to break up with Nikki, his current squeeze. When he meets Imogen at a party at fellow driver Elec’s house, he’s immediately interested but afraid he’s not intellectual enough for her. When a sudden downpour throws them together, Imogen and Ty see each other in a different light.
All in all, I had a mixed reaction to this book. On the plus side, it’s a fun story and Ty is a great character. I loved the scenes with Suzanne and Ryder and I’m looking forward to their story in the next book. I was also pleased that Imogen was upfront with Ty about her thesis proposal as I don’t care for storylines which involve one of the characters stringing the other one along under false pretenses.
My main problem was Imogen. She was uptight and frankly annoying. There is one incident towards the end of the book when she treats Ty reprehensibly. If I were Ty, I would have dumped her ass pronto. I also found the sex scenes a bit drawn out, but this might have been because I wasn’t really engaged with the main couple.
Although I found the book an entertaining read for the most part, I was unconvinced by the happy ending. Ty and Imogen are so ill-suited that it’s hard to believe in anything between them but a fling. Their decision to commit to one another seemed impulsive. The fact that the story takes place over such a short space of time made the prospect of a longterm relationship even less credible. Grade: B-
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Am resistant to reading this author as it doesn’t sound like my kind of thing especially since it involves NASCAR which I am am not a fan. I think she wrote some paranormal romances? Have you read any of those? Anyway, I avoid anything and everything to do with NASCAR.
@Keishon I’m not a fan of Formula 1, and I’m assuming NASCAR is something similar. It’s not really at the forefront of the stories, thank goodness. I’ve read a couple of Erin McCarthy’s earlier contemporary romances and wasn’t impressed. She does have a paranormal series (Vegas Vampires? but I haven’t felt inclined to try them.