Erin McCarthy – Hard and Fast – Read for #LLC2015

The second book in the Fast Track series, published May 5, 2009.
Genre: contemporary romance
Cover: hot



An experiment in romance…
New to stock car racing country, grad student Imogen Wilson meets Ty McCordle, a driver who has her pulse racing. After an encounter at the track with a woman whose main goal in life is to marry a driver, Imogen realizes she's hit on the perfect topic for her sociology thesis. If she follows the 'rules' on how to get a man, can she steer her way into the hearts of the drivers, and establish their dating - and mating - patterns?
…that’s testing the limit of passion.
Although sexy and reckless Ty is the ideal test subject, she knows she can’t pursue him for the sake of science. Yet he's the one who's chasing after her, and Imogen realizes that she actually wants to be caught. A southern gentleman like Ty won’t disappoint – he will satisfy her curiosity - and make all the risks worthwhile…


Imogen is visiting the race track in Charlotte for the very first time with her friends Tamara and Suzanne, when they find themselves stuck with Nikki, the girlfriend of driver Ty McCordle. (Tamara recently got married to Elec, another driver, and Suzanne is divorced from Ryder).
She really wonders what Ty sees in Nikki, as she is so young and bubbly and blond, and well, Barbi like. She is not the brightest bulb in the lot. Doesn’t he want a woman he can also talk with, discuss politics or such? And Nikki is clearly determined to marry Ty, she even has a book with her, “how to marry a race car driver in 6 steps”. And so Imogen finally finds the topic for her thesis. Do those kind of dating manuals really work?
Imogen has been attracted to Ty since the first time they met at Tammy’s house, but she knows she is way too different. Still, she is going to try those steps, and question as many race car drivers and their wives as she can.
What she does not expect, is for Ty to strike up a conversation with her, and not wanting to let her leave the party without him. He can’t even remember her name correctly, as he keeps calling her Emma Jean. And Ty is still seeing Nikki, even though he wants to break up with her, so she is not going to let him kiss her again!
And then suddenly, another couple ends up on the hood of Imogen’s car while she and Ty are talking inside, in the pouring rain, about to get very intimate! To their surprise, it are Nikki and another young driver, so she doesn’t mind so much when Ty breaks up with her there and then.

Imogen is not very experienced in love making, and Ty does not want her regret their first time together, so instead of taking her home with him for a hot night, he goes inside alone. But when they finally spend the night together, they certainly burn up the sheets!
Their relationship is going very well, even though they don’t have much time for each other, with Ty’s racing schedule and Imogen’s classes. By Ty is hiding a big secret, and has been doing so all his life. Will Imogen’s reaction to it, really be the end of their one-day-engagement?


Another hot love story by Erin McCarthy. I could become addicted to her books! I am totally reading this series out of order, and I don’t care. I loved Imogen, she is such a bookish lady, and totally out of place on the race track. But she tries so hard. She learns all about the game, she lets Ty take her out camping although she doesn’t like nature much, having never seen more than Central Park. She is very sweet and smart, but not a doormat.
And Ty with his big secret, he handles it so well. Still, he should not hide it from everybody, and he certainly should not be ashamed of it. He doesn’t read, but he does listen to audiobooks, even Shakespeare when Imogen dares him to. And he sure knows just what to quote to her at the right moment!

Yes, I loved this book and I want more! Lucky for me, I have a few more on the “Berlin-table”. And I really want to read Suzanne and Ryder’s story again. That was my first encounter with the series I think.

9 stars.







Read for #LLC2015
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© 2015 Reviews by Aurian