If you fall too fast, you just might crash...Daisy has been dumped, unceremoniously jilted. Not by any ordinary guy, no...Daisy has a secret in her past that she won't even tell her best friend, Holly. She's given up on men - and on her own family. But life still has to be lived and where better to recover than as far away from home as possible. Grabbing a chance to see the world, Daisy packs her bags and joins the team catering to the world's highest-paid, supercharged racing drivers on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. From Brazil to Italy, from Melbourne to Monte Carlo, life passes in a dizzying whirlwind. But nothing - and no one - can stop Daisy from falling again...this time for a man who is prepared to risk his life, and his heart, for the sake of speed, danger and ultimate success.
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About the Author
PAIGE TOON grew up in Australia, America and England - thanks to her much-travelled Le Mans winner dad, Vern Schuppan. For over seven years, Paige has worked at heat Magazine as Reviews Editor. Paige is married and has a son, born in September 2007. She lives in north London.
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'Don't you dare,' Holly warns, as I suppress an unbearable urge to crawl under the nearest table.
We're in Melbourne, Australia, for the start of the season, and Luis Castro has just walked into the hospitality area. I'm desperately hoping he will have forgotten all about me during the last five months, because until early November when we end up back in Brazil for his home-town race, we'll be seeing a LOT of each other.
There's no getting away from it - I'm going to have to face him sometime - but just not now. Please, not now.
'Daisy!' Frederick barks. 'I need you to run an errand.'
My boss! My saviour! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
'The look of relief on your face,' Holly comments with wry amusement as I scuttle away in the direction of the kitchen.
'Where are you going?' Frederick asks in bewilderment as I duck under the arm he was resting against the doorframe.
'Just in here!' I reply brightly, waving my hands around to denote the kitchen, which is excellently out of Luis's line of vision.
Frederick looks perplexed, but continues. 'Catalina wants some popcorn. And I don't have any goddamn popcorn. Go and get some from one of the stands.' He hands me some money.
'Yes, boss!' I beam.
He gives me an odd look as I hurry out of the kitchen and back through the hospitality area with my head down.
Catalina is Simon's wife. Simon Andrews is the big boss and he owns the team. But Frederick - Frederick Vogel - is my immediate boss. He's the head chef.
Frederick is German, by the way. And Catalina is Spanish. Simon is English and Holly, while we're at it, is Scottish. What a multi-national bunch we are.
The Australian Grand Prix takes place in Albert Park, and yesterday I spotted a popcorn stand being set up on the other side of the shimmering green lake. I grab one of the team scooters and start it up.
It's Friday, two days before race day, but the track is still packed with spectators, here to watch the practice sessions. I drive carefully, breathing in the fresh, sunny air. It's the end of March, and unlike Europe and America which are swinging into spring, Australia is well into autumn. We've been told to expect rain this weekend, but right now there's barely a cloud in the sky. Melbourne's city skyscrapers soar up in the distance ahead of me, and behind me, I picture the ocean sparkling cool and blue.
I can smell the popcorn stand before I see it, salt and butter wafting towards me on a light breeze. Mmm, junk food...I wonder if I could also squeeze some for myself in the scooter's storage box? I consider it while the guy behind the counter scoops the fluffy, white kernels into a bag, but eventually decide it's a no-go.
I pay for the popcorn and stuff Frederick's change into my pocket, then unlock the box under my seat. Hmm, this popcorn is going to spill out - the bag's full to the brim and I need to be able to fold the top over. I suppose I could ask for another bag to wrap over the top...Or...I could eat some! Yes, that's the only logical conclusion.
I lean up against the scooter and delve in. The guy at the popcorn stand is watching me with amusement. What the hell are you staring at, buster? My glare wards off his gaze, but he's still grinning. I stuff another handful into my mouth. It's so warm and so...perfectly popped. I've probably eaten enough, now. Maybe just a little more...Right, that's it. Stop, now. Now! Regretfully I close the bag and store it under my seat, then start up the scooter.
If there are this many people here now, it's going to be packed on race day, I think to myself as I swerve around a group of slow-walking pedestrians. All of a sudden I spot two men wearing our team's overalls up ahead, and just as I go to turn a corner in front of a set of grandstands, I realise they're racing drivers, one of whom is Luis.
My back wheel catches some grit and slides out from under me as I take the corner. Suddenly the whole scooter is skidding and I can hear the grandstand half-full of spectators gasp in unison as I shoot across the gravel in front of them.
'Whoa!' Will Trust - the team's other driver - jumps out of the way, but Luis stays put, frozen in a crouch as though expecting to catch me.
'JESUS CHRIST!' I hear an Australian woman cry as my bike comes to a stop right in front of him. 'She almost ran over Luis Castro!'
She pronounces the name, 'Lewis', not 'Lew-eesh', as she's supposed to. I may not like the jackass, but it still bugs me when people can't say his name properly.
'That'll make a nice change from him running over me, then,' I snap, getting to my feet.
I immediately realise my mistake. That woman's mispronunciation error distracted me and I've idiotically just reminded him about our altercation. Maybe he wasn't paying attention. I quickly brush myself off as I feel his eyes boring into me.
'You,' Luis says.
Darn.
'You. The girl on the scooter.'
'Er, not anymore,' I say sarcastically, indicating the fallen vehicle. I bend down to try to stand it up.
'Hang on, let me get it.' Will Trust appears by my side and lifts up the scooter. 'Are you alright?' he asks, clear blue eyes looking searchingly into mine.
I almost jump backwards. 'Yes, yes, I'm fine,' I reply, blushing furiously. Actually, I'm not fine. My right hand is stinging like crazy from where I put it down on the gravel, and my knee feels horribly tender beneath the black pants of my black, white and gold team uniform.
'Let me see that.' Will takes my hand in his, pressing down on my fingers with his thumb to straighten my palm. He leans in and studies the graze and I feel jittery as I, in turn, study him. His light blond hair is falling just across his eye-line. I have a strong compulsion to reach over and push it off his face...
'It is you,' Luis says again.
Is he still here? Bummer.
I look around to see that quite a crowd has gathered to watch me and revel in my embarrassment. At least they're more interested in the drivers than me. Speaking of which...
'The girl in Brazil. The petrol station,' Luis continues.
Will lets me go and looks at us, questioningly. 'You know each other?'
I flex my hand. The feel of him is still there.
'Yeah, she almost crashed into my Ferrari in São Paulo last year,' Luis says.
'I almost crashed into YOUR Ferrari?' I come back to my senses, outraged. 'You nearly killed me!'
'Ha!' He laughs in my face. 'You're ridiculous. And you can't drive. I said you were a silly woman driver at the time and now you've just proved me right.'
'You, you, you...' I glare at him, lost for words.
'You're not going to call me a coglione again, are you?'
'No, but you are a testa di cazzo,' I mutter under my breath. It means the same thing. Literally, 'head of dick'. I smirk.
'What did you say?' Luis demands. 'What did she say?' he asks Will.
Will shrugs in amusement and bends down to dust off the scooter. I suddenly remember what I've done.
'I haven't scratched it, have I?' I bend down beside him and scrutinise the bike.
'It's not too bad,' Will says.
'I hope Simon doesn't fire me...'
'Simon won't notice. He's got too much else on his mind.'
'Simon notices everything,' Luis helpfully interjects.
Will rolls his eyes at me and my heart flutters, despite my fear of being axed.
'Will, are you coming or what?' Luis butts in.
'Sure, yeah. Will you be okay, er...' He looks at the name embroidered in gold on the front of my white team shirt.
'Daisy,' I say before he does. 'Yes, don't worry about me, I'll be fine.'
'I've seen you around. You're a front-of-house girl, right?' he checks. 'You help out with the catering?'
'Jesus, that's all we need,' Luis grumbles.
Will and I look at him in confusion.
'She'll probably give me food poisoning,' he points out.
'Don't flatter yourself,' I can't help but say. 'I wouldn't go to the trouble of trying.'
I spot a so-tanned-he's-orange marshal running over to us. 'Are you okay, miss?' he asks in an Australian accent.
'We'll leave you to it,' Will says, winking at me. I feel my face heat up again so I quickly turn my attention to the marshal.
Orange Man eventually deems I'm not a danger to myself or others and lets me go on my way, so I carefully drive back to our hospitality area, resisting the urge to speed. I've been gone ages.
I park up and locate the, well, it's not really a bag full of popcorn anymore, and go inside to look for Catalina. I scan my eyes around the room. There are a fair few people here today, considering it's only Friday. The tables are peppered with guests: sponsors, wives or girlfriends and the occasional friend or family member of someone in the team. Bigger teams than ours often invite the odd celebrity, too, but Simon doesn't seem to know anyone famous.
Aah, there she is.
Catalina is sitting at a table next to a skinny, tanned brunette, with medium-length, wavy hair. They look alike and, as I approach, I realise they're speaking Spanish. I wonder if they're sisters. Holly will know. Holly knows everything.
'Hi, Catalina, Frederick said you wanted this?' I offer it to her.
'What is it?' Her tone is as horrible as the look she gives me. 'Oh, popcorn,' she says, spying the crumpled packaging. 'Where's the rest of it?' she demands to know.
'Um, I couldn't fit it in my -- '
'Have you been eating it?'
'I couldn't fit it -- '
'Put it there,' she huffily interrupts, pointing to the tabletop in front of her.
The catering here is excellent, so why she's demanding popcorn in the first place is beyond me. Actually, I take that back. Nothing beats popcorn. But unlike her, if the rumours are to be believed, I won't be throwing it up in the toilets later.
I finally return to the kitchen.
'Where the hell have you been?' Frederick shouts.
'I had a bit of an accident,' I explain.
'You smell like you've been eating...' He leans towards me and gives a single loud sniff through his extremely large nostrils. 'Popcorn!'
He looks like a cartoon gangster, Frederick. Big nose, greasy black hair. And he's very tall and extremely lanky. I glance back at him to see h...
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chasing Daisy stalls my heart!,
By
This review is from: Chasing Daisy (Paperback)
I am definitely a Paige Toon fan through and through. I read this book in about 8 hours or so. it was THAT readable.
I read Toon's novels in the order that they were published. In this novel, I had started reading it with low expections having LOVED and ADORED her previous two novels. I just couldn't believe that Toon would be able to create something as magical as Lucy in the Sky and amazing as Johnny Be Good. I was pleasantly surprised. LIke the cameos made in previous novels, we meet Daisy... but we haven't met her before... (or have we? ;D) and she works as a hospitality girl for a racing team on the Formula 1 circuit. Well... do i sound like i know what i'm talking about? if i don't it's probably because... I don't. before reading this i knew zip about racing. and i still do... other than the knowledge granted to me by Toon after reading this amazing novel! Daisy falls for Will... unobtainable Will who is in love with his childhood sweetheart. And whilst pining for his attention, she's constantly bothered by the sexy Brazilian racer, Luis. Sexy Brazilian?? YES PLEASE. Again, Toon does an amazing job with creating these fun and sexy characters that you WISH WISH WISH were real. While Will was certainly adorable, personally i preferred Luis. I don't know if it was the fact that Will was more wholesome, and Luis was this bad boy type (and brazilian! phwoar!), but there was just something about Luis. THere's something magical about the way Toon draws up her characters. Her characters emit such powerful emotions. For instance, once i took a break in the middle of the book, i found myself in quite a depressed state, simply because that's where Daisy was. She was sad... therefore, so was i. It was quite extraordinary. I had to keep reading in order to get myself out of the funk. It was unbelievable. This book goes beyond any other chick lit you may or may not have read. It just blows my mind. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up if you have or have never read a Paige Toon novel!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Read!!!,
By Mara J "chick lit" (Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chasing Daisy (Paperback)
One of my favourite books of all time... love it. Have read it so many times and it never gets boring!
It's so funny... nail biting (suspense)... sad ... and just addictive! Love LOve LOVE it!!! To get a better understanding of the characters i strongly suggest you read "Johnny Be good" by Paige Toon BEFORE you read Chasing Daisy... it'll make things much more interesting!!! P.S Louis if you're out there... call me. :)
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Completely Unexpected,
This review is from: Chasing Daisy (Paperback)
Chasing Daisy is not what you'd expect from the cover. With its glittery typeface, heart icon, and pink background, it looks like a very girly beach read. It is, of course, at times, but it's also incredibly deep, very touching and utterly fabulous.
Chasing Daisy is about Daisy Rogers, a girl completely and hopelessly in love with a co-worker. As a "bun tart," a girl who helps out with catering and hospitality during Formula 1 car races, Daisy is around fast cars and fast guys everyday. It's there that she meets, and falls for, Will Trust, the devastatingly handsome Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike race car driver who may just fancy her as well. Big problem, though? He has a very serious girlfriend. Plus, he puts his life at risk every day when he goes to work. As Daisy chases after Will, she befriends Holly, a fellow bun tart with a crush of her own, and Luis, the other race car driver. Daisy and Holly become best friends and share almost everything with one another, because in this book, secrets are important. Luis, on the other hand, starts out as an utter nuisance in Daisy's opinion, one who won't let an old joke go, but becomes someone trustworthy and even friendly. Chasing Daisy is a surprising book because just when you think you know what will happen next, it throws you for a loop, just like the car races you watch happen on the pages. It's far from your typical chick lit book and took me by surprise quite a few times, specifically halfway through when everything Daisy worked for is thrown upside down. I absolutely loved the characters. From her boss, Frederick, a grump with a good heart, to mysterious Luis, to even erratic Daisy, they were all people I wanted to hang out with. And although I have no prior knowledge of Formula 1 racing, the book was incredibly vivid with its details, putting the reader directly in the action. The book goes from Monte Carlo to San Paulo and back again, with Daisy narrating the way. At first I wasn't 100% in love with the 1st person narrative (that described everything Daisy was thinking), but as the pages turned, I learned to really enjoy it. It was perfect for the kind of book it was - one that's incredibly introspective. Additionally, I absolutely loved how it ended. I was kind of let down that they didn't develop the story behind Daisy's ex more, I really wanted (and expected) the two of them to have an encounter, but alas. That aside, I finished the book in two days. That should say enough. Chasing Daisy is a fun book, although dramatic at times. It makes you want to travel the world and see the sights, and races, with Daisy herself. And, really, it makes you laugh. Her observations are quick, witty, and always spot on. Chasing Daisy is a truly addictive book with a voice of its own.
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