Release Review: Furious Rush: S.C. Stephens

by - Tuesday, August 23, 2016


Furious Rush
S.C. Stephens

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Expected August 23, 2016

Too fast, too furious-and way too hot to handle . . .

Mackenzie Cox has a lot to prove. Daughter of a racing legend, she is eager to show the world that she has inherited her father's talent in the male-dominated sport of professional motorcycle racing. The last thing Kenzie needs is to be antagonized by her rival team's newest rider, Hayden Hayes. Plucked from the world of illegal street racing, Hayden immediately gets under Kenzie's skin. His insinuations that Kenzie is a spoiled princess who was handed her career fuels her desire to win, and much to her surprise, Kenzie soon learns she performs better when she's racing against Hayden.

As Kenzie and Hayden push each other on the track, the electric energy between them off the track shifts into an intense--and strictly forbidden--attraction. The only rule between their two ultra-competitive teams is zero contact. Kenzie always does her best to play by the rules, but when her team slips into a financial crisis, she has no choice but to turn to Hayden for help. The tension simmers during their secret, late-night rendezvous, but Kenzie has too much to lose to give in to her desires. Especially when she begins to doubt that Hayden has completely left his street life behind...


They aren't supposed to fraternize, but they share an adrenaline rush between them that excites them personally and pushes them on the track. They sometimes bring out the best and sometimes the worst in each other. 

Mackenzie Cox is under enormous pressure to succeed. She is her father's best chance to save their racing business. And they have had a series of hard knocks lately and possibly foul play. She has been bred to be in control all her life and was predictable and a control freak until Hayden Hayes roared into her life.

Hayden gained his skills in illegal street racing and is now trying a legit career with her team's rival Benneti Motorsports. He's cocky, confident, and the apparent bad boy who will do anything to win. He has his reasons and his secrets so he seems mysterious. But is he willing to resort to sabotage to get ahead?

This is told completely in Kenzie's point of view and I sometimes wish we could get into Hayden's head. But I did come to really like him even though he had secrets and it was hard to tell his true intentions. Sometimes Mackenzie came off younger than she was supposed to be and could be a bit whiny and unpredictable. But she also had times where she was stubborn and defensive.

They challenge and push each other. But any contact is forbidden. Any alliance is dangerous and could have repercussions. But Kenzie needs an edge to help push her towards her potential, and she only seems to be able to get there by chasing Hayden. Together they could be unstoppable, but they could also both ruin their new careers. This is the rule follower chasing the rule breaker and riding with the enemy.

Secret rendezvous and activities might bring them closer, but they also have the potential for serious consequences. Their trust and feelings are fragile despite the intense chemistry they feel. With so much on the line and so much working against them, they are basically doomed form the start. They have so many obstacles and so many people that could cause problems. But they also push each other out of their comfort zones in order to be brave, fight, open up, and go after what they want. But their feelings are all mixed up in a shroud of secrecy and the antagonism of opposing teams, and it is hard to see what is right or wrong. The side characters, even the ones that they are closest to, are often negative, unsupportive, and cannot fully be trusted.

Kenzie will have to face confusing and difficult choices and make sacrifices. But her choices could have her losing her career, Hayden, or even her family and friends. There is suspense and danger component underlying the motorcycle racing. There are fierce rivalries creating tension, anger, and possibilities of revenge and foul play. Their feelings are new, raw, scary, and confusing. There are issues with personal and family dynamics. And they have fears, insecurities, trust issues, and are affected by events that came before them. 

This all leads to tension, drama, pain, and sacrifice. And as I got closer to the end, I realized that there were not enough pages to resolve everything. Even though I expected this might become a series with the other characters introduced, I did not expect the quick, not completely resolved ending. But I am interested to see what is going to happen to these characters in the future.

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. 


Mackenzie Cox has a legacy to carry on. Her father was a successful motorcycle racer, from his rookie season, and now it falls to her to save the racing team he runs.

Hayden Hayes has his own reasons for racing, though his start was far less prestigious as Mackenzie’s. His history follows him to the professional circuit as rumors and suspicion.

Mackenzie is driven to succeed, but fearful of letting go, fearful of failure. She feels pressure to save the family company single-handedly and is determined to make her father proud of her. Racing is her life.

The chemistry between Hayden and Mackenzie crackled from the beginning. But at times it felt like the chemistry was more about competition than attraction. As the book progressed, the competition lessened, but initially I had a hard time believing these two were as fiery as they said things felt.

The drama of the feud between the Cox and Benneti race teams often overshadowed the chemistry between Mackenzie and Hayden. At times it felt almost Romeo and Juliet in it’s intensity, but it also felt arbitrary because of the situation. These two are forbidden contact simply because of the race teams they work for, forget the fact that both their times begin improving when they train together. The hatred between the two older men who ran the companies even broke things between father and daughter.

This was a fast paced read full of drama and action as Hayden and Mackenzie snuck around behind the backs of their teams and families. The side characters add to the tension between the main characters as they feed into the feud just as strongly as the founding fathers. I look forward to more from these characters, particularly Mackenzie’s friends Nikki and Myles.

The ending feels ambiguous though. With a final twist, Mackezie and Hayden’s story doesn’t feel like it’s over, like there are more challenges they need to face before their relationship is settled, though the book is not listed as part of a series. I want to find out what happens next for them, but am also a little unsettled not knowing if this really is the end of their story or if there will be a second book for these two. 
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
S.C. Stephens   

S. C. Stephens is a #1 bestselling author who spends her every free moment creating stories that are packed with emotion and heavy on romance.  In addition to writing, she enjoys spending lazy afternoons in the sun reading, listening to music, watching movies, and spending time with her friends and family.  She and her two children reside in the Pacific Northwest.

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