The Winning Formula by Cara Veloce

Narrated by Maddy MacRae and Ryan Corr
With Aaron Jeffery, Tai Hara, Alison McGirr, Annie Maynard, Lucy Bell, Tom Conroy, Julian Garner, and Vince Colosimo

Exclusively on Audible. First in a series but stands alone.

The Winning Formula by Cara Velace is another example of why I love these made-for-Audible books. There is a difference between a book that is written for audio and one that is turned into an audiobook. The Winning Formula took full advantage of the medium, adding sounds from the track, announcers, interviews, and radio conversations. It was so immersive and, shocker, they got the F1 right!

Of course, this is a fictional book, and some liberties were taken for the sake of the story, like different tracks and locations and fictional team names. But it was clear the author knew her F1 and wrote it in a way that could make a new listener want to become an F1 fan while still satisfying those of us who already love the sport. I also love that we have a woman in STEM!

Sienna Skye may be the daughter of the owner of GreenSkye, but she earned her position as a race engineer all on her own. Growing up at the track, she dreamed of this job since she was a kid. But the driver she is assigned to, Finn Di Santis, is fighting ghosts on the track. The engineer/driver relationship can win or lose races, so they have to figure out how to trust each other and work together if they want to win.

Add to that, the hot new reality show about F1 has decided to feature GreenSkye this season, especially the new pairing of Sienna and Finn. So there is quite a bit of pressure on the two of them. I liked that the author gave us time to see them getting to know each other before falling for each other. They learned to trust each other as teammates before becoming lovers.

Speaking of lovers, I don’t think there was any open-door sex in this audiobook. I didn’t even notice the absence until I sat down to write this review and had to rate the heat. But that also means there were no cringey expressions, and you can recommend this to any F1 fan or reader wanting to try a new sports romance.

The style of the audiobook narration was so interesting! When I first started listening, I was disappointed because the story was in third person, and I DNFd my last two F1 romances because of that. But then the production started mixing things up. Some sections use traditional dual narration, with Maddy MacRae and Ryan Corr narrating their chapters and voicing the other characters themselves, while other scenes switch to duet or full-cast narration. The radio conversations between Sienna and Finn were especially fun because they were performed by both actors, complete with radio crackle and track sounds in the background. With the additional cast, announcers, phone calls, and sound effects layered in, it became so much more immersive than I expected.

Likes:

Pretty accurate F1 and racing details for the 2024 season the book is set in.
The fun little changes she made to keep it fictional, like “Summerstone” instead of Silverstone.
Just the right amount of racing and romance to satisfy race fans and romance fans.
The sound effects and radio conversations.
Both characters were so likable that you can’t help but root for them.

Dislikes:

The third-person POV made me hesitate at first, but once the story got going and I realized how much duet and full-cast performance was woven into the narration, it really worked for me.

The Narration:

WOW, this book would be hard to separate from the narration because it was a whole experience. Maddy MacRae and Ryan Corr lead an amazing full cast, and I loved “eavesdropping” on the phone calls and radio conversations. The actors did such a great job with the flirting and budding romance in those exchanges that they felt like actual conversations, complete with giggles, instead of dialogue being read from a book. NOTE: This is an Australian production and the hero is Australian. Expect them both to have accents.

The immersive production added so much to the racing too. I recommend listening with headphones or in your car. I loved hearing the voices and sounds coming from different sides of me.

The Down and Dirty:

As I write this, I have already started the second audiobook in the series, Full Throttle, because I really don’t want to leave this world! The Winning Formula is FREE in Audible Plus, and if you are an audiobook fan, a sports romance fan, or a race fan, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. I have a list of over 300 F1 books on my blog, and I have read, or tried to read, a good chunk of them. This audiobook is definitely moving up there with my favorites.