Plot Twist takes place over the course of 10 years, following a chance encounter in a coffee shop between an aspiring screenplay writer and a handsome and charismatic struggling actor. Olivia, our narrator, feels a connection with this stranger and they agree to meet again - same date, same place - ten years later, once they have both found success.

Based on the blurb, I was expecting to see the actor play a much bigger role in the novel itself, but actually the plot focuses on Olivia, her relationships with her best friends Fiona and Liam, and the way in which her career develops (or, occasionally, doesn't) over the decade. As a result, we see how the characters change and evolve over time in a series of snapshots, each set on February 4th. I enjoyed this narrative structure, even if it was occasionally frustrating to see the same issues and problems arise again and again over the 10 years.

For me personally, the highlights of the novel were the first and last chapters. I enjoyed the interaction between Olivia and her mystery actor: the dialogue of their first meeting is entertaining and realistic, and the final scenes (although not quite what I expected) were sweet and touching and did a lot to redeem some of the earlier moments where I couldn't motivate myself to be particularly interested in what was happening.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel, although found myself skipping through the final third in order to reach the resolution. Olivia and Fiona are likable enough that I felt invested in their happiness, but both still had enough flaws and moments of poor judgement that they were believable characters. Despite this, I would not view them as characters with whom I developed a deep connection with; I certainly have not thought about them much since I finished the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC copy in return for an honest review.

Wow! I flew through this book. I loved it so much. What an incredible slow-burn, decade-spanning journey. I was so invested in this storyline I couldn’t put this book down! Romance, intrigue, fate, destiny, and of course...an epic plot twist. I can’t recommend this enjoyable book enough. What a fantastic read! Five incredible stars!!!!! I loved every character and plot point. The world needs more books like this.

2.5 stars

This book had the coolest idea for a plot but a terrible execution.
This story dragged so much that at 40% I was bored, annoyed and stopped caring about any of our main characters plots/lives.
I wanted to enjoy this but the juvenile way Fiona and Sophia(? I already forgot her name) started acting just put me off the story.
I have to admit the first few chapters were fun to read but after that I feel it became less entertaining.
Such a shame because it sounded amazing.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Plot Twist
✏️ Bethany Turner
Pub date: June 14, 2021

💭 💭 February 4, 2003- Olivia, while attempting to write her own screenplay has a chance meeting with an aspiring actor at a coffee shop! They immediately share sparks and a connection. They vow in 10 years to meet back and to collaborate together in a movie!

Each chapter is a new year February 4th and each Feb. 4th brings chance meetings and coincidences that all point back to the initial mystery man. Olivia and her close friends are almost positive it’s a meet cute and there is an obvious love story.

What I loved about this rom-com is that it came with all the things that we love about rom-coms but in the meantime, Olivia grows and find a lot about herself! It’s not your typical #love story but a positive discovery of #selflove 💕

#netgalley #plottwistbook #plottwist #bethanyturner #mnreader #minnesotareader #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #selflovestory

Thank you NetGalley for the e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the book, really. It got me out of a reading slump (of sorts) and it was so fun and feisty. We follow Olivia (the protagonist) through one single day over several years of her life and it's a cool concept until you realize that it's bananas that nothing significant happens through the rest of the year. The yearning and tension in the book is HIGH but it doesn't resolve itself entirely satisfactorily (to my taste). And yet.. the book has significant charms and a very clueless set of protagonists and Fiona and Olivia's friendship is just so cute. Not to mention the summary brushing aside of George Clooney several times in a way 2000s rom-coms would NEVER. Delightful.

I read it in almost one sitting and if you need a light, low stakes pick-me-up you don't need to go further than Plot Twist.

It's the rom-com meet-cute that Nora Ephron would be jealous she didn't think of first! Olivia considers herself the Joan Cusack of Hollywood--never the leading lady, the girl who has all of the near misses, and is resolved to let the real leading ladies get their George Clooneys. However, in a twist of fate (or plot) Fiona is the leading lady of her own rom-com...she just doesn't know it. Author Bethany Turner excels in her ability to deliver quick-witted lines, tension-filled romance, and memorable characters who bring this funny story to life. Plot Twist is an sweet, clean, and delightful read that I think all rom-com fans are going to enjoy!

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.**

I was pretty excited about this book and thought it had a lot of potential! Pros - I really enjoyed the concept, the book itself is pretty light and I thought the friendship really shined. Cons - the book is very dialogue heavy, the characters were hard to relate to, the book was too long in certain parts, and certain characters were not fleshed out well enough for the last quarter of the book to make any sense. The characters were also really immature and had so much tension for being in their 30s.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to the author, Thomas Nelson Fiction, and NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

Absolutely LOVED this book! It reminded me of my guilty-pleasure Hallmark movies - as it should considering main character, Olivia, is a greeting card writer for the Heartlite company. It was more than a rom-com. It was uplifting and overall feel-good read that showed us ups and downs of friendships, relationships, and this crazy thing called life with splashes of pop culture and celebrities, Literally felt all the feels and was crying by the end because I was rooting for Olivia and her happiness! It was an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end, and I am NEEDING more!
For sure an anticipated read in June 2021. I look forward to purchasing a physical copy of this book.

I've enjoyed Bethany Turner's previous romantic comedies so I was looking forward to Plot Twist as well. The story got off to a good start and had me laughing at the humor that is pure Bethany. I was enjoying the story through to chapter four, especially with these honest declarations of truth,
,
*"You deserve someone whose love for you causes them to be a person worthy of you."
*"And then the tricky thing is going to be convincing you that you're worthy of them."
*"When you find someone who loves you enough to be good enough for you...I think that's the one you shouldn't let go."

I could have been happy and stopped reading at this point, because this guy was a keeper. What comes next is the real plot twist. Chapter after chapter of reliving the same day over and over for TEN years. Olivia herself says she is just over it one year and so tired of it all another year.

I couldn't relate to either of Olivia or Fiona's characters. As best friends they seemed to be really dysfunctional and acted more like teenagers than mature 30-40 year old women. Even nearing the end of the story Olivia makes the comment, "Turns out Fiona Mitchell and I were actually the loves of each other's lives." Weird!
In addition, Olivia's suffers from ongoing issues of depression and unworthiness. In her own words, "I thought back over my life, allowing myself to get caught up in the melancholy. It wasn't just the year that had been wasted. My entire life has amounted to absolutely nothing." This girl needs counseling!

Finally, when readers get somewhat close to some happiness and romantic payoff, Olivia tells her guy he's her favorite person to which he smirks and says, "No, I'm not." Olivia then says, "No, you're not. But I promise you you're a close second.." More weirdness, and romantic? Not a bit. Why, why, why does he even love her and put up with her wishy-washiness for more than ten years.? As much as I like the guy, he doesn't value himself the way he tells Olivia to value herself.

2.5 stars rounded up. My thanks to Thomas Nelson, via Netgalley for providing a copy of Plot Twist for review. All thoughts and opinions are my very own.

2.5 starts

So much potential but too dragged out.

February 4, 2003, aspiring screenwriter Olivia is rescued from unwelcome advances in a coffee shop by a handsome aspiring actor. What is that accent? Irish? Scottish?. Anyhow, they jokingly agree to meet 10 years later in the same place. She'll bring her finished screenplay. He'll bring an armful of Academy Awards. Every year in between, Olivia is reminded of the "deadline". Sure, she goes on with her life, but is always cognizant of the date looming. In the meanwhile, she breaks up with her boyfriend because he's not funny enough, has her heart broken, lives in Italy for a while, and moves with her best friend Fiona to a succession of apartments. Forty years old and they still are roomies. There is just a lot going on, too many supporting characters, and the book drags. It had some cute moments, a few LOL moments, but all in all, it was just long.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson books for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I wanted to enjoy this book so much - it sounded like the perfect light read. Instead, however, I got one of the most frustrating novels I've ever read.

I thoroughly disliked the characterisation. Every character feels like a stereotype and no one has any depth to them. Fiona has the most unrealistic life story ever, which, even in the context of a light-hearted book, annoyed the hell out of me, Liam's only character trait is that he's a good guy and Olivia... where do I start? Although she keeps mentioning how she's a side character (yes, it is as cringey as it sounds), the character is beyond self-absorbed. So many heartfelt moments in this book were ruined by her narcissism and the need to pity herself. She's the kind of person who, if you told them you only had 4 hours of sleep, tell you that their goldfish died and they haven't slept a minute.

This book was a mess and I was left grieving the potential it had. I loved the concept and I feel like it could have been executed so much better than the dragged-out decade that brushed over major life events without any depth while failing to show any real character development.

I was so excited for this book. Screen writer and actor? Yeah sign me up! Unfortunately, this book did not meet my expectations and was one of the most boring books I've ever read. The book is categorised and marketed as a romance but there wasn't any romance. I was rooting for the Olivia and Liam - not Olivia and Hamish (the love interest).

The book was spanned across 10 years and it was just about Olivia and Fiona's problems. I was so uninterested and uninvested in any of the characters. I didn't care about any of them or if Olivia and Hamish got their happy ending or not.

There isn't much for me to say further because I skimmed most of the book...

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review

A unique magic exists in certain books where a reader easily suspends disbelief, because the characters and storyline are so endearing that we must cheer the story forward. Bethany Turner conjured that magic with her novel Plot Twist. The story unfolds over the course of a decade only showing February 4th’s events each time. While the tone of Turner’s novel was vastly different from David Nichols’ One Day, the narrative style was similar and I appreciated the skip in timelines.

Plot Twist focuses on Olivia’s relationships with her two best friends Fiona and Liam, while also showing her constant search for success and love. I easily connected with the friendship highs and lows between Fi and Livi. Additionally, I adored how each character evolved as the story progressed. At the risk of giving too much away, I will merely say I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who loves a heartwarming plot. My only warning is that once I picked it up, I struggled to put it down.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All opinions expressed here are my own.

I thought the format of this book was fun; it followed the characters over the course of 10 years on every Feb 4. It felt a bit like a rom-com version of Ground Hog's Day. While I enjoyed the female friendship, their disagreement / estrangement seemed unrealistic for life-long friends who are close to 40 years old. The inclusion of greeting cards was fun. While at times the story was predictable, there were some twists I didn't see coming. While this book did have some ups and downs, overall I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars.

I have never read anything by this author before and was completely drawn to it by the bright, cheerful color.
I really liked the format, it was unique and I enjoyed that each chapter was a whole year out, every Feb 4th. I had no idea what to expect with this really, but it was sweet and I really liked the friendship between Liv and Fi, Quick, easy and light read and I enjoyed every minute of it. Definitely didn't see the end twist coming, and was the teenist bit disappointed but I got over it quickly. Thank you so much NetGalley for the arc!

Loved this book! All the feels, the angst. Great story, wonderful dialogue and definitely quite a few plot twists that you don’t see coming. Was pleasantly surprised by the ending and enjoyed every second of reading this book. Highly recommended to all my friends, family and acquaintances. Enjoy!

I received this book thanks to NetGalley for my honest review.

This is a fun beach read, Oliva meets a random guy on Feb 4th in a coffee shop, her dream to be a screen writer while his is to be an actor, and they make a deal to meet back ten years later. She will write a screen play and he will be the star of it. I loved how each chapter is a quick recap of Oliva's life, the idea's of her trying to write the screen play. Her trying to figure out who this random guy is, since they never traded names, and the regular life adventures.

Spoilers*****

I enjoyed the characters of Liam and Fiona but felt that they weren't flushed out enough that I care about what was happening with them each year. I knew about 60% of the way in how the book was going to be, but still really enjoyed it. A good summer read.

3.75 stars! Plot Twist by Bethany Turner is a fun rom-com that takes place in California over a span of ten years. It’s fun to follow Olivia through the twists and turns of her life- some more predictable than others. I enjoyed the Hollywood setting as well!

Thanks to @netgalley and @thomasnelson for the ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received an ARC for Plot Twist from NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

I've never read a book by Bethany Turner but couldn't resist the title and premise for this book. It's something like a Groundhog Day for love. Don't get the wrong idea, because every February 4th isn't exactly the same, though each year it is a disaster.

There were moments when I laughed and sighed. I actually felt like this love story is well-grounded while it pokes delicious fun at some of the love stories we love in the movies. You've Got Mail? (Yep, it's in there.) Sleepless in Seattle? (Yep, it's there too.) And about a dozen other references. I thought these were fun and show how we collectively dream about love.

I always want a little bit of a surprise in a book. Who will Olivia fall in love with? Does she get the man she loves or does a new one come along? Will she manage to land that dream position? These are questions I had while I read. Since I don't want to spoil anything for you, I have a teaser. Plot Twist has a plot twist, and it surprised me. I love being surprised!

I highly recommend this book for a sweet romance, engaging characters, and mixed-up plot. This would be a great beach read, summer read, or in front of the fire read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The main characters of this novel, two women who are best friends, are the best part of the novel. They care about each other, are smart, and hilarious. I love the way they support each other, and forgive one another when they hurt each other. The main character is flawed, but aren't we all. It takes her a long to get her act together and write her screenplay, but I like that she always has spunk. The beginning of the novel is promising in that there is a hilarious interchange between her and the actor that comes part of the main plot twist. The difficulty is that you quickly become in involved in those two, but those aren't actually the two love interests. Not going to spoil anything here, but Liam is a great male character as well. Maybe I wish the novel was less plot twisty? I want to fall in love with characters and stick with them.