Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a free Advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a reviewer copy of Hairpin Curves by Ella Winters from the publisher Carina Adores from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Scarlett and Meghan went to high school together and were best friends. Then something happened and now they don’t talk. When their close friend invites them both to the wedding, they decide to drive from their Florida town to the wedding in Quebec. Oh did I mention that Scarlett had a crush on Meghan? Cause she did! The road trip between these former friends lead to sparks.

What I Loved: This was a sweet romance that is definitely open door. I loved the tropes that were included here: road-trip, snowed in, and more. This book is not just a romance between two characters but also our character’s grow and learn how to communicate. These characters are young and the author doesn’t shy away from that they have lots to learn and need to grow into themselves and gain their confidence and we get to watch this happen.

What I didn’t like so much: Again, the big issues appear to be lack of communication which can be frustrating as you go because it could be avoided, but alas they are young. Making a lot of the feud seem silly.

Who Should Read It: People who love quiet, sweet, open-door frenemies to lovers sapphic romance.

Summary: Two former friends reconnect on a road trip and sparks fly.

This looks like a YA based on the cover alone, but let me assure you that this book is very much an adult book. Its an ex-childhood friends to lovers, forced proximity road trip story and I am here for it. I was annoyed with both MCs but not for any real reason, I just wanted them to talk to each other! AHH. The entire premise of an old school friend calling up her best friends from school to attend her wedding in another country and expecting them to drop everything even after not talking for almost a decade baffled me a little, but I guess, more power to you.

My one real issue is the constant POV changes. It didn't happen at any specific point, like the beginning of chapters, but just whenever the author wanted and the narrator didn't distinguish very well so I often got confused about who was talking.

If contemporary sapphic is your jam, you absolutely must add this to your summer booklists.

rep: queer MC, bisexual MC, midsize MC

Scarlet and Megan were best friends throughout childhood until college. The pain of unanswered questions and separation during a crucial time in their lives leave them heartache and anger. Now they're being asked to come to an old friend's wedding, resulting in a country wide road trip together. Tensions are high and they still have several days of driving ahead of them. Why not talk things out? What could go wrong?
I loved reading this book. I was able to feel the emotions of the characters as they were happening. The storyline is relatable to those in early adulthood and would definitely be something I'd recommend to anyone who likes a good romance novel!

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Adorable book with a cute F/F romance.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I had kind of a hard time getting into this book, mostly because I didn't love the main characters at first. Especially Scarlet was really judgmental. But she then went through a lot of growth, and I absolutely loved the road trip plotline!

FULL AUTHOR INTERVIEW CAN BE FOUND ON FRESH FICTION
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Hi, Elia! Welcome to Fresh Fiction! Please introduce yourself and tell us about your new book, HAIRPIN CURVES.

Thanks for having me! HAIRPIN CURVES is a frenemies-to-lovers road trip romance. Megan and Scarlett used to be best friends, but a falling-out after high school has kept them apart for the last seven years, and now they’re headed to Quebec on a road trip for a mutual friend’s wedding. Along the way, they of course discover a lot about each other and themselves.

There’s something so fun about a road trip romance! Have you ever gone on an epic road trip like Megan and Scarlett?

Definitely. I grew up doing road trips, because my family had moved to Florida and left most of our extended family in Massachusetts. My parents didn’t fly, so we drove. We did more than the FL-to-MA trip, too: Jonesborough, Tennessee for the National Storytelling Festival; Parris Island, South Carolina for my brother’s Marine Corps graduation; St. Louis, Missouri to visit my sister, etc. As an adult, I’ve continued the road trip tradition, although I don’t have any aversion to flying (when it’s not a pandemic). My husband and I have driven to Quebec a number of times, to Michigan, to Virginia, all over the place. I hope to do a cross-country road trip at some point.

In addition to being a road trip romance, HAIRPIN CURVES is also an “ex-friends -to-lovers” story. They have a tumultuous history but are forced to travel together to a wedding. What does this unusual situation reveal about these characters? How do you think they handle everything?

In my original concept of HAIRPIN CURVES, Megan and Scarlett were best friends at the start of the book. As I was writing, I quickly realized that the tension I wanted to create didn’t work unless the friendship was strained, so I restarted, and I liked the dynamic much better. It’s clear that they have some feelings there at the start, or they wouldn’t be so hurt by each other. Those we love, those we’re vulnerable with, have the greatest capacity to hurt us—that’s the idea that I wanted to explore. So these two women used to be very close, and each of them sort of wishes they could move on, but haven’t been forced into the space where they have to do so. So, they have to deal with the past and also the present, which is that each isn’t the person she was back in high school, so they’re dealing with two layers of feelings. I think they handle things okay; they vacillate between being mature and immature, with vestiges of that old high school self coming out, and I think that’s normal when you’ve known someone for a long time. Eventually, of course, they figure out how to communicate with each other.

This book was so much fun, honestly. The roadtrip trope is very famous on fanfiction but surprisingly not on actual books, and if this book is anything to go by, maybe that should change.
The characters were both very lovable but not perfect like many romance novels make their main characters out to be. Elia writes each of them with inherent flaws that make us like them even more. The dialogue is also surprisingly well done and funny, and it makes the story never go stale or flat. I definitely would read again :)

This was such a sweet and satisfying romance. Enemies-to-lovers and road trip romances are two of my favorite tropes, so this was the perfect mash-up. Everything about this book, even the cover, is just so uplifting.

What's not to love about a road trip romance? I went into this book with zero expectations and it definitely didn't disappoint. I completely fell in love with the characters and was immediately invested in their HEA.

What I loved about this book:

1. I love finding great new to me authors! I hadn't read any of Elia Winters previous books, but she's definitely on my radar now. I may have already purchased a few books from her backlist. 🤫 Did I need to add to my mountainous TBR? Nope, but I have zero regrets.

2. Even though this book definitely had tension and angst, it didn't have any heavy topics to digest. I really enjoyed this sweet, but steamy feel good F/F romance.

3. Wholly tropes Batman! This book has a whole bunch of my favorite romance tropes. Second chance romance? ✔ Close proximity (road trip)? ✔ Enemies to lovers? ✔ When you add all those delicious tropes together you get a steamy romance with great chemistry and tension.

This sweet and spicy romance is definitely one you'll want to add to your TBR!

Hairpin Curves was a smack in the middle of the road read for me, and the thing is a lot of the reasons I really liked it were also part of the reason for that meh feeling. It's a friends to enemies to lovers romance, which I like. There's also a bit of forced proximity. Either or both of those can make for an engaging romance, and the fire those tropes can generate between characters can lead to some pretty good heat and chemistry. The problem is that these two are almost apathetic toward each other. They exchange a few barbs here and there, and they're not friendly toward each other, but it's not enough to explain them not speaking for so long or to generate that earlier mentioned heat. The dialogue between them feels more like that of acquaintances rather than friends who fell out, which may be what the author was going for in the beginning, but that didn't give me reason to be invested in the relationship. That brings me to why they even went on a road trip together in the first place. It just doesn't feel believable after Megan and Scarlett going so long without a word, plus Scarlett doesn't seem to have the best motives when she's planning how to wrangle a road trip out of Megan since she can't afford to fly to the wedding.
All of that aside, my main problem with this book is the slow pacing. That's not to be confused with a slow burn romance because when that's done right, the anticipation builds until the characters finally figure it out. This isn't that. It may be what was intended, but the first half of the story lags enough that it never quite builds enough momentum to make it the page turner I was hoping for. Things do pick up in the second half, and I started to feel like this could be a couple worth rooting for. It's also pretty low angst, and that along with the pick up in pace saved this story for me.
I was really hoping for a better reaction to this book. I feel like female/female romance doesn't get nearly the exposure of male/male, male/female, or any other variation. This one does have its moments and parts of it, especially in the second half, have that something in a romance that grabs and holds my attention, but everything combined made this one just an okay read for me.

I wasn't quite sure to expect with this one, since it appeared to be second chance+hate to love+road trip, but it was a fun and entertaining read! This one is definitely lighter and sweeter than a lot of angst filled romances, so that in and of itself was refreshing. Also, seeing Megan and Scarlett work through things and grow from their past relationship and issues was wonderful - but there were a lot of things that were predictable kind of standard in their description/feel. This definitely changed as the story got going and you really get into the meat of their relationship and go through their journey with them. If you're looking for a summery romance that is F/F and all about learning to grow and trust again, then pick this one up.

As a Canadian, my little ears perk up whenever I hear about an f/f romance that has anything to do with Canada. So, when I saw that Hairpin Curves is a road trip romance that takes the characters from Florida to Quebec, I said “Oh yes, please and thank you!” Although we see very little of them in Canada, I still enjoyed parts of this story because the angst is low, which is my speed these days. However, the conflict hinges on what could be solved by one conversation, which is frustrating.

See full review on Smart Bitches Trashy Books: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/hairpin-curves-by-elia-winters/

Who doesn’t love a road trip romance? Megan and Scarlett were high school friends who had a falling out after graduation. Now, the wedding of a mutual friend is thrusting them back together. Scarlett is hoping to make amends, and suggests they travel together from Florida to Quebec. Along the way, they finally acknowledge the spark of interest that’s always been there between them. This book has some of my favorite tropes (forced proximity, only one bed, snowed in, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers) and it also does a great job of capturing those mid-20s feelings of not knowing what to do with your life. While the romance is key, Winters honors the platonic bond that existed between Megan and Scarlett for years and the hurt caused by the breakup of their friendship, which isn’t written about as frequently but can be just as devastating (and sometimes more so) than a romantic breakup. Readers looking for a queer romance featuring heroines finding themselves and each other will find a lot to love here.

Hairpin Curves is a f/f romance between two girls in their twenties who used to be friends in high school but then pride and miscommunication got in the way and they ended up not talking to each other anymore. Megan started working at a restaurant while Scarlett went to college. When one of their mutual friends invited them both at her wedding, they figured it was better and more practical to go on this road trip together even though they clearly weren't on good terms. On the way to the wedding, their attraction comes back to play.

I enjoyed reading this book but I feel like I wasn't a big fan of the characters so that's probably why I never really got attached to them or shipped them all that much. The smut was hot at times and overall it was a nice & short romance but I just didn't fall in love with it.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

Really enjoyed this friends to enemies to lovers read!! I loved the shared history of the two characters and that they had a little push to get back in each others lives. It had a sense of adventure, great chemistry, and lots of swoon!!

I like this really cute road trip romance! The two main characters can come across a bit unlikeable at times but overall it was a great read.

I wanted to love Hairpin Curves, it had so many aspects that I usually love! Road trip, enemies to lovers, only one bed. But it was just an okay read for me, I found the characters felt a lot younger than they were and it made it hard for me to feel engaged in the story. It was still a cute quick read! 3.5 stars

Can ex-friends rekindle their friendship during a road trip? This book is about that. Megan receives an invitation from her friend to her wedding in Quebec n February. Megan has never been out of her home state, Florida. Her ex-friend, Scarlett, offers to help her drive to Quebec.
Scarlett mainly offers because she has had a crush on Megan, even though their friendship has been in tatters for years. The road trip starts out as tense, but as the hours and days go by, it lessens. The flirting starts and ignites when they run into a snowstorm and have to wait it out for a few days in a motel.
Will they act on the feelings? Read and find out!
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to netgalley.com and Carina Adores for the advance ARC copy for my honest review.

Let me start with a myth about Florida, it's not a cheap place to live as everyone thinks it is.

This was my first read from the author Elia Winters, feel like she took a good story, then bogged it down with fluff, got too repetitive, took too long with the relationship between the two main characters and just a shame since this could have been a so much better read.

Meghan and Scarlett have know each other from childhood, they went to school together, supposed to go to College together, have a falling out, both are insecure, neurotic, emotional, yet they are likable and easy to relate too.

Felt some of the driving was too unrealistic for them too have actually done, easily could have ended with them making out at the wedding and in a sequel have them driving home a different route that they end up going home on I-75.

Also felt the author was a puppeteer, both Meghan and Scarlett where puppets, she tried to slow it down, although as a reader it's predictable as to what will happen and don't see the point of trying to control it verse just let it happen.

Definitely would love to see what you get giving this storyline to either Terry Brewer or Chelsea M. Cameron and would give the author another try.