loovoooooveee this book so much and I love it love it I see myself on these charathers os much its scary and I

I chose this book because like the main character, I too was afraid to drive after an accident. This story was interesting in its construction. I wish social media, texting, and jealousy hasn’t been such a bug plot. I think some parts were cliche and mildly biphobic.

I absolutely loved Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit and had high hopes for this one. However, Kat's behavior was worrisome and the book's slow burn actually fizzled out for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This was a great YA book and I really enjoyed it. The cover really drew me in, but the story kept me reading til the very last page!

I adored this so much!! I feel like the emotions and situations were pretty realistically portrayed - even if I got mad at it sometimes! Haha! Kat and Piper are so cute, and I really loved watching them grow over the course of the story. Highly recommended!

Did not finish. There is nothing specific about this novel that caused me not to finish it, I had full intention of reading it, I just started and didn’t finish. I heard good things about this author and have read another books of hers so requested the novel and still plan to keep it on my TBR

This was another super fun YA book! Piper goes to North Carolina for the summer to train with a former Olympian horseback rider (and to get over being dumped by her girlfriend). When Kat asks Piper’s grandmother for help, she winds up being Piper’s “Uber” around town. I liked this, and I felt like a was rooting for Piper and Kat. It’s a quick read - perfect for an afternoon at the pool.

Thanks to @NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for my ARC!

This was a delight (As a dressage rider, I appreciated the authenticity of that rep as well!) A recommended purchase for YA and HS fiction collections.

This was a good YA book. I love the representation in this novel and it is something that teens should have access to frequently. I would definitely recommend this story to older high school students.

This was a sweet, queer, YA romance novel with Sapphic horse girls, small town "should I come out" characters, and lots of safe driving! Not a lot of depth, but just re-read that first sentence - any adult romance novel is surface AF, and this definitely had a bit more going on that your typical romance, being about two girls who seem to like each other but one isn't quite sure where she is on the sexuality spectrum. And the queer Massachusetts girl is into show horses, but not just any show horses, DRESSAGE (that's that crazy prancy performance that I think is rough on horse legs, but idk for sure). She is recovering from a breakup before spending time in Texas to dedicate time to her horse-craft, with her very supportive yet firm grandma.

Good things about this book: lots of positivity around queerness, despite hesitancy coming out and worries about how family will react. It was actually really refreshing to read a YA LGBTQ book that wasn't about all the devastation and trauma of being queer, just normal concerns and full acceptance from the people around them. It just doesn't all need to be devastation! Also, full marks for really having responsible drivers, despite partying and having fun, some underage drinking (as kids are wont to do), these kids ALWAYS made sure to call an adult for a ride, or stay sober as the designated driver. I think that always needs reiterating, so top marks for that.

Not great things: a whole lotta white folk, despite being in Texas, where I'm sure there's a prominent Latinx population. Perhaps that's a horse-community thing, but it was noticeable. Also, the book really just ends when I wanted to read more about Piper and Kat and Elliott - how does Piper's training go? How does Kat's sister manage with her dance stuff? How is Kat as she grows more into her sexual identity? Anyway, more stuff I wished I learned.

But, overall, a very enjoyable, nice, fun, romance book about some queer horse-gals and a small town in Texas. It was a fast read, and maybe a bit like a YA "Desert Hearts" without the divorcee, haha. Good for a light queer romance pick-me-up.

Piper was seeking refuge for the summer with her grandmother. Not only would she be far from her ex-girlfriend, she would also have an opportunity to train with an Olympic equestrian. She was laser-focused on her goals until her grandmother arranged driving lessons with a cute local girl. Though Piper and Kat were different in so many ways, a friendship began to grow. Though would it ever grow into more?

This was a big summer for both Kat and Piper, and I enjoyed spending it with them.

When I first met Kat, I was impressed with her dedication and love for her family. She shared a close bond with her sister and was trying to protect her, while also helping Emma achieve her dreams. I loved that about her. Kat took on the task of teaching Piper to drive so that her sister could attend a better dance studio. Her initial meeting with Piper wasn't love-at-first-sight, but Piper's openness about her sexual orientation made an impression on Kat, who was already questioning her own identity. Confronting her sexuality was a bit scary for Kat, because she worried how the news would be received by those in her world. I was happy she had Piper to talk to and for support as she explored and discovered things about herself.

Piper's dedication to her craft was admirable. I really enjoyed being around the horses with her, and I wanted her parents to get on board with her dream. But her Olympic aspirations were also a source of pain, as they were one of the reasons for her breakup. Piper was struggling with moving on from her ex, and I sometimes found this frustrating. However, I was happy with Piper's progress towards accepting the past and trying to move forward, and WOW! I was really excited about where her life was heading at the end of the book.

I often complain about slow-burn romances, because I just can't wait for my couples to get together. When I know two people belong to each other, I want that connection to happen ASAP. I had to be more patient here, and I was ok with it. I think because both women had things to work through and that their journeys kept my interest, I had no problem waiting for IT to happen. I also reveled in the wonderful friendship that was growing between them and enjoyed seeing them build that solid foundation together.

Overall: I enjoyed spending the summer with Kat and Piper. Piper was looking towards her future in dressage and coming to terms with her past romance, while Kat was exploring her sexual identity. Together, they forged a wonderful friendship, which helped bring them both clarity and more.

We’re not going to lie, coming into a story like The Key to You and Me by Jaye Robin Brown had us nervous. This isn’t the type of book we read. In fact, coming out stories are our least favorite when it comes to LGBTQ stories because we feel like it’s been done, over and over. But in spite of that, the bond that grows between Piper and Kat is worth knowing and reading about. And we found ourselves falling in like with these two young women the more we read.

Piper is trying to forget her ex, who broke her heart, by going to visit her grandmother for the summer. She’s a talented horseback rider who wants to make it to the big leagues, so she’s killing two birds with one stone. She’s awkward, kind, messy, and painfully human in a way that doesn’t seem abrasive or like we don’t want to read anymore. And her plans of a chill summer are thrown for a loop when she meets Kat.

Kat is in the closet. Not so far in the closet that she can’t realize the bond growing between her and Piper from the first time they meet. But she’s in there, hiding from herself, and those around her because she fears being in the spotlight. And even though she’s an anxious mess, she tries her hardest to make the lives of the people around her better, no matter what mountains she needs to move.

The sparks are there from the very moment they meet. What grows from there is built on a foundation of friendship, honesty, and self-discovery. And the bond that grows between them is further accentuated by the alternating perspectives, something that we also don’t usually enjoy but did like in The Key to You and Me because of how it enriched the story and it’s leads.

As the story progresses, the people they present themselves to be (as everyone does when they initially meet someone) starts disappearing and they gain perspective on who they are, what relationships are all about, and that you can move on without feeling guilty. You can live your life without worrying about what others think. And you can give yourself the time and patience needed to discover who you are.

In all honesty, The Key to You and Me reminded us of what the best relationships are built on, what we’d like to see more of when it comes to LGBTQ ships, and that the place you’re in when it comes to being queer might not be the same place where someone else is at. That doesn’t make their story any less worth telling or exploring. So, go on with your bad self, The Key to You and Me. You got this. And I think readers will appreciate the story you tell.

This is my first Jaye Robin Brown book, and I'm looking forward to exploring her backlist. She does a great job at capturing both main characters, although I found their voices in the alternating chapters a little bit hard to distinguish between at times. Piper has Olympic hopes as a dressage rider, but is also recovering from a difficult breakup -- and she's trying to make progress on both those fronts while living with her grandmother and training and working for a former Olympian. Kat is beginning to confront her sense that she likes girls, but uncertain about coming out -- and she needs to earn some summer cash, so it's convenient when Piper's grandmother hires her to teach Piper to drive, right? But what else can Piper and Kat learn from each other?

There's a lot going on in this book; all of it good, but some of it, I wish had been explored further -- the supporting characters and relationships could shine -- but they don't really get the space to breathe the way that they could, I think. And I would have actually welcomed more stuff about horses and dressage training. But that said, this is still a solidly great book, and we need more F/F YA, and also, books that are as frank as this one is in narrating characters thinking about their sexuality and sexual experience.

2.75 Stars. This was just okay. I heard this book was a sweet and funny romance about sapphic women who ride horses. I thought yes please! It’s funny that I have not read many books about people who want to compete with horses professionally, but in this past week I have read two. Both were about dressage riders wanting to be in the Olympics. The problem is the first book had a sweeping romance with lots of horses, this book not so much.

I’m familiar with this author and the premise gave me high hopes. The biggest problem is nothing happened. Yes, it was a day in the life of two 18 year-old girls, (taking place over a few weeks) but nothing very exciting happened in those days. There were some driving lessons, some horse riding, one character pinning after her ex, and another character on some stomach turning dates. That’s really it, that’s the book and it wasn’t enough for me.

I know the author is part of the LGBTQ+ community, but I feel like she should have had some sensitivity readers’ look at this. I’m not always good about noticing subtext, and sometimes I miss things right in front of my face, but I did notice, and had issues with, the wording at points about asexuals, bisexuals, and lesbians. I felt like at times it was almost veering into harmful stereotype territory. I don’t think this is anything the author did on purpose; I just think she could have used some more eyes on this. There was also a lot of pressure on one character (by seemingly everyone) to announce she is queer when she still needed time to figure things out. The constant pressure on her rubbed me the wrong way.

According to the blub, this is “A sweet and funny #ownvoices LGBTQ+ romance.” That’s what I was expecting and to not get that was a disappointment. When I say that the characters where not together for the whole book (as a couple), I mean they were not together for the whole book. Any chemistry that started to build would just get snuffed out almost instantly. There were no super sweet or swoon worthy moments. The whole book is about dating other people. If Brown would have made this contemporary fiction, about two friends trying to find love, with other people, in a small southern town… okay that would work. But a romance between the main characters was just not there and I don’t even know if I can tag this book romance.

I’ve had such an up and down reading year and unfortunately I have read too many books that just have not fit my reading tastes. While I’m a huge character driven reader, I need some good plot points to keep me turning the pages. There just was not enough meat here and there wasn’t the adorable romance I was hoping for either.

Thank you to HarperTeen for the ARC.

The Key to You and Me by Jaye Robin Brown was a cute, queer, summer read. It’s told in alternating perspectives of Piper, a horse girl living with her grandma for the summer to train and chase her Olympic horse dreams; and Kat, a local girl grappling with her sexual identity.

Piper is recovering from being dumped by her girlfriend, and hopes some distance and some focus on her sport will help her move on. Kat is hired by Pipers grandma to teach her how to drive and overcome her anxiety behind the wheel. Kat accepts the deal mostly to earn the money to fix her own car, but gets enamored with Piper and realizes she is crushing on Piper pretty quickly.

I loved the representation of driving anxiety, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen that in a book before. I don’t mind a slow moving romance, but this was a little too slow even for me. I would still recommend this book, but it could’ve been a higher rated book if it had moved a little more quickly.

This is such a down-to-earth YA rom-com that it felt like real life! Okay, so I'm definitely not a teenager and I identify as a heterosexual female, so there's not much I can relate to here. However, I can fully appreciate the realism behind Kat's sexual journey and the poignant message that we shouldn't necessarily have to "come out" or identify ourselves for other people, even though Kat does get a lot of pressure from her sister and her cousin "figure it out" for lack of better phrasing. There's also a lot of empowerment here -- Kat's cousin is gay and while he struggles to tell his family he is all about being true to himself, and Kat's sister is outspoken about her own sexuality and her desire to lose her virginity to her almost-boyfriend sooner rather than later. Piper, the other female main character, is also confident in her own sexuality. Teens and new adults can relate to the drama and the antics throughout the plot, and while some moments are LOL-worthy there are a lot of deep, introspective moments that may surprise readers, too.

Being disappointed by such a promising book was not how my day was supposed to go but here we are I guess.

When I read the synopsis of this book months ago, I was like "wow! Sapphics, horse girls, learning to drive, sign me up!" and then I was approved for an eARC and I was elated to finally read it! And then I read it.

Where do I even start with this review?

It was a promising premise that didn't deliver and there were lots of tropes used that aren't my thing. Thus, my low rating. Which is once again, very very disappointing. Because I was looking to root for some horse girls and instead ended up not enjoying either of the two main characters.

So let us just start.

One girl, Piper, rides horses and moves in with her grandmother for the summer to *cough* ride horses *cough*. But she has an ulterior motive to either a) get over her ex-girlfriend or b) make her ex jealous. If you guessed both, you'd be correct. Now okay, that sounds alright. Making people jealous isn't my favorite tropes in books but ya know, this is a sapphic book so I forgive it. But! Her grandmother is also making her learn to drive and hired this girl in town to teach her. We love that here. Books that deal with such mundane, real-world things like learning to drive.

We also get the wonderful POV of Kat. She's trying to figure out her sexuality but she lives in a small town and is afraid to come out. Kat is also the one giving Piper driving lessons. And that's basically the entirety of her character development, which makes her POV pretty boring. But hey, we love a good book that explores figuring out your sexuality, so again, another pass for the sapphics.

Now we get into the thick of things. When they meet, Piper immediately realizes that she can use Kat as a way to make her ex jealous. And how does she do this? By taking photos of them together and posting them to her private socials without Kat's consent (spoiler for later in this review: this won't be the last instance of nonconsent between these two).

Also, let me just add in here that this is a very slow-burn relationship. Like, it's implied that they get together on the last page. May I add something else? There was NO YEARNING! I mean come on, if I'm going to suffer through some slow-burn romance between two characters who were either super boring or super unlikable then the least I could get is a little yearning ya know?

Anyway, let me get back on track. Something that I didn't particularly pick up on in the synopsis is that this book is a hot mess. JK. Kinda. But there is a love square type thing going on, which, is not my thing. To break it down some more. Piper still likes her ex and her ex starts flirting back with her. Piper also starts developing feelings for Kat, but when Kat, who has a crush on Piper from like the first time they meet, finds out that Piper is still hung up on her ex, Kat gets with a woman named Lou. Messy and confusing? Yes. Now let me dissect this for you all. Piper used Kat to make her ex jealous without asking for permission. This is later resolved. Then, Piper and Kat have a non-consensual kiss. Kat then goes and gets with Lou by telling her a bunch of lies. Some of these lies pertaining to her age (Kat is 18 and Lou is in her 20s), and Kat lying and saying that she's out of high school (she isn't). Lots of uncool stuff in my humble opinion.

What else does this book bring to the table you may be wondering? Well, we also have underage drinking, driving without a license, family members pressuring Kat to admit she likes girls, family problems that think they were resolved but never seem to be resolved, and the most lackluster romance I have read this year.

Annnnd, well, I guess that's all of the big points that I wanted to hit on. So, um, not my favorite book of the year and maybe I am a bit salty at wasting my entire day reading this book and being so thoroughly disappointed and bored.

Should you read this book? Sure, I mean if you want to. I just don't think this book worked for me and while I'm sad that this isn't a new sapphic book that I can hype up, I hope other people enjoy it and maybe discover their own sexuality while reading this book or something idk.

I love Jaye Robin Brown books! I couldn’t wait to read this- I read it in a day. What I think is so special about this book is the two perspectives. Kat, is a small town gal who is questioning whether she might be queer. Piper is visiting Kat’s town for the summer so she can ride horses at an Olympic level and is totally comfortable in her queerness. When Piper’s grandmother connects them, they find they have a lot in common.

I loved watching both young women discover themselves, both in different parts of their identity. This is a lovely example of the importance of being yourself and trusting those who love you to love you no matter what.

Piper always imagined she would have Judith at her side when she arrived at her first olympics. But all of those dreams where crushed when she Judith breaks things off with her at the beginning of the summer. Looking for a fresh start and a new barn to ride at, Piper chooses to spend the summer in the small town of Harmon NC with her Grandma, honing her riding skills so that one day those Olympian dreams can come true.

Kat was born and bread in the small town of Harmon, never really being able to figure out who she really is ad always trying just to blend in. Being the strong one after their mother left, Kat makes sure her siblings always get where they need to be, dance lessons, a baseball game, a boys house you name it. As summer draws near her younger sister doesn't have enough money to enroll in a prestigious dance academy, so Kat takes it upon her self to find a few jobs. That is when she runs into Pipers grandma, who propositions her with the job of teaching her granddaughter how to drive.

Out and proud Piper helps Kat figure out who she really is while Kat slowly helps Piper get over Judith in this unlikely friendship.

This book was a super fun read. I wish It had come out when I was still in high school because it would have helped me figure out that I was queer. It has extremely relatable characters and witty banter. Brown does it again with an adorable fluff ya rom com!