Curve Ahead

by Stella Atwood

It’s official. My best friend is off her rocker and has asked the impossible of me: to endure a road trip to her destination wedding with the one wedding party member I loathe. Ben Sawyer, her brother, my first kiss, my arch nemesis. Avoiding him has been my go-to technique in resisting his arrogant yet enticingly sexy smile. I’m staring down the barrel of my own personal nightmare. How on earth will I survive a six-hour car ride and a weekend of wedding festivities with him?

Blissful Curves is a series of short steamy romances featuring curvy women and the men who fall at their feet. No cliffhangers. Each story is a complete stand-alone with a guaranteed HEA.

Genres: Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary

76 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 22, 2022

Reviews

[Donna McEachran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really love these short stories. Josie has been an informal part of the Sawyer family thanks to her friendship with Sarah. Josie and Ben have a love-hate relationship and history. Will a forced car journey and wedding change the dynamics?.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Arabella Auberon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet little story that is the perfect length to read while in a waiting room, or to wind down with a glass of wine at the end of the evening. It’s fun and sweet, and the focus is mostly on the couple figuring out how they can move forward in their lives. These shorter books I don’t typically hold to as high of a standard as longer books, mostly because length determines how many details will fit comfortably, but this one is fully fleshed out, and it’s intriguing enough that it keeps the readers attention and allows s them to escape for a little while.

5 ⭐️s= Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors, loved this story so much I’d buy it.

4 ⭐️s= Great story, highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Believable actions and reactions, realistic dialogue, a book I would consider buying.

3 ⭐️s= Good but not great story, noticeable discrepancies, grammatical and or spelling errors, undeveloped characters or unbelievable behaviors but still readable. Nothing majorly wrong with the story, just not interesting enough for me to continue. Would not buy the book.

2 ⭐️s= Not offended by the story, but not interested enough to finish. Unbelievable characters, poor writing, many mistakes, big holes or discrepancies, many spelling or grammatical errors, characters not believable, unlikeable or TSTL.

1 ⭐️= Offensive, extremely poor writing, horrible characters, victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. Would never buy this book, and do not recommend it to anyone.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kiley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Curve Ahead: Best Friend's Brother, Book 3 of the Blissful Curves series, was about Josie Oswald and Benjamin "Ben" Sawyer, brother to her BFF.
This short story had too many issues to be enjoyed. The problems between the FMC and the MMC were never fully explained. The author opened the story with the rivalry already set in stone, never explained why the two didn't get along, and the reaction of the FMC was way OTT and out of proportion. I get that she had mommy issues that caused her to latch on to the family of her BFF, but why she used that as an excuse to not get involved with the MMC was beyond me. None of it made any sense. The author mentioned how the two main characters shared a kiss when she was a teenager, got her wrist broken, and the enmity between them escalated from that point on, but...WHY?!
There's also the issue that the MMC was a total A$$ to the FMC the entire book. Do authors seriously think this is romantic? That in order to get the girl to change her mind and fall for him that the MMC has to be a complete jerk to her? Right up until the spicy scene, and I mean mere seconds before it, the two main characters were at each other's throats the entire book. Even at the end of the final chapter, there was an argument between them.
This was a complete mess and didn't earn more than a one-star rating. I just couldn't grant it a higher rating because of all the unresolved issues.

[Craftybookworm11 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josie and Ben are forced to drive together to Sarah's wedding who is Josie's best friend and Ben's sister. I think this story really worked well overall. I do wish more was said about the past accident that broke Josie's arm, and that's why it's not a five star read for me. It's brought up but it wasn't really flushed out as to what really happened afterwards. Some things I did really like, is how Ben proved to Josie that he did in fact know her. I did like Ben's character more than Josie, and I think that's just because she is kinda hostile, and not knowing what happened right after the kiss and accident there wasn't really a reason for it. Like if Ben had said something mean or hurtful maybe it would have made sense. Ben really does want Josie, and Josie is mainly holding out because she doesn't want to lose Sarah, or Sarah's family. The way the story was wrapped up was super cute.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben and Josie's Story . . .

Ben Sawyer and Josie Oswald have a long history and an uneasy situation. Ben didn’t do anything in particular to be hated. The two of them just have very opposite personalities that raise their hackles. So avoiding him is what she does best. Ben is Josie’s best friend’s brother. His combination of a carefree attitude and male arrogance irritates her and always has.

So when Sarah, who is getting married, begs her to give Ben a ride to the wedding (otherwise he won’t be able to attend), Josie gives in reluctantly. She did still threaten to dump him on the side of the road, however. Will she be able to endure the 6-hour car ride to get him there? Can she avoid joining any of the wedding festivities he is part of? Or will Josie forgive whatever has her so twisted up about him and start over with Ben, at least for her best friend’s sake? Who knows, he might not be as awful as she remembers?

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read by Stella Atwood, and it is the third in this series; I am going to read the one I missed now.
This is a sweet BF brother, enemy to lovers, with medium smut. It Is a quick read, and the story moves at a nice pace.
I loved the characters; the MMC, the FMC, and all the secondary characters gave a pleasant atmosphere to the story.
If I had one complaint, I would have liked to see more backstory or maybe a flashback to learn more of their history, but it didn't bother me enough to remove a complete star.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the definition of "okay" for me. I like best friend's brother as a trope, but I wasn't connected to either of these characters really. I didn't really feel anything with their love. I thought overall the story was very okay. I think my favorite part of the book was that he was the one invested in the relationship first. Had that not been the case this probably would have rated even lower for me. It was perfectly okay, just not my favorite.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I volunteered to read this ARC for an honest review. I enjoyed this quick story about Ben and Josie. He's her bff's older brother, and a thorn in her side. She's the girl he's loved forever, but fights him every step of the way. When heading to Sarah's wedding she's forced to spend time with Ben. They have great fire between them. A HEA in the works.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Curve Ahead by Stella Atwood. It combined two of my favorite genres, enemies to lovers and best friend's/older brother romance. Josie and Ben have been in love with each other for years but Josie refuses to give them a chance. Keeping Ben as her frenemy is safer than risking her heart and losing the only people she considers her family. Ben hopes for another chance when they travel to his sister's wedding together. Can Ben finally convince her they belong together?

[Niki · Rating 5 out of 5]

When she has to carpool with Ben to his sister's wedding 6 hours away. All she wants to do is figure out how to leave him on the side of the road. The problem she can't without upsetting her BBF, however as they talk things start to change for them both.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun, quick, well written read. I enjoyed the characters as well as the story line. The only thing I didn't like was the female character's waffling back and forth. First she's out, then she's all in, and then she's out again. I just wanted someone to shake some sense into her. But, the writing and HEA outweighed that small annoyance.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was Ben & Josie’s book. My best friend is off her rocker and has asked the impossible of me: to endure a road trip to her destination wedding with the one wedding party member I loathe. Ben Sawyer, her brother, my first kiss, my arch nemesis. This was a fun read. And am voluntarily leaving my review.

[Holly Dimitrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short book

I found this author and series by doing an ARC read and I feel in love with these stories, the characters and the way they are written.
Love and faith find a way and family is who you love.
Such a sweet romantic story with some spice and lots of awww moments.
Can't wait to read the others and see what else this author writes.

[T.I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. The characters were great. The chemistry and storyline were awesome. It has lots of sass and banter, along with drama, and a very entertaining ending. Really great read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[tburbr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick, fun read filled with endearing characters and an entertaining story line that kept me reading in one sitting.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tami Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short read, HEA story with fun characters.

Love the byplay between the 2 main characters and the real-life issues that have to be overcome before the HEA.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Lea & Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josie and Ben

I found the interaction between Ben and Josie to be so well written and the angst of Jose's feelings handled skillfully. Really good story!

[Marlena Maćkowiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it 😍